Irvine, the founding city of Orange County’s green power authority, will discuss leaving the agency at its Tuesday city council meeting. The Orange County Power Authority has faced an increasing barrage of accusations of corruption, mismanagement and a lack of transparency.
What is the Orange County Power Authority?
The OCPA is a public agency that purchases power through a mechanism known as community choice aggregation on behalf of residents and businesses in Buena Park, Fullerton, Irvine and Huntington Beach. Proponents say the model allows for more local control over electricity sources and prices, and encourages the development of cleaner energy options.
What are the problems?
There are a lot. Top concerns from the community and critics include:
- Higher initial electricity rates than customers were paying with Southern California Edison. (Although, as of January, the least expensive product is now 2% lower than the comparable option from Southern California Edison.)
- Faulty communication with customers, especially about how to opt out of OCPA.
- A lack of experience among the agency’s staff with community choice aggregation and electricity markets, in general.
- Minimal transparency in hiring and contracting.
OCPA spokesperson Joe Mosca said he hopes Irvine will decide to work with the agency to fix the problems that have been identified, including in recent audits, rather than withdraw. “I hope that the discussion [at Irvine’s city council meeting Tuesday] is going to be about the fact that Orange County Power Authority is a very important strategy for them to reduce their greenhouse gases,” he said.
Would…
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