Most people associate Northern California solar energy with progressive politics, given that environmentalism and improving air quality are major items on the progressive agenda. However, there are quite a few conservatives who are also discovering the benefits of this technology. Consequently, there has been a push from the right, as well as the left, to promote solar power for residents and businesses.

The best example of this phenomenon is taking place in Georgia, where a group of Tea Party advocates working under the banner of the Green Tea Coalition have aligned with the Sierra Club to advocate for increased solar energy production. Citing the declining prices of solar panels and the advantages for consumers to break the utilities’ monopoly on power production, Tea Party members and environmentalists have found a common cause in expanding solar energy resources.

“The free market approach works well in Republican circles, so I can understand how these strange bedfellows come together,” Frank Maisano, an energy specialist at the law firm Bracewell & Giuliani LLP, told Bloomberg.com. “It becomes an economic argument.”

As a result of this alliance between conservative and environmental activists, Georgia energy regulators put in a place a rule that required the state’s utility to buy electricity from 525 megawatts-worth of solar panels, of which 100 are to come from rooftop systems.

What this story demonstrates is that anyone, no matter who they vote for or what party they support, has something to gain from greater reliance on renewable energy. If you’re interested in finding out more about Bay Area solar power, contact West Coast Solar today!