Staff Report Item 16
TO: East Bay Community Energy Board of Directors
FROM: Alex DiGiorgio, Public Engagement Manager
SUBJECT: Request to Change the Default Rate Product for Certain Customers in the Cities of Emeryville and Dublin to Renewable 100 (Action Item) DATE: April 20, 2022
Recommendation
Adopt a Resolution directing staff to make the necessary arrangements to change the default service to Renewable 100 for certain customers in the cities of Emeryville and Dublin consistent with the requests of their City Councils and in accordance with the adopted Default Rate Product Change Policy.
Background
The EBCE Board of Directors established three levels of service or products for its customers in 2018 and subsequently set the value proposition for each product as follows:
• Bright Choice – basic service level at a 1% discount to PG&E rates with a minimum of 5% more renewable energy than PG&E’s annual forecast; • Brilliant 100 – 100% carbon-free service set at the same rate as PG&E, closed to new customers in original service territory as of August 1, 2020; and retired entirely on January 1, 2022; and
• Renewable 100 – 100% California wind and solar power set at $0.01 per kWh over PG&E rates.
Many member jurisdictions have Climate Action Plans ("CAP") with specific greenhouse gas ("GHG") emission reduction goals to be achieved by specific dates. Customers receiving Brilliant 100 or Renewable 100 service (i.e., EBCE’s 100% renewable energy product) achieve additional GHG emissions savings that contribute to cities meeting their CAP goals. Three city councils (Albany, Hayward, and Piedmont) passed resolutions in 2018 requesting the EBCE Board of Directors enroll residential customers within their jurisdictions in Brilliant 100 or Renewable 100 service as the Staff Report Item 16
default option at the time of initial program launch, which increased GHG savings at no or little additional cost to customers.
On November 18, 2020, EBCE’s Board voted to close the Brilliant 100 product option effective January 1, 2022. At that time, the Board also voted to immediately close Brilliant 100 to new account enrollments, except for those within the newly enrolling cities of Newark, Pleasanton, and Tracy.
To continue making progress towards the greenhouse gas reduction goals of their respective Climate Action Plans, and in light of EBCE’s closure of the Brilliant 100 product, the City Councils of Albany, Berkeley, Hayward, Pleasanton, and San Leandro adopted Resolutions in June, July, and September of 2021 requesting EBCE to 1) set Renewable 100 as the default electricity product for most residential and commercial customers; and 2) set Bright Choice as the default electricity product for customers on discount programs such as CARE, FERA, and/or Medical Baseline. The dates of these Council votes and the timing of their proposed implementation for default transitions are as follows:
City Date of Council
vote
Proposed timing of implementation
Albany June 7, 2021 January 2022 (residential and
commercial customers)
Berkeley June 29, 2021 March 2022 (residential customers) October 2022 (commercial customers)
Hayward July 6, 2021 January 2022 (residential and
commercial customers)
Pleasanton July 20, 2021 January 2022 (residential and
commercial customers)
San Leandro September 7, 2021 March 2022 (residential customers) October 2022 (commercial customers)
At the time of their initial EBCE enrollments in 2018, the cities of Albany and Hayward chose Brilliant 100 to be the default product for all customers. The City of Pleasanton similarly did so at the time of its initial EBCE enrollment in 2021. Due to the closure of Brilliant 100 at the end of 2021, the implementation of default product transitions in Albany, Hayward, and Pleasanton will occur in January 2022.
In Berkeley and San Leandro, by contrast, Bright Choice has been the default service option for all customers. As such, the implementation of Berkeley and San Leandro’s default product transitions are subject to the timeline enumerated in EBCE’s Default Rate Product Change Policy.1 According to this Policy, requests by EBCE member-jurisdictions to change their default product(s) must be approved by the Board six (6) months in advance of implementation. In addition, the implementation of approved 1 EBCE’s Default Rate Product Change Policy was approved by the Board of Directors on March 17, 2021.
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requests will occur only in March or October of a given year (i.e., Board approval in September for March implementation, and April for October implementation). This timeline provides EBCE staff sufficient time to plan for additional renewable energy procurement and other operational adjustments, as well as to notify customers and conduct community outreach.
At its meeting on June 29, 2021, Berkeley’s City Council voted to request separate enrollment timelines for residential and commercial customers. As such, the proposed timing of implementation for these customers has been staggered to comply with EBCE’s Default Rate Product Change Policy (i.e., implementation of residential customer account transitions to occur by March 31, 2022; and implementation of commercial customer account transitions to occur by October 31, 2022). On September 7, 2021, the San Leandro City Council adopted a Resolution to set Renewable 100 as the default service for residential and commercial customers. Their Resolution requested that its default rate transition occur along the same timeline as the City of Berkeley’s.
