FIGHTING OVER LA SUN

LADWP's Revived Solar Program Sparks More Industry Backlash
Jessica Lillian. 4 August 2011 (Solar Industry)

"The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) has received approval from the Board of Water and Power Commissioners to relaunch its [Solar Photovoltaic Incentive Program], with several modifications. The LADWP says it will resume accepting applications for solar incentives starting Sept. 1 at 10:00 a.m PDT.

"The new plan incorporates input received from the public and the solar sector at a series of workshops…The program has been closed since April 9, when it was abruptly halted… to allow the utility to [catch up with a backlog]…[T]he revamped program will utilize an online automated application tool called PowerClerk, which is designed to streamline the process and increase transparency."

LA wants renewables, not this DWP-driven bickering (click to enlarge)

"However, although program funding was expanded to $60 million, as planned, incentive levels have been reduced - generating immediate outcry among local solar firms…The payment changes…reduce by 30% the rate for homeowners who purchase…and reduce by 40% for those who lease…These reductions ‘all but eliminate the economic benefits of solar for most homeowners’ and ‘stifle’ this critical local solar market…

"The solar payback period for LADWP customers will now reach as long as 14 years under the new system - more than 40% longer than elsewhere in the state…Solar lease holders - who constitute the majority of rooftop PV growth in Los Angeles - and the companies that serve them are expected to feel particularly severe economic pain… LADWP maintains that its new PV incentive rates…[follow the California Solar Initiative and] existing solar markets and…[have] a reasonable payback period…"