The South Bay Clean Power momentum machine just keeps humming along with each new day bringing more good news.  First, the biggest news –

On Tuesday, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voted 5-0 to approve the bipartisan motion offered by Republican Board of Supervisor for the 4th District, Don Knabe, and 3rd District Supervisor, Sheila Kuehl.  The motion approves funding of $300,000 for an LA County  Choice Aggregation (CCA) Feasibility Study and creates an LA County Community Choice Aggregation Task Force.  Each of the 11 cities that have passed the Resolution to Participate in a CCA Feasibility Study have a seat on that Task Force as does South Bay Clean Power, UCLA, USC and others.

The California legislature adopted Community Choice Aggregation legislation in 2002 that allows cities and counties in California to form nonprofit entities to purchase electricity from wholesale power generators on behalf of their communities. A CCA replaces the existing, investor-owned monopoly utilities (e.g., Southern California Edison, Pacific Gas & Electricity) in obtaining electricity and designing retail electricity rates for end-use customers. A CCA relies on the existing electric distribution infrastructure managed by the existing investor-owned monopoly utility to transport electricity to customers via its wires and lines that comprise the grid as we know it. Under the terms of the law, the CCA becomes the de facto electricity provider for the community’s residents: all customers are transitioned into the CCA and must opt out to remain with the investor-owned utility.

Yes, we said 11 cities will have seats on the County CCA Task Force, because as of Wednesday September 16, the City of Malibu became the 11th city to vote unanimously to pass the resolution to participate in the study.  We had previously met independently with City Staff and had two separate meetings of the Environmental Sustainability Subcommittee where we first met Councilmember Skylar Peak, and Mayor John Sibert.  Big thanks to Craig George, who heads Malibu’s Environmental Sustainability Department.

Earlier on Wednesday we presented our South Bay Clean Power initiative to the Culver City Sustainability Subcommittee, having previously met with Council member Meghan Sahli-Wells and members of staff to brief them.

At the Culver City Sustainability Subcommittee meeting – from left to right, Public Works Director Charles Herbertson, Council member Meghan Sahli-Wells and Council member Jeffrey Cooper.

We were happy to follow Southern California Edison’s presentation but disappointed they didn’t stay to listen to our South Bay Clean Power story.  Working Group Chair, Joe Galliani, made the presentation with prominent Culver City citizens David Haake of Sierra Club, and former LA County Tax Assessor, Rick Tuttle lending support.

South Bay Clean Power Working Group Chair, Joe Galliani, addresses the Culver City Sustainability Subcommittee on the features and benefits of Community Choice Power programs in California

Thanks to the strong support of Council members Sahli-Wells and Cooper, the Culver city Sustainability Subcommittee is recommending that the resolution to participate in the CCA feasibility study be on the Culver City City Council’s agenda for the September 28 City Council meeting.

Finally, the week kicked off in the positive direction on Monday, when the Rolling Hills Estates Environmental Advisory Committee meeting heard our CCA initiative as the first item on their agenda – and we’re happy to report they agreed to add it to the agenda of their September 22 City Council meeting where they are recommending its passage.  CLICK HERE to read their agenda.

When Rolling Hills Estates and Culver City join Malibu later this month they will become cities 12 and 13 of the South Bay Clean Power’s target cities to have passed the resolution to participate and will join the other cities on the upcoming LA County CCA Task Force.  Then the REAL fun begins.

It was a beautiful afternoon to drive to Malibu City Hall to watch them pass the Resolution to Participate in the CCA Feasibility Study.