Buying Power

Bonnie Allen, writing in the August issue of North Bay Biz, has laid out the nuts and bolts, as well as the future economic vision for Marin Clean Energy. This article is one of the best journalistic efforts to date on Marin's pioneering renewable energy initiative. After you read the quote, below, enjoy the full story here.

Marin Clean Energy’s plan is to deliver 50 percent renewable energy—without raising rates.
Pity the poor energy consumer. We open the bill each month knowing there’s little we can do about the steadily rising rates— 43 percent since 2000—or the fact that our energy mostly comes from a faraway
combination of CO2-generating natural gas plants; environment-busting, large hydroelectric plants; and an aging nuclear power plant. PG&E’s renewable energy portfolio is currently only 14 percent, and the utility is facing a state-mandated goal of 20 percent by 2010.
For Marin County, that doesn’t sit well. The county has set its own goal of 50 percent renewable energy by 2017. Moreover, local businesses are concerned about fluctuating—but mostly rising—fossil fuel prices. If only Marinites could take “power” over their energy destiny.
It turns out they can, thanks to a 2002 law sponsored by then-Assemblymember Carole Migden. AB 117 allows “community choice aggregation” (CCA), which enables communities to buy power directly from energy suppliers and deliver it through the existing PG&E power grid. And Marin Clean Energy (MCE), a group of Marin County officials and business leaders, hopes to do just that.