NEVADA COUNTY, Calif. March 8, 2024 – Our community’s Energy Action Plan, put into effect by the Board of Supervisors unanimously 5 years ago, does many wonderful things for Nevada County in addition to laying out broad countywide goals of reducing our collective energy use over a 16-year period.

This is because the good news is that reducing our collective energy use doesn’t mean reducing our quality of life. As a matter of fact, quite the opposite will happen.

As these goals are reached – mostly during this decade – our community’s health will improve, our air will be cleaner, our local economy will be boosted, local jobs will be created, property values will be strengthened, and virtually every resident will be able to save money on their escalating energy costs.

Community resiliency will also be a key feature as well, as we continue to feel more pressure from the upheaval of natural forces that threaten homes and people, and provoke havoc across the county in every season.

For example, in a region that has historically led the state in solar system adoption rates, local renewable energy systems with battery storage and generator back-up will continue to become the norm, pushing us through outages that hit at any time of the year and can last days to weeks.

This growth in local power independence for as many Nevada County properties as possible is a key strategy of our Energy Action Plan, and will continue to be supported by a very mature and experienced local solar industry, where companies hire local workers who shop at local stores and supply houses.

This reverses the flow of money spent on energy by our citizens, from going out of town to PG&E every month, to staying in the community instead, where it recirculates and brings more benefits locally.

For many people in Nevada County, the idea of switching to solar or other forms of “greener” energy can be out of reach, however. Think of renters, apartment dwellers, and all the beautiful local shaded homes nestled in the woods.

For others, they may have a solar-ready property, but they may not qualify for financing, or have access to cash upfront, or may be ineligible for the federal tax credit.

So what can all these neighbors and community members do, if they want to save money off their PG&E bills, and switch to 100% renewable energy, and send less cash out of town to San Francisco?

Until two months ago, not much. PG&E has a 100% Solar Choice rate plan, but it came with limited availability, has a wait list, and rates for it come with a price premium, meaning your bills could go up $2-$10/mo for a cleaner power source.

One of our Energy Action Plan Working Group members is a local renter and years ago they switched to this special rate plan. Therefore PG&E has added solar capacity into their grid in order to cover their personal power use. But now it’s unavailable for new sign-ups. So what happened two months ago?

Well, as of January 2024, for those residents living within the city limits of Grass Valley and Nevada City, you are now finally able to sign up for Pioneer Community Energy’s Green100 rate plan.

It is actually a cheaper option than PG&E’s regular rates, and is 100% renewable energy, plus it additionally means that roughly half of every bill stays local rather than goes to PG&E. That’s win-win- win.

For example, for someone in Grass Valley or Nevada City who averages around $250/mo for PG&E electricity, they could switch to Pioneer’s Green100 rate and save $25/mo, paying closer to $225/mo.

See https://pioneercommunityenergy.org/residential/green100/ for more info.

Pioneer was formed in 2018 as a local nonprofit designed to serve residents of Placer County, by aggregating their collective buying power to give their community a choice of power sources. These are called Community Choice Aggregators, and now Pioneer serves Placer and El Dorado counties, as well as Nevada City and Grass Valley.

Nevada County hopes to jump onboard soon, when the timing is right, but for now, properties within Grass Valley and Nevada City can apply for Green100.

Are you a resident of our two twin cities? Would you like to be 100% renewable energy powered? And save hundreds of dollars per year by doing so? While keeping more of your money local?

Then consider switching to the Green100 rate plan from local nonprofit Pioneer Community Energy, and then use the savings to enhance your home’s efficiency further.

Stay tuned for more tips!

From Nevada County’s Energy Action Plan Working Group, a group made up of county staff, nonprofits, business leaders, and local citizens, who meet monthly to further the countywide goals