WE’RE SURE YOU’VE YEARD THAT BENICIA’S MAYOR IS “PUZZLED” by the reactions of citizens when they learn they have been switched to a different electric power provider without their knowledge, input or permission. We members of Benicians Against Marin Clean Energy see this as positive feedback, that we actually are being heard — but now we must correct the mayor and some of the misinformation that has been spread about MCE and Pacific Gas and Electric.
We are a small group of concerned citizens that organized when we first learned our elected officials had slammed everyone — residential and commercial alike — into this new arrangement. Our goals are simple: Gather the facts, communicate those facts as best we can to all Benicia residents, and urge everyone to opt out of MCE, thus levelling the playing field and returning “choice” to the consumer.
Ballot measure and ‘back-room deal’ — We have never proposed a ballot measure. We do, however, point out that this is an important issue and our “public servants” should have put public outreach in front of their decision and not at the end of the process. An honest notification, at least as big as the recent water shortage postcards, would have been appropriate. And we never said it was a back-room deal, only that it was purposely and conveniently flown under the radar. Sneaky? Perhaps.
What does PG&E really deliver? — In January, using state, federal and PG&E websites, our group gathered the most recent data we could. We found that PG&E was delivering 27-percent renewable, 22-percent nuclear and 10-percent large hydro power for a total of 59-percent clean energy. We contacted PG&E to verify our data and were told that actually, as of December 2014, “our renewables were at 28 percent and we fully expect to reach our 33-percent goal set for 2020 before the end of 2015.” So, the total clean, carbon-free energy that PG&E delivers has gone up to 60 percent, and according to PG&E should reach 65 percent by the end of this year. MCE, however, continues to use two-year old data, saying PG&E is only 22 percent renewable and claiming it’s the most “recently verified” data. We call it false advertising. Benicia’s mayor and her supporters continue to use the old 22 percent stat as well. Perhaps MCE should begin using their own 2-year old data, just to be fair.
At a recent City Council meeting, Councilmember Alan Schwartzman asked MCE when they expected to get newly verified data and the answer was “probably June.” How convenient!
Opt-out confusion and misinformation — The opt-out approach is really not as complicated and confusing as the mayor and MCE would have us believe. Assembly Bill 117, the community choice aggregation law of 2002, was pushed through our state Legislature by environmental activists/lobbyists. This law, with its opt-out provision, made it possible for CCAs like MCE to compete, or, for that matter, even exist. If it were an opt-in approach like all other business ventures, MCE would come to town to market their product and residents would make their choice. Our guess would be perhaps 131 — the same number who, at last check, had signed up for MCE’s “Deep Green” 100-percent renewable option — might sign up, which obviously would not keep MCE in business. So, AB 117 “stacks the deck,” turning the entire community into MCE customers without their knowledge, input or consent.
Documented surveys have shown that about 75 percent of residents are completely unaware they have been switched. If you ask MCE why you need to opt out, they will actually blame it on AB 117 and tell you “they are required by law to be the primary power provider for the areas that they serve.” This is disingenuous. We keep it simple by recommending everyone opt out of MCE now, thus leveling the playing field once again and returning “choice” back to the consumer. You can always opt in and choose MCE later.
Confusion over where our power comes from, and how it is distributed — Our mayor reminds us often than she chose Deep Green because her shade trees won’t allow for solar. Does she think the electrons flowing through her Smart Meter are any different than those of the PG&E customers who are her neighbors? Does she believe that by MCE purchasing a few kilowatt hours on her behalf from a wind farm in Washington state and putting it into the grid way up there greenhouse gases will somehow be reduced? Doesn’t she understand that for every kilowatt hour that MCE purchases for their new customers, PG&E backs off a like amount?
That’s how electric grids work. You have a source and a load and they balance. The mayor’s renewable contribution to the grid is so minimal, it’s like spitting into the Carquinez Strait, yet she believes she’s somehow slowing climate change.
