We openly publish our plan today here on our web site to make it immediately accessible and available. We believe in full transparency and in providing an open-source detailed document to any Distributed Energy Resources-focused CCA effort that shares our goals and objectives and who wishes to take advantage of the research and analysis our group has engaged in.

Combined with our draft South Bay Clean Power Joint Powers Agreement (JPA) and template Request for Proposals (RFP) for Services (forthcoming), our goal is to provide a readily accessible package for local governments and citizen advisory committees to launch large, scalable and advanced CCAs with a minimum of effort or upfront expense.

An Unrelenting Focus On Achieving Our Goals

This Business Plan was designed first and foremost to serve as the step-by-step guide and tutorial to launch a CCA with the capabilities necessary to achieve the goals and objectives created by the South Bay Clean Power Working Group that began exploring Community Choice in mid 2014:

Accelerate renewable portfolio content to 100% (goal of 10 years);

No use of Green-E or Category 3 unbundled Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs);

Maximize the use of Distributed Energy Resources (DER), which we define as behind-the-meter renewable power generation, energy storage, energy efficiency, demand response and electric vehicles;

Prioritize local investment, local power generation, local jobs and career opportunities;

Over the course of designing a CCA to achieve these goals, we were determined to answer the critical determining questions, including:

Asking the Toughest Questions

What is the optimal governance and organizational structure of the program, both for South Bay Clean Power and in terms of a county-wide approach to implementing Community Choice?

What practical capabilities will the CCA deploy, to align the program’s operational activities with its strategic goals?

In order to maximize local economic development and job creation in Los Angeles, how will this design ensure that the CCA can accelerate Distributed Energy Resources (energy efficiency, distributed renewable generation, energy storage, electric vehicles, and demand response technologies), both in its power planning and market operations and by leveraging the land use and transportation authorities of local governments?

Does the size of South Bay Clean Power (twice as large as any CCA under formation to date) impact how the CCA should approach power planning and energy risk management activities?

Does this scale, and the broader transition to Community Choice service throughout the Los Angeles region (and much of Southern California Edison’s territory) necessitate closer collaboration with the utility than smaller CCA’s to date have experienced? How does this impact the design of the CCA?

What is the most transparent and competitive process to use in contracting for all necessary services, which capabilities should transition to staff over time, and how can this process be accelerated?

Given the complex nature of launching a CCA, how should at-risk and performance-based contracting strategies be applied to incentivize expert contractors and enhance the overall quality of services provided to the CCA?

What is the best strategy to finance the CCA, while lowering local government upfront expenses and overall financial liability?

What are the best practices and lessons-learned from the existing CCAs and other public power initiatives in California that should be applied for South Bay Clean Power?

The South Bay Clean Power business plan details the proven models and best practices that will allow our CCA to launch with the full range of capabilities necessary because of our unprecedented size — as detailed by our consultant in this blog post.

By integrating these best practices into a comprehensive plan for South Bay Clean Power, our recommended CCA program design and implementation process represents the most cost-effective and expert strategy to achieve:

A CCA with best-in-class capabilities from Day 1, enabling comprehensive energy risk management practices, power portfolio diversification, and the integration of Distributed Energy Resources into power planning, contracting and operations;

An accelerated and streamlined CCA launch timeline;

The lowest cost of implementation, with the least commitment of staff time and upfront government expense or financial liability;

Services provided under performance-based, at-risk contracts, and in a manner that is more transparent and supportive of the internal growth of the CCA (in terms of staff capabilities and expertise).

To fully explain our recommendations on how to implement South Bay Clean Power to achieve these objectives, the Business Plan details the:

Practical capabilities and functions that the CCA will deploy;

Implementation process and timeline;

Contracting strategy and step-by-step process;

Initial staffing plans and agency development ‘roadmap’;

Financing and funding strategy (including five case studies);

Distributed Energy Resources strategy;

Governance structure, including the option of a regional model that preserves local control for CCAs and member governments.

To our knowledge, no other CCA report to date has detailed these critical processes and concepts to the extent we do in the South Bay Clean Power Business Plan.

Next Steps and Timeline to Launch

By serving as the practical and implementable plan to achieve the goals and objectives of the South Bay Clean Power Working Group, this draft Business Plan is designed to aid elected representatives and city staff in evaluating their municipality’s best options for creating or joining a CCA that:

Provides their city with true local control through equitable and balanced governance;

Delivers the most impactful and meaningful economic and workforce development benefits in their communities.

The Business Plan is next being reviewed by prospective member governments as well as County staff, with whom we have collaborated closely with over the past several years.

We are conducting significant outreach to local governments, and are submitting draft JPAs and RFP for Services for staff and stakeholder review that will implement the recommendations and best practices of the South Bay Clean Power Business Plan.

Our proposed implementation timeline anticipates JPAs forming in the coming months, the RFP for Services issued in Q3 of 2017, and the CCA launching in Q2/ Q3 of 2018:

We are proud to have reached this milestone for our South Bay Clean Power initiative cities and we look forward to your informed feedback and recommendations and we invite your questions.