California measure would alter solar law
Sacromento, CA, May 25, 2007 /UPI
Source: United Press International
http://www.upi.com/Energy/Briefing/2007/05/25/
California’s Legislature is considering a proposal that would fix last year’s Million Solar Roof law. Championed by Calif. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, the Million Solar Roof law was meant to encourage people to install energy-saving solar panels by offering financial incentives, the Press Enterprise reported. But a regulation that took effect Jan. 1 to help carry out the law has had the reverse effect. It requires participants in the program to pay more costly electricity rates when they need extra power.
Thursday’s proposed fix enacted by the state Senate would offer more than $3 billion in tax incentives and rebates to people who install solar panels. Installers of solar panels have reported a steep decline in orders since the rule took effect Jan. 1. Robert Philippsen, a consultant with Gone Solar in Palm Springs, Calif., said business in the Coachella Valley has declined so much that he had to lay off three people.
“This is where solar should be. We have the highest demand here,” Philippsen told the newspaper. Thursday’s bill emerged following negotiations among Schwarzenegger, lawmakers representing the Coachella Valley, and utility officials. The Assembly could consider the measure as early as next week.
The California Public Utilities Commission, which oversees the solar roof program, is scheduled to meet June 7. “We wanted to give the PUC the opportunity to look at the issue and make whatever adjustments … that are needed, maybe in time for the summer heat wave,” state Sen. Christine Kehoe, D-San Diego, who carried the bill in the Senate, said after Thursday’s 31-3 vote.