Monterey Bay Community Power – Why wasn’t I given the choice?

For those who were not aware that Monterey Bay Community Power was finally becoming operational in July and August for most PG&E residential customers, a new charge of about $30 for “Monterey Bay Community Power Electric Generation Charges” on the monthly PG&E bill was met with surprise, skepticism and some questions. These questions range from “What is Monterey Bay Community Power and why am I getting charged for it?” to “Why wasn’t I given a choice to participate with this new utility company before I started getting billed for it?”
The short answer to the first question is that Monterey Bay Community Power (MBCP) is a new, locally-owned utility company- that is, it is owned by the three counties it serves: Santa Cruz, Monterey and San Benito. The MBCP essentially replaces PG&E as the wholesale buyer of electricity in the tri-county central coast, buying 100 percent of its power from renewable, carbon-free electric power generators. The MBCP then sells this power at the same regulated, retail rates as PG&E, using PG&E’s transmission lines and billing services.
According to information on the Monterey Bay Community Power website, and Marc Adato, Community Outreach & Events Coordinator for the MBCP, one of the key benefits of a locally-owned, “100 per cent Green” electricity provider is that customers are no longer paying a profit to the stockholders of PG&E, which is a private, investor-owned utility that guarantees dividends paid to stockholders, typically fluctuating around 12 percent per year. This “profit” or “return on investment” now goes to the MBCP, and is invested by the MBCP back into the tri-county service area to encourage more “green energy” production and energy saving technologies.
“We are able to operate much leaner than PG&E and retain net revenues and invest back into the local communities with some good projects and programs,” Adato said. This local, on-going investment in renewable energy- expected to incentivize the local “green energy sector” and create many new jobs- is made possible by revenues not paid as dividends to the stock holders of PG&E.
The short answer to the second question, “Why wasn’t I given a choice to join up with this new utility company I never heard of until they started billing me” is that local county and municipal elected officials made this decision on behalf of the residents they represent in the tri-county service area. The follow-up question, “Why wasn’t I informed of this decision made by my local elected officials on my behalf?” is more difficult to answer, because it has to do with the effectiveness of a public information campaign that apparently did not reach all of PG&E customers.
“Like a water district, or a waste management district, or a bus company transportation district that are locally owned and ultimately controlled by tax payers, MBCP is locally owned and accountable to its customers. It has a policy board made up of local elected officials, an operation board, and a community advisory council, all meeting with maximum transparency,” Adato said.
Somewhat hidden in PG&E’s monthly bill, usually included on page three under “Details of PG&E Electric Delivery Charges”, is a deduction for a “Generation Credit”- usually a bit more than the MBCP generation charges listed on the first page of the bill. This is a deduction of PG&E’s generation fee, now provided by MBCP’s generation service, and this charge is credited back to the customer’s account to prevent the duplication of generation fees.   The MBCP’s generation charge listed on the first page of the bill covers MBCP’s cost of purchasing clean, carbon-free electricity, and many customers do not notice the credit back to their account in the detail of PG&E’s delivery charges.
Customers can opt-out of the MBCP, and return to buying electricity from PG&E, by going to the MBCP website (https://www.mbcommunitypower.org/opt-out) and filling out the on-line form, or by calling the MBCP at 1-888-909-MBCP (6227). There is no fee to opt out before enrollment or within 60 days after MBCP service starts. A fee of $5 is charged for residential customers after 60 days of enrollment.
The MBCP has been under development for five years, having undergone extensive financial feasibility and technical studies before the cities and counties decided to join up in early 2017. Although strictly local in its scope of operation, the agency is empowered by California’s Community Choice Energy law, AB 117, passed in 2002. This law enabled local governments to form these agencies that aggregate purchasing power, allowing them to negotiate large contracts for solar, wind and hydroelectric power at rates lower than PG&E.
The legal and political background to AB117 is rooted in the California energy crises of 2000-2001. That crisis of sky rocketing cost and short supply of energy was instigated by the partial and poorly implemented deregulation of the California energy market, and the manipulation of that market by unscrupulous traders such as Enron. With the energy crises as background, the state legislature passed California’s Community Choice Energy law, AB 117, in 2002.  
AB 117 authorized local governments to form “community choice aggregates”, or CCA’s- allowing local governments to form their own local utility companies to enter into the newly deregulated supply market, providing more choice for consumers, without the need to invest in the infrastructure needed for transmission. Ironically, CCAs are a long-delayed market response to a deregulated, competitive market for energy, historically dominated by a regulated, privately-owned monopoly, now facing competition from smaller, publicly-owned local utility companies. 
According to the California Community Choice Association, there are currently 13 CCAs serving customers in California, from Marin County to Silicon Valley to Los Angeles County, with more than eighty cities either actively engaged or currently considering community choice energy. It is estimated that over 50 percent of California residents will be served by a CCA by 2020.
“CCA Agencies bring the complexity of the electricity market down to the local level- for local control, for Green House Gas reduction (mandated by AB32) and economic vitality… (by) creating jobs related to building local energy resiliency and security- all while stabilizing and lowering rates for customers,” Adato explained in an email to the Press Banner.