This past May, Humboldt County became the eighth local jurisdiction in California to provide Community Choice Energy to its residents and businesses. Humboldt joined Sonoma, Marin, Mendocino, and several other counties and cities now offering an alternative way to buy electricity.

For years, investor-owned utilities like PG&E have been the only choice for most Californians when it comes to electricity supply. A state law adopted in 2003 allows local governments to procure electricity on behalf of local customers, with power delivery still handled by the local utility. This has allowed customers access to lower rates and more renewable power, with lower greenhouse gas emissions.

Humboldt County’s program comes courtesy of Redwood Coast Energy Authority, a trusted provider of energy efficiency services for over a decade. We’re pleased that the community has welcomed the program, with nearly 95% of electric customers choosing to take advantage of our cost savings and locally controlled service. Community Choice Energy is now available throughout the county, with the exception of Ferndale, which will join the program early in 2018.

In addition to our base program, which now provides over 40% renewable power to the county, we offer a 100% renewable REpower+ option. An average household pays just five to six dollars extra per month for this service. Two local municipalities, the Cities of Blue Lake and Arcata, have chosen to switch all their public facilities over to REpower+ and are now powering their operations on 100% renewable electricity.

Community Choice Energy is made possible by ratepayer dollars. At the same time we’re helping utility customers cut their electric bills, we’re also setting aside a portion of revenues that will be used to build new renewable energy projects, creating clean industry jobs for the people of Humboldt County.

Speaking of the people of Humboldt, all of you helped develop and set direction for this new program through the workshops and surveys you participated in during planning and startup. We continue to welcome the public to our monthly Board meetings – come let us know what you think. See our website for meeting schedules and agendas.