By Brian Merchan
For
the first six months of 2012, California generated one fifth of its
electricity from renewable sources. The California Public Utilities
Commission just released its first/second quarter 2012 renewable energy progress report to the Legislature, and it claims that 20.6% of the state's power demand was met with wind, solar, geothermal, and other non-nuclear clean energy sources.
That's quite the hallmark. According to CPUC:
California in 2011 saw the greatest year-to-year increase in renewable generation achieving commercial operation since the beginning of the state’s renewable energy program. The state’s investor-owned utilities served 20.6 percent of their electricity with renewable energy in 2011 (up from 17 percent in 2010). In 2011, Pacific Gas and Electric Company served 20.1 percent of its retail sales with renewable energy, Southern California Edison with 21.1 percent, and San Diego Gas & Electric with 20.8 percent.
The ever-growing share of renewables in
the state's energy menu continues to expand thanks primarily to
California's ambitious Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS), which
requires utilities to produce 33% of their power from clean sources by
2020. The law is working precisely as intended—analysts expect to see
an even bigger jump in the second half of this year.
The report notes
that "More than 300 MW of new renewable capacity came online in the
first two quarters of 2012, and another 2,740 MW is scheduled to come
online before the end of the calendar year."
Another tool that's
helping to speed the growth of clean power is California's fledgling
feed-in tariff program, which rewards homeowners, individuals, and
businesses for installing small-scale renewable projects like rooftop
solar—the utility pays a slightly higher rate to buy power from those
sources and feed it directly into the grid. The FIT has been immensely successful in Germany, which gets way less sun than the Golden State.
And
I can assure you that those incentives are resonating in California—I
just got back from visiting family there, and both my parents and my
grandparents have newly installed solar panels on their roofs. They
live in a pretty conservative area, and their friends are installing
arrays, too. Indeed, the program enjoys bipartisan support, and innovative companies like Sungevity are cashing in by offering popular solar leasing schemes.
Renewable
energy continues to be a bright spot in an economy still wracked by
unemployment; good jobs, cleaner power, additional income for
consumers—California has, on this front, built a successful model well
worth emulating.
Source: Treehugger
Source: Treehugger
hey. well said . i think its major responsibility on government to promote use of pv panels.especially considering the prices of natural gas and oils rising up eventually. also strict laws must be enacted to promote pv manufacturers interest.
BalasHapusFeed in Tariff Program