Who wants to talk about Community Choice Energy?

click to enlarge CANARY: It's complicated
THE CANARY:

I know, nobody’s hand went up. Because it’s freaking complicated. And who actually understands it, anyway? 

But it’s here and it’s happening. PG&E is on the outs, while newly formed electric utility agencies such as Monterey Bay Community Power (MBCP) are in! 

In fact, MBCP is so in, that it basically swept PG&E out of San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties in less than a year. Public relations guy J.R. Killigrew made the rounds city-by-city, making the pitch: Join MBCP if you want lower rates, renewable energy, and local power! 

Meanwhile, PG&E is forbidden by state law to speak out against it. 

All that PG&E’s PR flack Suzanne Hosn told the Sun was, “We respect the energy choices that are available to our customers.” 

MBCP is slated to serve more than 400,000 used-to-be PG&E customers by 2021 and the current utility giant can’t really do a damn thing about it. What the hell is that all about, state legislators? I know I’ve been railing on PG&E for months now, but fair is fair. And this isn’t. It’s almost like the system is artificially rigged for CCEs to be successful. 

Meanwhile, PG&E will still have to carry the electricity because CCEs rely on its infrastructure (but at least PG&E is getting paid for that), and the utility is in the middle of bankruptcy proceedings! So what happens if PG&E actually goes under? Bye bye electricity? Or is the utility too big to fail? 

So many questions!! 

San Luis Obispo County’s Coalition of Labor, Agriculture, and Business governmental affairs director Mike Brown is saying that agencies like MBCP “will destroy our integrated energy system.” Why you gotta be so dramatic? 

I’m not sure what’s integrated about it. It’s basically owned by two giant utility companies that divide the state north and south. And the California Public Utility Commission basically allowed them to do whatever they wanted until the wildfires of the last couple of years forced its hand. 

Brown also called CCEs a scam! But there are locally owned utilities that successfully serve city residents all across the country. 

Not that MBCP is going to be “local” for long. It’s going to serve customers in five counties covering more than 20,000 square miles of land by 2021. Not sure that’s very local, and for once, Santa Maria Mayor Alice Patino and I agree! (Quick, are there pigs flying around anywhere?)

“You really don’t have local control anymore,” she said, alluding to the fact that the city will only have one representative on a board full of representatives from the counties and cities it serves in those five counties. 

Touché. 

And now I have to figure out whose energy I want to power up my bird cage. Do I want carbon-free or renewable? Because PG&E’s electricity mix actually contains a higher percentage of renewable energy—solar, wind, geothermal—and MBCP has more carbon-free—large hydropower. 

Plus, I have to gaze into the future to predict what electricity will look like in 20 years, and I don’t really know anyone who can do that. 

The Canary is looking for a crystal ball. Send thoughts on where to find one to [email protected]. 

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