After recovering from a series of early poor decisions outlined by state and county audits and an OC Grand Jury investigation – Orange County’s only Community Choice Energy program appears to be headed in the right direction.
A not-for-profit agency dedicated to providing renewable energy for residents of Orange County was established through the efforts of community advocates, including UCI Ecology Professor Dr. Kathleen Treseder, who leads a research program on climate change, along with Linda Kraemer and the Climate Reality Project of Orange County (www.climaterealityoc.org). The City of Irvine provided initial funding and founded the Orange County Power Authority (OCPA) in 2021. A partnership was formed among the cities of Irvine, Fullerton, Buena Park, and Huntington Beach, with each city appointing council members to oversee the new agency. The residential service was launched in October 2022. (Huntington Beach has since withdrawn from the partnership, and the County of Orange opted not to join.)
OCPA is one of 25 not-for-profit Community Choice Aggregation agencies in California, working to provide cleaner energy and combat climate change. Under the leadership of new CEO Joe Mosca, who officially took over in early 2024, increased local city participation is anticipated. Fountain Valley is currently in the process of joining, and other cities are also exploring membership options.
Mosca was appointed as Interim CEO in June 2023 after the board voted 3-1 to terminate former CEO Brian Probolsky, with Fullerton’s representative Jung abstaining from the vote. State audits and the Orange County Grand Jury had criticized Probolsky’s performance and recommended his removal, suggesting the hiring of a qualified CEO with relevant experience. Additionally, in early 2023, the OCPA board appointed Nicholas Norvell from BBK, the legal firm contracted by OCPA, as the organization’s General Counsel.
Mosca oversaw the implementation of all recommendations highlighted in the various audits and the Grand Jury Report. These included increasing transparency in budgets, billings, and energy-mix purchases; hiring experienced and qualified staff; conducting public video-taped board meetings; and ensuring that backup documents are publicly accessible.
OCPA customers have the choice of three energy plans for 2024:
- Basic: $0.13340/kWh is 3% cheaper than the current SoCal Edison equivalent generation rate (nuclear and unspecified power is part of the mix – 44% from renewables)
- Smart Choice: $0.14340/kWh (72% from renewables); and
- 100% Renewable: $0.14840/kWh (100% from renewables)
For comparison: SCE’s basic rate is $0.13919/kWh (SCE’s 100% Green Rate has not been available since 2022 – and has a waiting list.)
Solar: OCPA’s Net Surplus Compensation rate for excess generation created from households with solar panels feeding back into the grid is 10% higher than SCE’s prevailing rate. Through the Net Energy Metering Program, SCE is responsible for delivery service charges and credits – and OCPA is in charge of generation charges and credits, which appear on a different line on your regular SCE bill. For more information on that program, visit www.ocpower.org, call 1-866-262-7693, or email info@ocpower.com with questions.
OCPA has 175,000-plus connected customers, with more expected to sign on as their cities join. The amount of renewable energy purchased by OCPA is based on the plans customers choose. Over time, the increased demand for green clean energy is expected to help combat climate change by reducing emissions from coal, gas, and oil.
SoCal Edison is still in charge of billing and delivering the electricity to customers through the existing system. The same SCE delivery and transmission charges appear on your electricity bill whether you choose to stay with SCE or go with OCPA.
2023 OCPA renewable power mix included:
- 100% Renewable Choice: 100% renewables from: (43.9%) solar; (26.2%) wind; (17.1%) geothermal; (8.8%) biomass; and (3.9%) eligible hydroelectric.
- Smart Choice: 58.0% renewables from (27.1%) wind; (24%) large hydroelectric; (18%) nuclear; (17.4%) biomass; (9.2%) geothermal; and (4.3%) solar.
(OCPA indicates that retail sales covered by retired unbundled RECs is 11% for an overall total of 69% renewable energy for Smart Choice.)
- Basic Choice: 10.1% renewables from: 62.4% unspecified power; (27.5%) nuclear; (9.5%) wind, and (0.6%) solar.
