~JFF - Various news stories on 811 collected from several sources

June 27, 2008
from: MyDesert.com
The Desert Sun Newspaper, Palm Springs, CA

Senate backs Palm Desert's energy plan

Jake Henshaw -
Desert Sun Sacramento Bureau

The Senate decided Thursday that Palm Desert and other California cities should be able to provide up-front financing for energy-saving home improvements.
Assembly Bill 811, approved on a 29-5 vote, would allow interested cities and counties statewide to use a property tax-like approach to finance solar panels, dual pane windows and energy-efficient air conditioning.

"I am very enthusiastic and appreciative of the Senate," Palm Desert City Councilman Jim Ferguson said in a phone interview.
Sen. Denise Ducheny, D-San Diego, voted for the bill, and Sen. Jim Battin, R-La Quinta, who wasn't on the floor, did not vote.

"Anything we can do to reduce the cost of energy and increase the use of renewables, we need to do to reduce our dependence on oil," Ducheny said, adding "efficiency actually saves money for people while you're at it."
Battin said he missed the vote because he was flying home on the one direct flight daily from Sacramento to the Coachella Valley. He said he booked the flight after being told the Senate wouldn't vote on bills Thursday, only to learn just minutes before he left that AB 811 was coming up.

If he had been on floor, however, Battin said he would have voted for the bill after initial concerns that a city could be "on the hook for taking on bad loans."

But Battin concluded, after heavy lobbying by the city lobbyist, that the "city's role was not so much that they would be at risk."
No one spoke against the bill before the vote, but Sen. Dennis Hollingsworth, R-Murrieta, who opposed the bill, said in an interview that the private sector could provide this service more effectively.

AB 811 by Assemblyman Lloyd Levine, D-Van Nuys, is a voluntary plan intended to clarify that cities and counties may designate areas where interested residents or businesses would be eligible for up-front financing provided by cities to install renewable energy facilities such as solar panels.

The loan would be tied to an assessment constituting a lien against the property where the improvements are made and would be repaid on a schedule and at a rate negotiated between the borrower and the sponsoring city. If a person sells a home before paying off the loan, the loan stays with the property.

The bill next returns to the Assembly for a final vote before going to the governor.

Desert Sun Reporter K Kaufmann contributed to this story.



April 13, 2008
Energy bill moving through Senate
Proposed law would provide loans for home improvements

K Kaufmann •
The Desert Sun •

Hoping to ease Palm Desert's energy financing bill through the state Senate, City Councilman Jim Ferguson took a trip Thursday to Sacramento.
After flying through the state Assembly in a mere three weeks, the proposal known as Assembly Bill 811 has hit a bit of a bump in the Senate.

The proposal would allow cities to provide residents with low-interest loans for energy-efficient home improvements - like solar panels or high-efficiency air conditioners - with a long-term payback linked to property tax payments.

The bill, which got a 55-12 vote in the Assembly in January, is now headed for a hearing in the Senate Local Government Committee in early May and could still be on Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's desk by the end of May, Ferguson said.

The bill had been temporarily hamstrung by questions about which Senate committee should hold hearings on it - a common occurrence in the Legislature, said Brian Weinberger, a consultant for the Local Government Committee.
"Sometimes to get something done, you have to camp out outside an office and bird-dog a bill," he said after meeting with Local Government Committee staff.

"The bill had been referred to the Energy Committee for obvious reasons," Weinberger said. "(But) the policy question that lies at the core of the bill lies more within the local government (area)."
Palm Desert officials are pushing hard to get the bill passed as an "urgency measure," which means it would go into effect as soon as the governor signs it. The city could then have its own energy-efficiency financing program up and running this summer, said Patrick Conlon, director of the energy management.

"We are putting together the business documents for the program on a parallel path with the progress of the legislation," Conlon said. "After the governor signs (the bill) we want to have the program up and running within 30 days."

An ambitious plan
The impetus for the bill grew out of Palm Desert's ambitious plan to cut energy use in the city by 30 percent in five years. The city is partnering with Southern California Edison and the Gas Company on the project, which began last year. Both companies have offered residents special rebates for energy-efficient home improvements, with limited results.

End-of-year figures for 2007 showed the city falling short of its first-year goals by about 28 percent. Residents were quick to adopt more convenient and affordable efficiency measures, like changing to compact fluorescent bulbs, but balked at high-ticket projects, like replacing air conditioning systems.

The city began looking for a way to couple low-interest loans with a repayment scheme linked to property tax payments, consulting with a special counsel, Richards, Watson & Gershon of Los Angeles, said City Manager Carlos Ortega.
The City of Berkeley is piloting a similar program, offering residents low-cost loans to install solar panels.
But Palm Desert officials went for a change in state law on the advice of the special counsel because they wanted residents to be able to use the loans for other kinds of energy efficient improvements, said Ortega.
"We want to do air conditioners and all these things," Ortega said. "Given our weather, you get the most bang for your buck by doing things before you do (solar)."

Looking for support
The city drafted the bill late in 2007 and found immediate support from Assemblyman Lloyd E. Levine, D-Van Nuys, chair of the Assembly Utilities and Commerce Committee and a staunch solar advocate.
Along with Assemblywoman Bonnie Garcia, R-Cathedral City, who signed on as a co-author, Levine shepherded the bill through the Assembly in record time.
The bill got the two-thirds vote it needed in the Assembly to become an urgency measure; a similar two-thirds vote will be needed in the Senate.

"We need to garner 27 votes," said Anthony Gonsalves, the city's Sacramento lobbyist, who will meet with key senators to try to win support for the bill.
Topping the list will be Sen. Gloria Negrete McLeod, D-Chino, who chairs the Local Government Committee, and Sen. Jim Battin, R-La Quinta.
"He hasn't taken a position," said Bill Lohr, Battin's communications director. "He has some concerns that need to be met before he makes a decision."

