Saturday, December 1, 2012

Potential green energy franchise fee (tax) for Pacifica, clean electric energy


Hail to the energy sun god !
Is this city green or not?  Or does the city just talk a "green game", while waiting  for 100 year climate change to sweep away the coast?   Green electrical energy could create a whole new a franchise fee/tax, but it may not be revenue positive. Residential solar electric bills should go down. So, here's an plan: charge higher franchise fees. No doubt other cities have worked out the billing.

Santa Cruz Sentinel/Jason Hoppin, 11/29/12. "Santa Cruz County may study power agency formation to pursue renewable energy."

"Santa Cruz County governments are exploring the possibility of setting up a local joint powers authority that would allow residents to buy more green energy, and could be a vehicle toward the county's future energy independence.

....  So-called community choice aggregation plans have been allowed under state law for a decade. Marin Clean Energy has been in operation since 2010, San Francisco's is about to go live and others are exploring the idea.  

Looks nice, works great
Not fancy but practical
Set up as joint powers authorities, the nonprofits give local power customers a choice -- they could ditch PG&E as their power supplier, though PG&E still handles billing and maintains ownership of the electricity grid.  But the San Francisco-based utility is no fan of community power, which threatens its customer base. In 2010, PG&E spent $46 million on an unsuccessful initiative that would have stifled community power agencies, though a spokeswoman said the company respects community choice aggregation and continues to cooperate with communities trying to implement them.

....  Community power nonprofits make local governments players in volatile wholesale energy markets...  But they can also keep ratepayer dollars local, and foster job growth if the agency pursues local wind or solar projects."   Read article.

Related - How it works.  Marin Clean Energy Services has been in operation since 2010, for example. Same website, also see the "rebates" and "news" sections.

Posted by Kathy Meeh

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I will stick with P.G. and E. They may be on the high side, due to government regulations and taxes, but are the most reliable. I advise anyone who is interested in another power company , you better do your research. Big failures.