Chico council dissolves Butte Choice Energy JPA and moves to join Pioneer Community Energy

The City Council voted to dissolve the Butte Choice Energy joint powers agreement and to pursue joining a neighboring community choice aggregator, Pioneer Community Energy.

Staff presentation: why the JPA is ending

Mister Gustafson, staff lead on the issue, reviewed Butte Choice Energy’s five‑year history and why the county‑city JPA became unworkable. He said market changes following the COVID pandemic — including major increases in the Power Charge Indifference Adjustment (PCIA) and expensive Resource Adequacy (RA) products — sharply altered the fiscal case for launching a local CCA. Credit markets tightened for start‑up financing, and the county and city lacked the liquidity and market clout to procure the tens of millions of dollars of forward energy and RA commitments required at launch.

“Given the market conditions and the risks we face as a start‑up, staff recommended terminating the JPA,” Gustafson told the council. He said the county had decertified its CPUC implementation plan as market conditions deteriorated and that joining an…