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San Diego Community Power briefs Encinitas council on rates, local projects and customer programs
Summary
San Diego Community Power CEO Karen Burns updated the Encinitas City Council on rates, customer options (PowerOn, Power100, PowerBase), local projects and pilot programs including battery storage and EV charging pilots.
Karen Burns, CEO of San Diego Community Power, presented an overview of the community choice energy authority’s operations, rates and local initiatives to the Encinitas City Council during special presentations. The presentation explained how Community Choice Aggregation (CCA) works in the region, the current rate offerings and local pilot programs that aim to reduce peak demand and increase resilience.
Burns described the basic customer choices available in the county: PowerOn (50%+ renewable, competitive discount to SDG&E), PowerBase (a deeper discount but less renewable content), Power100 (100% renewable — Encinitas is opted into Power100 by default) and Power100 Green Plus (designed to support LEED certification). Burns told council, “Power 100 is only a penny more per kilowatt hour and costs the average residential customer just $4 to $5 more a month than our standard PowerOn plan.”
She said San Diego Community Power has secured long‑term power purchase agreements (PPAs) for over 1.7 gigawatts of renewable capacity and nearly 2 gigawatts of storage contracts; she highlighted the Vikings solar + storage project in Imperial County as an example of a utility‑scale peaker plant now powering tens of thousands of homes. Burns also described local pilots: a smart home thermostat program to shift load out of the 4–9 p.m. peak, an EV charging schedule optimization pilot (FlexConnect) and a solar+battery pilot that was recognized by the U.S. Department of Energy.
For Encinitas specifically, Burns said more than 26,000 customer accounts are powered by 100% renewable energy through the CCA and that more than 96 homes in Encinitas participated in the solar battery savings pilot. She noted Community Power’s community engagement (150 events last year) and a $50,000 grant to the city to support a micro‑transit study.
No council votes were taken on the presentation; Burns closed by inviting questions and offering follow up on specific constituent issues.
