Responding to complaints from solar roof installation companies, the Los Angeles City Council on Friday voted to intervene on a controversial proposal by the Los Angeles Department of Water & Power to scale back solar incentives given to homeowners.

The 12 – 1 vote is seen as an indicator that the council next week will likely send the program back to the DWP for a redo.

The DWP earlier this year was forced to halt the solar incentive program because it was running out of money. A flood of applications had come in from homeowners seeking to take advantage of rebates that covered roughly half the cost of installing solar panels.

Last month, the DWP board voted to allocate another $60 million to the program but also to reduce the incentives by at least 30 percent in an attempt to allow more homeowners to use them.

However, solar roof installers, led by Orange-based Verengo Solar, oppose the new incentive structure, saying the rebates are now too small to convince homeowners to spend money to have solar panels installed. The installers also say the new incentive levels are lower than the rebates offered by other power companies.

The council is expected to decide before it breaks for summer recess next Friday week whether to order the DWP to rework the program.