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This month’s newsletter contains a heaping serving of financial jargon. We write about municipal non-recourse Clean Energy Project Revenue Bonds and Issuer Credit Ratings. While we do our best to summarize, here’s why these financial activities are so important: low rates for new renewable energy projects. EBCE is taking lessons learned in municipal and energy finance and applying those tactics to our procurement strategy. The result? Millions of dollars in savings that we can use for things like innovative local programs and lower customer bills.
If you need more than financial updates, check out the video of Chef Hanif Sadr preparing bademjan kebab on an induction cooktop!
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EBCE's Scott Haggerty Wind Energy Center in Livermore.
The bonds will support community clean energy goals across the Bay Area
Three Community Choice Aggregators (CCAs) - East Bay Community Energy, MCE, and Silicon Valley Clean Energy – have issued California’s first ever municipal non-recourse Clean Energy Project Revenue Bonds through the California Community Choice Financing Authority (CCCFA). Two separate bond issuances, valued at over $2 billion for thirty-year terms, support the purchase of clean electricity to serve over 2.5 million residents and businesses across the Bay Area and Central Valley.
The two Clean Energy Project Revenue Bonds prepay for the purchase of over 450 megawatts of clean electricity – enough to power 163,000 homes and reduce 765,000 metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions annually. These transactions will reduce renewable power costs by almost $7 million annually for the first 5-10 years. For decades, municipal utilities have used the prepayment structure as an industry standard practice to reduce costs for the purchase of natural gas. For the first time, these Revenue Bonds apply this structure to the purchase of clean electricity. Details here.
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We teamed up with Bay Area chef Hanif Sadr (Komaaj) to learn about his experience using induction cooking as a core component of his business. He shows us how to make North Iranian bademjan kebab (stuffed roasted eggplant) and how he forages for Northern Iranian fruits and spices in our own North Californian hills.
To learn more about induction cooking and how residents can save up to $300 and commercial kitchens can save up to $15,000 at ebce.org/induction.
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In 2022, EBCE will serve more than 150,000 electricity accounts with 100% wind and solar energy
Seven cities served by EBCE have taken an ambitious step in supporting renewable energy and combating climate change by transitioning most of their electricity supply to solar and wind sources via EBCE’s Renewable 100 program. The cities of Albany, Berkeley, Dublin, Hayward, Piedmont, Pleasanton, and San Leandro are choosing 100% clean sources for both their own municipal electricity accounts and for the electricity consumed by most local residents and businesses. This collective transition marks a 50% adoption rate of the Renewable 100 service among EBCE 14 member cities, which would place EBCE at the #2 spot nationally in number of green power customers, compared to all other electricity providers, according to the National Renewable Energy Lab annual rankings (PDF).
The City of Piedmont set Renewable 100 as the default service for residents when EBCE launched in 2018. The cities of Albany, Dublin, Hayward, and Pleasanton are transitioning customers to Renewable 100 in January 2022, with Berkeley and San Leandro following later in the year. Residential customers who are on income and/or medical-qualifying discounts – such as the California Alternate Rates for Energy (CARE) and Medical Baseline programs – will remain on Bright Choice (EBCE's money-saving service plan), as will commercial accounts in Dublin during the January 2022 transition. Details here.
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EBCE staff will be out of office starting Friday the 24th to 31st. EBCE staff will return to office the 3rd of January 2022.
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EBCE staff at Snow Park in Oakland (pre-pandemic).
EBCE reached a notable financial milestone last week by earning an ‘A’ issuer credit rating (ICR) from S&P Global Ratings.
The summary report, which can be found here, begins, “EBCE, a community choice aggregator (CCA) that began serving electricity in 2018, has quickly gained more than half a million customer accounts and, we believe, has achieved credit supportive financial results while offering competitive rates.”
“The credit rating is important for two reasons,” said EBCE CEO Nick Chaset. “For EBCE’s counterparties such as renewable energy project developers, it shows that we’re on solid financial footing, we’re low risk, and therefore we should be offered the best terms in our contracts. For EBCE customers, this should translate into better access to low-cost, long-term renewable energy supply for decades to come.”
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Community Advisory Committee | 1/17/22 at 6pm
Board of Directors | 1/19/22 at 5pm
Executive Committee | 1/28/22 at 12pm
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