That was a good article - thanks.I think is is important to separate building code laws that govern what goes on behind the meter and the regulations that the IOUs would like you to think regulate what goes on behind the meter. In reality the IOU regulations only apply to us if our inverters export to the grid and/or we have a contract with them in which we agree to their rules. Years ago I read an academic treatise that influenced my thinking about our right to generate power behind the meter. Here is a link:
I think the article is even more relevant today given the erosion of NEM benefits. I would love to see the concept tested in a significant court case but I am not willing to be the guinea pig for such a case.
I only skimmed but it raises a few important points which I suspect will be sorted out through lawsuits in California after the final Successor Tariff Decision in January:
Utilities can charge authorized fees, but only if they are charging equally for all customers. So a minimum monthly bill of $10 or even $30 per month would certainly stand, but only charging those customers with solar including those that do not ever export a monthly Grid Benefits Charge may not be legal.
If you export any energy at all, they can certainly impose whatever rules and tariffs are allowed, but if you only use grid energy as a generator to charge a battery which is used to power a completely isolated / islanded house, it may be that they cannot and they must by law treat you like any other standard customer (meaning minimum monthly charge applied to all customers at most).
The grey zone arises when you are not completely islanded (as pointed out in the article).
So as long as you are either 100% grid-powered or 100% off-grid powered (islanded) you probably have the strongest argument to be treated like any other customer, but the moment you have a hybrid system which has an active grid connection while at the same time generating energy to power loads, that may put you out of the ‘any other customer’ category (and hence subject to special tariffs).
I’m pretty sure this is likely to get sorted out through lawsuits (probably class-action) after the final decision on the Successor Tariff next year…