Renewable Energy Generation
Requires government-owned utilities to generate 20% of their electricity from renewable energy by 2010, a standard currently applicable to private electrical corporations. Raises requirement for all utilities to 40% by 2020 and 50% by 2025. Fiscal Impact: Increased state administrative costs up to $3.4 million annually, paid by fees. Unknown impact on state and local government costs and revenues due to the measure’s uncertain impact on retail electricity rates.
This initiative has been one of the more contentious issues of the election, with a lot of advertising aired, especially from the opposition.
On the face of it, this is an issue that I would normally be a supporter of. Unfortunately, the experts in this area are unanimous in declaring that this initiative is poorly written and deeply flawed. If passed, it could actually effect the efforts of renewable energy in detrimental ways.
One of the flaws that stood out to me, as a layperson, is the fact that electricity from small energy producers does not count toward meeting the goals. Only electricity from facilities generating 30 megawatts or more count toward to quota.
If renewable energy generation is going to have a significant impact, its my belief that it will be done in a distributed manner, utilizing solar panels installed on the rooftops of homes and businesses. The output from these installations are measured in kilowatts. Thus, this initiative offers no incentive for pursuing this approach.
The list of opponents to Proposition 7 is long, and includes all political parties, leading environmental groups, and renewable energy businesses.
I’ll be joining them and voting No on Prop 7.
Additional information is available at Ballotpedia.
