Coronado has officially joined San Diego Community Power, a community choice aggregation, to pursue cleaner energy sources and lower electric bills.
San Diego Community Power (SDCP) announced on Sept. 24 that its board of directors had voted unanimously to accept the city as its eighth member, joining cities such as Chula Vista, Encinitas and Imperial Beach.
Historically, community choice aggregations (CCA) helped lower electric fees for communities while utilizing greener energy such as wind, solar and geothermal.
“As our eighth member agency, Coronado strengthens a coalition of communities working together to build a more resilient, affordable and sustainable energy future for the San Diego region,” said County Supervisor Terra Lawson-Remer, who is also chair of SDCP’s board of directors.
The CCA currently serves almost one million people across San Diego County. According to the agency, a feasibility study showed that the island’s approximately 12,000 customer accounts would add around 1% to the total annual energy load and would not have an impact on existing customers.
Council member Carrie Anne Downey said at a July City Council meeting that in all the years of the CCA, “the rates are going to be better than (San Diego Gas & Electric) SDG&E. So we’re going to save money and have choice … I don’t know why we wouldn’t want to join a CCA.”
The city’s CCA membership gives residents the option to choose between staying with SDG&E or switching to SDCP.
For Coronado, if a resident chooses to switch, the electricity would be acquired by SDCP, but SDG&E would continue to deliver the power, maintain the electrical infrastructure and handle billing and customer service.
The council voted July 21 to adopt an ordinance establishing a CCA program within the city.
Now that the city has been voted in, SDCP said that it will move forward with filing an implementation plan amendment with the California Public Utilities Commission, waiting for an approval for Coronado to start receiving electricity from the community choice aggregate in 2028.
