Silicon Valley Clean Energy (SVCE) is the public, not-for-profit agency providing clean electricity for residents and businesses across 13 communities, including Campbell, Cupertino, Gilroy, Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, Los Gatos, Milpitas, Monte Sereno, Morgan Hill, Mountain View, Saratoga, Sunnyvale and unincorporated Santa Clara County. SVCE generates clean electricity for customers to use in homes and businesses and PG&E delivers this electricity through their existing power lines. SVCE power is provided is at competitive prices and comes from clean and renewable sources such as solar, wind, geothermal, and hydropower. This type of model is known as Community Choice Aggregation (CCA) or Community Choice Energy. For residents and businesses in the service area, SVCE is your local community choice energy provider.
The electricity you receive at your home or business is generated from clean and renewable sources procured by Silicon Valley Clean Energy. This electricity is then delivered by PG&E through existing utility lines that they continue to own and maintain. In addition to maintaining power lines, PG&E continues to do billing and handle new electricity service requests and respond to emergencies.
SVCE customers are eligible to participate in most PG&E energy efficiency rebates and programs.
In addition, as an SVCE customer, you have access to SVCE rebates and services to help you lower emissions and save money. Learn more about these offers and services at: https://svcleanenergy.org/offers-services/.
SVCE offers service for residents and businesses in the following communities:
Campbell | Cupertino | Gilroy | Los Altos | Los Altos Hills | Los Gatos | Milpitas | Monte Sereno | Morgan Hill | Mountain View | Saratoga | Sunnyvale | Unincorporated Santa Clara County.
Anyone that lives or owns a business in these communities may participate in Silicon Valley Clean Energy, and were automatically enrolled as customers if they did not actively opt-out when SVCE launched service is 2017, or when they established a new electric account through PG&E.
No. Customers can only participate when their home or business address is located within a community being served by Silicon Valley Clean Energy. There are many Community Choice Energy agencies throughout the Bay Area and California. With more than 25 community choice energy agencies serving more than 14 million Californians across the state, visit CalCCA at cal-cca.org to discover which community energy provider is available in your area.
California’s community choice energy law (AB 117, 2002) requires Silicon Valley Clean Energy to become the default provider of electric generation for customers within our service area. This means that Silicon Valley Clean Energy operates as an opt out program. Customer choice is very important to us, so we provide written notices to our customers –before and after enrollment – so that you can choose where your electricity comes from, and how your dollars are spent.
Silicon Valley Clean Energy sources clean and renewable electricity on behalf of our customers. The percentage of renewable power content varies year-to-year as new renewable projects come online, and the market availability of other clean resources. The prior year’s power mix is available each fall in the Power Content Label. To learn more about the clean power sources Silicon Valley Clean Energy invests in, such as renewable wind, solar+storage and geothermal, visit: svcleanenergy.org/power-sources.
With support from local residents and businesses, Silicon Valley Clean Energy was formed as a Joint Powers Agency by communities in Santa Clara County in 2016. It formally started with two reports – an initial assessment report and a feasibility report – led by the cities of Sunnyvale, Mountain View, Cupertino, and the County of Santa Clara. Then subsequently, eight other communities joined to form this new collaborative public agency.
In 2017, SV Clean Energy flipped the switch and started providing carbon-free electricity at competitive rates to the community. Businesses and residents received notices about their new choices and that the switch to SV Clean Energy service was automatic.
The initial group of customers were enrolled in April 2017, phase two took place in July 2017. Customers received a total of four enrollment notices, two in the 60-day period prior to their enrollment date, and two in the 60 days following. Customers in the City of Milpitas began service with SVCE in June 2018.
In response to the 2000-2001 California energy crisis, Assembly Bill 117 was passed in 2002 to establish Community Choice Aggregation (CCA) also known as Community Choice Energy (CCE). This brought a new way for California communities to provide local residents and businesses with a choice of electric providers and sources of electricity. Community choice energy organizations pool or ‘aggregate’, electricity demand and purchase energy for the community they serve. Silicon Valley Clean Energy is the community choice energy provider for 13 communities in Santa Clara County. There are 25 operational CCAs throughout the state serving over 14 million customers statewide.
For more information about the Community Choice Energy movement throughout the state and see the other agencies, visit the California Community Choice Association at Cal-CCA.org.
No, reliability will not be affected as a customer of SVCE. SVCE provides electric generation services. The responsibility for power transmission, distribution, billing and service reliability remains with PG&E. PG&E continues to maintain the power distribution network.
