As a proud California company, and as a proud Californian myself, I’d like to take a moment this week to point out that the Golden State is kicking butt and taking the lead on renewable energy generation, fostering green economy, and supporting sustainability! Here’s a rundown of California’s advancements of late…
CALIFORNIA CAP-AND-TRADE:
While our illustrious Senate has been stalling on climate change legislation, California unveiled plans for its own greenhouse gas cap-and-trade program all the way back in November. While it could be preempted by a federal program, California’s program will probably be in place long before a national equivalent (though we hope, for all our sakes, this turns out not the be the case), conceivably in early 2012. The California program has already been plan tested in 21 public workshops; it has the support of the Environmental Defense Fund; and, it will connect to the WCI (Western Climate Initiative), joining seven states and four Canadian provinces in a regional green economy. All of this could be undermined by federal rules, but for now regional governments (like ours!) rightly see themselves as the vanguard of green economy in the face of federal underperformance.
For more on CA cap-and-trade, click here or here.
CALIFORNIA RAISES CAP ON NET METERING:
It’s called AB510 (you can get the full text here), sponsored by Assembly Member Nancy Skinner; it raises the cap on net metering from 2.5% of peak electricity demand to 5%; and Governor Schwarzeneggar signed it last Friday. Thanks to this bill, utilities can now offer credits for twice as much renewable energy returned to the grid by customers. For Northern California’s PG&E customers thinking of going solar, this is a huge relief, as (locally) we were approaching the 2.5% cap already. With the increase to 5%, new solar customers can still get a credit on their monthly electrical bill if they produce more energy than they consume.
For more on CA net metering expansion, click here, here, or here.
SAN FRANCISCO MAKES WAY FOR ELECTRIC VEHICLES:
And in San Francisco, as the New York Times reports, “If electric cars have any future in the United States, this may be the city where they arrive first.” Indeed, the San Francisco building code is being revised, making it mandatory for new building projects to be wired for electric car chargers. The CPUC (California Public Utilities Commission), headquartered in San Francisco, is bringing together utilities, automakers, and charging station companies to work out price and tax incentives, locations for charging ports, how to manage the change in demand on the electrical grid; they’re preparing to make the large-scale introduction of electric vehicles into the Bay Area a real success, addressing such unglamorous but essential issues as streamlining the permitting process for home charging stations. These disparate groups, here in the Bay Area, are managing to demonstrate genuine cooperation to lead our communities to the forefront of the emerging green economy.
For more on SF’s electric car preparedness, click here.
A round of applause for California!
