GREEN POWER GO-AHEAD
On Feb. 4, 2010, Marin Energy Authority (MEA) voted unanimously to move ahead to sign a contract with an electricity services provider, in order to begin serving customers in June as California's first Community Choice power agency. It faces fierce opposition from PG&E, the northern California utility monopoly, which has threatened litigation, threatened to prevent MEA's power flowing through its wires, sent deceptive mailers, made improper marketing calls, and poured $36 million into a campaign for a statewide ballot measure in the June election.
The initiative, Prop 16, would change the CA constitution to require a 2/3 vote for any local government to do what Marin plans to do (in other words make it virtually impossible). The initiative would also require an existing "municipal" utility or irrigation district to hold an election in its jurisdiction and win it by 2/3 (67 out of every 100 voters) every time it wanted to hook up a new customer.
Marin Energy Authority is a non-profit, public agency consisting of eight cities and towns, and the County of Marin. MEA's Board is made up of elected officials from each local government. MEA promises to deliver twice as much renewable energy as PG&E offers - with customer rates at or below PG&E. The state of California required utilities to offer 20% renewables by 2010, but PG&E has only 14% renewables and declared it will not meet the state's target until 2013.
This video was taken at the historic MEA Board meeting February 4th, the culmination of more than a dozen meetings in December and January where each town council held in depth discussions and voted to approve the contract. The MEA Board voted unanimously to contract with electricity service provider Shell N. America, which submitted the best of twelve bids last August. The contract guarantees that MEA's energy mix will have a minimum of 25% renewables, will cost the same or less as PG&E, and will produce less greenhouse gases than PG&E (proportionately). MEA's contract specifies no coal or nuclear power. 23% of PG&E's power is from its nuclear reactors at Diablo Canyon. The utility claims that its nuclear power is "free of greenhouse gases" but MEA Board President McGlashan stated, " I refuse to accept that nuclear is carbon free, when you have greenhouse gases from mining and shipping and you have to store the waste for a half million years. It's patently absurd on its face - but that's the game PG&E wants to use to trap us."
As climate change speeds up, the fight for local, non-profit, community control and clean energy has just escalated to the next level. Will the Community Choice model go viral or be strangled in its crib? Stay tuned.... EON has been reporting on this issue for seven years and will stay on the story as it develops in the lead-up to the June vote on the PG&E anti-democratic ballot initiative.
Link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tutf1jOpymI