Business is key to innovative speed and scale climate solutions. The Climate Protection Campaign began Business for Clean Energy to support and showcase the many and varied North Bay companies rising to the clean energy challenge and are profiting at the same time. Members share best practices on sustainability and reducing carbon emissions.
Some examples:Redwood Hill Farms combines aggressive energy efficiency with a large solar installation.Soiland Company's new solar installation at their rock quarry incorporates a battery storage system to reduce costly demand spikes.The Ratto Group is electrifying their fleet of garbage trucks.Sonoma Wine Company installed the first Cogenra solar hot water heating installation in Sonoma County, saving energy and money.Sonoma Raceway uses 3,000 sheep to mow their weeds on acres of land.Beyers Costin Simon helped make a video to promote Carma Carpooling, a trailblazing project of the Climate Protection Campaign that uses smartphone technology to match and incent riders and drivers, and reduce traffic congestion and emissions.
Business for Clean Energy members use their clout to advocate for smart energy policies. Recently they pushed back on the California Public Utility Commission when they considered policies that would make it harder for businesses to finance solar installations. The group also succeeded in helping weaken state Assembly Bill 2145 intended to stop other communities from following Sonoma Clean Power's example.
Member businesses were instrumental in making Sonoma Clean Power a reality. They are now seeing their efforts bear fruit. Some commercial customers of Sonoma Clean Power will enjoy greener power at rates that are about 5 percent lower than PG&E’s. Sonoma Clean Power will keep an estimated $6 million circulating in the local economy this year that would otherwise have left the county.Energy symposium stimulates opportunities
Further savings, economic growth and added resilience to the electric system are envisioned using Sonoma Clean Power as a platform for innovation. To accelerate this, Business for Clean Energy is hosting a daylong symposium, called The Business for Local Energy, on Oct. 23 at the Petaluma Sheraton.
The keynote speaker is author Jigar Shah, founder of SunEdison and CEO of the Carbon War Room. He will address how the success of Sonoma Clean Power can be scaled up across California and the nation.
Joining Mr. Shah will be clean tech entrepreneurs from around the state, leading experts in the field, and operators of Sonoma Clean Power and MCE Clean Energy in Marin. All will describe how investments in local clean energy stimulate the bottom line for businesses....
Details on the symposium are at www.localenergybiz.com. Contact Barry Vesser, bvesser@climateprotection.org about the Business for Clean Energy program.
