Solar sales in Chico break records, concerns about PG&E rates rise

CHICO — More energy customers are switching to solar every year in Butte County, and numbers are especially high this year in Chico after the Camp Fire, according to PG&E and local solar companies.

More customers had already made the switch by June than in the last two years. The increase reflects the push for solar and the growth of the market nationwide.

The U.S. Burea of Labor Census reported that by 2026, employment for solar installers is expected to grow 105% — much faster than the average for most other occupations. The Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies reported that 2.5 gigawatts of solar capacity were installed in the first quarter of 2018, an annual growth of 13% and accounting for 55% of all new U.S. electricity capacity for the period, according to GTM Research and the Solar Energy Industries Association.

Although solar installs are nothing new across the state, the numbers have seen especially impressive jumps in Chico in the last decade.

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Solar sales in Chico break records, concerns about PG&E rates rise, By Natalie Hanson, Chico Enterprise-Record, July 6, 2019.