.png)
The Clean Power Alliance, Southern California’s new locally-operated clean energy provider will be enrolling commercial customers across 28 additional communities (27 cities and unincorporated Ventura County) in May 2019. Business customers in these areas will receive clean energy purchased by Clean Power Alliance that has higher renewable content and is competitively-priced with Southern California Edison (SCE). SCE will continue to deliver power, send utility bills, and be responsible for resolving any electricity service issues.
Each participating City or County’s elected officials voted to join Clean Power Alliance and chose a default rate tier from one of CPA’s three rate tiers. These tiers include: 36% Lean Power (a 1-2% bill savings), 50% Clean Power (at parity with SCE rates), and 100% Green Power (a 7-9% bill premium).
This phase of Clean Power Alliance’s service launch will serve business, industrial, and agricultural customers. Per California law, enrollment into Clean Power Alliance will be automatic and customers will receive four informational notices from Clean Power Alliance in the mail. Two notices are sent before Clean Power Alliance service starts in May 2019 and two are sent afterwards, advising businesses of their choices and their community’s chosen default rate option.
Individual commercial customers will be able to opt up, down, or out (and return to SCE) at any time once they receive a pre-enrollment notice in the mail through Clean Power Alliance’s website or customer service call center: www.cleanpoweralliance.org or 888-585-3788.
This phase of commercial enrollment follows the enrollment in February 2019 of over 900,000 residential customers from all of Clean Power Alliance’s 31 communities. Clean Power Alliance’s previous enrollment included over 30,000 businesses in unincorporated Los Angeles County and the Cities of Rolling Hills Estates and South Pasadena in 2018. To date, over 97% of eligible Clean Power Alliance customers have chosen to remain with Clean Power Alliance.
“Clean Power Alliance offers more choice and competitively priced clean energy to our commercial customers, many of whom have their own sustainability targets,” said Ted Bardacke, Executive Director, Clean Power Alliance. “We’re excited to bring competition to the electricity market in a way that will foster innovation and allow us to meet the state’s climate goals ahead of schedule with customer needs in mind.”
Commercial customers who remain with Clean Power Alliance will have the opportunity to help design new local programs for the business community as well as remain eligible for the ones offered by SCE. Customers who choose the 100% Green Power plan will also receive special recognition and marketing opportunities though Clean Power Alliance’s forthcoming green business recognition program. Commercial customers with solar who generate excess energy will also be able to take advantage of Net Surplus Compensation rates that are 10% higher than SCE’s Net Surplus Compensation rates under Clean Power Alliance’s Net Energy Metering (NEM) Program.
“Part of our vision of regional emission reduction means serving our local larger commercial customers with tailored programming, such as special recognition of our business leaders who have stepped up and committed to 100% Green Power,” said Diana Mahmud, Councilwoman of South Pasadena and Board Chair, Clean Power Alliance. “As local elected officials, we’re excited to offer a range of energy products that offer greater greenhouse gas emission reductions at competitive rates.”
Regarding the claim that CPA customers “will receive clean energy purchased by Clean Power Alliance that has higher renewable content and is competitively-priced with Southern California Edison (SCE)”:
“Purchased by” the Clean Power Alliance WHERE? What are the names of the companies that sell electric power to the Clean Power Alliance, and what are the names of the generating facilities where that power is produced? No one has tested or proved this claim. In its regulatory filings with the California Public Utilities Commission, the Clean Power Alliance seems to indicate that it currently buys nearly all of its power from a single (and unnamed) “primary provider,” not from a bespoke mix of hand-chosen green energy fields. What evidence suggests otherwise?
On their website, the Clean Power Alliance says they now have their first contract to buy electric power from a particular clean energy generator: a six-turbine wind facility in Kern County. There is no possibility that six wind turbines are powering 900,000 residential customers, or even 9,000 of them. Where does the other 99+ percent come from? Really, can SOMEONE answer this question: Where, specifically, is the Clean Power Alliance buying its electric power?