Sun sets over bid for solar program (CA Million Solar Roofs)

[jpak]

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/state/20050909-9999-1n9solar.html

SACRAMENTO – After Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's move to make sun-drenched California a leader in solar power faded in the final hours of the legislative session yesterday, his aides said the administration will ask the state Public Utilities Commission to create the new program.

The powerful commission that regulates electricity rates was asked to begin preparations last fall and may be able to launch the new program as soon as November, said Richard Costigan, the governor's lobbyist.

"We can go to the PUC and implement the policy of SB 1, and that is where we will be going," Costigan said as administration officials briefed reporters on the status of key legislation.

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"We had the perfect storm for getting this passed," Sen. Kevin Murray, D-Los Angeles, co-author of SB 1, said at a news conference yesterday morning. "Now, at the end of the session, we seem to be moving toward the perfect storm to kill it."

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