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Clean Energy Alliance outlines 11-month pilot to offset PCIA increases for San Marcos customers
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Summary
At the Feb. 24 San Marcos City Council meeting, Clean Energy Alliance representative Greg Wade explained CEA enrollment, programs and an 11-month pilot credit available to customers who opt into a 50% renewable product to blunt higher PCIA charges; council members asked for clearer outreach and opt-down instructions.
Greg Wade, speaking for the Clean Energy Alliance, told the San Marcos City Council on Feb. 24 that his agency now serves "just over 256,000 customer accounts" across its service territory and that San Marcos residents lead the membership in rooftop solar absorption. Wade outlined CEA’s three product tiers — Clean Impact (50% renewable), Clean Impact Plus (the default product) and Green Impact (100% renewable) — and said CEA’s priorities include local control, reduced greenhouse-gas emissions and helping member agencies reach climate-action goals.
Wade said shifts in the Power Charge Indifference Adjustment, or PCIA, driven in part by a Public Utilities Commission change to the market-price benchmark and by declining market values for older utility portfolios, drove a broad increase in exit fees that appear on customers’ monthly bills. To blunt those increases, the CEA board adopted an 11-month pilot rate-relief credit effective Feb. 1 that applies to customers who choose the 50% renewable Clean Impact product. "We came up with an option for rate relief where we're going to... offer the Clean Impact product at a rate that would be at or below the monthly average cost of an SDG&E customer," Wade said.
Wade described the pilot as structured to minimize downside for customers. Customers who enroll in CEA’s Peak Smart Savers demand-response program can save "up to 30%" on generation charges in exchange for reducing usage during event hours, and CEA said it performs an annual true-up to credit customers if enrollment did not save them money. Wade called the demand-response pilot and other measures "a no lose proposition."
Wade also described Solar Plus and Battery programs that offer no-upfront-cost installations for income-eligible customers and a new Solar Plus Business program to expand commercial access to generation-plus-storage. He said CEA has applications in its programs (which he listed as 34 Solar Plus, 29 Solar Plus Connect and 55 Battery Bonus Connect applications) and that the agency has secured state funding for these initiatives; Wade said San Marcos’ portion of that state funding was about $250,000.
Council members pressed Wade for clarifications. Mayor Jones confirmed Clean Impact Plus has been the default since CEA’s inception. When asked where the rate-relief money comes from, Wade said it will be drawn from CEA reserves and interest earnings — in his words, "basically, a credit back from the ratepayers to themselves." Council member Musgrove asked whether the figures presented (a 2022 vintage monthly-bill comparison) reflect current or future rates; Wade said the credit took effect Feb. 1 and emphasized that CEA’s commodity rates are fixed for the year but delivery and transmission charges set by SDG&E can still push bills higher.
On customer outreach and opt-down logistics, Wade said CEA has mailed flyers, posted social-media messages and will host webinars and community-targeted outreach. He provided the opt-down pathway: customers can opt down online on the CEA website or call customer service; Wade noted account numbers are required for online changes and supplied a customer-service number during the meeting.
Wade said CEA modeled the fiscal impact of opt-down behavior — for example, a scenario with 30,000 residential opt-downs and 20% of nonresidential classes opting down produced a roughly $10.6 million estimated cost impact — and that the board also approved a roughly 7% reduction to agricultural rates (about 291 agricultural customers in the territory) to better align rate classes. He said the agency is monitoring the state regulatory landscape and supported a transparency bill introduced by Assemblymember Rogers (identified in the presentation as "1761") that would require investor-owned utilities to disclose PCIA calculations.
The council did not take action on the CEA presentation beyond questions and staff follow-up requests. The CEA board will continue to evaluate the pilot over the coming months; Wade said the pilot will run for the remainder of the year and the agency will reassess credits based on future PCIA forecasts.
The council later approved the consent calendar and heard public comments on traffic safety, wildfire risk and community services before adjourning.
