Business & Tech
Green Electricity: County Edges Closer To Community Choice
A 100-percent renewable option tends to be more expensive for customers than standard electricity supplies from PG&E.
CONTRA COSTA COUNTY, CA — The residents of Contra Costa County will soon have the option of buying electricity from largely renewable sources, outside the current supply offered by PG&E.
The Board of Supervisors received a report onTuesday from consultants hired to study the options available to the county and 14 of its cities for so-called community choice programs.
The programs, allowed under a 2002 state law, allow cities and counties to set up nonprofit government entities that produce and procure electricity from sources other than PG&E and sell it to local consumers.
Find out what's happening in El Cerritofor free with the latest updates from Patch.
The supervisors were offered three main options: to set up their own community choice program with the cities, to join one already in existence, or to continue the current relationship with PG&E.
"They said they were more interested in joining one of the existing organizations," said Jason Crapo, deputy director of the county's Department of Conservation and Development.
Find out what's happening in El Cerritofor free with the latest updates from Patch.
Now, the supervisors must decide which group to join.
One option is Marin Clean Energy, which currently provides power to five Contra Costa County cities, all of Marin and Napa counties and the city of Benicia.
The other choice is Alameda County's East Bay Community Energy.
Both organizations, like nearly all community choice programs, offer different levels of renewable electricity supply portfolios, Crapo said.
Most offer a standard product that is similar to or slightly more "green" than PG&E's electricity supply, at prices similar to what PG&E customers now pay, Crapo said.
They also generally offer a 100-percent renewable option, which tends to be more expensive than standard electricity supplies.
"One of the key motivations is to have (the electricity supply) be more environmentally friendly, to reduce greenhouse gas emissions," Crapo said.
Also, cities and counties tend to like the idea because they are allowed to build renewable power supply plants locally, providing jobs and other economic development opportunities, Crapo said.
Both Marin Clean Energy and East Bay Community Energy have expressed interest in building solar or other types of plants in Contra Costa County.
The supervisors are expected to make a final decision at their May 2 meeting.
— Bay City News; Image via Shutterstock