Solar Rollercoaster

State Legislature has another chance to make SB 1 shine.

Fresno Bee Editorial

(Updated Thursday, August 3, 2006, 4:38 AM)

If California's homes included an extra 1 million solar roofs right now, we'd have 3,000 more megawatts of power during the hottest part of the day. That would shave 6% off the peak energy demand that strained the state's electric grid last week.

Assembly Speaker Fabián Núñez and Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata could make this vision a reality when the Legislature reconvenes. But they also could squander an opportunity just when the state needs to get serious about harnessing the sun.

The California Public Utilities Commission took a partial step toward realizing the million-solar-roofs goal earlier this year. It approved the California Solar Initiative championed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, which called for $3.2 billion in rebates to help homeowners install solar panels over the next 10 years. A small surcharge on electric bills would finance the rebates.

That was commendable, but because of its limited jurisdiction, the PUC couldn't enact all the provisions of the governor's original plan, which got sidetracked in the Assembly last year. The PUC, for instance, can only require investor-owned utilities, such as Pacific Gas & Electric, to place a solar surcharge on electricity bills. Unless the Legislature acts, municipally owned utilities such as the Los Angeles Department of Power and Water — which provide 27% of the state's electricity — could ignore solar and buy cheap, dirty power.

Earlier this year, the Legislature seemed poised to correct this deficiency. A revived Senate Bill 1, by Sen. Kevin Murray, D-Culver City, would have required municipal electric utilities ("munis") to collectively implement $784 million in solar programs. But because of lobbying by the utilities, that language became weaker as the bill moved through the Assembly. Now the solar mandate looks more like a nebulous goal instead of a mandate. The Assembly also shaved $650 million off the rebates that consumers could receive for investing in solar.

The weakened bill passed the Assembly last month and now goes to the Senate Energy Committee, which probably will concur and just send it to the floor for a vote. They should not.

Everyone should share in the burdens and benefits of renewable energies. SB1 needs to be amended to restore this balance. Such amendments can only be done in a conference committee, which Perata and Núñez would need to appoint.

With a few glaring exceptions, SB1 is a decent bill. It would require homebuilders to offer solar as an option in new subdivisions. It would increase the amount of "credit" that solar panel owners receive for sending power back to the grid. Yet without amendments, the bill wouldn't produce 1 million new solar roofs in 10 years. It would create only the illusion of such.

California doesn't need illusion. It needs more clean power, as quickly as possible. An improved version of SB1 can make that happen, if Perata and Núñez do their part.