(OCPA indicates that retail sales covered by retired unbundled RECs is 29% for an overall total of 39% renewable energy for Basic Choice)
For comparison: The 2024 average mix of resources supplying SCE Basic rate at 37.6% renewable includes 28.8% unspecified power, 20.0% natural gas, 19.8% solar, 11.7% wind, 5.2% geothermal, 4.5% large hydroelectric; 0.7% eligible hydroelectric; 0.1% nuclear; 0.1% biomass & waste; and 0.1% other
Source: California Public Utilities Commission
Upcoming Years
According to information on the OCPA website for upcoming years, the agency will accept “Green House Gas-Free energy allocations from SCE’s large hydroelectric and nuclear resources for the period from 2025-2027 and from PG&E’s Diablo Canyon Power Plant nuclear resources for the period from 2025-2030.” This was presented to the OCPA Board of Directors and accepted based on the carbon-free attributes allocated to the organization and already paid for by customers.
In addition, OCPA is investing in a solar battery project in San Bernardino that will secure that resource for 20 years. Other possibilities include re-powering the 90 wind turbines at Mojave Desert wind farms and looking into long-term geothermal contracts.
For more information about OCPA, visit www.ocpower.org
For more information about Community Choice Aggregation, visit https://cal-cca.org/cca-impact/
DEFINITIONS
- RECs (Renewable Energy Credits) are certificates of proof associated with the generation of every megawatt-hour (MWh) of electricity generated and delivered to the grid from eligible renewable energy producers in compliance with California’s Renewables Portfolio Standard (RPS), which requires electricity providers to ensure that renewable energy constitutes a specific minimum portion of their electric load.
Example: Buying a REC from a wind farm guarantees less greenhouse gas-emitting coal or natural gas electricity gets fed into the grid. The REC creates direct 1:1 carbon reductions.
- Unbundled RECs represent renewable generation that is sold, delivered, or purchased separately “unbundled” from the electricity sold. Example: Whole Foods Market bought enough wind-energy RECs to offset the company’s annual electricity use.
- Retired Unbundled RECs: All green power supply options involve the generation and retirement of RECs. Retiring a REC means that you retain ownership of it forever; it cannot be sold to someone else and must be registered through the RECs tracking system. The purchasing and retiring of RECs allows an entity to claim the environmental benefits and the reduced carbon footprint.
For more information, visit https://www.epa.gov/lmop/unbundle-electricity-and-renewable-energy-certificates
- Unspecified Power is electricity that has been purchased through open market transactions and is not traceable to a specific generation source.
- California’s System Power Mix: According to the California Energy Commission, the 2023 Total System Electric Generation mix for the state was 281,140 gigawatt-hours sourced from the following fuel types:
- 56.09% – Non-Greenhouse Gas and Renewable Resources
- (19.17% Solar; 12.55% Large Hydro; 8.22% Nuclear; 6.46% Wind; 5.10% Geothermal; 2.34% Biomass; 2.25% Small Hydro)
- 43.91% – Thermal & Unspecified
- (43.68% Natural Gas; 0.12% coal; 0.02% Oil; 0.10% Waste Heat/Petroleum Coke); 0.0% unspecified.
In Other Energy News
- SCE Rate Hike: A recent request by SCE to the California Public Utilities Commission asks for a 22.6% increase over 2024 rate prices and a 6% increase in each following year through 2028. Ratepayers may review the request and make a comment by visiting https://www.cpuc.ca.gov/-/media/cpuc-website/divisions/news-and-outreach/documents/pao/pphs/2024/sce-2025-grc-pph-fact-sheet_final.pdf
- TURN, the utility reform network, announced a decision by the California Public Utilities Commission to reduce the amount of shareholder profit utilities can earn, which will give SoCal Edison ratepayers some relief when it kicks in January 2025. https://www.turn.org/press-releases/turn-applauds-cpuc-decision-to-reduce-utility-return-on-equity-saving-ratepayers-hundreds-of-millions-in-2025
- California Climate Credit: According to the California Public Utilities Commission website, ratepayers will automatically see the California Climate Credit ($32 to $174) on energy bills this October or November. The credit is the result of the state’s Cap-and-Trade Program, which requires polluters to pay for climate pollution. The funds from the program also contribute to the advancement of cleaner energy and transportation solutions. https://www.cpuc.ca.gov/news-and-updates/all-news/over-11-million-californian-households-to-receive-climate-credit-on-fall-electricity-bills
Fun Facts from US Energy Info Administration Independent Stats & Analysis
https://www.eia.gov/state/?sid=CA
- In 2023, California was the seventh-largest producer of crude oil among the 50 states, and the state ranked third in crude oil refining capacity.
