Approval would mean Marin Clean Energy becomes city’s default energy provider, though residents can opt out

Benicia City Council will decide Tuesday whether to pass on second reading an ordinance that authorizes the city’s membership in Marin Clean Energy, a community choice aggregation energy program.

The Council introduced the ordinance Nov. 4 by a unanimous vote, with Councilmember Mark Hughes absent.

Hughes has recused himself from the matter because he’s a past employee of Pacific Gas and Electric Company, which currently provides electricity to Benicia residents and companies.

Should the city proceed with membership in MCE, that program would purchase power for Benicians’ use, except for those who declare they want to remain with PG&E.

PG&E would maintain distribution lines, repairs and billing services to MCE customers, however.

Benicia officials have been advised Hughes would not be violating conflict of interest laws to vote on the matter. However, he has stated several times that he wanted to avoid the appearance of a conflict, and voluntarily recused himself.

The ordinance was introduced after the Council reviewed independent reports by MRW & Associates and Davis Wright Tremane that concurred with MCE’s own study that joining the aggregation program would be beneficial to the city.

According to a Nov. 5 report by interim Community Development Director Dan Marks, community choice aggregation agencies buy or produce clean energy on behalf of their members and customers.

While the power isn’t sent directly to customers’ homes, it does mean the proportion of electricity supplied by the grid would come from more renewable and cleaner sources, past descriptions of the program have stated.

Should the ordinance be passed on second reading, it would be effective in 30 days. It would authorize the city’s participation in MCE and approve the Marin Clean Energy Joint Powers Agreement.

That agreement, which initially was effective Dec. 19, 2008 and has been amended as more communities have joined, currently involves the cities and towns of Belvedere, Corte Madera, Fairfax, Larkspur, Mill Valley, Novato, Richmond, Ross, San Anselmo, San Pablo, San Rafael, Sausalito and Tiburon, and the counties of both Marin and Napa.

As a member, Benicia would have a representative with a percentage vote on the MCE board of directors.

In another matter before the Council on Tuesday, Public Works Director Graham Wadsworth will ask the panel to approve new traffic impact fees.

In a report sent Wednesday to City Manager Brad Kilger, Wadsworth wrote that the new impact base fee of $2,180 is needed to fund future roadway improvements projected to accommodate Benicia’s development.

He wrote that the business park proposed in 2007 but subsequently withdrawn has not been included in the fee study calculations.

“The requirement for the Benicia Business Park to construct those improvements independently of the traffic impact fee program is triggered by the direct and immediate impacts that development will have on the transportation network and the need to mitigate those impacts under the California Environmental Quality Act and the General Plan,” Wadsworth wrote.

The new rates are expected to generate $29 million during a 20-year period, he wrote.

“The new base fee amount of $2,180 is a modest increase from the current fee of $1,858, and will be adjusted annually based on a construction cost index,” he wrote.

Benicia has had a traffic fee program since 1992, basing the fees on calcuated peak hour trips generated by development.

Wadsworth wrote that the impact fees have been updated based on projects identified in Benicia’s General Plan and projections that use recent traffic counts. The update identified seven intersections and eight roadways that would need to be built by 2035 to accommodate new development.

“Development of current vacant land, given their associated uses, will generate a total of 12,894 new trips,” Wadsworth wrote.

The Council will meet in a closed session at 6 p.m. Tuesday for a performance evaluation of City Attorney Heather McLaughlin. The regular meeting will start at 7 p.m. in the Council Chamber of City Hall, 250 East L St.