Good Energy Summer
It will be a consequential summer for energy policy in Santa Barbara County. Currently, you can drill for oil in Santa Barbara County, but you can’t put a solar farm in the same industrial site. That is set to reverse this summer with an Oil Ordinance to prohibit new oil drilling expected to go to the Board of Supervisors on June 23, and a Solar Ordinance to allow solar in industrial and agricultural zones to follow.
Solar + Batteries
For too long in Santa Barbara County -- where we have 300 days of sunshine annually -- the most abundant and cost-effective form of renewable energy has been prohibited and constrained in much of the county.
Over a decade ago, the County restricted utility-scale solar to the Cuyama Valley, where it is now largely built out. Seven years ago, the County adopted a Strategic Energy Plan to stimulate local renewable energy and expand where it is allowed. But enacting that plan has been slow, only now culminating in policy changes. On May 5 the Santa Barbara County Planning Commission unanimously supported a new Solar Ordinance. It will go to the Board of Supervisors on July 14.
The Solar Ordinance facilitates solar and battery storage on buildings and parking lots. Batteries have rapidly fallen in cost and improved in safety and allow us to store and benefit from solar power in the evening hours after the sun sets, but when cost and demand for energy are still high, and batteries provide backup power in the event of outages.
Solar+batteries will help us retire the aging and polluting gas power plants, one in Goleta and large ones in Oxnard that powered south Santa Barbara County in the past.
The Solar Ordinance will allow solar in industrial and agricultural zones, allowing ranches and farms a potential new source of income. A new ag-friendly solar asset class, called “agrivoltaics,” enables ranching or farming alongside solar.
Solar panels can be set 7 - 10 feet above the ground and spaced apart to create a mix of sun and shade for crops, shielding plants from excessive heat, cold and ultraviolet radiation, and increasing the yield of many crops. A UC Davis study found that solar shade increased the productivity of pepper and tomato plants and used less water. Other studies have found benefits for basil, broccoli, cabbage, celery, lettuce, spinach, etc.
Solar can also shade farmworkers, and flocks of sheep or goats. For ranches, there are moveable solar arrays that can shade and reduce water evaporation on pasture and forage crops. Once livestock are done grazing in one area, the solar can be moved and the livestock can graze where the solar arrays were.
No New Oil
The Oil Ordinance comes because of the Santa Barbara County Climate Action Plan that was adopted in 2024.
At the time, the Board of Supervisors asked staff to come back with ways to reduce emissions from the oil and gas sector, which is one of the largest sources of greenhouse gas emissions in the County. County staff came back with a plan to prohibit new oil drilling and phase out existing drilling, which the Board approved in 2025.
The first phase, which is a prohibition on new oil drilling projects, was approved by the County Planning Commission on April 8 this year.
Planning Commissioner Michael Cooney said that it was the most consequential vote of his long career. (He was a Planning Commissioner for 21 years and just recently stepped down after this vote.)
Commissioner Kate Ford is a new appointee, and this was her first vote on oil issues. She was staunchly supportive of the Ordinance. Commissioner John Parke said that the volume of public comments might be a record. He praised the speakers and the hundreds of written comments for being unique and thoughtful. Public comments were overwhelmingly supportive, including a sign-on letter from dozens of environmental and community groups. Included in the record is a new UCSB report and detailed polling showing majority support across the County in favor of phasing out oil.
The Oil Ordinance will go to the County Board of Supervisors on June 23. You can email your comment supporting no new oil drilling to: sbcob@countyofsb.org
