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Santa Barbara County First District Supervisor Das Williams — New Clean Energy Coming Online

by Community Contributor • December 11, 2023 • Comments Off

Das Williams, 1st District County Supervisor

New Clean Energy Coming Online

This week, Central Coast Community Energy 3CE announced signing a contract with Pattern Energy to receive electricity from SunZia Wind, a new renewable energy project in New Mexico that will be 12% of all the power for the 5 counties in our energy provider 3CE. While most of our renewable projects are in California, having a different “load profile” from a project in a neighboring region provides energy that is accessible at different times of the day than we typically get. This is a big deal for our efforts to have more reliability as we get closer to 100% carbon-free energy.

I also recently had a chance to tour another regional project that is critical to our clean energy efforts, the Strauss Wind Project near Lompoc (pictured above). This is the first wind project on the Central Coast, and is poised to generate enough electricity to power 43,000 homes. These projects are big strides in our efforts to prevent irreversible damage to our planet from climate change. They also make it cleaner than it’s ever been to make the switch to an electric vehicle. Learn more about how affordable that can be below!

Electrify Your Ride Rebates

National Influenza Vaccine Week

This week marks National Influenza Vaccine Week, a critical reminder to everyone 6 months or older that there is still time to get a flu vaccine. Flu Season runs from October to May, and the peak usually comes in February. This year I got vaccinated courtesy of the County’s Public Health Department in October. Their Healthcare Centers are just one of the many places where you can get the vaccine. To find a place to get vaccinated, you can use the CDC’s vaccines.gov database or Santa Barbara County’s 2023-2024 Flu Vaccine Resource.

Find a Flu Vaccine

Public Defender Sleeping Bag Drive

New or lightly used donations are being accepted during regular business hours from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday at the Public Defender’s offices. The Santa Barbara office is located at, 1100 Anacapa Street. The Santa Maria office is located at 312-P East Cook Street, Building A. Physical donations may be made through 5 p.m. on Wednesday, December 13. Financial donations will also be accepted, for the purchase of new sleeping bags and undergarments, and are tax-deductible through the Public Defender’s partnership with the Family Service Agency of Santa Barbara. Financial donations may be made online through the following website, 2023 Sleeping Bag Drive | Family Service Agency (givebox.com)

For more information, contact the County Public Defender’s office; in Santa Barbara, call (805) 568-3470; in Santa Maria, call (805) 346-7500.

Video Contest for High School Students

The Santa Barbara County Water Agency is pleased to announce the opening of applications for the 25^th Annual WaterWise High School Video Contest. Every year, students compete to create entertaining and informational 30-second videos that convey the importance of water use efficiency in Santa Barbara County. The contest theme, “Tips for an Inspired Water Wise Garden” was selected to highlight the ongoing importance of sustainable outdoor water use, especially in drought-prone Santa Barbara County.

To learn more and to apply for the contest, visit WaterWiseSB.org/HSVC.