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A new poll reveals that Californians overwhelmingly support expanding solar energy, with 85% of respondents believing that policymakers should be doing more to encourage solar adoption. The poll, conducted by Global Strategy Group (GSG), North Star, and the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA), highlights broad bipartisan agreement on the benefits of solar energy, with 70% of Republicans backing increased efforts to promote solar use.
The findings come at a critical time for California’s solar industry, which has been hit by state regulatory decisions that include a significant cut to the compensation solar customers receive for the unused power they sell back to the grid. Despite these setbacks, nearly 9 in 10 Californians believe solar customers should be fairly compensated for their contributions to the grid.
“California should be the state best positioned to capitalize on historic federal clean energy investments, but its own poor policy decisions are getting in the way,” said SEIA President and CEO Abigail Ross Hopper. “Californians up and down the state agree that their leaders need to do more to keep the state a solar and storage leader.”
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The poll also shows that Californians see solar as a win-win for the economy and households, with 84% agreeing that everyone benefits when more people go solar. Additionally, 79% of respondents expressed distrust in utility companies, believing they are not honest about the causes of rising electricity prices.
Support for solar energy spans across different scales and communities. The poll found that 87% of voters back the construction of more utility-scale solar projects in the desert, while 74% support solar projects in their own communities, including 64% of those living in rural areas.
There is also widespread approval for federal clean energy tax credits provided by the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), with nearly 9 in 10 respondents in favor. Among Republicans, 75% support the IRA’s clean energy incentives, reflecting a strong bipartisan push for renewable energy development.
“These data could not be clearer,” said GSG partner Andrew Baumann. “California voters are overwhelmingly supportive of solar across every metric. They think more solar will be good for the state’s economy, for electricity rates, and for reliability. So, it’s no wonder that they also think that California policymakers should stop making it harder to expand solar and instead do more to encourage its use.”
Dan Judy, Vice President of North Star Opinion Research, echoed this sentiment, noting that the broad support for solar is rare in today’s polarized political climate. “In our incredibly polarized political environment, it is difficult to find an issue on which voters on both sides of the spectrum can agree,” Judy said. “But support for solar energy is remarkably strong among Republicans, independents, and Democrats, and it is an issue around which California elected leaders at all levels can unite.”
With overwhelming public support, the pressure is mounting on California’s policymakers to take action and ensure the state remains a leader in solar energy and clean energy innovation.
Source: SEIA
