California Choice Energy Authority (CalChoice) Director of Procurement and Regulatory Cathy DeFalco presented on the benefits of community choice aggregation (CCA) to the Arizona Corporation Commission (ACC) on July 30, 2019.

The ACC, which regulates public utilities in the state, set the open meeting in Phoenix to discuss the costs, benefits and logistics of opening Arizona’s energy market to retail electric competition. Twelve stakeholders presented on various aspects of retail electric choice to the five commissioners, commission staff and an audience of over 50 people.

DeFalco, who also serves as the executive director of Lancaster Choice Energy and is on the board of directors of the California Community Choice Association, opened the stakeholder portion of the meeting with a presentation covering the presence and operational details of CCAs in California. She provided an in-depth description of the City of Lancaster’s CCA, highlighting the benefits of customer choice, rate competition, stability and more extensive green energy options.

Like the majority of U.S. states, Arizona does not allow retail electric choice. The commission has started to examine proposed rules that would open the market to partial or full competition, a process that could span several months. Commissioners and staff members expressed interest in CCAs as a way to encourage market competition while limiting the risk associated with less structured models. 

“I was honored that the ACC invited me to present about the success we’ve seen with CCAs here in California,” said DeFalco. “We’ve given our residents more consumer options, reduced electricity rates by an average of three percent every year and helped our cities transition to cleaner, more sustainable energy. I’m glad to see Arizona considering regulations that would bring these benefits to the state’s residents.”

About CalChoice

CalChoice offers support for local governments in every phase of the CCA program implementation process, providing feasibility services to determine whether a CCA program is appropriate, developing implementation plans for members to submit to the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) and managing the implementation process to launch the CCA program, as well as continuing to support members once their CCA program becomes operational. To learn more about partnering opportunities with CalChoice, please visit www.CaliforniaChoiceEnergyAuthority.com.