The Million Solar
Roofs bill, SB 1 (Murray), passed the Senate Floor this evening by a vote of 36
to 4. The bill now moves to the governor’s desk for his up or down approval.
“With this bill California can get busy building a million
solar roofs,” said Bernadette Del Chiaro, clean energy advocate for Environment
California. “It has been an incredibly long haul for this particular bill and
we, first and foremost, commend Senator Murray for tirelessly championing it
for the past three years.”
The Million Solar Roofs bill, SB 1, contains three main
policies intended to accompany the California Solar Initiative established by
the Public Utilities Commission in January.
The main policies contained in SB 1 include:
- Lift on net metering cap enabling solar system
owners to receive a credit on their electric bill for excess energy generated
by their solar system. Current law caps the number of customers in each
utility territory to 0.5% of a utility’s total load. SB 1 would lift this
cap to 2.5%. An estimated 5% lift is ultimately needed to build a million
solar roofs in California.
- Mandate that all home builders, by 2011, make
solar panels a standard option for homebuyers, just like marble
countertops. The bill would also direct the California Energy Commission
to convene a proceeding to determine if and when solar power should become
a standard feature of new construction.
- Sets a goal that California’s municipal utilities, such as Los Angeles
Department of Water and Power, adopt their own solar rebate program totaling
$800 million. The Public Utilities Commission does not have legal authority
over the municipal utilities so legislation is needed to create a
statewide solar rebate program. In creating this goal, SB 1 would remove
$800 million from the $3.2 billion in the PUC’s California Solar
Initiative, lowering total available funds in investor-owned utility
territory to $2.4 billion.
Should SB 1 become law, it, combined with the PUC’s
California Solar Initiative, California will have created the largest solar
program in the country aiming to build 3,000 MW of solar power—the equivalent
of 6 large power plants—on homes, businesses, farms, and schools throughout the
state.
“Solar power is the wave of the
future,” said Del Chiaro. “Thanks to this bill and the efforts of many, California can become the Saudi Arabia of the sun.”
SB 1 received strong bi-partisan support
from the entire Senate with all 25 Democrats voting in favor of the
bill and eleven of the fifteen Republicans voting for the bill as well.
