by Synergy Solar | Feb 10, 2015 | Solar News, Utility Companies
Choice has now come to most of Sonoma County when it comes to who will provide your power. There are three primary types of providers, and we now have one of each in Sonoma County.
The City of Healdsburg is a Municipal Utility District, or (MUD). A MUD provides electrical services to those in their area (in this case the City of Healdsburg). They have their own crews that work on the power lines, maintain the infrastructure, install the meters, handle the billing, and are responsible for providing energy contracts and policy for their customers.
Pacific Gas and Electric – PG&E is an Independently Owned Utility (IOU), which means it is owned by investors (shareholders). PG&E handles all of the transmission and distribution for our county, outside of the City of Healdsburg. This means they maintain the electric grid (poles, power lines, meters etc) and bill customers. They also provide generation services and policy to customers who have opted out of Sonoma Clean Power (about 15% of the county). The services include the actual power from power plants (gas and nuclear), hydro, solar, as well as our own Geysers. PG&E also covers policies for these customers, from energy efficiency to the low-income support of the CARES program.
Sonoma Clean Power (SCP) is our newest addition, a Community Choice Aggregation (CCA). SCP has the ability to select goals, pricing and policy for their customers. In this case it is about 80% of Sonoma County energy users. PG&E is still responsible for the infrastructure and billing (transmission and distribution), crediting their previous generation amount and adding in a generation charge for SCP.
What benefits does a CCA like SCP offer?
SCP can:
1) Create competitive pricing. At the time of this release, SCP power was 5-10% less expensive then PG&E’s generation costs, and they only raise rates annually.
2) Create policies to reduce green house emissions (their energy portfolio is made up of 50% more renewable energy then PG&E),
3) Discourage use of some types of energy production. SCP has no nuclear power in its portfolio.
4) Encourage/promote other types of power like solar by providing bonus generation credits for homeowners with no expiration of credits (as with PG&E).
5) Create products, like EverGreen, a product a customer can feel good about. With EverGreen, customers are paying a little more to get 100% geyser power (100% renewable).
6) Create local jobs – They have the ability to create local jobs through building local renewable energy projects (solar or wind).
So as you can probably guess, full disclosure, I am a huge fan of CCA and SCP. I sat on the task force that helped create the initial direction of SCP. I have been impressed with their responsiveness to the local community, even in the first year of start-up. They are creating a model for other cities and counties to follow. So the good news is that in most parts of the Sonoma County, you now have a choice. Take the time to learn about your options and find the utility company that best fits your needs. – Jeff Mathias – Owner
by Synergy Solar | Nov 9, 2014 | Solar News, Utility Companies
I am asked daily, “Should I opt out of Sonoma Clean Power (SCP) or stay with PG&E”. First a little background.
I have been working with PG&E, interconnecting solar systems, for the past 10 years. While I have not always agreed with many of their policies, they are one of the “cleanest” utilities. They primarily burn natural gas, not coal.
Recently PG&E has really made an effort to discourage solar by sponsoring legislation designed to make solar less attractive, minimize what they compensate solar customers for over-production, and to bar new entry/competition like SCP. I sat on the initial organizing task force for SCP, and was excited to have an option for myself and my customers.
What is Sonoma Clean Power? A law passed 10 years ago allows communities to provide their own power choices, called a Community Choice Aggregation (CCA). SCP is a local CCA, a new Sonoma County organization designed to provided cleaner power at a lower cost, while providing local renewable energy and local jobs. SCP can design programs specific to Sonoma County, not needing to design them for their entire territory, like PG&E.
SCP differs from communities like the City of Healdsburg, which has their own power company. SCP is responsible for the energy generation, while PG&E still bills the customer and provides infrastructure support of the distribution facilities and transmission lines to the customer’s meter (see below).
So let me tell you some of the reasons why I am going with Sonoma Clean Power. Their rates are 4-5% less than PG&E’s. SCP change their rates annually, while PG&E has already raised rates 3 times this year. SCP power mix is cleaner and greener with a +30% renewable mix to PG&E’s low 20%. And if that is not enough, I support their direction. They are committed to continually increasing green energy with a goal of 100%. They are also committed to installing and using local renewable energy sources, and to the creation of local jobs.
For solar customers, SCP offers a $0.01 payment over retail rates for over-production, and energy credits do not expire at true-up periods like with PG&E. SCP will write you a check if your over-production exceeds $100. They are creating programs that encourage local renewable energy systems, like solar, while PG&E is trying to make these processes more difficult.
To summarize, SCP offers lower cost, greener energy, local jobs, local control, and a commitment to local renewable energy. Why would you go anywhere else?
by Synergy Solar | Nov 9, 2014 | Solar News, Utility Companies
Yesterday I attended an update session on Sonoma Clean Power (SCP), specifically on Net Energy Metering (NEM) for solar clients. The session was very informative and the information presented is a “must know” for solar customers making the move.
