The City of San Diego is Marching Toward 100% Renewable Energy
There's a LOT of history to San Diego's efforts to implement Community Choice. The City of San Diego is on the cusp of voting on a Community Choice Energy program, now that we are nearing the final vote, it is worth taking a look back to how we got here. There have been countless community meetings, discussions at planning boards, presentations at advisory boards and city council meetings that have discussed Community Choice in anticipation of the vote. Lets take a look at the major milestones that got us to this point:
City Council Votes- 2019
The final step in approving a Community Choice Energy program will require the vote on CCE by the city council. Currently, the City of San Diego is scheduled to vote on CCE in 2019 following the completion of the business plan. If a resolution passes in favor of CCE, the City will then begin with the first phases of formation and implementation.
Mayor Kevin Faulconer Announces Support of CCE- 2018
San Diego City Mayor Kevin Faulconer announced his support for Community Choice Energy, marking a major milestone on the path to achieving the City’s goal of 100% renewable energy by 2035. The Mayor announced that the City plans to have the CCE program up and running as soon as 2021 and that a Joint Powers Authority (JPA) would be created in 2019.
Community Choice Energy Business Plan- 2018
The City of San Diego just completed their Community Choice Energy business development plan which includes program goals, market conditions, management structures, operations, rate setting, back office logistics, program opportunities, risks and risk management, financial structure and start up structure. Essentially, the business plan paints a much clearer picture of what CCE will look like in San Diego by laying out a detailed plan on how the City will implement a CCE program as well as providing a more in depth financial analysis.
Community Choice Energy Feasibility Study- 2017
The City of San Diego partnered with Willdan Financial Services, a consulting firm with extensive experience in undertaking financial reviews of CCE programs, to complete the feasibility study. The study concluded that the City of San Diego could establish a CCE program that would meet the 100% renewable energy goal and offer rates that are competitive to SDG&E. A third party analysis completed by MRW & Associates raised further questions to be addressed but backed the fundamental conclusions of the feasibility analysis.
What Are the Options? San Diego Issues a Request for Proposal- 2017
To determine all options that were available to the City to meet its 100% renewable energy CAP goal the City issued a Request for Proposal in 2017 to solicit responses from private enterprises as well as the local utility, San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E), on how the City could meet that goal. Upon review of the responses City staff concluded that as the local utility, SDG&E was the only other potentially viable alternative to Community Choice Energy. The response from SDG&E can be read here. A third party review of the SDG&E plan concluded the proposal, "raises more questions than it answers", and can be seen here.
The City of San Diego Passes A Monumental Climate Action Plan- 2015
The City of San Diego passed an ambitious Climate Action Plan (CAP) in 2015, commiting the City to meeting greenhouse gas emission reduction goals through transportation, social equity programs, climate resiliency goals and to achieving 100% renewable energy by 2035. The CAP determined that the City would achieve the goal of 100% renewable energy through Community Choice Aggregation (CCA) or "another program", the city has spent the last three years studying the feasibility of Community Choice and the viability of other options.