Sacramento Solar News – The California Air Resources Board put solar in the mainstream recently triggering a “thanks” from SMUD.
Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD) announced that they support the California Air Resource Board’s decision to adapt a requirement that 33% of the power from utilities in the state come from renewable sources like solar and wind energy by 2020.
This green energy, solar and wind power forward thinking was accomplished, in no small measure, by Governor Schwarzenegger’s leadership and a democratic statehouse in Sacramento.
History has proven time and time again that bold leaders, like Governor Schwarzenegger, are responsible for planting the seeds of economic development. Planting the solar seeds for jobs and economic growth will reap huge results. Go solar anyway you can get it done we say.
California is now a world class leader building a brighter future with solar and wind energy. Innovative thinking means good paying local jobs. Read More
Utility district applauds California board’s vote for solar and wind renewable energy goal. Sunpluggers;
The Sacramento Municipal Utility District has announced that it supports the California Air Resources Board in its decision to adopt a requirement that at least 33 percent of the power that electric utilities and electricity providers sell to their customers come from renewable energy sources like solar and wind energy by 2020.
The California board’s recent order establishing a 33 percent renewable solar and wind electricity standard “creates the most aggressive solar and wind clean energy standard in the nation and includes reasonable interim targets to ensure progress,” the utility said in a news release. “Sacramento SMUD is pleased to see the successful end point of the solar and wind regulatory process that was started by Gov. Schwarzenegger’s leadership.”
The Air Resources Board, whose members are appointed by the governor, voted to establish the 33 percent goal from solar and wind energy as a regulation after Mr. Schwarzenegger, a Republican, and Democratic legislative leaders were unable to agree on legislation to enact the standard as a state law. The governor had signed an executive order in 2009 calling for the 33 percent target.
The Sacramento utility district adopted a 33 percent solar commercial renewable energy procurement goal in 2008 “and is working diligently to reach this important milestone,” the news release said. The district said it is on track to become the first large California electric utility to cross a significant threshold in 2010 by obtaining 20 percent of its energy from renewable resources like solar.
“Sacramento SMUD recognizes the environmental and public health benefits that this requirement will contribute to the state as well as how this policy fosters innovation in the solar green economy,” said the utility board’s president, Genevieve Shiroma. The Sacramento municipal utility said it has been an active participant in the Air Resources Board’s effort to carry out the solar and wind targets outlined in AB 32, the state’s Global Warming Solutions Act, which was signed into law by Mr. Schwarzenegger in 2006.
In addition to supporting the Air Resources Board’s regulatory goals, the news release said the district plans to continue working with the board on three specific elements of the regulation that it says need further resolution: crediting of early action toward Renewable Electricity Standard goals, minimizing limitations on the use of solar Renewable Energy Credits, or RECs, and changing enforcement provisions to better align the size of potential penalties with the level of potential violations.
When the Air Resources Board voted unanimously last week to adopt a solar Renewable Electricity Standard, members acknowledged that these elements of the regulation required further discussion and negotiation.
“Overall, the new CARB regulations provide a clear regulatory standard that both raises the bar for California, while also providing for a practical transition path for utilities and the local flexibility necessary for utilities with different renewable procurement backgrounds to realistically accomplish the needed renewable sourcing from solar or wind energy thereby fixing our broken economy,” the district’s statement said.