Woody Hastings 
NASA recently confirmed that the healing of the Earth’s stratospheric ozone layer is a direct result of the Montreal Protocol. The Montreal Protocol was the ban on chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and other ozone depleting compounds (ODCs) in 1987. First, a mini primer on what we are talking about here. Ozone is O3 , or three atoms … Read more
Community Choice Energy becomes stronger with each attack by its opponents and we are counting on you to make this true once again with this latest assault – this time, by the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC). On December 8th, the CPUC issued a Draft Resolution that oversteps its authority and if passed, will impose substantial burdens … Read more
Please join us for our next webinar: The California Legislative Outlook 2018: A Community Choice Energy View on Jan 24, 2018, Noon to 1pm. REGISTER HERE This webinar will focus on challenges and opportunities emerging as we approach the 2018 legislative session in Sacramento. We are expecting a dynamic legislative session with many bills having … Read more
In November, private utility Southern California Edison (SCE) published a document titled “The Clean Power and Electrification Pathway.” It is essentially SCE’s integrated blueprint for California to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution via electrification of everything. The utility envisions seven million electric cars on the road, thirty percent of heating systems in homes … Read more
“A confluence of technological and policy forces is dramatically transforming the way energy is generated, managed, delivered, and used.” So begins one of the recent studies commissioned by Sonoma Clean Power and produced by The Climate Center “State of Solar Energy in Sonoma County: Paths to Accelerate Adoption.” The study, lead-authored by energy expert Chris … Read more
The following article by Jeff St. John of Greentech Media demonstrates the burgeoning competition for electricity customers as utility monopolies lose their stronghold. Will Community Choice Energy agencies take a lesson and avoid losing their own customers? Considering their community focus, are Community Choice agencies developing sufficient opportunities and incentives for local solar to support … Read more
A new report by The Climate Center examines the over procurement of power by private utilities in the context of the growth of Community Choice Energy in California. The report is authored by energy policy analyst June Brashares and Tyler Bonson, a graduate of Sonoma State’s Energy Management and Design and in Economics. The rise of … Read more
California Energy Commission “Local Government Challenge Grant” project receives highest score in its category On April 11th the Center received news that it had been awarded, along with its Project partners, $1.7M in funding for a project that will help the state achieve its greenhouse gas reduction goals and that aims to develop a replicable model … Read more
In late March The Climate Center and a group of UC Santa Barbara students received word that their project “Developing a Toolkit to Optimize Community Choice Energy Programs” has been selected for the 2017-18 cycle. It was a highly competitive process so this is exciting news. The students are in a program at the Bren … Read more
In a recent article, the East Coast-based Institute for Local Self-Reliance explains how we can evolve from energy monopoly to Energy Democracy in four steps. The bottom line is that it is all about placing more control in the hands of communities and individuals, resulting in more of the economic benefits of energy to accrue … Read more
