(07/2021) Neither the COVID pandemic nor its financial impacts on underserved communities is waning. According to East Bay Community Energy (EBCE)’s
report to its Executive Committee in April, there were more than 50,000 EBCE ratepayers who have accumulated utility debt as a result of the pandemic’s economic fallout. In the middle of the utility debt crisis, Californians are also getting ready for another mega wildfire and power shut-off season. Our antidote for these multiple crises is local clean energy—a decentralized energy system. Local clean energy resources such as energy efficiency, solar panels and batteries can help ratepayers decrease their energy cost and become energy resilient. The East Bay Clean Power Alliance (EBCPA) has been prioritizing this advocacy in the last couple of months as a response to this increasing crisis.