AB 811 was signed by Governor Schwarzenegger in September 2008 and "authorizes the legislative body of any city, as defined, to determine that it would be convenient and advantageous to designate an area within which authorized city officials and free and willing property owners may enter into contractual assessments and make arrangements to finance public improvements to specified lots or parcels under certain circumstances.

How is this working out on the ground? Well, cities and counties have begun setting up special tax assessment districts in order to lend money to homeowners for energy efficiency retrofits and renewable energy projects. The long-term low-interest loans (15-20 years) are tagged onto the homeowner's property taxes and paid back each year accordingly. If the homeowner sells, the remainder of the loan is transferred to the new homeowner.

The City of Berkeley, Palm Desert, and the County of Sonoma were the first out of the gate with their programs. Berkeley's modest $1 million pilot program was allocated in less than a day! Wow!

The major issue that cities and counties are facing when considering AB 811 implementation is the upfront administrative costs that are incurred in preparation for roll-out. A group called Renewable Funding has created a state-wide program for municipalities to consider and is working to identify interested cities and counties for their first phase.

Some municipalities are going at it alone though. Just recently, Placer County and Sacramento County's Board of Supervisors heard proposals from staff regarding AB 811 implementation, and all signs point to a smooth approval from their respective boards. The City of Davis appears to be moving forward on a proposal as well as Yolo County. Check out this article from the Sacramento Bee for more on the proposals.

AB 811 is an excellent mechanism to remove the major hurdle that has stood in the way of residential renewable energy adoption: cold hard upfront cash. It's these type of innovative programs that are going to go a long way towards the state achieving its greenhouse gas reductions goals and I for one, am happy to see cities and counties jumping at the chance to make renewable energy more accessible.