Senate should pass solar bill
AB 1470 to cut install cost of solar water
heaters
Anyone who has visited Hawaii with any frequency has probably taken a shower
with water warmed by a solar-powered water heater. Because of its combination of
plentiful sunshine and high energy prices, Hawaii promotes and subsidizes this
clean form of water heating more than any other state.
Most of California -- and especially the San Joaquin Valley -- has more
sunny days than Hawaii, but as yet the state hasn't seen the light of solar
water heaters. Only about 1,000 of them are installed statewide.
That could change dramatically if lawmakers approve Assembly Bill 1470,
which would help homeowners reduce the costs of heating water with the rays of
the sun.
AB 1470, by Assemblyman Jared Huffman, D-San Rafael, would set a small
surcharge on gas bills to generate $250 million over 10 years. Combined with a
federal tax credit, this pool of funding would help homeowners halve the cost of
installing solar water heaters.
Such installations now cost roughly $4,000 to $6,000 per home and pay for
themselves, in reduced utility bills, in about 20 years. If Huffman's bill were
to be enacted, homeowners could install solar water heaters at a cost of $2,000
to $3,000 per home and have the units pay for themselves in as little as 10
years.
Huffman's legislation deserves passage for the same reason lawmakers and
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger last year enacted Senate Bill 1, which created a
subsidy for solar electric technologies.
Not only do these subsidies help individual homeowners, but they create
economies of scale that encourage mass production of solar technologies, making
these technologies more viable and self-sustaining compared to other forms of
energy.
More solar means less air pollution, fewer greenhouse gases and more
protection against gyrations in wholesale energy prices.
Of course, making solar more viable also means that gas producers and
some utilities may lose some business.
This appears to be a main reason that Sempra Energy, parent of the
Southern California Gas Company, is opposing Huffman's bill. (To its credit,
Pacific Gas and Electric is supportive).
AB 1470 has passed the Assembly, but could face a tough ride in the
Senate Energy Committee on Tuesday. We'll be watching to which senators warm up
to this worthy legislation, and which ones are carrying Sempra's cold water.
