Morgan Hill residents and businesses are starting to receive notices in the mail informing them of their coming automatic enrollment in the Silicon Valley Clean Energy Authority, which allows electricity customers to use strictly renewable sources to power their homes and businesses.
“Silicon Valley Energy is on track to start providing our 100 percent carbon-free electric generation service to residents and businesses of Morgan Hill, beginning in April,” reads an email from SVCE spokeswoman Pamela Leonard.
SVCE is required to inform existing PG&E customers 60 and 30 days in advance of their automatic enrollment in the program, Leonard said. All customers have the ability to opt out of SVCE, and continue using the PG&E electricity they have been burning.
SVCE is a nonprofit public agency formed in 2016 by 12 South Bay communities, including Morgan Hill. The nonprofit was formed in order to source clean energy on the participating communities’ behalf, at lower costs than PG&E’s comparative rates, according to Morgan Hill Communications Manager Maureen Tobin.
“PG&E is still an essential partner as they will continue to deliver electricity over existing power lines, maintain the lines, send bills and provide customer service,” Tobin said in a press release.
Enrollment will be phased in over a six-month period starting in April, and ending in October, Tobin explained. All PG&E customers will receive a series of notices before and after they are enrolled.
Specifically, existing PG&E accounts will be enrolled in SVCE’s GreenStart electric generation service, which offers 50 percent renewable energy that is 100 percent carbon free, Tobin continued. For a higher rate, residential and commercial customers can choose to upgrade to SVCE’s GreenPrime program, to receive 100 percent renewable power.
In comparison, PG&E’s existing service offers 60 percent carbon-free, 30 percent renewable energy.
On Jan. 11, the SVCE board of directors approved rates for their GreenStart, GreenPrime and rooftop solar programs. The GreenStart rates will be 1 percent lower than existing rates offered to residential and commercial customers by PG&E, according to a SVCE press release.
For the GreenPrime program, rates will be $.008 per kilowatt-hour more than that currently offered by PG&E. That adds about $4 per month to the average customer’s current bill.
Furthermore, the SVCE board approved a Net Energy Metering program for rooftop solar customers. This program will offer rewards to customers who produce more power with their solar power systems than they consume.
“Right now, electricity used to power our homes and businesses creates about a quarter of our region’s emissions,” Tobin’s press release continued. “Using more renewable energy is an easy, economical way to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions and improve our carbon footprint. It’s the single most effective way to accomplish our communities’ climate goals.”
Other communities that are part of SVCE include Santa Clara County, Gilroy, Campbell, Cupertino, Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, Los Gatos, Monte Sereno, Mountain View, Saratoga and Sunnyvale.
To learn more about SVCE, visit svcleanenergy.org, or call (844) 474-SVCE.