On March 15, 2022, the City of Emeryville’s City Council adopted a Resolution requesting EBCE to 1) set Renewable 100 as the default electricity product for most residential and commercial customers; and 2) set Bright Choice as the default electricity product for customers on discount programs such as CARE, FERA, and/or Medical Baseline. Bright Choice has been the default rate product for both residential and commercial customers in Emeryville. If the proposed resolution is adopted by the Board, the implementation of the Renewable 100 default rate product transition will occur by October 31, 2022.
More recently, at its meeting on April 5, 2022, the City of Dublin’s City Council adopted a Resolution requesting EBCE to set Renewable 100 as the default electricity product for commercial customers. Renewable 100 has been the default product for residential customers since January 2022 (except for those on CARE/FERA and/or Medical Baseline programs) and Bright Choice has been the default rate for commercial accounts. If the proposed resolution is adopted by the Board, the implementation of the default rate product transition for commercial customers will occur by October 31, 2022.
As is the case in Albany, Berkeley, Hayward, Pleasanton, and San Leandro, electricity customers in Emeryville and Dublin that have previously opted out of EBCE service will not be enrolled in Renewable 100 and will remain with PG&E for their electric generation service.
Additionally, customers may still choose to opt down to Bright Choice (Albany/Hayward/Pleasanton) or remain on Bright Choice (Berkeley/Dublin/San Leandro/ Emeryville). Staff has already worked with EBCE’s data services vendor to create functionality that will allow a customer to confirm their current selection of Bright Choice and therefore be exempted from the default transition to Renewable 100.
Staff Report Item 16
EBCE’s Board of Directors approved the default rate product change requests of Albany, Berkeley, Hayward, and Pleasanton at its meeting on July 21, 2021, and San Leandro’s on September 22, 2021. Assuming the Board approves Emeryville and Dublin’s requests, the approved default rate transitions are summarized as follows:
Jurisdiction Customer Type Initial Default New Default Date of Implementation
Albany
Residential Brilliant 100 Renewable 100 1/22
CARE/FERA/MB Brilliant 100 Bright Choice 1/22
Commercial Brilliant 100 Renewable 100 1/22
Berkeley
Residential Bright Choice Renewable 100 3/22
CARE/FERA/MB Bright Choice N/A N/A
Commercial Bright Choice Renewable 100 10/22
Dublin
Residential Bright Choice Renewable 100 1/22
CARE/FERA/MB Bright Choice N/A N/A
Commercial Bright Choice Renewable 100 10/22
Emeryville
Residential Bright Choice Renewable 100 10/22
CARE/FERA/MB Bright Choice N/A N/A
Commercial Bright Choice Renewable 100 10/22
Hayward
Residential Brilliant 100 Renewable 100 1/22
CARE/FERA/MB Brilliant 100 Bright Choice 1/22
Commercial Brilliant 100 Renewable 100 1/22
Pleasanton
Residential Brilliant 100 Renewable 100 1/22
CARE/FERA/MB Bright Choice N/A N/A
Commercial Brilliant 100 Renewable 100 1/22
San Leandro
Residential Bright Choice Renewable 100 3/22
CARE/FERA/MB Bright Choice N/A N/A
Commercial Bright Choice Renewable 100 10/22
Analysis & Discussion
As with Albany, Berkeley, Hayward, Pleasanton, and San Leandro, successfully implementing Emeryville and Dublin’s default rate product transitions will require updates to technology systems, specifically the billing engine and customer relationship management (CRM) system, as well as customer communications.
The customer communications plans will include the two customer notifications as required by the Default Rate Product Change Policy. Additional outreach and communications will be determined based on coordination with City staff in Emeryville and Dublin, as well as with those of the other two cities (Berkeley and San Leandro) undertaking default rate product transitions for commercial accounts in October 2022.
Staff Report Item 16
Financial Impact
There will be an additional cost to EBCE from SMUD to implement operational adjustments and for the cost of customer notification mailers. These costs will be absorbed by EBCE, per EBCE’s Default Rate Product Change Policy.
Attachments
A. Resolution Directing Staff to Make Necessary Arrangements to Change the Default Rate Product to Renewable 100 for Certain Customers in the Cities of Emeryville and Dublin.
B. Resolution No. 22-31 of the Emeryville City Council Requesting East Bay Community Energy to Enroll All Residential, Commercial, and Industrial Accounts in Renewable 100.
