East Bay Community Energy recently committed to providing nearly 1.7 million local customers with 100% renewable energy in the next decade, 15 years ahead of the state's target date, when the Board of Directors adopted the policy at its Dec. 16 meeting.
The action makes EBCE one of the country's largest electricity providers to commit to 100% renewable power in the next ten years, and also sets the stage for taking "bold action to fight climate change while addressing the needs of our community," officials said in a statement.
Board Chair Dan Kalb, who also serves on the Oakland City Council, said the policy "has already resulted in contracts for over 500 megawatts of new California wind, solar, and energy storage," and that EBCE "expects to contract for several hundred more megawatts of clean energy" this year.
"This positions EBCE well to meet its 100% clean energy goals," Kalb said. "Through this procurement, EBCE is also focused on bringing the benefits of clean energy -- jobs, resiliency, healthy air, and lower costs -- to residents and businesses across the East Bay."
Service from the agency is already available in Dublin and Livermore, while Pleasanton is set to officially join as EBCE's 12th and newest member city in April, when all residential and business accounts in the city will be automatically enrolled.
Customers will see EBCE charges on their PG&E bill, along with a generation credit to offset the EBCE charges. Anyone with a special rate such as CARE, medical baseline, electric vehicle or solar NEM will also transfer automatically to EBCE.
Pleasanton officials told the Weekly that the new policy will appear on the Pleasanton City Council's Jan. 19 meeting agenda, but they did not provide any details.
The agency's clean energy goal was also cited by Emeryville City Councilmember and Board Vice Chair Dianne Martinez as "the critical underpinning of EBCE's broad plan to transform the energy systems across the East Bay," including planned wind farms in Altamont Pass.
"This commitment, and the investments that come with it, will create good, family-sustaining jobs in our communities while also improving our environment," Martinez said.
One of 19 community choice aggregation (CCA) programs in California, EBCE has operated since June 2018.
Comments
Registered user
Pleasanton Meadows
on Jan 7, 2021 at 4:55 am
Registered user
on Jan 7, 2021 at 4:55 am
""This positions EBCE well to meet its 100% clean energy goals," Kalb said. "Through this procurement, EBCE is also focused on bringing the benefits of clean energy -- jobs, resiliency, healthy air, and lower costs -- to residents and businesses across the East Bay.""
What "benefits" and "lower costs"? California's clean energy requirements have already resulted in rolling blackouts during the summer. We receive notices not to use air conditioners/appliances in the afternoon hours. This is only going to get worse as the state compels more people to use electric cars and/or bans natural gas in new construction projects. Compare the costs of energy in this state with such mandates vs other states. They are higher, not lower. This only hurts what is left of the middle and lower income residents in the state.
Jobs? We heard the same thing from the Obama Administration about the millions of "green jobs" that were going to be created from "clean energy" government mandates/spending programs. Where are they? I guess it would never occur to some "progressive" people that mandates (disregarding actual economics in favor of social justice) requiring more expensive sources of energy actually cost jobs (vs. creating them) and end up lowering standards of living.
Registered user
Vintage Hills
on Jan 7, 2021 at 10:14 am
Registered user
on Jan 7, 2021 at 10:14 am
Michael B doesn't seem to understand the "brown-outs" aren't caused by clean energy requirements but by PG&E's fear of more fines resulting from their equipment causing fires throughout the state of California. It isn't clean energy responsible for the Time of Use Rates from PG&E either. It is the utility's penchant for eking out the most it can from its customers. They've figured out more of us turn on energy guzzling air conditioners and cooking appliances during those afternoon hours, so they can collect more of our hard-earned dollars by charging higher rates during those hours. They've increased the peak rate times by an hour on each end...instead of 5 PM-8 PM, it will now be 4 PM-9 PM. 3 hours peak pricing just went to 5 hours peak pricing. And the PUC said Okey Dokey, so we're stuck with it. Not clean energy's fault.
Registered user
Vintage Hills
on Jan 7, 2021 at 10:19 am
Registered user
on Jan 7, 2021 at 10:19 am
And Californians persist in their irrational fear of nuclear energy.
Registered user
Pleasanton Meadows
on Jan 7, 2021 at 10:28 am
Registered user
on Jan 7, 2021 at 10:28 am
"Michael B doesn't seem to understand the "brown-outs" aren't caused by clean energy requirements but by PG&E's fear of more fines resulting from their equipment causing fires throughout the state of California."
