Million solar roofs - SB 1 fails

The solar industry will continue to work on establishing good working relationships with all of the trades. We do not believe that choosing one trade over another is a good strategy for the industry to take. There will be enough work for all of the trades. I was very disappointed that the IBEW (International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers) was not willing to come to the table. Former Assemblyman Darrell Steinberg, who is very respected in both the labor and environmental communities, was asked to serve as a neutral party and help find common ground with the IBEW. Unfortunately, these meetings never took place, and the IBEW choose to resolve this issue in the Assembly.

Why did they choose this path?

I believe the real division may in fact be within IBEW who has long track record of fighting against renewables, new technology and distributed generation. I am aware of several IBEW members that have been installing systems for years that were shut out. I believe they were silenced because PV installers are distributed generation not centralized power producers. It does not appear that the IBEW reached out to the Apollo Alliance or other trades such as the Laborers and Carpenters.