Orange County Power Authority (OCPA), our region’s new clean energy provider (of which Fullerton is a member) is set to begin serving residential customers electrical power in October. This launch takes place amidst an ongoing audit of the agency, and a Grand Jury Report expressing concerns over transparency and leadership of OCPA.

Photo by Jesse La Tour.

OCPA is a community choice energy (CCE) agency that was established in 2019 to give member cities a greater mix of renewable energy. Currently, OCPA’s members include Irvine, Fullerton, Huntington Beach, Buena Park, and unincorporated areas of Orange County. OCPA purchases energy and sells it to customers, while Southern California Edison (SCE) still delivers, bills, and resolves any customer service or electricity service issues.

Unless Fullerton customers choose to “opt-out” (by visiting www.ocpower.org) they will be automatically enrolled in this new electric utility service, which allows customers to choose their preferred mix of renewable energy. The three options are:

• 38.5% Renewable Energy (No estimated rate increase from current SCE service).

• 69.2% Renewable Energy (about a 3-4% rate increase, or 1 cent per kilowatt/hour above SCE rates). 

• 100% Renewable Energy (about a 7% increase, or 1.5 cents per kilowatt/hour above SCE rates).

Fullerton City Council has set the default rate for customers at the middle tier, 69.2% rate increase.

Fullerton residents should receive two notices in their mailboxes prior to October 1 explaining how they can ‘opt out’ (thus continuing service with Southern California Edison) or to choose a different percentage tier.

On June 14, citing transparency and leadership concerns, Irvine City Council voted 4-0 to conduct a comprehensive audit of OCPA. Irvine was the founding member of OCPA and fronted the initial costs of the agency. Fullerton City Council voted on July 5 to support this audit.

On August 23, Orange County Supervisor Lisa Bartlett asked a representative of OCPA about the “audit” that the city of Irvine is currently doing of the OCPA, and it was revealed that this “audit” only involves looking at documents related to start-up costs.

At that meeting, the Board of Supervisors voted to demand a more complete audit of the OCPA, and threatened to withdraw from the Agency if they did not comply. This was done over concerns expressed by the Supervisors over a lack of trust and transparency with the agency.

To read the Grand Jury report, which outlines many of these concerns, click HERE.

To learn more visit www.ocpower.org or call 1-866-262-7693.