NORTH BAY BOHEMIAN | MAY 25-31, 2011 | BOHEMIAN.COM
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Voltage & Violets ( 21 already under development and would flourish with a CCA. For example, the chicken-poop power plant is real; county leaders have already secured $55 million in bonds to build the 1.4-megawatt facility near the airport. And the Sonoma County Water Agency is already extracting energy from biomass. Using wastewater at the Laguna Treatment Plant, staff grow algae which is then converted into methane. The methane powers a generator that provides electricity for vehicles and other uses, and the waste product is premium compost that goes on top of strawberry beds. Then there’s the geothermal resource of the geysers, which already produce 725 megawatts, with room to expand. Sonoma County is the Saudia Arabia of geothermal energy. Yet another reason for hope is the sheer momentum and cooperation among activists and officials keen on establishing CCAs that both provide clean energy and boost local economies. Marin Energy Authority’s staff has already been tapped by Sonoma County’s planners for their knowledge, as have many other key agencies, nonprofits and companies. It’s possible that a larger Sonoma County CCA, or perhaps a joint Sonoma-Marin effort, armed with the RESCO renewables study, a larger ratepayer base and a restrained PG&E could immediately make real on the promise of clean, local energy. And what about PG&E? Both MEA and CleanPower SF staffers report continuing problems. PG&E’s CEO recently told the Press Democrat that his company would not interfere in Sonoma County’s efforts to establish a CCA. A PG&E spokesperson contacted for this article offered vague statements to the effect that the company would still be vigilant to ensure its customers “receive accurate information so they can make informed decisions about where they get their power.” The Coalition of California Utility Employees, an industry-friendly union lobby that often serves as
a proxy for PG&E in its political battles, is pushing legislation in the State Senate that would severely hamper newly formed CCAs. This bill, SB 976 would prohibit consultants advising CCAs from bidding on CCA contracts, a stricture that would surely eliminate most of the qualified contractors in a field where experience is in short supply. Countering this is SB 790, sponsored by State Sen. Mark Leno. The bill reads: “California has a substantial governmental interest in ensuring that conduct by electrical corporations does not threaten the consideration, development and implementation of Community Choice Aggregation programs,” and it establishes a “code of conduct” and “enforcement procedures” to ensure utilities desist in interfering with Community Choice. “I think CCA is going to happen,” predicts Anne Hancock, executive director of the Climate Protection Campaign. But legislative battles, policy studies, public input, corporate flack—all of it will shape the final form. Hancock and other consumer and environmental advocates are therefore already deeply engaged in working with elected officials and the private sector and educating the public about CCAs’ potentials and pitfalls. Woody Hastings brims with optimism when he thinks about how a CCA could unfold in Sonoma County. “The most ambitious scenario would be if we could hit the ground running with a program that embraces the local build-out of renewables, integrated with the procurement of power on the open market.” This, he explains, would allow for a rapid transition away from large, centralized and nonlocal CO2emitting power plants through the development of many local, distributed, renewable energy projects. And because it would require a complete retooling of the county’s energy grid, it would drastically stimulate the economy. “This is the enormous green jobs program,” concludes Hastings.