AB 942 Explained: What Actually Passed — and the Scary Parts That Didn't (2026)

If you own solar in California, someone — a neighbor, a Facebook group, a door-knocking salesperson — has probably told you that "AB 942" is taking away your net metering. In 2025, that fear was at least pointed at a real bill. In 2026, most of what people repeat about AB 942 is describing provisions that were removed before the bill ever became law.

This page is the scorecard: what AB 942 originally proposed, what got amended out, what survived, and what — if anything — you should actually do. Every claim links to a source, because this topic has been poisoned by outdated articles and sales tactics in equal measure.

What the original bill proposed (and why you heard scary things)

As introduced in 2025, AB 942 would have been the biggest retroactive change to rooftop solar economics in state history. Two provisions drove the headlines. First, a 10-year sunset: legacy NEM 1.0 and NEM 2.0 customers would have been forced onto the far less favorable net billing rules after 10 years instead of the 20 years the CPUC promised — a change that would have hit hundreds of thousands of households years ahead of schedule. Second, a home-sale trigger: selling or transferring your home would have ended the property's NEM agreement on the spot, cutting the resale value of every solar home in the state.

If you've seen specific scary numbers — hundreds of thousands of households "losing NEM" on a specific date — they trace back to analyses of this original draft. It is not what passed.

What got removed

The 10-year sunset died first: the ten-year language was stripped before the bill even passed the Assembly. Then, in July 2025, the Senate Energy, Utilities and Communications Committee voted 9–4 to remove the home-sale provision, preserving net metering agreements when a home changes hands. The California Solar & Storage Association, which led the opposition, called the amendments a win for the state's 2 million solar customers.

In plain terms: your 20-year legacy period stands, and your NEM agreement doesn't evaporate when you sell your house.

What survived

The bill that emerged from amendments was a much narrower thing, focused on cap-and-trade climate credits — the twice-a-year credit that appears on California electric bills. The surviving provisions affect climate-credit eligibility for certain solar households, including changes tied to very low annual electricity charges. For most solar owners this is a matter of tens of dollars a year, not the thousands the original bill put at risk. If you want the letter of the law, read the final bill text at leginfo.legislature.ca.gov rather than any 2025-era summary — including ours.

So is there any real deadline? Yes — the original one

Here's the irony: while everyone argued about AB 942, the actual clock kept ticking. Your NEM 1.0 or NEM 2.0 legacy protection was always a 20-year term measured from your system's permission-to-operate date. The earliest NEM 1.0 systems — interconnected in the mid-2000s — are reaching the end of those 20 years now, on schedule, no legislation required. When the term ends, the account moves to the current successor tariff, where exported power earns roughly 75% less.

That's not a panic; it's a planning problem with a known date. We've written a separate guide on when your NEM clock actually runs out and what to do about it, and if you're buying or selling a solar home, here's what happens to the NEM agreement in a sale.

What we'd actually do, by situation

If you're on NEM 1.0 or 2.0 with years left on your legacy term: nothing, enjoy it — and ignore anyone using "AB 942" as a reason you must buy something today. If your system was interconnected 2006–2010: your term is ending soon or already has — model the battery math before the switch, not after. If you're shopping for solar now: you'll be on NEM 3.0/net billing regardless (on SCE, PG&E, or SDG&E), where solar plus a battery is the design that pencils — and note that LADWP, Pasadena, and Riverside run their own friendlier programs entirely.

One evergreen caution: California solar policy has now changed materially several times in a decade, and bills like the original AB 942 will be proposed again. That argues for conservative payback math and honest quotes — not for waiting forever, and definitely not for signing whatever a door-knocker waves at you.

Frequently asked questions

Did AB 942 end net metering in California?

No. The provisions that would have cut legacy NEM terms to 10 years and ended NEM agreements at home sale were both removed by amendment before passage. The enacted law is far narrower, centered on cap-and-trade climate-credit eligibility.

Do I lose my NEM agreement if I sell my house?

No — the home-sale provision was stripped from AB 942 in July 2025, preserving net metering agreements through a property transfer. Buyers of solar homes inherit the system's existing tariff for the remainder of its legacy term; confirm the specifics with the utility during escrow.

Is any part of my solar bill affected by what passed?

Possibly the climate-credit line — the surviving provisions adjust eligibility for certain solar households. The effect is small compared with what the original bill proposed, and it doesn't touch your NEM export credits or legacy term.

My NEM protection ends eventually though, right?

Yes — that was always true. Legacy NEM 1.0 and 2.0 terms run 20 years from your permission-to-operate date, after which the account moves to the current net-billing tariff. Find your PTO date and you know your date; plan the battery decision a year or two ahead of it.