Public Comment
June 27, 2024
Board of Directors
Regular Meeting
From:
To: Public Comment
Subject: Electric vehicle rebate
Date: Thursday, May 30, 2024 11:34:45 AM
I read an article that said you would give a rebate to anyone to buy an ev your original mission was to give taxpayers cheaper cleaner energy so I think you have no right to throw away our money on your pet projects like ev and I think you are opening yourself to a taxpayer lawsuit which I would support. All we want is cheaper energy not another government group prodding us to buy an ev it is not any of your business as to what consumers want to buy.
Would like to see your response. Thanks Gary Macy Fortuna ca
3. Non-Agenda Public Comment
From: Colin Fiske
To: Public Comment
Subject: Item 7.2: The Importance of Meeting Clean, Renewable Energy Targets Date: Tuesday, June 25, 2024 10:52:47 AM
RCEA Board Members,
I am deeply concerned about the proposed action on your upcoming agenda to reduce renewable energy purchases next year.
Five years ago, your Board made a promise to your CCE customers and the public that by 2025, 100% of the electricity RCEA provides would be from clean, renewable sources. This promise was a response to public demands, as well as resolutions adopted by the Humboldt County Board of Supervisors and the City Councils of Arcata and Eureka and a recommendation from the Community Advisory Committee. It became a central feature of RCEA's guiding document, RePower Humboldt.
In many ways, this renewable energy target is also the most powerful public symbol of RCEA's purpose as an agency, which is "to develop and implement sustainable energy initiatives that reduce energy demand, increase energy efficiency, and advance the use of clean, efficient and renewable resources available in the region for the benefit of the Member agencies and their constituents."
Now, with 2025 fast approaching, you are being asked to delay or abandon your promise to the public and your constituents. Your staff report that costs are higher than predicted, and recommend that instead of fulfilling the promise of 100% clean, renewable electricity next year, you should meet only the minimum requirements of state law. This is not the first time your Board has been asked to make a decision like this, and if business continues as usual there is no reason to expect it will be the last.
As someone who cares greatly about RCEA and about the climate, I find the abandonment of the clean, renewable energy promise deeply disappointing. Additionally, while I am writing this as an individual and not as a member of the Community Advisory Committee, I am someone who regularly promotes and defends RCEA to other community members - and decisions like this make that job a lot harder.
RCEA will not succeed as an agency by merely selling electricity at 0.5% lower prices than PG&E. It will succeed by keeping its promises to the public and distinguishing itself as a leader in delivering clean, renewable, socially responsible energy at prices local people can afford.
This combination of values and affordability is supposed to be possible in part because RCEA does not demand the profit margins of investor-owned utilities like PG&E. If the current revenue model of mirroring PG&E's rate structure does not allow RCEA to keep its own promises and follow its own plans, then it is time to rethink that model. Other CCAs set their rates independently, and RCEA could too.
Thank you for your consideration.
Colin Fiske
7.2 Community Choice Energy Program
Procurement Target Adjustment
Arcata, CA