Opponents say California power initiative is ill-advised

They're going to try.

University of Phoenix founder John Sperling and his son, Peter, are backing a ballot initiative that would force the state to more than quadruple its production of solar, wind and other alternative energy sources by 2025.

But the state's major alternative-energy companies and environmental groups say the Solar and Clean Energy Act of 2008 is poorly drafted and riddled with loopholes, and they plan to oppose it.

"It could slam the brakes on renewable energy development in the state," asserts a letter signed by the California Solar Energy Industries Assn., the American Wind Energy Assn., labor unions and environmentalists.

"John Sperling is genuinely well-intentioned and wants to do something about global warming," said Ralph Cavanagh, a Natural Resources Defense Council expert who met with the 87-year-old billionaire. "But the initiative was put together by people who didn't know what they were doing."

Sperling, best known for founding the highly profitable and predominantly online university, has funded ballot initiatives promoting medical marijuana and drug sentence reform. He also founded two animal cloning businesses and garnered publicity for reportedly spending $2.3 million on a failed effort to clone his dog in Texas.

Peter Sperling, 48, senior vice president of the Apollo Group, his father's holding company, did not attend California meetings to promote the initiative, but he is listed on government forms as putting up $1.8 million for the campaign so far.

California gets about 11% of its electricity from solar, wind, geothermal and other renewable sources. State law already requires utilities to ratchet up their renewable energy to 20% by 2010, among the most aggressive statutes in the country.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has set a further target of 33% by 2020, well below the ballot initiative's targets of 40% by 2020 and 50% by 2025.

Legislation is pending to lock the current 33% target into law, and environmentalists are seeking to revise what they call archaic regulations governing renewable development.

"The initiative locks all the dysfunctional complexity into place and would require a two-thirds vote of the Legislature to change it," said V. John White, director of the Sacramento-based Center for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Technologies.