Californians who install rooftop solar energy systems that come with a battery storage unit have been able to hire their contractor to maintain the battery system and add to it over time.
That will change on Oct. 1, unless plaintiffs in a San Diego court case prevail in their suit. A hearing in the suit is set for this week.
The question is about who gets to install and service battery energy storage systems (BESS). California’s Contractors State License Board (CSLB) plans to prohibit workers classified as solar contractors from doing it.
Solar energy groups and the Center for Biological Diversity have sued the licensing board, saying there is no indication that licensed solar contractors cannot do the job.
“We should be giving consumers as many choices as possible to shop around for the types of worker they want to hire to do that work on their houses. And this regulation goes backwards. It restricts consumer choice,” said Dave Rosenfeld, with the Solar Rights Alliance.
CSLB said it wouldn’t comment on the case, since it’s in court. But their website says the new rule is meant to preclude solar contractors from “performing trade, crafts and skills outside the scope” of their classification.
“The proposal benefits the public by clearly defining the BESS installations that require specialized electrical knowledge and skill … and ensures BESS is installed only by those contractors who have met the minimum qualifications,” according to the CSLB.
But Rosenfeld said the licensing board provided no evidence that battery storage systems installed by solar contractors were inadequate.
“Their own research, and this is in the record, did not find a shred of evidence that there is any difference in performance and safety in batteries that are installed by licensed solar contractors, compared to batteries installed by licensed electricians,” he said.
He said the new rule will particularly hurt solar energy consumers who got warranties that their contractor would continue to maintain their solar system. Something they won’t be able to do with the battery system, under the new rules.
The legal dispute is part of a long history of solar power advocates and California utilities clashing over how solar power should be valued and regulated.
Rosenfeld said he believes the licensing board passed the regulations due to pressure from utility interest groups.
“The utilities and the utilities union is putting political pressure on the government to essentially exclude a whole class of workers from an industry to continue their very clear and very well documented attack on the growth of rooftop solar,” Rosenfeld said.
The plaintiffs in a lawsuit against the contractors license board will appear in San Diego Superior Court on Thursday. They’ll ask a judge for an injunction to delay the new rule, until they can argue their case that the rule is illegal.
