The Orange County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday, Aug. 23, unanimously voted to continue its agreement with the Irvine-based Orange County Power Authority, thanks to a motion that would allow the county to perform a third-party open book audit on the green energy agency.

The agreement will be sent in writing and OCPA must respond within three days of its next board meeting on September 6.

The motion, presented by 2nd District Supervisor Katrina Foley and modified by 5th District Supervisor Lisa Bartlett was in response to a request to withdraw from the community choice energy program immediately.

In her opening remarks, Bartlett explained that the aspect of withdrawing from the agency came with the support of Chairman Doug Chaffee and was heavily influenced by an Orange County Grand Jury Report that was released in June. Bartlett added that O.C.’s 5th District has the largest number of unincorporated areas within the county, which will represent the majority of OCPA customers.

Bartlett said that residents in her district have complained that messaging coming from the agency is confusing and misleading. The agency was also responsible for a $2 million fine for failing to purchase enough electricity.

“My office has received numerous complaints from residents expressing outrage and confusion at the conflicting and misleading messaging coming from OCPA,” she said. “The county can no longer afford to wait on the results of an audit that may take months to complete. We need to sever the ties with the Orange County Power Authority so we don’t continue to expose the county to unknown costs — like $2 million fines.”

While the county supervisors ultimately agreed to continue the county’s Joint Powers Authority partnership, the board emphasized that it needed a quick timeline to do so. In the event the agency fails to respond in that specific time frame or does not meet the board’s request for an audit, the county will withdraw from the Orange County Power Authority and the Joint Powers Authority. The exit will be effective 180 days after the county gives notice.

Foley championed the incorporation of community choice energy in Orange County, however, she added that given the lack of procedural information on exiting an agency of this nature, she was hesitant to agree to discontinue operations with the agency.

“I support the community choice energy concept. I think it’s important we move in that direction for climate action and to address climate change,” she said. “It would be unprecedented in the state of California and for CCAs across the country for an entity to withdraw.”

For context, Foley added that her office is working with an environmental policy expert to find out if this has been done anywhere.

“The answer is no,” Foley said.

Despite legal hurdles, Foley added that there seems to be a lack of trust within the community when it comes to OCPA.

“I think the real issue here is that there is trust broken — there’s a community concerned it’s not working the way it was intended to work,” she said. “I think the notifications and communication have been less than adequate.”

Supervisors spent nearly an hour on this discussing the partnership with OCPA on Tuesday. While the supervisors’ vote was unanomous, Chaffee expressed clear reservations about continuing on with the Irvine-based energy provider.

One aspect of Chaffee’s hesitation was related to the aspect of how much renewable energy OCPA was actually providing customers.

During the meeting, Steven Halligan, a management analyst with the Orange County Power Authority, explained the energy choice program generates clean energy with a 50% ratio split between wind and solar energy.

Halligan said that OCPA is regulated by the state, but admitted that electricity travels in the direction of “least resistance,” meaning that while a pair of neighbors may not opt into the same 100% renewable energy program, some households may receive cleaner energy, based on the natural flow of electricity.

“We are regulated by the state, both the CEC and CPUC, and so if you were on the 100% renewable plan, any of your generation charges, we would take the charges and buy 100% renewable. There’s something called a power content label — PCL. It would show that your power purchasing through us is 100% renewable,” he said. “Power does flow through the path of least resistance, however, what you’re paying for — and what we’re buying on your behalf is 100% renewable. We’re putting 100% renewable [energy] onto the grid – it travels on the path of least resistance. We can’t control exactly where the power goes.”

In response, Chaffee said that explanation makes it hard to determine who is receiving clean energy and who is not.

“Well, that’s hard to say you’re actually getting renewable power.”

This is a developing story.

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