Monterey County Renewable Energy Permitting Forum
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The Monterey County Business Council, in collaboration with the County of Monterey and the C2 Green Building Committee, presented a Monterey County Renewable Energy Permitting Forum on February 23, 2009 at the Agricultural Center Conference Room in Salinas, CA.
Over 80 people from building, planning, permitting, code, fire, and environmental agencies, along with industry representatives, from various jurisdictions across Monterey County—and beyond—came together for a dialogue on removing barriers to the adoption of clean power production.
One slide from a presentation by Cisco DeVries, President of Renewable Funding LLC and founding creator of BerkeleyFIRST, elegantly captured the driving motivation for this forum:
"Monterey County Data on Solar Installations:
Average Solar Installations per Month: ~6
Number of Housing Units: ~140,000
Time to 10% Solar Penetration:
...
194 Years"
Mary Ann Leffel, President of MCBC, and Monterey County Supervisor Lou Calcagno set the stage for the forum by emphasizing the need for stakeholders to learn best practices from other regions and to work together to overcome hurdles in the permitting process for solar, wind, and other renewable energy systems.
County, city and fire district representatives spoke about streamlining the solar permit process, zoning codes and safety concerns. At the forum, the County of Monterey Building Services Department unveiled an over-the-counter permit for residential solar PV systems and said that they will continue to work with members of the C2 Green Building Committee and others to streamline their permitting process.
Industry experts highlighted best practices on permit fees and plan submittals, training programs for the solar industry, and legislative (AB811, AB2466, SB1470) and incentive programs for renewable energy installations.
Wind power providers and environmental agencies discussed permitting, technology and areas of concern with regard to wind energy systems. The environmental agencies also showed great willingness to be a resource in this process and would like to actively engage in dialog in order to work together on the permitting and environmental issues related to wind turbines.
Financing experts from the private and public sector reviewed opportunities that our region might tap into, including AB811 / CityFIRST financing model and Rural Energy for America Program (REAP). Based on Cisco DeVries’ slide mentioned above, policy and local government are critical to providing incentives and streamlining renewable energy projects.
Overall, there was a great deal of interest and energy by speakers, panelists and participants in the audience. The Monterey County Business Council and the County of Monterey will continue to drive this process forward with plans for follow-up, focused meetings on this topic. If you want to be involved, contact Kim Ha, Director of Competitive Clusters, kha@mcbc.biz.
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Thank You to Our Speakers & Panelists
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Solar Permitting Speakers:
Tim McCormick, Building Services Director, County of Monterey
Alana Knaster, Deputy Director of Resource Management Agency, County of Monterey
Kurt Newick, Solar Advocate, Sales, Horizon Energy Systems
Scott Troyer, Independent Energy Consultant, City of San Jose
Chuck Hornbrook, Senior Manager, Solar and Customer Generation, PG&E
Solar Energy Panel:
Moderator:
Pete Scudder, Owner, Scudder Roofing
Panelists:
John Kuehl, Chief Building Official, City of Monterey
Anthony Tersol, Partner, Applied Solar Technologies
Captain Mark Mondragon, Fire Marshal, Cal Fire's Cypress District
Tim McCormick, Building Services Director, County of Monterey
Wind Energy Panel:
Moderator:
Diane Ross-Leech, Director of Environmental Stewardship, PG&E
Panelists:
John Roitz, Director of Projects, Salinas Valley Windpower
Christopher J. Diel, Fish & Wildlife Biologist, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Ventura Field Office
Kelly Sorenson, Executive Director, Ventana Wildlife Society
Funding Speakers:
Cisco DeVries, President, Renewable Funding, LLC
Phil Brown, Energy Coordinator, Rural Development, Energy Efficiency Renewable Energy for America Program – REAP, US Department of Agriculture
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