California Agency Allocates $2.9 Billion To Solar Energy

It’a complicated, controversial and, some say, imprudent. On January 12, the California Public Utilities Commission (PUC) did something the California Legislature, mired in last fall’s special-election politicking, could not: In a 3-1 vote, the commissioners instigated a far-reaching, capital-intensive plan to make California the country’s leader in renewable energy. It was, PUC President Mike Peevey announced, “the time to be bold.”

The California Solar Initiative, a near-copy of what was once Schwarzenegger’s grandly touted “Million Solar Roofs” bill, or SB1, adds $2.9 billion to the $300 million already allocated for the installation of photovoltaic panels on California rooftops; its goal is to raise the state’s solar-generation capacity to 3,000 megawatts by 2017. It could ease the burden of green-minded homeowners converting to solar, encourage the development of technology to better capture and convert the sun’s rays and help California wean itself off the dirty business of other states’ coal — which still supplies one half of the state’s energy.

ByJUDITH LEWIS

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