Schwarzenegger announces solar-power legislation in California
San Jose Mercury News, Calif. --Aug. 21
Aug. 21--Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Friday announced his own version of legislation aimed at putting solar-power systems on a million homes in 13 years, but drew lukewarm responses from environmentalists, consumer advocates and builders.
"This proposal is about smart, innovative and environmentally friendly
technologies that will help improve the state's ability to meet peak electricity
demand while cutting energy costs for homeowners for years to come,"
Schwarzenegger said in a statement. "Once implemented, it will establish
California as a world leader in solar technology."
The governor's plan is now included in a bill carried by state Sen. Kevin
Murray, D-Los Angeles. Friday's announcement was a scramble to beat legislative
deadlines and make good on a campaign pledge, in which Schwarzenegger proposed a
"goal" that half of new homes would include solar-power systems
starting next year.
But Schwarzenegger's plan removes a requirement from Murray's original bill
that builders include solar systems on a percentage of new homes, and sets a
later time frame to meet industry concerns that housing projects often take four
years to develop.
"It's really a shadow of the original idea," said Matt Freedman of
The Utility Reform Network, a consumer group in San Francisco. "It's
symbolic rather than substantive."
Murray's original bill, SB 1652, would have required 15 percent of new homes
in large subdivisions to have solar systems in 2006, and raised the percentage
to 55 percent by 2010.
Murray amended the bill to reflect a draft "million solar homes"
proposal floated by the state Environmental Protection Agency a few weeks ago,
on the assumption it reflected what the governor would support. It had called
for $100 million a year in new funding to promote solar systems, and for a
minimum of 5 percent of new homes to have them by 2010, rising to 50 percent by
2020.
Schwarzenegger sent his own proposal late Thursday, just in time to meet a
legislative deadline. Murray's original bill, SB 1652, had expired, so the
senator inserted Schwarzenegger's proposal into another bill, SB 199, that had
dealt with cell phone privacy.
Murray said he doesn't view the new plan as a scaled-back version of his
original bill. While it strips the requirement for builders to include solar
systems on homes, it provides a source of new funding for incentives, which he
called "the Holy Grail of getting anything done."
"I think all the governor's suggestions are good for the bill,"
said Murray, who has spent years trying to pass solar-homes legislation.
"There are things I would have liked to have gone further, but I'm not at
all disappointed with the proposal."
Environment California, the group that had proposed Murray's original bill,
said the governor's plan raised concerns that the proposed funding sources could
take money away from other renewable energy programs.
Bernadette Del Chiaro, the group's clean-energy advocate, said she would have
preferred a stronger requirement for builders to include solar systems, but also
praised Schwarzenegger for putting his political weight behind the issue.
"It's still a step in the right direction," Del Chiaro said.
"If some of our concerns are addressed, it would still create the nation's
first robust solar-homes initiative."
Home builders, who have fought the proposal out of concern it would saddle
them with unreasonable rules and costs, remain unsold.
"We do have some concerns," said Bob Raymer, technical director for
the California Building Industry Association. The group favors initiating a test
program.
Sen. Debra Bowen, D-Redondo Beach, this week introduced a competing
solar-homes bill, SB 118, that uses funding sources to avoid a possible rate
increase, includes commercial property, and is tied to passage of AB 2006, which
would set a regulatory framework for the state's energy system. AB 2006 is
awaiting approval in the Senate.
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