Peninsula Clean Energy Electric Customers Reduce Cabon Emissions In First Year Of New Service, Agency Reports

From PCE: What does a year bring to San Mateo County? On the one year anniversary of Peninsula Clean Energy offering electric power, San Mateo County residents and businesses have substantially reduced their carbon emissions while saving millions of dollars.

Peninsula Clean Energy’s power is priced at 5% below PG&E’s rates for electric generation service, after accounting for PG&E’s additional fees. This means that a typical residential customer will save around $2 per month. After one year of full countywide operations, Peninsula Clean Energy expects to save electric customers about $17 million. The residents and businesses of Belmont specifically are projected to save about $296,000 and avoid about 19.7 million pounds of greenhouse gas emissions annually. Residents, businesses and public institutions all automatically benefit from their share of savings. Large public agencies such as school districts will reap significant savings.

Peninsula Clean Energy launched in October 2016 and now serves almost every electricity account in San Mateo County, from homes to streetlights, to businesses large and small in all 20 cities and unincorporated areas. Peninsula Clean Energy provides power that is both less expensive and lower in greenhouse gas emissions than PG&E’s power, while partnering with PG&E to ensure reliable service and a single monthly bill.

Peninsula Clean Energy (PCE) customers also help protect the environment. PCE’s electricity is 80% greenhouse gas free, and its supply for 2016 came mostly from wind and hydropower. In recent months PCE has contracted for over 300 megawatts of new solar power to be built specifically for PCE customers. After one year of full countywide operations, PCE’s cleaner electricity is expected to avoid 680 million pounds of greenhouse gas emissions, equivalent to avoiding the use of over 34 million gallons of gasoline. PCE’s goal is to increase its carbon-free supply by 5% each year, to become completely greenhouse gas free in 2021.

Since Peninsula Clean Energy is a non-profit, any excess revenues will be used to keep rates stable and invest in local energy programs. Those local programs will create local jobs in the energy sector, while further reducing carbon emissions. PCE is now working on program selection to determine the optimal programs to run. The programs will complement those offered by the San Mateo Energy Watch, the Bay Area Regional Energy Network and PG&E.

“Our first year of operations surpassed our expectations” remarked PCE’s CEO Jan Pepper. “The prices of clean, renewable energy such as solar and wind power have continued to decline, and Peninsula Clean Energy has been able to contract for low-cost, long term supplies.”

“We are extremely pleased that Peninsula Clean Energy has substantially reduced San Mateo County’s carbon footprint while achieving real savings for our customers,” said County Supervisor Dave Pine, who serves as the Chair of PCE’s Board of Directors.

For more information, please visit peninsulacleanenergy.com.

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