A new study by AECOM conducted on behalf of SunRun found that reducing the cost and complexity of permitting solar installations in California could lead to $5 billion more in revenue for the state. The findings were unveiled on July 25 at the Governor’s Conference on Local Renewable Energy Resources in Los Angeles.

AECOM said its analysis found that incremental growth and additional savings that could come from permitting reform would contribute nearly $5.1 billion to the California economy between 2012 and 2020. In addition, it would create 3,900 full-time jobs throughout the state.

The report found that local solar permitting and inspection processes add an average of $2,500 per home installation in California.

“The thing about California was the data was readily available. We think interested parties in other states should take on similar sorts of analysis,” said SunRun’s Director of Government Affairs Ethan Sprague.

“When they save on electricity, they spend it on other things in the state,” Sprague said.

The expedited process would increase sales of solar modules, and the number of solar installers to keep up with the additional demand.

“All those expenditures create a better local environment both at the local level and the state level,” he said.

Facilitating a streamlined process would also be less expensive for local jurisdictions, because each application wouldn’t require as many man-hours.

The study comes as California is working on how to help streamline permitting costs for solar, and soon after Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders introduced S.B. 1108 to help nationalize standard permitting costs for home solar.

But Vermont’s success doesn’t mean the rest of the country can simple put a permit-related bill on the ballot and wait for the voters to push it through. It’s far more complicated.

“Permitting is hard to legislate,” Sprague said. “At this working conference, we’re trying to come up with a statewide program for permitting.”

The study also showed that failure to adopt more efficient home solar permitting processes could jeopardize the projected economic gain of $30 billion that the solar market is expecting.

While the data are California specific, other states could also increase revenue by reducing permitting, Sprague said.

“The specific amount per system doesn’t translate across states,” he said.

Part of the issue is that permitting costs and procedures are not uniform across jurisdictions, meaning that sometimes, even neighbors may be subject to different permitting costs and inspections.

Image courtesy of SunRun.