Council presses for details after energy-aggregation presentation, wary of opt-out risks

Councilors on July 7 discussed an energy-aggregation presentation the council heard earlier in the evening and asked staff and the presenter detailed questions about how an opt-out program would work for residents and for city accounts. Councilor Michael McManamon summarized the basic plan: if voters approve an aggregation ordinance, residents would be automatically enrolled unless they opt out and the vendor would handle marketing and enrollment. McManamon said the vendor "will do the ordinance, share with the Costa, they'll do all the legal work for it, and if the voters pass it, she just touched briefly on the fact that they will also do the marketing and the enrollment." (Council discussion, SEG 018.)

Councilors repeatedly asked whether the program would lock residents or city facilities into rates that could exceed the city’s current municipal contract. Finance Director Dave Lewis said the city’s contract is locked at about a 7.19-cent rate for roughly the next two-and-a-half to three years and suggested the council meet with the city's broker for comparison. Councilor Hoover voiced concerns that residents in other jurisdictions had difficulty opting out and cited higher realized rates in later years; council directed staff to collect the vendor contract, broker input and written materials for further review before any ordinance or ballot placement.