US & California Developing Comprehensive Solar Initiatives

As described in this template source article, in continued efforts to promote clean energy, U.S. House Representative Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ) has introduced the Solar Technology Roadmap Act, which is now on its way to the full House after achieving commendable bipartisan support after short deliberation in the Science and Technology Committee. Giffords’ bill would designate the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) as the leading organization for developing a strategic plan to direct solar energy research and its deployment into the commercial sector. The legislation would also allocate $2.25 billion for solar research over the next five years, which is a far cry from the pro-oil Bush administration that pillaged funding for renewables.

 

The DOE roadmap assessment team created by the bill would identify research and development that needs to occur to help improve the performance and robustness of solar technologies, decrease cost, and mitigate any negative environmental impacts for enhanced sustainability. Interestingly enough, the bill will undergo a full-scale review every three years so that it is updated based on new developments in the industry.

 

The Solar Roadmap Act is designed to incorporate a wide variety of stakeholders in the solar community and cross-cut various departments to create a comprehensive plan to guide funding for the research necessary to propel the U.S. toward leading the global solar industry. Giffords' bill is another critical component of the Obama administration’s high priority energy reform initiative, which also includes the renewable energy provisions in climate change legislation and the Recovery Act. These efforts are critical so that the country not only converts to clean energy sources but also manufactures the components which supply the industry.

 

In the mean time, California is gearing up to maintain its solar dominance in the U.S., as state officials have approved new legislation this week for evaluating and applying funding for clean energy development, in a response to meet the state-mandated renewable portfolio standard, administered by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s executive order, requiring a third of its energy received by 2020 to be derived from renewable sources such as solar, hydro, biomass, geothermal and wind, surpassing all other states' regulations.

 

The approved bill in California is designed to streamline a science-based process for identifying, reviewing, approving and permitting renewable energy projects on U.S. Department of Interior-managed lands in California, which would ultimately need to be developed for new renewable energy power plants and power distribution to populated areas. Similar to the Giffords’ Solar Roadmap bill, this CA bill is gauged to identify specific zones for renewable energy based on environmental, wildlife, and conservation metrics, and to prioritize application processing for solar development within them in order to meet the federal Recovery Act's deadline of construction by 2010. Furthermore, the bill is aimed at generating collaboration between federal and state agencies for designating transmission line corridors throughout the state, which will involve California's Natural Resources Agency and the U.S. Department of Defense, since some power lines in transmission corridors may need to cross military grounds. A succinct execution of this agenda will prevent delays from aggressive environmental groups, which effectively stalled many other energy projects in years past including the Yucca Mountain Nevada nuclear waste depository and off-shore oil drilling.

 

In addition, California Gov. Schwarzenegger last week signed two solar bills focused on offering incentives to businesses and homeowners to invest in a solar system, which will also aid the state in achieving its lofty renewable energy mandates. The first bill, AB 920, was authored by Assembly member Jared Huffman (D-Marin) and requires utility companies to compensate customers for surplus solar electricity generated on an annual basis. Previously, under the state’s net metering law, utility companies were allowed to receive surplus solar electricity from their customers for free; thus, reducing the incentives for customers dealt with high fixed installation costs. The bill also requires the California Public Utilities Commission to set a competitive rate for this surplus electricity created by a residence or business annually. However, this bill is less aggressive in its incentives compared to Duke Energy’s strategy for solar deployment in North Carolina, whereby homeowners are compensated for the utility to install and utilize their roofs, as leased space, for energy distributed to the local grid. The overall direction nationally for solar power distribution, whether it be centralized or decentralized, will affect the funding priority and emphasis on a new, innovative national smart power grid system.

 

The second CA bill, SB 32, was developed by Gloria Negrete McLeod (D-Chino) and establishes a new feed-in-tariff program for the state. A feed-in-tariff policy requires utility companies to purchase solar electricity at a set rate over a twenty-year period. Feed-in tariffs are more common in Europe; however, even though they led to a booming solar industry, it is not clear that countries such as Germany will retain these policies for the long-term. 

 

The increased support for renewable energy is good news for the hydropower community as well, amidst a report released on Tuesday from the National Hydropower Association stating that as many as 700,000 green jobs could be created by the construction of new hydropower capacity in the U.S. by 2025. At any rate, it is a dynamic climate both at the federal and state levels regarding clean energy policy and industry developments. Foresight and a well-designed roadmap will facilitate California, and the U.S. as a whole, in their comprehensive solar initiatives, as “going green” is more of question of “when” and “how” -versus “why.”

 

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