prepared by The Climate Center and Fosterra
San José, California, Case Study
Abstract
This report is intended to support policymakers, specifically those in San José, to realize the vision of Community Choice Energy (CCE) as a game-changing innovation platform. It begins to address the question: To what extent will the community realize local economic benefits from local clean energy development enabled by a CCE program?
The report evaluates three potential scenarios of local clean energy purchasing as part of a San José CCE strategy to increase renewable power supplied to their customers. The report describes the rationale for each scenario as well as the approach and assumptions used in the analysis. Economic impacts focus on total incremental jobs and economic growth, with annual estimates over a six-year period through 2023. For the purpose of this analysis, the primary clean energy technology is solar photovoltaic, and the “local region” includes the City of San José and surrounding Santa Clara, San Mateo, and Alameda Counties.
This report finds that local economic benefit is directly correlated with local renewable energy investment. Under the scenario with the highest level of local solar deployment, this report projects more than 2,000 jobs per year will be created regionally from CCE activity, with an associated $1.25 billion of incremental economic activity over six years, from 2018 to 2023. Using current deployment percentages by jurisdiction, San José could realize $425 million of the total estimated economic impact within the city itself.
San Jose residents:
Call or email your City Council member and urge them to support local development of solar resources to bring more business opportunities and jobs to San Jose. Find the email and phone number of your representative here: http://www.sanjoseca.gov/index.aspx?NID=1187