To all you Mexicanos out there: Happy Cinco de Mayo! To everyone else: Please (please) whatever you do, do not dress like this guy when you go out for your requisite burrito and token margarita…

Here is what’s solar energy news today:

In California renewable energy news, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger yesterday helped celebrate the completion of the first phase of a new transmission project, via California Newswire. A project of Southern California Edison (SCE), the Tehachapi Renewable Transmission Project is being built specifically to supply Los Angeles and the surrounding areas with renewable power generated in north Los Angeles County and Kern County. SCE has a great map of the proposed project.

Meanwhile in Colorado, property-rights issues continue to hinder plans for a $180 million power line project, via the Denver Business Journal. Colorado electricity provider Xcel Energy has proposed building a new line that would, among other things, allow solar power to be conveyed from San Luis Valley, a region that gets a lot of sun, to areas where there’s electricity demand. The proposed line would cut through a billionaire’s ranch. The ranch owner, needless to say, is not pleased. His continued efforts to stave off the new line may prompt Xcel to reduce the amount of solar energy it purchases in coming years, according to BusinessWeek.

The U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) on Monday released its annual rankings for leading utility-sponsored green power programs. The utilities generating the most electricity via renewable sources were: Austin Energy, Portland General Electric, PacifiCorp, Sacramento Municipal Utility (SMUD) and Xcel Energy.

A contentious new Connecticut energy legislation this morning passed the state’s House, via The Connecticut Mirror, paving the way for a bill that “subsidizes solar power, encourages energy efficiency and exerts influence over a deregulated electric utility that has given Connecticut the nation’s second-highest electric rates.” The bill will result in 300 megawatts’ worth of new Connecticut solar installations, according to a source cited in the article.

In solar stocks news, Evergreen Solar (NASDAQ:ESLR) reported a bigger-than-anticipated loss for the first quarter of 2010, via Reuters. To boot, the Massachusetts-based solar panel maker said yesterday it expects module prices to come down further in the second half of the year.

Finally today, SunPower Corp. — which just recently announced the release of its E19 solar panel line (the most efficient to date) — today announced an upgrade to its monitoring system for homeowners, via PRNewswire. Jim Pape, President of SunPower’s residential and commercial business group, said: “Homeowners can also track the efficiency of their solar systems with their iPhone and iPod touch mobile devices, which immediately displays their reduced energy costs and the environmental advantages of clean, renewable solar power.” What, no iPad?

That’s all for today. Thanks, as always for reading. We’ll see you back here tomorrow.