Resources
TOPICS: PRESENTATIONS | ABOUT PUBLIC POWER | ELECTRICITY & YOU | REPORTS | MEDIA CLIPPINGS | GROUPS
Presentations
A Public Electric Distribution Utility for San Diego
by Bill Powers, P.E.
Nine slides laying out the basics of public power for the City of San Diego
Why Public Power – the Cartoon Version!
Almost all rate increases are due to utility spending increases on transmission and distribution. 60% of all rooftop solar users are working and middle class, and 53% are people of color. Learn how utilities lie about solar power and why.
About Public Power
By Bill Powers, February 2024
Public power can best deliver lower-cost electricity by focusing on local solar power paired with battery storage, complemented by smart energy efficiency (EE) and demand response (DR) programs, to reach 100 percent local clean energy in ten years. This approach will reduce the cost of electricity to City residents and provide income streams by aggregating and dispatching customer batteries during times of peak demand. Another benefit will be local clean energy job growth.
By Marks Hughes
“The Municipal model is a clear winner—but why? No profit motive. It all comes down to incentive structure. The CEO of an IOU reports to the board and the shareholders—not ratepayers. The head of a municipal utility reports to, in essence, the ratepayers, since there are no shareholders.”
by Bill Powers, P.E., April 12, 2024
What about jobs? “The rooftop solar industry—which employs tens of thousands of workers in California, making rooftop solar installers the largest electric industry employer in the state”
“Uncontrolled utility spending and a lack of government oversight is why electricity costs are so high in California. Utilities are trying to blame solar users as a way to deflect attention away from the real problem. Rooftop solar and battery adoption must be expanded in order to get utility spending under control and meet the state’s climate goals.”
The Energy Democracy Project is a collaboration of more than 30 diverse, local, frontline organizations across the United States. They are sharing resources online to support the emerging energy democracy movement across the country. Find the People’s History of Utilities & and People’s Utility Justice Playbook at their Resources Page. (Available in Spanish too)
What the Monopoly Utility Model Really Costs Us
“UPCHARGE: The Hidden Costs of Electric Utility Monopoly Power details the true costs of the current utility model – to communities, the climate, and our democracy – and makes the case for breaking up the private monopoly, restoring competition to most of the electricity system, and removing the natural monopoly of electricity distribution from profit-seeking hands.” Read more: Upcharge Report, Article
The Case for Golden State Energy – Benefits of a Nonprofit Utility to California
Energy democracy is a climate solution strategy that gives local communities the power to decide how environmental, economic, and social justice needs are met.
On the Local Energy Rules Podcast, by the Institute for Local Self Reliance, hear stories of monopoly power, energy democracy, and how communities can take charge to transform the energy system.
The Case for DISTRIBUTED Energy Resources
Distributed energy resources (DER) are small, modular, energy generation and storage technologies that provide electric capacity or energy where you need it.
To run the world on renewables will require 275,000 times more storage capacity than is available today. New technologies are being developed to achieve long-duration capacity, including batteries that store energy via trapped heat and devices that utilize the force of gravity. In addition to creating a regulatory environment in which these technologies can prosper, care must be taken to ensure storage technologies are cost-effective, use responsibly sourced materials, and seek consent from vulnerable communities.
Battery Basics: How Sustainable Are Typical Electric Vehicle Batteries? UC San Diego Magazine, October 2024
When it comes down to it, will EV batteries make a difference? And will the U.S. and California be able to make the necessary regulatory changes and infrastructure investments to build up battery manufacturing plants and recycling?
“The overall benefits of EVs are that they’re a way to radically reduce our dependence on fossil fuels and, in particular, to lower emissions…”
Public Power Feasibility Reports to the City of San Diego
Public Power Feasibility Study
Prepared for the City of San Diego, July 11, 2023
Report to the City of San Diego June 2020 Concerning Electric and Gas Transmission Services
Useful Public Power Excerpts from City’s Franchise Agreement Consultant, June 2020 (pdf download)
“The purchase price assumption does not have significant effect on the cost customers would pay for EDU (Electric Distribution Utility) service. This is because EDU fixed asset costs (e.g., annual debt service) are a small portion of the total cost of service for the EDU.”
