By Jorge Casuso

April 4, 2019 -- Starting next month, Santa Monica businesses will begin receiving 100 percent green power through the city's new default energy provider, City officials said Thursday.

The businesses -- which account for 75 percent of Santa Monica's electricity demand -- will follow the lead of residents, who began using the Clean Power Alliance (CPA) as their energy provider in February.

City officials said the transition to the government-run power agency "will have a huge impact on reducing Santa Monica’s greenhouse gas emissions."

Customers can choose between three tiers -- 100 percent, 50 percent and 36 percent -- offered by the CPA, which requires its member cities to select a default rate option.

In October, the City Council voted to make the 100 percent energy tier the default selection for residential customers.

Consumers who do not proactively select a preferred tier will be automatically opted into the cleanest source. The plans can be adjusted freely without restriction.

The switch for local businesses next month marks the final transition from Southern California Edison (SCE) for some 3 million customers across 31 jurisdictions in Los Angeles and Ventura counties.

Electricity delivery and billing will remain with SCE, officials said.

“Santa Monica’s business community has long championed sustainable practices and now they get to continue to model what it means to be a green business,” Mayor Gleam Davis said in a statement.

“We are a greener, healthier city because our businesses lead on climate change.”

The switch by to green power by Santa Monica residents and businesses "will remove almost 20 percent of communitywide carbon emissions," City officials said.

Of the residential customers, 95 percent committed to 100 percent green power, said Santa Monica’s Chief Sustainability Officer Dean Kubani.

“We are confident that the business community will take pride in our new green energy mix and work to keep the renewable levels as high as possible,” he said.

All green power is derived from non-fossil fuel and non-nuclear energy, officials said.

The CPA's plans "offer the highest percentage of green power possible on the grid today," they said.