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California Assembly Bill 811 Signed Into Law

 

Assembly Bill 811 (AB 811), is an environmental law in California, signed into law by Governor of California Arnold Schwarzenegger on July 21, 2008. AB 811 was authored by Assemblyman Lloyd Levin.

AB 811 would authorize all cities and counties in California to designate areas within which willing property owners could enter into contractual assessments to finance the installation of distributed renewable energy generation, as well as energy efficiency improvements, that are permanently fixed to the property owner’s residential, commercial, industrial, or other real property. These financing arrangements would allow property owners to finance renewable generation and energy efficiency improvements through low-interest loans that would be repaid as an item on the property owner’s property tax bill. The contractual assessments could not be used to finance the purchase or installation of appliances that are not permanently fixed to the real property.

Assembly Bill 811 helps California municipalities accomplish the goals outlined by Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006.

The passage of AB 811 makes it more imperative to provide a energy efficiency community program. AB 811 states: “This act is an urgency statute…”.  Cities and counties can now: (1) Make energy-efficiency and renewable energy affordable for California citizens (2) Increase property values (3) Improve the efficiency and indoor air quality of residential & commercial properties (4) Reduce the burning of dirty fuels and hence, pollution (5) Lower greenhouse gas emissions (6) Empower constituents with the fiscal security of distributed energy.

California Assembly Bill No. 811

Harnessing The Sun’s Energy Is Becoming More Popular

(CBS) It’s freezing in the Contessa Foods plant in Los Angeles, where workers process, package and ship tons of frozen vegetables, fish and meat each day.

“It’s almost like putting 200,000 refrigerators … in one place,” said John Blazevich, CEO of Contessa Premium Foods.

And it’s powered primarily by the sun. An array of paper-thin solar panels rolled across a roof the size of two football fields has helped cut Contessa’s energy use, CBS News correspondent Bill Whitaker reports.

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Jarvis Winery Toasts Clean Energy With Real Goods Solar

Real Goods Solar Completes 107 Kilowatt PV Solar System in Napa, California for Jarvis Winery

SAN RAFAEL, Calif., — Jarvis Winery just joined the solar revolution with a new solar electric system that will generate approximately 155,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity annually. Newly acquired Marin Solar, now fully integrated into Real Goods Solar, was selected to perform all facets of the project, including design, engineering and installation.

Jarvis Winery will be producing as much energy as it uses, and will have a net zero utility bill. It will take approximately seven years to pay for itself, after which all electricity will be free from the sun. This system is warranted for 25 years, but industry experts say that solar panels will still produce power for 40 years or more.

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