ENCINITAS — Major stakeholders and advocates of community choice energy will be on hand March 10 for a day long forum in Rancho Bernardo on the topic, which holds a lot of interest in Encinitas as one of several cities exploring it as an avenue for energy choice.
The San Diego Choice Community Forum, which runs from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Renovate America in Rancho Bernardo, is sold out to the public, but several Encinitas stakeholders will be on hand for the discussion that will give more information on what community choice energy is, why it works and what it takes for it to happen in a jurisdiction.
Community Choice Energy, the informal name of Community Choice Aggregation, is the process in which a jurisdiction such as a county or a city forms an agency that buys power on the open market, choosing the source of the power based on the community’s choice.
For example, the community could choose that it wants all of its power from solar or wind farms, or it wants the most cost effective energy source possible.
The major energy companies such as Sempra, San Diego Gas & Electric and PG&E in Northern California would still deliver the power, but the community would have control over where it received the power from.
CCAs, as they are known for short, have emerged in Northern California and one city in Southern California, Lancaster, also has a CCA.
But much of Southern California is still wading in the discussion and exploration phase.
Encinitas is part of a five-city group that is in talks of creating a CCA along the North County coastline — Solana Beach, Carlsbad, Oceanside and Del Mar comprise the group.
Friday’s forum will include a panel discussion of officials from counties, CCA boards and other stakeholders that will outline the process for a jurisdiction to form a CCA program.
The event’s keynote speaker will be Lancaster Mayor Rex Parris.
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