MCE’s standard electricity service is sourced primarily from renewable resources, but where does MCE’s power actually come from?
If you live in MCE’s service area (and haven’t opted out), all of your energy is sourced by MCE. However, the three electricity service options available to you from MCE (i.e., Light Green 60% renewable energy, Deep Green 100% renewable energy, and Local Sol 100% locally-produced solar) contain different power mixes.
MCE’s Energy Sources
MCE’s energy is largely procured from renewable sources. As of 2019, 61% of MCE’s Light Green standard electricity service comes from renewable sources such as wind, solar, geothermal, small hydroelectric, and biomass/biowaste. MCE’s Deep Green service is currently made up of 50% wind and 50% solar energy, while Local Sol is 100% solar energy from Marin.
MCE’s Power Content Label
MCE holds a number of short- and long-term contracts with a variety of power suppliers that make it possible to meet our customers’ energy needs. Like all California electricity suppliers, MCE sends our customers a notice called the Power Content Label, which shows the energy content of each of our service options, annually in October.
This year, in an effort to reduce paper waste and resources, we will be emailing a digital version to customers who have opted to receive paperless communications.
Building and Incentivizing Local and Statewide Renewable Energy Projects
In addition to contracts with larger power suppliers, MCE also supports local renewable project development through our Feed-In Tariff program which incentivizes local developers to build new renewable energy projects within our service area, supporting local jobs and economic growth. MCE purchases the non-polluting energy generated at these local sites, serving our customers with power generated closer to home.
MCE has invested over $1.6 billion in new renewable energy projects totaling over 683 megawatts of California power.
“MCE has contributed millions of dollars to new steel-in-the-ground, renewable energy projects in California. If you ask folks on the ground, and you come visit our sites, you can see that we’re building locally, and we’re doing it with the local community.” Shalini Swaroop, General Counsel & Director of Policy, MCE
MCE’s California energy projects have supported over 5,000 jobs and made renewable energy readily available to our member communities. We’re proud to support the green collar economy with local renewable projects like MCE Solar One, a 10.5 megawatt solar farm in Richmond, CA that supplies enough energy to power over 3,900 homes annually.
MCE is also the first Community Choice Aggregation program to include pollinator-friendly habitat requirements for new solar projects. These requirements will take even greater advantage of land where solar projects are built, ensuring that the space is used to generate clean energy for our customers, while providing much-needed habitat for pollinators such as bees and monarch butterflies.
