A very different kind of environmental activism is spreading across Southern California: a new wave of advocacy partnerships that trades placard-waving protests and staring down bulldozers for collaborative work solutions.

Green organizations are joining government, utilities and eco-friendly startups to shape green projects, from solar power to advanced battery storage to new forms of car-free transportation such as bicycle rentals and electric scooters.

One example is the Glendale Environmental Coalition, a grassroots group of climate change believers that became frustrated with a city plan to rebuild the aging Grayson Power Plant near the 5 and 134 freeways using gas-fired generators. The 262-megawatt power plant would increase smog emissions and release an additional 415,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas contributing to global climate change.

After winning a chance to seek alternatives from the City Council in April, the GEC launched itself into the city’s formal request for low- and zero-carbon alternative energy proposal bids in a way that was so unusual, it perturbed city utility staffers.

The group used the California Public Records Act to intercept the bidders, contacting each one and offering crowd-sourcing services from stay-at-home moms and retirees, some walking the city by foot to record data.

Surprisingly, about 20 companies answered affirmatively. Out of those, the group is working with three or four whose bids were part of dozens received by the city by the end of last week.

An exact number will not be available for at least a week but the staff was receiving boxes of bids on deadline day Friday, according to the city.

The group acknowledged working with three bidders: Sunrun, a residential solar provider based in San Francisco; Charge Bliss, a West Hollywood company that completed a $4.8 million, 365,000 kilowatt hour solar/battery microgrid at Kaiser Permanente in Richmond last month; and PermaCity Inc., which recently completed the most powerful solar rooftop project in San Pedro.

Their actions are controversial because they go against the way a Request For Proposal from a city normally works.

In fact, the city’s utility declined their help, said GEC co-founder Dan Brotman, saying the city utility hired a consultant who can ferret out the best proposals and reject the rest.

“I approached GWP to get our group to work with them. They kept rebuffing me. They went out of their way to keep me and people from our group out of a pre-bid conference for companies,” Brotman said.

His group gathered information from the pre-bid conferees and now is part of several proposals for decentralized, green energy in Glendale.

The roll-up-your-sleeves approach suits Brotman and others in the group, who want to bring their knowledge to help a city move the needle toward green energy.

“Now is the time for us to be part of the solution,” he said.

Locals crowd-source data

Once the word got out, Brotman’s phone started ringing.

One company looking to install solar on large-scale commercial buildings asked Brotman if he could put them in touch with anyone from DreamWorks, whose animation studio campus is located on Flower Street in Glendale.

Others were finding rooftops perfect for solar but had no clue who owned the buildings.

“One company said to us: ‘Can you help us out with that,’” Brotman said.

Enter Monica Campagna, 47, a stay-at-home mother and elementary school volunteer who wants to do something about global warming. She knew little about computer mapping but began tackling the job anyway a few months ago.

She uses Google Earth to locate commercial rooftops and parking lots that are accessible to solar and battery storage. On her walls are computer print-outs fastened with tape; beneath her desk are rolled up maps depicting potential sites for a decentralized, interconnected solar power plant that would spread across the city’s downtown commercial district.

“If we are demanding they (city) look at alternatives, I feel we have a responsibility to help them out,” she said. “How do we create energy here, store it here. This is a piece of the puzzle we can help with.”

“First I take screen shots. I’m printing each one out and then I’m taping them together to make a huge map of Glendale. I highlight roof space with one color, parking lots, like say car dealerships, with another color.

“Once I get them highlighted, I write down the name of the businesses and note the kinds: hospitals, libraries, nursing homes, car dealerships. Then I put them all in a spreadsheet with the addresses.”

Campagna’s about 30 percent of the way through. Her friend is working on getting the names of property owners through public records act requests with the Office of Los Angeles County Assessor.

PermaCity was so impressed with the work, it named Glendale Environmental Coalition as a partner in its bid, she said.

“They were not going to participate until they talked to us,” she said.

“Climate change, the heat waves, the fires are all in my face. It is happening now,” said Campagna. “We all have to work together to prevent this from getting any worse.”

Brotman and others are working with Sunrun to find residential homeowners who would install solar rooftop panels. The group and Sunrun held a public workshop on July 25 drumming up 40 potential customers.The goal is to build 1,000 residential solar installations and wire them together, Brotman said.

Learning from a Santa Barbara group

The people from Glendale learned about pairing up with bidders from a group in Santa Barbara called the Community Environmental Council, a nonprofit working on regional solutions to climate change.

They formed Clean Energy 805, which fought Southern California Edison’s plans to revamp the Puente Power Plant using natural gas. That project was rebuffed by the California Energy Commission and locals from Oxnard, forcing SCE to send out requests for proposals for greener energy projects.

“We brought developers to the table,” explained April Price, renewable energy specialist with CEC in Santa Barbara. “Our goal was: If Edison had a lot of great offers on the table, they ‘d be less likely to go ahead with a gas-fired orientation.”

Brotman, Campagna and others in the group copied the Santa Barbara team’s model of working within the system.

“We have relationships with local businesses, landowners and local governments. We help educate them about the opportunities to build renewable resources,” Price said during a phone interview last week.

The bidding closed in early July and the group is awaiting Edison’s decision on the Puente Power Plant.

Being a green energy leader

Brotman says he thinks the city only need 131 megawatts of power to replace Grayson. The amount of power needed remains in dispute, particularly with the city’s utility, which originally proposed a 262-megawatt Grayson plant revitalization.

However, Brotman thinks the City Council will only permit a smaller amount of power. He hopes a portfolio of solar and battery storage projects can meet the need for a reliable power supply, although many say that is a tall order.

For example, PermaCity is proposing 20 megawatts for its commercial rooftops plan. And Solar Optimum just completed a 3 megawatt project at the Glendale Galleria mall, one of the largest in the city.

“Glendale can be a pioneer here, a leader in clean energy, or be one of the last cities in California to build a gas plant that will look like a dinosaur,” Brotman said.