Approved bill speed local solar permits, Feinstein urges rooftop solar changes

Legislation to accelerate city permitting of small solar projects passed the Senate 31-1 on Jan. 24. SB 370 by Sen. Scott Weiner (D-San Francisco) requires immediate online permitting of residential solar and battery projects in cities with more than 150,000 residents. SB 370 heads to the Assembly for policy committee hearings. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory developed a free web-based program to help local governments streamline permitting, known as Solar App+. The California Energy Commission is developing a $20 million grant program to assist cities in adopting the Solar App+ program. SB 370 requires smaller cities to ease permitting over the following two years. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) stepped into the middle of the controversy over the proposal to cut payments for excess rooftop solar energy and add hefty monthly charges. In a Jan. 25 letter to the new California Public Utilities Commission president Alice Reynolds, Feinstein said she was concerned that the proposal would reduce the pace of rooftop solar and storage adoption and harm the state’s clean energy efforts. She suggested changes to the Net Energy Metering 3.0 that protect low-income customers lacking solar roofs while reflecting the “benefits of distributed generation” and promoting wide adoption of rooftop solar. She also called for increasing incentives for battery storage fed by rooftop solar that help balance the grid and ensure the community distributed energy development protects land and water conservation efforts. Vice President Kamala Harris along with other state and federal officials showcased $600 million from the federal government to California to help it recover from last year’s wildfires. During a Jan. 21 visit and press conference at the San Bernardino National Forest, she touted the total $1.36 billion in disaster relief funds to the US Forest Service to support post-disaster recovery and restoration across the west. “By funding projects like hazardous material cleanup, infrastructure repair, reforestation and more, these dollars will make an important difference when and where they are needed most,” added Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsak. The funding follows the announcement earlier in the week by Forest Service to invest $48 million over 10 years to mitigate fire danger, protect water quality, improve wildlife habitat, restore forest ecosystems.

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Approved bill speed local solar permits, Feinstein urges rooftop solar changes

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