Mercury News (San Jose, CA)
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/local/states/california/northern_california/13617033.htm
State panel approves plan for solar power subsidies
By Paul Rogers
Mercury News

Guaranteeing California's role as America's solar power king, state energy
regulators Thursday gave final approval to a record $3.2 billion plan to
provide rebates through 2017 to the owners of homes, businesses, farms and
public buildings who install solar systems.

The plan, which will cover roughly one-third the cost of solar systems, was
approved on a 3-1 vote by the California Public Utilities Commission.
The vote was a major victory for Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who championed
the idea as a candidate for office in 2003, only to see it stall in the
state Legislature last year. Schwarzenegger presented it to the PUC instead.

"Today is a great day for California,'' he said in a statement. "When I
ran for office, I promised the people of California an affordable, reliable
and more environmentally friendly energy supply. Today is a big step towards
that goal.''

The program will be funded by a new $1.10 monthly fee on residential power
bills. It will be offset, PUC officials said, by the elimination of another
fee that expires in 2007.

Environmentalists and solar industry leaders celebrated, but said there are
still two key provisions the state Legislature must approve. One would
require developers of new subdivisions to offer solar power as an option on
all homes. The other would increase the number of customers eligible to
receive credit on their bills for generating surplus power and supplying it
to the state power grid.

Existing law caps such credits at 0.5 percent of each utility's total
demand. Because of the growth of solar power in California, that cap is
close to being reached. Environmentalists, Schwarzenegger and the PUC want
it increased to 2.5 percent or more, but utilities are resisting.

Democratic leaders in Sacramento said Thursday that they will work on those
issues, but intend to require that industrial, commercial and government
solar jobs pay high ``prevailing wages'' -- generally comparable to union
wages. That position doomed the solar effort last year because
environmentalists and Schwarzenegger said it would raise costs too much.

``On any other expenditure done by the state, prevailing wage is the law,''
said Steve Maviglio, a spokesman for Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez, D-Los
Angeles. ``If you begin to chip away here, it would start undermining the
wages that are paid to California workers.''

Eva Salas, owner of Stonegate, a 33-unit apartment complex in East Palo
Alto, said she is interested in learning more about installing solar power
to cut her $10,000-a-year PG&E bill for lighting and washing machines.
``It would also be good for my tenants, many of whom are low-income, to
reduce their energy bills,'' she said.

Contact Paul Rogers at progers@mercurynews.com or (408) 920-5045.