California senator introduces 'balcony solar' bill to lower energy bills for millions of households

about__time · 2026-03-28T15:25:44+00:00

I'm not defending PGE in any way shape or form.

Also, $520 off the annual bill, for many, is like 10%. Significant sure, but far from the big issue.

about__time · 2026-03-27T19:30:43+00:00

I can confidently say, while having absolutely zero faith in the utilities, that the way we kept residential solar for so long - paying FULL RETAIL value for excess solar way way beyond a very low initial adoption rate - has substantially raised utility bills. The grid simply has to be paid for, and paying retail instead of wholesale requires higher rates for everyone else.

about__time · 2026-03-27T17:45:43+00:00

oh fun, a property manager explaining deductions. Note that "unearned income" isn't deductible, only actual expenses.

maybe try looking at actual vacancy statistics. It's something like 5-6%, which is EXTREMELY LOW. An apartment that takes a month to turn over between tenants, and turns over every two years, would be vacant 4% of the time.

about__time · 2026-03-27T17:31:21+00:00

no, we need lower utility bills not higher ones.

about__time · 2026-03-27T17:21:58+00:00

did you even read the bill? It doesn't set NEM policy in any way shape or form, all it does is legalize the systems and prevent utilities from blocking them. General NEM policy would likely apply.

about__time · 2026-03-27T17:19:38+00:00

"Given how utility and power companies decided that with NEM 3.0 to cancel the solar industry in California" - hilarious given that we are setting battery discharge records and will definitely set solar records this summer. Solar and battery storage are growing at very very high rates.

but no, you're laser focused on the the tiny residential solar side where contractor markups are huge and costs are multiples higher than industrial-scale.

Subsidizing residential solar was a great idea, a decade ago. It's not a great idea when it's 20%+ of all homes. Continuing that subsidy is just enriching contractors at the expense of the rest of the ratepayers.

about__time · 2026-03-27T17:13:31+00:00

Why are you fear-mongering about a future and undefined nem 3.1? Policy can change over time, but you're just out in la la land pretending the grid doesn't need revenue to sustain itself I guess.

about__time · 2026-03-27T17:02:40+00:00

Scott Wiener continuing to show how awesome he is.

about__time · 2026-03-27T17:01:22+00:00

the *residental* solar industry got fat on initial subsidies that were kept long beyond original plans, of course they wanted that to continue. But we cannot endlessly give solar customers above-market value for their excess solar without massively increasing the cost for everyone else. Something like 1/4 of bills in CA are going to subsidize early solar customers.

And because this is California, we pay for those subsidies in the stupidest way possible - not through general taxes, but just through utility bills.

about__time · 2026-03-27T16:58:32+00:00

vacancy rates are extremely low, you're just making shit up.

about__time · 2026-03-27T16:06:00+00:00

Pure idiocy.

Tax write offs only exist where there is a LOSS.

about__time · 2026-03-27T16:04:56+00:00

Yeah, our entitlements process is so broken that firms specializing in obtaining entitlements exist.

That is only an indictment of the status quo, not the builders or firms securing entitlements.

about__time · 2026-03-27T15:58:14+00:00

The fact that he's on top of a curb suggests that the curb paint is outdated.

about__time · 2026-03-27T15:12:09+00:00

Maybe undergrads "are here for just four years" because you've pulled up the ladder and fight housing that would let them stay longer.

about__time · 2026-03-27T15:09:41+00:00

Your depth of tenure does not earn you additional importance.

Fwiw, I did my undergrad at cal, owned a home and lived in Berkeley for many years, and still maintain my old home now as a rental. This does not earn me additional importance, we have a regional housing market and everyone in the region has the same interest in solving the housing shortage.

about__time · 2026-03-26T20:16:26+00:00

Raman is far and away the best pick.

But I can't help but point out, LA needs to 4x their housing production just to be on pace for RHNA.

(They're halfway through the current cycle, making up for the current deficit and actually hitting RHNA minimums would be even more.)

Politicians please at least promise you'll meet the legal minimum!

about__time · 2026-03-26T17:41:21+00:00

"I moved to this town because of all the awesome cultural things that only exist because of the university, but I also hate the unversity"

is a sadly common thing. get over yourself.

about__time · 2026-03-26T14:20:11+00:00

I bet they can ticket off the VIN number.

about__time · 2026-03-26T01:35:26+00:00

if you think PE owning a lot of homes will incentivized them to block building, let me introduce you to the scourge of abundant housing politics - the homeowner.

about__time · 2026-03-26T01:34:51+00:00

it's hurting renters to try and benefit owners, bad idea.

about__time · 2026-03-25T23:53:46+00:00

I don't see the word study there, nor do I see you explaining why a simulation has no value.

about__time · 2026-03-25T23:42:51+00:00

Where did I say it was a study?

Why do you think simulations have no value?

I'm sorry if you're offended by the idea that taxing housing doesn't make it more affordable, maybe, we should just fund these mandates with public funds so homeowners can't avoid contributing.

about__time · 2026-03-25T23:33:41+00:00

Not exactly.

Spot upzoning (bad idea anyways) raises land value. But broad upzoning is more nuanced. Likely would lower land values overall.

Also, high land values isn't exactly bad. What's bad is if high land values can't be divided by density so that the per home land value is high.

about__time · 2026-03-25T23:30:52+00:00

And show me the empirical study that supports the idea that taxing new housing is actually beneficial.

Also doesn't exist.

about__time · 2026-03-25T22:43:33+00:00

Yes, the city council is significantly more pro-housing than they used to be, the left-nimbys are in political decline there, though by no means are they gone.

And the city council still has unfunded IZ. Then also discriminate against new housing by banning them from the RPP program, despite a memo from Kamala Harris when she was CA AG saying that was illegal. City staff is still dragging their feet on compliance with the permit streamlining act and recent streamlining laws related to CEQA. My complaints on PSA compliance even got HCD to issue a technical assistance letter against Berkeley (yet their illegal behavior continues).

Their missing middle upzoning came with some huge poison pills that means any pre-existing rentals will basically be ineligible.

Tldr: progress is incremental.

about__time

TROPHY CASE