Here’s the deal. In 2006, the state’s public utilities commission launched the California Solar Initiative (CSI), a multi-year program aimed at providing more than $3 billion in incentives to solar-energy projects through 2016. The program was broken up into ten “steps,” each representing a certain amount solar power (in megawatts, or MW). According to the program structure, as more solar gets installed, the incentive level is reduced. Like this:

In which step are we? That depends on your utility. Residential customers of California’s other investor-owned utilities — Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) and San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) — are in Step 8, which means they are entitled to receive a solar rebate of $0.35 for each watt of solar panels they install. By comparison, customers of SCE (which is in Step 6) are entitled to a rebate of $1.10 per watt — more than three times as much as what’s available to their neighbors in SDG&E and PG&E territory! Check out the following chart, courtesy of Go Solar California:

While installing solar panels can still make great sense with the lower rebate from PG&E and SDG&E, I can’t emphasize enough what a good opportunity SCE’s solar rebate presents to homeowners who are thinking about installing solar panels. Think about it this way: if you installed a typical solar home energy system of 5-kW in SDG&E or PG&E territory, you’d be eligible for a solar rebate of roughly $1,750. That same system installed on the home of a SCE customer could receive a rebate of $5,500.

Finally, remember that back in the day (2006-07), all these rebates were $2.50 or more per watt. Solar incentive levels are a moving target in California — the sooner you get moving on your solar energy project, the better. (This goes for everyone!)

a

In Oregon, for example, new rule came into effect on January 1st, providing Residential Energy Tax Credits (RETCs) to homeowners who install residential systems. Because of the new rule, SolarCity — a California-based solar energy company that designs, installs and finances solar energy systems across the country — is now able to offer a zero money down financing to Oregon residents. Caveat: to be eligible, homeowners must be a customer of one of Pacific Power (PP) or Pacific General Electric (PGE).

The SolarCity SolarLease allows those homeowners to defer the remaining cost of a system until the homeowner receives the RETCs, in effect eliminating any upfront payment that would have had to be made. In anticipation of the new law, it’s no coincidence that Solar City only recently expanded its business into Oregon this past fall. The new lease option was made available Tuesday, January 4.

By using the financing option, homeowners can sign a 15-year deal with Solar City and install a 3.2-kilowatt (kW), 16-panel system for as little as $20-$25 per month. Before the new tax credit rule was enacted, the low monthly payment option was only available to homeowners who were willing to buy their rooftop solar energy systems outright.

Here’s SolarCity’s Oregon Regional Director Rob LaVigne on the new program:

“For less money each month than the cost of two movie tickets, Oregon homeowners can install solar power. What’s nice about a system like this is there’s no hidden costs.”

So now, Oregon, there’s really no excuse — a reduction in monthly utility bills and no money down? There’s never been a better time to install solar panels.

Note: Even if you opt to buy a solar energy system outright and finance the purchase with a loan, you can take advantage of Oregon’s Renewable Energy Tax Credits and Oregon solar rebates.

a

Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) — northern California’s main utility service company — is simply taking too long to connect solar energy installations to its power meters. Why? There are just too darn many.

According to the Press Democrat, PG&E is taking an average of three to four weeks to connect newly installed solar energy systems in northern California. Usually, the process would take ten days, tops. After a solar energy system has been designed and installed by a solar installation company, the local utility must typically sign off on the system and ensure that the interconnection between the meter and system is done correctly. Here’s a quick overview of the process for approving solar energy installations, via PG&E’s website:

Your solar contractor will schedule an appointment with your local building permit agency to have a certified building inspector approve the solar installation. Your solar contractor will send the building inspector’s final approval to PG&E. Following an on-site inspection and net energy meter installation by PG&E engineers, your new solar installation will be connected to the electric grid and clean, renewable solar energy will be powering your home or sent to the grid.

PG&E Spokesman Denny Boyles says the delay isn’t due to lack of effort. He says the utility company is making changes and adding manpower to address the problem. But the utility simply wasn’t expecting so many installations throughout their service area.

One main reason for the sudden surge is the Sonoma County Energy Independence Program (SCEIP), a solar incentive program that lets the county’s property owners finance solar energy systems through a property tax assessment. The financing approach — called more broadly, Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) financing — was in July called into question when the federal government adopted a stricter stance toward PACE loans. Although Sonoma’s program has reopened, the county is still trying to reverse the federal government’s new rules, which caused a 40 percent decline in Sonoma solar installations during the first half of the year. Since SCEIP launched in 2009, it has helped finance some 790 projects.

The bottom line, it seems, is that PG&E is trying to keep pace with the rate at which new solar energy systems are coming on line. If California homes, wineries, farms and  other businesses continue to install solar at a record clip, an expedited solution is much needed.

