San Francisco Solar Energy Incentive Program Info

There were two big events that were misinterpreted by the media which led to a virtual absence of material written about the pilot program. The reason this is a disaster is because it would have brought the public attention to McGoldrick’s unnecessary review of the funding. Instead, only the solar industry itself is showing up to voice their opinions.

The First Problem…

…was that there was confusion in the media between the bill for a 10-year subsidy (which got shot down at city hall) and the San Francisco PUC’s own pilot program (which was good for one year and given the thumbs up by the Board of Supes). What happened was that the media jumped all over the 10-year bill getting shot down, and ignored the passed-and-good-to-go pilot program (described a little more in my earlier post). So as far as citizens were concerned, the subsidy was kaput, when, in fact, the opposite was true. It was funded and ready to rock, with applications to be accepted on April 1st.

The Second Problem…

…was when everybody was set and poised to receive applications for the solar incentive program, Mayor Newsome and others involved did a press release and met the press at the Bayview YMCA. From the press release itself:

“3/11/08 - Today, Mayor Gavin Newsom was joined by Assessor-Recorder Phil Ting and solar industry leaders to announce the immediate implementation of a solar rebate program that makes installation of solar panels more affordable for residents, businesses and non-profits. It represents the largest municipal solar incentive program in the country.”

Sounds pretty cut and dried… right? Well… so the media shows up and basically knows nothing about the program, which is fine because that is what this event is for… so Barbara Hale (I think she’s probably my favorite person in the entire solar industry and she just keeps getting relentlessly battered from all angles by bad luck on this pilot program) stands up there and explains what it’s all about. Then Newsom fields a little Q&A, and his attempts to explain the difference between the pilot program and the 10-year program, mentions that he’s removed the 10-year program from the current ballot.

BANG!

The media jumps ALL OVER this and the next day all you can read is things like this article where you hear:

“San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom said Tuesday that he has withdrawn a measure scheduled for the June ballot that, if it had passed, would have offered rebates for city business owners and residents who install solar panels.”

While the article makes a brief, one sentence attempt to vaguely explain that the SFPUC pilot program is funded, this article, to any reader, means “NO SUBSIDY”

The bottom line is that the man on the street knows NOTHING about this subsidy, and it’s on the solar industy’s shoulders to educate the public (something you don’t want). Then McGoldrick did his snap freeze of the funding for the pilot program, and there was no outrage because no one was aware there was something to be outraged about.

Get the Word Out