AB 1813 Gains Senate Committee Approval Amid Growing Support for Community Solar

Sacramento, CA — This week, the Community Renewable Energy Program Act (AB 1813, Ward), passed out of the California Senate Energy, Utilities and Communications Committee. AB 1813 is supported by a broad coalition, convened by Californians for Local, Affordable Solar and Storage (CLASS) (full list below), and will now move to the Senate Appropriations Committee. This legislation will strengthen the framework for a viable community solar and storage program in California and deliver bill relief for renters, low-income households, and small businesses.

A few things to note:

• A recent Deploy Action/Embold Research poll found that more than 80% of California voters support local energy resources competing with utilities, and 83% prioritize reducing electricity bills.
• Aurora Energy Research’s independent grid impact study modeled deployment of 5.4 GW of community solar and storage across California over 20 years and found it would generate $6.5 billion in electricity system cost savings statewide — not just for subscribers.
• Last week, five new organizations, including two community choice aggregators San Diego Community Power and Peninsula Clean Energy, joined CLASS in the largest show of support for Community Solar in California history. The endorsement of CCA’s, which are nonprofit, locally accountable power agencies with a statutory mandate to protect customers from rising electricity costs, directly dismantles the utility industry’s central argument against the bill.
• Members of the CLASS Coalition include:
  • Californians for Local Affordable Solar & Storage (Sponsor)
  • Advanced Energy United (AEU)
  • Brightline Defense
  • California Building Industry Association
  • California Environmental Justice Alliance Action
  • Center for Biological Diversity
  • Center for Sustainable Energy
  • Clean Coalition
  • Climate Health Now Action Fund
  • Coalition for Community Solar Access (CCSA)
  • Contra Costa County
  • Dayenu: A Jewish Call to Climate Action
  • GRID Alternatives
  • Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC)
  • Neighborhood Sun
  • Nexamp
  • Peninsula Clean Energy (PCE)
  • San Diego Community Power (SDCP)
  • Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA)
  • The Climate Center
  • The Nature Conservancy
  • The Utility Reform Network (TURN)
  • USA Properties Fund
  • Valley Vision
  • Vote Solar

Please reach out if you would like to speak with Derek Chernow, the Executive Director of CLASS, to discuss the legislation and its benefits to California’s renters.

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Californians for Local, Affordable Solar and Storage (CLASS) is a coalition of community solar developers working to expand access to local, affordable clean energy, lower electricity bills for families and small businesses, and create new revenue opportunities for farmers and landowners across California.