San Mateo County’s official electricity provider, Peninsula Clean Energy, has voted to join the California Community Power Joint Powers Authority to leverage its buying power with other Northern California energy entities for better joint programs and purchasing power.
Joining the California Community Power, or CC Power, would give Peninsula Clean Energy, or PCE, benefits of more cost-effective services and programs, enhanced negotiating power, the potential for shared financing, economies of scale and shared risk. It also demonstrates to legislators and regulators that various local energy organizations can work together. PCE was founded in 2016 and is one of California’s Community Choice Aggregation organizations, or CCA, that has local control of purchasing and generating electricity for residents and businesses.
The initial members of CC Power are all Northern California CCAs and include Peninsula Clean Energy, MCE Clean Energy, Central Coast Community Energy, Sonoma Clean Power, Redwood Coast Energy Authority, Silicon Valley Clean Energy, San Jose Clean Energy, and East Bay Community Energy. Clean Power SF would vote on joining later in the year. PCE’s share in administering CC Power would be $12,000 in 2021 and $10,000 to $30,000 annually, a PCE staff report said. Together, the nine CCAs represent around 2.8 million customer accounts, said Jan Pepper, chief executive officer of PCE. The PCE board voted to join CC Power at its Jan. 28 meeting following a topic presentation and public discussion.
CC Power would support many of the current PCE objectives, including obtaining low-cost clean sources of electricity, working toward PCE’s goal of more carbon-free energy, better power supply strategies and exploring new clean energy options, among others. The CC Power Board would have one member from each member CCA with equal voting shares. Each member would be the CEO or general manager of each CCA. Any decision to participate in a project or approve PCE expenditures for CC Power of more than $100,000 would come to the PCE board for approval first. The first board meeting is expected to take place in mid-February. Specific policies will be developed on a project-by-progress basis based on the type of project and member participation in the given project. CC Power would have a three-phase process for project development of project exploration, subscriptions and negotiations and project commitment. Creating a larger JPA was first discussed in 2018, and it is possible the entity could grow, as any group in California could eventually join.
Members of the board supported joining CC Power, provided that Pepper advocate for core PCE practices around using union labor and high environmental standards as part of larger CC Power practices.
Board Member Rick Bonilla, also San Mateo deputy mayor, asked and was granted an amendment to include direction to staff to propose and lobby for CC Power policies to ensure it will award contracts and negotiate contract terms consistent with PCE’s goals and policies regarding environmental sustainability and support of local business and apprentice and union labor. PCE’s policy number 10 specifically provides direction on a sustainable workforce advocate for local business, union labor and apprenticeships programs to support the community and a fair and sustainable workforce. Bonilla was concerned that CC Power’s framework could weaken local control over the types of agreements PCE enters. The amendment will help provide staff direction on specific policies the board wants them to pursue at CC Power, particularly if not all of the other organizations have the same stance on environmental sustainability or union labor. Bonilla said PCE would still retain control of its organization and could leave CC Power if it no longer aligned with its mission and goals.
“We must work to ensure that CCP adopts policies ahead of time to ensure that it will negotiate contracts that contain terms consistent with our values and goals,” Bonilla said.
PCE is a San Mateo County energy provider that gives PG&E customers in the county the chance to have their electricity supplied from clean, renewable sources at lower rates for no additional charge. It buys the clean energy from multiple clean sources, but PG&E still delivers the energy and controls the utility infrastructure. PCE started in 2016 after all 20 cities and towns voted to form the joint powers agency. Customers in the county were automatically enrolled and were given time to opt out and stay with PG&E if they wanted. PCN said its goal is to provide businesses and individuals with more control over the electricity supply.
The board first heard about joining the organization in December from staff and held a study session Jan. 12 to learn more about joining before it was approved Jan. 28. The public is not expected to see changes from PCE joining, Bonilla said.
Pepper said one of the ways to influence the new organization’s behavior was to have a seat at the table instead of not being involved and having no influence on behavior. Board Member Dave Pine, also a San Mateo County supervisor, said joining CC Power creates an opportunity to be a leader on labor and other organizational policies. He believes if PCE makes the case, other member organizations will agree.
“We can’t influence the direction of this new JPA if we are not part of it,” Pine said.
(2) comments
As long as PG&E customers have the right to stay out of PCE without penalty than everything is good. Who appoints these people who are completely out of their mandate to control electricity to PG&E customers. Beware of of unelected minions making decisions about electricity on your behalf. It is a Trojan Horse.
PH, if you opted out and stayed with PG&E, your choice, you are actually subsidizing the PCE. Through very complex rate making CCAs such as the PCE have thus far managed to get a break and their rates are, in reality, currently indexed to PG&E's. I am more concerned about another Board. The PCE management team itself is highly qualified but the Board comprises politicians who can be swayed in any direction. The proposed JPA seems to replicate the individual boards so why not scrap them all and come up with a single one?
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