CityofSantaBarbara
Source: City of Santa Barbara
Santa Barbara Clean Energy, a program of the City of Santa Barbara, began providing carbon-free electricity to Santa Barbara businesses on March 1. With this change, businesses within the City of Santa Barbara will effortlessly and dramatically reduce their carbon footprint and environmental impact by using clean electricity at competitive rates.
Santa Barbara Clean Energy provides residents and businesses of the City green energy options and continued reliable electric service, while achieving our community’s ambitious climate goals. For the first time, City residents and businesses have the ability to choose where their electricity comes from and the City has created service options to meet the diverse needs of the community. Options include:
- 100% Green – 100% carbon-free electricity for about 1 cent more per kilowatt-hour. To make the most significant local environmental impact, most commercial customers have been automatically enrolled in this offering.
- Green Start – at least 50% carbon-free energy (more than Edison’s standard energy supply), and at the same standard Edison rates charged by Edison.
- Resilient – customers with solar. These customers will receive more money for their annual surplus energy production than what Edison offers. Resilient customers are also enrolled in 100% Green for any electricity needs beyond what the solar produces and have the option to opt down to Green Start.
- Edison (standard service) – customers can opt out of Santa Barbara Clean Energy to use less carbon-free energy. Their rates will remain the same as Santa Barbara Clean Energy’s Green Start rates.
Santa Barbara Clean Energy partners closely with Southern California Edison (SCE) to ensure the continued reliable delivery of clean energy. SCE maintains the poles and wires that bring Santa Barbara Clean Energy’s clean electricity and provides billing services, so customers will still only receive one bill.
“The Santa Barbara Clean Energy program is the single most significant action local businesses and residents can take to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions and fight climate change. The transition to this new carbon-free electricity service eliminates about 20% of Santa Barbara’s emissions and, for the first time ever, gives us a meaningful pathway to achieving carbon neutrality as a community while also reinvesting in our community” said Alelia Parenteau, The City’s Acting Sustainability and Resilience Director.
Local business throughout our community have shown their commitment to local climate action through the program’s Make the Pledge campaign by pledging to stay with 100% Green – or carbon-free electricity – emphasizing the community’s commitment to real and significant climate action.
One such local business, Santa Barbara Auto Group, shared that “’A journey of a 1000 miles begins with a single step.’ Many times a long journey seems to be an impossible accomplishment. The goal of making our city, state and country more environmentally friendly is a long journey and with the help of Santa Barbara Clean Energy we are grateful for the help in taking the first step.”
The program also offers incentives and energy programs to its customers that leverage Santa Barbara Clean Energy’s carbon-free electricity in ways that will greatly help achieve the city’s carbon neutrality goals and help customers manage their electricity costs. Current offerings include rebates on electric vehicles, reduced-cost electric bike memberships, trying out induction cookware, cash back on locally made battery back-up systems, and discounts on solar and battery systems through a local installer.
Santa Barbara Clean Energy has local representatives who are available to provide information regarding the program, and are offering weekly office hours to ensure the community’s questions are answered. These meetings are open to anyone with questions or feedback and will be held on zoom every Tuesday from 12:00 – 1:00 p.m. and Thursday between 8:00 – 9:00 a.m. through April 30. Join these reoccurring meetings here.
For more information about the Santa Barbara Clean Energy program, the various clean energy choices, programs and incentives, frequently asked questions and more, please visit www.SBCleanEnergy.com or call (805) 897-1979.
This is a gimmick unless nuclear is included as “carbon free” power. So called “green” energy is not suitable to supply our base load needs. Our entire economy relies upon energy. Soaring electricity prices and decreasing reliability of the power grid are not compatible with a prosperous and secure future. We need low cost reliable energy.
Roger that, Chip
Define “ carbon-free electricity “
Solar panels require quartzite to make.
Quartzite requires fracking.
Then the quartzite needs to be melted.
Natural gas is t hot enough, so China uses oil & rubber (tires) to burn to get the fire hot enough to melt the minerals they mine.
Is that “Carbon Free”?
Right, it’s carbon free if another country pollutes and we have “clean hands”
20% reduction? How much fracking & coal, oil & rubber goes into that.
Like Ethanol that requires two gallons of regular gasoline to make one gallon of ethanol.
Not so green when you actual ask how it’s made.
how does this new ” clean energy ” electrical system work ?
do we have separate transmission lines coming into town that carry different variations of 50% & 100% carbon free electricity ?
so how is this clean energy electricity delivered to customers who signed on to it ? which i didn’t
Cue the know-nothings.
People here should know that the city of Lompoc has been carbon free(for real) since the 70’s
Santa Babs is not really carbon free since the grid doesn’t care about your politics.
Poor little Lompoc is the only “GREEN” electrical entity in this county.
Comes in on PGE infrastruture,but that is the benefit of being green before there was such a thing.
I am in PGE territory,so just pointing that out.
How can that be?
Don’t believe me?
Take your blinders off.
They didn’t get the option to opt out? My electric bill is high enough I opted out. I’ve seen friends bills skyrocket 20-25% since this change…no thanks
Not to mention the “green”electric cars that damage our ecosystem in the manufacturing of their batteries, let-alone the plethora of microprocessors required to make them work. There is nothing sustainable about electric cars!
Internal combustion Hydrogen burning cars manufactured from 100% recyclable materials!
Just MHO!
That was the kind of comment you get when your primary source of information is a Bulgarian troll farm.
Just wait until acres of cadmium containing solar panels require disposal as toxic waste. Cadmium Telluride (CdTe) is becoming a larger share of the solar market. A hail storm, a house fire and then you have toxic cadmium waste problem. I can’t imagine having a house with cadmium telluride containing materials on the roof. It’s as if we totally forgot about putting asbestos and led paint into homes.
You are correct that they don’t “wear out” like machines with moving parts, but they lose a small amount of efficiency each year. After about 25 years the efficiency loss can be enough to warrant panel replacement.
The aluminum can be recycled, but the other parts have a lot of barriers in the way. These are electronic devices with heavy metals in them such as lead solders. There is limited recycling for them at ~$20/panel, but chucking them in landfills is ~$2/panel. This waste problem is coming our way. Hopefully western nations won’t deal with by dumping them in landfills in 3rd world nations.
https://www.solarreviews.com/blog/how-long-do-solar-panels-last
And by implication you’re saying we should stick with carbon-based fuels and degrade the entire world. Good thinking.
California only just recently downgraded solar panels from hazardous waste to universal waste (like electronics, flat screens, computers). 10s of millions of tonnes of solar panels will become waste in the next 25 years, and their disposal will not be a small matter. I guess our children will have to figure out this problem.
A-1647109781 – It is NOT hard to understand the billing. People are being too stubborn and not reading the details, that are given. Time of USE is necessary, and is cheaper if you are a citizen that cares about the world.
if you dont. keep crying about changes, keep crying about it getting warmer, and keep kicking the can down the street.
Clueless people who feed on social media propaganda will continue to be anti-vax, anti-green, and anti-science no matter how many facts they have to ignore.