Hundreds of thousands of people on the South Coast are soon going to be getting a choice of who supplies their power, and how much of it is from clean, renewable sources. Clean Power Alliance is a public agency made up of 31 local cities and counties in Ventura and Los Angeles Counties.
Starting in February, residents in Ventura, Oxnard, Ojai, Camarillo, Thousand Oaks, Moorpark, Simi Valley, and unincorporated parts of Ventura County will be able to take part in the program, which is an alternative to getting power from Southern California Edison.
If you live in one of the participating areas, you will be enrolled automatically in February. The cities and counties selected one of three rate levels, but customers can choose from any of the three, or choose to stay with Edison.
The program gives you a chance to become greener. If you pay a little more, you can get up to 100% green energy. The lowest level is 36% (“Lean Power), with the second tier being 50% (“Clean Power”), as well as 100% Green Power.
The clean energy comes from various sources, including wind, solar, and hydroelectric.
There is some controversy about the situation. Edison bases its rates for the coming year on its costs for the preceding one. After higher natural gas prices last year, it’s asking regulators for permission to raise rates to cover a more than $970 million dollar shortfall. As part of that, it wants $125 million dollars of it to be paid by the roughly one million homes and businesses leaving the company for the Clean Energy Alliance.
The Alliance is saying foul, with officials saying they don’t think it’s appropriate that customers leaving the system have to pay for the shortfall. Edison officials declined a request from KCLU News for an interview, but in a written statement said it is only fair, because it’s requiring customers who underpaid in 2018 to pay for the higher charges.
If you participate in the program, your bill will still come from Edison, but look a little different. And, if you have power problems, you will still call Edison for help. It is an opt-out program,which means if you live in one of the participating cities or unincorporated parts of Ventura County, you will be automatically switched to the plan selected by your local city council, or in the county’s case the Board of Supervisors. You’ll have to act to change the choice if you want something different.
Multiple written notices will go to customers explaining the changes and options. The switchover is set to happen in February for residential customers, and May for business customers.
