Governor Highlights Nation’s Largest Rooftop Solar Installation Project As Key To Achieving California’s Renewable Energy Goals
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Today Governor Schwarzenegger joined
Southern California Edison on the rooftop of the ProLogis warehouse in Fontana to announce
the nation's largest rooftop solar installation project by a utility company. The
project will place 250 megawatts of advanced photovoltaic generating technology
on 65 million square feet of unused commercial building rooftop space throughout
Southern California - enough clean power to serve 162,000 Southern
California homes. Based in Rosemead,
California, Southern California Edison is one
of the nation's largest investor-owned electric utilities, serving more than 13
million people in a 50,000 square-mile area of central, coastal and southern California. This project
is subject to review and approval by the California
Public Utilities Commission.
Learn more about the Governor's
commitment to the environment and clean energy at www.gov.ca.gov/issue/energy-environment.
This kind of innovation drives
the state's critical green economy while supporting California's renewable energy and greenhouse
gas emissions goals.
- The Governor accelerated California's renewable standards, which are some of the most ambitious in America. California's Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) calls for more energy to come from clean, renewable sources. In 2003, the Governor called for an acceleration of the RPS, pushing for 20 percent of California's energy to come from renewable sources by 2010 rather than 2017, seven years earlier than statute. This accelerated standard became law in September 2006, when the Governor signed SB 107.
- Innovation from companies like Southern California Edison helps California make progress toward achieving our world-leading, AB 32 greenhouse gas reduction targets. The electricity this project generates will produce no greenhouse gases, burns no fossil fuels and requires no new transmission lines.
The Governor's leadership in clean, renewable energy drives private investment and job growth.
- California companies receive more
investment in clean technology than anywhere else in the country and we
lead the nation in renewable energy innovation.
- According to the Cleantech Group, California's clean technology companies brought in $1.8 billion in investments last year, a 50 percent increase over 2006. These investments represent 45 percent of total green investments in North America.
- According to Next10's "California Green Innovation Index," California patents account for 44 percent of all U.S. patents in solar and 37 percent in all U.S. patents in wind technologies.
This project builds on the Governor's Million Solar Roofs Initiative. The Governor's $2.9 billion incentive plan for home and building owners who install solar electric systems will lead to one million solar roofs in California by the year 2018, provide 3,000 megawatts of clean energy and reduce greenhouse gas output by 3 million tons.
- While the Governor's Million Solar Roofs Initiative is encouraging renewable energy production on residential and small commercial buildings, many utility companies are taking on large scale renewable energy projects, such as wind and solar farms. The solar installation project announced today fills the gap between these small and large scale projects by finding an innovative way to generate more renewable energy on large commercial buildings in local communities.
Governor Schwarzenegger leads the nation in his commitment to research, legislation and policy to achieve energy independence and fight global warming. Actions include:
- Solar Water Heating and Efficiency Act of 2007: Last October, the Governor signed AB 1470 by Assemblymember Jared Huffman (D-San Rafael), which establishes an incentivized program for solar hot water heaters with the goal of promoting the installation of 200,000 solar hot water systems in California by 2017.
- Energy Biosciences Institute: In February 2007, the Governor announced that the University of California Berkeley received a $500 million grant from BP to establish the Energy Biosciences Institute (EBI). The University of California, Berkeley is a partner with the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign on this groundbreaking project. EBI is the first public-private research lab dedicated to renewable fuels and clean energy.
- Low Carbon Fuel Standard: In January 2007, the Governor announced the world's first Low Carbon Fuel Standard for transportation fuels that requires fuel providers to reduce the carbon intensity of transportation fuels sold in California. This first-of-its-kind standard firmly establishes sustainable demand for lower-carbon fuels without favoring one fuel over another. To start, the standard will reduce the carbon intensity of California's passenger vehicle fuels by at least 10 percent by 2020 and more thereafter.
- Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006: In September 2006, the Governor signed the Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006, California's landmark bill that established a first-in-the-world comprehensive program of regulatory and market mechanisms to achieve real, quantifiable, cost-effective reductions of greenhouse gases. The law will reduce carbon emissions in California to 1990 levels by the year 2020. Governor Schwarzenegger has also called for the state to reduce carbon emissions to 80 percent below 1990 levels by the year 2050.
