solar power
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California net metering bill progresses
Just to follow up on a previous thread, AB 560 (the bill to lift the net metering cap in California) passed a key hurdle today, passing out of the Senate Energy, Utilities, and Communications committee by a vote of 9-1. The bill was amended–instead of lifting the 2.5 percent cap on net metering to 10 […]
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GOP: Solar powered jobs can go to hell (or at least limbo)
The clock was ticking … till it stopped.Courtesy Osha DavidsonJust ten days ago, Arizona state Senator Barbara Leff (R-Paradise Valley) stood before a House committee, making the case for a bill she had written. “The Quality Jobs Through Renewable Energy Bill,” was needed, she said, to make Arizona the leader in solar [power].” Not just […]
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Replace the “Saudi Arabia of wind/solar/etc power” trope
How many times have you heard that Place X is the “Saudi Arabia of solar power” or “Saudi Arabia of wind power” or “Saudi Arabia of geothermal”? Kate Galbraith of The New York Times‘ Green Inc. blog has heard it one too many times, so she’s launched a contest for a new phrase to describe […]
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The Climate Post: Deal or no deal
First things first: U.S. representatives may head into Independence Day recess with their climate work done for the moment. House leadership fast-tracked the American Clean Energy and Security Act (ACES) after a breakthrough agreement Monday night between its co-sponsors and a powerful hold-out representing farmers and rural districts. A vote on the house floor could […]
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5,400 students currently training for solar jobs in California
Two things are happening in California right now. At least 5,400 Californians are training to enter the solar industry with one of 27 solar training service providers, according to a survey we just conducted. Details here (PDF). If the California Legislature does not lift the net metering cap and let the California solar industry continue […]
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SCREEEEECH
That, my friends, is the sound of the California solar market grinding to a halt — which is exactly what will happen if we don’t lift the cap on net metering. Net metering, of course, is the policy that allows you to roll you meter backwards when you generate more solar electricity than you use. […]
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Hot new clean-tech startups are plug-and-play
You gotta be crazy to start a green-tech company these days, right? Venture funding has fallen off the proverbial cliff since the economy imploded last September, and even established renewable energy companies are struggling to stay afloat until the Obama stimulus cash begins to flow. But it seemed more 1999 than 2009 this week at […]
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The Climate Post: Insider baseball on Waxman-Markey, outsider baseball on Hawaiian solar power
For those mercifully far enough away not to know, the “Capital beltway” is a looping highway, Interstate 495, the way many metro Washington residents ride to work. “Inside the beltway” isn’t coincident with Washington, DC. It also connotes a mythical place unrestrained by geography, a state of mind where consequential details of legislation attract and […]
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Renewables industry protests weak RES proposals in Congress
In January, Barack Obama stopped by the Cardinal Fastener & Specialty Co. in Bedford Heights, Ohio, to promote his economic-stimulus plan. The company, which has manufactured parts for bridges and machinery since 1968, began three years ago to make giant nuts and bolts to hold together wind turbines. During his visit, Obama cited the factory […]
