East Bay Community Energy Update

January 30th marked the first meeting of the governing board of East Bay Community Energy (EBCE), Alameda County’s brand new Community Choice energy program. The governing board is made up of elected officials from the eleven cities* in Alameda County that joined the program and one County Supervisor representing the unincorporated areas. EBCE is expected to begin providing power to County residents and businesses in the spring of 2018.

Community Choice Victory in Alameda County

Martha Kuhl, First Vice President of Labor Council outside Board of Supervisors' meetingMartha Kuhl, First Vice-President of the Alameda Labor Council and leader of the California Nurses Association, speaks in favor of community/labor Unity Proposal at press conference, October 4, 2016 outside County administration building.

October 4th marked a victory for East Bay communities and the East Bay Clean Power Alliance’s Clean Power to the People efforts. The Board of Supervisors voted to approve establishing a Community Choice energy program with a commitment to maximizing community benefits and including community input in the governance of the program.

The County approved a Joint Powers Authority (JPA) agreement, the foundation document for establishing the Community Choice program. The agreement represents a commitment to the goals advocated for by the East Bay Clean Power Alliance. It also incorporates a groundbreaking Unity Proposal released two weeks earlier by the East Bay Clean Power Alliance and the Alameda Labor Council.

Speak Out on October 4th: Big Vote on Community Choice

On Tuesday, October 4th, the Alameda County Board of Supervisors is scheduled to vote to move forward on the County’s Community Choice Energy program. Supervisors will vote on approving a Joint Powers Authority agreement to propose to cities that wish to participate in the County’s Community Choice energy program and funding the next phases of establishing the program. 
 
Join the East Bay Clean Power Alliance on Tuesday, October 4th to call for a Community Choice program that puts our communities first! 
 
Time:          8:30am Community Press Conference 
9:30am - 11:30am Board of Supervisors Meeting
Date:           Tuesday, October 4th 
Location:  County of Alameda Administration Building, Board Chambers
1221 Oak Street, 5th Floor (off Lake Merritt BART)
Oakland, 94612
 

Join the Local Clean Energy Alliance at the Building Resilient Communities Convergence!

On September 14-18, the annual Northern Permaculture and Building Resilient Communities Convergence will be held at the Solar Living Institute in Hopland, California. The Local Clean Energy Alliance will present a workshop on Sunday, September 18th on Community Choice as a powerful vehicle for democratizing energy, spurring local sustainable economic development, and building more resilient communities. 

The Convergence is a combined effort of the 2nd Annual North American Permaculture Convergence and the 11th Northern California Permaculture Convergence. The gathering is intended as an inspirational five days of intensive focus on a common goal: to design, build, and strengthen regenerative communities and habitats, in accordance with nature, for humans, plants, animals, the greater bioregion, and the Earth at large. 

CPUC: Latest Bid to Kill Community Choice

On August 18th, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) approved San Diego Gas & Electric’s (SDG&E) plan to launch a new division to market against Community Choice energy, the latest in a series of CPUC decisions to undermine Community Choice energy programs.
 
SDG&E is one of California’s three investor-owned utilities, serving as the monopoly energy provider for 3.6 million customers across San Diego and south Orange Counties. In San Diego and throughout California, cities and counties are moving to establish Community Choice energy programs as public, non-profit energy service providers. While investor-owned utilities continue to operate the energy grid and deliver electricity, the Community Choice program decides where the electricity for residents and businesses will come from–enabling the community to prioritize a cleaner energy portfolio and investment in local renewable energy resources. Utilities like SDG&E see the growth of Community Choice energy programs as a threat to their business model.

Delay on East Bay Community Choice Program - No Rest for Advocates

Providing less than 24 hours’ notice, the Alameda County Board of Supervisors delayed its much anticipated action on Community Choice energy at its August 2nd meeting. The vote is now expected in October, following a half-day Board of Supervisors retreat on September 20th. 
 
Despite the organizing challenges of the last minute shift, the delay offers the East Bay Clean Power Alliance an opportunity to make Alameda County’s Community Choice program even stronger in its commitment to community involvement, community benefits, and investment in local renewable energy resources.

East Bay Community Choice - Act Now!

August 2nd marks the next step for Alameda County’s quickly developing Community Choice Energy program: the Alameda County Board of Supervisors will vote on (1) approving a Joint Powers Authority agreement to propose to cities that wish to participate in the County’s Community Choice energy program, (2) accepting the Community Choice feasibility study, and (3) funding the next phases of establishing the program. 

The East Bay Clean Power Alliance, an Alameda County-wide alliance with support from fifty-six community organizations, is calling on County Supervisors to make sure that community benefits and community involvement are at the core of an East Bay Community Choice program. After a recent victory against a proposed coal export terminal in West Oakland, let us reaffirm the need for a clean energy future and clean energy jobs in the East Bay!
 

A Crucial Time for East Bay Community Choice Energy

On August 2nd, the Alameda County Board of Supervisors will be approving a Joint Powers Authority agreement to be proposed to cities in the county that wish to participate in the county’s Community Choice energy program. 
 
As supporters of local clean energy know, Community Choice energy programs are a powerful way for communities to address the impact of climate change by cutting energy consumption, switching to renewable energy sources, and building local renewable electricity generation. 

CHECK IT OUT: Community Choice, Community Power Video!

 
Check out our classic video, created by Tree Ring Productions, highlighting the great work of the Local Clean Energy Alliance in promoting community-based energy! 
 
In 2014, in the Local Clean Energy Alliance teamed up with Tree Ring Productions and initiated a crowd--funding campaign on IndieGoGo to raise the money needed to finance a

Paris COP21: Big Hype, Little Substance

In December, 25,000 official delegates from 195 countries meeting at the 2015 Conference of Parties finalized the language of the 12-page “Paris Agreement.” Although hailed as an unprecedented victory by national, international, and corporate leaders, The Paris Agreement failed to deliver the drastic changes necessary to avert climate chaos. As George Monbiot wrote in The Guardian, “by comparison to what it could have been, it’s a miracle…by comparison to what it should have been, it’s a disaster.” Pablo Solon, former Bolivian climate negotiator decried, The Paris Agreement will “see the planet burn.”

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