San Jose Standard

SAN JOSE, Calif. – San José Clean Energy (SJCE), San José’s local electricity provider, announces new demand response program that will help California avoid blackouts this summer. Peak Rewards gives businesses the opportunity to be a part of the solution by rewarding them for saving energy during crucial hours now through October 2023.

“Blackouts are more than an inconvenience — lives depend on reliable access to electricity,” said San José Mayor Matt Mahan. “San José Clean Energy’s Peak Rewards program empowers local businesses to ease the strain on our electrical grid.”

SJCE will contact enrolled businesses before an event and encourage them to save as much energy as possible. After the event, SJCE will apply credits to their electric bill depending on how much energy they saved. Assistance is available to help businesses maximize savings and unlike similar programs, there is no penalty for failing to reduce energy.

“We are grateful to our commercial partners for helping us balance the grid in times of high demand or when power prices are high,” said Lori Mitchell, Director of the Community Energy Department, which operates SJCE. “It’s an exciting era to work in clean energy as more people see the value that their actions can have.”

In addition to helping prevent blackouts during heat waves, demand response programs like Peak Rewards can help lower the cost of electricity in wholesale markets. This can lead to more stable electricity rates for customers. Businesses that participate in Peak Rewards will also help improve air quality by alleviating the need to burn fossil fuels in the late afternoon when solar energy becomes less available on the grid.

Peak Rewards is the first step of a four-phase demand response approach that SJCE will implement over the next few years. A program for residential customers is expected in summer of 2024.

For more information on Peak Rewards, including how to sign up, visit SanJoseCleanEnergy.org/peak-rewards

SJCE launched service to most residents and businesses in 2019 and is the largest single-jurisdiction Community Choice Aggregator (CCA) in the state. As one of 25 CCAs in California, SJCE is driving innovation in the energy industry and is committed to finding solutions for grid reliability and a healthier planet for all.

About the City of San José
With almost one million residents, San José is one of the most diverse large cities in the United States and is Northern California’s largest city and the 12th largest city in the nation. San José’s transformation into a global innovation center has resulted in one of the largest concentrations of technology companies and expertise in the world.

About San José Clean Energy
San José Clean Energy (SJCE) is the local, not-for-profit electricity generation provider for homes and businesses in the City of San José. SJCE is operated by the City’s Community Energy Department and governed by the City Council. SJCE provides 350,000 customer accounts with clean energy at competitive rates plus the additional benefits of customer choice, community programs, local control, transparency, and accountability. For more information, please visit www.SanJoseCleanEnergy.org. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, and LinkedIn @SJCleanEnergy. 

Original source can be found here.