California

More batteries, less solar: California's solar turmoil in charts

Published

1 year ago

May 23, 2024

More batteries, less solar: California's solar turmoil in charts

California slashed the value of rooftop solar for customers of its three biggest utilities last year — and installations of residential solar systems in the state have fallen to near-three-year lows since then.

But drawing firm conclusions about how the controversial shift in net-metering policy will shape California’s rooftop solar market over the long term — and affect the state’s grid-decarbonization and energy-equity goals — is a lot more complicated than it looks.

Just ask Galen Barbose, staff scientist at the Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Last week, he released a report compiling the latest data on California’s residential rooftop solar market, including the data point showing a marked drop in installations in the first three months of 2024.

Barbose also scrutinized battery-storage attachment rates, the distribution of solar adopters by geography and income, third-party ownership, system sizing, pricing, and installer market share. The goal was to reveal “initial empirical insights into how the market has evolved over the past year, confirming some expectations while also revealing several striking surprises,” he wrote in the report.

But “we have to be careful about not overreaching from the data over this past year,” Barbose stressed in an interview with Canary Media — because “this was a strange last year.”

A year of twists and turns for California rooftop solar

There was a huge rush to apply for and secure interconnections of rooftop solar systems to the grid in the runup to April 2023, when the legacy net-metering (NEM) tariff was officially replaced by the “net-billing tariff” (NBT) that the California Public Utilities Commission imposed on customers of Pacific Gas & Electric, Southern California Edison, and San Diego Gas & Electric.

That caused installations to spike to record levels throughout the spring and summer of 2023, as all of the projects approved under the old tariff got underway. Installations under the legacy tariff continued even through the first quarter of 2024, according to LBNL data.

Backers of the CPUC’s decision to reduce compensation for rooftop solar argue that California’s solar market remains robust — just not as overheated as during the historical jump in installations last year.

“[T]he much more generous compensation for systems installed before April 15 drove a gold rush during the first three and a half months of 2023,” Severin Borenstein, head of the Energy Institute at the University of California, Berkeley’s Haas School of Business and a foe of the state’s previous net-metering regime, wrote in a blog post last month. “Many of those early-2023 buyers would most likely have been later-2023 buyers were it not for the rush to install before April 15 and lock in NEM 2.0 rules.”

But there’s also evidence that the far less lucrative economics of the net-billing tariff have severely crimped ongoing prospects for California rooftop solar installers. The rate of installations under the new net-billing tariff have lagged historical rooftop solar installation rates, averaging about 8,000 per month over the first quarter of 2024. That’s a lower rate of rooftop solar installation than in any month under net metering going back to May 2020, according to LBNL’s data.

In November, the California Solar and Storage Association (CALSSA) reported that monthly solar sales — a more forward-looking data point than installations — fell by 77 to 85 percent between May and September of last year compared to the same months in 2022.

The trade group also warned that solar installers expected to have to lay off nearly 17,000 workers, or about 22 percent of the state’s rooftop solar workforce — a level of job losses “reminiscent of the Great Depression,” according to Bernadette Del Chiaro, CALSSA’s executive director.

LBNL’s report includes forward-looking data that backs up CALSSA’s dire forecasts. One such metric is “quote activity” — requests for price quotes from customers interested in installing solar.

Quote requests from online solar marketplace EnergySage spiked before April 2023, then fell to about 60 percent of historical levels from 2019 to 2021. “While the EnergySage marketplace may not perfectly represent the California market overall, the fact that quote activity has not meaningfully picked back up is perhaps the clearest signal yet of a substantial and sustained market contraction,” Barbose wrote in his report.

LBNL also highlighted data that appears to support a key concern of CALSSA — that the new net-billing regime is harming smaller solar installers. According to the report, only half of the roughly 2,500 companies that installed at least one solar system in the past 12 months have completed a system under the new tariff structure.

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California

Utah woman missing for nearly a week from central California

Published

13 hours ago

November 13, 2025

Press Room

Utah woman missing for nearly a week from central California

SALT LAKE CITY — A Utah woman has been reported missing for nearly a week from a county in central California.

The Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office said Danielle Staley, 35, of Holladay, was last seen near Rio Del Mar State Beach last Thursday night, Nov. 6.

She stands about 5-foot-6, with blond hair, and was last seen wearing a dark hooded sweatshirt and leopard-print leggings, police said.

According to Zach West, spokesperson for the sheriff’s office, Staley had been traveling with a friend for over a month — the pair arrived in the Santa Cruz area, near Aptos Beach in Rio Del Mar about a week ago.

On the night of Nov. 6, about 11:30 p.m., Staley and her friend had met some people at the beach and had a bonfire; the friend somehow separated from the group, and Staley couldn’t be found the next day, though her belongings were still on the beach, West said.

The woman hasn’t had contact with her family or friends, which West said was “out of character for her.”

Detectives are trying to piece together and identify others who were at the beach; they are also working with local businesses to scour surveillance footage that may present some clues, according to West.

He said numerous people have called claiming to have seen Staley, and detectives intend to follow up on those tips.

As of now, police said they don’t have any indication that she has traveled outside of the county, so the Santa Cruz Sheriff’s Office is the only agency investigating right now.

