Can you imagine if the state government or your municipal leaders demanded that you install expensive renewable energy solutions on your property, even though you have no need for such systems or cannot afford them?
This is not a hypothetical Big Green Brother scenario, but a situation that is slowly playing out on the West Coast — and don’t be surprised if this situation winds up here.
The City Council in Sebastopol, Calif., recently passed a law that requires all new housing and commercial real estate developments to install photovoltaic solar power arrays. And homeowners and business owners seeking to upgrade or expand their properties — either through a 1,800-square-foot increase or remodeling that impacts 50 percent of more of a property — will also be required to slap solar panels on their rooftops.
The amount of solar power to be installed in Sebastopol depends on the parameters of the new properties. The city determined that the new solar system must either provide 2 watts of power per square foot of insulated building area or offset 75 percent of the building’s annual electric load.
Sebastopol is the second California city to mandate solar power installations on local properties. Two months earlier, the municipal government in Lancaster began the trend, albeit with the sole focus on residences. In both cities, local officials pointed out that there was little vocal opposition to these measures. This is not a surprise, considering that the political winds in Lancaster and Sebastopol tend to blow from the left.
It should also be noted that solar power installers (a considerable presence in sunny California) were very pleased that they will be guaranteed of work in the years to come.
And who is paying for all of these new solar installations? Well, the property owners are being forced to foot the bills on systems that can run up into the six-figure range (depending on the scope of the installation) and can take upwards of two decades to show the barest return on investment. As for those Lancaster and Sebastopol residents who are not willing or able to follow the local leaders’ orders, they will be required to pay in-lieu fees or chose another green energy strategy.
However, the soon-to-be solar system owners will not feel a complete dent to their bank accounts. Remember, state and federal governments offer generous tax incentives to accommodate these installations — which, of course, ultimately mean the taxpayers are the ones that foot the bill. Indeed, more than $1 billion in federal money was funneled into the solar industry in 2010, according to data from the Energy Information Administration, which has also determined that solar power accounted for less than 0.2 percent of all American energy generation.
But if governmental incentives are removed from the equation, very few people would be comfortable financing the hefty up-front costs of solar power systems. While people like the feel-good vibe that solar energy promises, they are not comfortable with racking up debt in order to make the air a little cleaner. Not surprisingly, any attempt to pull the plug on these incentives inevitably brings solar industry executives to the verge of a nervous breakdown.
So far, Connecticut localities and the state government have not picked up on the California example. But don’t be surprised if they begin investigating this possibility.
For starters, it is easy to assume that the local solar installer industry would certainly welcome a California-style mandate. After all, the cost of electric generation has been falling thanks to the low prices for natural gas, which has proven to be the most cost-effective resource for power supply. That’s great news for Connecticut electrical customers, but bad news for solar power installers that spent years selling their systems on the premise that they could effectively chop down out-of-control electric bills.
Furthermore, the state is far removed from its 2020 renewable portfolio standard of generating 20 percent of its power from clean energy resources. If local residents and businesses will not voluntarily help state officials achieve their goal, the notion of government mandated solar installations is hardly a far-fetched fantasy.
But perhaps we’re getting ahead of ourselves on this. After all, the solar installation mandate has yet to take root in any other California city, let alone in other states. But don’t be surprised in the near future if elected officials begin fiddling on the Connecticut roofs with this misguided green energy scheme.
Phil Hall is a Southington-based writer. He is the former senior editor of Solar Industry Magazine and the publisher and editor of Business-Superstar.com, an online entrepreneurial resource.