MCE power purchases — We have pointed out that MCE is nothing more than a power purchaser that buys almost all of its power from out of the PG&E service area and in doing so utilizes mostly renewable energy certificates. MCE’s response is that “PG&E buys power, too.” It’s a well-known fact that Californians use more electric power (about 25 percent more) than is generated in-state, and all utilities have been going outside the state for more than 30 years. As an example, PG&E buys a large amount of solar power from Arizona, but also buys a large amount of geothermal power from Sonoma and Lake counties. PG&E purchased approximately 18 percent of its 2014 power mix. However, PG&E is a large generator of electricity as well, being the largest private owner of hydroelectric facilities in the U.S. ,with 174 dams and 110 generating facilities.
PG&E’s Green Option — We continue to be amazed that the mayor and her supporters who claim to be environmentally savvy still refuse to acknowledge the existence of PG&E’s new “Green Option” program. PG&E applied for approval of the Green Option in 2012 and it was approved on Jan. 29 of this year. Don’t know how they missed it, as there were headlines in local newspapers and it was even covered in environmental newsletters such as Solar Tribune. Green Option will roll out by the end of this year and will offer residential and commercial customers the option of getting either 50 percent or 100 percent of the electricity they use from small and medium-sized (0.5 to 20 megawatt) solar projects located within the PG&E service area. This in effect will make PG&E a supplier of 80- to 100-percent clean, carbon-free electric energy.
We think we have covered most of the misinformation that has been published lately. We do think it’s important to note that we have met and talked to many Benicia citizens who are quite critical of the environmental overreach of our mayor and her Sustainability Commission. If there is one lesson to be learned from this MCE mess, it is that our city leaders must respond to the will of the people, not dictate to the people.
The authors — Michael Cardoza, Sue Kleiman, Dennis Lowry, Robert Rickman, Al Thompson and Anna Whitney — are members of Benicians Against Marin Clean Energy.
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Ok so let’s take your 65 percent clean PG&E power and calculate what one gets by choosing MCE at 50 percent, something you forgot to present: you get 50 percent MCE clean energy and 50 percent PG&E energy (which is 65 percent clean) for a total of 82.5 percent clean. As PG&E buys more clean energy that will increase.
I remember people whining and complaining about catalysts and other antismog equipment required on their cars in the 1970’s. They claimed that their cars contributed only a tiny amount of pollution and they shouldn’t be required to have it. Yet the antismog equipment on their cars and those of millions of others dramatically reduced smog in LA despite the huge increase in the number of cars and mileage driven. The same goes for those who argue that their fireplace makes no difference in smoke pollution.
Very fuzzy math. Your calculatuion is very faulty. Remember PG&E represents 98% of the grid and MCE at the most 2% for their total entrollment.
You will get PG&E renewable energy in Benicia but not the amount you are saying from MCE. Because THE 10,000 hook ups amounts to .00125 % of the grid. If the grid was split at 50/50 between PG&E and MCE you would be correct. But the grid is split 98/2 in fAVOR OF PG&E and of that Benicia gets almost 100% PG&E. You had better go back and redo your calucatiions and better yet yiour understanding of this issue. Very bad info. I am correc t.
No I am calculating what the fraction for each person signing up for MCE at 50 percent totals to in clean energy. Yours is a different calculation, not incorrect just different.
But then You are arguing along the same lines as those who whined about catalysts on cars in the 1970s. When all those cars got catalytic converters pollution went way down. Yet it all started with a few cars and of course the initial amount of reduction was negligible at first. That is your calculation, just the initial total.
Greg,
My (and others as well) issue with this whole thing has nothing to do with your arguments regarding percentage of energy from various sources. It boils down to one simple fact:
The mayor/ City Council decided what service I was going to have, regardless of how I felt. If I did not like it, then I had to change it, which I did.
It should have been put up to a vote, or an opt in system established.
Like someone said on another thread: How would the good people of Benicia like an automatic voter registration system with Republican being the default? Don’t like it, well just opt out. No big deal
Dennis you are cirrect but at the same time the folks are not getting the 50/100% renewable energy they are signing up for. That is the hidden fact that MCE marketing does not tell you. Yes you are buying it b ut not getting it.
