San Diego Community Power approves Power Settlements contract for trading and risk management

The San Diego Community Power Board of Directors voted March 27 to authorize a contract with Power Settlements Consulting and Software LLC for an energy trading and risk management (ETRM) system, with a not‑to‑exceed amount of $4,115,956.

Kenny Key, director of power contracts, told the board the ETRM system is the back‑end database for power contracts, load obligations and compliance work. “This is the database where all the hard work of our originations team, of our portfolio managers who are doing short‑term trades, all of those have to go somewhere, be managed somewhere, be tracked somewhere, and have reporting,” Key said.

Key said the proposal follows a year‑and‑a‑half process that began with a competitive RFP and a shortlisted primary vendor approved in August 2024. Implementation issues with the initial vendor led staff to recommend the wait‑listed finalist, Power Settlements. He described the vendor as experienced, with prior work for other community choice aggregators, and said the recommended contract is roughly $200,000 less than the prior contract. Key added the board‑requested “do not exceed” amount includes optional modules and is a worst‑case budget; annual operating costs are expected to be lower and already included in the agency budget.

Board members asked about fallback plans if implementation problems recur. Key said the fallback would be to extend the current third‑party arrangement with Pacific Energy Advisors while pursuing a new RFP if necessary.

The motion to approve passed by roll call. Directors recorded voting “yes” included Director Rivera, Director Insunza (listed in roll call as “Ysunsa/Insunza”), Director San Antonio, Director Suzuki, Director Yamani, Vice Chair (recorded variably), and Sarah (recorded as “Guter/Gidley/Cheryl Guder” in roll call).