By Sarah McBride
LOS ANGELES | Thu Sep 23, 2010
(Reuters) – California regulators voted on Thursday to boost the state’s renewable energy target to 33 percent by 2020, which could provide a big boost to the alternative-energy industry in the nation’s most populous state.
But the goal, approved in a vote by California’s Air Resources Board, faces significant challenges.
Industry veterans say this goal is more achievable than a prior target of 20 percent by 2010, but will require faster approvals for plants and continued government help for developer financing.
“We’re going to need all the tools in the toolbox to meet that,” said Southern California Edison manager for regulatory and legislative affairs Laura Genao.
At Pacific Gas & Electric Co., “meeting the 33 percent target is going to be challenging,” says spokeswoman Cindy Pollard.
