Support
Vote Solar
and help bring solar energy into the mainstream. Click below
to donate now.
THE SAN FRANCISCO STORY
On November 6, 2001, San Francisco voters overwhelmingly approved a landmark $100 million bond initiative that pays for solar panels, energy efficiency and wind turbines for public facilities. The measure pays for itself entirely from energy savings at no cost to taxpayers. With this model, San Francisco pioneered a path for funding the nation's transition to renewable energy.
The mechanics are simple. The bond pays for solar panels, wind turbines and energy efficiency measures for public buildings. The money that would have gone to buy electricity from power plants instead goes to pay down the bond.
The campaign for the solar revenue bond happened because San Francisco residents, like many other Californians, were plagued by blackouts, skyrocketing prices and dirty neighborhood power plants. Large-scale solar power represents an important way for people to take greater control over their future by making their own affordable, reliable, and clean energy.
The effort to pass the measure became a consensus campaign. The measure earned the endorsement of organizations spanning the political spectrum from the Chamber of Commerce to the Sierra Club and almost every elected leader representing San Francisco from City Hall to Capitol Hill. The measure, which moved from a mere idea to approved legislation in less than 10 months, passed by 73%. Implementation of the bond will be handled by the city's Public Utilities Commission and will be phased in over four years. The first project to be implemented will be a 675 kW system on the roof of the Moscone Convention Center.
The San Francisco revenue bond model has already attracted the attention of cities around the country because of its enormous popularity with voters and its obvious fiscal advantages.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
VoteSolar Home | Contact Us | Links
The San Francisco Story | Why Solar? | About Revenue Bonds
Tools to Help You | Press
The effort to put solar panels on government buildings in San Francisco was supported almost universally.
