What would happen if we marketed and scaled climate action Silicon Valley-style?

Since October 2016, 97% of residential and business customers in San Mateo County (SMC) get their electricity through Peninsula Clean Energy (PCE, a Community Choice Aggregator and public agency). It’s 5% cheaper than the comparable PG&E prices before, and in 2020 it’s an amazing 95% carbon-free (US at 23%) and will be completely carbon-free in 2021.

Yet only 34% of people in SMC know PCE, even though they are customers. Very few seem to know their electricity use affords a truly clean conscience. And with orange skies and the whole West coast of America under smoke, wouldn’t people in SMC like to know that they are part of one of the biggest metropolitan success stories to tackle the causes of climate catastrophes (it actually applies to most of Silicon Valley)? As of writing huge wildfires continue to burn, yet one of the most meaningful local messages of hope is not conveyed, one of the most impressive examples of positive government impact is not shown, market research showing the people of SMC way ahead of government goals/mandates on EV adoption and climate action is not held up into people’s faces to reinforce their own success.

Surrounded by companies that have taken the world by storm, not least Tesla with its headquarters in the backyard in Palo Alto and main production facility across the Bay in Fremont, VW Research Labs, Facebook, Genentech, Box and many other companies in SMC directly, many large tech companies leading the charge to go carbon neutral by 2030 or earlier, how can this be?

Observations

I’ve lived in the county and Silicon Valley for more than 20 years working in tech, and with the Fridays for Future march in September 2019 became directly involved with climate action. Politics in SMC seem to have delegated to PCE for meaningful climate action impact. I’ve attended numerous PCE meetings since (they are easily accessible, and public comment is always encouraged and respected) and have been a sworn member of the Citizen Advisory Committee since June 2020, leading the Strategic Priorities work group and being a member in the Transportation one.

1. There could not be a more disjointed approach so far with much good will all around

• The leadership vacuum is entrenched, and accountability is spread over levels of governing (state, county, 20 cities, agencies), varying goals of GHG reduction targets, public transit goals, attention on an endless PG&E bankruptcy etc. Consumers and businesses get so many messages and programs (many of which sound difficult or negative) to not pursue any with vigor. The amazing climate action success of PCE is in very real danger of being lost in the noise.
• Contrast: Any startup is clear on who is in or out, who the team or company is. There is very clear and simple messaging. If a startup has got any traction or news, you’ll see it the next day on the website. So this is clearly different here because it’s a mix of public good and product delivered by someone else — yet still people want to know who they are dealing with, why, who is in charge, how they are involved, is there a story.

2. Currently there is no recognizable immediate goal, measurement, or program to move forward to achieve fast climate action success

• No startup would let this go, it is the key positioning in the market, describing the immediate disruption, the vision of positive impact and change (no-one takes predictions and numbers beyond 3 years seriously, if at all). PCE has goals and programs reaching to 2045, many of them, and insiders or the 1% of people in the county that pay attention will appreciate them. But what is the one thing it stands for?
• The response to Covid19 has brought this into even stronger contrast, where government could focus on one goal “flatten the curve”, defined a set of meaningful goals, made clear who was in charge, told people what to do, and provided daily updates. So does the absence of focus for climate action mean it’s not that important, I don’t need to pay attention? That must be the implication.

3. Change should come by mandate or monetary incentive

• The attitude seems to be: Getting people excited about the mission is not important, they come to us as government and through their communities. Even if we are the experts, we cannot have an opinion ourselves. If we do act it is to change behavior through a legal mandate or by spending money on incentives.
• As contrast, thought leadership is one of the most prized currencies in Silicon Valley, and for software companies marketing budgets can make up 50% or more of overall spend. It means being ahead and talking about what you are doing, explaining the difference and taking others along. Waiting for the majority to first formulate the virtues of a smartphone or a slick electric car would be considered Waiting for Godot, and a certain way to be gone very soon.

