The Sustainable Economies Law Center's Community Renewable Energy Program works to facilitate collective ownership of community renewable energy projects by advocating for laws and regulations, educating the public, providing legal services, and building coalitions.

Key program objectives include:

• Engagement of community members as planners, decision-makers, and owners;
• Expanding access to a diverse group of consumers;
• Using locally based assets, keeping money local, and creating local green jobs;
• Lowering energy costs and providing a return on investment; and
• Minimizing environmental impacts and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Elements of community renewable energy projects include:

• Electricity generated by a renewable energy system that can “island” off the grid;
• Ownership by a community;
• Financing from community members;
• Collective management and control of the facility and associated jobs;
• Promotion of economic resilience from lower electric bills, net metering credits, and a return on investment, as well energy resilience in the event of climate-related grid outages.

What we’re delving into:

Legislative and Regulatory Advocacy

• Current: Securities law reform ☀ Intervention in regulatory proceedings ☀ Utility-managed shared renewables
• Planned: Virtual net metering ☀ Community Choice Aggregation ☀Tax incentives ☀Incubating a 501(c)(4) policy advocacy center

Education and Communication

• Current: Profiling legal frameworks for energy ownership, governance, and financing ☀ Creating a lexicon of legal models for community renewable energy
• Planned: Drafting model legal documents for communities ☀Creating cartoons and videos about community energy models ☀ Publishing Plain-English legal guides

Legal Services

• Current: Walk-in legal advice clinics for community groups ☀ Training a new generation of lawyers to provide support to community renewable projects
• Planned: Providing full legal representation to model organizations ☀ Securities law compliance for renewable financing projects ☀ Worker-ownership of clean energy jobs ☀ Cooperative conversions ☀ Incubating new law centers across the U.S.

Coalition and Movement Building

• Current: Teach-Ins, discussions, and community workshops ☀ East Bay Clean Power Alliance ☀ Oakland Climate Action Coalition

Why are we enthusiastically promoting renewable energy cooperatives?

Cooperatives are helping to reawaken an ancient wisdom about living together in community, building community wellbeing, and supporting resilient local economies – principles largely lost in today’s large corporate economy. We believe that renewable energy cooperatives should be an integral part of the grassroots sharing economy. Rural energy cooperatives have been around for many years. It is time to make this option more readily available to diverse communities in urban areas to enable the transition to clean energy and resilient local economies.

What: Growing Clean Energy Jobs in Oakland

When: Saturday, April 5 from 11 am to 2 pm

Where: Youth Uprising - 8711 MacArthur Blvd in East Oakland.

Who: East Oakland community organizations, schools, youth, families, and green job training organizations, solar and energy efficiency businesses, unions, worker justice organizations and food justice organizations.

Click here to view or download the flyer.

Big win for community choice energy

Posted by Yassi Eskandari · September 11, 2014 1:51 PM · 1 reaction

Upcoming Event with our Partners: Oakland Climate Action Coalition & Local Clean Energy Alliance

Posted by Sustainable Economies Law Center · February 28, 2014 4:51 PM

Sustainable Economies Law Center Files Reply Comments on the Revised Testimonies of PG&E and SDG&E

Posted by Sustainable Economies Law Center · December 20, 2013 12:00 PM

Overall, the Sustainable Economies Law Center advocates for a more in-depth community-based renewable energy proposal from both PG&E and SDG&E as well as clear guidelines for implementation.  In doing so, SELC defines true community-based renewable projects to include the following attributes:

On December 20, 2013, the Sustainable Economies Law Center filed its Reply Comments in the CPUC proceeding.  The CPUC is reviewing how California's three investor-owned utilities propose to implement the newly enacted SB 43, which established a 600 MW distributed renewable energy pilot program.

On November 12, the Sustainable Economies Law Center became an official party to a proceeding at the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC). Our intention is to help implement Senate Bill (SB) 43, the Green Tariff Shared Renewables Program, which was signed into law last month.  SB 43 establishes a 600 MW pilot program – the largest distributed generation goal in the nation – and allows customers of California’s three investor-owned utilities (IOUs) to subscribe to a shared renewable energy facility in their service territory and receive a credit in their monthly utility bill.

THE DEVIL IS IN THE DETAILS.

On November 12, the Sustainable Economies Law Center became an official party to a proceeding at the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC). Our intention is to help implement Senate Bill (SB) 43, the Green Tariff Shared Renewables Program, which was signed into law in October of 2013.  SB 43 establishes a 600 MW pilot program – the largest distributed generation goal in the nation – and allows customers of California’s three investor-owned utilities (IOUs) to subscribe to a shared renewable energy facility in their service territory and receive a credit in their monthly utility bill.

But the devil is in the details.