The Ray worked with Environment California to produce a report—Solar power alongside California’s highways—demonstrating the solar potential in the state-owned right-of-way (ROW) space. Released on August 31, 2023, the piece argues that “California should take advantage of the vast, untapped solar energy potential next to its highways,” citing a new analysis that identifies enough solar to power more than 270,000 homes per year.

This collaborative work was done to support the proposed legislation, Senate Bill 49, which was introduced by Senator Josh Becker. The report included a ROW solar analysis completed by The Ray for Los Angeles, San Diego, and Ventura counties. The legislation, as passed, requires the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) to complete an evaluation of its ROW for use for renewable energy generation, energy storage, and transmission. The law also requires Caltrans to develop a mechanism and process for interested parties to lease the ROW space.

The Ray provided expert testimony to the California State Senate Transportation Committee in April 2023 in support of this legislation.