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Demece Garepis has notified us that the May 10th Solar Picnic in Precita Park is delayed until the final approval is made for local San Francisco solar panel rebates. "The local rebate, already funded through PG&E via the SFPUC, is clearing an approval process through the Board of Supervisors. See the solar update file below. Chris Bennett will represent PVN at the Board of Supervisors May 16th Finance Committee meeting to support solar panel rebates."

Subject: Update on solar rebate program

I wanted to provide an update on the solar rebate program that was heard earlier this week in the Board of Supervisors' Budget Committee. Many of you have been following this issue for the last several months, while others have recently inquired about the status of the program due to personal interest in installing solar on your rooftops. The solar rebate program that the Mayor and Assessor Ting have crafted that was scheduled for implementation on April 1 has been stalled by legislation at the Board of Supervisors to freeze funding for the program.

Additionally, legislation to establish the solar rebate program on a long-term, 10-year basis has been stuck in a Board of Supervisors Committee.

The legislation to freeze funding for the solar program that was heard this week was actually not advanced out of committee (a good thing for solar), but rather scheduled for another hearing on Wednesday, April 16 at 1PM.

Supervisors said they had several questions on the program that they wanted to research in the next two weeks. During this time, we are engaging Supervisor McGoldrick and other committee members to continue to answer questions they have and address any of their concerns. We will also likely succeed in getting the legislation to establish the solar program on a long-term basis heard at the same hearing on April 16.

Mayor Newsom and Assessor Ting remain fully committed to implementing this legislation, either through the Board of Supervisors in the coming weeks or if need be, through the ballot process later this year. Currently, we are working hard to have this program supported by the Board of Supervisors, which would ensure that the program can be implemented immediately.

A sincere thanks to all who have emailed, called and testified in support of the solar rebate program at the Board of Supervisors. This advocacy has been very helpful to convincing Supervisors about the broad support for the solar rebate program and the strong opposition within the environmental and renewable energy communities to stalling or prohibiting this initiative.

Your continued advocacy in the next two weeks with Supervisors and their staff members, and at the hearing on April 16, will be key to both removing the threat of freezing the funding for the program and approving the legislation to establish the solar rebates as a 10-year program.

Thank you very much for you interest and advocacy on this important environmental legislation.

Wade Crowfoot
Director of Climate Protection Initiatives
Office of Mayor Gavin Newsom

Labels: Precita Park, Precita Valley Neighbors