In the summer of 1977, David Packard asked a number of his fellow CEOs to join him in creating a proactive voice for Silicon Valley businesses. The result was the formation of the Silicon Valley Manufacturing Group, which for the past 35 years has successfully tackled some of the toughest challenges facing Silicon Valley employers and their employees.
One of the founding members of what is now the Silicon Valley Leadership Group was Pacific Gas and Electric Co. While hundreds of new, high-tech and cleantech companies now are members of our organization, some of our most forward-thinking ideas still come from our founding members. Such is the case with the Green Option program that PG&E recently submitted for approval to the California Public Utilities Commission. If approved, it could begin as early as mid-2013.
The Green Option is simple to understand, simple to utilize and provides an easy opportunity for businesses, governments and residents to reduce their carbon footprint through 100 percent green energy. By signing up for the Green Option, customers will be able to reduce the environmental footprint of their electricity consumption and help fund renewable energy development. The price difference is small — less than 2 cents more per kilowatt. Customers pay a very small amount more for their electricity and in return can go 100 percent green. It is simple to sign up for and to understand.
The Silicon Valley Leadership Group supports the Green Option for several reasons. Customers who sign up for clean energy from sources such as wind and solar will allow PG&E to buy renewable energy certificates, which in turn help renewable energy producers to build more facilities. The program helps PG&E to advance renewable energy in California, which is important not only to our environment, but also to the business climate — especially in Silicon Valley, home to some of the most innovative green technology companies in the world.
Our membership has been growing significantly in recent years, and a large part of that increase is from renewable energy, energy storage, smart grid and energy-efficiency sectors. Today, 20 percent of our 365 members are in cleantech, with significant growth in the smart grid sector. For example, last year the Leadership Group, along with our Smart Grid Task Force partners including the city of San Jose and PG&E, issued a jobs report stating that from 1995 to 2009, the number of smart grid-related firms grew 138 percent and the number of jobs grew 129 percent in Silicon Valley.
Even during the economic downturn in 2008 and 2009, the smart grid sector continued to show strong local growth. Recent employment data through late last year indicate that Silicon Valley’s economy is recovering at a faster rate than the state or nation, which suggests that continued growth related to the smart grid should be expected. These are all indicators of what we already know: Silicon Valley is leading the way toward a clean energy future. With the development of the Green Option, we believe this trend will continue to advance in Silicon Valley and throughout California.
Since our founding, the Silicon Valley Leadership Group has worked to address many pressing challenges. And as in 1977, our member companies are meeting the challenge with cutting-edge technologies coupled with CEO-led civic engagement.
Carl Guardino is president and CEO of the Silicon Valley Leadership Group. He wrote this for this newspaper.
