CalChoice Associate Members Meet Virtually for Operational Meeting

On Tuesday, August 3, CalChoice Associate Members met virtually for an all-member operational meeting to discuss regulatory, legislative and market updates related to community choice aggregation and CalChoice.

“CalChoice enables our members to handle the governance and daily operations of their programs without being involved in every detail of the work that goes on behind the scenes,” said Executive Director Jason Caudle. “Our regular operational meetings give CalChoice staff and our expert partners the opportunity to outline the behind-the-scenes work we’re doing and provide updates on important CCA-related issues.”

CalChoice Director of Procurement and Regulatory Cathy DeFalco kicked off the meeting with a legislative update on Senate Bill 612 and the Governor’s Office emergency proclamation on July 30. The Assembly Committee on Utilities and Energy designated SB 612, which requires that ratepayers have fair and equal access to benefits, a two-year bill and will not advance during the current legislative session. The Governor’s Office proclamation on July 30 is designed to free up energy supply to meet demand during extreme heat events by implementing several changes, including expediting clean energy projects.

Pacific Energy Advisors (PEA), CalChoice’s partner in resource planning and procurement, provided several regulatory updates related to resource adequacy (RA), mid-term reliability and procurement. PEA noted that the most significant short-term RA rule change is the CPUC’s new penalty structure for load-serving entities (LSE), which increases the penalty price for LSEs that do not purchase sufficient energy. 

The meeting also included a discussion of Southern California Edison’s 2022 Rate Outlook. As of June 1, 2021, SCE projects that generation rates will remain approximately the same as current rates, but they expect exit fees to decrease by about 25% from current costs.

“With seven operational members and two members preparing to launch, it’s increasingly important to ensure we bring everyone together regularly and discuss important updates and issues that affect our programs,” continued Caudle. “We look forward to meeting with our members again soon.”

CalChoice’s next regular operation meeting is scheduled for September 7, 2021.