PG&E plan would hit solar homes harder than previously thought

Jonathan Munoz installs a solar panel on the roof of a house in Los Gatos, California, on Tuesday, Aug. 4, 2015. Jonathan Munoz installs a solar panel on the roof of a house in Los Gatos, California, on Tuesday, Aug. 4, 2015. Photo: Connor Radnovich, The Chronicle Buy photo Photo: Connor Radnovich, The Chronicle Image 1 of / 3 Caption Close PG&E plan would hit solar homes harder than previously thought 1 / 3 Back to Gallery

California’s utility companies have proposed making solar power less financially attractive to homeowners, now that so many are generating their own electricity and cutting their monthly bills.

Now it appears that for customers of Pacific Gas and Electric Co., those changes could have a bigger impact than initially thought.

On Aug. 3, PG&E and the state’s other big utility companies proposed changing the state’s financial incentives for people who install solar panels on their roofs. The utilities also proposed adding monthly charges that would apply to solar homeowners alone, an idea utility executives said would ensure that all customers pay to maintain the electricity grid. Solar companies called it a blatant attempt to strangle their industry.

At the time, PG&E calculated that its proposed changes would cut by roughly $20 the amount that homeowners could save on their monthly bills by going solar. In other words, those homeowners would still be able to lower their PG&E bills, but not as much as they can today.

MBA BY THE BAY: See how an MBA could change your life with SFGATE's interactive directory of Bay Area programs.

On Thursday, however, the San Francisco utility refined its estimates. Some solar homeowners who take aggressive steps to cut their energy use and install batteries connected to their solar arrays would end up paying $13 more per month than they would under today’s rules.

Most solar homeowners, however, would not fare as well. Assuming they took no major steps to slash their energy use, they would save $29 less each month under PG&E’s proposed rules than they would today.

All of the proposals require approval by the California Public Utilities Commission in order to take effect, with a vote expected by the end of the year. Even if the commission approves the changes, homeowners who already had solar arrays would not face the new fees and reduced financial incentives for 20 years after the installation of their panels.

David R. Baker is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail: dbaker@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @DavidBakerSF