The Million Solar Roofs
Initiative is one of California’s
most important and ambitious public policy endeavors. Historic in both scope and
scale, this initiative marks the first time a state has used a single
initiative to create a mainstream market for solar power and turn a boutique,
niche technology into a commonplace and affordable energy resource for average
Californians.
Broad and diverse support for
the initiative was driven largely by a desire for greater energy stability and
energy independence, by a growing concern over global warming and the health
impacts of air pollution, and by a desire for the economic benefits of solar
power such as increased jobs and lower energy bills.
Since the California Energy
Crisis of 2000/2001, demand for solar power increased by 2,800%.1 Yet, despite this progress, solar power today
makes up less than one half of one percent of the state’s electricity supply.2 While the third largest market for solar
power in the world, following Japan
and Germany, solar power in California remains a
small and highly specialized market.3
It is this very dynamic—this
huge missed opportunity to tap into one of California’s most abundant natural
resources—combined with pressing concerns about energy independence,
environmental problems and economic growth, that drove California’s top policy
makers toward establishing the Million Solar Roofs Initiative.
On
January 12, 2006,
the California Public Utilities Commission (PUC) approved the California Solar
Initiative, authorizing the state to invest $3.2 billion in small-scale
solar electric power systems over eleven years and establishing the statewide
goal of building a million solar electric roofs, or 3,000 megawatts (MW) of
solar electric power. The amount of money committed and the scope of this new
program is by far the largest solar investment of any state in the nation, and
an investment to rivals that of any nation in the world today.
Six
months later, on August 21,
2006, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed the Million
Solar Roofs Bill (SB 1) into law establishing much-needed policies that
complement the California Solar Initiative and that the PUC had no authority to
establish on their own. 4 This law, authored by state
senator Kevin Murray (D-LA), further enables California to achieve the goals of building
a million solar roofs in ten years and of making solar power a mainstream
energy resource over the coming decade.
Together,
these two complementary decisions put in place a multi-faceted state-wide solar
power program designed to cut the cost of solar power in half and create a
mainstream market for solar power within then years.
Given that California
is currently home to approximately 25,000 solar homes and businesses amounting
to more than 100 MW of solar power capacity, this program aims to increase California’s solar
market roughly 30 fold. In so doing, the program strives to cut the cost of
solar power in half by the end of the ten year program, phasing out government
rebates, and making solar power affordable for average California consumers.
Read our news release. | Watch advocate Bernadette Del Chiaro discuss solar energy on CNBC.
[1] Dave Algoso, Mary, Braun & Bernadette Del Chiaro, Environment California Research & Policy Center, Bringing Solar to Scale: California’s Opportunity to Create a Thriving, Self-Sustaining Residential Solar Market 12 (April 2005) available Here.
[2]< Melissa Jones et al., supra note 3, 38.
[3] Solarbuzz, Photovoltaic Industry Statistics: Countries, at http://solarbuzz.com/StatsCountries.htm (last visited Mar. 4, 2006).
[4] While SB 1 predates the California Solar Initiative, the legislature’s failure to pass it in 2005 combined with dwindling funds for solar power rebates spurred the Public Utilities Commission to take immediate action by adopting the California Solar Initiative in early 2006. After this action by the PUC, the legislature revised SB 1 so that it complimented, instead of duplicated, what was already established by the PUC. For detailed analysis and comparison of the California Solar Initiative and SB 1, see www.environmentcalifornia.org.
endorsementlist.pdf