Local obstacles for solar

Great article This is good that journalists are shining the light on cities with outrageous permit fees and long processing times!

A detailed report with a definitive PV permit fee comparison of southern California jurisdictions with specific recommendations for solar permitting can be downloaded at: http://angeles.sierraclub.org/energy/pvfeerep...

Excellent article. These permit fees need to disappear.
Installing more solar panels on commercial, residential,
and industrial buildings must be encouraged to restart
our economy, improve the environment, and reduce
our energy dependence. Shame on the Cities charging these
permit fees and breaking State law to encourage solar.

Shouldn't any City permitting fee reflect only the cost of processing it? Shouldn't the interest of the City be to encourage be to encourage development and progress? It seems that we are doing things which cause the exact opposite effect, restricting economic development rather than encouraging it.

Good editorial on the importance of lowering the costs of fees for those who want to install solar. For the past two years, my taskforce on Solar Energy and Sustainability has been working with City Department's to increase their understanding and support of homeowners who want to install solar. The City's Development Services Department stepped up and the response from homeowners and solar installers continues to be positive about the changes that have been made. The taskforce drafted a solar energy policy which was presented to City Council and referred to the City's Sustainability Commission.
Additionally, the taskforce recently sponsored a two-day Solar and Sustainability Conference and Tour which was a great success in giving residents a first-hand update on the latest in alternative energy sources. Installers and users were able to share information and show the latest in equipment. The best part was the tour of residential, business and government buildings that allowed participants to see first-hand how solar is already working in Long Beach to reduce the cost of energy while reducing the use of coal generated electricity.
Please point out just how advanced the City of Long Beach is on this important issue!

I do wonder if we are comparing apples to apples here? From what I hear the reporter was given very different information than what appears in the above article. What are the costs of the projects for which these fees would be charged? A homeowner installing a few panels is much different than a WalMart retrofitting an entire roof. Funny how Long Beach always shines in the Long Beach Press Telegram ... oh wait ... now I get it. Do your own homework people, environmental groups, the press, and most other organizations have only one goal and it is not to educate you completely about the facts. I dare anyone to show me one example of a project that was not completed because the fees were too high or the review process took too long.

City of Downey Staffer:
Here is a snippet from an email I recevied from the Operations Manager of a large solar installer that discusses long delays that kill solar projects in Newport Beach that is well known by the solar professionals as having a horrid and extremely time consuming permit process for large residential PV systems that take months and months to get approval for!! Here is the quote:
"Newport is definitely problematic. We know of other solar companies that refuse to install/permit in the City of Newport. Newport quotes a two week turn-around, but due to there constantly changing supplemental information requests we've never received approval on first submittal,and our initial submittal to permit issuance date averages two months. Recently we had a project completely denied after three months of
resubmittals with different structural engineering calculations. Ultimately we were told the customer could only install solar if they added 25 feet of exterior shear wall."