Solar permit installation fees to decrease

Wow it sure is wonderful when cities take actions to create local policies that will make a huge difference over time to support solar energy! All energy use is local and incentives to do the right thing DO matter (as Thomas Friedman points out, if it is more cost effective to install renewable energy, there are rational reasons to do so).
Also it is interesting to me to learn that Manhattan Beach has had a "marked increase in solar installations since the fee was eliminated". THe city of Monte Sereno, CA has noticed a similar reaction...this may be due to the extra publicity that is generated when a city waives fees and solar is "free" to install (at least the permit cost is NOT a barrier). The Sierra Club PV permit report authors, do not necessarily advocate waiving of all fees for solar permits, but there are very progressive city leaders who may want to take this action, once they learn of unreasonable fees being charged in their cities...one option is to waive the fees for a trial period (such as 3 years, as all the cities in Sacramento County have done based on work of SMUD up north), then review the solar permit fee schedule and adjust it as appropriate. Hopefully in a few short years with the rising costs of fossil fuels solar will be cheaper than traditional forms of energy and the cities are doing society a great service by implementing good supportive policies to issue solar permits promptly and at minimum costs. it only takes an installer about 2 days to install a 3 kW PV system, so an over-the-counter (same day) permit issuance policy will do wonders to get more solar energy installed, and not stall out the process...I have a real hard time when cities quote time-to-issue permits of several weeks, and thing this is normal...as in this amount of time a single PV installation crew can install 6 to 10 PV systems!
A permit fee of $200 to $324 is reasonable and cities need to make such a policy for roof mounted PV systems, and apply the same fee no mater if the solar energy system is 2 kW or 8 kW, since in reality it takes about the same amount of time and resources to approve the permit and do the final inspection...so a fixed fee will have the incentive for homeowner to install a larger system, since the permit cost will not vary or discourage these desirable actions!
A detailed report with a definitive PV permit fee comparison of southern California jurisdictions with specific recommendations for solar permitting is at: http://angeles.sierraclub.org/energy/pvfeerep...

Why is there a fee in the first place?

Just another city money grab?

Will the permits be as high when we run out of fossil fuels?

Yet another example of how government stands in the way of progress. You can be sure that no inspector ever shows up to sign off on the work. It simply takes a certified electrician to sign off and the paper is forever filed away. What a joke!

Only because Cliff raised it at the last meeting
It may go down. Thanks Cliff for bring it to our attention
Leroy

Wow. So what's with the difference in fees throughout the cities? The same County inspector shows up (if that even happens) yet RH or RHE can charge triple or more what another city charges? Where does the fee money go and how can they justify the insane amounts?