That might be interesting but I did not comment on that. My comments were on the other 2/3rds of the article that discussed and compared PG&E and MCE sources of power.
Greg the source of renewable energy is not clearly layed out. We all do know that both heve renewable sources. That may not be the issue. The issue is MCE marketing and if you will gety the energy you purchase. You will not. The unwillingness of MCE to clearly layout the picture along with city staff to the residents on MCE energy. They will tell you they do but they do not tell the whole store. They never talk about their total contribution to the grid. They never tell you their future plans on how they will finance future renewable energy in our own backyard. They never tell you that solar energy on homes is being subsidized by other PG&E rate payers. That is because by law PG&E must pay back for that solar energy at three times the open market rate. So who benefits? A small amount of homeowners and possible the city on their solar project. This whole MCE issue was never fully vetted by the city council, or city staff. Why should anyone have to subsidize others solar projects. Yes they are non profit and with that goes no taxes state or federal and no property taxes etc. All the time paying the head of MCE $300,000 a year plus who knows what else. MCE does not want the residence to know that it is not a good deal for residents because they need them for their small purchasing power. It is a good deal in the short run for the city and schools. But what will the near future bring. Simple. No more CCA’s which means bye bye MCE.
Gregg my calculation tells the true story.
Just another sham by this corrupt administration. Can’t wait till they are gone.
Great article.
But the bottom line is … A slam is a slam.
If MCE can provide what they state, let them compete honest and fairly. But to get slammed by the city is just wrong. It smells of arrogance by the city leaders. It appears their attitude is “we know better than you, so we are making a decision for you.”
The mayor’s recent article smells of that arrogance.
I am opting out due to the handling, not the merits. But reading this article, my decision does seem wise based on the merits.
Agree 100%. My issue is not with MCE but with how it was handled. I have opted to stay with PG&E.
Greg,
So, by your calculations, you actually believe that those who choose MCE’s light green (50%) will begin receiving 82.5% clean energy this month. I suppose your neighbor, who remains with PG&E, will only get 65% clean energy? Any ideas as to how different power sources find their way to different customers? Well, they don’t. If you remain with MCE (50% light green) all that changes is MCE purchaes power off somewhere (probably Idaho) on your behalf. MCE gets your money but the power through your meter remains the same. To brush up on your math skills, I’ll refer you to Bob Livesay, for he is correct.
Don’t really understand what catalytic converters and fireplace smoke have to do with subject, but most Benicia consumers are upset that our elected officials think they can dictate who our electic power supplier will be.. . .
Thanks Al for you your groups very hard work.
No I said no such thing, quite the opposite. Only an idiot who knows nothing of electrodynamics thinks this is about electrons moving and where they go. It is about the amount of renwable energy used in generating electricity. That is all that matters. Those that go with MCE are paying to have more generated renewably. By the way, we get alternating current, so it is all about electromagnetic waves You can start your education with Feynman volume II. Let me know when you get through chapter one.
Greg I do understand what you are saying. Yes they are paying for more renewable energy supposedly. But when you take into consideration that PG&E is at an unaudited over 30% not including hydro and nuclear the game changes. You are now not getting more renewable energy. Even if you were the contribution is so small it will get lost and have no effect at all. Especially when PG&E is aggressively going after renewable at a very rapid pace. MCE wkll not ne able to keep up and will be priced out of business. There also will be changes on the amount PG&E pays back to solar on homes. It is advantage PG&E not MCE. Very simple Greg.
Well Greg, you DID IN FACT say that. You said “you get 50 percent MCE clean energy and 50 percent PG&E energy (which is 65 percent clean) for a total of 82.5 percent clean”. And I’m simply trying to point out that your statement and your math are completely and absolutely incorrect.
