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California Rocks Solar Industry With Rollback Plan on Incentives

  • Net metering payments could be under 10 cents per kWh
  • State proposes grid connection charge for solar systems
Workers install solar panels on the roof of a home in Lafayette, California.

Workers install solar panels on the roof of a home in Lafayette, California.

Photographer: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg
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California regulators proposed sharply lowering subsidies and adding new fees for home solar users, rattling a solar industry that was benefiting from the wildly successful program to help customers go green. 

Residential solar customers would get a lower credit for their excess electricity sent to the grid based on the value of the energy costs avoided by utilities, according to a proposed decision issued Monday by a judge at the California Public Utilities Commission. In addition, rooftop solar users would have to pay a new grid-connection fee that would average $40 a month.