PG&E has increased rates for all customers to support their poles and wires (T&D). This affects Pioneer and non-Pioneer customers equally – everyone’s rates will go up the exact same dollar amount.
Don’t be misled. We guarantee that Pioneer’s savings over PG&E have not changed. Calculate your savings in El Dorado and Placer County.

PIONEER COMMUNITY ENERGY BOND SALE GENERATES SIGNIFICANT INVESTOR DEMAND AND $459 MILLION TO SUPPORT COMPETITIVE RATES

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Pioneer Community Energy, a Community Choice Aggregator (CCA) serving 156,000 accounts in the counties of Placer and El Dorado, has issued its first ever municipal non-recourse Clean Energy Project Revenue Bonds through the California Community Choice Financing Authority (CCCFA). The bonds were underwritten by Goldman Sachs. The extremely successful bond sale produced $459,640,000 in bond proceeds and generated significant investor demand. The issue received an investment grade A2 rating from Moody’s Investors and a “Green Climate Bond” designation from Kestrel Verifiers.

The Clean Energy Project Revenue Bonds prepay for the purchase of 186 megawatts of clean electricity – enough to power approximately 68,000 homes. These transactions will reduce renewable power costs for Pioneer customers by almost $2.8 million annually for the first seven years. For decades, municipal utilities have used the prepayment structure as an industry standard practice to reduce costs for the purchase of natural gas. Now, these Revenue Bonds apply this structure to the purchase of electricity.

“CCAs are known for being innovative and nimble in our efforts to provide our communities with electricity from cost-effective resources,” said Alice Dowdin Calvillo, Pioneer’s Board Chair and Mayor of Auburn. “This transaction will help us deliver on our promise of competitive rates, community reinvestment and cleaner power. We are pleased to pass these cost savings on to our customers.”

A Clean Energy Project Revenue Bond is a form of wholesale electricity payment that requires three key parties: a tax-exempt public electricity supplier (the CCA), a taxable energy supplier, and a municipal bond issuer. The three parties enter into long-term power supply agreements. The municipal bond issuer – in this case, CCCFA – issues tax-exempt bonds to fund a prepayment of energy that is to be delivered over 30 years. The energy supplier utilizes the bond funds and provides a discount to the CCA on the power purchases based on the difference between the taxable and tax-exempt rates. This discount is historically in the range of 8-10%, and minimum discounts are negotiated for each transaction.

Original Press Release

More News from Pioneer

More News from Pioneer

Solar Customers Receive Annual True-Up

Pioneer issued checks to solar customers with a cumulative net surplus of energy (known as Net Surplus Generators) during May for the March/April billing period if their credit balance (calculated at the Net Surplus Compensation Rate) for the past 12 months exceeded $25.00. Credit balances of less than $25.00 were rolled forward and applied to the next bill.

A few of our clients have contacted us to confirm the check’s authenticity. Rest assured, it is indeed real! If you receive a Blue or Orange check from Bill.com with a reference to Pioneer, it is safe to deposit. 

We take pride in helping our solar customers save; Pioneer pays $.005 (1/2 cent) per kWh more than PG&E for any over-production sold back to the grid (Net Surplus Compensation Rate or NSC).Â