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A former California utility executive now serving in the state’s assembly has introduced a bill that would significantly reduce the energy credit benefits tied to rooftop solar power systems.

The Los Angeles Times reports AB 942 would cut the current program’s benefits from 20 years to 10 years. The bill would also cancel the solar contracts if the home was sold.

In the rooftop solar program, 2 million homeowners receive a credit on their electric bills for the solar energy they produce but don’t use. The credit is based on the current retail electric rates – and since rates have been rising over recent years, the credits have also been growing.

The bill is being put forth by Assemblymember Lisa Calderon (D-Whittier), a former government affairs executive at Southern California Edison and its parent company, Edison International. Calderon stated her bill was based on fairness – she argued that the credits the rooftop solar owners receive when they send unused electricity to the grid results in higher bills for customers who don’t have solar panels. The legislation applies to household that purchased the systems before April 15, 2023,

Southern California Edison and California’s two other major for-profit utilities have long sought to slash the energy credits that incentivized homeowners to buy solar panels, arguing that these systems cut into the utilities’ electricity sales. Calderon insisted she was not working on behalf of the utilities by bring forth this bill.

“I introduced this bill with one goal in mind: to help lower the cost of energy for Californians,” she said in a statement after declining interview requests.