On Tuesday, January 13, 2015 the Santa Monica City Council voted to approve a resolution to participate in a Community Choice Aggregation (CCA) study, thereby joining Hermosa Beach and Manhattan Beach in our South Bay Clean Power initiative.

Santa Monica has long been interested in its Community Choice options and joined the South Bay Clean Power efforts when they learned about our initiative and plans last summer.  We are thrilled to have our another world-famous Southern California Beach City participating, especially one with as long a sustainable history as Santa Monica has. On Tuesday, January 20, the City of Redondo Beach has the same resolution on their agenda‘s consent calendar where it is expected to pass, making Redondo the 4th city – and 4th world-famous beach city – in this effort that is quickly growing momentum. We are hopeful that the City of Torrance will follow suit one week later, on Tuesday, January 27, to become City Number Five, the largest and biggest electric power user of all in our initiative.

None of this is happening by accident. It is in fact part of a strategy designed last summer by our volunteer citizens working group that calls for all 15 cities of the South Bay Cities Council of Governments to become partners in a Community Choice Power program. The City of Santa Monica is now part of our revised 16 city plan. That plan, which we outlined at our November 18, 2014 South Bay CCA Study Session in Hermosa Beach calls for the five cities who will have passed resolutions by the end of January to be joined by the cities of Carson and Inglewood to then form the seven core cities that we envision as the foundation of the South Bay Clean Power program. Why those seven cities? Well for one thing, their combined power usage exceeds that of either Marin Clean Energy or Sonoma Clean Power’s launch numbers. For another thing, it is our obligation to offer community choice clean power and all its benefits to the working class front line communities who need it most and whose residents suffer the worst impacts of air pollution from the freeways that run through their neighborhoods and the heavy toxic industries near their homes. We believe it would be unjust to concentrate the environmental and economic benefits of Community Choice Power on the upscale beach communities – and frankly unwise business strategy as well. The largest electric power user in our initiative is the City of Torrance who also has 84 brownfield sites with a potential for 544 MW of solar power production. We have already held meetings with elected representatives, city staff and citizen supporters in the City of Carson and we hope to work with that city to also offer their residents and businesses cleaner energy, new jobs, local investments and lower electric rates. Next on our list is the City of Inglewood and if we are fortunate enough to have them partner with us in this South Bay Clean Power initiative then we are confident that with that powerful an ensuing foundation we can secure funding to proceed with the necessary feasibility study and be on our way. Our vision is a 16 city Community Choice Power Program that takes us to 100% renewable power faster than anyone ever dreamed possible.