4. Focusing on the 1–3% who pay attention is only a good start

• The existing goals, programs, the language used is for insiders, not for the masses. Favorite meeting places are the community forum and booths at events, reaching hundreds of people out of 770,000. But to go all-electric in the mainstream means reaching everyone. The below diagram shows the need to go from early adopters to the broader market, which is hard. Different language needs to be used, as people are interested in packaged solutions and repeating easy success of others = CONVENIENCE, not leading themselves (see Geoffrey Moore, Crossing the Chasm; he lives locally and might be motivated like many of us to help).

Climate action needs to reach beyond environmentalists

• Luckily, the economic, technological and political tipping points have been achieved so that switching of all fossil fuel burning items to electric saves money, increases overall efficiency, is cleaner and safer. So while many startups are pushing a fad or obscure technology, the benefits here just need to be explained in easy, human and yes, fun! terms.
• And then it turns out SMC people are already all over EVs, in terms of active use and clearly articulating demand (I’m not sure I’ve ever seen stronger demand signals):

PCE survey, April 2020

Don’t tell that to any of the many fledgling startups, they’ll tear their hair out knowing that some companies have a captive audience to which they have complete trusted access, and which is chomping at the bits to buy from them.

5. What’s the product?

• Is it a different provisioning of electricity but don’t worry about a thing? Or is it joining a global revolution to go clean, and you get to be one of the first, at less cost, to truly redefine the idea of a ‘clean conscience’ forever more?
• What could a brilliant industrial designer make of the idea of (the experience of ) ubiquitous clean power? What if the product was so delightful people would tell each other about it (it would have a really high net promoter score (NPS), something startups care hugely about)?
• Is there innovation involved, can power be cool? Is there something in here that makes my life more CONVENIENT?

6. Opportunities or the right timing to go big on attention don’t come very often

• Numbers show that one of the key reasons for startup success is the timing of market entry. No startup would miss throwing its hat in the ring when it had the chance. Beyond that, people are inundated with noise, if you don’t go big and loud and bold and consistent, you won’t make the filter.
• It might be time to say: we’ve got something for you! And wait, there’s more! Because building up for a bigger launch in 5 years may miss the crisis so much to be irrelevant, and Tesla or Arcadia power (non-local sources of power that are making moves to be the providers of electricity to consumers) might have made the same point sooner and better.

Suggestions

Give it a name

San Mateo County First

Have a mission

Focus and action to go all-electric as fast as possible, reducing consumption of any kinds of fossil fuel to zero. In competition to be first larger municipality to achieve this in the world (a numbers-based suggestion for an actionable 2025 GHG goal for SMC is shown in a presentation that can be found in the author’s LinkedIn profile.)

The one thing

We saw what we had in SMC and made it happen for ourselves and the world

Strategy

Mimic the strong Covid19 response and county credibility achieved and focus on the downhill of full consumer and business adoption of an existing ‘product’ with many positive feedback loops (the more you use, the better/more efficient it gets). Joint action, programs and messaging with a marketing-heavy formulation that can focus attention, joint progress and achieve fast results based on the 100% carbon-free grid in SMC. Position as the opposite of government mandated or for-profit, as citizen-oriented “us”, saving money and re-investing in ourselves, more fun, more freedom.

3 value drivers that are explained over and over

1) Less cost, more freedom, more fun and CONVENIENT

2) Cleaner, healthier, safer

3) Non-profit, government controlled for best community benefits

Evidence

Going electric means saving cost, for each individual or business. Going faster means reaping more savings sooner. Savings can be reinvested in the community so that they compound even faster, and there are clear synergies between electricity uses. As a county it means achieving a smart and clean energy infrastructure that embeds an ongoing and growing competitive advantage of direct lower energy costs, securing jobs and prosperity.

There are also saved costs around health and safety, as pollution and other fossil fuel emissions cease. The clean air and water of the Covid19 lockdown is made to persist for all of future. SMC becomes quiet and immensely more livable, human.

