Orange County: On a CCA Roll!

A bit of background first. On September 25, 2018, the Irvine City Council approved conducting a feasibility study to determine the pros and cons of implementing a Community Choice program, including potential economic benefits for the community. Fast forward to July of this year when the Irvine City Council voted to move forward with their CCA plans and seek partner cities in a joint powers authority (JPA). That JPA formation process is now underway.

Currently three cities have requested their load data from Southern California Edison so the technical consultant can create one study with all participating cities.

The participating cities are:

• Irvine: Leading the formation. Population roughly 303,000
• Costa Mesa: Population 114,000 (set to hear a report on Oct 20th Council Meeting)
• Fullerton: Population 140,000 (set to hear a report on Oct 20th Council Meeting)
• Laguna Woods

In addition:

• Santa Ana has shown some interest (population of roughly 333,000)
• Huntington Beach paid for a study, but won’t do anything till after the election, which may be too late
• Tustin showed strong interest, but has not moved forward

For a deep dive, here are copies of the technical studies, including the original 2019 study and staff report: https://www.cityofirvine.org/community-choice-energy. And a follow-up Peer Review study.

Timeline:

1. Cities meet in October and November to vote on results of Irvine report, read and negotiate JPA and sign (or not!).

2. Seat the JPA board late November

3. Approve an Implementation Plan and submit to the California Public Utilities Commission by 12/31/20 for a 2022 service launch.

To stay up to date, visit OC Clean Power.