Community Choice Aggregation (CCA) is a local energy model that sits at the intersection of consumer choice, local control, climate change, and economics. Established by law in six states and authorized by AB 117 in California, CCA allows a local government, or group of them, to pool the electricity demand of their residential, business, and municipal accounts in order to purchase or develop power on their behalf. CCA is focused on the power generation side of the energy equation while power delivery, grid maintenance, customer metering/billing, and customer service functions remain with the existing utility. Through CCA, California communities are achieving significant results including:

• Competitive, often cheaper electricity rates
• Consumer choice, where none currently exists
• Significant reductions in GHG emissions
• New renewable power development, local and in-State
• New jobs and energy programs for the community

Because CCA is revenue-based, not taxpayer subsidized, CCAs require no public funds to operate.  Once operational, the CCA becomes a community’s default electric procurement provider and all customer accounts may be enrolled with the option of “opting out” if they prefer the power mix offered by the incumbent utility.  In either case, customers continue to receive their gas services, power delivery, and billing from the utility.  For this reason, CCA is often referred to as “muni-light” or a hybrid model because it combines the purchasing power of the community with the infrastructure and billing system of the utility.  

CCA Websites/Resources:
www.marincleanenergy.org
www.sonomacleanpower.org
www.lancasterenergychoice.com
www.leanenergyus.org