*By Alisha Haridasani*
California, the state most aggressively pursuing clean energy policies, became the first in the country to require almost all new homes have solar panels.
The new rule, adopted by the California Energy Commission on Wednesday, will apply to all residential buildings up to three stories tall built after January 1, 2020.
This change in the building code is expected to add around [$10,000](http://www.energy.ca.gov/title24/2019standards/documents/2018_Title_24_2019_Residential_Standards.pdf) to the cost of a new home. But the commission [estimated](http://www.energy.ca.gov/releases/2018_releases/2018-05-09_building_standards_adopted_nr.html) the panels could save home owners around $80 a month on utility bills, and will slash greenhouse gas emissions “by an amount equivalent to taking 115,000 fossil fuel cars off the road.”
The requirement is part of California’s push to get half the state's electricity from renewable sources by 2030. The state already relies on renewables for around 25 percent of its electricity, and it is expected to rise to around 33 percent by 2020.
The California Building Standards Commission must formally adopt the rule, which it is expected to do, said Mark Kaufman, Mashable’s science reporter. “California is really keen on solar, just like Texas is really keen on wind,” Kaufman said.
Shares of solar companies, such as SunRun and First Solar, rallied on Thursday.
One month after its launch, new streaming venture CNN+ announced it was shutting down. Seth Schachner, the managing director of StratAmericas and digital business executive, joined Cheddar News to talk about the high-profile media flop. "That's a really, really different beast than what HBO Max is, which is video streaming, entertainment features," he said. “It's a tough sell when you really look at these things in the cold light of day as to whether or not they actually fit together."
Meta wants creators to make money from the metaverse, but it's going to take a large chunk of the cut. The tech giant is planning to keep nearly 50% of all digital asset sales within Horizon Worlds, the virtual reality platform that's considered an integral part of the company's unfolding metaverse. Rolf Illenberger, Co-founder and Managing Director of VRdirect, joined Cheddar to discuss why Meta is taking heat for this move, and what it could be doing as an alternative to help support creators, small businesses, and consumers.
Catching you up on what you need to know on April 18, 2022, with Russian missile attacks on the Ukrainian city of Lviv killing seven, mass shootings in South Carolina and Pittsburgh, Lucky Charms cereal under official investigation by the FDA, and more.
Lisa Whalen, Automotive and Mobility Analyst at Morning Consult, joined Cheddar News' Closing Bell to break down the famed auto show's emphasis on electric vehicles this year, reflecting a shift toward electrification in the automotive industry.