McLeod has yet to review the bill, said Alfonso Sanchez, a consultant on her staff.
But, he said, "Any bill that serves to make the air better in our district, she'll be looking to support."
Schwarzenegger has also taken no position on the bill, said Rachel Cameron, a spokeswoman for the governor.

Even if it becomes law, the success of AB 811 could hinge on the economy - and whether people are willing to take out the loans, however low cost and easy to pay back, in today's unsettled home mortgage market.
Ferguson argues that ensuring affordable financing for energy efficiency makes sense for cities and individual homeowners, especially in a down economy.

"We have to be damn good at explaining this to people," he said. "When they do the math, the loans will save money, pay for their efficiency, add equity to their homes and put money in their pockets at the end of the day."

The savings*
Homeowners making energy-efficient upgrades would get low- interest home equity loans from the city, for example, $12,000 at 6 percent.Repayment of the debt would be added to the resident's property tax bill. Over a 30-year period, it would add about $900 a year to the resident's tax bill, or about $75 a month.

Exact figures on savings from specific energy-efficient improvements would vary, depending on the season, but would likely be more than $75 per month.Residents who decide to sell would be able to pay off the loan balance or the new owner can assume it, possibly asking for a price adjustment as part of sale negotiations.





January 29, 2008
Levine Measure to Expand the Use of Solar Power in California Clears State Assembly

Desert Sun - California Political Desk

SACRAMENTO – By a 55 to 12 vote, the California State Assembly today passed legislation by Assemblymember Lloyd Levine (D-Van Nuys) that would help finance the upfront costs for solar power and other energy efficiency improvements by authorizing cities to provide low interest loans to property owners with long-term repayments added to their annual property tax bills.

Assembly Bill 811 stipulates that homeowners and small businesses wishing to participate in the program would only be required to repay the cost of their project plus a small fee to administer the program. Under the bill, a city could provide funding for projects from a bond or a loan that would be repaid through voluntary fees on participating owners´ annual property tax bills.

"This measure is vital for California´s energy future because solar power produces the most energy on the days of the year we most need electricity," said Assemblymember Levine, who serves as Chair of the Assembly´s Utilities and Commerce Committee. "If we can place solar panels on more homes and businesses across the state we will dramatically reduce strain on the grid on the hottest days of the summer and reduce the price spikes in electricity associated with those hot days.

"This is why the Legislature, the Governor, and the PUC created the California Solar Initiative," Levine continued. "With a little help to create a larger market for solar power today, the entire solar industry should be able to lower costs and become self sufficient within 10 years. At that point we should have 3000 MW of solar capacity online in the state. And on a hot day, those solar megawatts could be the difference between the lights staying on and rolling blackouts."

In 2006, the Legislature approved Senate Bill 1 (Murray/Levine) Chapter 132, Statutes of 2006. SB 1 was the final piece needed for the state to implement the California Solar Initiative (CSI), a program to place 3,000 megawatts of solar electricity in California by 2017.

The CSI provides property owners financial incentives to offset the costs of solar electricity in the early years of the program. The money available for distribution decreases each year until the funds are exhausted in 2017.

The goal of the CSI is to help establish the solar industry in California, so that when the CSI ends the solar industry can remain cost-effective without the need for government subsidies. While the CSI and other federal subsidies have made solar power more affordable, these incentives only offset a portion of the upfront costs of installation.

Although, over time solar pays for itself, property owners who want to invest in the technology today continue to struggle to pay for its high initial cost. AB 811 is needed to ensure that all cities and counties in California have the authority to carry out a financing program to pay for solar power and other energy efficiency improvements through voluntary fees on owners´ properties.

Last November, Berkeley´s City Council approved a plan similar to this bill. Soon after that, city officials from San Francisco, Santa Cruz, Santa Monica, and Palm Desert looked into creating similar programs. Assembly Bill 811 will next be heard in the Senate.



Chula Vista and Saratoga Latest California Cities to Adopt Green Building Rules
Downtown Chula Vista

Two more California cities, Chula Vista and Saratoga, have joined the nearly three dozen cities statewide that have adopted green building rules. The Chula Vista City Council recently pledged to become the first municipality in San Diego County with green building standards for all new construction and major renovations.

City Council members voted unanimously to require energy- and water-efficient construction standards as part of a proposal from the city’s Climate Change Working Group, a commission led by resident Richard Chavez. City staff will spend the next 90 days working out details.

The proposal adopted by the city council includes requiring businesses to have regular energy audits, developing a solar energy program to help residents and businesses install photovoltaic systems, coordinating with local water authorities to convert grass lawns to water-saving rock and shrub landscapes, facilitating smart growth and converting the city’s fleet to high-efficiency vehicles.

The City of Saratoga’s new green building policy will require all newly constructed or renovated city-owned facilities over 5,000 square feet to meet the U.S. Green Building Council’s requirements for LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Silver certification.

The policy is modeled on recommendations in the Santa Clara County Cities Association’s “Near-term Policy on Green Building Strategy,” and will help to streamline the green building process. Building permit applicants will need to complete a green building checklist, which will help the City Council track the growth of sustainable building practices in Saratoga, while also helping building permit applicants identify opportunities to incorporate green building elements into their projects.

Read background on the Chula Vista and Saratoga (PDF, 31 KB) green building policies

Read more: “Report: Green Building Easiest Way to Cut Carbon” (e-Newswire, 4/2/08)

Read more: “Green Building Programs Up 400% in U.S. Cities, Report Finds” (e-Newswire, 12/12/07)

Read Flex Your Power’s Best Practices Guide for Local Governments