PG&E's threat to public power

[Larry Robinson]

Most of you are aware of Sonoma Clean Power and its potential to make significant cuts to our local carbon emissions as well as to keep hundreds of millions of dollars a year in our local economy. Now PG&E has managed to get a bill passed in the State Assembly which could sabotage our efforts to take control of our energy supplies.

AB 2145 would undermine Community Choice energy programs throughout California by requiring that public power agencies get customers to opt in before being enrolled. This would effectively allow PG&E and Southern California Edison to maintain their monopoly over our power supplies.

We still have a chance to stop this assault on community choice. The Senate Committee will consider this bill as early as June 23. We need to let our Senators know that we want to protect our right to choose our energy suppliers and to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions. Can you please let everyone you know, particularly those who live in other parts of California, about this? Tell them to visit this website to find out more: https://www.no2145.org.

[Shake]

Is Sonoma Clean Power "Public Power?" Not sure of their organizational status. Anyone know?

Most of you are aware of Sonoma Clean Power and its potential to make significant cuts to our local carbon emissions as well as to keep hundreds of millions of dollars a year in our local economy. Now PG&E has managed to get a bill passed in the State Assembly which could sabotage our efforts to take control of our energy supplies.

AB 2145 would undermine Community Choice energy programs throughout California by requiring that public power agencies get customers to opt in before being enrolled. This would effectively allow PG&E and Southern California Edison to maintain their monopoly over our power supplies.

We still have a chance to stop this assault on community choice. The Senate Committee will consider this bill as early as June 23. We need to let our Senators know that we want to protect our right to choose our energy suppliers and to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions. Can you please let everyone you know, particularly those who live in other parts of California, about this? Tell them to visit this website to find out more: https://www.no2145.org.

[jitterbug]

Yes - from the Sonoma Clean Power website:

Sonoma Clean Power (SCP) is the new, locally-run electricity provider in Sonoma County. We provide you with the option of using cleaner power at a competitive price from sources like solar, wind, geothermal and hydropower. SCP is a not-for-profit agency, independently run by Sonoma County and the participating cities of Sonoma, Santa Rosa, Cotati, Windsor and Sebastopol.

Do you remember Prop 16? That was rejected by CA voters because it would have made it very difficult - nearly impossible - to start a Community Choice Aggregation power company. Prop 16 was primarily ($44.1 Million in a $44.2 Million campaign) funded by PG & E.

So now we have AB 2145. Once again, it would make it very difficult for Community Choice Aggregation to get started in a community. It feels like we've fought this fight before. I hope our legislators will respond. We need to contact our legislators, but we also MUST contact friends and family in other parts of the state to encourage THEM to contact their representatives as well.

Is Sonoma Clean Power "Public Power?" Not sure of their organizational status. Anyone know?

[jitterbug]

For those of you that prefer to watch a brief video about the issue, here's one created by Sam Euston:

Yes - from the Sonoma Clean Power website:

Sonoma Clean Power (SCP) is the new, locally-run electricity provider in Sonoma County. We provide you with the option of using cleaner power at a competitive price from sources like solar, wind, geothermal and hydropower. SCP is a not-for-profit agency, independently run by Sonoma County and the participating cities of Sonoma, Santa Rosa, Cotati, Windsor and Sebastopol.

Do you remember Prop 16? That was rejected by CA voters because it would have made it very difficult - nearly impossible - to start a Community Choice Aggregation power company. Prop 16 was primarily ($44.1 Million in a $44.2 Million campaign) funded by PG & E.

So now we have AB 2145. Once again, it would make it very difficult for Community Choice Aggregation to get started in a community. It feels like we've fought this fight before. I hope our legislators will respond. We need to contact our legislators, but we also MUST contact friends and family in other parts of the state to encourage THEM to contact their representatives as well.

[BobHeisler]

Thank you, Larry. Your post prompted me to write to Sens. Chesbro and Evans, urging them to vote against AB 2145. It took all of five minutes to do and I urge anyone who wants to keep Sonoma Clean Power alive to do so.

