Coalition celebrates diverse rooftop solar support, urges California leadership to keep solar growing

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Hundreds of solar supporters representing a diverse coalition from all over California gathered at the state capitol for an “Everyone Under the Sun Rally and Festival” to celebrate California’s clean energy progress and urge California’s leaders to keep solar growing for all of its energy consumers. Supporters want California, as it has for the last decade, to continue leading the nation in solar generation.

The event featured performances by James Jackson & All Stars Gospel Choir, Mariachi Nuevo Mexico de Sacramento, Aztec Dancers, and the Grammy-Award winning band Ozomatli, along with remarks from notable climate advocacy and social justice leaders. During the event, participants created a 480-foot long painted billboard on 10th Street with a pro-solar message, and displayed a giant 40- by 70-foot flag with a “keep solar growing for all” message on the lawn in front of the state capitol building.

“It’s no accident that California is the nation’s solar leader, with now a million and a half solar rooftops; it’s the direct result of state action to promote and grow clean energy. This is no time to abandon the mantle of leadership,” said Laura Deehan, Environment California state director. “We need four times as much rooftop solar if we want to protect our climate and our environment: let’s not get rid of solar incentives. Let’s reject solar taxes and go much further in supporting adoption of this critical clean energy technology.”

“Over the past decade, solar in California has grown more than in any other state,” said Steven King, clean energy advocate with Environment California. “That’s great news, but to achieve our vision of 100% clean, renewable energy in California, we need our state leaders to double down on technologies like solar and storage and ensure that all Californians can enjoy the benefits of clean energy.”

Solar is currently growing fastest in working- and middle-class neighborhoods and helping to advance California’s race to clean energy. That progress is threatened by utility-backed efforts in the California Public Utilities Commission to reduce competition by making solar unaffordable for most consumers through changes to a popular state policy called “net energy metering.” Net energy metering makes rooftop solar more affordable for consumers of all types by crediting them for the excess energy they produce and share with their neighbors.