Arnold Schwarzenegger to save California Solar Incentives

California’s solar power future has been a topic of heated debate for some time now. Hollywood is not behind to share their two cents in the hot topic, which includes Arnold Schwarzenegger and Lance Bass to Edward Norton and Mark Ruffalo.

The California Public Utilities Commission delivered a suggestion that, if accepted, would cut inducements for homeowners with rooftop solar panels, while applying a new monthly fee for solar customers to connect to the power grid. It would also create a $600 million fund for understated groups to have amplified entree to solar power.

In a New York Times opinion piece, actor and former governor Arnold Schwarzenegger stated that “the proposal should be stopped in its tracks, calling the move to add monthly fees — an estimated $57 a month — an attempted solar tax.”

“California should do more to incentivize clean energy in lower-income areas. And the state should be promoting the installation of a million batteries to store the energy that the solar panels capture. That’s how we can truly democratize energy,” Schwarzenegger wrote. “But adding a tax and removing incentives will hurt the solar market, and making solar more expensive for everyone does nothing to help our most vulnerable.”

“We should be pulling out all the stops to slow global warming,” Schwarzenegger continued. “California is already so far behind on meeting its 2030 climate goals that the state isn’t projected to hit them until 2063. And our 2050 goals? We are on track to reach them by 2111.”

“This is just another case of the big guys — the investor-owned utilities — fighting for themselves and hurting people who have invested or want to invest in solar panels,” Schwarzenegger said.