Bernadette Del Chiaro on Rooftop Solar, the Cost Shift Myth, and the Fight for Energy Choice
Rooftop solar didn’t grow in California because of hype.
It grew because people understood it.
Panels on roofs. Power made at home. Lower bills. Cleaner air.
In this episode of The Solar Coaster, host Anna Covert sits down with Bernadette Del Chiaro, Senior Vice President of California at the Environmental Working Group, and one of the most experienced rooftop solar policy leaders in the United States.
For more than 20 years, Bernadette Del Chiaro has worked almost exclusively on solar and energy policy—helping shape landmark legislation like California’s Million Solar Roofs initiative, expanding net metering, and defending rooftop solar against utility-driven rollbacks.
This conversation pulls back the curtain on how policy is really made, why rooftop solar became a threat to monopoly utilities, and what solar companies—and consumers—can do next.
How Bernadette Del Chiaro Changed the Course of Rooftop Solar
When Bernadette Del Chiaro returned to California in the early 2000s, she noticed something striking:
no one was working on rooftop solar at the state level.
Environmental groups focused on efficiency, utility-scale renewables, and fossil fuel opposition—but distributed solar was largely ignored.
Bernadette saw what others missed.
She studied international models—especially Japan, where rooftop solar was already being built directly into new homes. The idea was simple, popular, and bipartisan: generate power where people live.
That insight led to one of California’s earliest attempts to mandate solar on new construction—a proposal that captured statewide attention, national media coverage, and even the attention of a newly elected governor: Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Though early versions of the bill were blocked by builders and utilities, the movement it sparked ultimately became SB 1: The Million Solar Roofs Program, one of the most influential solar policies in U.S. history.
Why Utilities Fear Rooftop Solar
As rooftop solar prices dropped and financing improved, something changed.
Utilities stopped seeing solar as “cute.”
They started seeing it as competition.
Bernadette explains how investor-owned utilities responded by promoting a now-familiar narrative: the cost shift myth—the claim that rooftop solar users unfairly raise electricity costs for everyone else.
But the data tells a different story.
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Electricity demand in California has been flat for nearly 20 years
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Rates were high before solar scaled
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Rooftop solar reduces peak demand and grid strain
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Utilities resell rooftop solar power at full retail prices
According to Bernadette, rooftop solar didn’t cause high rates.
High rates caused rooftop solar.
Net Metering, NEM 3.0, and the Real Policy Battle
The fight over Net Energy Metering (NEM) is often framed as technical—but Bernadette makes clear it’s about power.
Utilities don’t oppose solar because it’s inefficient.
They oppose it because it reduces guaranteed profits.
In this episode, Bernadette breaks down:
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How NEM 3.0 gutted rooftop solar economics
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Why proposed fixed charges and solar taxes threaten energy choice
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How utilities avoid meaningful audits of grid spending
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Why rooftop solar is being scapegoated to fund utility-scale infrastructure
She also shares insights into the ongoing lawsuit against NEM 3.0, where the courts are now being asked to determine whether regulators exceeded their authority.
What Solar Companies Should Be Doing (But Aren’t)
One of the most direct moments in the conversation comes when Bernadette addresses the solar industry itself.
Too many companies:
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Underfund advocacy
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Assume policy fights happen “somewhere else”
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Fail to mobilize their customers
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Ignore public narrative and media placement
Her comparison is blunt:
solar should organize like the NRA—putting customers at the center of advocacy, not manufacturers.
Policy doesn’t move without pressure.
Pressure doesn’t happen without investment.
Rooftop Solar Is Still the Technology of the People
Despite years of coordinated opposition, Bernadette Del Chiaro remains clear-eyed—and optimistic.
Ask people on the street if they like rooftop solar.
They still say yes.
The industry isn’t dying.
But access, affordability, and growth are being intentionally slowed.
The fight ahead isn’t about technology.
It’s about who controls energy—and who gets a choice.
