The CSAC Agriculture, Environment and Natural Resources policy
team request comments on two bills of importance to counties.
SB 612 (Portantino) – Community Choice
Aggregators
Under current law, when a customer leaves an Investor-Owned
Utility (IOU) to join a Community Choice Aggregator (CCA) they
are still charged some amount by the IOU. This power charge
indifference adjustment (PCIA) is essentially to pay for the
resources the IOU already budgeted for that customer for the
upcoming year, despite the fact that the customer will not be
using those resources.
SB 612 (Portantino) would require that each year, beginning
in 2022, the IOUs would instead need to offer to sell the
resources directly to CCAs to purchase to provide power, instead
of charging the customer directly. This bill would also require
IOUs to provide specified information to CCAs purchasing their
power, in an effort to increase transparency in contract
negotiations.
CCAs are programs that allow local governments to obtain
electricity on behalf of their residents from an alternative
supplier while still receiving transmission and distribution
service from their existing utility provider. There are seven
states that allow CCAs, and within California, CCAs have been
established in more than 200 cities, towns and counties.
As SB 612 moves through the Legislature, CSAC would like to hear
from counties about their questions, concerns, or thoughts on the
bill. Please send feedback to Catherine Freeman (cfreeman@counties.org) and Ada
Waelder (awaelder@counties.org).
AB 781 (Daly) – Orange County Flood Risk Management
Subvention
AB 781 (Daly) would authorize the state to provide subvention
funds to Orange County for the Westminster, East Garden Grove,
California Flood Risk Management project. The bill will require
Orange County to establish an agreement between the County and
the state absolving the state of liability for damages. The
Department of Water Resources will determine the amount of
funding needed, and make a recommendation to the Legislature to
appropriate. AB 781 is scheduled for a hearing on April 22 in the
Assembly Water, Parks and Wildlife Committee. As AB 781 moves
through the Legislature, CSAC would like to hear from counties
about their questions, concerns, or thoughts on the bill. Please
send feedback to Catherine Freeman (cfreeman@counties.org) and Ada
Waelder (awaelder@counties.org).
