E-mail on California Solar Initiative

Hi Janice,

On January 12, the California Public Utilities Commission approved the
Environment California-sponsored California Solar Initiative,
committing a combined $3.2 billion in incentive funds to drive consumers toward
solar power over the next 11 years.

The initiative is the largest boost to solar power in the country, but
to successfully build a million soar roofs in California the
Legislature needs to complete the program by passing The California Solar Roofs
bill (SB 1, Sen. Kevin Murray, and Los Angeles).

Help us pass a strong bill and fulfill the vision of a million solar
roofs in California by urging your assemblymember to vote YES on SB 1.
Then ask all of your friends and family to do the same by forwarding
this e-mail to them.

To take action click on the link below or paste it into your Web
browser:

http://www.environmentcalifornia.org/action/energy/solarbill?id4=ES

Background

With oil at $70 a barrel, gasoline at $3.00 a gallon and the price of
electricity on the rise, the economic value of shifting to renewable,
homegrown energy has never been greater. And, with the threat of global
warming looming, not to mention our perennial summer-time battle with
smog fast approaching, there's no better time to tap into California's
abundant sunshine to generate clean, pollution-free electricity.

It is for these very compelling reasons that California's policy makers
have begun to put in place a series of policies needed to make solar
power a mainstream and affordable energy resource. By tapping into the
state's powerful consumer market, California can take what is currently a
boutique and expensive technology and create economies of scale by
putting the power of the sun into the hands of everyday Californians. Doing
so will bring more jobs, cleaner air and greater energy independence
for all of us to enjoy.

Three years ago, Environment California launched a first-in-the-nation
campaign to change the way people thought about solar power. We wanted
people to no longer think about solar as an expensive technology for a
backwoods cabin or Malibu mansion but rather see its potential for
becoming as cost-effective and commonplace as double paned windows.

Over these past three years, we've worked with state Senator Kevin
Murray (D-Los Angeles), Governor Schwarzenegger and other state leaders on
a series of bills aimed at building new homes with solar panels, giving
consumers and businesses the financial incentives they need to invest
in solar power, and ultimately, growing California's solar market to the
point where economies of scale can be reached and prices can drop.

Three years later, we won a major victory when the California Public
Utilities Commission adopted the California Solar Initiative on January
12, 2006. Mirroring legislation authored by Senator Murray and sponsored
by Environment California, the California Solar Initiative created the
nation's biggest program to build a million solar roofs in ten years.

Specifically, the Initiative created a $3.2 billion fund for consumer
rebates to lower the cost of solar and grow the market. The goal of the
Initiative is to install 3,000 MW of solar power--the equivalent of six
giant power plants- on a million rooftops throughout the state.
Achieving such a goal would grow California's solar market 30-fold, lowering
the cost along the way, and ultimately phasing out subsidies altogether.

As historic as this PUC program is, more work needs to be done to
realize the vision of building a million solar roofs. Specifically, there
are a handful of policies that only the state legislature can put in
place. These policies are contained in the California Solar Roofs bill, SB
1, up for a final vote in the weeks ahead.

Many will remember the Million Solar Roofs bill, SB 1 (Murray/Campbell)
of 2005. In its simplest form, the Million Solar Roofs bill sought to
build 3,000 MW of solar panels on a million homes, businesses, farms,
schools, etc., throughout the state over the next ten years. To
accomplish this visionary goal, the bill would have established several key
policies:

1.Order the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) to create a multi-year,
multi-billion rebate fund to help lower the cost of solar and grow the
market.
2.Mandate that all new homebuilders offer solar panels just like marble
countertops.
3.Lift the statewide cap on net metering - the policy that allows an
owner of a solar system to get a credit on their electric bill for any
excess energy generated by their solar panels - so that new customers
could benefit from this policy.
4.Require the state's municipal utilities to set up their own Million
Solar Roofs programs locally.

Unfortunately, despite broad, bipartisan support for the bill, SB 1 ran
aground in the final hours of last year's legislative session.
Environment California and our allies were forced to seek one of the four goals
of SB 1 administratively, through the PUC.

On January 12, 2006, the PUC adopted the nation's largest solar
program, creating a $3.2 billion fund over the next ten years to help drive a
million consumers toward solar power and create a self-sufficient,
mainstream solar market in ten years.

The PUC's program, called the California Solar Initiative, is a
gigantic step in the right direction. Now, to fully realize a million solar
roofs in California, we are working to pass the last three critical
pieces of the original Million Solar Roofs legislation: mandate on new
homes, net metering and municipal participation.

Environment California is teaming up with Senator Murray again this
year to pass a version of SB 1, now called the California Solar Roofs
bill, which includes these three pieces. Help us pass a strong bill and
fulfill the vision of a million solar roofs in California by urging your
assemblymember to vote YES on SB 1. Then ask all of your friends and
family to do the same by forwarding this e-mail to them.

To take action click on the link below or paste it into your Web
browser:

http://www.environmentcalifornia.org/action/energy/solarbill?id4=ES

Sincerely,

Dan Jacobson
Environment California Legislative Director
DanJ@environmentcalifornia.org
http://www.EnvironmentCalifornia.org

P.S. Thanks again for your support. Please feel free to share this
e-mail with your family and friends.

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