The Marin Clean Energy Authority was formed in December 2008 to serve the City of Belvedere, Town of Fairfax, County of Marin, City of Mill Valley, Town of San Anselmo, City of San Rafael, City of Sausalito, Town of Tiburon, and over 30 unincorporated communities in Marin County, California. The Marin Clean Energy community choice aggregation program will provide electricity services in two tiers to ratepayers in these communities, a Light Green and Deep Green service. Over 7,500 customers have already been switched to the MCE program in Phase I and Phase II connecting the remaining customers will be activated in 2011.
The two levels of service, Light Green and Deep Green, provide differing levels of renewable energy. The Light Green service starts at 25% renewable and will increase to 50% renewable energy by 2015, at prices comparable to PG&E (the previous utility service). The Deep Green service provides 100% renewable energy at a premium of $0.01 per kilo-watt hour (kWh). For comparison, PG&E supplied 14% of its electricity from renewable energy in 2008.
Bringing service online for Marin Clean Energy involved a political fight with PG&E, which spent $35 million on a ballot measure campaign to torpedo it and other community choice aggregation programs. The measure, Proposition 16, would have required CCAs to get a two-thirds vote of approval from citizens. The measure was defeated in June 2010.
Photo credit: Joe Verrengia
