Community Choice Energy

Starting this February, 220,000 residences and businesses throughout San Mateo County will receive four notices in the mail to inform them that they are about to enjoy cleaner electricity and save money through Peninsula Clean Energy (PCE).  In April all county residents and businesses will be automatically enrolled in ECOplus, and will enjoy 5% savings and greener electricity.

Peninsula Clean Energy is San Mateo County's new default electricity provider, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and offering customer choice at competitive rates. PCE is a joint powers authority, which means residents have local control through their representative on the PCE board. In Foster City, Councilmember Gary Pollard serves on PCE's board, taking part in the decision making at the publicly noticed monthly board meetings in Redwood City. 

The notices outline the new energy choices for all County residents and businesses:

• ECOplus is cleaner energy that is 50% renewable (compared to PG&E's 30% renewable) with a 5% savings on the electricity generation portion of the bill, effective March 15th. This is the default option that all residents and businesses will receive.
• ECO100 is 100% renewable energy for a small premium of one cent per kilowatt hour. Customers can choose to opt-up to this product.
• Or residents can choose to not participate in PCE and opt out of the program.

The automatic enrollment provision comes from AB 117, the state legislation that enabled community choice aggregation (CCA) programs like PCE to operate in California. The law mandates that customers be automatically enrolled in their local CCA.  And because customers now have a choice, they can choose to stay with PCE's 50% renewable offering, opt-up to PCE's 100% renewable offering, or opt-out to continue to receive PG&E's 30% renewable product.

Peninsula Clean Energy purchases greener electricity for its customers, and PG&E continues to handle electricity delivery, maintenance of wires, customer billing, and natural gas services. Call PG&E's customer service line if you experience an outage. PCE customers receive a consolidated bill from PG&E, which will reflect 5% savings if they are enrolled in ECOplus. 

• All residents who are currently enrolled in CARE or medical baseline energy discount programs automatically continue in these programs under PCE.
• All PCE customers also continue to qualify for all PG&E energy efficiency programs.
• PCE's net metering solar customers will receive a one cent/kWh premium for electricity they sell back to the grid.

Peninsula Clean Energy is currently serving about 80,000 residential and small business accounts across the county from its phase one enrollment in October. Customers can learn more on PCE's website or by calling PCE's customer service phone number at 1-866-966-0110.

Peninsula Clean Energy is a community choice energy (CCE) program (also known sometimes as community choice aggregation). CCE programs allow local governments to pool the electricity demands of their communities, purchasing power with higher renewable content, and reinvesting in local infrastructure.