CESA Member California
Visit the Sacramento Municipal Utility District Website
Sacramento Municipal Utility District
The Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD) is a publicly owned electric utility governed by a seven-member Board of Directors. Serving 592,000 customers and a total population of about 1.1 million, SMUD is the sixth-largest public utility in the country.
SMUD has been providing public power to the Sacramento region since 1946. The SMUD Board's vision is to empower its customers with solutions and options that increase energy efficiency, protect the environment, reduce global warming, and lower the cost to serve its region. SMUD's energy efficiency and renewable energy programs are recognized nationally for their leadership and innovation.
In 2008, SMUD added to its solar portfolio in launching SolarShares. By offering monthly, flat-fee subscriptions to portions of a 1-MW, locally sited solar 'farm,' customers no longer need to have a suitable site or own a home. Through the SolarShares program, 690 additional customers are participating in California's efforts to promote solar and one additional megawatt of solar power has been installed locally.
In January 2010, SMUD began implementation of one of the first utility Feed-in-Tariffs (FITs) in the country, and the only successful FIT that is based on the value of the electricity to the utility, rather than the underlying costs of the generating technologies. On the day that the FIT opened, SMUD received enough applications (all solar PV) to fill up the entire 100 MW of available capacity.
