---
[ CLIMATE ](https://mail.citywatchla.com/climate)
# New Ally Joins Fight to Defend Rooftop Solar in California
July 15 2024
Written by Brett Wilkins.
[](https://www.addtoany.com/share)
O SOLAR MIO - A leading U.S. green group on Tuesday joined the legal challenge to a California rule banning solar contractors from installing or maintaining photovoltaic battery storage.
The Arizona-based [Center for Biological Diversity](https://www.commondreams.org/tag/center-for-biological-diversity) (CBD) [joined](https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/lawsuit-challenges-california-licensing-board-attack-on-rooftop-solar) an [amended lawsuit](https://biologicaldiversity.org/programs/energy-justice/pdfs/CA-Solar-Licensing-Board-Amended-Petition-07092024.pdf) filed in San Diego County Superior Court against a California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) regulation enacted last year in accordance with the wishes of Pacific Gas & Electric and two other investor-owned utilities.
The amended lawsuit supplements a complaint filed by CalPIRG, the Solar Rights Alliance, the California Solar & Storage Association, and a solar contractor adversely affected by the new CPUC rule. [Climate campaigners](https://www.commondreams.org/news/rooftop-solar-california) and [Democratic state lawmakers](https://www.commondreams.org/news/rooftop-solar) have previously launched challenges to the regulation.
CBD [said](https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/lawsuit-challenges-california-licensing-board-attack-on-rooftop-solar) the new rule "would increase the cost and administrative burden of installing rooftop solar and storage, vital technologies that make communities more resilient to utility blackouts and the fossil fuel-driven climate emergency."
Roger Lin, a CBD senior attorney, said in a statement: "It's outrageous that California regulators keep attacking rooftop solar and it has to stop. They're undermining California's climate goals and putting clean energy further out of reach for working-class families."
"This licensing trick is straight from the utility playbook and will cause electricity rates to skyrocket while worsening the climate emergency," Lin added. "People are dying from [extreme heat ](https://www.commondreams.org/news/heatwave-us)and California desperately needs smart, resilient energy solutions. Instead, the board is propping up a brittle electricity grid that devastates critical habitats and promotes environmental injustice."
The new suit came on the same day that the California Energy Commission (CEC) [announced](https://www.solarpowerworldonline.com/2024/07/california-energy-commission-helps-cities-counties-adopt-automated-solar-permitting/) nearly $19 million in new grants meant to assist communities in their efforts to automate the approval of residential solar energy permits.
"We are thrilled to be able to disburse funds to over 330 cities and counties across California to make it easier for residents to go solar," CEC Chair David Hochschild said in a statement, calling the program "a win for residents, building departments, solar businesses, and our environment."
*(Brett Wilkins is a staff writer for Common Dreams where this article was first featured.)*
[  ](https://mail.citywatchla.com/component/banners/click/107 "LA DWP | Save $4K, Green | Priority Ad")
[  ](https://mail.citywatchla.com/component/banners/click/98 "Donna Tryfman - HS1-1")
[  ](https://mail.citywatchla.com/component/banners/click/82 "LA DWP #2 (Power Savers)")
[  ](https://mail.citywatchla.com/component/banners/click/111 "David DeJute Campaign")
[  ](https://mail.citywatchla.com/component/banners/click/97 "Home - LA DWP #2 (Pay Water Bill Help)")
[  ](https://mail.citywatchla.com/component/banners/click/112 "Anna Reitano Vertical R. Col")
## Get The News In Your Email Inbox Mondays & Thursdays
Phone