As an example, let’s say you use 200 kWh (kilowatthours) of electricity per month. As a new MCE (50% light green) customer, MCE purchases 50% of your electric energy useage from renewable sources somewhere and that amount of power enters the grid. Your portion, 100 kWh, enters this huge network (grid) of many many gigawatts, so your tiny contribution is hardly measurable. The other 50% of your electrical useage (100 kwh) is also purchsed by MCE and enters the grid on your behalf, but is from non-renewable sources. So, meanwhile back at your house and smart meter, NOTHING has changed. You’re still getting the same power mix from that huge electrical grid we consumers are all connected to, no matter who your electric power supplier is. Don’t tell our mayor as she thinks hers is different than yours and mine and is 100% green. In reality she’s just paying more for the same thing. The only thing that’s really changed in your case, is that MCE is getting your money. Ha, ha!
I don’t know you and didn’t mean to insult you, as I obviously have, or you wouldn’t have called me an idiot or recommended I further my education by going to a dead physicist. Surely you’re joking! Anyway, if interested, you can get a lot more information on this subject by Googling “Electrical grid” and “Electricity generation”.
I really don’t get all the back and forth here. The fact that the program was rolled out is done, over, finished. It is a state law how it was done. Doesn’t matter who supported what, when, where, why or how. As to which numbers to believe, I have been around long enough to know that numbers can be skewed any way you want. It seems this boils down to one issue. Do you want to go with PG&E or MCE? While I have a great dislike for opt out programs, if people get switched because they did not read the paper, the flyers, or pay any attention as to what was going on, then I don’t care – that is their issue to deal with.
This doesn’t have to be about who is right and who is wrong. I generally feel that a little competition is good for the economy (meaning we ratepayers). There are bad things about PG&E (in my mind, one could teach classes on how poorly run they were before going bankrupt. One can also make comparisons about the fact that MCE doesn’t generate any electricity on their own, they purchase it from others. There is no right and wrong . Pick who you want for a provider and that’s it. If you didn’t read the material provided, deal with it.
Well stated.
If you do not get it then I quess you and Pete are in the same boat.
John stated: if people get switched because they did not read the paper, the flyers, or pay any attention as to what was going on, then I don’t care
It seems that approach is one that those who feel ‘government knows best’ will be in agreement upon.
Let’s rephrase the message delivered: “Sit down, shut up and do what we want, we are the deciders”
Totally off base. What John is saying is, if you are not informed about the process, which has been public every step of the way, you have only yourself to blame!
Agreed.
You agree with a fiction writer which means you know nothing Ginther.
John summed you up well, Maxwell.
Its Max. You looked it up on Facebook. Get it right Gunther
No, you get it right, Maximilian!
Do not start with me. You never answered my last e-mail. It should end right now. Your call.
I think you started it by attempting to use my father’s name twice above (both times misspelled). Sorry, you don’t get to be a hypocrite and then start to make demands. When are you going to learn? The answer is that you won’t. When it comes to getting persona, you start it every time. You, my friend, are the one that decides to keep it going.
I am not your friend . it is over and out.
On that we can agree.
So why do we allow same day registration for voters?
If they are not paying attention to the process do they not then ‘only have themselves to blame’. ?
Neat subject change. (Weak argument.) My statement stands and is incontestable. I know you like to argue the indefensible point of view however …
I am reminded of the adage: If liberals did not have double standards; they would have none at all.
Pithy but not clever. A last resort I suppose when you’ve lost the argument.
Declaring yourself victor without answering the original question posed is the true sign of one who has lost the argument.
Nice try. Thank you.
The public was informed but the process is wrong. The city voted to slam the residents with a no choice move towards MCE. The decision was made for us and the only remedy to correct was an “opt out” action.
If the city was fair and ethical, they would allow the residents to choose.
Opt out is coercion… Pure and simple.
Because of this action by the city council, I will not vote for any member that voted for MCE. It wreaks of arrogance and nanny state politics.
Wrong. Nobody got “slammed.” There were months and months of hearings and Council meetings and workshops. This level of resistance shown at any point BEFORE the Council vote could have changed the outcome. No one spoke out. No one complained. No one said a goddamn word. You have only yourselves to blame.
And if you don’t like opt out, take it up with the Legislature. Benicia plays by the rules set by the state.
When one is not given a choice, when a utility choice/decision is made by others … That is a slam.
