Hi All
This week, I received several emails that might interest you.
First, an update about the Utility Tax
Last week, state Legislators were sent a letter signed by more than 125 organizations calling for the repeal of the Utility Tax law. Thanks to Jennifer Tanner of the Indivisible Green Team for emailing the letter on behalf of everyone. Thanks to all the organizations that responded quickly and helped circulate the letter.
The letter is still active, and your group can still sign it by
completing this form!
Other actions your organization can take:
- Meet with your local assemblymember and senator and ask them to repeal the Utility Tax provision in the law (Public Utilities Code Section 739.9).
- Ask your members to call their legislators and tell them to repeal the Utility Tax provision in the law.
- Spread the word however you see fit.
- CALL : You can look up their phone number here.
Here’s a suggested Phone message. Feel free to modify it:
Hello, my name is _____. I live in _____. I just learned that the legislature voted for a Utility Tax that will increase bills on millions of people living in apartments, condos, and small homes that don’t use much energy.
This will also discourage all forms of energy conservation. I am opposed to this Utility Tax.
Either author legislation to re-cap the Utility Tax at or below the national average of $120/year
Or direct the CPUC to do the same.
Since the legislature voted for this Utility Tax, I expect you to fix this mess.
Action 2: RED ALERT: Renters, Schools, and Farms are Under Attack by the State. HOW WE FIGHT BACK!
The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) Proposed Decision (PD) was released earlier this month, and it is BAD! Under this PD - carbon-copied from the investor-owned utility monopoly's proposal
- renters (and anyone who lives in multifamily housing), farmers, and schools would be blocked from economically using their own solar energy. This would close the door on rooftop solar for apartments, farms, and schools across California. It would close the door on the ability of renters to save as much as $50 a month on their utility bills. It would make renters worse off than solar customers in single-family housing.
Yes, it's bad and downright discriminatory - but with your help, we can amend this decision to give access to local, affordable, renewable energy to grow - not shrink.
THE CPUC NEEDS TO HEAR FROM YOU! (Please spread the word - you can forward this email in its entirety to others).
Sign Up Here or Call In on 8/31 Using the Info Below.
How to Provide Public Comment at CPUC - Call: 1-800-857-1917, passcode: 9899501# (Spanish speakers: 1-800-857-1917, passcode: 3799627#)
· The next CPUC meeting is
Thursday, AUGUST 31st - in-person at Lake County Board of Supervisors, 255 N Forbes St. # 109, Lakeport, CA 95453 or
remote.
· CPUC meetings begin at
11 a.m.
··
CPUC information on the August 31st meeting is here.
To give a remote comment via phone:
· Dial in at
11 a.m. to get into the queue for speaking. Public comments are among the first things on the agenda.
·
Call: 1-800-857-1917, passcode: 9899501# (Spanish speakers: 1-800-857-1917, passcode: 3799627#)
· To make a public comment during the public comment period, press *1 (star one) when you wish to speak to be placed in a queue by the operator. Once you press *1, you will be prompted to state your name and/or organization.
· After that, you may hear the operator prompt you for the info again, but if you have done it once, you should be good to go. Participants will be placed on mute in “listen-only” mode until the public comment portion of the meeting.
· Wait times may be lengthy depending on the number of speakers. Hang in there as best you can. We know many people can only stay on the phone for so long, and we appreciate everything you do.
· To watch the meeting while you are on hold:
www.adminmonitor.com/ca/cpuc. However, to comment, you must join via the phone line. For captions after clicking on the name of the meeting, click the green button below the video for captions. Then select captions by clicking on the white icon next to the word “live” at the bottom of the video.
· If you experience difficulty calling into the Public Comment line, please email
[email protected] or call (415) 703-5263.
If you are unable to attend the voting Meeting on August 31st at 11 a.m., (or if you are and have a few extra minutes to spare), please call the Governor’s office at
916-445-2841 or write to the Governor at
https://www.gov.ca.gov/contact/ .
