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| In this time of COP-26, you may be interested to know that CALCCA is the association of California Consumer Choice Energy aggregators, providing green energy to many parts of California. Our provider in Richmond is MCE Clean Energy. I represent Richmond on the board of directors, and I chair the board.
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: November 3, 2021
Press Contact: Leora Broydo Vestel
(415) 999-4757 | leora@cal-cca.org
California CCAs Secure Almost 10,000 Megawatts in Long-Term Contracts
with New-Build Clean Energy Resources
Community choice energy providers continue prolific deal-making spree to ensure
clean, reliable, affordable electricity supplies
Concord, Calif. – The California Community Choice Association (CalCCA) announced November 3 that Community Choice Aggregators (CCAs) in the state have to date signed long-term power purchase agreements (PPAs) for almost 10,000 megawatts (MW) with new-build clean energy resources, adding more than 3,000 MW since November 2020.
The clean energy buying spree by not-for-profit community choice energy providers aims to ensure California has the electricity supplies that are needed to cost effectively meet near- and long-term reliability and clean energy requirements and to achieve their own accelerated climate action goals.
“CCAs are continuing to drive a clean energy project building boom throughout California and the west,” said CalCCA Executive Director Beth Vaughan. “These projects reflect a diversity of resources that will boost energy resilience and help California attain a 100% clean electricity system, while also supporting green jobs and fueling economic development.”
Twenty-one CCAs have collectively signed 162 long-term PPAs for a combined 9,827 MW of new solar, wind, biogas, geothermal, and energy storage. The contracts, executed over the last decade, encompass almost 7,200 MW in renewable energy PPAs and more than 2,600 MW in battery energy storage contracts.
In the last year alone, aggregators added new-build renewable energy contracts totaling more than 2,000 MW. They also stepped up to ensure more energy storage is added to the grid with 2,600 MW in new battery energy storage contracts, more than double last year's total of 1,100 MW.
Notably, almost all of the solar contracts signed by CCAs in the last year are “hybridized,” meaning the solar facilities will be co-located with batteries that can be charged with sun power and discharged at times of peak demand to boost reliability. CCAs have to date contracted for more than 6,100 MW of solar, and just over 4,000 MW, or about 66 percent, is paired with energy storage.
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Hybridized Storage is the amount of total energy storage that is paired with solar.
Hybridized Solar is the amount of total solar that is paired with energy storage. |
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Each November for the last four years, CalCCA has provided a snapshot of the progress CCAs are making in securing new-build clean energy resources through long-term PPAs. This year’s update shows CCAs are continuing to aggressively add more diverse, clean energy resources to their portfolios.
The clean energy projects are located in 28 California counties, from Humboldt County in the north to San Diego County in the south, as well as in the states of Arizona, New Mexico, and Nevada. A map of project locations and a list of contracts can be found here.
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Several of the projects are already operating, while others will come online between 2022 and 2024. The graphic below shows the capacity and types of energy resources procured by CCAs and their online years. |
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The terms for the 162 PPAs range from 10 to 25 years, or 17 years on average across all contracts. The clean energy resources are helping the CCAs meet their renewables portfolio standard (RPS) and long-term contracting requirements under SB 350, as well as local mandates set by CCA boards.
CCAs’ total annual RPS procurement expenditures increased from $385 million in 2019 to $491 million in 2020, according to the California Public Utilities Commission.
CalCCA recently received a Green Power Leadership Award from the Center for Resource Solutions in recognition of the outstanding leadership role California’s CCAs are playing to build and grow the voluntary market for renewable energy. Over the last decade, CCAs have purchased more than twice as much renewable energy than was required under state mandates, according to the UCLA Luskin Center for Innovation.
With several new CCA requests for offers (RFOs) currently underway and soon to be issued, the list of CCA long-term clean energy contracts will continue to grow. A group of CCAs recently formed a joint-powers agency, California Community Power, to facilitate joint clean energy procurement including long-duration storage (LDS) with a minimum of eight hours of discharge duration. CCAs are procuring LDS to aid in meeting California’s 2030 greenhouse gas reduction targets.
The California Community Choice Financing Authority (CCCFA), meanwhile, was formed by CCAs to reduce the cost of power purchases through prepayment transactions. CCCFA will assist member CCAs by undertaking the financing or refinancing of energy prepayments with tax-advantaged bonds.
As of 2021, CCAs serve over 50 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of load, representing about 28% of the load in the service areas of California’s three main investor-owned utilities (Pacific Gas & Electric, San Diego Gas & Electric, and Southern California Edison). Based on planned CCA launches and expansions, CalCCA forecasts CCAs will serve 36% of IOU load in 2022.
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About CalCCA
Launched in 2016, the California Community Choice Association (CalCCA) represents California’s community choice electricity providers before the state Legislature and at regulatory agencies, advocating for a level playing field and opposing policies that unfairly discriminate against CCAs and their customers. There are currently 24 operational CCA programs in California serving more than 11 million customers. For more information about CalCCA, visit www.cal-cca.org. |
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