Schwarzenegger Screws Solar Companies
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed an executive order forcing California utilities to get 33 percent of their electricity from renewable sources by 2020. But at the same time, he promised to veto two bills passed by the Legislature days earlier that would have done the same thing, but with far more restrictions on how those goals could be met.
Meanwhile, a bill to increase the amount of electricity that utilities get from home solar systems never reached a final vote.
– California’s renewable power industry will grow, but it also will spill over into neighboring states. Many of the solar and wind farms built to help utilities meet California’s new renewable power targets will be in Nevada, Oregon or Washington.
– Companies that install solar systems on homes and businesses may see their sales drop next year because the Legislature didn’t pass a key bill on “net metering.”
Under current law, homeowners and businesses with solar systems can get credit from the utilities for generating excess electricity and sending it to the state’s electrical grid. But the utilities are only required to take so much of it – up to 2.5 percent of each utility’s total electrical load – and Pacific Gas and Electric Co. will reach that level next year. The failed bill would have expanded the amount to 5 percent.
Solar impact
“I’m not a person who usually goes around saying ‘The sky is falling,’ but this is really going to impact solar starting next year,” said Angiolo Laviziano, chief executive officer of REC Solar in San Luis Obispo.
The bill’s failure means that once PG&E hits the 2.5 percent limit, the utility’s customers will no longer have as much financial incentive to go solar. Although REC Solar operates in other states, cushioning the potential blow, Laviziano said he could be forced to cut as many as 120 jobs if business in California dries up as much as he fears.
“Even for us, it would be an extremely painful hit,” he said. “For companies that are focused solely on California, it would put their whole operations at risk.”
As the California Legislature neared the end of its session, most of the attention focused on a pair of bills that would have dramatically expanded the amount of renewable power used in the state. California law now requires the utilities to get 20 percent of their electricity from renewable sources by the end of 2010, a deadline they are almost certain to miss. The bills would have raised that requirement to 33 percent by 2020.
The utilities wanted more flexibility to buy power from outside California. Under the bills, out-of-state wind farms and solar plants could only make up 30 percent of each utility’s renewable energy supply. The limit was designed to keep new renewable power projects and jobs here in California, rather than letting them go to neighboring states.
Schwarzenegger sided with the utilities, saying the limit smacked of protectionism. As a result of his decision to veto the bills, renewable energy experts say states such as Nevada and Oregon will see more solar and wind projects.
