Season's Greetings from Alameda Green! Read on to find out about terrific local businesses that support Alameda Green, and learn about the progress of the renewable energy industry in Alameda and California. Thanks again for your continued support of Alameda Green; you're truly making a difference. Read ahead to learn how.

Alameda Green Businesses Have What You Need This Season

For a tiny island, Alameda boasts a tremendous variety of services and things to do this holiday season! Check out these local businesses that are supporters of Alameda Green and feel good about supporting renewable energy as well as our local economy.

Leaving town for the holidays? Check Muffin and Sparky into the spacious digs at Park Centre Animal Hospital. In addition to a full range of veterinary services, Parke Centre Animal Hospital provides condos for your cat and four walks per day for your pooch. You’ll rest easy knowing your animal is not only supervised by a caring veterinarian, Fido's caregiver is supporting Alameda Green!

Host the perfect seasonal celebration with the help of Alameda Marketplace. Alameda Marketplace is a proud supporter of Alameda Green and offers a cornucopia of beautiful boutiques for festive and local shopping. At the Marketplace, you’ll find cheeses, wines, artisan breads, and quality cookware. And don't forget to put Alameda Natural Grocery on your list for your organic groceries. After you’ve worked up your appetite, stop by East End Pizza for a hand-crafted pie. Try a delicious and aptly named “Diablita” with calabrian chiles, goat cheese, and shaved garlic or a local squid po’ boy sandwich. Swing by Alameda Marketplace and its shops and help them in their effot to support renewable energy!

Lastly, plan a night of theater at Altarena Playhouse and catch one of their live productions. Their 2014 season begins with "Side Show," a four-time Tony nominee musical that follows the lives of "San Antonio's Siamese Twins" during the Great Depression. A round of applause for Altarena Playhouse’s commitment to Alameda Green!

Make sure to swing by these businesses this season and say "thanks." With Alameda Green, these businesses are making Alameda, and the world, a better place!

For a complete list of participating businesses visit our website.

California is ahead of the pack when it comes to renewable energy. The state's renewable portfolio standard (RPS) is one of the most ambitious in the country, and mandates that California's largest electric utilities expand their renewable energy portfolio to 17 percent by 2017 and 33 percent by 2020. Alameda Municipal Power has committed to an average of 35 percent renewable power for the period 2014 through 2016 and an average of 40 percent each year thereafter. 

But for many local residents, simply doing what’s required isn’t enough. That’s where voluntary markets like voluntary utility green power programs come into play—spurring additional demand for renewable energy sources above and beyond what’s already being purchased.

So how do utility green power programs like Alameda Green actually work? To begin with, renewable energy projects require a significant amount of up-front money to get started—sometimes millions of dollars. Green Pricing Programs provide an additional revenue stream in the form of Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) that project developers can build into their business plans. By monetizing the positive environmental benefits of their product, developers are better able to attract financing and keep their costs competitive.  This is especially impactful for smaller, newer projects like the PáTu Wind Farm in Oregon. All the projects that supply Alameda Green have been built in the past 15 years and are based in the West, many in California, to ensure that your resources are concentrated where they matter most.

The results so far have been promising. According to the Solar Energy Industries Association, solar PV installations are projected to rise 30 percent this year. Across the US, a solar project is now installed every four minutes on average!  The wind industry is also breaking records. For the first time in 2012, wind energy was the top source of all new electricity generation facilities put online in the US. These trends mirror an uptick in voluntary purchase markets, which include programs like Alameda Green. On a national level, voluntary green power sales now represent 1.3 percent of total US electricity sales, according to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. REC markets have increased at a compound annual growth rate of 25 percent from 2010 to 2012. Thank you for being part of this wonderful success story!