Coordinated for the benefit of the whole community, with the ability to direct savings to special needs. Poorer parts of the population gain disproportionately due to an easy, clean grid for all, cleaner air and less noise.

Blatantly leverage advantages

• People of SMC are ready and waiting, well-educated and have relatively high incomes. They love trying new things and changing the world
• SMC has PCE to supply 100% clean electricity, so every switch to an EV or electric heat/water pump has a dramatic GHG effect
• PCE has the organization/resources and is established
• SMC has incredible innovation and companies in its borders and backyard. Companies and workforces are more than ready to join in if asked

Everyone knows what to do

SMC or PCE has a blueprint for going all-electric, fast, immediate sights are a phase-out of fossil fuel products by 2025 for new purchases. Electric ‘products’ are packaged, priced, positioned and aggressively marketed with an early majority approach: solutions that are simple, accessible, obvious, leveraging what people already have.

Consumer

• Positioning: Save money, have more freedom, now
• 3 products to go all-electric
• Pricing: simplified. The more you use, the more you save

Business

• Positioning: be a future community leader
• 3 products to save money, grow with your community, gain visibility
• Pricing: Current prices guaranteed for next 10 years, best basis for investment

Flanking

• State EV mandate — done
• City reach codes, garden fossil fuel tools like leaf blowers prohibited in all cities in 2021
• Preferred parking for EVs at schools, and secure parking for e-bikes
• HOV lanes are on 24h, and the access is regulated based on relative CO2/person-mile (those with fuller cars and less CO2 win)
• All SMC postal trucks, police cars replaced by electric versions

Possible PR campaigns

• People in SMC already faster than Newsom EV mandate — first California EV wave has now reached 10% of households, 50% of purchases
• SMC joins global competition going all-electric and completely eradicating the use of fossil fuels. Establishes 2 key programs for consumers and 1 for business
• (2021) SMC takes pride in being the third county in Silicon Valley and California to go 100% carbon-free electricity
• PCE teams with Silicon-Valley heavyweights for dramatic GHG reduction

Summary

When the house is burning is the time when the fire department should have the strongest voice. Being one of the best fire captains should qualify to speak up and take charge — and who exactly is pushing back? Governor Gavin Newsom, overall California boss, certainly isn’t, as evidenced in his recent 2035 EV mandate. The current wildfire and smoke crisis came and went with SMC politicians and PCE silent on the sidelines. When PCE spends significant program dollars on programs for e.g. EV discounts, many in SMC will not know why it comes knocking, significantly hampering uptake and ramp. When PCE knows the voice of SMC people to adopt EVs and does not publish the information, it’s not reinforcing the wave with the people already surfing. Not to market and communicate is a choice too.

The current opportunity to enter the larger stage was missed, as climate change accelerates there will sadly be many more. PCE should seriously consider an aggressive stance in the community and California, learning from the great marketing and scaling skills that have made Silicon Valley stand out globally. It could be showing the way for many public agencies that provide critical societal benefits.

It’s time to join the good fight and conquer the world. What if we could go all-electric as fast as taxis disappeared or smartphones appeared — and did?

References

Tim Bussiek PhD: You and Me, the Early Majorit–y; Medium

With the Climate Action Strike on September 20th 2019, Tim with his family started a Facebook page “Power Up a Green New Deal, San Mateo” as another way to focus the local downhill of climate action, celebrating success and easy available solutions. If you are local or not, please consider joining — and pegging your commitment.

Economist turned marketer, Tim is a Silicon Valley executive with 20+ years experience in new products and markets. PhD thesis on transportation telematics (‘Changing modal choice by uberizing public transport’, 1997). Grinding own corn wearing ponytail 1987 in Freiburg, Germany (1990 Green Party in city council, first Green Party mayor in 2002), passionate about the environment ever since, current member of the Peninsula Clean Energy (PCE) Citizens Advisory Committee.