By Tim Redmond
SEPTEMBER 3, 2014 – Cities all over California, and in other parts of the country, have figured out that private utility companies won’t ever meet ambitious climate goals. The LA Times is the latest to notice this.
San Francisco is lagging far behind.
I wonder why. Could it be … PG&E?
You can argue all day about contracts and prices and details. You can complain that the city doesn’t do a good job running Muni. But in the end, you can’t dispute the facts: San Francisco won’t get where it needs to be on what everyone agrees are critical environmental mandates if it sticks with PG&E as its only energy provider.
Marin County figured that out a while ago. Now comes Sonoma:
Sonoma County now offers tens of thousands of ratepayers energy that is significantly greener — and slightly cheaper — than that sold by the region’s utility, Pacific Gas & Electric Co. Customers who want 100% local renewable power can pay extra and get every kilowatt they use from a geothermal plant in the region’s hills.
“This follows on the heels of the whole local food movement,” said Chris Mann, chief executive of Guayaki, a maker of yerba mate teas. The company’s headquarters — complete with indoor skate park — is in the bohemian town of Sebastopol, which has designated itself nuclear free. Guayaki opted to go 100% geothermal.
“It is part of re-localization,” Mann said. “We are taking back power.”
The notion that cities can’t make utilities work (the PG&E line) is so old and discredited that it’s hardly worth talking about. If you don’t have to make a profit, you can sell power for less. All over the country, public power is cheaper.
So isn’t anyone in the Mayor’s Office embarrassed that Marin and Sonoma can do this, and San Francisco can’t? Or is Ed Lee just too close to PG&E to see a better future?
