Dive Brief:

• Solar advocates won a victory in California when a California Public Utilities Commission (PUC) administrative law judge rejected utility plans to significantly lower their high-tier rates, according to a PUC “scoping order” released Friday.
• Solar advocates argued that the utility proposals “could have a disruptive impact on the solar market.”
• The PUC's law judge has asked the utilities to file simplified proposals that keep the state's current four-tier rate structure.

Dive Insight:

Solar developers were concerned that a sudden drop in rates for customers who use lots of electricity would undercut the market for solar panels in the state. For now, it looks like any rate changes set to take place later this year will be more modest than the utilities proposed in November.