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California Adopts Strongest U.S. Renewable Energy Requirement
2010-09-24 10:29:12.433 GMT
By Mark Chediak and Jeremy van Loon
Sept. 24 (Bloomberg) -- First Solar Inc. is among the
renewable-energy equipment makers that may gain after California
regulators approved a rule that would require state utilities to
get a third of their power from solar, wind and other renewable
sources by 2020, the most ambitious standard in the U.S.
Demand for solar panels on rooftops and in fields as well
as for wind turbines in the most populous U.S. state will get a
boost from the new regulations, said Catharina Saponar, a
renewable energy analyst at Nomura Holdings in London.
"It does send another positive signal that California is
being aggressive," she said today in a telephone interview.
Companies that may also benefit include Vestas Wind Systems A/S,
Trina Solar Ltd. and SMA Solar Technology AG, she said.
The California Air Resources Board voted yesterday in
Sacramento to require PG&E Corp.'s Pacific Gas & Electric,
Edison International's Southern California Edison and Sempra
Energy's San Diego Gas & Electric to meet the new standard.
Thirty-three states and the District of Columbia have set
renewable energy targets, all of which are lower than 33
percent, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.
"This standard is going to further diversify and secure
our energy supply while also growing California's leading green
technology market, which will lead to cost savings for
customers," Mary Nichols, chairwoman of the board, said in a e-
mail statement.
Republican Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger ordered the board
last year to adopt regulations for the one-third target under
the authority of the state's 2006 greenhouse-gas reduction law.
That law could be suspended if voters in November approve a
measure backed by the oil industry.
Sun-Generated Power
Solar panel makers including First Solar and Trina Solar
are scrambling to expand in California, Arizona and New Mexico,
which have some of the best solar radiation in the world for
generating electricity from the sun. Germany, the world's
biggest market for panels and about half as sunny on average as
the U.S. Southwest, is trimming guaranteed rates for sun-
generated power, forcing developers and manufacturers to look
elsewhere for growth.
Demand for wind turbines will probably shrink this year in
the U.S., Bloomberg New Energy Finance estimates. The U.S. is
the world's second-largest market for windmills after China.
Some business and consumer groups in California raised
concerns that the ruling may lead to higher utility bills.
"There must be a safety valve to protect retail customers,"
Matthew Freedman, an attorney at the Utility Reform Network,
said in a statement on the San Francisco-based consumer advocacy
group's website.
Deadline Delay
California law now requires utilities to get 20 percent of
their electricity from renewable sources by the end of the year.
The California Public Utilities Commission doesn't expect that
goal to be met and may push the deadline back as much as three
years in cases where transmission lines are not available to
connect new power plants.
The California legislature last month failed to vote on a
bill that would have made the 33 percent target a state law
after utilities, environmentalists and labor unions couldn't
agree on how much renewable power may come from out-of-state
generators.
"Executive orders are ultimately not the right way to
scale solar and renewables in California," said David
Hochschild, vice president of external relations for Freemont,
California-based Solaria Corp., a solar-panel maker. "We need
legislation to provide that market certainty."
For Related News and Information:
Top environment stories: GREEN <GO>
Alternative energy monitor: ALTM <GO>
Top power stories: PTOP <GO>
--With assistance from Andrew Herndon in San Francisco. Editors:
Tina Davis, Randall Hackley
To contact the reporters on this story:
Mark Chediak in San Francisco at +1-415-617-7233 or
mchediak@bloomberg.net
Jeremy van Loon in Berlin at +49-30-70010-6231 or
jvanloon@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story:
Susan Warren at +1-214-954-9455 or susanwarren@bloomberg.net
Reed Landberg at +44-20-7330-7862 or
landberg@bloomberg.net
