San Francisco will require solar panels on all new buildings under 10 stories after 2017, making it the largest city in California to adopt such a renewable energy mandate.
The city's board of supervisors passed the new requirement on Tuesday, following smaller California cities Lancaster and Sebastopol, according to the website
Business Green.com.
"In a dense, urban environment, we need to be smart and efficient about how we maximize the use of our space to achieve goals such as promoting renewable energy and improving our environment," said supervisor Scott Weiner, who introduced the measure.
In a
San Francisco Examiner op-ed Tuesday, former city environmental commissioners Joshua Arce and Nick Josefowitz said the ordinance could be copied by other municipalities.
"The ordinance will not only cut San Francisco's carbon footprint, but will also save city residents money every month through lower electricity bills," they said.
Fortune magazine said, though, that the ordinance may not be welcomed by developers who already deal with other mounting construction requirements in the city.
"While many will cheer San Francisco's new clean energy rule, it's also the latest rule that developers in the city will face when constructing new buildings," said Fortune. "San Francisco is a notoriously difficult place to develop in, leading to a shortage of housing and real estate for its expanding population."
Investor Business Daily said stocks for panel producer SolarCity rose 7.8 percent after news of the new ordinance broke. The stocks of two other solar panel companies, Sunrun and Vivint Solar, rose 3.6 percent and 1 percent, respectively.
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