Ideas for what to say in your public comment on August 31st:
Comments are usually limited to 1 minute. We suggest you write out your comment in advance and practice it out loud a few times while timing yourself.
1) Your name and where you live (and if you are with an organization).
Please be sure to mention in your comment if you rent in or own a multifamily property or are affiliated with a school, school district, college, college district, and/or farm, and whether it currently includes solar or if you would like to go solar - but won't be able to if the utilities have their way.
2)
Please modify the PD to include on-site netting so that people like me [
or my tenants, if you're a landlord; or students; or school districts; or my farm - modify as appropriate] can benefit from local, renewable, and affordable energy in the form of rooftop solar. Such a tariff should, at minimum, include on-site netting (the ability of those in multifamily housing, schools, or farms to benefit from the local renewable energy that their own solar system generates.
3) In your own words,
one reason to back up your request. Below are some options. Of course, say it in your own words, it is more powerful that way!
The proposed decision is discriminatory: It would deprive multifamily housing tenants [or condominium owners], schools, and farmers of the ability to receive full savings on their energy bill from the solar that our solar roof produces/would produce - a benefit enjoyed by single-family homeowners with solar.
Modify the proposed decision to include on-site netting, thereby ensuring an opportunity for tenants, property owners alike, schools, and small farmers to save costs through solar on their own rooftops or farms.
No one should have to choose between paying their rent and paying their utility bills: At a time when the cost of both is dramatically going up, rooftop solar can save multifamily tenants as much as $50/month in utility bills. Please don't abandon this important lifeline for renters in the name of further profit to the utilities.
Modify the proposed decision to include on-site netting, thereby ensuring an opportunity for tenants, property owners alike, schools, and small farmers to save costs through solar on their own rooftops or farms.
The proposed decision flies in the face of the Governor's own commitment to housing affordability.
The Governor has often spoken about the need to build more multifamily housing to address the housing affordability crisis renters [or working/middle-class families] like me face. The utilities' proposal makes the cost of building and maintaining this housing more expensive.
Modify the proposed decision to include on-site netting, thereby ensuring an opportunity for tenants, property owners alike, schools, and small farmers, to save costs through solar on their own rooftops or farms.
What's at Stake for Solar for Multifamily Housing
Please
review this fact sheet
· Here are the letters that were sent on the subject before the proposed decision's release:
renter advocates, local elected officials,
schools, and
market-rate multifamily property owners.·
Additional Background Information:
Five letters from
agricultural customers,
schools,
renter advocates,
local elected officials, and
market rate multifamily property owners, with over 700 hundred individual and organization signatures, were sent to the CPUC. Yet, the content of these letters is not seen in the proposed decision. The CPUC ignored hundreds of comments and instead sided with the three investor-owned utilities - PG&E, SCE, and SDG&E.
That’s why both the CPUC and the Governor need to hear from you!
P.S. This proposed decision is part of a broader strategy that the investor-owned utilities are doing to hurt California renters and working families. For more information, please see this fact sheet. Stay tuned for other opportunities to act.
Action 3: End Fossil Fuels Action on Sept 17th, Global Day of Action
Third Act is an organization of adults 60+. Volunteer-run groups, organized by either affinity or geographic location, are divided into working groups. The Working Groups engage with their colleagues and communities by executing relevant campaigns and organizing like-minded elders toward building a more sustainable future.
Third Act Sacramento has an event on the waterfront in Old Sacramento on Sunday, September 17, at 11:00 a.m., to demand that Governor Newsom and President Biden End the Era of Fossil Fuels by committing to end new permitting, phase out oil and gas production and declare a climate emergency.
If you live in Sacramento or the surrounding area or are visiting Sacramento the weekend of the event, you can find out more and
register here.
And here is some information about Third Act and Third Act Sacramento. There are chapters of the Third Act throughout CA and the US.
Homepage - Third Act
Third Act: Sacramento
I hope to have some more details regarding the Utility Tax next week so stay tuned