Staley’s friend is said to be cooperating with police.

Those with information are asked to call the Santa Cruz Sheriff’s Office at 831-471-1121.

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California

Thousands advised to stay indoors in California, Oregon, Arizona

Published

1 day ago

November 12, 2025

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Thousands advised to stay indoors in California, Oregon, Arizona

Parts of three states face potentially unhealthy levels of air pollution early Wednesday, a live map from AirNow shows.

The map shows multiple pockets of fine particle (PM2.5) pollution in the “unhealthy” category. In Arizona, the pocket is centered around Payson, while another area is located along the border between California and Oregon, encompassing parts of Red Rock Valley, Butte Valley, Tule Lake National Wildlife Refuge, Langell Valley, Spring Lake Valley, and areas around Klamath Falls.

At these air-quality levels, the Environmental Protection Agency advises that sensitive groups avoid long or intense outdoor activities and consider moving or rescheduling them indoors. The EPA also recommends the remainder of the population to reduce long or intense activities, and to take more breaks during outdoor activities.

Why It Matters

Officials and experts say that deteriorating air quality heightens health risks for vulnerable populations, such as older adults, children and individuals with respiratory illnesses.

What To Know

AirNow—an air quality data resource—is a partnership between the EPA, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and other agencies.

The Air Quality Index measures air pollution on a scale from 0 to 301 and above:

0—50 (Green): Good—Air quality is satisfactory, and air pollution poses little or no risk.
51—100 (Yellow): Moderate—Air quality is acceptable. However, there may be a risk for some people, particularly those who are unusually sensitive to air pollution.
101—150 (Orange): Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups—Members of sensitive groups may experience health effects. The general public is less likely to be affected.
151—200 (Red): Unhealthy—Some members of the general public may experience health effects; members of sensitive groups may experience more serious health effects.
201—300 (Purple): Very Unhealthy—Health alert. The risk of health effects is increased for everyone.
301 and higher (Maroon): Hazardous—Health warning of emergency conditions. Everyone is more likely to be affected.

What People Are Saying

The EPA says on its website: “The size of particles is directly linked to their potential for causing health problems. Small particles less than 10 micrometers in diameter pose the greatest problems, because they can get deep into your lungs, and some may even get into your bloodstream.

“Exposure to such particles can affect both your lungs and your heart. Numerous scientific studies have linked particle pollution exposure to a variety of problems, including:

premature death in people with heart or lung disease
nonfatal heart attacks
irregular heartbeat
aggravated asthma
decreased lung function
increased respiratory symptoms, such as irritation of the airways, coughing or difficulty breathing.

“People with heart or lung diseases, children, older adults, minority populations, and low socioeconomic status populations are the most likely to be affected by particle pollution exposure, either because they are more sensitive or may have higher exposures.”

What Happens Next

AirNow’s map is regularly updated.

Update, 11/12/2025, 5:01 a.m. ET: This article was updated with additional information.

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California

California Upsets No. 14 Louisville Cardinals in Overtime Thriller

Published

4 days ago

November 9, 2025

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California Upsets No. 14 Louisville Cardinals in Overtime Thriller

California quarterback Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele threw for a career-high 323 passing yards against the No. 14 Louisville Cardinals on Nov. 8, 2025. (Courtesy: Cal Athletics)

California traveled to Louisville, Ky., in search of a statement win against the No. 14 Louisville Cardinals (7-2, 4-2 ACC), and the Golden Bears (6-4, 3-3 ACC) pulled out all the stops Saturday evening to earn the upset, 29-26, in overtime.

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On the first play of the game, California quarterback Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele threw a lateral to his slot receiver, Jacob de Jesus, who then connected with Trond Grizzell on a deep 27-yard pass. While the Golden Bears would not score on the drive, their fast and aggressive play early on silenced much of the 51,381 in attendance.

California out-gained Louisville in total yards and offensive plays throughout the entire game. The Golden Bears never once trailed the nationally ranked Cardinals by more than one score, despite entering the game as three-score underdogs, according to many sportsbooks’ odds.

Sagapolutele earned the game-winning touchdown in overtime with a nail-biting throw on fourth down. California’s first-year signal-caller found his favorite target of the evening, de Jesus, who brought in the three-yard reception to close out the game.

De Jesus had a game-high 157 receiving yards and hauled in 16 of 23 passes in which he was targeted. His 16 receptions tie Geoff McArthur’s school record for receptions by a receiver in a single game.

In his post-game press conference, Louisville head coach Jeff Brohm praised de Jesus, calling him California’s “best player.”

“… Even at the end, to allow their best player to be one-on-one for an easy throw in the corner… you know, we need to coach better; we need to play better,” Coach Brohm said.

Sagapolutele completed 30 out of 47 passes attempted and racked up 323 passing yards—both career highs. In addition to the game-decider, the quarterback threw his first touchdown of the game in the first quarter, a 20-yard bomb to tight end Landon Morris.

The last time California beat a nationally ranked, top-25 team was on Dec. 5, 2020, when the Golden Bears upset the No. 20 Oregon Ducks, 21-17, for their first win in the 2020 college football season.

With the win, California is now eligible for a post-season bowl bid.

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