Includes New Optional Community Benefit and Equity Metrics

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 10, 2021

MCE Press Contact:
Jenna Famular, Marketing & Communications Manager
(925) 378-6747 | jfamular@mcecleanenergy.org

SAN RAFAEL and CONCORD, Calif. — As part of MCE’s mission to reduce energy-related greenhouse gas emissions by offering customers renewable energy at competitive rates, MCE is pleased to announce our upcoming 2021 Open Season procurement process. MCE’s Open Season provides a competitive opportunity for qualified suppliers of energy and energy storage products to help further MCE’s clean power purchasing and community reinvestment goals.

For the first time, MCE’s Open Season solicitation will encourage suppliers to consider community benefits and equity metrics when submitting offers. While these optional elements are not required, MCE will prioritize offers that include them, consistent with MCE’s Sustainable Workforce and Diversity Policy adopted by MCE’s Board of Directors in 2018.

“MCE is excited to announce our 2021 Open Season, with a new focus on encouraging energy equity through our power purchasing,” said Vicken Kasarjian, MCE COO. “Diversity, equity, and inclusion are at the core of MCE’s work. By including new optional elements in our 2021 solicitation, we are able to ask for a greater commitment from our energy suppliers as well.”

Some of the optional elements that MCE is soliciting in offers as part of this Open Season include:

  • Support for educational programs, environmental justice initiatives, and workforce development and training initiatives;
  • Participation of contractors, subcontractors, or businesses owned by Disabled Veterans, located in a designated Disadvantaged Community, or employing workers living in a designated Disadvantaged Community and;
  • Use of components and materials manufactured or assembled in the United States.

MCE will begin accepting offers for our 2021 Open Season solicitation on Friday, April 9, 2021. The following energy procurement products will be included in this solicitation: 1) Portfolio Content Category One (PCC1) Renewable Energy (Note: Solar resources must be paired with storage); 2) Front of the Meter, Stand-Alone Energy Storage.

All offers will be due on Friday, May 7, 2021 by 5:00 PM Pacific Standard Time. Instructions and documents for the 2021 Open Season Request for Offers will be available on MCE’s website at www.mceCleanEnergy.org/energy-procurement. Please direct any questions regarding the process to rfo@mceCleanEnergy.org.

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About MCE: As California’s first Community Choice Aggregation Program, MCE is a groundbreaking, not-for-profit, public agency that has been setting the standard for energy innovation in our communities since 2010.  MCE offers cleaner power at stable rates, significantly reducing energy-related greenhouse emissions and enabling millions of dollars of reinvestment in local energy programs. MCE is a load-serving entity supporting a 1,200 MW peak load. MCE provides electricity service to more than 480,000 customer accounts and more than one million residents and businesses in 36 member communities across four Bay Area counties: Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, and Solano. For more information about MCE, visit mceCleanEnergy.org, or follow us on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram.

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