The California Community Choice Association (CalCCA) announced today that California’s Community Choice Aggregators (CCAs) have surpassed a major clean energy milestone, securing more than 21,000 megawatts (MW) of new-build clean energy capacity through long-term power purchase agreements (PPAs).
“Exceeding 21 gigawatts marks a pivotal moment not just for CCAs, but for California’s clean energy future,” said CalCCA Chief Executive Officer Beth Vaughan. “We are building a more reliable, affordable grid by prioritizing diverse clean energy resources and cutting-edge storage that strengthens local resilience for millions of Californians.”
CCA PPAs equate to:
- 21,380 MW of new solar, wind, geothermal, energy storage, and demand response resources
- 138 operational clean energy projects totaling more than 9,700 MW serving CCA customers (1,800+ MW became operational in the last year)
- More than $48.4 billion in investments by CCAs to build and operate clean energy resources
- Support for more than 48,000 construction jobs
From solar carports to large-scale solar-plus-storage, CCAs celebrated multiple ribbon cuttings over the last year, marking new clean energy projects coming online for their communities.
Each November, CalCCA reports on CCA contracting progress, demonstrating how these community-driven providers are leading California’s clean energy buildout. CCAs now serve more than 15 million customers—more than one-third of the state’s population—across 200+ cities and counties.
Community choice energy providers have now secured 389 long-term PPAs, totaling 21,380 MW of new-build clean energy, including over 11,500 MW of renewable energy and more than 9,600 MW of energy storage. CCAs added over 3,000 MW of new contracts in just the last year.
This year, energy storage was the fastest-growing category in the CCA PPA portfolio, increasing by more than 20% since last year to support system reliability during peak demand and advancing California’s transition toward a resilient, 24/7 carbon-free grid.
CCA PPAs reflect a range of energy storage technologies including lithium-ion, vanadium redox flow batteries, and compressed air. Almost half of the new CCA-contracted clean energy projects that became operational in the past year were “hybridized,” meaning the clean energy is co-located with storage.
Notably, the suite of CCA PPAs includes CleanPowerSF’s first-of-its-kind contract with the Gonzaga Ridge Wind Farm in Merced County, which pairs 147.5 MW of in-state wind power with 50 MW of battery energy storage. Gonzaga Ridge is the first wind-storage hybrid PPA in the portfolio of CCA long-term new-build contracts.
Hybridized/Co-Located storage is the amount of total energy storage that is paired with solar/wind.
Hybridized/Co-Located solar or wind is the amount of total solar/wind that is paired with energy storage.
CCAs’ long-term PPAs range from 10 to 27 years in length and average 16 years across all agreements. Long-term PPAs can reduce power purchasing costs by protecting customers from exposure to market price fluctuations.
CCAs are also continuing to leverage innovative green bond prepayment financing through the California Community Choice Financing Authority (CCCFA) to reduce costs. To date, CCCFA has issued $23 billion in prepayment bonds, equating to approximately $150 million per year in savings for community choice customers—nearly $4.6 billion over the lifetime of the contracts. More on CCA green bonds here.
Ambitious procurement strategies not only expand clean energy capacity for CCAs but also help meet and, in many cases, exceed state goals (mid-term reliability, renewables portfolio standard/SB 350) and local mandates set by CCA boards for renewable energy and reliability. The graphic below shows the capacity and types of energy resources procured by CCAs and their online years.
Community choice energy providers “now play a dominant role in renewable procurement, and their portfolios already exceed the 2030 RPS targets,” notes energy consulting firm Energy + Environmental Economics (E3). CCAs also account for the majority of procurement activity in California, according to E3.
CCA-contracted power projects are located across 28 California counties—from Humboldt to San Diego—and in Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada, and Utah. CalCCA’s interactive map enables users to explore operational CCA clean energy projects statewide and discover details on projects serving CCA customers. View the new interactive map here and the classic PPA project map here.
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 25 operational CCA programs in California serving more than 15 million customers—over one-third of the state’s population—in 200+ cities and counties throughout the state. For more information about CalCCA, visit www.cal-cca.org.