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CPUC says NO to Solar Exit Fees source: John Wildermuth SF Chronicle 2003.4.4 California's small solar power generators won't have to help repay the state for the billions it spent trying to keep the lights on during the 2001 electricity crisis, state regulators ruled Thursday. By a 3-to-2 vote, the state Public Utilities Commission agreed to exempt many consumers getting power from solar, wind and fuel cells from so-called solar exit fees. While the fees proposed by the Legislature would have helped pay back the $6 billion the state spent buying electricity, environmentalists and clean power advocates warned it could have damaged the fast-growing solar industry. "We're ecstatic at the decision," said Kari Smith, policy director for the California Solar Energy Industry Association. "It's a pretty clear signal that the state of California knows how important our industry is to the future." The proposed fee of 2 to 5 cents per kilowatt-hour would have cost most people with solar systems a couple of hundred dollars a year, she added, and made the potential cost savings of generating their own power much less appealing. It also demonstrated the state's political ambivalence when it comes to renewable power sources. On one hand, the state already subsidizes about half the cost for people who want to install solar systems to their homes. On the other, the proposed fees would have made the systems more expensive to use. "These are technologies the state has been promoting," said Smith, who also is director of regulatory affairs for PowerLight, a leading Bay Area solar company. "The governor already has called for having 17 percent of the state's power produced by renewable sources by 2017." California's current budget crunch, however, has left state officials looking for money anywhere they can find it. The original plan called for imposing the new fee on anyone who installed a renewable energy system after September 2001. The idea was that customers using the statewide power grid before then were getting the benefit of the billions the state spent to subsidize soaring electricity costs. Since people getting their power from the big public utilities have seen their rates go up to repay the state for its energy costs, those leaving the system still should pay a share for the help they got, said Paul Moreno, a spokesman for Pacific Gas and Electric. While PG&E lost its argument to the PUC, the utility won't be hurt too badly. Less than 1 percent of the state's energy usage comes from customers who generate their own power. The proposed surcharge on solar customers would have raised only about $1.5 million a year, according to solar industry sources. "We never lobbied the Legislature or the PUC on this issue," Moreno said. "The state was imposing this fee, and the convenient way for them to collect it was on power bills." Solar and wind power users didn't get off completely free. While those using systems smaller than 1 megawatt are exempt from the fees, the PUC ruled that people using bigger low-emission systems still have to pay a surcharge for the bonds California sold for its energy costs. -------- Notes from David Hochschild of Vote Solar..... SOLAR TAX DEFEATED (2003.4.3) Today the California Public Utilities Commission voted 3-2 to defeat
the solar exit fees and support President Peevey’s This is a tremendous victory which clears the way for the continued
rapid growth of solar energy in California and beyond. Special thanks to Greenpeace, Environment California, Powershift,
CC Energy, Next Generation, California Solar Center, With policy makers, we should work just as hard to reward good
decisions as to discourage bad ones. Please take a moment Emails can be sent to public.advisor@cpuc.ca.gov ---- Links - for All the details read the final decision online at the CPUC... CPUC - Decision 03-04-030 April 3, 2003 / More in Contra Costa Times....2003.4.9
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