Three things changed since the last issue that you can use on a porch this weekend. Two are signed law. One is a battery number. Four more bills are still sitting on Newsom’s desk, and we’ll tell you when they move.
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1. AB 1738 is law: remote inspections for home solar + storage (Chapter 271)
Newsom signed AB 1738 (Carrillo) on Sep 18. It’s Chapter 271. Most cities and counties now have to give the homeowner (or the contractor, with consent) the option of a remote video inspection for rooftop PV up to 15 kW AC and energy storage. Heat pumps and reroofs are covered too. Compliance dates land on Jan 1 or Jul 1, 2028, so nothing changes on this month’s installs. The inspector can still call for an in-person visit.
If you saw it described as “awaiting signature” in Canary Media or The Cool Down, that coverage is behind. LegInfo shows it chaptered. Go with LegInfo.
Sources: LegInfo status · Chaptered text · Governor’s 9/18 legislative update
2. 140,000 home batteries put 580 MW on the CA grid (Sunrun + Tesla)
Sunrun’s Sep 21 release says that on the evening of the Sep 9 heat wave, more than 140,000 home batteries, about 110,000 of them Tesla Powerwalls, sent more than 580 MW to California’s grid. They ran through two state programs: the CEC’s Demand Side Grid Support (DSGS) and the CPUC’s Emergency Load Reduction Program (ELRP). That’s peaker-plant scale, spread across garages and side yards.
This is a vendor press release, so quote it as Sunrun’s number. The release doesn’t give a per-home payout, and neither should you.
Sources: Sunrun IR, Sep 21 · Electrek
3. Newsom signed the data-center ratepayer package (Sep 21)
The stack includes SB 1168 (Ch. 440), SB 886 (Ch. 438), AB 2383 (Ch. 435), and AB 1577 (Ch. 434). The point of the package is to stop data centers from pushing grid-upgrade and program costs onto everyone else’s bill. That’s about who pays for future buildout. None of it lowers a homeowner’s rate this month.
Sources: Governor’s office, Sep 22 · SB 1168 · SB 886 · AB 2383 · AB 1577
Why It Matters at the Door
When they say “permits and inspections take forever.”
Tell them the state just signed a law for remote video inspections on home solar and batteries. Then give them the date: 2028. Today’s job still runs on the local inspector’s calendar, and that inspector can still show up in person. Promise a faster PTO and you’ll own that promise when it doesn’t happen.
When they ask “does a battery actually do anything?”
Sep 9 is your answer. Per Sunrun, 140,000+ home batteries covered 580 MW on one heat-wave evening. That’s proof home batteries show up when the grid is tight. If they ask what they’d get paid, tell them it depends on the program and the provider’s terms. Don’t make up a number on the porch.
When they say “AI data centers are driving my bill up.”
Don’t argue. Tell them the state just signed laws aimed at exactly that: keeping data-center grid costs off their bill. Then be straight with them. Those laws don’t lower today’s rate. Ask for the last 12 months of bills and look at what they’re actually paying. The bill in their hand is what you size the system to.
Scrub these pitches:
- Don’t say SB 868 (balcony solar), SB 222, AB 1813, or SB 913 is signed. All four are still enrolled on the Governor’s desk. His deadline is Sep 30.
- Don’t quote a dollar savings figure for remote inspections. The $600 to $1,000 and $500 million numbers in some coverage come from outside analysis. They aren’t in the AB 1738 text.
- Don’t quote a per-home payout for battery dispatch. Sunrun’s release doesn’t give one.
- Don’t promise a rate cut from the data-center laws.
- Still true from earlier issues: the lawsuit isn’t bringing back retail NEM, and there’s no blanket 30% federal credit on a 2026 cash buy (§25D ended for expenditures after Dec 31, 2025).
CA Corner
On the Governor’s desk until Sep 30. SB 868 (plug-in balcony solar), SB 222 (Heat Pump Access Act), AB 1813 (community solar rebuild), and SB 913 (aggregated home batteries counting toward resource adequacy) are all still enrolled. No signature and no veto as of Sep 23. Until one moves, talk about them as bills.
Sources: SB 868 · SB 222 · AB 1813 · SB 913
Climate Credit. The Governor’s office said Sep 22 that millions of households got an average of $75 in bill relief this summer. If a homeowner brings it up, don’t wave it off. It’s a bill credit. Ask what the other months looked like.
Source: Governor’s office, Sep 22
Property-tax clock. The new-construction exclusion for active solar goes inoperative for new systems on Jan 1, 2027. Use it only if the deal actually depends on the exclusion, and have the homeowner confirm with the county assessor. Don’t invent a dollar figure.
Source: BOE LTA 2026/034
SGIP. Residential budgets are a mix of closed and waitlisted. Check the official dashboard before you bring it up, and don’t pitch open general-market SGIP to a market-rate homeowner.
Source: CPUC SGIP
CTA
That’s three new things to say at the door this week. The harder part is knowing which doors to say them at. Run a free KnockGenius scan before Saturday, then open the app on iPhone or Android so the route runs your day.
Free scan: https://knockgenius.com/free-scan
Site: https://knockgenius.com
iOS: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/knockgenius/id6793432815
Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.knockgenius.app