Everyone knows Arnold Schwarzenegger from his movies but few have ever heard about his initiatives in politics. Since becoming Governor of California he has proved real interest in solving the energy problems of this state.
With an increasing number of citizens the basic needs of California reached certain alarming peaks. That is how authorities came close to the idea of exploiting California solar power. Forced by insufficient supplies the state of California passed through regular rolling blackouts during spring time. Decided to sustain this project right from the start the governor struggled to obtain the vote of the majority. That is how on January 12, 2006, California Public Utilities Commission accepted to start a project referring to permanent support for installing solar roofs. California solar power became astonishingly exploited through the plan known as California Solar Initiative. The aim was to satisfy almost six percents of California energy needs. One million homes were proposed for this plan. California solar power would turn this way towards a completely new age of energy system.
Each home, as part of this program, would receive from the State $2.80 cents per watt on their utilities bill. This project wants to eliminate basically two problems. California solar power would be the saving force which would please the energy general demand and would also avoid spending huge sums of money on building massive new power generating stations. Authorities promise that this project implies a huge shifting between presently five power generation complexes and future resources determined by exploiting the California solar power. The main idea is that California Solar Initiative came to clarify one of the most important problems in this state.
In spite of the huge sum of money invested in this project, about 3.2 billion dollar, this initiative helped a lot in improving general status of energy supplies. There are about 15,000 homes in California which are designed with solar roofs.
The greatest advantage of this new plan involving California solar power is the fact that it will make possible the total elimination of the electrical bills. The concept of net metering allows to customers to use their own electricity generators. This system is already functioning in almost 30 states. It was initially established for renewable energy technologies such as wind. But it can be applied to this situation too. California solar power enables most of the people involved in this project to be paid back for the energy they generate. In fact this new project redefines California solar power. It all depends on the size of the solar platform.
Through this initiative the governor popularity increased significantly. The plan proved to be extremely viable. Turning natural resources into real benefits without endanger the environment is not quite a simple task. But, in this case, the California solar power came to solve the great problem of energy supplies. It also determined the decrease of general financial funds previously used for building power generation complexes.
California Solar Initiative is the biggest plan of this kind in the United States. With this innovative view on the energy system, California solar power changed priorities and contributed to the whole economic development of the state. The governor Arnold Schwarzenegger proved more than an actor and showed to the poll that he really deserves his job and complete trust.
Back to Articles