Community Energy Helps Cover Legacy Costs. It Now Could Get Something in Return

California Current

Non-utility electricity providers specifically pay for their share of the IOU’s above-market early renewable agreements and utility-owned generation. The rational is that the investments were made when their customers were IOU ratepayers.

The combined tab of the three investor-owned utilities PCIA this year is a forecast $3.9 million, according to the California Community Choice Association. It is allocated among utility and non utility customers. Pacific Gas & Electric’s forecast 2021 PCIA is $2.4 billion, according to the utility.

Sam Kang, Pioneer Community Energy chief operating officer, told the committee that the exit fee Pioneer pays is currently 20% of its customers’ bills. Yet they don’t get any of the benefits, he said.

SB 612 would allow community aggregators to take a portion of the resource adequacy and clean energy characteristics of legacy resources offered, starting in July 2022. In return, the aggregators would pay the IOU the market price as set by the CPUC.

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