A proposal that would have relaxed California’s new requirement for rooftop solar panels on all new homes built from 2020 forward was postponed Wednesday. The Los Angeles Times reports:
State officials declined Wednesday to approve a program that would allow new homes to be built in Sacramento without rooftop solar panels — handing at least a temporary victory to clean energy advocates, who said the program would cripple California’s first-in-the-nation home solar mandate.
The California Energy Commission postponed a decision on a controversial proposal from the Sacramento Municipal Utility District after hearing from dozens of solar industry representatives, environmental activists and utility ratepayers. Under SMUD’s proposal, home builders would be allowed to take credit for electricity produced at existing solar farms, rather than installing solar panels on new single-family homes and low-rise multifamily buildings.
Building industry officials urged approval of the program, saying it would help keep California’s already-high housing prices from rising even further.
