The Orange County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously Jan. 10 to look into joining a new green energy agency, after abandoning the controversial Orange County Power Authority (OCPA) last month.
Such agencies are community choice aggregations, or CCAs, which allow local governments to procure power and sell it to residents and businesses, promising greener energy options.
“While OCPA was not the right choice for our unincorporated areas, there are other existing CCA programs that may work,” Supervisor Katrina Foley, who agendized the motion, said in a statement Jan. 10 sent to The Epoch Times. “Today’s vote is not a policy commitment, but a first step towards obtaining more information and research to make the right decision for our residents.”
Criticism of the OCPA started after a June Grand Jury Report titled “Orange County Power Authority: Come Clean,” which raised concerns over an alleged lack of transparency and inexperienced management.
The supervisors’ decision to withdraw unincorporated areas from the OCPA, was largely due to the report and via its own audit of the agency, which revealed the authority’s prices were up to 7 percent higher for residential consumers, compared to its competitor Southern California Edison.
OCPA officials said last month, though, that its basic rates will be lower than Edison’s by mid-January.
Foley suggested the county join San Diego Community Power. The agency was formed in 2019 and provides electricity to the City of San Diego, Chula Vista, Encinitas, La Mesa, Imperial Beach, and National City, as well as San Diego County’s unincorporated regions.
“There are successful CCA programs across the state of California that engage with their residents and give them a real choice when it comes to their electricity,” Foley said.
She said her objective is to help meet the state’s emission goals by providing renewable energy and creating what’s called a climate action plan, which would define environmental goals on a timeline.
The state has recently doubled down on climate actions after the California Air Resource Board voted unanimously in December to mandate “carbon neutrality” by 2045, in part through reducing fossil fuel demand by 86 percent.
If the county elects to join a new agency, residents within the county’s unincorporated areas would be able to stay with their current energy provider or switch to the new one.
