The Irvine City Council voted 3–2 Dec. 29 to remain with the Orange County Power Authority (OCPA) following the Orange County Board of Supervisors’ decision to withdraw from the agency Dec. 20.
The vote came in a special meeting organized by councilmembers Mike Carroll, Larry Agran, and Kathleen Treseder.
Agran and Carroll were the dissenting votes.
Formed in 2020, the agency promised to supply more renewable energy for a lower cost, compared to the region’s primary electricity provider Southern California Edison.
An initial motion by Agran was for the city to withdraw completely from the authority, which failed with only Councilman Carroll in support.
After further discussion on the issue, Irvine Mayor Farrah Khan motioned that the city would continue its operations with the power authority, ask the county to rescind its withdrawal, and reevaluate the relationship in June.
“We cannot let the actions of the county determine what we do here in the city or what OCPA does as an existing entity,” Khan said. “The detriment of us withdrawing or hoping that OCPA folds or is no longer operating, is going to be detrimental to every single [community choice aggregation] in California.”
Community choice aggregations allow local governments to procure power on behalf of their residents and businesses and offer greener energy options.
Irvine city officials calculated the cost to withdraw from the agency would be about $145 million.
Agran’s failed motion included a provision that if the city withdrew it could later rejoin if things improved.
Efforts to improve the city’s relationship with the agency, he said, have been fruitless.
“We have been trying to fix this thing from afar ... What do we get in return? Stonewalling,” he said. “We get refusal to disclose information, no transparency.”
Agran told The Epoch Times that the city’s decision to stay with the agency didn’t provide any consequences to ensure the power authority will actually listen to the city’s requests for more transparency, as it has yet to disclose certain financial information after months of being asked.
“If the motion adopting the notice of withdrawal had been adopted, that would have incentivized OCPA, and the new board at OCPA, to immediately undertake the reforms that are desperately needed,” he said.
Carroll supported Agran’s motion to withdraw from the power authority, noting that the county’s departure and the possibility that the city of Huntington Beach might do the same, poses a financial risk for Irvine.
The issue required a special meeting, due to a 180-day requirement of a notice for withdrawal, which, in this case, would have become effective in July of 2023.
Any withdrawal request after Jan. 1, would have prevented the city from leaving the power authority until July 1, 2024, under the rules.
During the discussion, newly elected Treseder said her main concern was with the authority’s CEO Brian Probolsky.
“My priority for fixing OCPA is removing the current CEO Brian Probolsky and replacing him with a qualified interim CEO,” Treseder said. “I really need that to happen. I cannot in good faith allow the city to remain in OCPA as long as he is CEO.”
The final motion adopted—led by Khan—included the power authority addressing transparency issues as well as concerns over its inexperienced CEO. However, according to city officials, it cannot mandate such, only request the power authority to look into these matters.
Criticism of the power authority’s Probolsky initially started from 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 Orange County Board of 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 Edison.
It also revealed that twice as many customers opted out of the agency compared to projections. The OCPA lost nearly three times more customers compared to 19 other community-choice energy providers in California, according to the findings.
In response, the power authority announced earlier this month future lower rates.
Following the vote, the power authority said it is committed to working with Irvine and its other members to “ensure a high level of confidence” in meeting its clean energy goals, while operating “in an open and transparent manner.”
“We look forward to continuing to work with all of our member agencies to build on OCPA’s already strong financial position ... and bring more renewable energy to Orange County to create healthier, more resilient communities,” OCPA officials said in a statement.
