TechPulse 360

As Germany winds down its solar feed-in tariff, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa is suggesting one of his own.

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa sees LA becoming a "booming cpaital of solar power."

Villaraigosa said he sees the proposal turning Tinseltown into a “booming capital of solar power.” In a piece on the Huffington Post blog, he estimates 16,500 jobs could be created over 10 years.

Feed-in tariffs appear to be gaining some traction around the world. Late last year, Ontario adopted a generous feed-in tariff to attract solar development – with some success – and a month later Japan followed suite. This year, the United Kingdom enacted a modest proposal of its own. California has its own feed-in tariff with consumer rates yet to be set.

Nevertheless, the push comes against a backdrop of fiscal restraint due to the global recession. Germany’s pioneering feed-in tariff, which helped create the world’s largest solar market, is being cut back after a conservative government returned to power. Italy and the Czech Republic are considering cuts of their own.

With these international cross currents, Villaraigosa’s move could suggest that progressive cities and town are ready to take maters into their own hands.

According to his proposal, an extra 7 cents will be charged for each kilowatt hour of electricity used – about $3 a month. The majority of this money will pay residents for electricity they generate from newly installed solar systems.

Villaraigosa claims this will help the city build a green economy. He may be right. Already Ontario’s efforts have attracted international interest, with Samsung and others committing to establish manufacturing plants.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, March 17th, 2010 at 11:25 am and is filed under news. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.