About Community Choice

Thanks to the enactment of California Assembly Bill 117 (Migden) in 2002, cities and counties now have the option of pursuing Community Choice Aggregation to meet the electrical energy needs of their residents, businesses and municipal facilities.

Twelve municipalities in the central San Joaquin Valley have joined together to form the San Joaquin Valley Power Authority (Authority). This regional program is the first Community Choice Aggregation program to be certified by the California Public Utilities Commission.

The San Joaquin Valley uses more electricity than it produces, requiring us to import power through a stressed transmission system. As the population continues to grow, conservation practices will not be enough. Additional power generation projects are needed to insure a sustainable energy supply for the future.

The Authority will purchase power from the Kings River Conservation District (KRCD). KRCD is a lead resource management agency and is dedicated to improving the reliability and stability of the electrical system in the central San Joaquin Valley by adding generation capacity to the local grid, encouraging local involvement and reducing electricity costs for customers.

To meet the energy requirements of the residents, businesses and municipal facilities of these 12 communities, KRCD is investing in local generation projects. KRCD is in the permitting process for construction of the KRCD Community Power Plant, a 565-megawatt, base-load, natural gas-fired power plant in our region. KRCD will own and operate this new generation facility. This plant will be supplemented with long-term and short-term market purchases to meet varying energy demand levels. Renewable energy sources, such as small hydro, solar, wind, biomass and geothermal, are being explored in order to meet the renewable portfolio standard of 20 percent by 2010.

Community Choice permits any city or county to combine the electrical loads of residents, businesses and municipal facilities for bulk electricity purchases. Community Choice provides an opt-out structure for customers that choose to continue buying power directly from the local utility company.

For customers participating in Community Choice, the local utility company will continue to deliver the electricity purchased by the regional Community Choice program through its wires and will also continue to provide meter reading, billing and maintenance services.

For a better understanding of the role Community Choice will play in the electrical system, view the Community Choice and The Electrical System Illustration.

For more information, click on the following links:

Background information on local energy conditions and the challenges our valley is facing

Benefits of a regional Community Choice program

Energy sources used for the Authority's Community Choice program

Last updated 12-31-07