The Port of Oakland’s Board of Commissioners approved the Renewable Portfolio Standard for the Port of Oakland’s Wholesale Electric Power Procurement on Tuesday, July 6, 2004. The Board reaffirmed its commitment to environmental responsibility, part of the Port’s triple bottom line–economic vitality, social equity, and environmental responsibility.

California Senate Bill 1078 (SB 1078) became law January 1, 2003. It provides that each governing body of a local publicly owned electric utility shall be responsible for implementing and enforcing a “renewable portfolio standard” to encourage renewable resources. The state legislature established an attainment target of 20% renewable energy by the end of 2017.

The Port of Oakland has gone beyond the standard requirements and currently receives an estimated 28% of its power from renewable resources. Renewable resources are defined as natural energy resources that are inexhaustible such as wind, solar, geothermal, biomass, and hydropower.

“The Port of Oakland understands the importance of sustainability and wants to promote and encourage the use of renewable resources. We propose an effort to continue exceeding the recommended 20% standard by seeking new renewable energy opportunities that will benefit the environment,” said the new President of the Port of Oakland Board of Commissioners Patricia Scates.

The Port of Oakland Board of Commissioners adopted a calendar year renewables portfolio standard for the electric power the Port purchases at wholesale and adopted a goal of achieving 40% by the year 2017.