New Report Unveils Additional $5 Billion Available to California Economy

SAN FRANCISCO, July 25, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- SunRun, the nation's leading home solar company, today unveiled a new study from the economic consultancy AECOM showing that simpler solar permitting processes could generate over $5 billion in additional growth for California, an increase in nearly 20 percent relative to the status quo.

"These findings are tremendous for local governments because they offer a low-cost way to add billions to the economy," said SunRun Director of Government Affairs Ethan Sprague.  "Solar permitting guidelines already exist and it's just a matter of putting them to use.  Governments that streamline their permitting processes sooner will generate a bigger economic impact in the long run, more permanent local jobs, and allow more families to save money by switching to solar."

The AECOM forecast also indicates that failure to adopt more efficient home solar permitting processes could jeopardize the already expected $30 billion economic gain from natural solar market growth in California.

In January SunRun issued a report, "The Impact of Local Permitting on the Cost of Solar Power." That report showed local solar permitting and inspection processes add an average of over $2,500 per home installation.  It also helped inform the Department of Energy's (DOE) recently-announced SunShot Rooftop Solar Challenge to make solar affordable for more Americans. This new report from AECOM is a follow-on analysis that calculates the economic and fiscal benefits of streamlined permitting for the state of California to help further the goals of the SunShot initiative's pilot program, as well as the related Senate Bill 1108.

"A critical aspect of these findings is they apply beyond California," added Sprague.  "Any local government can boost the economic impact of solar through streamlined permitting, and there's a funding opportunity from the DOE to help make it happen."

"Local solar energy creates jobs and helps America move away from dirty and increasingly expensive coal-fired power," said Bill Corcoran, western regional director of the Sierra Club's Beyond Coal Campaign. "An essential step to giving more Americans access to the benefits of local solar energy is streamlined permitting. We hope the report's findings will encourage governments across the country to reform permitting processes and accelerate our nation's necessary transition to reliable renewable energy."

AECOM is a Fortune 500 company with expertise in economic consulting and analysis.  The report will be available at www.sunrunhome.com/permitting after its release on Monday, July 25 at The Governor's Conference on Local Renewable Energy Resources in Los Angeles, CA.

About SunRun

SunRun is the nation's leading residential solar company and its mission is to become the nation's largest energy provider. The company's Total Solar product is the smart and affordable choice for homeowners who want a clean alternative to their utility. SunRun offers solar power service, similar to a lease, allowing homeowners to upgrade their home to solar for as little as $0 upfront and simply pay monthly for solar electricity. More than 12,000 homeowners have chosen SunRun across Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Oregon, and Pennsylvania. SunRun partners with over 25 leading local solar installers, who together employ more than 3,000 green-collar workers. SunRun has raised financing for more than $600 million in solar systems from PG&E Corporation and U.S. Bancorp and $85 million in venture capital from Accel Partners, Foundation Capital and Sequoia Capital. For more information, please visit: www.sunrunhome.com.

SOURCE SunRun