In October, the California Legislature passed an amended bill requiring a feed-in tariff for residential and commercial customers hoping to sell solar and other renewable power to utilities.
Buying solar from rofftop installations stresses the electrci grid and adds costs
The tariff is scheduled to go into effect on Jan. 1, 2010, but in practice won’t get underway until the California Public Utilities Commission develops regulations to govern it. How long that will take is unclear.
But a feed-in tariff seems destine in California, says Pacific Gas & Electric. “I think ultimately…we’re heading toward a feed-in tariff,” PG&E Senior Director Andrew Tang said Friday.
Such a move would likely have two major impacts on the state. First, it would stimulate the solar market, as it did in Germany. A solar installation boom in the state could follow.
Second, it would better distribute solar purchase costs among ratepayers. Buying solar and other renewable power puts strains on the power grid and higher utility costs result. Those costs would be spread out among the state’s utility customers, lessening the local impact, said Tang.
Speaking at the Berkeley Stanford CleanTech Conference in Menlo Park, Tang said PG&E favors an Internet-based, or IP, network as the backbone of the smart grid.
“We’ve been very focused on IP” because the security and management tools exist, he said. Other utilities, especially those in Europe, have been building smart grids that run over electrical networks.
Companies, such as Cisco Systems, are hoping to have it both ways. The company is focused on IP-based smart grids, but works with vendors to extend its reach to electrical networks
The tug of war between the two systems is likely to go on for some time.
Jean-Baptiste Su
Mark Boslet
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