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Home My WebLink About6/16/2020 Item 11, Orcutt Clerk, Intern From:Coastal Energy Alliance < To:E-mail Council Website Subject:Agenda Item The Clean Energy Choice for New Buildings - Comment letter Attachments:CEA Comment Letter.pdf Letter to be submitted 1 Coastal Energy Alliance P.O Box 6423 | Ventura | California | 93006 CoastalEnergyAlliance.org | June 15, 2020 San Luis Obispo City Council Dear Mayor Harmon and San Luis Obispo City Council: We write this letter to urge you to reconsider your support for the “Clean Energy Choice for New Buildings” program in the City of San Luis Obispo. The Coastal Energy Alliance is a broad cross-section of coastal energy stakeholders including businesses, labor groups, taxpayer associations, and consumers who advocate for the successful production, distribution, marketing, and consumption of local energy resources. Contrary to its title, the proposed program will result in an elimination of consumer choice in meeting household energy needs. San Luis Obispo residents will no longer have the option of choosing safe, reliable, and affordable energy options that are currently available, further burdening the City’s working families with increased utility costs. This is especially troubling when considering that low-income families already spend an inordinate portion of monthly earnings on energy costs. The City should support reasonable energy efficiency policies that will promote a cleaner environment while protecting its residents from unreliable and expensive energy mandates. Efforts to ban or restrict the use of natural gas for household energy needs will also further intensify California’s housing crisis, which is a primary driver for the rampant homelessness witnessed throughout the City and region. The proposed program will significantly increase home building costs in a state with housing prices at nearly twice the national level. At a time when homelessness is at crises levels, the San Luis Obispo should not be taking any action that will add to the region’s acute housing woes. We urge the City of San Luis Obispo to take reasonable steps towards its climate goals including energy efficiency policies and programs, while keeping housing and energy costs more affordable for working California families. The “Clean Energy Choice for New Buildings” is not the reasonable step San Luis Obispo families need. Please reconsider your support for this mandate. Sincerely, Jeanne Orcutt Executive Director Coastal Energy Alliance