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Publication Date: Wednesday, March 19, 2003

PV council takes stand against solar energy tax

By Sharon Driscoll
Almanac Staff Writer

The Portola Valley Town Council agreed unanimously at its March 12 meeting that Mayor Ted Driscoll should write a letter to California's Public Utilities Commission opposing its proposal to tax solar power users.

The issue was brought to the attention of the council by resident Phyllis Quilter in a forwarded e-mail from the environmental research and advocacy group Environmental California.

Pacific Gas & Electric, Southern California Edison, and San Diego Gas & Electric are pressing the Public Utilities Commission to approve a new tax on solar energy, called an exit fee, according to the group.

The fee would increase the cost of solar energy by as much as 40 percent, according to the group, by taxing the output of privately owned solar systems.

To encourage the use of solar energy in town, the council last year reduced the permit charge to residents installing solar voltaic panels from a percentage of the construction cost -- normally between $100 and $650 -- to a flat $50.