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At its regular Board meeting on June 20, the Marina Coast Water District Board of Directors authorized the purchase of 100% renewable energy to meet its power needs. The switch to 100% renewable energy will cut the District’s greenhouse gas emissions by over 50%, allowing the District to provide water and wastewater services more sustainably.
The transition to 100% renewable energy will prevent roughly 250 metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions from entering the environment each year. The renewable energy sources — 50% wind and 50% solar — will be purchased from Central Coast Community Energy (3CE). The increase in cost for the District to purchase 100% renewable energy is only about $1 per year per water user.
The Board also received a District-wide Greenhouse Gas Baseline Inventory as an initiation of the Climate Action Planning process. The 2018 Baseline Inventory assessed the District’s greenhouse gas emissions and outlined possible actions to reduce District emissions, including the transition to 100% renewable energy.
Looking to the future, the Board of Directors established an Ad Hoc Committee to focus on the District’s Climate Action Plan including mitigation and adaptation strategies moving forward. The Committee will work with staff to review recommendations for the Plan that may include adding solar and battery storage systems; converting to an electrically powered vehicle fleet; providing incentives for employees to carpool, take transit, and bike to work; as well as many other actions.
District Board President Jan Shriner commented how pleased she and the rest of the Board are “to be able to support the great work contained for the Climate Action Plan.” She also thanked “the team responsible for the work, especially District Water Resources Manager Patrick Breen, CivicSpark Fellow Amelia Cane, and Director Matt Zefferman for his expert review and support of the team.”
These climate actions are just a few of the many that the District takes to provide water services that are safe, affordable, reliable, and sustainable.
