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HomeMy WebLinkAbout12-12-2017 Item 1, Public CommentCOUNCIL MEETING: 12 RECEIVED ITEM NO,: _ DEC 12 7.017 1 Monterey8a Community Power is a v v good deal JANE PARKER and STEVE MCSHANEI I : I H a ni I' I I -1, I 1 �O I - The Central Coast in general and Monterey County communities in particular have arrived at an important moment that will determine whether we continue to be leaders in the field of innovation and environmental protection. On Tuesday, the Monterey County Board of Supervisors will consider whether to join Monterey Bay Community Power, an effort several years in the making to create a new regional agency that will purchase clean -source electricity at a cost equivalent to PG&E. The new agency will help create jobs, fund renewable energy projects and reduce carbon -based emissions. A week after the vote by Monterey County Supervisors, Salinas City Council will vote, with votes by city councils elsewhere in the county also taking place over the next few weeks. Cities and counties throughout the Central Coast have already expressed support for this movement to seize our energy future. Monterey County should not turn its back on this opportunity. Not only does Monterey County have the chance to determine our energy sources and even reduce prices for our residents, but the profits from Monterey Bay Community Power would be reinvested back into the community. No longer would our hard-earned dollars be sent off to corporate headquarters elsewhere in California. Communities across California are benefiting from similar opportunities. Marin County, Sonoma County, San Mateo County, San Francisco and Lancaster have all established their own community choice energy agencies, reducing carbon footprints in those communities while offering energy at comparable prices to the big utilities. Community choice energy works. Here on the Central Coast, it would be governed by a joint powers agency overseen by a publicly accountable 11 -member board. Following exhaustive studies and dozens of public meetings over the past several years, this agreement has been hammered out between local governments in Monterey, San Benito and Santa Cruz counties. Nearly every one of them, including the County of Monterey and the City of Salinas, has formally expressed interest in joining. The power-sharing agreement fosters collaboration by giving no county the ability to dictate to others — the kind of collaboration so desperately missing from our national political scene. Still, Monterey County communities would have five of the 11 votes on the board, compared to four for Santa Cruz County and two for San Benito County. This proposal before the Board of Supervisors and other jurisdictions gives Monterey Bay Community Power a clean slate from which to eventually make decisions that will benefit our local residents — from which types of renewable energy we should pursue to where important green jobs should be located within the community. And it does so while preserving Monterey County's prevailing influence within the region. Monterey Bay Community Power is a good deal for Monterey County. It positions us to create green jobs to support renewable energy generation. It puts decision making in the hnnric of lnrnlc it dives customers the choice to oot out and stav with PG&E if desired. It keeps electricity rates comparable to PG&E for all customers, even factoring in all PG&E fees, while still giving us the choice to potentially reduce electricity rates. Sonoma Clean Power recently announced it would drop electricity rates 10% for residential customers due to falling prices for solar energy. Thanks to the visionary state legislation that makes Monterey Bay Community Power possible, PG&E will still provide line maintenance and customer service. So we'll continue seeing those blue -and -white trucks carrying crews who work hard to maintain the transmission lines and keep the power on throughout the county. At the state level, we have great leadership on climate change. We don't know yet what Presdient Trump's administration will do on climate change, or how it would impact the state's ability to act, but the early signs aren't good. But we can act locally. Over and over, the voters of Monterey County have sided with self-determination and environmental protection. Local governments across the Monterey Bay region stand on the precipice of perhaps the most important vote we have ever faced on those issues. We strongly support Monterey Bay Community Power and hope our elected colleagues throughout Monterey County will join us by voting yes. Jane Parker is a Monterey County Supervisor, representing District 4. Steve McShane is a Salinas City Councilmember, representing District 3. 12/12/2017 Horacio Amezquita: Farmworkers support clean -energy proposal _ 1 Monterey County Herald(11ttli-/iwww,iiipntei-cybciald.coln) Horacio Amezquita: Farmworkers support clean -energy proposal By Horacio Amezquita, Guest commentary Saturday, February 18, 2017 I am a proud member of the San Jerardo Farmworkers Cooperative in the Salinas Valley. San Jerardo's residents work the land. We spend the day with our hands in the soil and our backs to the sun. If there is any community who understands that the Earth's climate is dramatically impacting our planet, it is we. That's why I am writing to you today, to support local efforts that reduce climate change in Salinas Valley, such as the Monterey Bay Community Power (MBCP). The MBCP is a clean -energy proposal, an alternative to Pacific Gas & Electric Co. Over the next month, cities and counties around the Monterey Bay area will vote on whether to be a part of this publicly -run, clean -energy proposal. I am asking that all 21 municipalities that have this option join the efforts to bring Monterey Bay Community Power to our communities. As people who work in the fields and feel connected to the Earth, we understand that global warming has real consequences. Since 2012, we have seen the two hottest years on record. Changing temperatures can completely alter growing seasons and make it