It's not just about sustainability, it's about building our local community!
Albany has long been a leader in meaningful change. We were one of the first to approve city-sponsored sidewalk improvements, we were one of the first to follow Berkeley's trend setting in instituting a sugar tax and now we are empowering our citizens to carbon free power by default.
You see, Albany made the choice to transfer energy consumption to East Bay Community Energy this fall, but what still needed to be decided was to what plan we would default our citizens. Happily, City Council selected the Brilliant 100 plan which offers our citizens 100% carbon-free power without having to pay more or change a thing. Albany just got more sustainable without having to lift a finger!
It's still possible, of course, to choose an even more renewable portfolio of energy because EBCE plans to release the 100% renewable option for just .01/kwh more than what PG&E offers. What's even more exciting is that EBCE will use that investment to create an even more renewable energy grid (that means more wind and solar nearby). In fact, when City Council adopted the carbon free option, they even mentioned that they'd like to encourage citizens to upgrade.
This initiative was one of ACAC's first coordinated efforts to make a difference in Albany and we were so happy that City Council listened to their citizens and is continuing to make Albany's sustainability goals a priority for the foreseeable future. The ACAC team was happy that staying to the third hour of the City Council meeting, sharing our comments and research resulted in a positive decision that very night. But what's even more inspiring is the level of leadership it shows about our city. You see: Albany was the ONLY city to opt up to 100% carbon free power for ALL of its customer classes. This choice alone is going to reduce our GHG by over 13% and keep us on track to meet our Climate Action Plan goals. And that's the real amazing part of this whole story!
And we're happy to keep pushing this trend: California leads the country, the Bay Area leads California, and Albany leads the Bay! What's next for our little city?
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