How Much Dirty Power Is Hidden in OCPA’s Renewable Energy Options?

A power plant produces energy for southern California in Newport Beach, Calif., on May 9, 2002. David McNew/Getty Images

Commentary

All four of Orange County Power Authority’s (OCPA) audits failed to identify and examine the central question surrounding the Southern California agency—how much dirty power is hidden in its renewable energy products?

That shortcoming is now playing out as OCPA leadership plays hide-the-ball with an inquiring public. Promises of transparency following the recent termination of the agency’s CEO or claiming that annual “power content labels“ address the issue are red herrings. Leadership has no clue about OCPA’s dirty power volumes and takes its cues from power supply portfolio consultant Pacific Energy Advisors (PEA). Dirty power volumes are easily kept from view with sleight of hand.

A primary objective of community choice throughout California is assuring that the general public never learns how much dirty power, such as coal- or gas-sourced energy, is packaged into its renewable energy products. That keeps customers off-balance while money flows into the not-for-profit agencies. OCPA recently posted a $41 million gain.

How would the public react to high volumes of dirty, or brown, power in OCPA’s “100% Renewable,” “Smart Choice,” or “Basic Choice” products? Not well.

To keep potentially awkward information from the public, OCPA requires that outsiders execute broadly worded non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) before the agency reveals anything proprietary. NDAs can serve as a gag order.

To be clear, NDAs are frequently justified for two reasons—first, to protect information that might damage the competitive position of an OCPA-type entity, and second to protect supplier’s contract terms, conditions, and prices. But the use of NDAs is often abused.

And providing 2022 energy volumes (megawatt-hours (MWhs)) does not reveal any contracts, terms, energy prices, or strategies, eviscerating the need for an NDA.

Only three items are required: (1) 2022 CAISO (California Independent System Operator) Settlement Statements, (2) invoices showing resource type and MWhs procured by OCPA, and (3) invoices showing resource type and MWhs sold by OCPA. Redact all else.

Furthermore, any competitive insights into OCPA are distorted, because OCPA’s newly formed existence in 2022 was ever-changing and unstable, created by varying customer counts across all rate classes through nine months of operation during an increasingly unsteady and inflationary market.

Accordingly, a limited view of last year’s MWhs and resource types shows obsolete data that does not threaten OCPA’s competitive position in the energy or capacity markets.

Shortly after OCPA’s business launch (now former) board chair Mike Carroll announced that the agency was “the greenest or one of the greenest electric providers in the nation.” Instantly out-greening established electricity providers was quite a feat for a government agency with less than four days of operation under its belt.

OCPA should willingly embrace confirmation of its acclaimed lofty stature by someone other than the community choice industry’s three established consultants—EES, MRW, and PEA—that are frequently used to provide softball reviews and studies of the community choice industry. (A fourth consultant once issued a critical report against the formation of a community choice agency and never again did business with the community choice industry).

Four audits have been completed. None of them identified actual volumes of delivered brown power. Consumers remain in the dark.

There is no reason to guard against a limited view of last year’s obsolete energy data, which should support Mr. Carroll’s stunning proclamation, unless OCPA is hiding something.

Now, let’s see those 2022 CAISO Settlement Statements, and invoices for megawatt-hours and resource type—with everything else redacted.

Views expressed in this article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.