Power provider

It’s possible that by 2021, ratepayers in the city of Chico and unincorporated areas of Butte County could be paying less for their electricity while using more renewable energy.

The Butte Choice Energy Authority (BCEA)—a community choice aggregation (CCA) set up between the city and county to buy electricity for residents and businesses as an alternative to PG&E—began working out the details Monday (Nov. 18) at its inaugural board meeting.

The BCEA must submit an implementation plan to the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) by year’s end if it wants to hit its launch target of 2021, and the board—comprising county Supervisors Debra Lucero and Doug Teeter and City Council members Alex Brown and Scott Huber—will consider the types of rate packages it wants to include in that plan.

A consultant advising the board, Gary Saleba of EES Consulting Inc., said Monday that CCAs typically offer two to three options for their customers, including an option that could result in potential bill savings of roughly 2 percent. Several CCAs in PG&E’s service area offer rates that include a higher percentage of renewable energy sources at competitive or discounted price points compared with PG&E’s rates.

Speaking generally, Saleba told the board it could offer a low-end option that meets or exceeds current minimum state requirements of about 33 percent renewable energy but would provide customers with the aforementioned savings, at least. A feasibility study conducted last year found local residential customers could save about $29 per year through a CCA. Small businesses could see an average of $63 in yearly savings, and large businesses could receive $469 in savings.

A medium option, Saleba said, could include 50 percent renewable energy sources and result in a slight discount compared with PG&E’s rates. And a high-end option, which could include 75 percent to 100 percent renewables, could come with no savings or even a premium. Customers would choose among them.

“It’s all about choice,” Saleba told the board, adding that decisions made for the implementation plan, which needs to be submitted for certification to the CPUC by Dec. 31, will follow the board’s philosophies and goals. The document, he added, provides a general outline for regulators, and it can be modified in the future.

The BCEA, a joint powers authority between the city and county, will give the local governments authority to buy electricity for residents, businesses and other users routed via PG&E’s infrastructure.

PG&E would still read meters, send out bills and charge for distribution. But the bills would include the BCEA’s generation costs as a line item. PG&E also would collect the money and transfer the necessary funds back to the BCEA. Customers would be able to opt out of the BCEA and stick with PG&E as their power provider if desired.

The board will undergo a surge of activity before signing off on its implementation plan, with consecutive Monday meetings Dec. 9 and 16. The first is tentatively scheduled to be held at 5:30 p.m. at the Butte County Association of Governments, 326 Huss Lane, Chico.

Several board members came into the meeting Monday with questions for the consultant.

Brown, Chico’s vice mayor and co-author of the Chico Green New Deal, asked whether the BCEA would be able to provide lower rates for qualifying residents and families akin to assistance received through the California Alternate Rates for Energy (CARE) and Family Electric Rate Assistance (FERA) programs offered through PG&E. She also questioned how the BCEA could reach those low-income customers for informational purposes—whether it be for renewable energy education or home weatherization options.

Saleba told the board it could adopt the same plans PG&E offers for low-income residents, and any additional outreach to those residents—for home weatherization or renewable energy options—could be communicated through bill inserts and social media, among other forms of marketing.

Lucero, the chairwoman, asked whether the BCEA would be able to explore purchasing power from local energy suppliers, and whether hydroelectric sources would be feasible. Saleba said pursuing local sources of energy could be made a priority if desired, and that could be included in requests for proposals that are estimated to go out sometime next year. He added that other CCAs have included hydroelectric sources in their power supply portfolios, with most of that power originating in the Pacific Northwest. Transmission infrastructure exists to get the power to Butte County, he said.

The particulars of accessing hydroelectric power at Oroville Dam, however, was unclear. Saleba said more information about local power sources would be explored and brought to the board.

Shawn Marshall, executive director of LEAN Energy US, a nonprofit organization that helps local governments pursue CCAs, told the board that the BCEA’s 2021 launch is tentatively scheduled in two phases. The first is expected around March 2021 and would bring the community’s commercial customers online. August is the rough timeline for residential customers. Officials said bringing the two segments online at different times could ease the financial burdens on the CCA while beginning to bring in revenue.

“You’re going to find a lot of our advice comes from—keep it simple initially,” Saleba said. “It’s going to be hard enough getting set up. It’s going to be new. You’re all new. [The customers are] all new. Let’s keep the moving parts to a minimum.”