Editor’s Note: The Orange County Power Authority on March 19 elevated Joe Mosca from interim to permanent chief executive. The OCPA, which was formed in 2020, is projecting $380 million in revenue for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2024.
Clean energy is a smart business strategy.
Climate change is the top risk business leaders face over the next decade, according to Deloitte’s Annual Resilience Report.
By reducing dependence on fossil fuels, the Orange County Power Authority (OCPA) has significantly decreased greenhouse gas emissions from electricity consumption for its more than 231,000 residential and commercial customers.
That includes being a major asset to businesses aiming to meet their climate and sustainability goals.
It’s critically important for companies today to recognize they have a responsibility to be sustainable. A lot of companies are on their way to doing just that, with many others examining how they can do so as well.
For all companies in the cities we currently serve—Buena Park, Fullerton, Huntington Beach and Irvine—OCPA can be a vital partner in how they become greener on the electric side.
And we hope that is just the beginning of the influence OCPA can have in Orange County.
Orange County and OCPA are certainly not alone in this effort. There are 14 million people in more than 200 communities throughout California who are customers in an agency that is called Community Choice Aggregation, or CCA.
OCPA is one of the largest and greenest of those California CCAs and was recently recognized by National Renewable Energy Laboratory as a Top U.S. Green Power Provider.
Like any startup business, OCPA experienced some challenges early on.
OCPA customers in Huntington Beach will be transitioning back to Southern California Edison by June 30.
The board of directors has outlined a Strategic Plan that includes projects for community outreach and a goal to obtain investment grade credit rating in 2027. As a result of completing a 24-point Improvement Plan, OCPA is setting the bar in terms of best practices.
Last fall, we issued our first annual Power Content Label, which showed that our agency has significantly exceeded mandatory state requirements for the purchase of renewable energy goals.
31K Commercial Customers
We have 31,000 commercial customers in Orange County, many of them among the largest companies in the cities we serve.
We offer three renewable electricity generation plans that increasingly replace dirty fossil fuels with clean power from solar, wind, biomass and geothermal. Given the average amount of energy consumed by Orange County businesses, OCPA’s competitively priced clean energy plans are a simple switch with a huge lasting impact.
In fact, OCPA’s Basic Choice Plan delivers 44% renewable energy and costs 3% less than Southern California Edison’s equivalent generation rate (see graph, this page).
OCPA can also help companies save money by reducing their energy use. We have a new pilot program starting this summer to incentivize some commercial customers to use less energy during peak summer demand. Through this program, when businesses reduce their electricity use by a certain amount, the cost of their energy per kilowatt hour will go down as well.
Companies can also increase their own resiliency by having more of their power generated onsite. OCPA is launching a pilot Feed-in Tariff program to encourage investment in small-scale, local renewable energy projects to negotiate and enter into power purchase agreements for up to 3 megawatts for eligible projects.
Typical projects would include in-fill development alongside freeways, on rooftops and in empty lots, infusing capital into the local economy, creating jobs and localizing energy. Applications and requirement details will be released this Spring.
And as a locally controlled provider, we have the ability to be nimble and work with and design custom programs for our commercial customers. For businesses looking to attain a zero-carbon footprint, OCPA can provide verification of the percentage of green energy that is purchased on their behalf to put onto the California energy grid.
Commercial customers on OCPA’s 100% Renewable Choice plan are significantly reducing their carbon footprint to achieve their sustainability goals. OCPA helps these customers communicate this to employees, customers, clients and others through the Green P100NEER program, which provides co-branded communications tools to highlight to their internal and external audiences their environmental efforts, including purchasing renewable energy to address climate change.
Among our Green P100NEER program participants is YogaSix Irvine, a locally owned and operated franchise that is part of the nation’s largest boutique yoga brand. Entrepreneur named it as the fastest growing franchise in 2022 and in the Franchise 500 in 2023.
“We are proud to be a 100% renewable energy customer. Knowing that Orange County Power Authority is purchasing electricity on our behalf from clean, sustainable sources to create healthier communities aligns with our mission of supporting whole-person wellness while also contributing positively to the planet,” YogaSix Irvine told us.
When you do business with OCPA, you are also investing in an organization that prioritizes working with diverse businesses, including those led by women, minorities and veterans.
And that’s just the beginning of our programs to help commercial and residential customers.
Because we are not-for-profit, we will increasingly use our own revenue toward furthering our reinvestment in our businesses and communities.
Earth Day
As we approach Earth Day—this coming April 22—we encourage businesses in our member communities to reach out and learn more about how OCPA can help them achieve their Environmental, Social and Governance goals. We have a team ready to help. Invest in your sustainable future today.
