California Renewable Energy Legislation / Progress

[RubberToe]

A couple months later, and we just hit 7,000 MW for the first time, a good bit over actually. Back in February renewables were 18% of system demand, and the 7,000 this month led to 25%.

Max peak power is running about 30% up year over year, and total power is running between 20-30% up year over year.

 

[RubberToe]

The road charge pilot program is now taking applications and will start up this summer. They hope to sign up 5,000 volunteers. The payments users will make will be mock payments, so no cash outlay is involved. See here for signing up:

California Road Charge Pilot Program

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When you sign up, they even send you a sample e-mail that you can pass along to friends, shown here:

Hi ______ ,

I wanted to let you know that I have signed up to be a volunteer for the California Road Charge Pilot Program, it’s free and easy!

It’s no secret that our roadways are in need of repair. Due to shrinking funding from the gas tax, increased road maintenance cost, the age of our roadways, and more fuel-efficient vehicles, California’s transportation system will continue to get worse without the funds to sustain them.

In response to this problem, the Legislature passed Senate Bill (SB) 1077 directing California to conduct a pilot program to study the feasibility of a road charge as a replacement for the gas tax to pay for road maintenance and repairs. Road charge is a policy where drivers pay to help maintain the roads based on the distance they travel or a period of time they use the roads, rather than the amount of gasoline they consume.

The California Road Charge Pilot Program is a multi-year endeavor that, at its core, strives to engage the public in order to gain input and feedback. You can help in this effort by volunteering to participate in the live pilot demonstration just like I did!

Learn more at the California Road Charge Pilot Program website and volunteer today.
(Email Signature)

Join the California Road Charge Pilot!

Anyone here get an invite to participate? They are sending the emails out in June. Looking for 5,000 out of about 7,500 who applied. I like the odds, but a bit worried since I haven't been contacted yet.

RT

 

[cpa]

Anyone here get an invite to participate? They are sending the emails out in June. Looking for 5,000 out of about 7,500 who applied. I like the odds, but a bit worried since I haven't been contacted yet.

RT

Nor I Rubber Toe. I signed up last year after I read your post.

My guess is that the notifications are going out mid week; I recall the wording was something like, "during the first half of June."

Maybe all the details with the data gathering have not been completely worked out, and they don't want us signing up and having issues.

 

[ohmman]

Nothing here, either.

 

[RubberToe]

We hit a pretty big milestone in May. First month ever where the total power reached 2TWh. April was the first month where the peak power exceeded 7,000MW, and then in May, 21 of the 31 days exceeded that. This made for a huge increase in YOY total power, where 2016 was up 43% over 2015 in May.

It would be nice to see how the total solar power line tracks the total overall power. They post that data daily, but I haven't downloaded all the historical data and put it in my spreadsheet. For example, on 5-27 the peak was 7,353MW (highest ever), and total solar power that day was 73,310MWh, while overall power that day was 617,820MWh. So on that one day, solar power provided 11.8% of all the power used in California. If you add in all renewables, you get to 26%.

 

[miimura]

I would also really like to see these figures with aggregated distributed generation added in. The chart above is only utility scale solar. In California it should be relatively easy because most systems have centrally monitored production. You would just have to create a reporting system that would collect all the data from the various monitoring systems.

 

[cpa]

RubberToe and Ohmman,

I just received my email confirming that I have been invited to participate in the Road Charge Pilot Program.

I believe that I will opt for the device that automatically records my mileage through the "vehicle's factory-provided hardware."

I hope both of you received your invitations as well.

Cheers!

 

[ohmman]

I hope both of you received your invitations as well.

Nothing yet...

 

[RubberToe]

Nothing here yet either. Reminds me of waiting to get picked by either team in junior high school gym class

RT

 

[ohmman]

Nothing here yet either. Reminds me of waiting to get picked by either team in junior high school gym class

RT

I guess I'll be last, then.

 

[ohmman]

Invited today. Signed up with Azuga. They didn't recognize my Model S VIN, but the feedback said they'd check it with the State of California.

 

[RubberToe]

I guess I'll be last, then.

Ha!

Looks like I'm the winner . Kinda, sorta, maybe not...

If they are trickling out, I may get one soon. <fingers crossed>

 

[cpa]

Invited today. Signed up with Azuga. They didn't recognize my Model S VIN, but the feedback said they'd check it with the State of California.

I signed up with Azuga too, Ohmman. It took them three days to do their voodoo with Tesla to get the telematics.

But now, I cannot log into my Azuga account. The kind "Victor" with whom I have been having telephonic conversations has been mostly clueless, but understanding. The latest from him yesterday afternoon was that my access will be denied until 5 July. Apparently the test period starts on our nation's birthday.

Welcome to the club!

 

[RubberToe]

Got the invite two days ago. They didn't recognize my Soul EV for the "in car" reporting capability, so Azuga is shipping me one of the devices that I plug in to do the tracking. Happy to be part of the test fleet.

I chose the method that provides them the most data, figuring the more data they have, the better they will be able to evaluate the test results.

RT

 

[Uncle Paul]

It may well be that the Government will use this compiled data to justify charging electric vehicles a per mile tax.

They already tax most electricity, but they are also going to want to find a way to tax the solar collectors on people's roofs.

 

[RubberToe]

It may well be that the Government will use this compiled data to justify charging electric vehicles a per mile tax.

They already tax most electricity, but they are also going to want to find a way to tax the solar collectors on people's roofs.

Uncle Paul,
Concerning the former, yes, that is one of the stated goals of the program. With so many EV's hitting the road, the whole idea of a gas tax as a revenue source for road repair becomes antiquated.This is from the FAQ:

The gas tax is an ineffective way for meeting California’s long-term revenue needs because it will steadily generate less revenue as cars become more fuel efficient and alternative sources of fuel are identified. By 2030, as much as half of the revenue that could have been collected will be lost to fuel efficiency. Additionally, bundling fees for roads and highways into the gas tax makes it difficult for users to understand the amount they are paying for roads and highways. Through enactment of Senate Bill 1077 in 2014, the Legislature and Governor determined it important for the state to begin to explore alternative revenue sources that may be implemented in lieu of the antiquated gas tax structure now in place.

Not so sure about the latter. Seems pretty unlikely here in California.

Here is a link to the Road Charge Pilot program FAQ:
California Road Charge Pilot Program - Frequently Asked Questions

RT

 

[neroden]

I've repeatedly said that I'd be OK with an odometer tax for everyone, paid at time of inspection & registration ("smog check" for those of you in California). What I don't want is a bullshit tax which only applies to electric cars, like Georgia and Washington State have implemented; that's just a subsidy for oil companies.

 

[ohmman]

A road charge based on odometer (as we're piloting now) is also extremely flexible with regard to incentives. California could choose to offer a discounted fee to EVs in an attempt to incentivize adoption. Or they could prorate mileage charges based on type of vehicle and their impact on roadways.

Not suggesting that either of those would happen, but it does provide a very granular control over how taxes are raised, compared to the soon-to-be defunct gas tax system.

 

[TheTalkingMule]

Passenger vehicles have almost zero negative impact on highways so a mileage tax(or even a gas tax really) is completely arbitrary. Can we all just be adults and have one set of federal, state and local flat taxes to pay for everything?

 

[ohmman]

Passenger vehicles have almost zero negative impact on highways so a mileage tax(or even a gas tax really) is completely arbitrary. Can we all just be adults and have one set of federal, state and local flat taxes to pay for everything?

But they use highways, which also degrade without traffic. So I would argue that passenger vehicles bear some cost to access these roadways regardless.