City Of Berkeley: Solar, Wind To Start Powering Berkeley Homes In March

Press release from City of Berkeley:

February 18, 2022

Berkeley, California (Friday, February 18, 2022) - Wind and solar power will be the default choice for electricity for all Berkeley residences starting in March.

This shift toward entirely renewable sources as customers' default electricity plans will cost $5 more per month per typical Berkeley home, requires no action to stay on that plan and reduces the City's reliance on fossil fuels.

All City buildings and streetlights had already transitioned to wind and solar power last year through East Bay Community Energy, the non-profit local energy provider for Berkeley. The Berkeley City Council voted in June 2021 to make solar and wind power the default choice for residential and commercial customers, the latter of which will happen in October.

This transition is being mirrored across Alameda County, including the cities of Albany, Dublin, Hayward, San Leandro and Pleasanton. EBCE recently sent notices about the change in the default choice, which EBCE labels as Renewable 100.

EBCE's Renewable 100 costs about a penny more per kilowatt hour as compared to PG&E rates. Learn more about your choices below, via the EBCE website or a February 18 webinar.

Choices with your electricity service

• Renewable 100 service, is 100% wind and solar energy, costs an additional one cent per kilowatt-hour over PG&E rates, or about $5 more per month for a typical Berkeley home.
• Bright Choice service, the current default plan, 40% eligible renewable energy. It costs 1% less than PG&E rates and has approximately 5% more renewable energy than PG&E.

Renewable 100 , Bright Choice Bright Choice Renewable 100

Learn more about changes at webinar

Bright Choice

Links

• Change your Electricity Service
• Contact EBCE Call Center
• Compare Electricity Service Plans
• Energy Bill Assistance Options
• Webinars about your Electricity Service Options

This press release was produced by City of Berkeley. The views expressed here are the author’s own.