Power Picks
- Don Mosier | Rimini Road
The Clean Energy Alliance (CEA) began providing electricity to customers in Del Mar, Solana Beach and Carlsbad May 1st. The table below gives the results for Del Mar customers for the default 50% renewable, 75% carbon-free product option, as well as those who opted out of CEA service to stay with San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E; OPT OUT in the table), and those who opted up to the 100% renewable Green Impact product (OPT UP in the table). No customers chose to opt down to the 50% renewable product (OPT DOWN in the table).
The results contain good news and bad news. The percentage of customers who opted out to stay with SDG&E is lower than the conservative 10% in the financial forecast and is in line with other Community Choice programs in the state. This is good news. The percentage of customers who chose to opt up to the 100% renewable energy option is much lower than anticipated, and the results reflect poorly on Del Mar’s commitment to implement our Climate Action Plan. For comparison, several of the newer Community Choice Aggregations (CCAs), such as southern California’s Clean Power Alliance, default their customers into 100 percent renewable power. Some 93 percent of the Alliance’s three million customers stick with that option.
The default CEA electricity supply is much cleaner than the 31% renewable current offering from SDG&E, so Del Mar is moving in the right direction and customers who stayed with the default offering are still saving money on their monthly bill. If they later decide that the $2/month premium for 100% renewable electricity is worth it, they can still opt up