SacBee: How Newsom’s bill to keep Diablo Canyon nuclear plant open was nearly derailed by one phrase

BY ARI PLACHTA AND STEPHEN HOBBS

Debate on Governor Gavin Newsom’s push to extend the life of Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant has raged for weeks. But on Tuesday, conflicting interpretations of a single phrase led to a whirlwind of political wrangling.

The flurry of environmentalist outrage and backstage compromise — playing out as the legislative session nears adjournment Wednesday night — illustrated a process that leaves some of the state’s most critical policy decisions to eleventh-hour changes and feverish rebuttal.

“This is a classic example of why the three-day cooling off period is important,” said Bernadette Del Chiaro, Executive Director of the California Solar and Storage Association, referring to the short, critical time required for legislation to print before it can be put to a vote.

San Diego Union Tribune: Looming decision on new rooftop solar rules draws protesters in front of Sempra headquarters

Final decision by Public Utilities Commission has been on hold for months.

BY ROB NIKOLEWSKI

A proposed decision before California Public Utilities Commission that could dramatically change the financial rules for rooftop solar across the state drew about 75 protesters Tuesday in front of the headquarters of Sempra, the parent company of San Diego Gas & Electric.

“Because Sempra and SDG&E see rooftop solar as competition for them, they are trying to burn it to the ground,” Dave Rosenfeld, executive director of the Solar Rights Alliance, told the demonstrators, many wearing T-shirts and carrying signs that said “Don’t Tax The Sun.”

Solar Thermal Market Records Year of Growth

The solar thermal market saw 3% growth in 2021 after seven years of decline. Noteworthy development was reported from some of the largest solar heat markets. Solar thermal capacity reached 522 GWth, providing green heat to 109 million residential and commercial customers globally. With a turnover of USD 18.7 billion, the sector gives jobs to around 380,000 people worldwide.

These are some key figures from this year's report, Solar Heat Worldwide 2022, published by the International Energy Agency's Solar Heating and Cooling Technology Collaboration Programme (IEA SHC). The 18th edition has a completely new design. Data from now 70 country contributors creates the most comprehensive evaluation of solar heating and cooling markets worldwide. The full report and key findings are available for free on the IEA SHC website.

San Francisco supervisor calls on State to streamline permitting for residential rooftop solar panels and battery storage

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors passed a resolution authored by Supervisor Rafael  Mandelman to support state action to streamline permitting for residential solar energy systems. 

SAN FRANCISCO — Today the Board of Supervisors unanimously passed a resolution supporting  California State Senate Bill 379 (Wiener), the Solar Access Act. 

The bill would require cities and counties to adopt an online instant permitting system, such as  SolarAPP+, to allow residents to instantly obtain a permit for simple residential solar and solar-plus storage systems in real time. SolarAPP+ is an automated permitting software developed by the  National Renewable Energy Laboratory and funded by the US Department of Energy to provide an  alternative to expensive and time intensive residential solar and energy storage permitting processes.  Currently, local permitting processes are often time-consuming and costly, including in San  Francisco, where approvals for some solar systems can take two weeks or much longer in some  cases. 

One San Francisco homeowner seeking to install a solar array and battery storage system shared their  recent experience: “It took more than two and a half years to resolve a permitting issue in San  Francisco. Due to changing requirements, I became subject to an incredibly complicated path to  approval for my solar and storage system, which we originally decided to do because of our firm  belief in renewable energy. This resulted in countless meetings, phone calls, and emails to try to  understand what was needed of me. And after working hard to comply with all requirements, the cost  to move forward continued to stack up exponentially, which made me wonder if this was all  worthwhile. Having a streamlined permitting system would have saved me a lot of hassle, grief, time  and money.” 

“This feels like one more area where San Francisco just cannot get out of its own way,” said  Supervisor Rafael Mandelman, who authored the resolution, noting that San Francisco’s Climate  Action Plan sets a goal of reaching net-zero emissions by 2040. “Residential rooftop solar is an  important part of meeting our climate action goals, while also making our city more resilient in the  face of more frequent power outages due to wildfires and other increasingly common extreme  weather events. We can’t afford to let bureaucratic delays get in the way of our clean energy and  climate resilience goals.”

Automated solar permitting systems have already been implemented in California jurisdictions  including San Jose, Los Angeles, Alameda and Sonoma Counties, Pleasant Hill, Stockton, and  others. SB 379 seeks to expand access to instant solar permitting to residential rooftop solar and

battery storage customers statewide. By making it easier for more Californians to go solar and add  energy storage, the state can reduce carbon emissions, increase resilience to wildfires and public  safety power shutoffs, and increase job opportunities in all communities. 

With $20 million funding secured in the Governor’s 2021 budget, jurisdictions can apply for grants  to support the staff time needed to implement SolarAPP+ or another automated permitting system.  SB 379 will support the adoption of tools like SolarAPP+, drive down the cost of solar and solar plus-storage systems and make it more accessible to Californians. 

"By cutting red tape and high costs at the building department, SolarAPP+ will bring solar to more  San Franciscans," said Igor Tregub, Senior Policy Advisor at the California Solar and Storage  Association. “Already, rooftop solar is growing fastest in working-class and middle-class  communities, and SolarAPP+ will strengthen this trend."

“This is a great first step to bringing automated solar permitting to San Francisco,” said Senator Scott  Wiener. “The City has consistently set a high standard for climate forward policies, and it’s time for  us to catch up to cities like San Jose and Stockton that have streamlined their solar permit approvals.  Thank you to Supervisor Mandelman for leading on this important issue.” Senator Scott Wiener

“Automated solar permitting will save people time and money, and supercharge the adoption of  rooftop solar” said Nick Josefowitz, Chief Policy Officer of SPUR, one of the organizations co sponsoring SB 379. “If all jurisdictions were to adopt automated solar permitting for simple  residential rooftop systems, we estimate Californians will save $7.5 billion in unnecessary costs over  the next decade.”

“The latest IPCC report released this week urges immediate action on climate at all levels, making  bills like Sen. Wiener's SB-379 Solar Access Act more crucial than ever," said Laura Deehan, State  Director for Environment California. "Today's action by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors  brings us one step closer to getting this bill passed and making rooftop solar more accessible for all."

District 8 Supervisor Rafael Mandelman, along with Supervisors Ahsha Safai, Gordon Mar, and  Myrna Melgar, introduced this resolution on March 22nd, and the Board of Supervisors voted  unanimously to adopt it on April 5th. In January, SB 379 passed out of the Senate with a bipartisan  31 to 1 vote. It will soon be headed to the Assembly to be heard in committee.