California utilities and renewable energy face reduced demand for power if recent economic projections revealed at a California Energy Commission workshop are accurate. The state’s commercial and residential real estate markets are expected to see little to no growth in the percentage of paying utility customers statewide over the next few years, according to the estimates discussed at the CEC Jan. 20. California’s current housing production market is in the midst of its worst downturn since at least 1955, Bob Raymer, a senior engineer with the California Building Industry Association, said. In 2007, there were 115,000 housing units constructed in the state, but that fell to an all time low of 36,000 by 2009. The CBIA is currently predicting that 62,000 units will be built this year. “And that’s probably a rosy projection. In no way, shape or form are we going to see a rapid increase (in construction) here,” over the next two to four years, Raymer said. Iris Andre of the Los Angeles-based real estate corporation CB Richard Ellis said that office vacancies throughout the state are projected to average an unusually high rate of 16.5 percent in 2011 before dropping to the traditional average of 14 percent in late 2013 or early 2014. There also has been a trend in solar panel manufacturers leaving California for other states that offer lower taxes and less governmental red tape, said Jack Stewart, California Manufacturers & Technology Association president. “One of the CEO’s of one of the [solar] companies said California’s a real good place to incubate production, but when it comes time to implement, we have to go to other states because the cost of production is so high,” Stewart asserted. California manufacturing jobs fell from 1.8 million in 2001 to 1.2 million in 2010, a decrease of 34 percent, according to Stewart. One of the few bright spots for economic news came from Sean Randolph of the Bay Area Council Economic Institute, who said that Northern California seems to be rebounding economically. “Lot of optimism about clean tech,” he said. “Long term, we are probably out of the woods in the Bay Area. “Sometimes the Bay Area leads where California is going, so maybe this is the beginning of a turnaround for the state.” The Jan. 19 workshop by the CEC’s Electricity Supply Analysis Division, and Fuels and Transportation Division solicited comments on the changing California economy and future economic outlook. The process is part of the California Energy Commission’s efforts to compile data for its 2011 Integrated Energy Policy Report, a biennial document that covers trends and issues regarding electricity, natural gas, transportation, energy efficiency, renewables, and public interest energy research.