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Yuba City and Sutter County want to skirt high PG&E rates. They found a way

Yuba City and Sutter County want to skirt high PG&E rates. They found a way” January 26, 2025

By Jake Goodrick

Residents and business owners of Sutter County and Yuba City may eventually get to choose who they buy their power from, joining a growing number of communities north of Sacramento seeking an alternative and more affordable way to heat and cool their homes. Yuba City council members introduced an ordinance Tuesday that moved forward a deal between the city and Pioneer Community Energy, a not-for-profit electricity provider, known as a Community Choice Aggregator, which sources power that shows up as the generation portion of a utility bill.

With the go-ahead from Yuba City, the plan is now headed to Sutter County — where supervisors are expected to decide next week — and Live Oak before it’s sent to the California Public Utility Commission, which could decide its fate by this summer. At that point the various agencies could commit to Pioneer or opt out, said Gina Stassi-Vanacore, Pioneer communications director.

Pioneer would target October 2027 to begin offering power to its new members throughout Sutter County.

“This is something that can have a positive impact on not only our residents but our businesses, even the city when we’re looking at tough economic times,” said Mayor Dave Shaw.

Butte, Glenn, Nevada and Tuolumne counties, and the cities they encompass, are also in talks potentially to join Pioneer.

What is Pioneer?

Pioneer is a joint powers authority with a board of representatives in elected positions in the communities that opt in to the power aggregator. The collective formed in 2018 and now serves Auburn, Colfax, Lincoln, Rocklin, Loomis, Grass Valley, Nevada City and most of Placer and El Dorado counties.

The partnership is expected to bring competition and lower rates, which was a selling point for local officials.

“Almost daily I hear from business owners who are just absolutely being hammered by PG&E rates, and even a 10% reduction is to their bottom line,” said City Councilmember (Vice-Mayor) Marc Boomgaarden. “The sooner that we can give them that option, I feel is better.”

A study of the effects on Yuba City, Live Oak and Sutter County, conducted by Pacific Energy Advisors, projected a 7% discount to Sutter County residents based on local data and rates from recent years. Adjusting for 2025 rates showed a projected average 10% savings, Stassi-Vanacore said.

“This is a very conservative approach based on what we know about our own fiscal strength and we fully believe that PG&E will continue to raise rates over time,” she said.

Grass Valley and Nevada City began receiving power from Pioneer in January 2024 and are expected to see a 24% discount on the generation part of their bills this year when compared to PG&E, Stassi-Vanacore said.

How it works

PG&E is currently the sole power utility acquiring energy, transmitting and delivering it throughout Sutter County. However, joining Pioneer would give residents a choice of from whom to buy the power.

Pioneer uses the buying power pooled from its member agencies and customer base to acquire energy, which is then delivered into homes and businesses through PG&E infrastructure.

The alternative to buying power directly from investor-owned utilities, such as PG&E, was introduced in California in 2002 to provide customers with more choice in the source of their electricity. California 25 registered Community Choice Aggregators as of last year, 12 of which served PG&E territories.

PG&E would continue to transmit and deliver power throughout Sutter County and would continue to bill residents, who would remain PG&E customers while adding Pioneer to their bills.

Customers would automatically switch to Pioneer when the change takes place but would have the option to switch back to PG&E if they choose to, Stassi-Vanacore said. They face no penalty for opting out, she said, but customers who leave Pioneer after the first two months of service must wait a year before they are able to opt back in.

“Everyone would roll over from PG&E to Pioneer for the generation portion of their bill,” she said. “However, PG&E still maintains the lines and poles, so customers are customers of both PG&E and Pioneer.”

City council members will consider adopting the ordinance and approving a resolution to join the joint powers authority at their next meeting Feb. 4.

More News from Pioneer

More News from Pioneer