MCE centers sustainability and community benefits in power procurement decisions with:
● Pollinator-friendly solar and responsible biomass procurement principles
● Equity and community benefit metrics when considering power supplier offers
● Union labor and prevailing wage requirements to support the green workforce and local job opportunities
MCE’s power procurement goes beyond providing clean energy. Our procurement practices consider a wide-scope of economic, environmental, and equity-based data. Learn about how MCE applies its principles to maximize sustainability and community benefits.
Pollinator-Friendly Solar
Pollinator species have experienced global population decline over the last 10 years threatening crop production and the health of the food production ecosystem. MCE is responding by requiring new solar project partners to plant pollinator-friendly ground cover throughout project sites and submit a pollinator scorecard every three years.
Pollinator-friendly solar provides a much needed habitat for critical pollinators, reduces soil erosion, and increases crop yield and carbon sequestration among other benefits. This requirement takes advantage of land where solar projects are built, ensuring that the space is used to generate clean energy for our customers, while supporting the local economy and ecosystem.
Responsible Biomass Procurement
Biomass and bio-waste make up around 6% of MCE’s Light Green electricity service. To ensure responsible development, MCE has established biomass principles that require facilities to meet strict environmental standards. Facilities must have appropriate California Environmental Quality Act and local air district permits, use the best available control technology, and support sustainable forest management and wildfire reduction strategies. Facilities must have appropriate California Environmental Quality Act and local air district permits, use the best available control technology, and support sustainable forest management and wildfire reduction strategies.
We also prioritize contracts that:
- Use a source of organic material that has been diverted from landfill
- Support sustainable forest management and wildfire reduction waste
- Offer carbon neutral resources and adaptations
- Proactively minimize local air quality impacts, both from the facility and from the transportation of fuel from its source to the facility
Equity Metrics
MCE’s Open Season provides a competitive opportunity for qualified suppliers of energy and energy storage products to help further MCE’s clean power purchasing and community reinvestment goals. As of 2021, MCE’s Open Season solicitation encourages suppliers to consider reporting community benefits and equity metrics when submitting offers. Some of the equity metrics include:
- Support for educational programs, environmental justice initiatives, and workforce development and training initiatives,
- Participation of contractors, subcontractors, or businesses owned by disabled veterans that are in a designated disadvantaged community, or that employ workers living in a designated disadvantaged community, and
- Use of components and materials manufactured or assembled in the United States.
Local Hire and Union Labor
To date, MCE has helped build 48 megawatts of new renewable projects in our service area. All local projects over 1 megawatt were built with union labor. MCE’s Feed-In Tariff Plus (FIT Plus) Program includes requirements for union labor, prevailing wage, and 50% local hire for project workers. These policies, coupled with MCE project labor agreements increase access to jobs directly in the community, supporting the just transition and the growth of a local clean energy economy.
