California Passed the Plug and Play Solar Act With Over 90% Support. Now It’s Up to Newsom.

← The Current  ·  September 2, 2026  ·  State laws  ·  4 min read

We spent last week watching the clock on California’s August 31 deadline, and it turns out the Legislature didn’t need the extra days. SB 868, the Plug and Play Solar Act, passed the Assembly on August 25 and cleared the Senate’s concurrence vote on August 26, with over 90% support in both chambers. The bill reached Governor Newsom’s desk on August 31, which gives him until roughly September 30 to decide what to do with it.

What the bill does

If Newsom signs, then starting January 1, 2027, Californians — renters and homeowners alike — will be able to plug in a solar system of up to 1,200 watts without an interconnection application, without utility fees, and without a permit. The device does have to be certified by UL or an equivalent nationally recognized testing laboratory and meet the National Electrical Code. That certification requirement runs through every state law we track, and it’s why what’s actually certified matters more than what’s cheapest. One wrinkle the Assembly added along the way: the interconnection exemption sunsets on January 1, 2030, unless the Legislature renews it, which makes this something of a trial period.

Senator Scott Wiener, who wrote the bill, put the case plainly: “Electricity costs have reached ridiculous levels here in California and the Plug and Play Solar Act provides a much-needed tool.” The Environmental Working Group’s Bernadette Del Chiaro called plug-in solar “the most exciting clean energy idea around.” If you want the full bill text and history, they’re on the Legislature’s official SB 868 page, and coverage from pv magazine USA and the EWG release fills in the vote detail.

The national press took notice too. The New York Times covered the vote the next morning, and Ivan Penn’s report leads with the politics: broad bipartisan support, over the objections of the state’s investor-owned utilities, which tells you how much energy affordability has scrambled the usual alliances. The Times also puts a number on why this is all happening now — the average American household’s electric bill reached $183 a month in June, up 5 percent from a year earlier, per the Energy Information Administration. Balcony solar has made the Times twice this summer, first as an argument, now as news.

Why this one is such a big deal

California has roughly 17 million renters and the second-highest residential electricity rates in the country, and those two facts together are most of the story. Our savings math is driven almost entirely by rates, so there is no state where a balcony panel pays for itself faster. Earlier this month, when we added up the population covered by the eight enacted laws, we got about 32 million people. New Jersey’s signature on September 1 brings that to roughly 41 million. California would push it to about 80 million, and New York after that would put us near 100 million — nearly three in ten Americans.

Two bills, two governors

The queue just got shorter. New Jersey’s Garden State Balcony Solar Act, which passed both chambers without a single no vote, sat on Governor Sherrill’s desk from June 30 until September 1, when she signed it. Devices up to 1,200 watts are exempt from interconnection and metering requirements, landlords and HOAs can’t broadly ban them, towns can’t require permits, and the law takes effect March 1, 2027. That leaves two. New York’s SUNNY Act is waiting on Governor Hochul, who has until the end of the year; Con Edison filed a memo in support. And Newsom, in his final months in office, has until roughly September 30, since the bill reached him on August 31. If you’re in California and want the bill signed, you can find your representative or write the Governor’s office directly.

We’ll publish each governor’s decision the day it lands, and the state law tracker reflects all of it. If you hear something before we do — a scheduled signing, a veto message — we’d welcome the tip: hello@solarly.io.

Sources: California Legislative Information, SB 868 bill history; pv magazine USA, Aug. 26, 2026; Environmental Working Group release, Aug. 26, 2026; The New York Times, Aug. 27, 2026; U.S. Energy Information Administration; Office of the Governor of New Jersey, press release, Sept. 1, 2026; Solarly state law tracker, verified September 4, 2026.
By Ben van der Veen. Solarly is independent and ad-free. No installer relationships, no sponsored picks.