Quantum Quote: “Community Choice Aggregation (CCA) is something that brings in a beautiful win- win scenario. It’s a program that allows towns,cities and villages to pass a local law, decide how they want to administer the program to get their power, and then go out into the marketplace with all that aggregate demand to purchase renewable electricity – and get it for less than people have been paying for dirty power.”
What if you can join together with your community to have a sustainable source of energy?
What if you can help with climate change and provide your children with a better place to live?
Do you want to use your buying power in cooperation with your community to aggregate demand and gain leverage to negotiate better electricity rates with competitive suppliers and choose greener power sources?
Jeffrey Domanski has worked for more than 25 years as a multi-disciplined environmental professional focused on sound economic development and resource conservation strategies in the built environment. He is also the executive director of a nonprofit called the Center for Economic and Environmental Partnership.
In this episode, Jeffrey talks how Community Choice Aggregation (CCA) programs allow communities to procure power on behalf of their residents, businesses, and municipal accounts from an alternative supplier – while still receiving transmission and distribution service from their existing utility provider in a more wholesome, environment-friendly, no hassle way – with less expense and many consumer safeguards and cost advantages.
CCAs are an attractive option for communities that want more local control over their electricity sources, more green power than is offered by the default utility, and/or lower electricity prices.
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SuperNova #1: “A very common question that we get from people is, ‘Are you replacing my utility?’ A lot of people have an interesting relationship with their utility. But most people are concerned about losing reliability With a CCA, they keep the utility’s distribution and reliability – but now have a better, more environmentally responsible, and less expensive electricity supply.”
SuperNova #2: “[on CCA’s consumer protection ] It’s simple. You’re not locked into anything, you can opt-in and opt-out at will.
SuperNova #3: “We’re [Community Choice Aggregation] a resource to the community, to make sure that they know what’s happening with the programs and how it compares to what’s happening in the marketplace, what’s coming on the horizon, and what they should be looking for.”
SuperNova #4: Nine states – California, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Rhode Island and Virginia – have enacted Community Choice Aggregation (CCA) legislation that empowers local governments to aggregate the electricity loads of residents, businesses, and/or municipal facilities. In 2016, community choice aggregations sold 8.7 billion kilowatt-hours of green power to 3.3 million customers. A number of other states are also exploring CCAs. To learn more on the status of states’ efforts to enact CCA-enabling legislation, visit: http://www.leanenergyus.org/cca-by-state/.
Worst Clean Energy Moment: “I’d say it was kind of the arc of the career. It was a bit of an extended bad moment where I’d worked for a number of years as a technical resource, a technocrat of sorts, and recognized that we were not changing the world that we worked in.”
Ah-Ha: “That sad realization about the way people think and act on environmental and energy issues was also coupled with that aha moment about how to change behavior – and that’s really had an impact.”
Best Advice: “Have low expectations.”
Personal Success: “Good record keeping and project management.”
Internet Resources: Living on earth podcast resource.
Book Recommendation: Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth And Happiness By Richard H. Thaler and Cass R Sustein
Magic Wand: “I just want to just put a bubble around my kids in a very unobtrusive way, just to protect them. Because they’re phenomenal people. I got two kids. And I can’t wait to see the impact they have on the world.”
WTF or F: “A nominally downpouring experience of hiking the Adirondacks.”
One thing that Energizes Jeff today: ‘Being a crazed evangelist about behavioral strategies.”
Parting Advice: “Remember that we are storytelling animals. If you want somebody to be moved – tell a story. That’s really essential. That is how we remember and what motivates and moves us. And so that’s a really worthwhile effort.”
Connect:
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/sustainbehavior?lang=en
- Website: https://www.hudsonvalleyenergy.org/
- email: jeff@hudsonvalleyenergy.org
- Linkedin:https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffrey-domanski-484aa34/
