Welcome to the story of Marin Clean Energy, our pioneering initiative to deliver renewable electricity to every business, residence, and government agency in our county. MarinCommunityEnergy.org is designed to complement and extend the efforts of the people in our government agencies, and our citizen activists, who have devoted so much of themselves to making clean, renewable energy a reality in Marin.
The intense combustion of fossil fuels by our species during the last two hundred years has given Planet Earth a rising fever, with no relief in sight. Unless reversed, this fever will continue to destabilize earth’s climate at an accelerating rate, creating what NASA scientist James Hansen calls “A different planet.” There’s a world of tragic implications in this statement.
But, here's some very good news. In Marin County, CA, thanks to the tremendous foresight of our elected officials, government staff, and dedicated citizen activists, we are on the verge of implementing an extraordinary local initiative for clean-green electrical power. It's call Marin Clean Energy, and it will lower our greenhouse gas emissions by up to 17%, across the board, within just a few years! As soon as it's implemented in 2009, Marin Clean Energy, according to its business plan, will provide electrical power to its customers from 25% renewable resources. This will quickly advance to 51%, at or below current utility prices. Customers will also be offered a 100% green power option for a small additional premium.
Marin Clean Energy is grounded in a 2002 California law (AB117), popularly known as Community Choice for Local Power. A number of other communities in our state are also well along in implementation plans for similar programs. It's looking increasingly likely that the Marin County model can serve as a template for other communities in California, and around the country. Marin Clean Energy is an organizing principle that can, in a relatively short time, bring democratic localization to energy production and distribution, electrical power price stability, provide clean energy for sustainable transportation projects, and dramatically increase our experience of community.
If you'd like to know more about Marin Clean Energy, and take an active part in Community Choice for Local Power, please start here. This Website provides much of the information you'll need, including official documentation of the Marin Clean Energy Initiative and other points of view, schedules of upcoming events, forums, blogs, calendars, links to other sites, and much more. Marin is doing something serious to preserve the planet we all love.
If fossil fuels are the metaphorical "Black Apple," here is a real break-through in policy and process for taking a huge bite out of it--quickly. Don't forget to spit!
Early in 2008 the Marin County Community Development Agency published this easy-to-read brochure to bring basic information about Marin Clean Energy to public attention. We hope you enjoy reading it.
| Attachment | Size |
|---|---|
| CCA_brochure_comp8.pdf | 1.04 MB |
During the several years that Marin Clean Energy has been in development, many important questions about its legal basis, technical and financial structure, governance, business foundation, value to its customers, environmental implications, voices of opposition, potential risks, and more have been posed, answered, and often revised.
On this page you can always find the most up to date official version of the FAQ.
| Attachment | Size |
|---|---|
| Marin Clean Energy Frequently Asked Questions.doc | 195.5 KB |
Several other California communities besides Marin County have Community Choice Initiatives in development. The two most complete at this writing are the San Joaquin Valley Power Authority, formed under the direction of the Kings River Conservation District, and San Francisco City and County. We will continue to update information about their progress.
Link to the documents presented here for basic information on other CCA programs.
| Attachment | Size |
|---|---|
| Ordinance Kings Co.pdf | 176.47 KB |
| SJVPA ELECTRIC POWER AGREEMENT.PDF | 365.11 KB |
Officially known as Marin Community Energy: A Citizens Guide, this document was affectionately named CCA For Dummies for good reason. Several of us, under Richard Schorske's direction, waded through the hundreds of pages of material produced as the Marin Clean Energy Business Plan neared completion, and realized that we all would benefit from a distillation and simplification of this mountain of material — hence The Guide.