- California is the largest consumer of jet fuel and second-largest consumer of motor gasoline among the 50 states.
- California is the second-largest total energy consumer among the states, after Texas, but its per capita energy consumption is the fourth-lowest in the nation.
- In 2023, renewable resources, including hydroelectric power and small-scale solar power, supplied 54% of California’s in-state electricity generation. Natural gas fueled another 39%, and nuclear power provided almost all the rest.
- In 2023, California was the fourth-largest electricity producer in the nation. It is also the nation’s third-largest electricity consumer and imports more electricity than any other state.
Information about RECs can be found in the FAQs on our website at www.ocpower.org/about-us/energy-sources. Details on Orange County Power Authority’s power procurement is published on the California Energy Commission’s website.
Share this:
Discover more from Fullerton Observer
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
Categories: Local Business, Local Government, Local News
First of all, let me just say that the Orange County Power Authority IS NOT providing its customers with cleaner energy than Southern California Edison. That would be IMPOSSIBLE as SCE delivers power to ALL Orange County residents, and we ALL get the same mix of energy. What the OCPA is doing is misleading the public. OCPA buys and sells energy and makes a profit by using their customers funds. They claim to purchase more clean energy than SCE, but they have to sell it off as SCE’s grid is not capable of storing renewables. If it was we would see wind farms and battery fields in our open space. Where is the backup system to be able to provide this “cleaner” energy when the sun goes down? What OCPA CEO Joe Mosca says, is they are cleaning grids elsewhere that have the capability of storage . . . but when asked specifically, what grids and where, he didn’t know. So, what is the OCPA doing? Well, look at their Check Register Logs buried on their website under Key Documents, Financials, in the Quarterly Treasury Reports, at the very end. This is where customers that are signed up automatically by their city, and are automatically set at a default rate in either the 2nd or 3rd tier, are paying for. Sponsorships, trips, hotels, restaurants, events and other miscellaneous items that have NOTHING to do with renewable energy projects. The OCPA has sponsored the Mayor of Fountain Valley’s re-election campaign, who is the last OC city to be approached to sign on, and hasn’t said “no”, yet. The OCPA hired an advocate for Climate Change so she can no longer speak out against this organization, and gave money to other Climate Action Campaigns so the Audits into this organization will cease. For a not for profit organization, funded by its customers, a lot of spending is going on behind the scenes, and never goes before the board. So much for a “transparent” organization.
Again, no one thinks SCE or OCPA is hooking up clean electrons straight to their home. Of course it doesn’t work like that. No one is being deceived. But those electrons do move over the same grid. And they do displace ratepayer dollars from being spent on dirty generation.
As to storage the current trend is to build the storage at the same site as grid scale generation. So if a field of solar panels is deployed, batteries are added at the same site. It’s happening and it’s happening at a rapid clip which is why the grid is holding up better than when we were having trouble during summer heat waves.
This is what is happening. But I guess you feel the status quo is ok.
The renewable power OCPA buys goes onto the grid and displaces dirty energy which is what we want if we hope to make a positive change in climate change.
I don’t like the money being spent on PR either and wish they would quit that. Best PR is investing in clean energy and lower prices to customers.
There is a price to participate in conventions – perhaps that is the travel and hotel charges – though I couldn’t find those charges on the quarterly check registers. Can you tell me which one holds that info?
OCPA prices are lower than SCE and participating cities decide what level to offer their residents (who are free to opt out if they want to). Also for the past two or more years SCE has not offered 100% renewable and has a waiting list should it ever kick in.
I don’t know about campaign contributions and hope that isn’t true. Please send any proof of that claim.
BTW – SCE spends money on events, lobbying, and PR too. I don’t like it but it’s legal.