Tag Archives: california
California High Speed Rail Project Gets Green Light
California lawmakers have overcome fiscal objections to approve funding for the first leg of its biggest public works project in decades – the first high speed rail system in the US. On July 6, a bill passed by the California Senate authorizes $4.5 billion in voter-approved bonds, including $2.6 billion for the first segment of [...]
In Focus: California Energy Use
Californians are poised for a more functional, data-driven model for setting the prices people pay for electricity. The new model will make the massive differences in costs of providing electricity during the course of a typical day more evident to us as energy users, thereby inspiring more efficient use of electricity resources. The California Public [...]
SolarCity: The People’s Solar Company
A tale of two cities: Stockton, CA, population 290,000, has a deficit of $26 million and is about to be the biggest U.S. city to declare bankruptcy. Lancaster, CA, population 150,000, has a budget of $109 million, a solar program that will earn it a revenue stream of $1.5 million annually through 2017 and $800,000 [...]
California: Setting Solar Production Records
Last month Germany set a world record for the most solar energy production of any country. The IWR, Germany’s renewable energy organization, issued a release saying that “under a cloudless sky” on May 25, German solar generation reached 22,000 megawatts. That’s about half of Germany’s peak afternoon load, depending on the time of year. Dr. [...]
Can California Make it to 12K MW of Distributed Generation?
California Governor Jerry Brown wants 12.000 megawatts of distributed generation (DG) to be part of the 20,000-plus megawatts of renewable capacity the state’s utilities have been ordered to put in place by 2020. That’s a lot of rooftop and ground mounted solar, small and community wind, small biomass/biogas production, combined heat and power and other [...]
Electric Car Cap and Trade Starts in California
What a terrific idea! California’s zero emissions vehicle (ZEV) law requires automakers to sell an increasing number of zero emission vehicles in the state – and those that can’t meet their targets can buy “credits” from automakers who can. Automakers that can’t meet their targets or don’t buy enough credits face thousands of dollars in fines for [...]
New California Buildings to have Solar Ready Roofs
June 1 Update: The California Energy Commission voted 4 to 0 in favor of the new Energy Code. —- California’s latest update on its energy efficiency code for new homes and commercial buildings is doing a wonderful thing: It requires them to be “solar-ready!” That puts into place common sense design standards that ensure a building can [...]
Rooftop Solar Ceiling Lifted in California
California raised the ceiling on the amount of rooftop solar that qualifies for net metering – where utilities pay building owners for sending excess energy back to the grid. In a unanimous decision, the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) lifted the maximum capacity of rooftop solar systems from the current 2400 megawatts (MW) to 5,200 MW, enough electricity to supply about 2.1 million homes. [...]
California and Arizona: Full Solar Ahead
Arizona and California solidified their reputation as national leaders in solar energy production and installation following several solar arrays recently being constructed in the states. With more people and businesses realizing the benefits of solar energy around the country, solar installations in the Grand Canyon State and the Golden State are going up at a [...]