{"id":23775,"date":"2020-04-09T05:00:25","date_gmt":"2020-04-09T12:00:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.yardi.com\/blog\/?p=23775"},"modified":"2020-12-25T02:31:59","modified_gmt":"2020-12-25T10:31:59","slug":"new-solar-mandate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.yardi.com\/blog\/new-solar-mandate\/","title":{"rendered":"New Solar Mandate"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sacramento is one of the first cities to renegotiate its path towards sustainable power. Since the inception of California\u2019s rooftop solar mandate<\/a>, several municipalities have scrambled to accommodate the push towards clean energy. Sacramento may be the first of many cities to take advantage of a loophole in the mandate.<\/p>\n

Community solar<\/strong><\/p>\n

The California Energy Commission approved a proposal from the Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD) that would allow developers to use offsite solar panel installations in some new construction. The community solar option would allow developers to explore more cost-effective options for powering homes off-site.\"\"<\/p>\n

The existing community solar provision applies to shaded apartment buildings and single-family homes. The approved proposal opens the door for developers to choose rooftop solar or SMUD\u2019s community solar for any project in the municipality.<\/p>\n

Ethan Elkind, director of the climate program at UC Berkeley\u2019s Center for Law, Energy and the Environment explains the implications of the new provision.<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cThere is a really strong precedential value here,\u201d he said. \u201cThis is a new regulation that just went into effect, and this community solar piece of it hasn\u2019t really been tested, and so it\u2019s going to set a precedent for years to come for how utilities and real estate developers will respond to this regulation.\u201d<\/p>\n

New yet weakening regulation?<\/strong><\/p>\n

In essence, the new mandate is already accepting exceptions. Rooftop solar advocates fear the broader implications. \u00a0Laurie Litman, member of the climate group 350 Sacramento, expressed her apprehensions: \u201cThe concern is that if it\u2019s cheaper for developers to not put solar on people\u2019s homes, then they\u2019re going to opt for that choice,\u201d says Litman. \u201cThat\u2019s going to undermine the solar homes mandate throughout the state because then other areas and other utilities will ask for that waiver as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

Secondly, transporting power from a distant site to a home results in new infrastructure, waste, power loss, and other less desirable outcomes. Rooftop solar advocates argued that SMUD\u2019s original proposal intended to draw power from an existing solar installation 100 miles from Sacramento. The new plan is an improvement\u2014it will draw power from a new installation in Sacramento County, for example– but it still sets a negative precedent for the mandate.<\/p>\n

Currently, there are no other municipalities seeking exceptions. Publicly owned utility providers like the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power and the Modesto Irrigation District expressed interest in and approval of SMUD\u2019s methodology, but they aren\u2019t following suit (yet). It may not be feasible for investor-owned utility providers to do so, either. Elkind theorizes that municipal utilities have more flexibility than their publicly owned counterparts.<\/p>\n

Better options for homeowners<\/strong><\/p>\n

Homeowners already manage a slew of responsibilities. The maintenance of rooftop solar and the stress of brown-outs during cloudy periods should not get added to their plates. That\u2019s the perspective proposed by SMUD spokesperson Lindsay VanLaningham. SMUD\u2019s offsite solar does not require upfront costs to residents, offers more consistent power, and is maintained by professionals rather than homeowners.<\/p>\n

Additionally, community solar options can make alternative power more feasible for low-income housing and multifamily housing. The National Resources Defense Council (NRDC) supported the SMUD proposal. NRDC Senior scientist Pierre Delforge explains, \u201cOne of the biggest gaps in our portfolio for clean energy at the moment is community solar. We have a lot of central utility scale solar, we have a lot of rooftop solar and we have very little community solar. And we\u2019re going to need all of it to achieve our clean energy goals in an affordable manner.\u201d<\/p>\n

Get the tools that you need to improve utility efficiency at your multifamily property.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sacramento is one of the first cities to renegotiate its path towards sustainable power. Since the inception of California\u2019s rooftop solar mandate, several municipalities have scrambled to accommodate the push towards clean energy. Sacramento may be the first of many cities to take advantage of a loophole in the mandate. Community solar The California Energy […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":440,"featured_media":24204,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_s2mail":"yes","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2472,4],"tags":[41,386,31,1675],"class_list":["post-23775","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-energy","category-news","tag-development","tag-solar-power","tag-sustainability","tag-yardi-energy"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nYardi Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Sacramento is one of the first cities to renegotiate its path towards sustainable power. 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