24580 Silver Cloud Court Monterey, CA 93940 PHONE: (831) 647-9411
Serving Monterey, San Benito, and Santa Cruz Counties
January 25, 2022 President Reynolds California Public Utilities Commission 505 Van Ness Ave San Francisco, CA 94102 Re: Support for the Rural Regional Energy Network’s (RuralREN) motion to become a portfolio administrator as well as for the 2024-2031 RuralREN Strategic Business Plan application. Dear CPUC president Reynolds: On behalf of the Monterey Bay Air Resources District (MBARD) I write to you to express my support for creation of the proposed Rural Regional Energy Network. We see their efforts as critical to helping us achieve deep energy savings in our region and accelerating an equitable transition to a green and resilient economy. The RuralREN will help our region achieve significant energy efficiency benefits for those who need it most while also creating new career opportunities in clean energy within our community. The RuralREN is composed of six member agencies which are cooperating regionally to create programs that will be locally customized to fit the needs of each community it serves. In our region, the Association of Monterey Bay Governments is the Metropolitan Planning Organization and as such is a key partner on sustainability, transportation, and land use planning issues. AMBAG is the perfect stakeholder to work within our community to raise awareness about energy efficiency, provide energy efficiency services to our residents, businesses, and public agencies, as well as provide transformative career training that leads to clean energy job opportunities. We understand that energy efficiency is an important resource for our community to leverage in order to relieve energy burdens and equitably transition to a green economy. In our region, we recognize AMBAG as a trusted partner and through RuralREN we believe that AMBAG is uniquely positioned to provide services that our community needs. Therefore we would like to once again express our strong support for the creation of the proposed Rural Regional Energy Network. Sincerely,
David Frisbey Planning and Air Monitoring Manager
Cc: Commissioner Rechtschaffen, Commissioner Shiroma, Commissioner Houck, Commissioner Reynolds.
Richard A. Stedman, APCO