Renewable Energy Use
How is Santa Monica doing?
Energy conservation measures have been largely successful and energy use in the city remains stable, despite increases in population and development. Electricity use was steadily declining until 2013, due to improvements in lighting technology and energy-efficient equipment, but has since been on the rise due to an increase in electricity used in large commercial buildings. Natural gas use has remained constant over the years, as gas-related equipment and systems are typically larger investments with longer lifespans.
The City of Santa Monica has taken additional measures to ensure renewable energy access for all residential and commercial energy utility customers. In 2018, the City of Santa Monica joined the Los Angeles Clean Power Alliance. Clean Power Alliance service began on February 1, 2019, for residential customers and May 1, 2019, for commercial customers. While the Clean Power Alliance has not been servicing customers for a full year yet, so far the percentage of customers receiving 100% renewable energy has been staying above 90% in the first six months.
The expansion of services and facilities will challenge the City's ability to reduce its own energy use, however, the net gain from the community benefits or other sustainability initiatives, like water self-sufficiency, will be much larger.
Renewable Energy Supply
This graph shows the distributed generation from solar in megawatt (MW) capacity.
As of 2021, residents and businesses have installed over 8.8 MW of solar on their rooftops. Santa Monica reached the 2020 target of 7.5 MW. The City will continued to encourage solar installations and hope to see a continued upward trend of distributed generation from solar.
Clean Power Alliance Customers.
This chart shows the percent of Santa Monica electric utility customers are customers of the Clean Power Alliance and receiving renewable energy. As of 2022, 94% of residents and businesses received 100% renewable energy. 2019 was the first year the Clean Power Alliance provided service in Santa Monica. Previously, this indicator measured the percent of residents receiving renewable energy.
How can I reduce my energy demand?
- Choosing the default 100% Renewable Energy option with Clean Power Alliance.