No on Proposition 7

Much to the chagrin of some of my friends, I am firmly planted against Proposition 7, the Clean Energy and Solar Initiative. While I think the expansion of Renewable energy is needed, this initiative is so poorly written that it is makes things more complicated. My philosophy with ballot measures is that if I cannot explain exactly how it will make my life better, I vote no. For example, high speed rail to Bay Area = fast trip to SF = good. I also think the proposition makes promises it cant keep.

Ill be blogging more about this, but it is interesting that everyone is against this proposition. Labor, environmentalists, solar producers, Democrats, Republicans, taxpayer associations and now the editorial pages of the LA Times and Santa Cruz Sentential.

I think the LA Times editorial points one of the main reasons I am against it.

The measure also contains confusing language that seems to exclude small renewable plants that generate less than 30 megawatts from counting toward meeting the state's clean-power goals. This is a problem because the transition to solar power is being led by businesses and homeowners, who increasingly are putting solar panels on their rooftops and selling small amounts of energy back to the utilities, while getting rebates for installing the systems. Some utilities, such as Southern California Edison, are also leasing rooftop space from corporations for large (though less than 30-megawatt) installations. If such projects don't count toward meeting the state's renewable-power goal, which would probably be the case under Proposition 7, there would no longer be any incentive for the utilities to pay for them. That's why environmental groups are rightly appalled by this initiative, which could actually slow the growth of solar power.