For years now, Coronado officials have been mulling a decision that could change how the city procures its energy and where it comes from.
Currently, the energy powering Coronado homes and businesses is bought, transmitted, serviced and billed by San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E).
However, many other cities in the region have joined a Community Choice Aggregation (CCA), an organization which advocates say promises cleaner energy for comparable rates.
A CCA is a non-profit cooperative that is governed by a board of elected officials that purchase energy contracts and prioritize greener options compared to investor-owned counterparts. A Coronado City Council staff report from June noted the potential for substantial emission-reduction benefits from participating in a CCA – an estimated 9,800 metric tons of carbon dioxide, equivalent to removing about 1,000 cars off the road.
Under a CCA model, the energy that the city uses would be purchased by CCA, but SDG&E would still transmit, service and bill for the energy. Essentially, a CCA simply replaces the energy procurement department of SDG&E.
So how do the energy portfolios of CCAs and SDG&E compare? The State of California mandates that utility companies achieve 60% renewable energy supply by 2030. Currently, SDG&E provides customers with 41% renewable energy compared to about 47% for the local CCAs. So the energy portfolio of CCAs is only slightly “greener” than SDG&E which will reach 60% renewable by 2030.
And how do the rates between CCAs and SDG&E actually compare? When comparing similar uses at the same time of day, the total difference is often less than $1-2 for a monthly utility bill with SDG&E being sometimes more affordable and sometimes less.
The fact that rates are not wildly different is expected since SDG&E is prohibited by law from charging customers more than the cost of the electricity it purchases. This is why SDG&E is indifferent to whether they, or CCAs, are purchasing the energy contracts.
Even though there is only a negligible difference in price and renewable energy, there is a massive difference in potential liability. If Coronado enters a CCA and, for whatever reason, disagrees with the CCA’s direction and wants to leave, it would likely have to pay an exit fee for the energy the CCA has secured on behalf of Coronado. Given CCA’s are effectively the SANDAG of energy supply, Coronado will have little representation but all of the responsibility.
There is an alternative option for our environmentally-conscious Coronado residents that won’t subject the city to the whims of a politically-governed CCA. SDG&E currently offers customers the ability to purchase 100% renewable energy right now simply by opting into their EcoChoice renewable energy purchasing plan.
Rather than subject the city to more bureaucracy now – and potential liability in the future – for negligible differences in rates and green energy, the city should simply inform environmentally-conscious residents of their ability to join SDG&E’s EcoChoice program.
This makes the most sense because even though SDG&E isn’t great, CCA’s aren’t really any better.
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