C. Resolution No. 28-22 of the Dublin City Council requesting East Bay Community Energy To Enroll all Commercial Accounts in Renewable 100 Attachment Staff Report Item 16A
RESOLUTION NO. R-2022-xx
A RESOLUTION OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS
OF THE EAST BAY COMMUNITY ENERGY AUTHORITY DIRECTING STAFF TO MAKE NECESSARY ARRANGEMENTS TO CHANGE THE DEFAULT RATE PRODUCT TO RENEWABLE 100 FOR
CERTAIN RESIDENTIAL AND COMMERCIAL CUSTOMERS IN THE CITY OF EMERYVILLE AND
COMMERCIAL CUSTOMERS IN THE CITY OF DUBLIN
WHEREAS, the East Bay Community Energy Authority (“EBCE”) was formed on December 1, 2016, under the Joint Exercise of Power Act, California Government Code sections 6500 et seq., among the County of Alameda, and the Cities of Albany, Berkeley, Castro Valley, Dublin, Emeryville, Fremont, Hayward, Livermore, Oakland, San Leandro, and Union City, to study, promote, develop, conduct, operate, and manage energy and energy-related climate change programs in all the member jurisdictions. The cities of Newark and Pleasanton, located in Alameda County, along with the City of Tracy, located in San Joaquin County, were added as members of EBCE and parties to the JPA in March of 2020.
WHEREAS, in 2018, the Board of Directors approved three product offerings—a default product called Bright Choice offered at a discounted price, a product called Brilliant 100 that is 100% carbon-free at price parity with PG&E rates, and a 100% renewable energy product called Renewable 100 offered at a premium cost;
WHEREAS, in 2020, the Board of Directors directed that the Brilliant 100 product would not be available as of 2022;
WHEREAS, the Board of Directors approved a Default Rate Product Change Policy on March 17, 2021;
WHEREAS, on March 15, 2022, the City Council for the City of Emeryville adopted a Resolution requesting the EBCE Board of Directors change the default product for all electric service accounts within Emeryville, with the exceptions noted below, to Renewable 100; WHEREAS, the Resolution adopted by the City Council of the City of Emeryville requests that the change in the default product exempt residential accounts on California Alternate Rates for Energy (CARE), Family Electric Rate Assistance (FERA), medical baseline accounts, those enrolled in Direct Access Service, those who have made a service level election with EBCE, and those who have opted out of EBCE; WHEREAS, on April 5, 2022, the City Council for the City of Dublin adopted a Resolution requesting the EBCE Board of Directors change the default product for its non-residential customers to Renewable 100; and WHEREAS, residential and commercial customers in the cities of Emeryville and Dublin would retain the option to “opt down” from Renewable 100 to a service without a cost premium and a lower percentage of carbon-free electricity, or “opt out” to PG&E’s electricity.
Attachment Staff Report Item 16A
THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF THE EAST BAY COMMUNITY ENERGY AUTHORITY DOES HEREBY FIND, RESOLVE, AND ORDER AS FOLLOWS:
Section 1. The Board of Directors hereby desires to accommodate the requests from the cities of Emeryville and Dublin; and therefore, directs the EBCE Chief Executive Officer or his/her designee to take any and all necessary actions to change the default rate product for residential and commercial accounts in Emeryville and commercial accounts in Dublin to Renewable 100, per the Default Rate Product Change Policy.
Section 2. Customers in Emeryville participating in CARE, FERA, and the Medical Baseline Allowance programs will remain on the Bright Choice service.
Section 3. All customers in Emeryville and Dublin are to be given an option to opt down to Bright Choice or to opt out as provided by law.
ADOPTED AND APPROVED this 20th day of April 2022.
