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Committee clears clarification to prevailing‑wage law for private solar projects
Summary
AB 1104 clarifies that private businesses and nonprofits installing solar are not treated as awarding bodies under public‑works prevailing‑wage rules; contractors remain responsible for prevailing wages and apprenticeship requirements. Committee passed the bill to the energy committee.
The Senate Committee on Labor, Public Employment and Retirement voted to advance AB 1104, a bill intended to clarify how prevailing‑wage requirements apply to private solar installations.
Assemblymember Pellerin, the bill's author, said AB 1104 responds to administrative confusion following enactment of AB 2143 (2022), which required prevailing wages for certain solar projects connected to the net billing tariff. Pellerin said private entities that simply purchase solar systems ' for example, a bakery or an animal shelter ' have been treated as "awarding bodies" and thus required to register with the Department of Industrial Relations and take on public‑works compliance duties they do not have the capacity to perform. "This bill clarifies that business owners of solar projects are not the awarding body and are therefore not subject to the complex public works requirements," the author said.
Supporters including commercial solar customers and chambers of commerce said the clarification removes a barrier that has contributed to a decline in commercial solar projects and job losses in the sector; witnesses cited declines in commercial applications in investor‑owned utility territories. The bill explicitly does not roll back prevailing‑wage obligations for contractors; contractors still must register as public‑works contractors, pay prevailing wages and meet apprenticeship requirements.
Labor groups that had previously opposed the bill reported their concerns had been addressed and either shifted to neutral or remained supportive of contractor accountability. The committee recorded unanimous support and moved the bill to the Committee on Energy, Utilities and Communications.
Action: The motion to pass AB 1104 to the Committee on Energy, Utilities and Communications carried with aye votes from Senators Smallwood Cuevas, Strickland, Durazo, Laird and Cortese (5–0).
Why it matters: Supporters said the change removes administrative burdens that have deterred private owners from installing solar and clarified that labor enforcement remains the responsibility of contractors and enforcement agencies.
What remains: The bill will go to the energy committee; supporters and labor groups will continue monitoring contractor accountability and enforcement mechanisms.
