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SAN FRANCISCO, January 12,
2006 - The California Public Utilities Commission (PUC) today created
the largest solar program of its kind in any state in the country - the
California Solar Initiative, a 10-year, $2.9 billion program designed
to help California move toward a cleaner energy future and help bring
the costs of solar electricity down for California consumers. The goal
of the program is to increase the amount of installed solar capacity on
rooftops in the state by 3,000 MW by 2017.
"California
has long been a leader on environmentally-sound approaches to the
provision of energy. We adopted formalized policies on renewable power
and energy efficiency in our Energy Action Plans," said PUC President
Michael R. Peevey. "The California Solar Initiative continues that
tradition with an aggressive new program to promote solar development."
"The
California Solar Initiative is the largest solar program in the country
and I hope it will be a model for other states," said Commissioner Dian
M. Grueneich. "The program will be a major source of dependable and
environmentally friendly electricity, and is a major tool in the
State's promise to address climate change and meet the Governor's goals
to reduce greenhouse gas emissions." "Today's decision signals
California's vote for a cleaner, more reliable energy future,"
commented Commissioner Rachelle Chong. "Now it's up to
Californians to make this a reality by stepping up to the plate to go
solar."
The California Solar Initiative includes the following provisions:
· $2.9 billion over a 10-year period in
rebates that will decline steadily over that same timeframe. Funds will
come from electric and gas distribution customers of investor-owned
utilities, and will go toward the installation of solar photovoltaics
initially, with solar hot water heating and solar heating and cooling
systems being added after workshops are conducted later this year.
· The California Energy Commission (CEC)
will oversee one component of the program to focus on builders and
developers of new housing, to encourage solar installations in the
residential new construction market. The PUC will oversee the remainder
and majority of the California Solar Initiative, which will cover
existing residential housing, as well as existing and new commercial
and industrial properties.
· The program sets aside 10 percent of
program funding for low-income customers and affordable housing
installations. The PUC will also explore the option of offering
low-cost financing options to those types of installations in workshops
this year.
· The program includes an additional
amount of up to 5 percent of the annual budget for potential research,
development, and demonstration activities, with emphasis on the
demonstration of solar and solar-related technologies.
· The program includes a requirement
that solar incentive payments be made not just for installed capacity,
but also with emphasis on the performance and output of the solar
systems installed, to ensure that these solar investments are
delivering clean energy as promised.
· The program design requires all
facilities that receive an incentive to undergo an energy efficiency
audit (at a minimum) to identify more cost-effective energy efficiency
investment options at the building. The PUC also intends to have
further workshops to determine incentives for newly constructed
buildings that participate in utility energy efficiency new
construction programs and exceed the existing building standards by a
certain threshold.
"We are taking an important step today to lay out a framework for
an orderly, 10-year approach to creating a sustainable solar industry.
Our hope is that solar will become a major part of California's energy
portfolio, to provide clean and inexpensive distributed generation to
millions of California consumers," said President Peevey. "Our plan is
to offer a subsidy now to push the deployment of an important part of
our sustainable energy future in the long-run. This solar program
simply offers one of the many emerging alternatives to consumers
concerned about a clean energy future."
This groundbreaking initiative represents the culmination of more than
a year's worth of work by the PUC and the CEC, as well as considerable
work and many discussions in the California Legislature and Governor
Arnold Schwarzenegger's office.
For more information on the PUC, please visit www.cpuc.ca.gov.
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