In 2012, a small group of disillusioned San Luis Obispo, CA residents stood commiserating with each other in a parking lot at Cuesta College. They had just witnessed another blow to climate action, and in particular community choice energy, a program that would have enabled local control of their community’s energy and economic future.
Undaunted, they decided to double down and create SLO Clean Energy, an organization committed to creating a clean energy economy on the Central Coast. Over time, more people heard about their efforts and joined the cause.
Over the next five years, these activists conducted research, talked with policymakers, attended countless meetings, gave presentations, hosted event booths, wrote articles and newsletters, and collaborated with other organizations.
It was worth it!
In 2017, after a few very successful local elections, the committed group of volunteers who created SLO Clean Energy came together with other concerned community members, climate and energy professionals, entrepreneurs and business leaders, and the City of San Luis Obispo to form the San Luis Obispo (SLO) Climate Coalition with a revitalized commitment to address the climate crisis on an even wider scale.
In 2018, the SLO Climate Coalition, having instilled great confidence and trust in SLO City’s leadership, successfully advocated for the city to commit to the most ambitious climate goal in the nation: carbon neutrality by 2035.
That same year, with unanimous council support, the Cities of San Luis Obispo and Morro Bay announced that they were partnering with our regional Community Choice Energy program, Monterey Bay Community Power – now Central Coast Community Energy – finally realizing our decade-old vision for Central Coast communities to control our own energy and economic future. In January of 2021, many other cities in SLO and Santa Barbara Counties are joining this CCA.
We invite you to join us as we create a future:
- powered by carbon free energy;
- healthier, resilient, and more affordable homes;
- electrified transportation and people-centric communities;
- open spaces and technologies that store carbon;
- and a circular economy that creates zero waste.