Supporting renewable energy and providing cheaper power continue to fuel the city of Arcata’s interest in purchasing and re-selling electricity to its residents. Becoming a Community Choice Aggregation â€" or CCA â€" has been under discussion since at least 2007.
While the city of Arcata’s size is impractical for purchasing electricity on its own, city leaders are contemplating joining Sonoma Clean Power, a CCA that began providing power last year to the residents of Santa Rosa, Sonoma, Windsor, Cotati, Sebastopol and Cloverdale under the auspices of the county of Sonoma. The concept, Arcata City Manager Karen Diemer said, is aligned with a city goal of energy resiliency.
Under CCAs â€" allowed in California with legislation in 2002 â€" public power agencies purchase electricity from sources of their choice and sell that power to customers in the affected area while the existing power company delivers the power. Residents in the area have the right to opt out and remain with the current power provider when the CCA is established.
Redwood Coast Energy Authority Executive Director Matthew Marshall said the organization’s board directed RCEA staff to explore the possibility of establishing a local and independent CCA last spring. In March, he said, a recommendation will be forwarded to the board to continue the process.
The next step would be getting the backing of the Humboldt County Board of Supervisors, he said. Then it’s working out the details â€" which communities would be involved, how much power would be needed, selecting power vendors and working out the administrative details. Among those details, he said, are determining priorities. The emphasis could be on renewable energy or on low prices or a mixture of both, Matthew Marshal said.
Ideally, he said, the county and all of the cities would participate knowing that each customer had the option to opt out. It’s possible a locally-based CCA could be up and running in one to two years.
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Since Marin took the challenge of forming the first CCA some five years ago, the program has interest from throughout the state. Marin Energy was the first CCA in 2010, Sonoma Clean Power in 2014 and several other governmental entities are taking definitive steps to set up their own CCA. The Los Angeles city of Lancaster will launch a CCA in May, according to Shawn Marshall, executive director of Lean Energy, a national advocacy organization that provides information and consultation on CCAs.
Several others are actively exploring the possibility and have committed funds to the effort, including Alameda County, San Mateo County, a consortium of cities in Silicon Valley, San Francisco, San Diego and a couple cities in Santa Clara County, she said. And still more are examining the possibility at an uncommitted level: seven beach communities in Los Angeles County, San Luis Obispo County and Santa Barbara County.
Both RCEA and the city of Arcata have a couple of options in proceeding: negotiating to join an existing CCA or forming an independent CCA. There are advantages in both, Shawn Marshall said. Joining an existing CCA would likely be more expedient as the structure is in place. An independent CCA, however, would have complete control in choosing which power producers to purchase electricity from and where to invest any monies made.
The actual transfer of power purchased by Sonoma goes like this: the power is entered into an overall grid with certain amounts designated for customers of Sonoma Energy. Imagine this continuous loop of power running through the state â€" each CCA adds to that pool and its customers withdraw a like amount from the pool. Shawn Marshall likened the process to depositing $100 into one’s account one day in San Francisco and withdrawing the same amount in Los Angeles the next day.
Customer savings range from 4 to 10 percent for those in the Marin and Sonoma CCAs, Shawn Marshall said, with commercial customers saving more.
The process can be time-consuming.
Arcata Energy Committee member Jim Zoellick said the city first began considering the possibility in 2007, but held back knowing that the concept hadn’t yet been tried in California. The question now, he said, is whether the city waits for the establishment of a broader CCA that includes other North Coast communities or joins the existing one in Sonoma.
Jessie Faulkner can be reached at 441-0509.
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