FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 13, 2026
Contact: [email protected]
California Community Solar and Storage Bill Passes Senate Appropriations, Heads to Senate Floor
Sacramento, CA – Today, the Community Renewable Energy Program Act (AB 1813, Ward), passed out of the California Senate Appropriations Committee. AB 1813 is supported by a broad coalition, convened by Californians for Local, Affordable Solar and Storage (CLASS) (full list below), and will now move to the Senate floor.
California is one step closer to fixing a decade-old failure. A new study from UCLA released this week revealed that the state already has the right tool – the Avoided Cost Calculator (ACC) – to capture the grid savings community solar delivers, and the California Public Utilities Commission has simply refused to use it for the last 10 years. UCLA documents that California has left the ACC out of its community solar valuation even as nearly a dozen other states are running successful community solar programs, as reported by the LA Times. AB 1813 directs regulators to use the CPUC’s own methods for calculating the full set of benefits for distributed energy resources (i.e. the ACC), which is what will enable California to deliver bill relief for renters, low-income households, and small businesses.
Also of note:
- A Deploy Action/Embold Research poll found that more than 80% of California voters support local energy resources competing with utilities, and 83% prioritize reducing electricity bills.
- Aurora Energy Research’s independent grid impact study modeled deployment of 5.4 GW of community solar and storage across California over 20 years and found it would generate $6.5 billion in electricity system cost savings statewide — not just for subscribers.
- AB 1813 is supported by a broad coalition of clean energy advocates, solar developers, Community Choice Aggregators (CCAs), environmental justice groups, the building industry, and ratepayer advocates (full list of coalition members below).
- The endorsement of two community choice aggregators (San Diego Community Power and Peninsula Clean Energy), which are nonprofit, locally accountable power agencies with a statutory mandate to protect customers from rising electricity costs, directly dismantles the utility industry’s central argument against the bill.
Members of the Californians for Local Affordable Solar & Storage Coalition
- Californians for Local Affordable Solar & Storage (Sponsor)
- Advanced Energy United (AEU)
- Building Owners and Managers Association of California (BOMA)
- Brightline Defense
- California Alliance for Community Energy
- California Apartment Association
- California Building Industry Association
- California Environmental Justice Alliance Action
- California Environmental Voters
- Center for Biological Diversity
- Center for Sustainable Energy
- Clean Coalition
- Climate Health Now Action Fund
- Coalition for Community Solar Access (CCSA)
- Contra Costa County
- Dayenu: A Jewish Call to Climate Action
- GreenLatinos
- GRID Alternatives
- Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC)
- Neighborhood Sun
- Nexamp
- Peninsula Clean Energy (WestLight Energy)
- San Diego Community Power (SDCP)
- Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA)
- The Climate Center
- The Nature Conservancy
- The Utility Reform Network (TURN)
- USA Properties Fund
- Valley Vision
- Vote Solar
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Californians for Local, Affordable Solar and Storage (CLASS) is a coalition of community solar developers working to expand access to local, affordable clean energy, lower electricity bills for families and small businesses, and create new revenue opportunities for farmers and landowners across California.