Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Energy And Climate topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Central Coast Community Energy tells Carmel council it increased renewable supply, highlights local rebates and battery projects
Summary
3CE officials updated the council on contracts, battery storage projects and local customer programs, saying the agency now serves about 1.2 million people and is funding electrification rebates for Carmel-by-the-Sea.
Central Coast Community Energy (3CE) staff told the Carmel-by-the-Sea City Council Aug. 5 that the agency is expanding renewable energy contracts and battery storage projects while offering rebates and programs that local residents and the city can use.
Catherine Steadman, chief communications officer for 3CE, said 3CE serves about 1,200,000 people (roughly 94% of eligible customers) across 30 cities and five counties on the Central Coast. Last year 3CE reported delivering about 409 megawatts of renewable energy and avoiding roughly 445,000 metric tons of carbon-dioxide-equivalent emissions, Steadman said.
Steadman described several utility-scale and distributed projects under contract or development, including compressed-air storage at the Willow Rock Energy Storage Center and three solar-plus-storage projects (Iratina Solar Plus Storage, Atlas Solar, Victory Pass Solar Plus Storage) that together would supply energy for more than 263,000 customer homes when online. She said 3CE has contracts to supply about 64% of its total load with renewable energy by October 2028 and was pursuing additional contracts.
Steadman also reviewed customer programs available to Carmel-by-the-Sea residents: Electrify Your Ride (up to $4,000 toward qualifying EV purchases), residential battery rebates, electrify-your-home incentives and commercial electrification programs. She said 3CE has budgeted more than $300,000 in program funding for Carmel-by-the-Sea this year and had invested roughly $632,000 to date in the city's programs.
On policy issues, 3CE staff warned about potential changes in federal tax incentives and discussed a proposed regional market concept called "Pathways" that could let Western states trade renewables to reduce costs and emissions.
Councilmembers thanked 3CE for the briefing and asked staff to follow up on community outreach and opportunities for city participation in fleet and construction electrification programs.
Provenance: 3CE presentation and Q&A occurred during the early evening agenda.
