News Article

December 21, 2007
Community power on tap
By Gabriel Dillard, Michael Sullivan, Tainese Arceneaux and Steve Sinovic / The Business Journal

Central Valley residents were introduced to the concept of community choice aggregation with the formation of the San Joaquin Valley Power Authority. This group of 12 municipalities has joined together to purchase its own electricity instead of buying it from the state's utilities.

In conjunction with the Kings River Conservation District, the authority is currently negotiating a power purchase agreement with Citibank Energy. The KRCD is also in the licensing stage of building a 500-megawatt natural-gas fired power plant near Selma to help meet the authority's energy needs.

It's not easy building a power plant in California, and much can happen that could hamper the Community Power Plant's licensing process. The power authority also hit a snag when the city of Fresno earlier this year voted against joining the authority. Last month, Tulare County also announced its plans to leave the authority.

The Pacific Gas & Electric Company has sparred with KRCD over accusations that there are no assurances it can provide energy to the member municipalities. The next step in the process is the power purchase agreement, which is expected to be ready for public scrutiny in early 2008.