For the latest news and info on solar power in Sonoma, check out Solar Sonoma County’s twitter feed.

a

The CCWD board has already approved two major solar energy projects this year. One is a roughly 1,000-panel solar array at the Baily pump station, next to Newhall Park. The other, of similar size, is located at Lime Ridge pump station.

However, it’s the third solar project — to be sited alongside San Miguel pump station on Treat Boulevard in Concord — that’s causing a stir.

Those opposed to the project cite three general concerns. First, that the solar array may block open views. Second, that surrounding property values may take a hit once the solar installation is in place. And third, that the new solar array may increase crime in the area. (Some areas in California have experienced an uptick in solar-panel theft.)

Despite these potential drawbacks, the water district plans to go ahead with the solar installation. According to the San Jose Mercury News, the district expects to save over $100,000 per year in utility costs courtesy of the three solar energy systems; the third system alone will save approximately $40,000 annually. Pumping water can be incredibly energy-intensive. A well-designed solar array can help mitigate these costs.

And as far as the panels being installed in close proximity to nearby houses? Concord Assistant City Manager Valerie Barone says that’s district-owned land — and Concord won’t require permits to install the panels there because the clean energy system will directly benefit the San Miguel pump station. Moreover, Concord has already moved the installation site further away from homes than what was initially planned because of neighbor complaints.

The somewhat controversial solar project is projected to generate over half of San Miguel station’s annual energy use. According to a district staff report, the system will pump out 368,000 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity each year. The San Miguel station, by way of reference, uses 604,000 kWh annually.

CCWD has contracted with Mill Valley, California-based Solar Power Partners (SPP) to install and maintain the panels. SPP will combine tax credits with a PG&E incentive to pay for the system, and then it will sell the electricity back to CCWD at lower rate than the district would pay Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E).

a

That all changed this week as the CPUC finally approved the PPA, giving the green light for SolarReserve to begin constructing the 150-megawatt (MW) solar thermal plant that is expected to generate 450,000 megawatt-hours (mWh) of solar energy each year. That’s enough to power the equivalent of 68,000 average American homes for a full year.

The plant will be built on private land and feature a storage capacity of up to 10 hours of solar energy. Consequently, the plant will still be able to pump out electricity when cloudy days roll through in the upcoming fall and winter seasons.

a

The real issue, it seemed, was communicating changes to customers and responding to their concerns effectively. To quote the study, which was conducted by the Structure Group of Houston, customers were “consistently treated by PG&E as wrong, until the customer proved to PG&E that they were right.”

PG&E’s efforts to install smart meters have garnered national attention because utilities around the country plan to implement similar technologies in the next few years. California has become a testing ground for smart meters, just as it has for many other solutions to energy and environmental problems. Smart meters are the key consumer-level technology needed to upgrade the national electricity grid, a gargantuan project that has received $3.4 billion from the Obama administration. PG&E’s stumbling blocks have actually made a great case study for others, demonstrating the effect of poor communication and service on a worthwhile project. Utilities around the country have closely watched the implementation of smart meters in California, where environment and energy solutions are often tested.

In this first test for smart meters, the most common problem was that people believed they were charged more for electricity after a smart meter was installed. This claim turned out to be totally unfounded. If any rate increases were observed, they happened because people used more energy in the heat wave that occurred last summer. Unfortunately the timing coincided with many smart meter installations. People were understandably skeptical, but it turned out that the smart meters were not to blame. The smart meters were actually more accurate than the old analog ones.

Another complaint arose when some customers began believing that electromagnetic radiation from the meters could cause cancer. This claim appears unsubstantiated since radio frequency emissions from smart meters are already quite low. As PG&E Vice President Helen Burt explained, “one would have to live with a smart meter for 13,000 years to be exposed to as much radiation as one gets from a cellphone, with moderate use, in one year.” Nonetheless, the just-completed study did not investigate health effects of the meters, so PG&E cannot completely discard it. Opponents are also ramping up radiation complaints after the study was published.

Some of these complaints are rooted in pure fear of technological change, but they will have to be overcome if smart meters are to earn the widespread support that their technology deserves. The first step, it seems, will be for PG&E to answer customers’ phone calls and guide them through this upgrade.

a

The panel recommended the five-member CEC approve the three-part solar thermal project, stating the benefits of the plant would outweigh any negative impacts to the local environment. We are now in the midst of a 30-day period for public comment before the commission makes its final decision whether construction may proceed.

If completed, Ivanpah — at 392 megawatts (MW) — would be one of the largest solar thermal plants in the world. According to Brighter Energy, the plant will produce enough energy to power 140,000 homes and improve air quality by taking the equivalent of 70,000 cars off our roads.

A main reason the project gained the panel’s approval is that BrightSource Energy Inc. — the Oakland, California-based firm that is developing the project — scaled down the total size of the project and revised its plans to minimize environmental impacts. One such revision includes switching from a water-cooling system to an air-cooling system. Water in the desert is, after all, a scarce resource.

