Sometimes it pays to be green. Starting this May, twenty-thousand Sonoma County residents will switch from the region’s dominant utility, Pacific Gas & Electric Co., to the new Sonoma Clean Power, a public clean energy utility that supplies renewable electricity to residents at a discount.
As the San Francisco Chronicle reports, not only are residents gaining control of their sources of power — including the ability to choose more solar and wind power — they’ll also have the option of supporting the sustainable effort. If customers choose the basic service, CleanStart, they’ll save 2.3 percent on electricity bills compared with PG&E.  Geof Syphers, the new chief executive officer of Sonoma Clean Power said that due to its mix of sources, the power is 30 percent lower in greenhouse gas emissions than PG&E’s. But if customers choose a second service option called EverGreen, they’ll get 100 percent renewable power that’s drawn from a geothermal field. This service–designed for those who don’t mind paying for clean energy at a premium–will raise a customer’s bill by roughly 20 percent and make them a part of the county’s clean energy cause.
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Chief Syphers assured his soon-to-be customers that going public won’t disrupt service: “There will be no interruption in service or change in reliability. The only difference will be that participating customers will save money and receive cleaner electricity.” That sounds like a win for Sonoma residents and the environment.