“Local governance extends to ratemaking and rate design. Neither the CPUC nor FERC have ratemaking or other general regulatory powers over a municipal electric enterprise.”
Media Clippings
We need distributed solar and energy storage, not utility monopolies
“Community-based solar paired with battery storage provide clean energy quickly, at high value to the grid, and with the capability to support resilience in grid outages. More distributed energy means lower costs for everyone, as shown in a landmark 2020 study of strategies to clean the grid. The study concluded that American electric consumers could save half a trillion dollars if the clean grid includes a wide range of distributed energy resources.” Canary Media, October 2024
In politics, the final vote isn’t always the final score.
Customers in arrears now total more than 25% of SDGE’s customer base, with an average owed of more than $700….Far more folks will fall behind in utility bill payments, if SDGE succeeds in its plan to impose rate hikes of 10% in each of the next several years. By Craig D. Rose – June 27, 2024
“This campaign is all about the public good”
Statement by Bill Powers, May 14, 2024
Instead of the expensive importing of remotely generated energy, a much better solution is to generate power locally.
San Diego Union Tribune, April 18, 2024
SDG&E raises rates amid record profits
10News, March 1, 2024
Detailed report says the CPUC and its independent watchdog must improve oversight of utilities and their costs
The average electric rate for each of California’s three largest utilities has increased 75 percent in the last seven years. In San Diego, the region consistently finishes with the nation’s highest average price for electricity per kilowatt-hour in numbers compiled by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Among the details in the comprehensive 89-page report, the audit said in nine of the past 10 years, San Diego Gas & Electric exceeded the rate of return — or profit — that was authorized by the California Public Utilities Commission, or CPUC. San Diego Union Tribune,
A pair of reports show utility bills will keep going up in San Diego — and across California
“Using data submitted to the CPUC from utilities, the report from the Public Advocates Office, or PAO, shows residential electric rates since 2014 have nearly doubled for SDG&E” … “…almost 1 in 5 households in California (18.4 percent) are behind on their energy bills. In SDG&E’s service territory the figure is 23 percent, with the average amount owed being $737, as of May.” San Diego Union Tribune, August 3, 2024
(reading entire story requires subscription)
Power to the People – Grist
Frustration with high rates and poor service is sparking campaigns to take over the investor-owned utilities and make them nonprofit entities.
BY AKIELLY HU | MAY 31, 2024
The Future of Rooftop Solar in California Is More Important Than Ever
The vision of a battery on every home becoming an integral part of the California grid represents a paradigm shift in how we perceive renewable energy. It transforms a smart home battery into a powerful asset
Times of San Diego by Mike Teresso October 25, 2023
Gavin Newsom’s War on Rooftop Solar Is a Bad Omen for the Country
“What our model finds is that when you account for the costs associated with distribution grid infrastructure, distributed energy resources can produce a pathway that is lower cost for all ratepayers and emits fewer greenhouse gas emissions,” said Dr. Christopher Clack of Vibrant Clean Energy. “Our study shows this is true even as California looks to electrify other energy sectors like transportation.” CounterPunch, August 15, 2024
California Rules are Crushing the Solar Industry
KPBS
San Diego Gas & Electric finishes at or near bottom of customer satisfaction studies
Rising monthly utility bills are a big reason SDG&E rates so low in the surveys of residential and business electric and gas customers. San Diego Union Tribune, September 10, 2023
In the state’s oversight of utilities, the interests of average Californians are ignored
SDG&E’s massive, growing earnings raise fundamental questions about how the California Public Utilities Commission handles its responsibilities
San Diego Union Tribune Editorial Board, November 30, 2023
Kauai became a clean energy leader. Its secret? A publicly owned grid. Making the island’s utility a cooperative resulted in cheaper and cleaner power. It could hold lessons for communities around the country debating local utility control. … the people of Kauai achieved it through collective ownership of the electricity grid, not by hoping profit-maximizing utilities find a way to balance the urgency of human-caused climate change with quarterly dividends for shareholders.
