Title
Consideration of and Direction to Staff of a Request to Determine East Bay Community Energy Default Energy Product Preferences
Staffreport
SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS
In preparation for a proposed Action Item scheduled for the September 7, City Council meeting, staff is requesting direction from the Facilities & Transportation Committee related to a proposed change in the default rate product for East Bay Community Energy (EBCE) customers.
BACKGROUND
When the EBCE Joint Powers Authority (JPA) was formed in 2018, three levels of service or products for its customers were established as follows:
* Bright Choice - basic service level at a 1% discount to PG&E rates with a minimum of 5% more renewable energy than PG&E's annual forecast.
* Brilliant 100 - 100% carbon-free service set as the same rate as PG&E (closed to new customers in original service territory as of August 1, 2020).
* Renewable 100 - 100% California wind and solar power set at $0.01 (one cent) per kWh over PG&E rates.
When rolled out to residential and commercial customers, the City's default rate at that time was Bright Choice; a decision that was brought to the City Council for consideration prior to initiating. At the same time, the City chose the Brilliant 100 rate for all municipal accounts.
Analysis
Many EBCE member jurisdictions have Climate Action Plans (CAP) with specific greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reduction goals to be achieved by specific dates. Customers receiving Brilliant 100 or Renewable 100 service achieve additional GHG emissions savings that contribute to cities meeting their CAP goals. Three city councils (Albany, Hayward, and Piedmont) passed resolutions in 2018 requesting Brilliant 100 or Renewable 100 service as the default option at the time of the initial program launch. Pleasanton's City Council likewise passed a resolution requesting Brilliant 100 as the City's default option at its initial enrollment in 2021.
More recently, to continue making progress...
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