AB 942 and California Solar: What the Bill Proposed, and Why It Is Not Law
AB 942 is a 2025 bill, not a law. Its Assembly version would have changed the solar tariff a home buyer gets; the Senate later replaced that text. Here is what it proposed, and what decides a solar lease or PPA transfer when you sell.
This page is one part of our guides to solar problems in California.
AB 942 is not law
AB 942 (Calderon), introduced February 19, 2025, is not law. Its history on the Legislature's site shows no action after August 29, 2025, when the Senate Appropriations Committee sent it to the Senate Rules Committee, and no chaptered version (California Legislative Information, AB 942 history, checked September 24, 2026).
An earlier version of this page said AB 942 set lease-transfer rules, a 30-day lien-release deadline and new disclosures, codified at Civil Code § 1689.12. That was wrong. Section 1689.12 is part of the home-solicitation contract rules and does not mention solar.
What the bill proposed
The version the Assembly passed on June 3, 2025 dealt with net metering on a home sale. From January 1, 2026, a buyer of a home with a solar or other renewable generation system, served by a large utility such as PG&E, SCE or SDG&E, would have had to take the then-current tariff instead of the seller's, without the export adder, and pay all nonbypassable charges (AB 942 bill text and digest, checked September 24, 2026).
On July 17, 2025, the Senate amended the bill and removed all of that. The remaining text deals only with the California Climate Credit: it would stop paying the credit to residential customers who are not enrolled in CARE or FERA and whose electricity bills for the previous year were less than $300.
What decides a lease or PPA transfer today
Your contract does. The transfer terms, any credit check for the buyer, fees and the buyout price are in the lease or PPA you signed, so read that before you list the home. For the tariff, the CPUC says customers on NEM 2.0 may stay on it for 20 years from the date they interconnected (CPUC, Net Energy Metering and Net Billing, checked September 24, 2026). Ask your utility in writing which tariff the system will be on after the sale.
If you are selling
- Get the provider's written transfer requirements and a buyout quote before you list.
- Pre-qualify your buyer with the provider before you accept an offer.
- Give buyers the full contract early, including the payment schedule and any escalator.
If you are buying
- Ask for the full solar contract before you make an offer.
- Ask the escrow or title officer whether a financing statement is recorded for the system and how it will be handled at closing.
- If you do not want to take over the contract, make a seller buyout a condition of your offer.
Related Reading
Want to discuss your solar options?
Start with the utility on your bill and what you pay in a typical month. Contact details come after that. California Rate Relief collects the information for a solar referral; the provider confirms availability, design and price.
California Rate Relief is a referral service. We are not a licensed contractor. California Rate Relief is compensated by a solar provider when a homeowner we refer signs an agreement. How we make money
Before you send anything
- What this is
- California Rate Relief is a private referral service. It is not a contractor, does not install or finance anything, and is not a utility, a government agency or an assistance program.
- What happens after the form
- Your project details are recorded for referral to a solar provider. The provider decides whether it can help and what it can offer; availability, design and price are determined after its own review.
- How you are contacted
- Read the consent wording before submitting. Your inquiry includes contact details for follow-up about the project; a provider decides whether it can serve it.
- Using the site without submitting
- The calculators, bill comparisons and checklists on this site work without contact details, and nothing on this page requires a submission.