Power to the people

Chico and Butte County are that much closer to launching a program that will allow residents and businesses to choose alternative power providers. Last week, the Butte County Board of Supervisors adopted an ordinance to create a community choice aggregation, and on Tuesday (Sept. 17), the Chico City Council followed suit.

Moving forward, the agencies will work together to create a joint powers authority, a collective governing body that will create program offerings and guidelines to get Butte Choice Energy off the ground. A launch date has been set for 2021.

Such programs typically have tiers for people to choose from, with base rates matching PG&E’s grid mix of 33 percent energy from renewable sources, climbing to as much as 100 percent renewables.