Low rates are just one of the reasons to be happy with your service from Silicon Valley Power. That's because SVP provides electricity that is not only highly reliable, but environmentally friendly as well. By offering power from a variety of sources, we are able to reduce the impact on the environment and provide clean energy to all of our customers. The chart below shows a breakdown of different types of power supplied to SVP's customers. Download the PDF map of our Electric Resources (PDF: 1.77M).

Under its Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS), SVP supports a broad range of energy conservation, energy efficiency, electric technology, low income, and renewable generation programs. SVP already exceeds state-wide RPS goals of twenty percent of power from renewable sources by 2017. While SVP exceeds this goal, SVP's RPS requires the utility to continue its support of this broad range of programs, thus encouraging wise use of energy resources, especially renewable energy generation.

Think of the Power Content Label as a “nutrition label” for electricity. This label provides reliable information about the energy resources used to generate electricity, enabling you to easily compare the power “content” of one electricity product with that of another.

Electricity can be generated in a number of ways. It can come from renewable resources such as biomass and waste, geothermal heat or steam, solar energy, rivers or small hydroelectric reservoirs, and wind energy; or, it can be produced from resources such as coal, large hydroelectric reservoirs, natural gas, or nuclear fuels. The Power Content Label describes the sources of electricity that are put into the power grid. Each utility must display information about the energy resources represented by their contracts with electricity generators.

SVP's published annual Power Content Label shows the sources of electricity purchased by the utility for distribution to the people and businesses in Santa Clara. In accordance with State Senate Bill 1305, SVP used California Energy Commission guidelines in evaluating its power mix for the 2009 calendar year.

Santa Clara customers enjoyed more than fifteen times the amount of renewable energy in their mix during 2009 than those receiving the state's average power mixture during 2008. SVP's 2009 power mix consisted of 25 percent eligible renewable resources. When large hydroelectric resources are included, SVP's power mix consisted of over 43 percent renewable power.

For specific information about this Power Content Label, contact us by email, or by telephone at 408-244-SAVE (7283). For general information about the Power Content Label, contact the California Energy Commission at 1-800-555-7794 or at at their website.