Over 150 Local Workers Traveled to Sacramento to Thank the Southern California Legislator for her Clean Energy Leadership
Courtesy photo.
SACRAMENTO — At its annual Solar and Storage Worker Day, the California Solar Energy Industries Association (CALSEIA) honored Assemblymember Jacqui Irwin (D-Thousand Oaks) for her outstanding work to promote the growth of local solar and energy storage throughout the state.
Assemblymember Irwin was honored before a crowd of solar and energy storage workers gathered in Sacramento to educate legislators about the importance of creating local jobs, protecting consumer choice, and building impactful clean energy solutions.
“Solar and storage technologies power our communities, support local jobs, and lower utility bills for homes and businesses,” said Assemblymember Irwin. “By promoting local energy, we can expand our economy and meet our clean air goals at the same time. And on hot summer days like today, the sun can readily do much of our energy work for us.”
Assemblymember Irwin is the author of AB 797, a bill that extends consumer rebates for solar thermal technologies—heating air and water for homes, businesses and industries—by capturing heat from the sun. By lowering the carbon footprint of homes and businesses, solar thermal technologies can help reduce the state’s reliance on natural gas while saving consumers money. California is home to seven of the nation’s top manufacturers of solar thermal technologies.
“The growth of clean energy solutions depends largely on leaders, like Assemblymember Irwin, who are willing to work hard for consumers and envision a better, clean energy future,” added Bernadette Del Chiaro, executive director of CALSEIA. “On behalf of hundreds of local businesses employing over 100,000 workers in California, we thank Assemblymember Irwin for her outstanding leadership over the past three years.”
Ms. Irwin is also author of AB 1293 to increase access to local utility data and analysis to improve the efficiency and reliability of the grid, and help enable improved integration of local solar and storage. She has urged public utilities to continue local solar enabling policies to increase access to solar and lower utility bills for homes and businesses in their community. In just her second term, Irwin has been a proven champion of local solar and storage solutions for California consumers.
CALSEIA presented the 2017 Legislator of the Year Award to Ms. Irwin along with a “Keep Solar and Storage Jobs Growing!” tee shirt.