San Diego International Airport may be the home base for an enormous amount of emissions from all the airplanes flying in and out of there, but the airport itself is becoming one of the greenest when it comes to its electricity supply.
San Diego International Airport is working with San Diego Community Power (SDCP), a not-for-profit community choice energy program, to get 100% clean, carbon-free, renewable energy supply. The airport is signed up for the Power100 service, which means that SDCP will provide it with 100% renewable electricity.
This new partnership means that San Diego International Airport is switching to 100% renewable electricity almost 15 years early, as its target was to achieve this milestone by 2035.
“Having the opportunity to work with San Diego Community Power enables us to reach our goal of 100 percent renewable electricity well before our planned timing of 2035,” said Kimberly Becker, San Diego County Regional Airport Authority President and CEO. “SDCP’s ability to provide reliable, zero-carbon energy at competitive costs is a gamechanger for us and everyone in the region.”
“As one of our first Power100 Champions, we hope SAN’s choice will inspire additional businesses to upgrade to 100 percent clean energy enabling us to reinvest even more in the community,” said Bill Carnahan, Interim CEO of San Diego Community Power. “As a local not-for-profit, all of our excess revenue will be invested locally in workforce development, job training, aid for communities of concern, and training and employing local workers.”
San Diego Community Power indicates that it offers Power100 service and PowerOn service, the latter of which provides 50% renewable electricity supply, but there are not many Power100 customers yet.
San Diego Community Power will start offering renewable electricity packages like these to residents in February 2022.
Two other things also worth noting: customers can opt out of the service at any time, and all power delivery, billing, and customer service still goes through SDG&E.
“Throughout June, approximately 72,000 commercial and industrial accounts in San Diego, Chula Vista, Encinitas, Imperial Beach, and La Mesa will become customers of SDCP; a public energy agency committed to providing clean energy, competitive rates, and innovative programs,” the organization adds. Though, San Diego International Airport is likely the biggest customer to date. “San Diego International Airport (SAN) is the busiest single-runway commercial service airport in the U.S. and the third busiest airport in California. In 2019, SAN welcomed 25 million passengers and offered nonstop flights to destinations worldwide. The airport is an economic driver for the region, contributing nearly $12 billion in economic activity in 2019 and supports nearly 116,600 jobs.” To go 100% renewable for its electricity is a commendable, important, and hopefully influential step forward.
Featured photo by Jeff Robins (CC BY 2.0), via Flickr.