IRVINE, Calif.—Some business owners were shocked to learn their electricity bill was set to increase beginning April 1 amid the launch of service from the Orange County Power Authority (OCPA).
After forming the agency in November 2020, the power authority will be the county’s first community choice energy program that seeks to provide greener energy to residents and businesses in the county. Power authority officials will take over Southern California Edison’s role as the buyer and seller of electricity, though Edison’s facilities will still be transporting the power authority’s energy to homes and businesses.
Irvine, Huntington Beach, Fullerton, and Buena Park are part of the OCPA, and businesses in these cities will see their energy bills rise unless they opt out of the program and rejoin Edison, which they can do at any time effective at their next billing cycle, according to the OCPA.
The cleaner energy comes with a higher price tag, with large commercial businesses in cities that chose OCPA’s 100 percent renewable energy option to be paying 7.3 percent higher rates compared to Edison. Every member city opted for the 100 percent renewable option, except for Fullerton, which chose the 69-percent middle tier.
Every commercial business in member cities was automatically opted into the OCPA or would have needed to call the agency prior to the March 25 deadline to opt out for the first billing cycle starting in April.
The OCPA also was required to send two notices to each business to inform them of the new program, but many business owners said they had never received one.
Joe Rosati, owner of The Night Owl coffee shop in Fullerton, said he didn’t receive any mailers and had no idea he was going to automatically incur increased electricity prices.
“This is news to me,” Rosati told The Epoch Times. “As a small business owner, … it’s really kind of pathetic. I didn’t hear anything. They didn’t send me any mailers or contact me whatsoever.”
Rosati said he was “absolutely” going to opt out of OCPA’s program.
“This is why small businesses are running out of the state; it’s like the saying ‘death by 1,000 cuts.' They just bleed you slowly to where you don’t even realize until you’re dead,” Rosati said.
The Irvine Unified School District, which spends around $5.5 million annually on electricity, said it was opting out of its 41 school sites and district facilities due to the extra $400,000 annual increase they would have to pay under the OCPA.
“We need more time to thoroughly vet the Orange County Power Authority’s plan and as such we have extended our decision to June 1,” Irvine Unified spokeswoman Annie Brown told The Epoch Times. “We will continue to engage in discussions with the OCPA.”
Brown noted that the district did not receive any notifications, and only learned about the matter after seeing the item on the Irvine City Council’s agenda, and then contacted the city for further information.
Ed Laird, the owner of Laird Coatings Corp. in Huntington Beach, said he was aware of the switch but did not receive any notifications.
“It’s a real power grab, and it’s just creating another government bureaucracy,” he told The Epoch Times, saying he intends to opt out.
Irvine Ranch Water District also decided to opt out, noting in a March 15 staff report that it had “not received a single notification from OCPA regarding the program or how to opt-out.”
In regard to the reportedly missed notifications by some businesses, OCPA said they sent two mailers to customer accounts where they currently receive their Edison bill.
“OCPA has not received any returned mail from these two mailings,” OCPA CEO Brian Probolsky wrote in an email sent to The Epoch Times. “We are confident that the mailings have been delivered to the mailing addresses associated with these accounts.”
Instead of opting out, OCPA customers can opt down to the basic rate, which will cost the same as Edison’s rate.
“OCPA customers can choose to move up and down between tiers, every single month if they like. Those options remain forever. Being able to move within the OCPA structure gives customers a lot of choice and flexibility.”
At the April 1 launch, OCPA said it will be supplying power for 38,000 commercial businesses. Residents within the four member cities will be receiving power from OCPA starting in October.
