California seeks to pair home energy storage, rooftop solar

By KATHLEEN RONAYNE
Associated Press

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California regulators have proposed changes to the state’s robust residential solar market aimed at encouraging more at-home battery systems that store power for use at night. People with solar panels can sell their extra energy to power companies for bill credits. Major utilities want to see that subsidy reduced, but solar companies say doing so would harm California’s booming market as the state tries to transition to cleaner energy. The new proposal marks regulators’ second attempt at reforming the system in the past year. It eliminates a solar-specific fee from an earlier proposal but lessens the payment customers get for sharing their power.