September 15, 2008

Prop 7: California’s illusory promotion of renewable power

Steven F. Greenwald and Jeffrey P. Gray

This November, as part of California’s eclectic version of participatory democracy, its residents will vote on whether to amend the Solar and Clean Energy Act of 2008. Proposition No. 7 (Prop 7) promises to place the state on “the path to energy independence.” It would require all California electric utilities, including municipals, to procure 50% of their supply from “clean energy sources like solar and wind” by 2025. The promotion of Prop 7 includes the statutory commitment that achieving this 50% renewable power target will “result in no more than a 3% increase in electric rates.”

The goals of Prop 7 are laudable; but its fundamental premises are political fantasy. It “legislatively” removes the formidable technological, economic, and political barriers impeding the installation of more renewable power. If approved, Prop 7 will not increase renewable power by one megawatt; it will, however, increase costs, create yet additional levels of wasteful administrative red tape and bureaucratic paralysis, and further delay our nation’s necessary transition to renewable power.

Politicians don’t build plants

The initiative process is designed to allow citizens to force recalcitrant legislators and regulators to act. However, the responsible California authorities, despite their other shortfalls, have been anything but “potted plants” in championing the renewable imperative. They are implementing perhaps the most ambitious renewable portfolio standard (RPS) target in the nation--currently 20% by 2010--and are poised to mandate a 33% by 2020 target.

The setting of RPS targets by itself, however, does not guarantee additional renewable generation. The California Public Utilities Commission recently reported that its approval of more than 60 projects promising almost 4,500 renewable megawatts notwithstanding, only 400 additional megawatts have come on-line, and that this increase does not even match “overall load growth.”

California will best advance renewable power by first demonstrating its ability to achieve existing RPS targets with viable projects.

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