Orville Council approves $40,000 feasibility study to vet municipal utility, CCA and local generation

The Orville City Council on April 6 approved a not‑to‑exceed $40,000 contract with New Gen Strategies to perform a technical and financial feasibility analysis of creating a municipal electric utility (MEU), pursuing a community choice aggregation (CCA), and evaluating local generation options.

The study will first focus on the feasibility of an MEU serving industrial parcels in the city's south area and then — if warranted by savings and technical viability — consider broader CCA options and how local resources such as solar or biomass might be used to supply power. “We bid this as a feasibility approach, looking at unit costs compared with the status quo,” consultant Scott Burnham of New Gen Strategies told the council. He said the work is structured to be incremental: “You start peeling layers back; if savings materialize, you proceed to deeper analysis.”

Why it matters: Council members framed the study as a due‑diligence step before larger policy decisions that could affect businesses’ competitiveness, residents’ bills, and long‑term city obligations. Proponents argued the MEU could lower energy costs for large industrial users, create jobs and forest‑management benefits if biomass were employed, and support local economic development in Orville’s industrial area. “We want to start somewhere,” Councilman Weber said, noting energy costs already strained local businesses.

PG&E urged caution. Brenda Nion, a regional representative for PG&E, said municipalization efforts in other cities have often been costly and lengthy and sometimes raised customer bills instead of lowering them. “Government takeovers of electric utilities are extraordinarily complex, costly, and long‑term undertakings,” she told the council, urging careful evaluation of risks and alternatives.

Council action and next steps: The council voted to proceed (motion carried with five yeses, one abstention, one absent). Staff said the council also plans to use in‑kind technical vetting from a regional national renewable lab for equipment/technology review at no city cost. New Gen’s report will quantify capital and operating costs, staffing needs, contractual alternatives for operations and billing, and scenarios comparing continued PG&E service, a city MEU limited to industrial parks, and joining or forming a CCA.

What to watch: The consultant will estimate how much it would cost the city to operate utility functions, whether existing local generation sources could supply reliable firm power and at what cost, and the likely transition costs or exit fees from incumbent utilities. The city also will weigh partner options: councilors noted an existing CCA option being developed in the region that could deliver savings sooner, and cautioned that a full city‑wide municipalization would be a long, capital‑intensive undertaking.

The council’s vote allows staff to finalize scope and proceed; the consultant presentation and staff’s findings will return to council for follow‑up discussion and any decision to pursue further study or implementation.