The bill was finally sunk by the addition of union-mandated prevailing wage and licensing demands by Democrats from the California's Assembly Appropriations Committee, making passage untenable for its Republican proponents.
SB1 would have seen Californians offered over $US2.5 billion in incentives to install over 3000MW of solar capacity on homes and small business over the next decade, a move that would have shored up the shaky environmental reputation of governor Schwarzenegger, who aggressively promoted ‘his’ bill until the last minute.
Schwarzenegger is now likely to ask the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) to implement a solar program using SB1 as a guideline, probably maintaining the primary goal of the initiative but outside of a political framework that would have scored points for the Republican governor.
The CPUC has said work could begin on its revised Million Solar Roofs initiative as early as November, and as long as legislative infighting does not torpedo this second attempt, Californian homebuyers could see solar panels as mandatory home additions within the next few years.
