California's Million Solar
Roofs Bill Passes Second Assembly Committee
California's Assembly Housing and Community Development Committee passed
the Million Solar Roofs bill, SB 1, last week with a bi-partisan vote of
6-1. The Housing Committee vote came after another favorable vote, 7-0,
in the Assembly Utilities and Commerce Committee.
"Hands down, this is the biggest environmental bill of the year," said
Bernadette Del Chiaro, Clean Energy Advocate with Environment California
who has been working to pass the solar bill since 2003. "With continued
leadership in the assembly such as we've seen in the Energy and Housing
committees, California can show the world just how serious we are about
solving our energy and air pollution problems by turning our abundant
sunshine into clean, affordable and reliable energy."
The Million Solar Roofs bill has three primary co-authors, Senator Kevin
Murray (Los Angeles), Senator John Campbell (Orange County), and
Assembly Member Lloyd Levine (Van Nuys) and is officially endorsed by
Governor Schwarzenegger, 17 bipartisan and bicameral state legislators,
and more than 50 businesses, environmental and consumer organizations,
cities, and labor unions.
The Million Solar Roofs bill promises to build a million solar power
systems over 10 years, growing the California solar market, already the
third largest in the world, by 30-fold, lowering the cost of solar power
and bringing clean air and energy independence to the state. The bill
would accomplish this goal by providing consumers with the long-term
financial incentives needed to invest in solar power. Such goals would
grow California's solar market from 100 MW to over 3,000 MW. Economic
modeling by the Environment California Research & Policy Center shows
this kind of sustained growth would be enough to cut the cost of
installing solar panels, currently around $8.50/watt, in half by 2015,
the price point at which the panels are cost-effective without
subsidies.
Key provisions of the bill include:
--A $2.5 billion fund to homeowners and businesses for one-time rebates
over 10 years.
--An increase in the cap on net metering from 0.5 percent of a utility
peak load to 5 percent, allowing a million new customers to receive a
credit on their electric bill for any excess power generated by their
solar panels.
--A requirement that new, large single-family housing developments make
solar panels a standard offer, similar to marble countertops, to all new
homebuyers.
--A 10 percent carve-out in the fund for solar on affordable housing and
low-income homes and exemption for low-income ratepayers from paying
into the fund.
A recent analysis commissioned by the Public Utilities Commission and
the California Energy Commission finds that investing $2.5 billion in
customer-owned solar power over 10 years will save rate payers more than
$10 billion in avoided electricity generation costs over the 20-year
life of the solar panels.
The Million Solar Roofs bill will head next to Assembly Appropriations
Committee, with a hearing and vote likely after the legislature
reconvenes August 15 from summer break. The Appropriations Committee
must hear and vote on the bill by August 26 before being sent to the
assembly floor. If passed, it will head back to the senate for
concurrence before being sent to the governor's desk by September 9.
Published 07/14/2005
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