VCE wins statewide Community Impact Award from the California Community Choice Association for innovative agricultural pilot program.
Davis, Calif. – As part of California Community Choice Association’s (CalCCA) annual conference May 17-19 in San Diego, CA, Valley Clean Energy (VCE) was honored as runner-up in the Reliability category of the annual Community Impact Awards in recognition of its AgFIT Pilot Program.
Launched in 2022, VCE’sAgFIT, or Agricultural Flexible Irrigation Technology pilot, supports local growers in decreasing energy usage and costs. In partnership with Polaris Energy Services and TeMix, the program provides incentives for irrigation automation and leverages software to help agricultural customers manage energy costs while providing maximum flexibility. The system gives agricultural customers visibility into energy prices a week ahead to help schedule irrigation for when energy costs (and other demands on the grid) are lowest.
“Valley Clean Energy is honored to be recognized for our work in Yolo County. Serving a large agricultural sector, it is important that we develop programs and solutions to fit the needs of our customers,” said Tom Stallard, VCE’s Board Chair and Woodland City Council Member. “In just a short time, the program has helped growers shift about 40%of their energy use away from summer evening critical peak hours. We plan to expand enrollment in the program and hope to see even more impact and customer savings.”
The CalCCA AnnualConference featured workshops and sessions with keynote speakers from statewide agencies, and highlighted the growing CCA movement within California. During the inaugural awards ceremony, CCA programs were recognized for their outstanding and innovative projects across three categories: Equity, Reliability, and Decarbonization.
“There was an incredible energy among CCA staff, board and CCA support-we are a truly collaborative group with a passion for helping sister agencies succeed. Our team was humbled to have been named a runner-up in the Reliability category for the Impact Awards,” said Rebecca Boyles, Director of Customer Care and Marketing at VCE.
CalCCA has 25CCA members and six affiliates serving over 11 million customers and 200+cities and counties throughout California. As a collection of public agencies, CalCCA represents its members in the legislature and at state regulatory agencies to support the long-term sustainability of their members and advocate with a collective voice, education, and technical and regulatory guidance.
The continued growth of Community Choice Aggregators throughout California gives communities and customers the opportunity to choose their energy source and create a positive lasting impact.
About Valley Clean Energy
Valley Clean Energy – or VCE – is the official electricity provider for residential and commercial customers in the cities of Woodland, Winters, and Davis, and unincorporated Yolo County.We’re a not-for-profit public agency, which means that we’re working 100%for our customers.VCE offers a choice in electricity suppliers for the first time ever. It also keeps program control and revenues right here at home, where we can create jobs and build local clean energy installations—as many other programs just like ours have already done. We’ll reinvest dollars to boost our local economy while taking control of our clean energy future. More information is available at https://valleycleanenergy.org/.
About CalCCA
Launched in 2016, the California Community Choice Association (CalCCA) representsCalifornia’s community choice electricity providers before the state legislature and at regulatory agencies. There are 25 operational CCA programs in California serving more than 11 million customers—about one-quarter of the state’s population—in 200+ cities and counties throughoutthe state. For more information about CalCCA, visit www.cal-cca.org.