Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) today launched PG&E’s
Solar Choice program, extending the option for 100 percent solar
power to customers who are not planning to install rooftop solar panels.
Customers can purchase half or all of their electric power from solar
energy locally sourced in Northern and Central California, reducing
their carbon footprint and driving the development of new solar
resources within the state.
Approximately half of U.S. households and businesses are unable to
install rooftop solar due to space, lack of sun exposure or ownership
limitations.1 For a modest charge, PG&E’s Solar Choice
program extends solar access and benefits to residential and business
customers regardless of their location or ability to physically install
rooftop solar. As the program develops, the solar energy purchased by
customers will be sourced from new solar projects built by developers
across PG&E’s service area, bringing new green jobs to Northern and
Central California.
“PG&E’s Solar Choice program is all about giving customers more choice
and control over their energy, and bringing the benefits of solar to our
communities. Our customers already enjoy some of the cleanest power in
the country. Now, they can directly contribute to bringing more
renewable energy onto the electric grid – a win for our customers and
for California,” said PG&E Senior Vice President and Chief Customer
Officer Laurie Giammona.
PG&E’s Solar Choice can help renters, homeowners, businesses and cities
meet their own sustainability, clean energy or climate goals.
Additionally, participating organizations could qualify for LEED points
for green building leadership as well as the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency’s (EPA) Green
Power Partnership for electricity generated from renewable resources.
Kelly Slater Wave Company is one of the first California businesses to
partner with PG&E’s Solar Choice to go 100 percent solar, purchasing
renewable energy with zero greenhouse gas emissions and lowering their
carbon footprint. The company is powering their new wave technology and
high-performance training center in California’s Central Valley.
“We are committed to encouraging sustainable development at any site
using our technology. As part of this commitment, we are pleased that
our first site in Central California is 100 percent powered by solar
energy through PG&E’s Solar Choice. This program allows Kelly Slater
Wave Company to not only be a pioneer in wave technology, but also in
supporting sustainable power initiatives as we act environmentally
through an alternative to installing solar panels and fulfill our vision
of building the best man-made wave,” said Noah Grimmett, General Manager
of Kelly Slater Wave Company.
PG&E recently announced
that all of its operations service centers – nearly 100 facilities in
Northern and Central California – will be 100 percent powered by solar
energy through PG&E’s Solar Choice program.
PG&E’s Solar Choice is part of the company's ongoing commitment to
support the growth of solar and enable customers to reduce greenhouse
gas emissions from their electricity usage. To date, more than 55
percent of the energy PG&E delivers to customers comes from sources that
emit no greenhouse gases. PG&E has already connected more than 215,000
solar customers to the grid and anticipates that PG&E’s Solar Choice
program will extend access to solar to approximately 40,000 additional
homes and businesses across the company’s service area.
PG&E’s Solar Choice program is Green-e®
Energy Certified. Green-e Energy is the nation's leading independent
consumer protection program for renewable energy, and sets environmental
and consumer-protection standards established by the nonprofit Center
for Resource Solutions.
Customers can visit www.pge.com/solarchoice
to learn more about the new program. View the online
tool for more details on the monthly charge and environmental impact
associated with signing up for PG&E’s Solar Choice.
About PG&E
Pacific Gas and Electric Company, a subsidiary of PG&E
Corporation (NYSE:PCG), is one of the largest combined natural gas
and electric utilities in the United States. Based in San Francisco,
with more than 20,000 employees, the company delivers some of the
nation’s cleanest energy to nearly 16 million people in Northern and
Central California. For more information, visit www.pge.com/
and www.pge.com/en/about/newsroom/index.page.
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1 National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Shared Solar: Current
Landscape, Market Potential, and the Impact of Federal Securities
Regulation, April 2015, http://www.nrel.gov/docs/fy15osti/63892.pdf.
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