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Residents urge council not to join Orange County Power Authority, citing higher rates and emissions
Summary
Multiple residents used public comment to urge the council against joining the Orange County Power Authority, raising concerns about potentially higher bills, higher greenhouse-gas intensity for some OCPA products and lack of disclosure on procurement.
Three Costa Mesa residents urged the City Council on Oct. 7 to delay or decline joining the Orange County Power Authority (OCPA), citing rate and emissions concerns raised at recent OCPA presentations.
Speakers who identified themselves as local residents said OCPA’s materials did not show dollar figures and that OCPA’s “smart choice” and “basic choice” products could cost more or have higher greenhouse-gas intensity than Southern California Edison’s default service. Vicky Johnson, a resident, said OCPA’s 2024 power content label showed higher CO2-equivalent emissions for some OCPA products than SCE’s default supply and that public disclosures were inadequate. “OCPA will not disclose the power it purchases, even under NDA,” Johnson said.
Mike Rao, who said he has a Ph.D. in mathematics and has followed OCPA matters in nearby cities, urged the council to delay joining OCPA until the city commissions an independent risk and rate study and conducts broader outreach. Rao provided rough comparisons of monthly bill impacts from OCPA’s published scenarios and said the city and residents deserved more transparent cost estimates. “Delay the vote to join OCPA until an independent risk study is commissioned and much more outreach is made,” Rao said.
City staff did not take action on the topic during the meeting. The council heard similar comments in past sessions and indicated that any decision to join a community choice aggregator would be considered as its own agenda item, requiring staff analysis and a formal vote.
Speakers asked the council to examine trade-offs among cost, greenhouse-gas intensity, and local procurement transparency before any decision to join OCPA. No council action on OCPA membership occurred at the Oct. 7 meeting.
