CCA Digest
CALIFORNIA Roundup, January 2016
A Message from LEAN's Executive Director
We hope you had a joyous and meaningful holiday season. As we enter into the new year, we are reminded of the urgent need to continue to advocate for energy resources that phase out our global reliance on fossil-fuels. The massive gas leak at Porter Ranch in Southern California has already dumped 85,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide into California's air. Every day the leak spews the amount of carbon dioxide that would be emitted by up to 9 million cars. The benzene and other chemicals in the cloud are suspected of causing illness of all kinds to local residents and wildlife.
This environmental disaster has already been referred to as a "mini-Chernobyl" in press accounts. The facility's owner, SoCalGas, has provided no definite strategy or timeline for clean up. Governor Brown has called a state of emergency and the state's Public Utilities Commission staff has warned SoCalGas about engineering analysis that suggests risk of a massive explosion.
This crisis, combined with the San Bruno explosion and other accidents attributable to natural gas facilities, underscores our need to follow the lead of California's CCAs, which have already made huge strides in reducing the state's reliance on fossil fuels and made commitments to increase their efforts in the coming years.
Go team!
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Update on CCA Program Developments in California
Lots of progress in numerous communities. The following provides highlights only - for more information about activities in other communities, get in touch with LEAN Energy US.
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Alameda County - East Bay Community Power
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MRW & Associates has started tech study; current plan is to return to BOS in June for authorization and phase 2 funding; Target launch is spring 2017
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Humboldt County
(Redwood Coast Energy Authority)
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Pursuing 5 years of formation and operations support; RFP deadline extended to January 22. Very likely that Lake County will issue a similar RFP in early February.
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City and County of San Francisco
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Signed Phase 1 contract with suppliers and conducted risk assessment with reduced rates. Launch planned for May 1 -- 30-50MW!
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Silicon Valley Clean Energy - Santa Clara County
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Cities of Morgan Hill, Sunnyvale, Mountain View and Cupertino all unanimously passed ordinance. County and other cities upcoming. March 31 deadline.
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Peninsula Clean Energy - San Mateo County
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County plus cities of San Mateo, Atherton, Menlo Park have passed resolutions and first reading of ordinance. Burlingame, Half Moon Bay and East Palo Alto up next week. Deadline is Feb 29; Target launch is October 2016.
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Santa Barbara, Ventura, SLO Counties
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Advisory Committee underway; responses
to the RFP for a tech study re due January 25; load data request will be submitted in a few weeks.
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Contra Costa County
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Local government outreach led by County; 8 cities have authorized load data for countywide tech study while also considering option to join MCE; County deadline to join study is January 31.
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County of Los Angeles
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Conducting outreach and developing a JPA; requested electronically formatted load data from SCE; 2017 planned launch for at least some jurisdictions.
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Monterey Bay Tri-Counties
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Tech study nearly complete; Santa Cruz County will issue a marketing and outreach RFP week of January 26; plan to return to SC BOS in March for authorization to move into Phase 2
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California CCA Updates with 2016 Projects/Goals
Marin Clean Energy, Dawn Weisz, CEO
- MCE is launching "Local Sol" service, which provides electricity from 100% local solar projects with a 20 year guaranteed rate
- MCE has made a commitment that its default electricity service will be 80% renewable by 2025;
- MCE's 2016 portfolio will include only 3% unbundled "RECs"
- MCE has signed PPAs for three local solar projects, one that is 10.5 MW in Richmond and two that are 1MW each in Novato
- MCE has proposed a $5.3 million energy efficiency program to the CPUC that would feature MCE as a single point of contact for all types of ancillary services, including electric vehicle charge, onsite storage and demand response programs.
Sonoma Clean Power, Kate Kelly, Director of Public Affairs and Marketing
- SCP currently has an 89% participation rate and serves 450,000 customers (196,000 accounts)
- SCP's board recently approved a policy to permit potential expansion to other jurisdictions -- good news!
- SCP is working on vehicle-grid integration with charging stations in partnership with CAISO and Lawrence Berkeley Labs; the goal is to increase electric vehicles in the County by 10,000 in 3-5 years
- SCP has 85.5 MW of solar projects under contract and in various stages of development
Lancaster Choice Energy, Barbara Boswell, Director
- SCE PCIA remains near zero
- LCE participation rate is 93.5%! Fantastic!
- LCE recently reduced its rates to remain competitive with SCE after its temporary rate reduction
- LCE has a PPA for 10MW of solar within city limits and is working on city-owned projects on city property
- LCE is negotiating an arrangement to power 85 electric buses
- LCE is in the planning stages to develop a major energy efficiency program
- LCE is supporting other Southern California jurisdictions in their CCA investigations and planning
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Community Outreach for CCA--a Primer
Last month's speakers highlighted both the strategic and tactical goals of community outreach and marketing for developing CCAs. Here are a few highlights:
Susan Bierzychudek, Principal, Green Ideals
A strategic communication consultant for MCE and LEAN Energy US, Susan set the goal of emerging CCAs as "turning a government agency into a warm, inviting consumer brand." As a values-driven entity, CCAs need to lead with the values they hold, if they're going to successfully convince people to
care about what they're doing.
Alex DiGiorgio, Community Development Manager, Marin Clean Energy
Having taken MCE through several expansion phases, Alex explained the value of reaching out to community associations, church groups, and public gatherings. He stressed the importance of establishing Community Leader Advisory Groups, and inviting even those who are not supporters of community aggregation to the table.
