Press release: Campaign Launches to Unleash Clean Local Energy In California
California Leaders Praise Effort to Help Secure California’s World Leadership in Clean Energy.
April 26, 2011
For Immediate Release:
Campaign Launches to Unleash Clean Local Energy In California
California Leaders Praise Effort to Help Secure California’s World Leadership in Clean Energy
Palo Alto – A broad partnership of business, community, and environmental groups has come together to accelerate the development of California’s clean energy economy.
The Clean Coalition, a nonprofit clean energy policy organization based in Palo Alto, today announced the launch of the CLEAN California Campaign. The Campaign promotes policies to meet Governor Jerry Brown’s call to install 12,000 megawatts of new renewable energy projects in California communities by 2020. The Campaign’s initiatives will maximize clean energy job creation, attract billions of private investment dollars, boost state and local government budgets, and reduce electric bills.
The CLEAN California Partners include the Clean Economy Network, the Los Angeles Business Council, the US Green Building Council California Chapters, the Galvin Electricity Initiative, the Local Clean Energy Alliance, the American Biogas Council, Pacific Environment, Global Exchange, and many other organizations, including private companies. The full list of Partners is available at the Campaign’s website, www.EnergyJobsNow.org.
“It’s time to put hardworking Californians back to work,” said Assemblymember Das Williams. “I applaud the CLEAN California Partners for their leadership on creating clean energy jobs and protecting families from rising fossil fuel prices.”
“CLEAN Programs result in new clean energy projects on the ground right now,” said Terry Tamminen, former Secretary of the California Environmental Protection Agency and Special Advisor to former California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. “CLEAN projects are integrated into existing buildings and disturbed lands in our communities, without delays for new transmission lines or major environmental reviews.
“We need broad support to help California maintain its national leadership on climate policy action by driving the transition to a clean energy economy,” said former California Energy Commissioner John Geesman. “The CLEAN California Campaign will play a critical role in enacting policies that will create jobs, attract businesses and private investment dollars to our state, and set the foundation for our economic growth.”
“Clean Local Energy Accessible Now Programs are unparalleled in creating clean energy markets across the globe,” remarked Craig Lewis, the Executive Director of the Clean Coalition. “A CLEAN Program tailored for California will spur the development of our clean energy sector and fundamentally reform the process for connecting clean energy to the grid, in order to assure that clean local energy fulfills its tremendous potential.”
The Campaign will achieve Governor Brown’s energy target by making it easier to sell clean local energy to utilities and connect these projects to the grid. The Clean Coalition is leading the Campaign’s legislative and regulatory initiatives: (1) to require standard, long-term CLEAN Contracts for utilities to purchase energy from new projects; and (2) to make grid interconnection costs and timeframes reasonable and predictable. More information is available at www.EnergyJobsNow.org.
California business, community, and environmental leaders explained why they joined the CLEAN California Campaign.
“The defeat of Prop 23 was a huge victory in preserving California’s potential to lead the world in climate solutions. CLEAN California is a vital solution that will unleash the wholesale local energy market segment, which has largely been overlooked in the United States,” said Jeff Anderson, Executive Director of the Clean Economy Network.
“The time is now for California to adopt policies that attract investment in quality clean local energy projects, delight and empower electricity customers, protect businesses from escalating energy costs, and encourage U.S. entrepreneurial companies to create new clean tech jobs,” said Bob Galvin, retired CEO and Chairman of Motorola, Inc. and the Founder of the Galvin Electricity Initiative. “We are excited to help lead the charge for a statewide CLEAN Program transformation in California.”
Dennis Murphy, Chair of the California Chapters of the US Green Building Council, explained why he supports CLEAN California. “By streamlining the process of selling clean energy to utilities, a CLEAN Program will make it much easier for local businesses and property owners to finance and install clean energy systems. This is a clear opportunity for business and government to collaborate and capitalize on our state’s abundant sunshine and thousands of acres of available rooftop space.”
“CLEAN California will give new companies like Sol Orchard the market certainty to rapidly install more clean energy projects and hire more workers in local communities,” said Jeff Brothers, President of Sol Orchard.
“California needs new policies to take advantage of our organic waste resources,” said Paul Sellew, CEO of Harvest Power, Inc. and a Founding Member of the American Biogas Council. “CLEAN California will give Harvest the opportunity to develop more projects that transform organic wastes into clean, renewable biogas by making the process of contracting, financing, and interconnecting projects more predictable and reasonable.”
“Ramping up local clean energy is the best way to accelerate the replacement of polluting power plants while avoiding risks to environmentally sensitive land,” said Rory Cox from Pacific Environment.
According to a UC Berkeley study led by Dan Kammen, a robust CLEAN Program for achieving California’s 33 percent Renewables Portfolio Standard (RPS) will stimulate far greater economic benefits to the state, including three times more jobs, $50 billion in additional private investment, and significantly more state and local revenues. The US Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Lab (NREL) estimated that CLEAN Programs are responsible for 45 percent of all wind energy and 75 percent of all solar photovoltaic capacity installed before 2008. Currently, roughly 90 percent of the solar and the vast majority of biopower and wind capacity deployed in the world are driven by CLEAN Programs.
Contact:
Stephanie Wang
Program Director, Clean Coalition
Campaign Director, CLEAN California
steph@clean-coalition.org
212.433.0247 (mobile)
