LAKEPORT >> The Board of Supervisors this week continued to probe a proposal regarding the Community Choice Aggregation (CCA) program.
Last week the board heard a presentation by Santa Rosa-based California Clean Power CEO Peter Rumble. California Clean Power is a company that offers full-service consultation and implementation of CCA programs. According to Rumble, benefits of the program include at least two percent in rate decreases compared to PG&E; a 33 percent increase in renewable energy, which is five years ahead of a state mandates; and $2 million in public benefit payments to the county.
Through self-financing, the company offers their services with no cost to the county, Rumble said. The program would benefit only the residents and businesses of the unincorporated parts of the county.
Resulting from the 2000 state energy crisis, the CCA program was established to “give some competition and choice in the overall market which is dominated by utility companies such as PG&E,” Rumble explained during the first discussion. In the wake of that meeting, however, several raised questions about the county’s level of due diligence.
Since that initial discussion, the board and county staff were contacted by both Sonoma and Marin counties.
Sonoma and Marin counties each implemented their own CCA programs and are hoping to help Lake County follow their models, District 4 Supervisor Anthony Farrington said.
San Francisco-based company Community Choice Partners also contact county staff regarding the CCA program. The company provides services similar to California Clean Power.
“Community Choice Partners provides no up-front cost,” District 2 Supervisor Jeff Smith said reading from the email received. “That makes it sound like, to me, that they were going to provide funding too.”
However, county staff did not have the opportunity to contact Community Choice Partners before Tuesday’s meeting.
The board also received feedback from citizens inquiring about specifics of program’s opt-out policy and low-income options, such as PG&E’s California Alternative Rates for Energy (CARE) program.
Rumble explained that the CCA would, by law, become the default program for residents and businesses. However, “everyone has the right to opt-out at any time. Whether it is in ten years or from day one.” There is no cost or limitations on opting-out of the program.
An estimated 20 percent of customers are expected to opt-out, Rumble said.
As for PG&E’s CARE program, which provides lower rates for low-income customers, California Clean Power General Counsel Kelly Foley stated that the company will provide the same rate schedules to eligible customers.
The two-percent reduction in rates will also apply to CARE customers, Foley continued.
During public comment, Lakeport resident Phil Murphy said that although the plan has merit he has concerns with the county getting paid from the program, referring to the total $2 million in annual public benefit payments to the county.
“It almost seems like a bribe,” Murphy said.
Rumble explained that the program would be specific to the county, with direction from the board determining regarding specifics such as what the money would go toward.
Murphy also suggested that an incentive for residents creating solar energy should be included in the program.
“Right now PG&E is really ripping off people with grid-tied systems … if you can get people at or near full value for that energy, it’s going to be a heck of an incentive to get some solar panels,” Murphy observed. “That’s the kind of thing we want to encourage.”
The board unanimously approved a proposal to continue the discussion to its June 16 meeting in order to allow more time for staff to contact Community Choice Partners, report on Sonoma and Marin counties progress, as well as conduct further analysis.
If approved, the ordinance would not contract the county with California Clean Power, but would reference findings from the company’s feasibility study.
“It is a program that I think is great benefit to the residents to provide competitive choice … right now PG&E is a monopoly and calls the shots,” Farrington said.
Contact J. W. Burch, IV at 900-2022.
