Today we’re celebrating an interim win for California rooftop solar along with our partners at SEIA, IREC and the Sierra Club. Together we have been working to encourage the utility regulators at the California Public Utilities Commission (PUC) to clarify the methodology being used to calculate the cap on the state’s net metering program, that billing
The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) last week approved seven grants totaling up to $7.65 million in funding for the California Solar Initiative (CSI) Research, Development, Deployment, and Demonstration (RD&D) Program’s third grant solicitation. The latter’s primary focus is on grid integration of solar energy and a secondary focus is
Our electricity system is designed around central station, dispatchable (i.e. they turn on at the flip of a switch) generators. Transitioning to a system that is principally powered by renewable energy, many of which have variable production profiles, will require changes.
Sunny California is prime real estate for solar energy, and a number of California rebates make home solar systems highly affordable for Golden State residents. The only downside to these programs is that some have limited funding. Homeowners interested in solar panels will want to act soon to take full advantage of all the savings.
Remember that special charge that SDG&E wanted to impose only on people that invested in solar? The one that would have made it much harder to go solar? (Here was our take and here was CCSE’s)
Many parties (including Vote Solar) intervened, arguing it was not only bad for solar and bad for San
The California Public Utilities Commission approved a batch of solar contracts yesterday — up to 544 MW worth, of which 294 MW are coming in at prices below that of building a new natural gas combined cycle gas turbine. That’s a lot of solar, at a great price.
SDG&E is buying 96-150 MW, a project developed
The California Solar Initiative requires that solar systems that receive an incentive be sized to meet on-site load.
However, what if you install a solar system, then your kids go off to college?
Suddenly, without the hairdryers, radios, and extra
In a proposed decision issued on June 14, the California Public Utilities Commission is proposing to expand Virtual Net Metering, a program currently being piloted with Multi-Family Affordable Housing, to all multi-tenant buildings. How does this work, and why is it important?
The California Public Utilities Commission voted down proposals by PG&E that would have been a big step backward for solar customers. The two major victories were 1) the CPUC opted to maintain its 4 tier rate structure, wherein high usage customers are given a strong price signal to
Last December, I moved into one of the most expensive places in the world to live, the gated community known as “Seadrift” in Stinson Beach, Marin County. I can count Senator Diane Feinstein and Grateful Dead bassist Phil Lesh as neighbors (though they only sneak out here upon occasion.)
The move ended up being a disaster on
Many of us are generally quite gung-ho on the amazing power of wireless technology. From convenience to efficiency and cost savings, there’s plenty to rave about.
Yet in the San Francisco Bay Area — and in particular in my Marin County home — citizens are up in arms, blockading trucks and opposing mandatory installation of
On Thursday, December 16th, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) was scheduled to vote on two provisions that will affect current and future solar energy projects in the Coachella Valley. That vote is still delayed, and apparently will remain so until the end of the month.
The CPUC is the regulatory arm that
In a previous blog, I highlighted the embarrassing resignation of Pacific Gas & Electric’s manager of its SmartMeter program after it was revealed that he was eavesdropping on the online networking of grassroots activists that have been blockading the installation of smart grid infrastructure in northern California. Turns out, this was just a harbinger of things to
On September 30, California’s Governor Schwarzenegger signed Assembly Bill 2514 into law, which sets mandatory targets for energy storage systems in the utility sector. Groups such as the California Energy Storage Alliance have been working hard to promote this bill, the first of its kind.
Energy storage is being championed as