Rise in CCAs in Cities Reshaping California Electric Business

California communities are shaking up the electric business.

Pursuing lower costs, local control and renewable sources, communities from Humboldt to San Diego are embracing government-run energy programs — or Community Choice Aggregation models — to address local energy needs that traditional, investor-owned utilities may not be as adept at meeting.

Such benefits have led to CCA legislation being passed in states nationwide, including Illinois, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Ohio and Rhode Island.

In California, Assembly Bill 117 cleared the way for CCA programs in 2002, allowing cities, counties and joint-power authorities to aggregate their own electricity, purchasing electricity at wholesale and selling it to residents and businesses at competitive rates where none had existed before.

Read more here: Rise in CCAs in Cities Reshaping California Electric Business