Photo: Green Right Now
From Green Right Now Reports
Californians got just a little more incentive to think solar late last month when Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a bill raising the cap on solar net metering from 2.5 to five percent.
Net metering is the process that allows solar owners to send surplus solar electricity back to the grid in exchange for credit. Customers are billed only for the net energy they consume.
Currently, more than 50,000 California businesses, schools and homes take part in the program to help lower their utility bills.
The legislation became more critical as Pacific Gas & Electric nears the 2.5% net-metering limit. More than 16,000 of the utility’s customers have installed more than 173 megawatts of solar generation, and several thousand more have applied for rebates to install 80 more megawatts, according to government data.
California Assemblymember Nancy Skinner (D-Berkeley), author of the bill, said the new law will help promote the growth of the solar industry in the state. California leads the nation in solar energy, accounting for more than 65% of all solar installed in the U.S.
“The Governor’s signature signals to the over one thousand solar contractors and companies doing business in California that our solar market is stable and ready for investment,” Skinner said. “California is continuing to let the sunshine in to produce affordable, local power for our businesses, schools and public facilities and homes.”