Proposition 7 strongly a No with 1010 polls in
As of 11:32 PM. With 1010 out of 2109 prescients reporting in, Proposition 7 stands at 32.5 percent of voters voting Yes and 67.5 percent of voters voting No.
Prop 7 requires utilities, including government-owned utilities to generate 20 percent of their power from renewable energy by 2010, a standard currently applicable only to private electrical corporations. Raising requirement for utilities to 40 percent by 2020 and 50 percent by 2025, imposes penalties, subject to waiver for non-compliance. It will transfer some jurisdiction of regulatory matters from Public Utilities Commission to Energy Commission, fast-tracks approval for new renewable energy plants and requires Utilities to sign longer contracts at 20 years minimum to procure renewable energy.
A Yes votes means electricity providers in California, including publicly owned utilities, would be required to increase their proportion of electricity generated from renewable resources, such as solar and wind power, beyond the current requirement of 20 percent by 2010, to 40 percent by 2020 and 50 percent by 2025, or face specified penalties. The requirement for privately owned electricity providers to acquire renewable electricity would be limited by a cost cap requiring such acquisitions only when the cost is no more than 10 % above a specified market price for electricity. Electricity providers who fail to meet the renewable resources requirements would potentially be subject to a 1 cent per kilowatt hour penalty rate set in statute, without a cap on the total annual penalty amount. The required time frames for approving new renewable electricity plants would be shortened.
A No vote means electricity providers in California, except publicly owned ones, would continue to be required to increase their proportion of electricity generated from renewable resources to 20 percent by 2010. The current requirements on privately owned utilities to purchase renewable electricity would continue to be limited by an annual cost cap on the total amount of such purchases. Electricity providers would continue to be subject to the existing penalty process, in which the penalty rate (currently 5 cents per kilowatt-hour) and a total annual penalty cap (currently $25 million per provider) are set administratively. The required time frames for approving new renewable electricity plants would not be shortened.