Regional Planning and Coordination
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better coordinate our collective efforts towards reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
Humboldt, is how we propose to lay the path to a healthier, just, greenhouse gas-free energy future.
Authority (RCEA) that means dynamic and adaptive energy planning for Humboldt’s warm inland mountain valleys to cool bayfront cities and everywhere in between. Community input is imperative to achieving sustainable results and was the cornerstone of the 2019 update to the Humboldt County Comprehensive Action Plan for Energy (CAPE), the strategic plan originally adopted in 2012 that guides how RCEA implements its mission.
By mid-2019, staff reorganized strategies from the CAPE and subsequent planning documents into four focus areas: Regional Planning & Coordination, Integrated Demand Side Management, Low-Carbon Transportation, and Generation & Utility Services. With input from the Community Advisory Committee, RCEA then presented these draft strategies to the public, and through an open comment period and a series of workshops refined the high-level strategies and added quantitative targets.
In early 2019, the County of Humboldt began working in coordination with the seven incorporated cities to develop a Humboldt County 2040 Climate Action Plan. Updating RCEA’s strategic plan in parallel with the development of the County’s Climate Action Plan offered the opportunity to align targets and strategies. An update also offered a chance to gather and incorporate other regional energy planning documents that have been developed since 2012, such as the North Coast Plug-in Electric Vehicle Readiness Plan (2014) and the County General Plan Energy Element (2017), to
As an electricity provider, RCEA is compelled to meet California’s bold mandates for increasing renewable energy delivered to customers. But the community asked RCEA to deeply consider if State targets would be enough to effectively slow climate change, and how RCEA’s approach could best meet the multiple priorities of Humboldt County residents. These priorities include maximizing the potential of local energy sources, developing a robust local economy, and carefully considering how our energy choices affect the health of humans and non-humans alike. The resulting document, renamed RePower
After experiencing multiple power shutoffs in 2019, a prominent theme among community members was energy reliability. How might we create an energy system that stays steady during emergencies? Always up for a challenge, this is a question the energy researchers at the Schatz Energy Research Center at Humboldt State University had already thought about quite a bit. Having worked with the Blue Lake Rancheria to build a solar-powered microgrid- a small electricity generation and distribution grid capable of being disconnected from the greater California grid to keep the Rancheria facilities powered during disruptions- it was clear that a micro-approach could be an achievable solution to keep key County facilities powered through disruptions and a viable replacement for fossil fuel-powered back-up generators. With RCEA as a partner, the Schatz Center took on growing the microgrid concept into a system that would serve multiple customers- including the California Redwood Coast Humboldt County Airport.
It is important to strive to do things right. And to the Redwood Coast Energy
GOALS for Regional Planning and Coordination Achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions county-wide by 2030. By 2030 fully establish Humboldt County as an energy secure community that can affordably and reliably meet its local energy needs with local renewable resources and has the robust local capabilities and infrastructure necessary to effectively respond to any energy emergencies or disruptions in energy supply. Build the clean energy sector into a cornerstone of the local economy through a breadth of strategies that include innovation, research and development, local energy-related business development, and establishing Humboldt Bay as the primary west coast hub for the offshore wind energy industry.
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NORTH COAST JOURNAL • SPECIAL PULL-OUT SECTION • Thursday, Feb. 4, 2021 • redwoodenergy.org
Local renewable energy resources come in all sizes, and floating offshore wind energy is arguably the biggest option in both statureturbines may exceed 800 feet in height- and output. Harnessing the very strong winds off the coast of Humboldt County could power our County and beyond. Becoming the west-coast hub of deployment of this cutting-edge technology is a lengthy endeavor but, if feasible, could build the first wind energy project of its kind in the U.S.”
Lori Biondini
Director of Business Planning and Finance
