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The San Ramon City Council is set to talk Tuesday about whether the city should join a community choice energy program to allow for electricity-sourcing options other than PG&E.
San Ramon — along with Contra Costa County and 13 other municipalities, including Danville — are looking into whether to stay with PG&E, join an existing CCE or form a new local program to purchase electricity from sources other than PG&E, including more renewable options, and then to sell it back to consumers in their areas.
The goals of an alternative program would include gaining local control, expanding consumer choices and reducing consumer costs for electricity generation, according to San Ramon Valley officials.
The 15 jurisdictions commissioned a technical study from a consultant firm to outline how a local energy program would work, and the San Ramon council is set to receive the latest update on the study from city staff and county officials Tuesday night.
The study analyzed four options for each community to consider: remain with PG&E, join the existing MCE Clean Energy (formerly known as Marin Clean Energy), join the East Bay Community Energy (a new CCE program being established in Alameda County) or form a new Contra Costa County CCE program.
The participating town and city councils and the county Board of Supervisors are expected to issue decisions in the weeks ahead on possibly implementing one of the options in their community. San Ramon city staff did not make a recommendation to the council heading into Tuesday’s meeting, according to the pre-meeting agenda packet.
The council’s open-session meeting is scheduled to start at 7 p.m. inside the council chambers at 7000 Bollinger Canyon Road.
In other business
* Mayor Bill Clarkson will present a proclamation declaring this as Mental Health Month.
* The council will consider approving a developer’s request to close Purdue Road between San Ramon Valley Boulevard and Omega Road for a maximum of 12 weeks as part of construction of the Preserve housing development — formerly known as the Faria Preserve project.
CalAtlantic Homes seeks the temporary closure to allow crews to install utilities along Purdue Road to serve the 618-home development.
The road closure is listed among the council’s three-item consent agenda, a collection of items deemed routine and voted upon all at once unless pulled for separate consideration.
* In closed session after the regular meeting, the council is set to talk with City Manager Joe Gorton about price and terms of payment relating to the sale of city property at 10 Boardwalk Place, a parcel on the west side of the city off Crow Canyon Road between Bollinger Canyon and Old Crow Canyon roads — formerly home to the popular Mudd’s restaurant.
* Council members will also confer in closed session with its legal counsel about undisclosed anticipated legal action.
The San Ramon Council should consider those who are currently on the PG&E SOLAR net energy program.
The East Bay Community Energy Program will not only provide a low/no cost renewable option to electricity provided by PG&E, but will provide Solar Jobs in Contra Costa County.
Government should stay out of providing energy. Government doesn’t get much right, especially here in California, so why would it be any different if the bureaucrats stick their noses into another area they know little about. IF they do this, it should be opt in, not opt out.
One question our “esteemed” city council (& CC County Supervisors) lacked the vision to ask was: just what business case would PG&E have to stay in operation if every city in CC County & Alameda County “opted out” of receiving their electrical power from PG&E?
In other words, if you ran a restaurant, would you keep your doors open if all your customers “opted out” & simply walked across the street to McDonald’s to buy their food & simply brought their big Macs back to your restaurant to eat their food on your tables, sitting on your chairs, inside the building that you have major capital investment tied up in? Why didn’t our local govt. ask that very obvious question? Why would PG&E continue to maintain their huge electrical distribution network, grid, & expensive capital intensive substations if nearly all of their customers “opted out” from buying electrical power from PG&E?
The answer is obvious, our local government has no “big picture” vision & has a “Bernie Saunders” mentality when it comes to private enterprise. Let’s get government out of providing electrical power!
PG&E continues to get paid for power distribution and maintenance of the power distribution network. They also provide power to all customers that opt out of the community choice program. They also get paid to distribute the gas and electric bills and collect your payments. The Community Choice program only provides the “electrons”.