John Woolard, President and CEO of BrightSource Energy, had this to say following the CEC panel’s recommendation:

We look forward to a final decision from the Commission when we can begin constructing the Ivanpah project, providing good jobs for the High Desert community, producing clean energy for the state’s homes and businesses, and creating a model for environmentally-responsible energy projects.

According to the Mojave Desert Blog, the environmental impact of the project won’t be zero. You can expect to see the loss of some desert tortoise and other species. To allay these concerns, BrightSource Energy has agreed to fund land conservation projects elsewhere in the Mojave Desert. The issues involved underscore the interplay between local environmental impacts and the broader issue of climate change.

Amy Davidsen, U.S. Director of the Climate Group, is in favor of the plant because of what it can potentially do to help combat climate change.

“Large-scale solar technologies provide one of our best hopes for solving the problem of global climate change,” she said. “To meet this potential, we need to scale up the use of these technologies as soon as possible. Today’s proposed decision recommending approval of the Ivanpah project represents a major step toward the realization of this goal.”

If the commission gives final approval, construction is set to begin this coming fall, with the San Francisco, California-based engineering firm Bechtel heading up the effort. The energy produced will be sold to Southern California Edison (SCE) and, pending approval, Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E). SCE gained such approval last Thursday from the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC).

a

After builders first started work in March of this year, the Oregon solar installation was completed in just five months. The buildings’ owner, ProLogis, worked with utility Portland General Electric (PGE) and a range of local contractors to make the $14 million, 2.4-megawatt (MW) project a reality.

PGE has been building a reputation for supporting solar projects in its service area for the last several years. In 2009, the Solar Electric Power Association in 2009 ranked PGE in the top ten of U.S. utilities, as measured by solar watts per customer. The utility currently supports nearly 11 MW of solar projects through its net-metering policies alone. And, as one of Oregon’s main utilities, PGE is participating in the state’s pilot feed-in tariff, which, as we reported several weeks ago, became quickly oversubscribed — in some cases, in a matter of hours.

This is the second major solar project that PGE has completed at ProLogis facilities, and this newest project raises the utility’s total solar capacity to over 14 MW. Other solar projects handled by PGE include a partnership with the Oregon Department of Transportation to construct a 104-kilowatt (kW) solar highway demonstration project.

a

This is how it played out for the Arizona solar company on Monday.

Among the projects plucked from NextLight’s development portfolio is the 290-megawatt (MW) Agua Caliente Solar Project in Yuma County, Arizona. While the solar installation will be based in Arizona, much of the power generated will be sold in California. According to MarketWatch, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) on June 3 approved the project’s 25-year power-purchase agreement (PPA) with Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E). Construction of the plant is slated to begin this calendar year. The agreement with PG&E was central to First Solar’s plans: high demand for electricity in the greater Los Angeles area makes for an accessible, prime market for the output of the Yuma County solar project.

NextLight is the latest company to be eaten up by First Solar, which has been gobbled up smaller companies over the past four years. In 2007, First Solar bought Turner Renewable Energy. In 2009 First Solar acquired solar pipelines from OptiSolar, and then bought out the Edison Mission Group earlier this year.

a

It’s not as if the utilities have not made progress toward meeting California’s renewable portfolio standard, which is among the country’s most ambitious. Officials from each utility have signed power purchasing agreements (PPAs) up and down the state, but they’ve faced a range of challenges. Financing, for instance, has sometimes been difficult to come by. The same may be said of land-use permits.

With six months to go, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) says the utilities will likely push their way up to 18 percent by the end of the calendar year — two percent short of the goal.

Despite a flurry of activity, it’s plausible PG&E, SCE and SDG&E may come up shorter still. Executive Director of the Center for Resource Solutions in San Francisco, Arthur O’Donnell, suggests that not all the projects that have been planned on paper will translate to viable projects in reality. Some observers argue a portion are not feasible, and were only advanced by the utilities in an effort to meet the deadline.

According to the Los Angeles Times, full accounting of the utilities renewable energy capacity won’t come into effect until 2013. The 2010 mandate contains a flexible-compliance provision that gives the utilites three more years to meet the goal before penalties are enforced. Critics are pointing to this provision as the reason why the utilities have not been more selective in signing contracts with power producers.

The utilities, for their part, point to other factors that may have impeded progress. SDG&E is blaming the low number on the lack of renewable energy resources in its immediate service area. In the case of SCE, the development of critical transmission infrastructure has been slow: only three of 11 segments planned for the utility’s $2.1 billion Tehachapi Renewable Transmission Project have been completed.

Regardless of the exact causes, the recent experience of California is a testament to the kinds of challenges that arise when states initiate the transition toward a clean-energy future.

a