First, I am a huge supporter of SCP, sitting on the task force through its development phase. SCP fits well with my desires for our County. For renewable energy use, they have roughly a 10% increase over PG&E. SCP does not use nuclear power, they create local jobs, they lower residential costs, and are green friendly. In addition, since their rates are 4-5% less than those of PG&E, SCP offers a $0.01 bonus for over-generation. And even better, unlike PG&E, at the end of your sum-up period, any unused credits are carried forward to the next year. A real bonus!
The SCP program is an OPT-OUT program which means you will be automatically enrolled in SCP unless you OPT-OUT to PG&E. Currently this applies to the entire County of Sonoma with the exception of the cities of Healdsburg, Petaluma and Rohnert Park. The current plan is to move 166,000 users from PG&E Customers to SCP in December 2014.
So here is what you need to know. If you are like me, and build large credits during the summer to use during the winter (I am at about $400 in October), you may lose your credits in December. Why? Because when you move to SCP (remember this will happen unless you OPT-OUT), PG&E will sum-up in December, not on your usual true up date, and the credits are lost. If your true-up period with PG&E is in June – December, your credit loss may be minimal, and I would suggest you just move to SCP. If like me, your true up is in May, you do have an option to avoid the loss of these credits.
I ran the following idea by the SCP representatives and they said it was a sound strategy. What you can do is OPT-OUT of SCP before you are converter to them. Thus you will stay with PG&E and be able to use up your credits. And because you did not leave SCP (usually a 12 month waiting period before you can move back), you can OPT back in at any time, i.e. once your credits are used up. So I chose to OPT-OUT last night, and will be joining SCP in May when my usual true-up bill comes from PG&E. This will maximize usage of my credits. This is a personal choice, and knowledge is power, or savings in this case.
Please do not hesitate to email me with and questions, or those of your friends who are on solar. Get the word out and remember to like Synergy on facebook to get future updates on SCP.
Thanks,
Jeff
CFO and Co-Owner of Synergy Solar & Electrical Systems, Inc.
jeff@synsolar.com
by Synergy Solar | Oct 23, 2012 | Solar News, Utility Companies
In the solar industry, we often get trapped in focusing on the investment side of the solar justification while forgetting the energy independence and environmental side. So I think it is time to take a look at what is the mix of resources being used every time we use a kilowatt of electrical energy. Also, and more importantly, how many pounds of CO2 (green house gases – GHG) are released with each kWh of our electrical usage. My primary sources come from the US Energy Information Administration, a recent seminar on Impact Sonoma, and my personal experience. PG&E is one of the cleanest utilities in the nation burning only .65% coal. The renewable energy figure includes large-scale Hydro (dams), which is not included in most measures as a renewable resource. And while hard to find, almost 50% of all PG&Es power comes from the burning of Natural Gas.
The primary renewable energy in PG&E’s portfolio mix is our local gem, the Geysers geo-thermal plants.
Calpine Geo-thermal Power Plant
Calpine has the lions share of the plants in this area, producing 725 mw of renewable energy. This represents 21% of all California renewables and 41% of the geo-thermal energy in the US. PG&E considers nuclear energy as part of their renewable energy portfolio, yet this is not a standard interpretation. While nuclear can produce reliable energy it has a limited life and can cause environmental damage. Look at the San Onofre power plant that has been off-line since 1/31/12, due to leaks in radiation and excessive tube wear. Southern California had to scramble to make up this loss to their grid, including firing up two dirty plants to meet the demand.
So back to the original question, “how much GHG is released when we use a kWh of energy from PG&E”? To answer this question, we need to look at the detailed mix of PG&E’s energy portfolio. While PG&E burns very little coal (under 1% of the total), the fossil fuel mix is made up of 49% natural gas, 22% nuclear, 18% large Hydro, and 19% renewable.
While CO2 is naturally released in nature, fossil fuel plants burn a resource that took millions of years to produce, and the process of burning it releases large quantities of CO2 into our atmosphere.
A fossil fuel generation facility
These large releases cannot be absorbed by our plant population which converts CO2 to oxygen naturally. The excess CO2 is the leading cause of GHG (green house gases), which causes global warming. This has led to many programs that include planting trees, moving towards high mileage and electric vehicles, and the increasing demand for renewable energies.
Utility scale solar systems are on the rise
So if you do not have solar, when you use a kWh from PG&E, some where, fossil fuels are being burned. One kWh of electrical energy from PG&E releases .77 pounds of CO2 into the atmosphere. For a typical Sonoma County home that uses 500 kWh per month and this equates to over 2.5 tons of CO2 release every year. One benefit of renewable energy’s, and solar in particular, is that solar energy creates no CO2. The sun, while it is burning up, still should provide us with 1 billion years of usable energy. Another interesting tidbit, the energy it takes to produce a complete solar installation, is made up in the first 1-3 years depending on the system installed – and this will be covered in more detail in my next blog.
