| Jared Huffman, Assemblyman, Democratic party from San Rafael wrote a special newspaper piece for the Sonoma Index Tribune about the small number of solar water heaters installed in California during the year 2006. When you consider the thousands of homes that were sold, built and mortgaged (refinanced) if there is one natural resource that California has in abundance, it's sunshine to take advantage of solar power, solar energy and making hot water in abundance. Yet it's astonishing how few residents, builders and Californians take advantage of this free, nonpolluting energy source solar energy resource. Last year in the state of California only 1,000 solar water heaters were installed – in the entire state.
A sensible Assembly bill being promoted by Jared Huffman could make solar power more attractive while discouraging consumption of carbon-emitting natural gas, but the bill must first get through the state Senate. It is assembly bill AB 1470, from Assemblyman Jared Huffman, D-San Rafael that is a companion to a similar solar bill that was approved last year after being heavily touted by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. That solar bill one was Senate Bill #1, SB 1, which imposed a surcharge on electric bills to subsidize the installation on homes and businesses of solar panels that generate electricity. Assembly Bill 1470 would create a surcharge on gas bills to subsidize solar water-heating systems.
The cost of the assembly bill 1470 to power consumers is very small; Assembly Bill 1470 would add about 13 cents a month to gas bills, according to the California Public Utilities Commission. But the benefits to the people of the state of California are potentially great. Solar water-heating systems reduce the need for natural gas by up to 75 percent per building, and that doesn't just benefit the owner of the solar water heater.
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