Two forms of the document appear here for you to read and download. The first is about 48 pages, including background material on global warming, climate change, and energy depletion — the context that makes Marin Clean Energy such an important initiative. The second version is designed to become a tabloid-style piece for insertion in larger, regularly distributed publications. We hope you will find both versions valuable, and useful for your outreach efforts on behalf of Marin Clean Energy.
| Attachment | Size |
|---|---|
| DRAFT Marin Clean Energy Citizens' Guide 042408v5 copy.pdf | 1.24 MB |
| DRAFT Marin Clean Energy Overview (8 page) 062308 copy.doc | 1.08 MB |
The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), the body that regulates the state's energy providers, has generally had an even hand regarding Community Choice for Local Electrical Power. Quite recently, the San Joaquin Valley Power Authority (SJVPA), in charge of the Valley's CCA initiative, was successful in two rulings brought before the CPUC regarding disputes with PG&E. In one case, PG&E's marketing practices have been restricted, and in the other, an attempt by PG&E to make members of SJVPA "joint and severally liable" for the financial obligations of the entire Authority, was denied. Had "joint and several liability" been upheld, individual members would be financially liable in case of the project's failure. Small cities and towns are unable to accept that level of risk. Marin Clean Energy, along with several other communities working on CCA programs, has recently filed hearing requests with the CPUC to have these positive rulings extended to a wider constituency.
Here are several documents from CPUC regarding the two San Joaquin rulings.
| Attachment | Size |
|---|---|
| CPUC_Decisioni_Approving_Settlement-84216.pdf | 77.38 KB |
| CPUC_Decision_Settlement_Apps_A-B-84218.pdf | 795.13 KB |
| CPUC Joint & Several Hearing Result-05-27-08.pdf | 120.69 KB |
| CPUC Bond_Requirement_Rulesetting_83335.pdf | 503.66 KB |
Marin Clean Energy (MCE) is the most promising local solution to our accelerating climate and energy Crisis. When fully implemented, MCE will reduce Marin County's greenhouse gas emissions by 17% or more while maintaining energy price stability initially and lowering electrical energy prices in the long term. It's good for the environment and it's good for business. In short, MCE is a good deal all around.
We've tried to answer the question, "Why Now" earlier in this section. Here, we've assembled a group of documents and links that locate Marin Clean Energy and the CCA initiative in their global context. While it would have been wiser to begin the transition from fossil fuels to a renewable energy economy decades ago, we, as a species, didn't do so. Instead, we've continued our addiction to fossil fuels to the point of creating a global emergency. Now it's time to get clean and sober about:
Because you're reading this, it's likely that you've awakened to many of the basic facts about the climate and energy crisis and are looking for solutions that you can implement and support. On this page you will find a series of connections to the best and clearest information we've seen that tells the story of global warming, climate change, and fossil fuel resource depletion.
But it's not just the story of how we got ourselves into this mess. It's also the story of how to get ourselves out. Marin Clean Energy is one of the better solutions.
One of the pieces we highly recommend is Climate Code Red.
| Attachment | Size |
|---|---|
| Climate Code Red.pdf | 1.03 MB |
| Stern Review Executive Summary.pdf | 309.98 KB |
| Hansen-Climate Change & Trace Gases.pdf | 979.9 KB |
| IPCC-AR4 Summary-11.17.07.pdf | 6.36 MB |
| IPCC-FAQ-2007.pdf | 10.9 MB |
| Science Assessment of Global Change-U.S.pdf | 2.75 MB |
Marin Clean Energy Confirmed Official Supporters (as of 09.22.08):
SUPPORTING ORGANIZATIONS
SUPPORTING BUSINESSES
Everyone in Marin and the Bay Area knows our Investor Owned Utility (IOU). It's PG&E, of course.
For years, since the passage of AB117, California's Community Choice Law (2002), PG&E was publicly either neutral toward or supportive of local governments looking into forming what are generally called CCA's.
All that changed in 2007. For reasons discussed elsewhere on this web site, and on many others, PG&E now opposes Community Choice, in general, and Marin Clean energy in particular.
In specific response to Marin Clean Energy, PG&E has published a series of documents, some in the form of letters to our government officials, some as PowerPoint slide shows, that speak for themselves. We're publishing all the material that's in the public domain for you to get a solid idea about PG&E's position.
| Attachment | Size |
|---|---|
| PG&E Response To MCE Business Plan 10-26-07.pdf | 392.93 KB |
| PG&E Green Partnership Letter 11.08.07.pdf | 981.58 KB |
| PG&E Green Tariff Proposal 5-15-2008.pdf | 216.3 KB |
| PG&E-Marin CCA Response-Appendix 3-5-2008.pdf | 2.46 MB |