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Power to the people: Chico authorizes community choice aggregation

Power to the people: Chico authorizes community choice aggregation

By Evan Tuchinsky

CHICO — An atypical day didn’t dissuade Chicoans from attending Tuesday evening’s City Council meeting.

Normally scheduled for the first and third weeks of the month, the council postponed last week’s meeting to accommodate a League of California Cities conference. The extensive agenda drew a near-capacity crowd, though attendance dwindled over the course of four hours.

The 11 action items included commission appointments (see separate article), a new option for electricity, the status of the growth committee, reviewing the stormwater master plan, merging two city departments, setting the budget timeline, and councilor-initiated discussions of tenants’ rights, election reform and street lighting.

As if all that weren’t enough, Butte County Public Works Director Josh Pack updated the council on winter flood preparations, and councilors considered two legal cases in closed session and proposed future discussions including an emergency measure closing public spaces in fire-risk areas to camping.

City talks on community choice aggregation to provide electricity date six years to a city ordinance and the formation of a local agency, Butte Choice Energy.

Tuesday, councilors weighed whether to exit that joint powers authority and join the other signatories — Butte County and the city of Oroville — in Pioneer Community Energy, an aggregator serving other jurisdictions north of Sacramento including Paradise and Live Oak.

Doing so required a dual action: dissolving Butte Choice Energy and authorizing an ordinance to enter Pioneer Community Energy.

Public Works Director Erik Gustafson elaborated on the “very complex” process that an established CCA would more easily facilitate. The upshot should be reduced rates — 10% per estimates from Pioneer, saving a household $200 annually. PG&E would continue to maintain power infrastructure and bill customers.

The city also spoke with Valley Clean Energy Alliance in the Davis area; Gustafson said that CCA endorsed Pioneer and “it’s not one of their objectives to expand.”

The start date would be October 2027 due to legal and logistical requirements. If Chicoans find Pioneer disappointing, they could return to PG&E individually or, by exiting the agreement, collectively.

Resident James Hutchinson expressed concerns about rate stability and relying on PG&E for the grid. “Can they provide it for cheap always?” he posed.

On a pair of unanimous votes, the council approved the change.

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