El Cerrito Hosts Meeting, Online Forum on Community Choice Aggregation

The City Council is considering having the City join Marin Clean Energy (MCE) to give electric customers in El Cerrito the opportunity to purchase greener, affordable electricity as an alternative to PG&E. MCE is a not-for profit power agency that partners with PG&E to provide electricity services. This arrangement is known as Community Choice Aggregation (CCA).

The City is hosting a community meeting on Community Choice Aggregation on Wednesday, December 3 from 6:30pm to 8:30 pm at the El Cerrito City Hall (10890 San Pablo Ave, El Cerrito).

The meeting on December 3rd will include a presentation on how CCA and MCE work, the benefits to electricity customers, and possible next steps if the City Council decides to join MCE. Both staff from the City of El Cerrito and MCE will be available to answer questions.

The City is also soliciting feedback through the online engagement forum, Open El Cerrito at www.el-cerrito.org/CCAforum

Community Choice Aggregation enables JPAs like MCE to aggregate the electricity demands of their constituents to more easily acquire electricity from preferred sources. By acquiring a greater percentage of electricity from renewable electricity generators (such as solar and wind power), MCE is able to reduce the percentage of fossil fuel energy in the electricity purchased by its customers. At present, MCE offers customers the choice of purchasing 50-100% renewable energy at prices lower than PG&E’s.

MCE partners with PG&E to provide electricity and related programs in Marin County, Napa County, and the City of Richmond, and will start service in the cities of San Pablo, and Benicia in early 2015. MCE replaces PG&E’s job of determining power sources, called electric generation, while PG&E continues to handle electric delivery, power line maintenance, and billing. So instead of paying PG&E for both electric delivery and generation services, customers pay MCE for generation and PG&E for delivery, all on one monthly bill. MCE’s rates replace a portion of PG&E’s regular rates, and are not an added fee. MCE’s rates are currently lower than rates for PG&E service, so MCE customers pay less on their monthly bills than they would with PG&E service alone. Discount programs like California Alternate Rates for Energy (CARE) Program, Family Electric Rate Assistance (FERA) Program, and Medical Baseline are unaffected by enrollment; these customers receive the same discount with MCE as they would with PG&E. If the City of El Cerrito joins MCE, all electricity account holders within the City will automatically be changed to MCE, but customers who do not want to participate can opt out of the CCA and continue to purchase power from PG&E.

“Joining a CCA was identified in the City’s Climate Action Plan as one of the more cost-effective ways the City could reduce the pollution that causes climate change. There is only a minor investment on the part of the City to participate in MCE. But the switch would result in large reductions in greenhouse gas emissions,“ said Maria Sanders, Environmental Analyst at the City of El Cerrito.

The City Council will hold a public hearing to consider adopting the ordinance to join MCE on Tuesday, December 16, 2014. The public is welcome to attend and comment at this meeting, as well as the Community Meeting on December 3. If the City Council elects to join MCE, MCE will begin a multilingual community outreach process to explain to El Cerrito customers that they have the option of remaining with PG&E.

For more information, visit www.el-cerrito.org/CCA or contact Maria Sanders, Environmental Analyst, at msanders@ci.el-cerrito.ca.us or 510-559-7684.

###CALENDAR ENTRY:
Community Meeting on Community Choice Aggregation
Provide input on City’s consideration of joining MCE Clean Energy
Wednesday, December 3 | 6:30 - 8:30 PM
El Cerrito City Hall, 10890 San Pablo Avenue

The City of El Cerrito is seeking input from El Cerrito residents and businesses as it considers joining Marin Clean Energy (MCE), a local government Community Choice Aggregation (CCA) joint powers authority. Come hear how CCA and MCE work, the benefits to electricity customers, and possible next steps if the City Council decides to join. MCE partners with PG&E to provide electricity from renewable sources, and currently serves customers in Marin County, Napa County, and the cities of Richmond, San Pablo and Benicia. For more information, visit www.el-cerrito.org/CCA, msanders@ci.el-cerrito.ca.us or call Maria Sanders at 215-4361. Comments also accepted online atwww.el-cerrito.org/CCAforum

Information submitted by City of El Cerrito

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