Renewable energy bill for desert counties goes to the governor

SACRAMENTO – Assemblymember Steve Fox (D-Palmdale) today announced that Assembly Bill (AB) 1060 was approved by the legislature and now will advance to the Governor for his signature.

This measure provides continued access to renewable energy grants for 15 counties that are located within the Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan area.

“All three of the counties in my district have an opportunity to obtain grants for environmentally friendly programs that would have become unavailable without our action today,” said Fox. “Extending the application period for these planning grants keeps the door open for these innovative desert communities.”

In 2011, a previous bill authorized up to $7 million for the California Energy Commission (CEC) to issue grants to fifteen counties to help them develop policies and regulations to facilitate renewable energy development. Though grant funds were available to eligible counties for two years; when the authorization expired on June 30, 2013 only five counties had applied. Consequently, $3.6 million in planning grant funds remained unused.

Several eligible counties, including Kern County, have expressed an immediate interest in applying for a grant. AB 1060 will provide continued access to the remaining renewable energy development grants for counties within the Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan area.

“Without these grants, renewable energy development in the counties in the Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan area would have lacked the close collaboration and consistency of shared planning efforts,” Fox concluded.

For more information, please visit www.asmdc.org/fox.

(Information via press release from the office of Assemblymember Steve Fox.)

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