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Three Orange County cities are preparing to unplug Southern California Edison as an electricity supplier and take on the task themselves, a move they say will lower customer tariffs and speed up the shift to clean energy.
Edison would continue to provide electricity. But Irvine, who is spearheading the effort, has been joined by Costa Mesa and Fullerton for the initial approval of a joint powers authority that will make the actual purchase of power before it does. reaches the Edison transport lines.
Several other cities in Orange County are considering joining the coalition, which is quite common beyond county boundaries.
Ten million people – a quarter of the state’s population – already get their electricity from what is variously referred to as “community choice energy” and “community choice aggregation”.
“Community energy of choice is a proven model,” said Nicole Capretz, founder of the Climate Action Campaign. “The difference is whether your electricity is controlled by a private monopoly or controlled by a not-for-profit public interest group.”
The Capretz group has been successful in lobbying San Diego and several other cities in San Diego County to take the reins of buying their own electricity and are now courting cities in Orange County.
Orange County’s new municipal energy coalition is expected to take over the electricity supply of participating cities in 2022.
While modest savings for clients are expected, advisor Irvine Melissa Fox said that wasn’t the biggest incentive.
“The main objective is to use cleaner energy… to slow down climate change and solve the pollution problem,” she said. “A lot of households in Irvine, that’s what they want. They want to be able to choose cleaner energy at a comparable price. “
Being clean
Initially, municipal suppliers – which are not fully-fledged utilities – typically buy electricity from the same sources as investor-owned power companies.
But not tied by long-term contracts that many utilities hold, they can adjust the mix to take advantage of lower costs or to favor renewables – or both. In addition, they may be more aggressive than private utilities in encouraging and developing clean local energy production and battery storage, said Salem Afeworki, responsible for sustainable development services for the city of Costa Mesa.
“It allows for more competition, more choice,” Afeworki said, noting that the Orange County Community Choice program will initially have the same energy sources as Edison but could adjust the mix of those sources.
A feasibility study from the town of Irvine calculated a 2% reduction in customer costs. For businesses it can add up, but Kean Coffee owner Martin Diedrich said he sees the savings as an added bonus.
“We are facing a pretty serious situation with the human contribution to climate change. And this is due to our use of fossil fuels, ”said the Costa Mesa-based businessman. “Any opportunity to find a solution to reduce them is welcome.”
Some Community Choice aggregators offer customers a variety of clean energy blends, with the higher renewable energy option sometimes costing more.
In addition, customers have the option to opt out of the program and continue to obtain electricity from the utility. Afeworki said about 5% of customers statewide have chosen not to use the energy of choice in their area’s community.
Key elements of the municipal energy supply process, including rate structures, must be approved by the California Public Utilities Commission, just as they are for investor-owned utilities, Capretz said.
In addition, the energy chosen by the community could reduce the risk of forest fires and power outages by further encouraging local energy production and storage, she said.
Fiasco earlier
Community Choice Energy, approved by the state legislature in 2002, was an effort to address problems resulting from state deregulation of the electricity industry in the late 1990s – a move which resulted in power outages and a statewide energy crisis.
“It was a big fiasco,” Capretz said. “There was no regulation, no consumer protection.”
The corrective of the community choice aroused the opposition of certain private public services. In 2010, Pacific Gas and Electric spent $ 44 million on a voting measure that would have made it harder to train municipal suppliers, while opponents spent less than $ 100,000.
The measure failed, with 53% of the votes against it. The first community choice aggregator was launched that year in Marin County.
Unlike PG&E and other utilities at the time, Edison offered no opposition and cooperated with the process, according to Capretz and Edison spokesman Robert Laffoon-Villegas.
“SCE supports the right of customers to purchase electricity from a CCA and we regularly provide factual analysis to jurisdictions that request it when considering their decision to launch a CCA or join an existing entity,” said Laffoon -Villegas.
Edison currently produces 19% of the electricity it distributes to its customers, with the remainder being purchased from other generators, he said. While the company may get a return on its investment in transportation and delivery infrastructure, it is not allowed to profit from purchasing power, he said.
The company now focuses primarily on providing electricity rather than starting or buying it.
“The majority of our continued investment is in the transmission and distribution network,” he said.
Laffoon-Villegas noted that in areas where Edison provides Community Choice Energy, customer bills are divided into Community Choice Supply costs and Edison’s charges for transportation, delivery and service. to customers.
More interested cities
Fullerton City Council unanimously approved membership in the Orange County Coalition with its final vote on November 17. Irvine approved it unanimously in a first reading and is expected to give the same support in the final vote on Tuesday night, Nov. 24. Costa Mesa initially approved unanimously, with a final vote scheduled for December 15.
Once these approvals are complete, the cities will finalize the wording of the Joint Jurisdiction Agreement and seek the required approval from the State Utilities Commission.
In addition, the cities of Huntington Beach, Santa Ana, Lake Forest and Villa Park have expressed interest in joining the pact, although their councils have yet to vote. Other cities will be able to join even after the implementation of the new system.
Irvine will cover the start-up costs, estimated between $ 12.5 million and $ 20.5 million. These costs will be reimbursed once the authority is up and running, said Fox, a leading advocate for the change.
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