Central Coast Community Energy (3CE) representatives briefed the Salinas City Council on Oct. 14 about the agency’s renewable energy contracts, battery-storage projects, customer incentive programs and recent legislation affecting federal tax credits.

Sophia Schwartzke, community relations manager for 3CE, said the agency serves about 1.2 million people across 30 cities and five counties and is on a pathway to supply 69% of its load with renewable energy by October 2028. "Battery storage is essential to creating a cleaner, more reliable, and affordable energy future," Schwartzke said, adding that batteries store excess renewable generation for use during peak evening hours.

Schwartzke showed council members graphs comparing California’s grid during past heat waves, and said battery storage growth helped the state avoid flex alerts during a recent July heat wave. She also described 3CE investments in projects including Willow Rock (a compressed-air energy storage project expected to provide 200 megawatts to 3CE customers) and several solar-plus-storage contracts.

On local programs, Schwartzke said Salinas has received more than $2.83 million from 3CE programs to date, and highlighted incentives such as an Electrify Your Ride rebate (up to $4,000 toward an electric vehicle) and residential battery rebates (base incentive $300 per kilowatt-hour; higher amounts for customers receiving bill-assistance programs). She noted some federal incentives are scheduled to expire and encouraged eligible customers to act while federal tax credits remain available.

Schwartzke also summarized recent and pending legislation: she said 3CE supported Senate Bill 283, which raised battery safety standards and was signed into law; she described the Pathways Initiative (Assembly Bill 825, formerly SB 540) to enable a broader regional market; and she said HR 1 altered federal tax credits for home energy upgrades and certain utility-scale projects. Council members asked for a written legislative update and for more information about customer-service procedures, program eligibility and project siting; Schwartzke agreed to provide follow-up materials.

Why it matters: 3CE’s procurement choices and customer programs affect local energy affordability, incentives available to residents and the region’s progress toward cleaner power. Council members asked about program accessibility for low-income customers and local workforce benefits.

What’s next: 3CE will provide a written legislative update and additional program details to the city clerk and staff will coordinate with the city’s sustainability analyst on use of available funds.