An ambitious plan to do PG&E one better by creating a homegrown agency to buy 100 percent clean, green energy — while keeping costs competitive — is centered on the premise that local power is better power.
Called Marin Clean Energy (MCE), it's a hot topic this summer as advocates, including Supervisors Harold Brown and Charles McGlashan, make a case for what could, within a decade, be the source for procuring enough renewable power to offset Marin's carbon footprint by 15 percent or more.
For now, however, the mission is to make MCE a household word, and to convince council members serving Marin's 11 cities and towns that MCE and its business plan, released this April, are worthy of their support.
MCE is as an outgrowth of the 2002 California bill that established Community Choice Ag-gregation, or CCA. CCA allows local government to take on the role of power broker, while the nuts and bolts of delivering the energy and billing customers remain in the hands of the current utility, which in Marin's case is PG&E. In order to proceed, a CCA needs the majority of its jurisdiction signed on.
Winning council approval from Marin's largest cities — Novato and San Rafael — along with the County, would do the trick. But supporters are hoping to woo all of Marin to the fold by a November deadline, creating a full-house, official MCE Joint Powers Authority that would, in turn, pave the way for MCE to begin offering services: first to meet the power needs of the municipal participants, in 2010, followed by the addition of "large load" (commercial) customers that would precede full rollout in 2011 to 111,000 customers, representing about 90 percent of Marin power users, the bulk of which are residential.
If a local city or town joins MCE, its residents will automatically become customers at full rollout — and anyone signed up as an MCE customer can opt out and remain with PG&E. If a local jurisdiction doesn't sign on, its residents cannot get their power from MCE.
Two Green Rate Plans
A primary benefit of MCE, advocates say, is its dedication to purchasing renewable energy, do-ing so through two green-hued plans with two customer rates: 100 percent "deep green," and "light green," which will offer between 25 and 50 percent renewables.
At present, MCE says rates will either be in line with PG&E's, in the case of the "light green" program, or between 10 and 15 percent more than PG&E for those selecting to be deep green.
If all goes as planned, supporters say MCE could offset Marin's footprint by at least 302,000 tons, or upwards of 534,000 tons, of CO2 a year, beginning in 2019, through its green-power purchases, doing so by reducing the natural gas that would otherwise be used by PG&E to meet Marin's gas and electric needs.
While few in Marin question the focus on green energy — a survey cited by MCE shows 90 percent of respondents support reducing greenhouse gas emissions — concerns include rates, bureaucracy, and the nitty-gritty of how MCE could compete for renewables with monolithic PG&E.
For city governments, there are added responsibilities: An elected official from each city would be a member of MCE's governing board of directors, which would be responsible for establishing policies, setting rates, and generally guiding the moves of the MCE executive director, overseeing a staff of about 20.
A Community Affair
When MCE was officially launched at a press conference in April, Supervisors Brown and McGlashan, along with representatives from the Mill Valley Chamber of Commerce and Marin Municipal Water District — the latter being the county's single-largest power customer — were effusive as they ticked off the project's benefits, beyond the obvious focus on clean energy.
"It's a huge step forward," said McGlashan. ģIt is a reinvestment in our community, and it will be a boost to our local economy." Mill Valley Chamber's Kathy Severson echoed his assessment, noting that it is her group's place "to support the economic vitality of our county . . . to support green business."
The business it will spur includes local energy-producing companies, primarily solar, and it will provide financial incentive to go green: Unlike PG&E currently, MCE will allow "net metering," which means customers will get credit for excess power their solar system generates.
Also on the plus side for its promoters, MCE is as local as it gets. "We're bringing back com-munity choice," said Brown. Community choice is a concept that John Elam, general manager of Tamalpais Community Services District, supports, suggesting that MCE also sends a message to the investor-owned utility about responding to customer demand. Says Elam, "It encourages PG&E to talk about what they have to offer,'in terms of renewable energy going forward."
For More Information, visit Marin Clean Energy > www.marincleanenergy.info.
