Goleta city facilities move to 100% renewable energy
GOLETA, Calif. – The City of Goleta announced its city facilities will move to 100% renewable energy.
The City provided more information in the following press release:
GOLETA, CA, May 8, 2024 – The City of Goleta is poised to meet and exceed municipal renewable energy goals earlier than expected following action by the Goleta City Council. Last night, May 7th, the Council unanimously approved moving to powering all City facilities with 100% clean, renewable energy through the City’s Community Choice Aggregator Central Coast Community Energy (3CE), starting in July.
"Moving to 100% renewable energy is a significant step the City of Goleta is taking to combat climate change. We all need to do our part, by taking action and leading by example," Mayor Paula Perotte said. "By powering our Community Center, library, City Hall, streetlights, and other facilities with solar and wind, we'll be cutting the City's greenhouse gas emissions, and we hope to inspire others to join us in this effort."
Goleta will join other cities in working to meet California Senate Bill 100 mandate early — to power 100% of the state's electricity consumption with zero-carbon, clean renewable energy electricity by 2045. The City of Goleta has a goal to reach 100% renewable energy by 2030 and an interim goal to power municipal facilities with 50% renewable electricity by 2025.
Powering Goleta’s municipal facilities and streetlights with 100% clean electricity encourages the continued development of renewable energy in California by 3CE. 3CE offers two rate options: 3C Choice at 35.8% renewable content (2022 Power Content Label) and 3C Prime, which provides 100% renewable content at a premium added cost of $0.008/kilowatt hour. In advance of 2030, cities in 3CE territory can “opt up” to 100% renewable electricity at any time through 3C Prime to purchase up to 100% renewable, clean electricity - procured from non-polluting, clean and renewable sources with an approximate 50/50 split using solar and wind.
“Cities are on the front lines when it comes to combating climate change. Cities like Goleta are also leading the world in reducing carbon emissions through aggressive policies and adoption of clean technologies,” said the City’s Sustainability Manager, Dana Murray. “The City of Goleta has a strong history of taking climate action and moving towards sustainability, and how much renewable energy is in our municipal electricity has a direct correlation with lowering greenhouse gas emissions.”
With Goleta City Hall already running on solar energy generated by the Monarch Solar Array since August 25, 2022, the solar PV system powers 84% of City Hall electricity usage, saving the City roughly $6,000 and avoiding 75.7 metric tons of CO2 emissions in its first year of operation. The remainder of Goleta’s municipal electricity usage for all facilities and City-owned streetlights is 245.6 metric tons of CO2 emitted. Moving the City’s municipal electricity accounts to 3C Prime and 100% clean, renewable energy would effectively reduce those carbon emissions to zero, reducing the City’s total municipal GHG emissions by approximately 20%.
You can help by taking action and being part of the City’s Go Green Goleta initiative. Our tomorrow is today! Find out how you can help at www.GoGreenGoleta.org. You too can opt-up your electricity account to 3C Prime by visiting 3ce.org or calling 1-877-455-2223.
