Section 2862.

The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:

(a) California is heavily dependent on natural gas, importing more than 80 percent of the natural gas it consumes.

(b) Rising worldwide demand for natural gas and a shrinking supply create rising and unstable prices that can harm California consumers and the economy.

(c) Natural gas is a fossil fuel and a major source of global warming pollution and the pollutants that cause air pollution, including smog.

(d) California's growing population and economy will put a strain on energy supplies and threaten the ability of the state to meet its global warming goals unless specific steps are taken to reduce demand and generate energy cleanly and efficiently.

(e) Water heating for domestic and industrial use relies almost entirely on natural gas and accounts for a significant percentage of the state's natural gas consumption.

(f) Solar water heating systems represent the largest untapped natural gas saving potential remaining in California.

(g) In addition to financial and energy savings, solar water heating systems can help protect against future gas and electricity shortages and reduce our dependence on foreign sources of energy.

(h) Solar water heating systems can also help preserve the environment and protect public health by reducing air pollution, including carbon dioxide, a leading global warming gas, and nitrogen oxide, a precursor to smog.

(i) Growing demand for these technologies will create jobs in California as well as promote greater energy independence, protect consumers from rising energy costs, and result in cleaner air.

(j) It is in the interest of the State of California to promote solar water heating systems and other technologies that directly reduce demand for natural gas in homes and businesses.

(k) It is the intent of the Legislature to build a mainstream market for solar water heating systems that directly reduces demand for natural gas in homes, businesses, schools, nonprofit, and government buildings. Toward that end, it is the goal of this article to install at least 200,000 solar water heating systems on homes, businesses, and other buildings or facilities of eligible customer classes throughout the state by 2017, thereby lowering prices and creating a self-sufficient market that will sustain itself beyond the life of this program.

(l) It is the intent of the Legislature that the solar water heating system incentives created by the article should be a cost-effective investment by gas customers. Gas customers will recoup the cost of their investment through lower prices as a result of avoiding purchases of natural gas.

(m) It is the intent of the Legislature that this article will encourage the cost-effective deployment of solar heating systems in both residential and commercial markets and in each end-use application sector in a balanced manner. It is the intent of the Legislature that the commission monitor and adjust incentives created by the article so that they are cost-effective investments sufficient to significantly increase markets and promote market transformation. It is the intent of the Legislature that the commission ensure that increased, uniform growth in each market sector is achieved through program incentives or structure adjustments that prevent overutilization of program resources by any single sector.

(Amended by Stats. 2012, Ch. 607, Sec. 2. Effective January 1, 2013. Repealed as of August 1, 2018, pursuant to Section 2867.4.)