Community Choice Aggregation Update

Community Choice Aggregation (CCA) in California is working its way through the CPUC process with workshops, testimony and evidentiary hearings on cost issues this year. Other CCA issues will be decided following the cost issues. LGC is posting a record of the CPUC process on its discussion board. Please sign on to this discussion board for updates.

On April 15th opening testimony in the cost phase of the Rulemaking (R.03-10-003) was filed by the three electric investor-owned utilities (PG&E, Edison and SDG&E), the CPUC’s Office of Ratepayer Advocates, the City and County of San Francisco, and the Local Government Commission Coalition. Paul Fenn of Local Power filed comments as well. Anyone wishing to read the testimony can email Pat Stoner (pstoner@lgc.org) to request them. Be advised that some of the files are very large.

At the request of San Francisco, and with the concurrence of the other parties, the time for reply and rebuttal testimony and the dates for evidentiary hearings were extended a bit. The new schedule for this part of the proceeding is now:

• April 15 — Opening Testimony due
• May 7 — Reply Testimony due
• May 20 — Rebuttal Testimony due
• June 2-14 — Evidentiary Hearings

Opening and reply briefs due dates will be scheduled at the hearings.

The CPUC still expects to make a decision on Phase I cost issues in September of this year, and start Phase II in October.

LGC and Navigant Consulting have a CCA pilot project to assist several communities investigate the feasibility of CCA. It is funded by the California Energy Commission’s PIER Renewable Energy program. Communities we are working with aspire to 40% or more renewables in their supply portfolio.

Navigant has received utility usage data for several of the communities and has run draft feasibility studies based on their best guess as to what the exit fees and transition and transaction costs will be (these are the costs the CPUC plans to decide in September). Preliminary runs indicate the 40% renewable goal is financially competitive for some communities. When the CPUC makes the cost decisions, Navigant will re-run the calculations.

Look for a guidebook and workshops in 2005 that will share the findings of this pilot program. Contact Pat Stoner (pstoner@lgc.org) at LGC if you have any questions.

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