California Governor Jerry Brown yesterday signed into law a mandate requiring utilities get a third of their electricity from renewable resources like solar panels and wind turbines. The new bill promises to bring certainty to a fast-growing market for solar energy, in particular. With the transition to a new Governor this year, the future of [...]

Regular readers (among others) will know that California is the nation’s clean energy leader. The state has on the books a law requiring that a fifth of all electricity come from renewable sources by 2010. A 2009 executive order by former Governor Schwarzenegger raised that target to 33 percent. But, thanks to procedural nuances, the Governator’s [...]

Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell kicked off September by unveiling a new, $20.5 million, 40-project energy plan for his state, with the aim of creating jobs, increasing clean energy use and cutting back on overall energy use throughout Pennsylvania.

To follow up on our post yesterday detailing the debates over California’s proposed 33 percent renewable energy standard, we are sad to say that the legislation, SB 722, did not pass. The legislative session ended last night at midnight, and as debate was still raging until the closing bell, no renewable energy standard is set [...]

On Monday, the California Legislature will vote on a bill to raise California’s Renewable Portfolio Standard, potentially requiring 33 percent of electricity generated by the state’s utilities to come from renewable resources by 2020. State Senator Joe Simitian (D-Palo Alto) proposed the bill, SB 722, which has drawn attention from stakeholders like the Sierra Club, [...]

Most of us, I reckon, don’t give much thought to electricity bills. We don’t lie awake in bed dissecting our monthly energy use down to the watt-hour. Nor do we chat with co-workers about the wondrous world of weatherstripping (it saves so many kWhs in winter!). We certainly don’t subscribe to Electric Light & Power [...]