more difficult to raise Salinas Valley traditional crops, such as lettuce, strawberries and broccoli. This is very serious. Successful agriculture in our area depends on growing the same crops we have always grown, and our ability to deliver them to market where and when they are expected. I have done my research, and I understand that MBCP can deliver energy to our homes and businesses at the same or lower rates than PG&E's. Much of the energy from MBCP will come from renewable sources such as wind and solar power. This kind of energy will help us reduce the advance of climate change. MBCP also has the potential to create many new clean energy jobs around the area, opportunities that will put people to work and keep our hard-earned dollars in the local economy. Our communities, and our families, need good jobs. I know that we alone cannot solve the problem of climate change. Reducing global warming and reversing the other negative effects of climate change will require many actions by many people. It will require the cooperation of communities, governments and industry. I know we have a long fight ahead of us if we want to solve these issues. For now, at least, I see adopting and using Monterey Bay Community Power as a way Monterey communities can contribute to be part of the solution. I urge my friends and elected officials to stand behind Monterey Bay Community Power. Many local governments are about to vote on whether or not to make it a reality. Please show up to your city council meetings and show your support. We have one Earth. Let's do what we can to protect it, for ourselves and for the generations to come. Horacio Amezquita lives in Salinas. URL: http://www.montereyherald.com/opinion/20170218/horacio-amezquita-farmworkers-support-clean-energy-proposal © 2017 Monterey County Herald(httpllwww.inolitereyllerald.com) http://www. montereyherald.com/opinion/20170218/horacio-amezquita-farmworkers-support-clean-energy-proposal&template=printart 1/2 6— r4k, dli7lATd5 I MOST REVEREND RICHARD J. GARCIA, D.D. 831-373-4345 Bishop of the Diocese of Monterey FAX 831-373-1175 Dear Brothers in Christ, RJGB@dioceseofrnonterey.org www.diocescofinontcrey.org August 24, 2016 I am pleased to announce that our Diocese's new climate change initiative is off to a strong start. Last month we joined our nonprofit partner Green Power at Resurrection Church in Aptos to train 100 Catholics representing parishes from King City to Davenport to "Care for our Common Home." These are the words of our Holy Father Pope Francis, who, in his encyclical Laudato Si, made clear that Earth's changing climate threatens us all, especially the poor, and is due to human activity. He asked us to move away from fossil fuels and towards cleaner sources of energy, like wind and solar, and to consume less — so that our earth and all living beings may flourish. Today I'm pleased to add a new component to our Diocesan -wide climate campaign. The Diocese is now supporting "Community Choice Energy" (CCE). In 2002, California passed a law enabling Community Choice Energy, which allows cities and counties to take over their own electricity supplies and thereby choose the price and source of the electricity they use. Six other states permit CCE, but California is the first state to pass CCE with a clear environmental focus. Four regions in our state, including Sonoma, Marin, Lancaster and San Francisco, have already started successful programs that use much more renewable energy while reducing electricity costs for everyone. The Monterey Bay area has been preparing to adopt CCE for the past three years, and between now and October 31 st city councils and boards of supervisors throughout Monterey, Santa Cruz and San Benito Counties will vote on whether to join a CCE for our tri -county area. Our CCE is called Monterey Bay Community Power, or MBCP. The areas that join MBCP will cut their reliance upon fossil fuels for electricity in half within one year by using more energy from renewable sources like solar and wind; over ten years, these areas could potentially receive 85% of their electricity from renewable sources. There are also economic reasons why we as Catholics should support Community Choice Energy: Monterey Bay Community Power will be a nonprofit, public agency; therefore, any surpluses generated from the sale of electricity will be spent meeting local needs. These local interests include reducing electricity costs for consumers, building solar fields and wind farms and creating jobs. To give an example of the potential, Sonoma County, whose CCE has operated for only two years, already has $35 million in surpluses to pour back into their local economy. Monterey Bay Community Power will likely be twice as large as Sonoma's and so potentially have twice the surpluses. In light of these environmental and economic benefits, which align with what Pope Francis is calling for, I am endorsing Community Choice Energy on behalf of the Diocese of Monterey — and I ask that you mobilize Catholic support for passage of CCE within your 425 Church Street • P.O. Box 2048 • Monterey, California 93942-2048 P \GF. I - R.IG 118-24-16 MOST REVEREND RICHARD J. GARCIA, D.D. 831-373-4345 Bishop of the Diocese of Monterey FAX 831-373-1175 RJGB@dioceseofinonterey.org www.dioceseofinonterey.org parishes. Our nonprofit partner, Green Power — a project of the faith -based Romero Institute — is available to work with you to advocate for CCE passage. They will develop petition campaigns and other actions to demonstrate the Catholic community's support for Community Choice between now and the October 31 st voting deadline. Please expect to hear from Green Power, especially if you are in a region where support for CCE is much needed (e.g. Monterey and San Benito Counties.) Stay tuned! In the meantime, if you need more information, please contact Deacon Warren Hoy at whoyLiodioceseofmonterey`org or(831)645-2845. Fraternally in Christ, +Most Reverend Richard J. Garcia Bishop of the Diocese of Monterey 425 Church Street • P.O. Box 2048 • Monterey, California 93942-2048 1'tiGl_ ' kJ(1 r.•: ( ('I' 118 ?J-10