Public Law
Public Law Journal: Fall 2014, Vol. 37, No. 4
Content
- "Grandfathering" of Emergency Medical Services Under "Section 201" of the Emergency Medical Services Act
- Leggo My Home Rule: Charter Cities and State Municipal Interference
- Legislative Update
- Litigation & Case Law Update
- Masthead
- Message from the Chair
- Public Law Section Forges Partnerships with California Law Schools to Initiate Panel Receptions with Public Officials and Practitioners
- Remarks of the 2014 Ronald M. George Public Lawyer of the Year Award Recipient Wendy Patrick
- To Ban or Not to Ban: How California Cities and Counties Can Effectively Regulate Oil and Gas Fracking Activity without the Risk of a Total Ban
- University of San Diego Law School Student Wins Public Law Student Writing Competition
- Wendy Patrick Honored as 2014 Public Lawyer of the Year
- Community Choice Aggregation—An Alternative Way to Providing Electricity Service By Local Government
Community Choice AggregationâAn Alternative Way to Providing Electricity Service By Local Government
By Greg Stepanicich*
I. INTRODUCTION
Historically in California, a city could provide electricity to its residents by creating a municipal electricity utility that both purchased and distributed electricity to its resident customers.1 But in the modern era, due to financial, legal and political constraints, relatively few cities provide electricity to their residents. Instead, most cities are served by private investor-owned utilities. Yet a new trend may bring California back to its municipal utility roots.
In 2002, after the electricity deregulation meltdown in California, the state legislature adopted a statute authorizing cities and countiesâeither individually or jointly through a joint powers authorityâto conduct what is called a community choice aggregation program.2 Under community choice aggregation, a local public agency can purchase electricity on behalf of its resident customers and the existing investor-owned utility is required to distribute this electricity from its distribution infrastructure. This program allows local government to control the pricing and carbon content of the electricity provided in its community without the capital costs of building a distribution network. At the time of the electricity deregulation crisis, the investor-owned utilities supported this legislation.