Average retail electricity rates in the for-profit Hawaiian Electric territory are higher today than they were a decade ago, per state data. Kauai’s rates have dropped from the highest in the state to the lowest, as KIUC shifted from costly imported fossil fuels to cheaper solar generation. Canary Media
San Diego utility customers furious about SDG&E rate hike request
KPBS | March 7, 2023
California regulators got an earful from San Diego Gas and Electric (SDG&E) customers upset about the utility’s request for an increase in revenue during their general rate case.“It’s unfair that they’re asking ratepayers to keep paying more and more,” said Paula Brandt of Poway. “Every time you open a bill from them they want to increase something.”The utility is asking regulators to approve about $3.6 billion in new revenue over the four-year period.
Schwarzenegger: We Put Solar Panels on 1 Million Roofs in California
“Installing panels on roofs is one of the fastest ways to produce renewable energy. They can be installed without complicated permitting or land fights, and they produce immediate reductions in dirty and dangerous emissions.” New York Times
Groups
Protect Our Communities Foundation
Fighting for Ratepayer Justice
San Diego Green New Deal Alliance
Working toward a San Diego region that achieves zero carbon by 2035 through a fair and just transition for workers and communities of concern, the creation of good family-sustaining union jobs, and the development of affordable, equitable, and inclusive communities powered by 100% clean, renewable energy.
San Diego 350 is building a movement to prevent the worst impacts of climate change and climate injustice through education and outreach, public policy advocacy, and mobilizing people to take action
San Diego Democrats for Environmental Action
Promoting sound environmental policy, leadership and responsibility in the San Diego County Democratic Party since 2014.
Activist San Diego is an information, communications and mobilization organization networking for social justice.
This group is here to help you BE THE CHANGE! We help members stay current and engaged while offering a supportive and uplifting venue for members to interact with each other via Facebook, email, and monthly meetings in San Diego.
North County Climate Change Alliance (San Diego)
The North County Climate Change Alliance is a volunteer-driven, grassroots, non-partisan, non-profit organization working to empower people and organizations in North San Diego County to Act Now on climate change through education, collaboration and mobilization.
Utility scale energy projects don’t belong in residential neighborhoods
Accelerating sustainable local energy production and storage through education, research, advocacy,technical advice and consulting.
The Climate Hub brings together San Diego-based organizations to expand and accelerate our collective efforts to achieve the transformational and equitable policy and infrastructure changes required to stop the immediate and dire threat of the climate crisis.
The Utility “Cost Shift” Fallacy: The accounting methods behind the utilities’ claims about rooftop solar. The Solar Rights Alliance wants you to have the right to make energy from the sun without unreasonable interference by the utilities.
Climate Advocacy Lab
Insights from Climate Justice Leaders
California Alliance for Community Energy (Northern California)
CACE envisions a community-based and democratized energy system which promotes affordable, resilient, local renewable energy resources, prioritizing low-income communities that have historically suffered inequitable access to essentials such as affordable energy and a healthy community.
Reclaim Our Power (Northern California)
From Monopoly Utility to Community Power
The Reclaim Our Power: Utility Justice Campaign’s focus is taking on California’s failed private utility model by pushing for a restructuring of the state’s energy system that would meet the needs of our most impacted communities—towards the vision of a new decentralized, democratized energy system in California.
Mothers Out Front (National)
Mobilizing for a Livable Climate
Regeneration
is a comprehensive approach to the climate crisis, one that weaves justice, climate, biodiversity, and human dignity into a tapestry of action, policy, and transformation that can end the climate crisis in one generation.
American Public Power Association (National)
The American Public Power Association is the voice of not-for-profit, community-owned utilities that power 2,000 towns and cities nationwide.