[  ](https://mail.citywatchla.com/component/banners/click/110 "Something You Should Know")
[  ](https://mail.citywatchla.com/component/banners/click/113 "Rhonda Haymon campaign")
---
## Featured CityWatch Stories
[  ](https://mail.citywatchla.com/neighborhood-politics/33486-why-would-la-voters-elect-a-city-attorney-who-has-never-tried-a-case-in-court-in-front-of-a-jury)
### [Why Would LA Voters Elect A City Attorney Who Has Never Tried A Case In Court In Front Of A Jury?](https://mail.citywatchla.com/neighborhood-politics/33486-why-would-la-voters-elect-a-city-attorney-who-has-never-tried-a-case-in-court-in-front-of-a-jury)
OP-ED - I am writing to my neighbors over my deep concern about the candidacy of Marissa Roy for Los Angeles City Attor…
[  ](https://mail.citywatchla.com/los-angeles/33508-a-los-angeles-trilogy-the-successes-and-failures-that-defined-our-leadership)
### [A Los Angeles Trilogy: The Successes and Failures That Defined Our Leadership](https://mail.citywatchla.com/los-angeles/33508-a-los-angeles-trilogy-the-successes-and-failures-that-defined-our-leadership)
NICK’S VIEW - Los Angeles needs purposeful, decisive leadership. Without it, the city risks sleepwalking into crisis. T…
[  ](https://mail.citywatchla.com/world-watch/33501-the-slow-motion-erasure-of-the-west-bank)
### [The Slow-Motion Erasure Of The West Bank](https://mail.citywatchla.com/world-watch/33501-the-slow-motion-erasure-of-the-west-bank)
WEST BANK - There are crimes that arrive with explosions, and crimes that advance quietly—through a bulldozer at dawn…
[  ](https://mail.citywatchla.com/election-2024/33510-nithya-ramans-fascist-stunt-wasnt-leadership-it-was-disqualifying)
### [Nithya Raman’s ‘Fascist’ Stunt Wasn’t Leadership. It Was Disqualifying](https://mail.citywatchla.com/election-2024/33510-nithya-ramans-fascist-stunt-wasnt-leadership-it-was-disqualifying)
THE BOTTOM LINE - Los Angeles has enough serious problems without turning the race for mayor into a social-media circus…
[  ](https://mail.citywatchla.com/neighborhood-politics/33499-mountain-lions-gave-woodland-hills-residents-the-voice-sacramento-wouldnt)
### [Mountain Lions Gave Woodland Hills Residents the Voice Sacramento Wouldn’t](https://mail.citywatchla.com/neighborhood-politics/33499-mountain-lions-gave-woodland-hills-residents-the-voice-sacramento-wouldnt)
OP-ED - We all know the political pendulum swings back and forth. Many wish that it would settle somewhere in the midd…
---
## [ CLIMATE ](https://mail.citywatchla.com/climate)
[  ](https://mail.citywatchla.com/climate/33433-i-california-hypocrite)### [I, California Hypocrite](https://mail.citywatchla.com/climate/33433-i-california-hypocrite)
[  ](https://mail.citywatchla.com/climate/33436-clean-energy-is-coming-how-much-more-should-los-angeles-ratepayers-pay-to-get-there-faster)### [Clean Energy Is Coming. How Much More Should Los Angeles Ratepayers Pay to Get There Faster?](https://mail.citywatchla.com/climate/33436-clean-energy-is-coming-how-much-more-should-los-angeles-ratepayers-pay-to-get-there-faster)
[  ](https://mail.citywatchla.com/climate/33274-how-curved-glass-is-adapting-architecture-for-a-hotter-world)### [How Curved Glass Is Adapting Architecture for a Hotter World](https://mail.citywatchla.com/climate/33274-how-curved-glass-is-adapting-architecture-for-a-hotter-world)
[  ](https://mail.citywatchla.com/climate/33044-purveyors-of-pollution-and-escalation-of-global-warming)### [Purveyors of Pollution and Escalation of Global Warming](https://mail.citywatchla.com/climate/33044-purveyors-of-pollution-and-escalation-of-global-warming)
[  ](https://mail.citywatchla.com/climate/32969-plastic-free-july-angelenos-invited-to-help-protect-beaches-rivers-and-the-pacific)### [Plastic Free July: Angelenos Invited to Help Protect Beaches, Rivers and the Pacific](https://mail.citywatchla.com/climate/32969-plastic-free-july-angelenos-invited-to-help-protect-beaches-rivers-and-the-pacific)