Blame PG&E all you want. Someone doesn't understand that when the wind isn't blowing/sun is not shining, there is not enough clean energy being produced. Windmills and solar panels can't supply the needs of the state.
Registered user
Val Vista
on Jan 7, 2021 at 10:52 am
Registered user
on Jan 7, 2021 at 10:52 am
What savings? your power and your bill are still coming from PG&E. EBCE claims that they will save you @1-2% on your monthly bill. But at what cost? Its just another government bureaucracy...the employees of EBCE will need to be paid and then get those magical pensions so your taxes will go to pay that. And you are automatically being enrolled unless you "opt out". I choose to OPT OUT. Watch your mail because the notices look like junk mail and most will ignore them.
Registered user
Downtown
on Jan 7, 2021 at 11:42 pm
Registered user
on Jan 7, 2021 at 11:42 pm
The math is very simple - EBCE does not have a built-in profit which is guaranteed by the state regulators by their monopoly status. You are not paying layers of executive salaries and dividends to Wall Street. The newly hired CEO of PG&E has a $1.35M salary and a $6.6M bonus just for joining, plus stock. Community Choice Aggregators like EBCE are run very efficiently, almost no overhead and no profit motive.
If you are really concerned about the management and "extra bureaucracy" of EBCE you can join the community oversite board.
Registered user
Downtown
on Jan 7, 2021 at 11:58 pm
Registered user
on Jan 7, 2021 at 11:58 pm
As for costs and jobs...
Solar and wind are the lowest cost sources of energy currently available - whether it is sold to PG&E or EBCE. Current contracts are being signed for $0.02-$0.03/kWh. What you pay to PG&E has little to do with the cost of the energy they are buying on your behalf. The electrical grid infrastructure, the bureaucracy you mention, regulations and the profit and overhead are a much bigger influence.
Web Link
A couple of points on jobs...
• Since 2010, solar industry employment has grown by 167 percent, reaching nearly 250,000 jobs in 2019.
• Between 2014 and 2019, solar jobs grew five times faster than the overall economy.
Web Link
Not too many industries can claim similar job creation statistics.
Registered user
Val Vista
on Jan 8, 2021 at 9:00 am
Registered user
on Jan 8, 2021 at 9:00 am
Since when has any government agency been "run very efficiently" ? And if EBCE is so confident in their product then the customers should be given a choice to buy it, not automatically enrolled. Opting out is not a real choice since most people don't do the mail anymore and the government knows this.
Registered user
Alisal Elementary School
on Jan 8, 2021 at 8:03 pm
Registered user
on Jan 8, 2021 at 8:03 pm
Interesting that posters here talk only about costs and not environmental ramifications.
Registered user
Pleasanton Meadows
on Jan 9, 2021 at 2:13 pm
Registered user
on Jan 9, 2021 at 2:13 pm
"Interesting that posters here talk only about costs and not environmental ramifications."
Interesting that some choose to ignore the amount of environmental regulations the state already has, that there never seem to be enough, and that we need to be using more of an energy source that is both unreliable and can't be produced in sufficient quantity to serve the needs of customers.
Registered user
another community
on Feb 24, 2021 at 12:53 pm
Registered user
on Feb 24, 2021 at 12:53 pm
Clean energy is better, but this company actually penalizes people who already have solar, compared to what they offer customers who have new solar. They claim that it's to encourage people to get solar, which is a lie. Who would decide against getting solar based on the fact that older solar customers get the same terms that they would? If anything, people might see that waiting could give them a better deal. Nobody would decide not to get solar because the company gave me the same terms. Nobody would get solar only because they knew that people who already had it will potentially be financially worse off than they would for the same system.
They also claim that for solar customers, their method of having an annual cycle is for the customer's benefit when it's really for their benefit. With PG&E, a solar customer might have a positive or negative balance at any time during the year. They structure theirs so that you would have a negative balance, meaning that they owe you money for electricity that you might use later, even though it forces you to lose money when changing over from PG&E if you are a solar customer. That's because if you have a balance when you leave PG&E, it would be canceled out by future credits when you generate more than you use, if you stayed with PG&E, but you'd have to pay it if you leave PG&E. That's so they can perpetuate the big lie that it's to your benefit, when it's really for their benefit.
If they are dishonest to people who have solar, how honest are they with anybody else?