Irvine Considers Withdrawal From Orange County Power Authority

The Irvine Civic Center in Irvine, Calif., on Jan. 12, 2021. (John Fredricks/The Epoch Times)

The Irvine City Council will consider withdrawing from the Orange County Power Authority (OCPA) Dec. 29.

The special meeting was agendized by City Councilors Mike Carroll, Larry Agran, and Kathleen Treseder and comes shortly after the Orange County Board of Supervisors’ decision to withdraw from the agency Dec. 20.

The OCPA has faced scrutiny since it began providing energy to some residents and businesses in Irvine, Huntington Beach, Buena Park, and Fullerton. Formed in 2020, the agency promised to supply more renewable energy to county residents for a lower cost, compared to the region’s primary electricity provider Southern California Edison.

The Orange County Board of Supervisors Dec. 20 voted to withdraw the county’s unincorporated areas from the OCPA.

Just prior to that, the OCPA faced an audit launched by the county supervisors, which revealed prices increased up to 7 percent for residential consumers in January and February.

It also revealed that twice as many customers opted out of its services—at 16.5 percent—compared to its own projections. The power authority also lost nearly three times more customers compared to 19 other community-choice energy providers in California, according to the findings. ]

There was additional criticism from a June Grand Jury Report titled “Orange County Power Authority: Come Clean,” which raised concerns over an alleged lack of transparency and inexperienced management.

Irvine Mayor Farrah Khan told The Epoch Times that she disagrees with the call for a special meeting to consider withdrawal from the OCPA.

“I’m very disappointed by my colleagues and a select few OC electees who, without understanding what [community choice aggregations] are and how they work, are making hasty decisions at the detriment of the community,” Khan said.

Community choice aggregations allows local governments to procure power on behalf of their residents and offer a greener energy option for residents.

“OCPA is providing residents and businesses an option outside of the [Southern California Edison] monopoly ... and now, it will provide a basic rate 2 percent lower than [Edison],” Khan said.

Khan said working with OCPA is necessary to meet the state’s electrification goals. The California Air Resource Board voted unanimously this month to mandate “carbon neutrality” by 2045, in part through reducing fossil fuel demand by 86 percent within that time frame.

“There’s no point in electrification if it isn’t with renewable energy,” Khan said. “Anyone who is truly working to improve climate goals would do whatever they could to make this work. This is a proven way to move towards 100 percent renewable energy.”

Sen. Dave Min (D-Irvine) sent a letter Dec. 27 to Irvine and Huntington Beach to “better understand the potential financial liability faced” by the two cities’ involvement in the OCPA. He referenced how Irvine was the only city that ponied up funds to kick off the agency’s launch, totaling $7.5 million to cover startup costs.

He requested estimates of the two cities financial losses if they were to withdraw from OCPA, or if OCPA terminated their operations.

Min said that OCPA’s attempt to join the community choice energy community—which has a strong track record benefiting customers and advancing zero emission goals—has faced “serious questions about its transparency, its operations, and its ultimate purpose.”

Last week, Huntington Beach requested its city manager to present withdrawal options from OCPA.

Min said in a Dec. 27 statement this along with the county’s recent leave has raised “serious concerns about the solvency and viability of OCPA, which in turn raise concerns about the financial exposure that the City of [Irvine and Huntington Beach] and its taxpayers face if OCPA were to fail.”