Kathy Wells, Lancaster Choice Energy
LCE has just completed its final round of enrollment notices. Kathy noted the wisdom of staggering customer notices and relying on LCE's customer care firm to handle mailings. LCE's top 2 opt out concerns are from people who don't like being automatically enrolled, and those who are nervous about a government agency's role in their electricity usage.
Kate Kelly and Erica Torgerson, Sonoma Clean Power
SCP uses all types of media to stay connected to customers, while attending every appropriate community event. SCP managers also occupy leadership positions on various boards and panels, and hold regular meetings with PG&E and Noble in order to minimize customer confusion.
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Regulatory and Legislative Updates
Update on PG&E's Proposal to Double Its PCIA (A1506001)
Although PG&E's proposal to double its PCIA in 2016 drew hundreds of letters and emails to Commissioners at the CPUC, the results of the vote were disappointing. On December 17, 2015, the Commission approved PG&E's PCIA proposal in a 4-1 vote following the press conference on the steps of City Hall, jointly organized by LEAN, the City of San Francisco, the Sierra Club and CBD.
With this vote, the PCIA will be increased an unprecedented 95%, making it much more difficult for CCAs to be cost-competitive. But the public comment process was certainly noticed by the Commission, whose decision made a commitment to reconsider the formula and inputs to PG&E's PCIA. It will begin by conducting a workshop, currently scheduled for March 8, 2016 in A.1405024, PG&E's 2015 "ERRA" proceeding. We'll provide updates as that news develops.
SDG&E Advice Letter 2822-E to Create Marketing Organization re: CCA
SDG&E filed AL 2822-E proposes to a marketing organization that would be permitted to market and lobby against CCAs. The organization must comply with numerous CPUC "Code of Conduct" rules, which were implemented according to SB 790.
On December 10, LEAN Energy, California CCAs, the Sierra Club and others filed protests to the approval of the advice letter, raising concerns that filing does not describe how SDG&E will comply with Code of Conduct rules or provide enough detail to permit enforcement of the rules. As proposed, SDG&E's organization could permit transfers of sensitive information, as well as improper oversight by SDG&E. In their protest letters, the parties also argued on a policy basis that SDG&E does not provide evidence of an "informational gap" and that its vast resources would dominate the dialogue and unduly influence decision-makers.
The CPUC's Energy Division staff suspended the advice letter in mid-December, which means the Commission will have three months to analyze the utility's proposal. The staff has until April 19 to recommend a rejection or approval, or extend the suspension period for continued review. (See CPUC General Order 96-B http://docs.cpuc.ca.gov/PUBLISHED/GENERAL_ORDER/164747.htm#P572_47768
Good news!
View LEAN's letter of opposition
here
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Legislative Work
MCE reports that it is working on implementation of SB 350, which will be before the CPUC in the coming year.
SCP reports that it is working with the authors on AB 1110 regarding greenhouse gas reporting.
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We'd like to extend an enthusiastic thanks to all our members, whether you're new on the scene or renewing your membership. Your support is critical to our success, and to the success of CCA everywhere.
Renewing members:
New members:
Don Campbell
Linda Hillman
What?
You say you're not a member yet?! You can join through our website
Click
here for our membership flyer information.
You can see logos of all our current members on our website HOME page. Please take the time to peruse their websites--you may find some important contacts there.
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Our Consulting Clients
In addition to providing information resources to all interested parties, LEAN Energy also provides consulting services to communities involved in CCA investigation and development.
Whether you're just considering formation or further along, LEAN can help flatten your learning curve, provide critical guidance, and prep you for launch in record time. You'll learn from those who've already done it successfully and from those who are well along the path.
Here are some of LEAN's current CCA consulting clients:
Alameda County
Contra Costa County
San Mateo County
Silicon Valley CCE Partnership
Santa Cruz County/Monterey Bay Community Power
City of Davis
Santa Barbara County
Mendocino County
Looking for help with CCA Formation? Call Us!
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Odds and Ends
Educational Workshops Available
Would a workshop on CPUC regulation or an informational CCA webinar be useful for your community or working group? LEAN Energy can help!
Next Monthly Market Call
Friday, February 12, 10-11 am
Special Topic: A Deep Dive Into PCIA
Join us to hear about all the latest developments in the CCA marketplace with deeper dives into related topics each month. Contact Alison Elliott for more information.
[email protected]
or
register here.
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of the Latest News!
Remember to follow us on Facebook and Twitter for up-to-the-minute news flashes on the CCA marketplace.
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Acronym Cheat Sheet
Are the acronyms and abbreviations stumping you? Here's a quick glossary of some frequently used terms:
ALJ - Administrative Law Judge
BoS - Board of Supervisors
CAISO - California Independent System Operator
CAM - Cost Allocation Mechanism
CIS - Customer Information System
CPUC - California Public Utility Commission
CRM - Customer Relationship Management
ERRA - Energy Resource Recovery Account
iBank - California Infrastructure & Economic Development Bank
IBEW - Int'l Brotherhood of Electrical Workers
ISO - Independent System Operator
JPA - Joint Powers Authority
PCIA - Power Charge Indifference Adjustment
PPA - Power Purchase Agreement
QRE - Qualified Reporting Entity
REC - Renewable Energy Credit
T & D Rates - Transmission and Distribution Rates
TOU Rates - Time of Use Rates
CCA vs. CCE - What's the difference? Nothing!
Community Choice Aggregation is sometimes called Community Choice Energy. The first is a legal term; the second is more descriptive and consumer-friendly.
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