EDITORIALS
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 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 natural 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 see which senators warm
up to this worthy legislation, and which ones are carrying Sempra's cold water.
