Action Needed: Call Your Legislators and Support Community Choice Energy (CCE)

The road leads to greener energy, but only if we cultivate new markets and providers.

By Richard Ram and Tommy Hough

Several large California utilities, including San Diego Gas and Electric, are pressuring state lawmakers to add amendments to legislation that will impose a moratorium on Community Choice Energy (CCE) programs operated by local governments as alternatives to existing power companies.

Put simply — this is an emergency, and we are calling on all Democrats and environmentalists to stand with us and contact legislators in Sacramento. The bills that threaten Community Choice Energy could be voted on any moment.

One of the principles our club was founded upon was to give Democratic lawmakers the opportunity to succeed when green legislation is at stake. This is one of those moments, and frankly, the stakes are very high.

Almost everything our club has been working towards over the last three years as far as implementing the city of San Diego's landmark Climate Action Plan is on the line.

Community Choice Energy (CCE), also known as Community Choice Aggregation (CCA), is under attack from large utilities who want to maintain their monopolies and deny ratepayers the ability to choose locally-developed renewable energy. CCE is a key component of San Diego's Climate Action Plan, and in similar plans in municipalities around the state.

San Diego Gas and Electric and other large utilities have engaged in last-minute backroom deals with state legislators to block the ability of cities and communities to choose their own energy, resulting in two bills, AB 726 and AB 813, that would essentially freeze Community Choice Energy. For us, this is a non-starter.

Another bill, SB 100, enjoys wide support among proponents of clean energy, but is threatened by potential amendments that would similarly freeze CCE programs. If CCE provisions are gutted in SB 100, we'll lose an important engine of innovation and consumer empowerment needed to reach our renewable energy goals.

If you believe in free markets, it's hard to see how you can abide by monopolies. Pushing for competition is the best way to ensure consumers have the best, greenest options available to them. But as we know, monopolies are loathe to give up their power.

So we need you to call and make an ask of legislators.

Ask our Democratic lawmakers to stand firm with us at this crucial moment, and ensure that Community Choice Energy isn't stripped away or shut down by these 11th-hour, backroom deals with utilities. We will remember those who demonstrate courage and steadfastness on this issue. CCE is the wave of the future and one of the ways we can ensure we have cleaner air and more renewable energy -- and meet our climate goals. Please vote NO on AB 726, and vote NO on AB 813.

Please contact your state senators and assembly members. Let them know we'll have their back for taking a stand for energy choice and competition. Now is the time to do the right thing for ratepayers, our environment, and communities working hard for a greener future.

State Assembly Members
Todd Gloria (AD-78)
(619) 645-3090 (district office)
(916) 319-2078

Lorena Gonzalez Fletcher (AD-80)
(610) 338-8090 (district office)
(916) 319-2080

MESSAGE:  Vote NO on AB 276 and NO on AB 213. Please reach out to Speaker Anthony Rendon to let him know you will vote NO on AB 276 and AB 813 because of the harm they will cause Community Choice Energy efforts and program.

State Senators
Toni Atkins (SD-39)
(619) 645-3133 (district office)
(916) 651-4039

Ben Hueso (SD-40)
(619) 409-7690 (Chula Vista)
(760) 335-3442 (El Centro)
(916) 651-4040

MESSAGE:  Vote NO on AB 726 and NO on AB 813. Please reach out to Senate Pro Tem Kevin DeLeón to let him know that you will vote NO on AB 726 and AB 813 because of the harm they will cause Community Choice Energy efforts and program.

Also, please urge your elected officials that NO amendments be made to SB 100 that would freeze or otherwise negatively affect Community Choice Energy provisions.

Thanks for making calls on this very important matter. The legislative session ends this Friday.

In addition, San Diego County Democrats For Environmental Action will present our club's Community Choice Energy resolution before members of the San Diego County Democratic Party Central Committee this upcoming Tuesday, Sept. 19.

We're seeking the support of local Democrats, Democratic clubs, and especially voting members of the county Democratic Party Central Committee in passing this resolution, and your active support and attendance is requested at the Central Committee meeting this Tuesday, Sept. 19, beginning at 7 p.m. at the Machinists Hall in Kearny Mesa at 5150 Kearny Mesa Road.

Thank you for all of your help with these efforts. We're up against powerful special interests lobbying to maintain their monopolies, and seeking faultlines upon which to drive wedges into our Democratic coalition.

Don't let them. Stand up now for Community Choice Energy.

"People of privilege will always risk their entire destruction rather than surrender any material part of their advantage."  —  John Kenneth Galbraith