“Sutter County, cities pursue alternative to PG&E electricity“
By, Micah Yip
Sutter County, Yuba City and Live Oak have begun the process of joining a coalition of local government agencies in the region that have created an alternative to Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) for electricity generation.
The Sutter County Board of Supervisors and the city councils of Yuba City and Live Oak this month took the first step in adopting ordinances creating programs authorized by state law that would create Community Choice Aggregation (CCA) programs in each jurisdiction, beginning the process of joining Pioneer Community Energy.
Pioneer Community Energy is a regional supplier of electricity operated by a Joint Powers Authority comprised of El Dorado and Placer counties and nine cities in the region.
Pioneer is a Community Choice Aggregation (CCA) program authorized under Assembly Bill 117 of 2002. CCAs provide âlocal control over the electricity supply with a primary objective of providing competitive rates to residents and businesses within its member jurisdictions,â according to a staff report prepared for the Yuba City Council.
Pioneer Director of Communications Gina Stassi-Vanacore said that Pioneer sets its rates once a year in an open meeting.âThere are several factors that go into setting rates, the biggest being our boardâs commitment to keeping rates competitive,â Stassi-Vanacore said. âRates are determined in part by the Power Charge Indifference Adjustment fee, the year customers join Pioneer, and PG&Eâs rates.â
Because PG&E owns the powerlines and poles, they will still transmit the energy, but Pioneer will generate the electricity. Electricity generation represents about 40 percent of a customerâs energy bill, so if the county and cities switch to Pioneer, residents can expect to save money.
âOur boardâĤjust did a rate adjustment for 2025 and our average rate savings will be 10 percent,â Stassi-Vanacore said.
Should the county or cities contract with Pioneer, residents and businesses would automatically be enrolled at no additional cost because Pioneer would become the default electricity provider.
âEveryone would roll over from PG&E for the generation portion of their bill,â Stassi-Vanacore said. âThis is for two reasons: one, when the legislature envisioned CCAs, they wanted to make sure all customers had access to the benefits, and two, they need to prepare for how much energy they need to provide.â
If residents or businesses want to opt out of Pioneer and continue to receive electricity from PG&E, they can do so on Pioneerâs website. Opting out or back in is free, but if a customer opts out of Pioneer after the first 60 days of service, they will have to wait one year before rejoining.
Existing members of the JPA are El Dorado and Placer Counties and the cities of Auburn, Colfax, Grass Valley, Lincoln, Nevada City, Placerville, Rocklin and the town of Loomis.
âWe prioritize customer savings, and we are really proud of the fact that since launching in 2018, we have saved our customers $108 million and we project another $31 million in customer savings this year,â Stassi-Vanacore said.
Butte, Glenn, Nevada and Tuolumne Counties and the cities of Chico, Oroville, Orland, Sonora, Willow and the town of Paradise are considering becoming members along with Sutter County, Yuba City and Live Oak.
Agencies which join the JPA will have a voting member on the board of directors of Pioneer Community Energy. The board sets policy and the rates.
Last summer, Sutter County, Yuba City and Live Oak authorized funding for a study to explore the fiscal impact of potentially contracting with Pioneer. During the June board meeting, the board authorized funding for a study to explore how contracting with Pioneer can benefit the county and its residents and businesses. The study cost $30,000, of which Pioneer contributed half. The remaining $15,000 was split into payments of $5,000 each by Sutter County, Yuba City and Live Oak.
The study found that launching in fiscal year 2027-28 is possible.
âThat allows us time to procure all of the energy that we need to remain in compliance to protect our existing customers and still offer new customers savings on their energy bills,â she said. âWhat we did not wanna do was do a service launch when rates were naturally high.â
Should Sutter County, Yuba City and Live Oak decide to move forward, as they intended by conducting the first reading of ordinances establishing the program here, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) will need to approve the expansion. Stassi-Vanacore said Pioneer will submit an implementation plan to the CPUC, providing âextensive detail about our expansion plans and timeline.â
Pioneer has promised an extensive outreach campaign to inform residents of the changeover, if it gets final approval.