Shell's San Francisco renewable energy program has been approved by the city's Board of Supervisors. The CleanPowerSF, is a $19.5 million initiative which allows residents of San Francisco to choose to buy electricity generated from clean sources; a move that could drastically cut carbon emissions in the area if successful.
The trial program will last five years, in which time it will need 90,000 of the 375,000 residents in the area to opt for the switch in order to make the endeavour worthwhile.
The program will put Shell in direct competition with Pacific Gas and Electric Company who is the current utility operator in San Francisco, and if successful the people of San Francisco could actually vote to elect Shell as their choice electricity provider.
The downside to the venture from the point of view of the public is that choosing to use green electricity will increase their utility bill by $9 a month, and commercial businesses will see their bill increase by $18 a month.
Now is the time to see whether the residents of San Francisco care more about their wallets or their environment; and if successful, maybe this program could be implemented in other cities around the world.
By. Joao Peixe of Oilprice.com
Joao is a writer for Oilprice.com More