It reminds me of all of us on this forum who repeatedly get asked whether we work for Tesla. We seem to talk pretty positively about this company too.
Ok, this is an interesting question worth investigating. You also seem very motivated so I'm going to ask you your question right back and make you do the work!
I think the first step, since you are the customer of that municipal utility, is to ask whether it is a segregated enterprise department with its own funding. This is important because if it shares funding sources, exchanges resources, or pays for some overhead assets used by general fund departments of the city, then all taxpayers of the city are simply subsidizing the electricity rate, regardless of how much electricity each taxpayer uses.
Second, you should ask whether Santa Clara has its own bulk power purchase agreements or whether it purchases the power wholesale from PG&E at the nearest interconnection. That will give you some more insight into the cost pressures at play here.
Finally, you should ask what is the benefit of a tiered vs. non-tiered rate plan and how it affects energy efficiency and other behavioral choices (such as owning an EV!). I think you know the answers, but why should we have to do all the thinking around here! You can put your thoughts down on forum paper for knowledge share too.
- K