The Future of Electricity in California and the World
Over the past decade, the cost of renewable electricity from wind and solar has declined radically. Solar photovoltaic microgrids with battery storage, load reduction and ancillary services offer a viable local and more near-term strategy for addressing the problems posed in California by the existing, privately-owned and operated power transmission and distribution system. With such systems, communities and customers will no longer need to rely on large, far away, mostly carbon-powered utilities and generating plants. In place of a monolithic, top-down utilities, renewable microgrids offer a bottom-up solution that is far more stable, resilient, and compatible with widespread development of renewable energy resources and the necessary transition away from fossil fuels. The well-being of tens of millions of people will no longer be in the hands of a distant, profit-oriented utility but, rather, up to local owners, operators and decision-makers committed to their communities’ well-being.
SSRF is collaborating with a number of partners to launch community-based renewable electricity projects that will help California meet its climate and electrification goals and contribute to the ending of poverty in California. You can learn more about our work by clicking on the links below.
- A Community Energy Strategy for Santa Cruz
- End Poverty in California
- The Pippin Orchard Solar Project
- A Political Analysis of Microgrids & California’s Over-the-Fence Rule
- Community choice aggregators to lead microgrid revolution: Why Private Electric Utilities are Doomed
- W(h)ither Pacific Gas & Electric? The Future of Electricity in California
- Additional Readings and Resources on Electricity and Solar
- NEW! Solar Scorecard