From Keeping Current - CCEnergy's newsletter, Summer 2002 Edition

The CCEnergy Experience Thus Far

by Daniel Pellegrini, CCEnergy Founder, President, & CEO

About a year ago, I started looking into installing a solar electric system for my home. Being web-savvy, I did a bit of research on the Internet to educate myself on solar technology and incentives. I learned a lot in a week's time, and realized that the solar PV market had matured to the point where the pricing and rebates made solar an attractive alternative for regular consumers. However, I was sadly disappointed when I called the available PV dealers. It seemed that most PV dealers were working out of their garages or pickup trucks. Furthermore, it seemed that I knew more about the PV market than the people I was calling for advice. The whole thing had this tinge of mildly shady business.

Around this time I attended an Earth Day Energy Fair hosted by Sustainable Fairfax. The collective energy of a community motivated to come up with their own solutions to the energy crisis inspired me, and I promptly signed up for a committee to explore solar PV solutions. Our committee began to explore ways of helping each other with our PV installations, by purchasing in bulk and sharing what we've learned about the installers, the state rebates, the utility paperwork, and any other information that was relevant. After many meetings and discussions, it became clear that a cooperative structure would be the best way to organize ourselves.

What is CCEnergy all about?

Cooperative Community Energy is a grass-roots organization intended to help regular consumers to take control of their own power. The co-op makes it easy for members to purchase and install their own electrical generating equipment, and to reduce their energy usage in ways that increase their comfort.

The co-op is an expression of our desire to make a real difference, to "think globally and act locally" on energy issues. One of the strengths of the cooperative model is the sharing of information that helps us all. Too many for-profit companies restrict information and jealously guard their "secrets" for perceived competitive advantage or to pump up their profits. Unfortunately, many non-profit organizations behave in similarly paranoid fashion in order to protect their "turf." Consumers are badly served by this behavior and we have all suffered as a result. If it's true that "perfect markets depend on perfect information," then the co-op is striving to perfect the renewable energy market by improving the quality and quantity of information available to consumers.

Our co-op accumulates information for the benefit of its members as well as the community at large. This information serves to demystify the technology, making it familiar and accessible to consumers. Widespread consumer acceptance of PV is the key to growing this market.

I am proud of what we've accomplished in a few short months since opening for business in October 2001. We have created tools that raise the bar in terms of the quality of analysis and service delivery for our members. We recently moved into our first office in San Rafael. We have launched this web site, which we are building into a highly visible resource for aggregating and disseminating information about renewable energy and the co-op.

Our membership is growing quickly with interest in a number of different communities beyond Marin County. We see this as validation of our model not just in the residential market but also for larger commercial and municipal projects. The PV industry now perceives CCEnergy as one of the solutions for long-term market growth. Our members are happy with the discounts on equipment and the service they have received. They are eager and excited to share their knowledge and enthusiasm for PV with others. In short, we've had a fantastic beginning. The summer of 2002 is providing even more opportunities to grow the co-op and expand the network of members throughout California. Join us!

Back to Summer 2002 newsletter table of contents