Solar Rights Alliance Takes On CA Public Utilities, Booster Offers New Mobile EV Charging Service, Two Great Green Groups to Know–Green Tech Edu & The Alliance For Climate Education

SOLAR RIGHTS ALLIANCE TAKES ON CALIFORNIA PUBLIC UTILITIES

We often think of crunchy-granola California as one of the champions of renewable energy, and by the way, I can say “crunchy-granola California” because I’m southern Californian by birth. 

But On March 15th, California’s three investor-owned utilities submitted a joint proposal intended to pressure the CA Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) into making consumer solar two times more expensive than it is today. The utilities’ proposal would put solar out of reach for most working and middle class people, just when recent studies show they make up nearly 50% of today’s market. 

A new poll sponsored by the CA Solar & Storage Association and Solar Rights Alliance shows overwhelming public support for net metering, and for expanding solar power in general, and clear public opposition to efforts by utilities to gut net metering.  

That’s one reason why the Solar Rights Alliance was formed. It’s a statewide nonprofit association of California solar users including homeowners, businesses, other nonprofits and schools. According to its website, the Solar Rights Alliance believes that citizens have the right to “make energy from the sun on your property without unreasonable interference by the utility.” The SRA also believes that solar power is a valuable community resource, and that its value as such should be accounted for, like as a social benefit. And that’s why this action by the California public utilities matters to all of us.

DEEPER DIVE: CPUC, PGECURRENTS

BOOSTER ADDS PORTABLE EV CHARGING TO ITS FLEET OF TRUCKS

Imagine a fuel truck pulls up to your school, job or home and instead of connecting to the building to pump fuel into an underground tank, it instead pokes a nozzle into your neighbor’s, colleague’s or boss’s car and begins to gas it up. That’s the business model behind Booster Fuels.  

It’s a technology company that takes home delivery to a new level. Booster Fuels claims delivering fuel to the customer rather than making the customer go to the fuel is more efficient, offers “fresher” gas, and is more environmentally sustainable than the traditional method.

Positioned as “the technology platform for mobile energy delivery,” Booster JUST announced plans to add EV charging to the mix. That’s right. The company announced the expansion of its service to include on-demand electric vehicle (EV) charging. The pilot service will be available to select customers in the San Francisco Bay Area starting this summer, 2021, via the Booster app.

The company is building on its conventional energy capabilities to meet the increased demand for EVs, broadening the benefits of its service to potentially 500,000+ electric vehicles in California.

THIS MATTERS TO US BECAUSE: 

Booster Fuel’s mobile charging service demonstrates innovation in EV charging:  Two short-term major challenges addressed are inadequate charging infrastructure at existing customer locations; and how to charge your EV in the event of temporary brown/black outs? Mobile charging also addresses A Long-term problem, that EV sales will outpace charging station installation.

People who are on the fence about getting an EV b/c they’re difficult to charge soon won’t be able to make that claim.  Looking forward to it.

DEEPER DIVE: ChargedFleet, PV-Magazine, PR Newswire

GREENTECHEDU.org

Green Technical Education and Employment (Green Tech) is a community-based, non-profit organization registered with the United States government as a 501 c3 corporation charged with providing quality workforce skills, education and health strategies to maintain sustainable communities.

Green Tech is based in Sacramento, CA and is committed to providing career technical education, job creation, job training, and entrepreneurial opportunities in the green economic sector. The program serves as a critical economic development resource for youth from underprivileged backgrounds. Green Tech is charged with simultaneously developing clean energy workforce skills and reversing the negative human impact on our environment. 

In an effort to prepare youth and young adults with applicable skills to obtain high-wage employment and the ability to manage their own business enterprise, Green Tech offers programs including

• TUFFA—that’s Urban Farming, Forestry and Aquaponics
• Business Entrepreneurship
• Computer Programming
• Solar Technology and
• Pre-Apprentice Construction

One super notable program from GreenTech is the Net Zero Transportation Hub.

The central concept of the Green Tech Net Zero “mobility hub” is to help people get to work, job training, medical visits and general errands – in zero emission vehicles. Their mobility hub is a centralized place of connectivity in the frontline, ethnically diverse community of Del Paso Heights where different modes of travel – walking, biking, transit, and shared mobility – seamlessly converge. This transportation center provides an integrated suite of mobility services utilizing Electric Cars and Hydrogen Fuel Cell Vehicles. 

The Green Tech Net Zero Mobility Hub will provide jobs, education, outreach and access to training centers, workplaces, and medical care centers, minimizing negative environmental impact and improving lives throughout the community. Groundbreaking occurred in February 2021.

DEEPER DIVE: GreenTechEdu

ALLIANCE FOR CLIMATE EDUCATION

The Alliance for Climate Education trains young people on the science of climate change and empowers them to take action. Over half a million young people are part of the ACE Youth Action Network, doing great work in all 50 states.

ACE’s ace in the hole is their ability to bring stories of young people on the frontlines of climate change to life through videos, including first person videos on justice and activism. Among them: Tonyisha is an African-American asthmatic tackling climate justice and air pollution in her native Chicago; Vic in Wisconsin is a first generation American who is Latin X, Black and queer, and Brandon Kirk, is a sixth-generation white farmer dealing with both droughts and floods on his family farm in Kennesaw, GA.

ACE offers advocacy training through a year-long action fellowship. The Fellowship engages and supports young, emerging leaders from a variety of backgrounds, skills, and interests who demonstrate a passion for climate issues and want to make a positive impact in their community. According to the website ACE offers fellowships in NC, WI, FL, OH and PA. Currently, all fellowships are being conducted remotely.

High school students or recent ACE graduates (students who have been through the fellowship before) can apply. In addition to the training, students receive $200/semester.

Why does ACE matter to us? Because ACE

•   Builds knowledge of climate science, impacts, and solutions;
•   Develops skills in public communication, as well as planning and executing projects; and
•   Teaches participants to advocate for climate change solutions through writing, public speaking, or creative arts;

 In other words, ACE educates our climate change leaders of tomorrow, today.

DEEPER DIVE:  Alliance for Climate Education, Biological Diversity, greenmatters.com