End-of-Session Solar Watch List

Environment California

Sacramento — This week, the California State Legislature will make pivotal decisions regarding a number of bills designed to expand California’s successful solar market.  In specific ways, each of the bills outlined below will give more Californians the ability to invest in solar power and other forms of distributed generation, bringing cleaner air, more jobs and a more stable electricity grid to California.

“If California is to remain the country’s clean energy leader and meet its renewable energy goals—including Governor Brown’s goal to increase the local clean power market to 12 gigawatts by 2020—California policy makers must act now to truly make solar power a mainstream energy resource,” said Michelle Kinman, Environment California’s clean energy advocate. “Each of the bills on this solar watch list will take California one step closer to achieving these goals.”

Environment California urges the State Legislature to support the following solar slate:

Scheduled for review by the Assembly on August 13

• SB 594 (Wolk and Blakeslee): This bill would allow customers who have multiple electricity meters on their property—such as farmers and schools—to effectively participate in the state’s successful net energy metering program.

Scheduled for review by the Assembly Appropriations Committee on August 16

• SB 843 (Wolk): This bill would expand access to renewable energy by enabling customers who do not own a roof or whose roofs are shaded or face the wrong direction to voluntarily buy renewable power from a shared facility and receive a credit on their utility bill.   SB 1222 (Leno): This bill would create a cap on permitting fees for solar systems, which is critical to supporting the growth of the solar industry, bringing increased economic development, additional jobs and environmental benefits to California.

Scheduled for review by the Senate Appropriations Committee on August 16

• AB 1990 (Fong): This bill would bring solar installations to low income communities through the creation of a 190 MW pilot feed-in tariff program.
• AB 2249 (Buchanan): This bill would make much needed changes to the Solar Water Heating and Efficiency Act of 2007 by allowing the incentive to extend to commercial pools.  It would remove up-front cost barriers that currently prevent municipalities, schools and non-profits from going solar, allow schools and non-profits to lower pool heating costs, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

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