What Is The California Solar Energy Propostion 2008?

California Proposition 7, would, if approved, require California utilities to procure half of their power from renewable resources by 2025. In order to make that goal, levels of production of solar, wind and other renewable energy resources will more than quadruple from their current output of 10.9%. It will also require California utilities to increase their purchase of electricity generated from renewable resources by 2% annually to meet Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) [2] requirements of 40% in 2020 and 50% in 2025. Current law AB32 requires an RPS of 20% by 2010.

The 42 page measure is an initiated state statute that has qualified for the November 2008 ballot in California.[3] The petition drive to qualify the measure for the ballot was conducted by Progressive Campaigns, Inc. at a cost of $1.367 million.[4]

Perhaps to distinguish it from Proposition 10, which also is about alternative fuels, some California pundits are starting to refer to Prop. 7 as Big Solar and Prop. 10 as Big Wind.[5]

Estimated fiscal impact

• State administrative costs of up to $3.4 million annually for the regulatory activities of the Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission and the California Public Utilities Commission, paid for by fee revenues. The total cost to taxpayers of Proposition 7, using 2007-2008 state budget for comparison, would be 0.00002% of the state budget.

• Potential, unknown increased costs and reduced revenues, particularly in the short term, to state and local governments resulting from the measure’s potential to increase retail electricity rates, with possible offsetting cost savings and revenue increases, to an unknown degree, over the long term to the extent the measure hastens renewable energy development.