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San Jose Clean Energy Service Gets Cleaner in 2020, Rates Remain 1% Below PG&E
San José Clean Energy (SJCE) rang in the new year with cleaner electricity! Our default electricity generation service GreenSource is now 86% carbon-free, including 45% renewable energy from wind and solar. In 2019, we offered 80% carbon-free energy.
Despite a 6% increase in carbon-free energy compared to 2019, we will maintain our 1% rate discount relative to PG&E standard service. The rate discount takes into account PG&E added fees.
SJCE customers can also upgrade to 100% renewable energy by choosing our TotalGreen service. TotalGreen costs the average home about $5 extra per month. Join the 1,200+ San José residents and businesses by signing up today!
SJCE is San José's new electricity generation provider, bringing residents and businesses cleaner and cheaper electricity than PG&E. Operated by the City of San José's Community Energy Department, SJCE launched service to most residents and businesses in February 2019. PG&E continues to deliver the electricity, maintain their powerlines, and provide billing.
Renewable and Carbon-Free Energy – What’s the difference?
Renewable energy is produced from resources that are never depleted such as wind and solar. Renewable energy is carbon-free because it does not release greenhouse gases. This is in contrast to fossil fuels which emit large amounts of carbon dioxide, methane and other greenhouse gases when burned, polluting the environment and causing climate change.
But not all carbon-free energy is considered renewable. Carbon-free energy is not renewable if it has harmful environmental impacts. For compliance with California’s Renewable Portfolio Standard rules, nuclear and hydropower are considered carbon-free but NOT renewable due to the impact of nuclear waste and dams.
- Examples of renewable energy sources: wind, solar, biomass, geothermal, and small hydropower
- Examples of carbon-free energy sources: larger hydropower and nuclear as well as all renewable energy resources listed above
- Examples of fossil fuel energy sources: natural gas, coal and oil
San José Clean Energy’s default GreenSource product contains 45% renewable energy from solar, wind and geothermal and 41% carbon-free energy from large hydropower. It is 86% carbon-free overall.
Benefits of Renewable Energy
Renewables are not only better for the environment, but are also becoming cheaper than traditional resources! Unlike fossil fuels, the price of renewable energy is stable in the long-term because there are no fuel costs. Coal and natural gas prices can cause surges in energy costs when fuel supplies become strained, so relying on abundant solar and wind energy helps us keep rates low and stable.
The benefits of renewable energy don’t stop with low, stable prices. It’s good for our health too! When fossil fuel energy is replaced with wind or solar, for example, the air we breathe and the water we drink gets cleaner.
When SJCE buys and builds green power, this has an added bonus of creating more clean energy jobs. Having control over our future energy supply allows the community to support projects that build a cleaner, greener economy.
SJCE is proud to support the city’s and state’s movement towards a more sustainable future for our families and future generations:
- Climate Smart San José, San José’s climate action plan
- California SB 100, requiring 100% clean energy by 2045
- California Energy Commission 2019 Building Energy Efficiency Standards, requiring solar panels on new homes beginning 2020