By Karen Villasenor.

City of Lancaster Mayor and California Choice Energy Authority Board Member R. Rex Parris is due to deliver the keynote speech at the California Community Choice Association (CalCCA) 2017 Annual Meeting: Education for Emerging CCAs, on Tuesday, October 3.

The single-day event, at the Riverside Convention Center, will feature a wide range of Community Choice Aggregation (CCA) topics designed to focus on educating emerging CCAs. Attendees will include local government representatives as well as CalCCA operational members, affiliate members and partners.

“It is an honor to be invited to deliver the keynote message at the CalCCA 2017 Annual Meeting,” said Mayor Parris. “I am a strong advocate for Community Choice Aggregation programs. I am eager to share my experience and knowledge with local government leaders who are exploring the Community Choice Aggregation option.”

Mayor Parris is a longtime established advocate for clean energy innovation, sustainable energy solutions and Community Choice Aggregation (CCA). He has been instrumental in the City of Lancaster’s CCA program, Lancaster Choice Energy (LCE), since the program’s earliest stages. He currently serves as a board member for the California Choice Energy Authority (CCEA), a hybrid joint powers authority (JPA) formed by the City of Lancaster and the City of San Jacinto to assist cities in Southern California Edison territory with the CCA program implementation process.

“Through my experience working with Lancaster Choice Energy and the California Choice Energy Authority, I’ve seen the positive impact Community Choice Aggregation programs can have in communities,” Mayor Parris added. “These programs can help increase clean energy usage, decrease greenhouse gases and add a new revenue stream for cities to allocate to community improvements.”

LCE and CCEA are both CalCCA partner members as well as sponsors of the CalCCA 2017 Annual Meeting. Both organizations will be present during the event to distribute information and offer their expertise on CCA program implementation. LCE and CCEA team members will be available at designated booths to help further educate local government representatives as they explore the opportunities and challenges of implementing a CCA program.

CCEA is a pioneering Community Choice Aggregation solution for cities in California. Formed as a result of experiences the City of Lancaster went through when launching its CCA in 2014, CCEA provides an innovative model that retains local control of utility services for cities who partner with the hybrid JPA. CCEA also alleviates the operation risk and administrative overhead. The JPA model is quickly becoming the gold standard for CCA implementation by California cities.

For more information regarding the CalCCA 2017 Annual Meeting: Education for Emerging CCAs, please contact CalCCA staff at info@cal-cca.org or 415-464-6689.