Dianne Martinez, Chair
ATTEST:
Adrian Bankhead, Clerk of the Board
DocuSign Envelope ID: FCB9B074-9E0D-40D9-A211-318576E6F4A2 RESOLUTION NO. 22-31
Resolution Of The City Council Of The City Of Emeryville Requesting East Bay Community Energy To Enroll All Residential, Commercial And Industrial Accounts In Renewable 100 (100% California-Based Wind And Solar) Service, With The Exception Of Those Participating In A) Medical Baseline, 8) California Alternate Rates For Energy (CARE), C) Family Electric Rate Assistance (FERA), Or D) Direct Access Electric Service Programs Or E) Those Who Have Previously Opted To A Specific EBCE Service Level, And F) Those Who Have Opted Out Of EBCE Service; CEQA Determination: Exempt Pursuant To CEQA Guideline 15061(b)(3) WHEREAS, the City of Emeryville has been a leader in the fight against climate change, having adopted its first Climate Action Plan in 2008 with a goal of reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 25% below 2004 baseline emission levels by 2020 and updating its Climate Action Plan in 2016 with goals of reducing GHG emissions 40% by 2030 and 80% by 2050; and
WHEREAS, Emeryville's community GHG emIssIons have been reduced by approximately 38% over 2005 baseline levels; and
WHEREAS, Emeryville's Climate Action Plan identifies participation in a Community Choice Aggregation (CCA) program, which allows public agencies to procure a greater percentage of electrical power from renewable and greenhouse gas-free sources on behalf of electricity customers, as a key strategy to meet GHG reduction targets; and WHEREAS, the Emeryville City Council voted to join the East Bay Community Energy (EBCE) CCA on November 1, 2016 and subsequently appointed representatives to its Board of Directors; and
WHEREAS, in 2018, the Emeryville City Council set the default electric service for Emeryville customers at the "Bright Choice" level, which in 2018 had GHG emissions 5% lower than PG&E's service, at a 1 % price discount; and WHEREAS, changes in the electricity market, along with the decision by the EBCE Board to exclude nuclear power from its service, have led to substantial increases of over 200% in the GHG emissions associated with the "Bright Choice" service; and WHEREAS, EBCE's "Renewable 100" service offers 100% California-based wind and solar-generated power at a price premium of one cent per kWh used as compared to "Bright Choice" service; and
WHEREAS, customers have the option to switch back to "Bright Choice" or out to PG&E service; and
WHEREAS, this change will exempt customers taking advantage of income-qualified programs (California Alternate Rates for Energy/CARE and Family Energy Rate Assistance/FERA), those on Medical Baseline service, those enrolled in Direct Access Attachment Staff Report Item 16B
Attachment Staff Report Item 16B
Reso. No. 28-22, Item 4.6, Adopted 04/05/2022 Page 1 of 2 RESOLUTION NO. 28 – 22
A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL
OF THE CITY OF DUBLIN
REQUESTING EAST BAY COMMUNITY ENERGY ENROLL CITY OF DUBLIN NON-RESIDENTIAL ACCOUNTS IN RENEWABLE 100 AS THE DEFAULT
ELECTRICITY PRODUCT
WHEREAS, the City of Dublin has been a leader in the fight against climate change, having adopted its first Climate Action Plan in 2010 with an update in 2013, with the goal to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to 1990 levels by 2020; and WHEREAS, on September 15, 2020, the City Council adopted the City of Dublin Climate Action Plan 2030 and Beyond (CAP 2030) which includes goals to reduce GHG emissions by 40% below 1990 levels by 2030 and to put the City on a path to reach carbon neutrality by 2045; and WHEREAS, CAP 2030 identifies renewable and carbon-free electricity as the biggest opportunity to reduce GHG emissions within the City of Dublin; and WHEREAS, the City’s electricity provider, East Bay Community Energy (EBCE), offers a 100% carbon-free and 100% renewable electricity product called Renewable 100; and WHEREAS, residential accounts were enrolled in Renewable 100 beginning January 1, 2022, reducing GHG emissions in Dublin by approximately 28%; and WHEREAS, enrolling non-residential accounts in Renewable 100 has the potential to reduce GHG emissions in Dublin by an additional 25%; and
WHEREAS, non-residential accountholders in the City would retain the option to opt down to EBCE’s discounted power portfolio, Bright Choice, which offers a lower percentage of carbon-free electricity, or opt out to electricity provided by Pacific Gas & Electric; and WHEREAS, establishing Renewable 100 as the default electricity for both residential and non-residential accounts would allow Dublin to showcase its continued environmental leadership and demonstrate efforts to create a sustainable community in line with the goals of CAP 2030.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the City Council of the City of Dublin does request that EBCE hereby enroll the City of Dublin in the Renewable 100 electric power portfolio as the default electricity product for all non-residential accounts in the City.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the City Council of the City of Dublin requests that the EBCE Board consider Dublin’s Renewable 100 default power portfolio request at the earliest possible upcoming EBCE Board Meeting.
{Signatures on the following page}
Attachment Staff Report Item 16C
Reso. No. 28-22, Item 4.6, Adopted 04/05/2022 Page 2 of 2 PASSED, APPROVED AND ADOPTED this 5th day of April 2022, by the following vote:
AYES: Councilmembers Hu, Josey, Kumagai, McCorriston, and Mayor Hernandez NOES:
ABSENT:
ABSTAIN:
______________________________
Mayor
ATTEST:
_________________________________
City Clerk
Attachment Staff Report Item 16C