Berkeley is considering moving forward with a Community Choice Aggregation approach to energy. The plan would allow residents to collectively purchase energy from renewable, non-nuclear, and other environmentally friendly generators.
The plan, which is part of a longer regional approach to aggregation, includes Oakland, Albany, and El Cerrito. But when the City Council in Berkeley voted to ask the local municipal utility district to look into creating the CCA, the City launched itself headlong into a prospect it had quietly been investigating since CCAs were first approved by the state in 2002.
The Council’s request leaves residents a long way from being able to purchase specially sourced power. According to the former chair of the City’s Energy Commission, it has yet to be settled whether or not to support the community energy plan. Two schools of thought continue to dominate the discussion – either view the CCA as a way to encourage local investment in renewable energy and jobs, or seek the lowest cost alternative to fossil and nuclear fuels.
Whichever way the City decides, the East Bay Municipal Utility District would likely handle negotiating the wholesale purchase of power on behalf of member municipalities.
Read the full story at the San Jose Mercury News.