Clean energy San Mateo County, saving the world may be somewhat more expensive

What will be the arrangement with PG&E, and how will that affect us all?

The Daily Journal/Bill Silverfarb, 10/7/15. "Clean energy joint venture gains support: San Mateo County joint powers authority formed to buy renewal energy in bulk."

Street light coming to
your neighborhood, maybe

....  The JPA would allow its customers to buy renewable energy at competitive rates. In fact, customers who purchase 100 percent renewable energy from sources such as wind or solar will see their monthly electric bills rise by a modest $2, according to a technical study the Board of Supervisors heard Tuesday. The idea is to dramatically reduce the county’s carbon footprint by releasing less greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.

Modest building, no carbon,
no bugs, almost

A JPA agreement is expected to be in place by the end of winter 2016 and the tentative plan is to start purchasing renewable energy next summer.  ....  The renewable energy will be delivered over Pacific Gas and Electric lines.  ....  There are currently three aggregation programs operating in the state including Marin Clean Energy and Sonoma Clean Energy. A third, Lancaster Choice Energy in Los Angeles County just started.

Community Choice Aggregation (CCA) allows a local government, or group of local governments, to pool the electricity demand of their residential, business and municipal accounts to purchase or develop power on their behalf. ....   Workshops and an extensive public outreach campaign are planned in the coming months to introduce the concept to the general public.  Read more. 

Reference, County of San Mateo/Office of Sustainability/Energy, Community Choice Energy Advisory Committee (CCE), "CCE in San Mateo County- Peninsula Clean Energy." On February 24, 2015 the Board of Supervisors approved funding to complete Phase 1 of the CCE formation process, which includes conducting a County-wide technical study to assess the feasibility of CCE for San Mateo County. The technical study was completed in September 2015. The results from the study will be used to determine if the County and any interested municipalities should form a CCE.  The County will be holding CCE Advisory Committee meetings. These meetings are open to the public; the County encourages any interested residents or organizations to attend and provide input. The next meeting is being held on Thursday, October 22 from 7:00-9:00 pm at 400 Harbor Blvd, Belmont CA 94002. ....   Sign up for our CCE mailing list to receive updates on the progress of the County's CCE efforts and notices of upcoming meetings and events.

Reference, Feasibility Study, Draft Peninsula Clean Energy CCA Technical Study, 9/18/15, pdf pages 80.  The CCA Technical Study was prepared by Pacific Energy Advisors, Inc.

Note photographs.  Solar/Wind street light from Wonderful Engineering.  Modest building solar/wind from Solidarity Economy/Tom Klare (via Tom Dispatch), 4/16/15. 

Posted by Kathy Meeh