Sonoma County and is embedded municipalities are working towards providing a community alternative to Pacific Gas and Election. That effort, already 18 months in the works, took another forward step when a new Joint Powers Authority was established.
The preliminary JPA, which would eventually become the controlling board for Sonoma Clean Power, will allow local officials to begin negotiating with electricity wholesalers and assembly accurate estimates of rates. So far, eight cities in the county have shown interest in the program, if certainty can be provided for future rates and the rates remained comparable to current PG&E services.
Estimates had shown that the community purchased power would be within one tenth of one percent of the current PG&E rate.
Already, Marin County has effectively instituted its own clean power program, and Sonoma is hoping to copy their model.
Should the program move forward, the JPA would be comprised of one member from each fully cooperating city. They would work towards ensuring 50 percent of all power in the county is purchased from renewable sources, including developing sources inside the county.
Read the full story at the North Bay Business Journal.