With a unanimous vote, the Los Angeles City Council vetoed the LADWP’s proposed cuts to the Solar Incentive Program and called for a 90-day moratorium on new solar rebates.
This comes after the Department of Water and Power proposed rebate cuts that were expected to dramatically slow the adoption of clean, renewable energy in Los Angeles — and would eliminate $1 million per year in solar funding for Affordable Housing.
Council member Bill Rosendahl said “The bottom line is this: We should go solar; we’re in sunny Southern California, and the DWP has to figure out how to incentivize us to make it work.â€
The Sierra Club, VoteSolar, along with a coalition of solar companies and the community advocacy group Open Neighborhoods all voiced their opposition to DWP’s proposed cuts, which disproportionately reduced residential solar rebates for neighborhood homes.
Council member Richard Alarcon said “If we’re going to grow support for solar – use of solar energy – everyone in the world has to do it, not just select communities who are rich.â€
The moratorium will take effect January 1st, 2011 while the DWP reduces its rebate backlog and submits a plan for less drastic rebate cuts. With the solar rebate moratorium approaching, a surge of rebate applications are expected prior to the December 31st deadline.
Responding to news of the solar moratorium, Open Neighborhoods is extending the current GoSolar 2010 community program until Dec 15th. “This extension will ensure as many community members as possible are able to claim Million Solar Roofs rebates before the LADWP solar moratorium takes effect.†said Open Neighborhoods co-founder James Brennan.
The program extension applies to Los Angeles area customers of both LADWP and Southern California Edison. Program participants will join with over 170 Los Angeles area homes and businesses in receiving free solar assessments, accessing group savings of up to 30% with large-scale volume purchasing or leasing of solar panels, and reserving Million Solar Roofs rebate funds to help offset installation costs.
Participants must sign up to request a free solar assessment at www.openneighborhoods.net/gosolar prior to the December 15th program end date. LADWP rebate applications must be filed by December 31st in order to be processed prior to the January 1st solar rebate moratorium.
Open Neighborhoods was founded in 2008 with a mission to connect and inform local neighborhoods with open Internet access, neighborhood social networking services, and clean energy solutions.