It is entirely immaterial that there were public hearings.
The council made a choice to slam.. And they did.
You had a choice, to be informed and affect the process or not. You chose the latter. Too bad for you, you are now too late and MCE is in. Better luck next time.
“It is entirely immaterial that there were public hearings.” You just really are not paying attention are you?
This sudden whining about MCE reeks of “low-information-itis.”
Bob, “Low information voters” (or LIV’s) of course is a term popularized by Rush to describe a significant portion of those who continuously vote Democrat. :
Nope it’s been used by both sides. Applies much more accurately to yours.
John is does appear yoyu are following.
Bob, there is no following. Only common sense. I do NOT like opt in. Hate it. But it is the law of the land and needs to be changed on the state level. I also am not a liberal, as you like to label people. Been a registered Republican for my entire life. It is not about government knowing what is best. At some point, people need to take responsibility for what is going on around them Competition never hurt anyone. Again, I do not agree with opt out and have in fact opted out myself. People need to stay on top of stuff as you say – we all have busy lives. Staying informed is part of being a member of society. If you don’t want to stay on top of stuff, then deal with the outcomes.
On another not, you always seem to want to be right Bob. That is the height of arrogance. My religion taught me that the last perfect person was crucified on the cross. That was not you.
Finally, DDL, I do not believe government knows what is best. Never have.
Finally, DDL, I do not believe government knows what is best. Never have.
Fair enough!
Nothing wrong with friendly disagreements on issues.
John I label them as they are. I do not set their political desire they do. So I call it as it is. The important thing is to participate which you do. I only respond to what is said. The OPT OUT to OPT IN issue was passed in the State assembly and Bonilla voted for it. She will remain in the State Assembly.Went dead in the State Senate. Will come back with some changes. Yes John I do always want to be right and I assume you and everyone else feels the same way. Yes I do lose some but win many. Part of the issue and the part of participating.
Thank you Mayor Patterson for all you do for this city, and thank you City Councilmembers Schwartzman, Campbell and Strawbridge for putting the residents first and approving MCE!
Just who is MCE. They are a company of slightly over twenty employees. They procure renewable energy and use the rersources of PG&E to distribute it. No assetys maybe other than office furniture. They do no service calls. no billing, just OPT OUT , OPY IN or changes in type of energy you want. Use PG&E equipment. They will have about 165,000 accountsa compared to PG&E 8 mil. They were able to do this service without any owned assets and no customer base. Use PG&R customer bas3e and assets thet PG&E developed over many years. Non-profit so they do not pay state or federal taxes and no proberty tAXES except maybe for office furniture and some electeronic equipment. Tghis company appears to be in existence purly because of PG&E. Certai nly they dev3eloped nothing just existing off PG&E hA
Just who is MCE. They are a company of slightly over twenty employees. They procure renewable energy and use the resources of PG&E to distribute it. No assets maybe other than office furniture. They do no service calls. no billing, just OPT OUT , OPT IN or changes in type of energy you want. Use PG&E equipment. They will have about 165,000 accounts compared to PG&E 8 mil. They were able to do this service without any owned assets and no customer base. Use PG&R customer base and assets that PG&E developed over many years. PG&E does all the repairs and maintenance not MCE. Non-profit so they do not pay state or federal taxes and no property tAXES except maybe for office furniture and some electronic equipment. This company appears to be in existence because of PG&E resources and the California legislature.. Certainlly they did not dev3elope anything just existing off PG&E assets all in the name of clean energy, maybe. It appears PG&E is developing clean energy faster than MCE but the Mayor and CSC nor MCE do not want to talk about that. There is no long tern certainty that they can even keep pace with PG&E. So what we have is a dream and some present small savings with no guarantee of what the future will bring. Yes they do have a gift from Chevron brought about by the Richmond City Council for some land. At $1 a year for solar field developement. Is this why members of the CVSC say the Benicia residents are ignorant and have their heads in the sanf. ? It appears thay way. JUST OPT OUT
Should be CSC and heads in the sand and that. Sorry for ther typos but not sorry for the explaination.