Bob Heisler

Most of you are aware of Sonoma Clean Power and its potential to make significant cuts to our local carbon emissions as well as to keep hundreds of millions of dollars a year in our local economy. Now PG&E has managed to get a bill passed in the State Assembly which could sabotage our efforts to take control of our energy supplies.

AB 2145 would undermine Community Choice energy programs throughout California by requiring that public power agencies get customers to opt in before being enrolled. This would effectively allow PG&E and Southern California Edison to maintain their monopoly over our power supplies.

We still have a chance to stop this assault on community choice. The Senate Committee will consider this bill as early as June 23. We need to let our Senators know that we want to protect our right to choose our energy suppliers and to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions. Can you please let everyone you know, particularly those who live in other parts of California, about this? Tell them to visit this website to find out more: https://www.no2145.org.

[tommy]

I'd be grateful if someone out there could explain why Sonoma Clean Power is superior to PB&E. I've read the great advertisements and concepts of Sonoma Clean Power, and listened to KPFA about the current CA legislative bill to prohibit more agencies like Sonoma Clean Power, but lurking in my mind are these questions:

- given the existing transmission lines, electrical lines & poles bringing power to homes etc, power plants, rooftop solar, etc... isn't Sonoma Clean Power an entity that buys more power from renewable sources, perhaps newer power plants with less emissions... compared to PG&E, which owns some power plants, and evidently supplies electricity that is not as clean?

- Does Sonoma Clean Power buy electricity from nuclear plants owned by PG&E or other utilities?

- Doe not the process where customers move to Sonoma Clean Power, put the cost of paying for and maintaining the PG&E infrastructure of transmission lines, elec lines to homes, etc ... on the back of what may be the dwinding number of PG&E customers?

- isn't Sonoma Clean Power just a shifting of supply sources, rather than providing long term improvement, such as building more renewable sources?

Thank you.

Thank you, Larry. Your post prompted me to write to Sens. Chesbro and Evans, urging them to vote against AB 2145. It took all of five minutes to do and I urge anyone who wants to keep Sonoma Clean Power alive to do so.

Bob Heisler

[Woody]

I'd be grateful if someone out there could explain why Sonoma Clean Power is superior to PB&E. I've read the great advertisements and concepts of Sonoma Clean Power, and listened to KPFA about the current CA legislative bill to prohibit more agencies like Sonoma Clean Power, but lurking in my mind are these questions:

- given the existing transmission lines, electrical lines & poles bringing power to homes etc, power plants, rooftop solar, etc... isn't Sonoma Clean Power an entity that buys more power from renewable sources, perhaps newer power plants with less emissions... compared to PG&E, which owns some power plants, and evidently supplies electricity that is not as clean? Yes, SCP buys and can incentivize/develop new clean power sources

- Does Sonoma Clean Power buy electricity from nuclear plants owned by PG&E or other utilities?
No, no coal, no nuclear

- Doe not the process where customers move to Sonoma Clean Power, put the cost of paying for and maintaining the PG&E infrastructure of transmission lines, elec lines to homes, etc ... on the back of what may be the dwinding number of PG&E customers?

No, we all still pay a PG&E bill and the Transit &Distribution is still paid for by all customers.

- isn't Sonoma Clean Power just a shifting of supply sources, rather than providing long term improvement, such as building more renewable sources? No, visit https://sonomacleanpower.org/faq/ for answers to many of these questions, and also visit the "news" page for the press release about a brand new contract for 30MW of new solar in California.

Thank you.

Hope my answers above helped. I work for the Climate Protection Campaign, the org that led the effort to get SCP up and running. More info at https://sonomacleanpower.org

[tomcat]

Thank you all for your efforts!
Tom

Hope my answers above helped. I work for the Climate Protection Campaign, the org that led the effort to get SCP up and running. More info at https://sonomacleanpower.org