Solar Electric Permit Fees in Northern California

On August 13, 2007, the Sierra Club (Loma Prieta, S.F. Bay and Redwood chapters) published a study that compares what 131 municipalities in Northern California charge for the permit to install photovoltaic (PV) solar panels on residential roofs. The Sierra Club is using the study as a platform to persuade cities to reduce their PV permit fees. This website tracks the progress of that campaign and provides access to the study.

The study is part of the Global Warming Campaign of the Sierra Club Loma Prieta Chapter.

Note: The permit fees you see in this website apply to the standard PV system described in the survey question.

The following sections describe the study and campaign in detail.

WB00860_.GIF (262 bytes)  View the study in HTML format or PDF format. The study includes the following sections:

WB00860_.GIF (262 bytes)  Recommended permit fee ceiling

WB00860_.GIF (262 bytes)  Campaign history

WB00860_.GIF (262 bytes)  News media coverage

WB00860_.GIF (262 bytes)  Study Methodology

WB00860_.GIF (262 bytes)  Additional information

Recommended Permit Fee Ceiling

The Sierra Club study recommends that cities reduce their PV permit fees to $300 or less to comply with California Government Code Section 66005 and Section 65850.5 , which limit such fees.

On December 22, 2005, the California Supreme Court upheld the state law that says municipalities must base building fees on the "estimated reasonable costs of providing the services for which the fees are charged."

The Sierra Club study examines how some cities have streamlined their permitting process such that they can recuperate their costs with a permit fee of $300 or less.

Campaign History

Phase 1—Survey for San Benito, San Mateo and Santa Clara counties.

  • June–August, 2005—Called city building departments to conduct the survey.
  • September 30, 2005—Published a study covering only Silicon Valley to the website of the Sierra Club, Loma Prieta Chapter.
  • October 21, 2005—Sent letters of recognition to the mayors, city managers, and head building department officials of cities with permit fees of $300 or less. We also sent letters requesting cities with permit fees of $1,000 or more to reduce their fees.
  • October 26, 2005—Sent a press release announcing the Silicon Valley study to area newspapers. (See the News Media Coverage section below for links to articles about the study.)

Phase 2—Survey for Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin and San Francisco counties.

  • April–July, 2006—Called city building departments to conduct the study survey.
  • July 17, 2006—Published the study covering only the North/East S.F. Bay Area to the website of the Sierra Club, San Francisco Bay Chapter.
  • July 17, 2006—Sent letters of recognition to the mayors, city managers, and head building department officials of cities with permit fees of $300 or less. We also sent letters requesting cities with permit fees of $1,000 or more to reduce their fees.
  • July 25, 2006—Sent a press release announcing the study to area newspapers.

Phase 3—Survey for all the counties in the Greater San Francisco Bay Area: Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Solano and Sonoma.

  • June–August, 2006—Called city building departments to update the permit fee data for all counties.
  • September 17, 2006—Published the study covering the Greater San Francisco Bay Area to the website of the Sierra Club, Loma Prieta Chapter.
  • September 18, 2006—Sent letters to the mayors, city managers, and head building department officials of cities with permit fees of $600 or more requesting them to reduce their fees.
  • September 25, 2006—Sent a press release announcing the Greater San Francisco Bay Area study to area newspapers. (See the News Media Coverage section below for links to articles about the study.)

Phase 4—Survey for counties in the Greater San Francisco Bay Area and beyond: Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, Sacramento, San Benito, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Solano, Sonoma and Yolo.

  • June–July, 2007—Called city building departments to update the permit fee data for all counties.
  • August 13, 2007—Published the current study covering Northern California to the website of the Sierra Club, Loma Prieta Chapter.

News Media Coverage

The following news media have published stories about or relating to the current study (Greater San Francisco Bay Area) or its legacy studies (the Silicon Valley study or the North/East San Francisco Bay Area study):

Study Methodology

The following Survey Methodology webpage describes in detail how the Global Warming and Energy Committee conducted the study.

PV_Permit_Campaign_Methodology.php

You can also view or download the Survey Methodology document as a PDF.

PV_Permit_Campaign_Methodology.pdf

Additional Information

Contact the People Behind the Study

For more information about the study or the campaign to reduce PV permit fees, you can contact the following Sierra Club members:

  • Kurt Newick: study team leader (Loma Prieta Chapter), Email: KurtNewick@yahoo.com, Phone: 408-370-9636
  • Carl Mills: study author (Loma Prieta Chapter), Email: carlmlls@yahoo.comt, Phone: 510-475-1864
  • Tom Roberts: conducted interviews for the study (S.F. Bay Chapter), Email: tom.c.roberts@gmail.com, Phone: 415-203-2781
  • Arlen Comfort: surveyed cities (Loma Prieta Chapter, Email: acomfort@rocketmail.com, Phone: 650-323-7188
  • Tom Dickerman: surveyed cities (Loma Prieta Chapter, Email: dickermn@earthlink.net, Phone: 650-992-3963
  • Richard Hughes: surveyed cities (S.F. Bay Chapter), Email: rlhughes@kmabyoyo.com, Phone: 510-396-1207
  • Margaret Pennington: permit fee campaign volunteer (Redwood Chapter), Email: penningt@sonic.net, Home phone: 707-829-2294, Cell phone: 707-479-6682
  • Jay Halcomb: permit fee campaign volunteer (Redwood Chapter), Email: halcomb@sonic.net, Phone: 707-869-3302

Resources for Solar Inspectors and Plan Reviewers

Information on Solar Electric Power

Similar Studies

The Utility Consumers' Action Network (UCAN) did a similar study on solar permit fees for San Diego County: Solar Energy Permitting Fees in the San Diego Region.

 


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