By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent
The final days of the California legislative session have been big ones for clean energy. First, the Assembly passed a 100% renewable portfolio standard (RPS) on Tuesday. On Wednesday, they moved on to extend the Self Generation Incentive Program (SGIP) for five years, as well as adding $700 million in additional funding.
Now the bill will go back to the Senate for a concurrence vote and then on to Governor Jerry Brown for his signature. There are not expected to be any blips in that process.
As the California Public Utilities Commission says on its website:
The CPUC’s Self-Generation Incentive Program (SGIP) provides incentives to support existing, new, and emerging distributed energy resources. SGIP provides rebates for qualifying distributed energy systems installed on the customer’s side of the utility meter.
For consumer-sited solar, that typically means batteries.
Bill sponsor. Senator Scott Wiener, had this to say to SolarWakeup after the bill passed:
“We are one step closer to meeting our aggressive renewable energy goals,” said Senator Wiener. “By expanding our use of energy storage we will be able to use solar power every hour of the day, not just when the sun is shining. This bill will also help to expand solar use in every city and neighborhood in California, not just those that can afford it. SB 700 will ensure that all communities benefit from these rebates and from an increase in renewable energy.”
“We are making the sun shine at night!” said Bernadette Del Chiaro, executive director of the California Solar and Storage Association, the 500-member clean energy business group that has championed SB 700 for the past two years. ”SB 700 will do for storage what SB 1 did for solar over a decade ago, namely create a mainstream market by driving up demand and driving down costs all while creating jobs and clean energy choices for consumers.”
Reaction from across the California solar industry was positive.
“Today’s Assembly vote to pass Senate Bill 700 is a win for clean energy and for all Californians,” said Alex McDonough, Vice President of Public Policy at Sunrun. “Sunrun has seen demand for home solar paired with batteries grow rapidly in recent years, as homeowners seek increased control over their energy bills and security for their families during power outages. We now look forward to the Senate’s concurrence on this important legislation that will unlock the incredible value that home batteries can provide for all Californians and our electricity grid.”
“Storage is an essential piece of building a carbon-free electric sector, and we applaud the Assembly for recognizing its role in our clean energy economy and passing SB700,” said Susannah Churchill, Vote Solar’s California Director. “Solar and storage are like peanut butter and chocolate: great on their own and even better together. We’re inspired by the last two days of forward-thinking among our California lawmakers and encourage continued momentum toward a fully decarbonized power sector. That means passing AB 893 and AB 813, which are both critical pieces of legislation to move the state and the country forward on clean energy and climate.”
“We are thrilled to see SB700 pass the Assembly,” said Rick Umoff, SEIA’s California state director. “This is a measure that we were proud to support because it will grow customer-sited energy storage, create local jobs and offer more tools to stabilize the grid. Our members and their customers will have an easier time deploying critical storage technology to the betterment of low income and disadvantaged communities, schools, hospitals and homes among others. We applaud CALSSA for the work it did to get this measure through the Assembly and we urge speedy passage in the Senate and enactment by Governor Brown.”