Section 2862 Of Article 2. Solar Water Heating Systems From California Public Utilities Code >> Division 1. >> Part 2. >> Chapter 9. >> Article 2.
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. The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(a) California is heavily dependent on natural gas, importing more
than 80 percent of the natural gas it consumes.
(b) Rising worldwide demand for natural gas and a shrinking supply
create rising and unstable prices that can harm California consumers
and the economy.
(c) Natural gas is a fossil fuel and a major source of global
warming pollution and the pollutants that cause air pollution,
including smog.
(d) California's growing population and economy will put a strain
on energy supplies and threaten the ability of the state to meet its
global warming goals unless specific steps are taken to reduce demand
and generate energy cleanly and efficiently.
(e) Water heating for domestic and industrial use relies almost
entirely on natural gas and accounts for a significant percentage of
the state's natural gas consumption.
(f) Solar water heating systems represent the largest untapped
natural gas saving potential remaining in California.
(g) In addition to financial and energy savings, solar water
heating systems can help protect against future gas and electricity
shortages and reduce our dependence on foreign sources of energy.
(h) Solar water heating systems can also help preserve the
environment and protect public health by reducing air pollution,
including carbon dioxide, a leading global warming gas, and nitrogen
oxide, a precursor to smog.
(i) Growing demand for these technologies will create jobs in
California as well as promote greater energy independence, protect
consumers from rising energy costs, and result in cleaner air.
(j) It is in the interest of the State of California to promote
solar water heating systems and other technologies that directly
reduce demand for natural gas in homes and businesses.
(k) It is the intent of the Legislature to build a mainstream
market for solar water heating systems that directly reduces demand
for natural gas in homes, businesses, schools, nonprofit, and
government buildings. Toward that end, it is the goal of this article
to install at least 200,000 solar water heating systems on homes,
businesses, and other buildings or facilities of eligible customer
classes throughout the state by 2017, thereby lowering prices and
creating a self-sufficient market that will sustain itself beyond the
life of this program.
(l) It is the intent of the Legislature that the solar water
heating system incentives created by this article should be a
cost-effective investment by gas customers. Gas customers will recoup
the cost of their investment through lower prices as a result of
avoiding purchases of natural gas.
(m) It is the intent of the Legislature that this article will
encourage the cost-effective deployment of solar heating systems in
both residential and commercial markets and in each end-use
application sector in a balanced manner. It is the intent of the
Legislature that the commission monitor and adjust incentives created
by this article so that they are cost-effective investments
sufficient to significantly increase markets and promote market
transformation. It is the intent of the Legislature that the
commission ensure that increased, uniform growth in each market
sector is achieved through program incentives or structure
adjustments that prevent overutilization of program resources by any
single sector.