U.S. solar industry surpasses 200,000 jobs

PV Magazine - Jan 12 The U.S. solar industry added 35,000 jobs from November 2014 to November 2015, its third year of 20% annual growth according to the latest edition of the “Solar Jobs Census” released by The Solar Foundation. Installation makes up more than half of U.S. solar jobs. California is home to 76,000 solar jobs, or more than 1/3 of the total.

US renewable standards cut emissions, boost jobs, slash bills - report

PVTech - Jan 11 United States renewable portfolio standards (RPS) have affected a multitude of benefits, from cutting greenhouse gas emissions to reducing water consumption, according to a report from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory which analyzed the costs and benefits of 29 RPS programs in the United States. The study estimated RPS policies brought about $2.2 billion in benefits from reduced greenhouse gas emissions and a further $5.2 billion from reductions in air pollution in 2013.

Solar surges past wind, hydro as California’s no. 1 renewable energy source

KQED News - Jan 11 Data compiled from daily reports by California Independent System Operator (CAISO), the state’s major grid manager, indicates that in 2015, solar became the No. 1 source of renewable energy in California. Not only did solar beat wind power for the first time, but it also topped drought-depleted hydropower, the long-standing leader in California electricity generation outside fossil fuels and nuclear. The kicker is that these numbers undercut solar’s true contribution as CAISO’s solar data does not include the small systems installed throughout the state on California homes and businesses.

California picks winners for first-ever auction of distributed energy as demand response

GreenTech Media - Jan 12 Ohmconnect, EnergyHub, Green Charge Networks, EnerNOC, eMotorWerks and Stem are among the winners of experimental utility contracts for grid-edge flexibility through California’s Demand Response Auction Mechanism, or DRAM bids. Late last week, California’s big three utilities (Southern California Edison , Pacific Gas & Electric Company, and San Diego Gas & Electric) announced contracts with nine different companies, each of which managed to beat the competition in the first round of this first-of-a-kind pilot project.

First-of-its-kind $12 parcel tax proposed for all nine Bay Area counties

San Jose Mercury News - Jan 13 In a milestone for San Francisco Bay restoration that also raises questions about who should pay to protect property from rising seas caused by climate change, a low-profile government agency is expected to place a $12 annual parcel tax on the June ballot in all nine Bay Area counties. If approved by two-thirds of voters, the tax would raise $500 million over the next 20 years to build levees and restore thousands of acres of wetlands and tidal marshes as a buffer to storm surges and floods in every Bay Area county.

Sacramento has the most net-zero buildings of any city in America

GreenTech Media - Jan 13 California has more than half of the net zero buildings in the U.S., according to a new survey from the Net-Zero Energy Coalition. Zero-net-energy buildings produce as much energy as they consume, usually through a mix of high efficiency and clean onsite generation. The definition requires that a building create as much energy as it uses over the course of an entire year, rather than on a real-time basis. Across the U.S., there are nearly 6,800 net zero housing units (including apartments and single-family homes) across 3,339 buildings. Sacramento, California leads with more than 925 zero energy housing units with 800 more planned and Davis, California has just less than 900 zero energy homes.