March 1 Rate Change

On March 1, both SJCE and PG&E changed rates. Our rates continue to be competitive with PG&E, and we offer a variety of clean energy options to fit your business’ needs and sustainability goals.

• TotalGreen continues to be an easy, cost-effective solution for businesses that want to take climate leadership or meet sustainability goals by powering their business with 100% renewable and carbon-free energy. TotalGreen is Green-e certified by the Center for Resource Solutions and costs an extra $0.005 or $0.01 per kWh than our standard service GreenSource:
  • $0.005/kWh for medium and large commercial rate classes (A10, B10, E19, and B-19)
  • $0.01/kWh for small commercial, industrial, and all others (A1, B1, A6, B6, E20, B20, etc.)
  Commercial customers are choosing TotalGreen now more than ever. Email us if you’d like to see how much TotalGreen will cost your business.
• GreenSource continues to be SJCE's standard service, now with even more clean energy: 60% renewable energy and 95% carbon-free energy at competitive rates. That’s up from 45% renewable energy when we launched in 2019, and about 25% higher than the state average. Customer bills under GreenSource are about 4% higher than PG&E’s standard service.
• GreenValue is SJCE's lowest-cost service option that contains 40% renewable energy and 80% carbon-free energy. GreenValue rates are priced the same as PG&E standard rates, and this service option is open to all customers.
• We are proud to announce that we are now offering a 5% rate discount to our low-income customers through our SJ Cares program. Customers who receive discounts through CARE or FERA state programs will automatically receive more renewable energy at the lowest rates in San Jose.

Customers can choose GreenValue, GreenSource, or TotalGreen at any time online. For a detailed rate comparison, visit our Commercial Rates page.

SJCE Adds Long Duration Storage to Its Growing Portfolio

In a milestone move, SJCE joined six other community choice aggregators (CCAs) in a contract for 69 MW of long duration energy storage. SJCE is a member of California Community Power, the CCA Joint Powers Agency that entered into an agreement with REV Renewables for the Tumbleweed Project. REV Renewables will construct the lithium-ion battery storage resource in Kern County with an expected online date of 2026. The San Jose City Council approved SJCE’s participation in the joint contract and ability to procure up to 25 MW on March 9.

This came as the result of California Community Power’s Request for Offers for 500 MW of long-duration storage, the first major procurement for long duration storage. California Community Power is helping drive markets for new technologies.

California Community Power recently voted to enter into a second contract with Onward Energy for their 50 MW "Goal Line” long-duration energy storage project. The lithium-ion battery storage project will have eight hours of discharge duration with an expected online date of 2025. The San José City Council will vote on SJCE’s participation in this contract on May 3.

“CCAs are working together to meet California’s reliability goals and accelerate the transition to a carbon-free grid,” said SJCE Director Lori Mitchell. “Storage solutions like this one maximize the value of our renewable resources.”

California Community Power is comprised of ten CCAs that have joined to procure large-scale clean energy and reliability resources. The CCAs collectively serve 3 million customers in 145 California municipalities. By combining their buying power, CCAs can meet their local and state climate and reliability requirements more cost-effectively while maintaining local control. They can also invest in larger-scale projects than each CCA could on its own.

Celebrating New Renewables and Innovation

We let you know in December that our two new renewable energy and storage projects came online and began producing enough clean energy to power more than 250,000 San José homes annually.

On February 2, we commemorated the innovative Kern Solar Plus Battery Storage Project with a live virtual press conference. “We have enjoyed working with community choice aggregators like San José Clean Energy whose buying power has really been putting steel in the ground and innovating with us to tackle the state’s climate and reliability challenges," said Simon Day, Vice President and Head of Solar Development at Terra-Gen. “San José certainly is a climate leader, and their commitment has made this innovative project become a reality.”

Then, Deputy Director of Power Resources Jeanne Solé attended the dedication of the Western Spirit Wind, the wind farm that will produce 225 MW of emission-free power for SJCE. The Western Spirit Wind project is the largest single-phase build out of renewable energy in US history. Pattern also developed and constructed a 155-mile transmission line to connect the project to the California electric grid.

These investments will help advance grid reliability by providing renewable energy during more hours of the day. Their cost-effectiveness also supports SJCE’s ability to provide long-term rate stability.

Watch our videos on the 62 MW Kern Solar Plus Battery Storage Project and the 225 MW New Mexico Wind Farm.

You can look forward to more good news from us: two new SJCE projects are scheduled to come online by the end of 2022. By this time next year, more than half our load will be powered by newly constructed renewable energy sources.

Payment Plans Available for Paying Off Debt

Throughout the pandemic, electricity customers were protected from having their power turned off due to nonpayment. However, those protections ended on September 30, 2021. PG&E started non-residential disconnections in March.

Small businesses with balances more than 60 days past due were automatically enrolled in PG&E’s COVID Relief Payment Plan. Details of this payment plan can be found on PG&E’s website.

Larger commercial customers with overdue balances should call their PG&E representative or PG&E customer service to request a payment plan. Payment plans typically divide your outstanding balance over 12 months with 1/12 due each month (in addition to current charges). PG&E serves as SJCE’s billing agent, and any payment plan you set up with PG&E will include charges owed to SJCE. 

High Fossil Fuel Prices Show Need for Renewable Energy, Saving Energy

If ever there was a moment to highlight the short- and long-term economic benefits of investing in renewables, now is it. Inflation, world conflict, supply chain issues, and shortages are contributing to high fossil fuel costs. PG&E natural gas rates are up by about 90% over last year, which its spokespeople have attributed to high commodity costs. Renewables are cleaner and more reliable. They increase our energy independence and decrease price volatility.

According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, in the short term, high fossil fuel costs are driving up electricity market prices. An effective strategy for businesses to contain costs is to save energy where they can and adjust their usage as much as possible to follow time-of-use rate price signals. We encourage customers to shift peak demand to lower-cost hours as possible to avoid $15/kW demand charges.

The tense political and economic climate may result in a renewed sense of urgency at the national and international level to more quickly transition to carbon-free grids. In the meantime, rest assured we’ll be making progress toward a more renewable and resilient grid on behalf of San José.