Community Choice Aggregation
The purpose of Community Choice Aggregation (CCA) is to allow participating local governments to procure energy supply service and distributed energy resources for eligible energy customers in the community. These customers will have the opportunity to opt out of the procurement, while maintaining transmission and distribution service from the existing Distribution Utility.
CCA allows local governments to work together through a shared purchasing model to put out for bid the total amount of electricity and/or natural gas being purchased by eligible customers within the jurisdictional boundaries of participating municipalities. Eligible customers will have the opportunity to have more control to lower their overall energy costs, to spur clean energy innovation and investment, to improve customer choice and value, and to protect the environment, thereby fulfilling an important public purpose.
Step 1: Pass a Local Law
This requires holding a hearing and passing a local law (template). The local law allows for home rule authority in the area of energy purchasing. Your municipality can be the CCA Administrator, or you can contract with another entity.
Cities, towns, and villages may wish to join together to pool demand and build market clout. In Community Choice Aggregation programs where one local government serves as the Administrator, other participating local governments may wish to enter into an Inter-Municipal Agreement with the municipal Administrator to create a Community Choice Aggregation program. Where the Administrator is a third party such as a nonprofit organization, private company, or local development corporation, municipalities may enter into a Memorandum of Understanding, contract, or other agreement with the Administrator to commit to participate in the program subject to certain terms and conditions. Templates for Memorandum of Understandings and Inter-Municipal Agreements can be found here:
https://www.nyserda.ny.gov/All-Programs/Programs/Clean-Energy-Communities/How-It-Works/Toolkits/Community-Choice-Aggregation
Step 2: RFP to Select 3rd Part Administrator
The 3rd Party Administrator plays a critical role in the success of any Community Choice Aggregation Campaign. Where program administration fell to the participating municipality in previous CCA offerings, communities can now select someone to handle the program administration on their behalf. Once selected, the 3rd Party Administrator is responsible for:
- Program Organization
- Development of Implementation Plan
- Development of Data Protection Plan
- Program Administration, including:
- Resident Opt-Out Process
- Customer/Resident Support
- All Required Filings
- Community Outreach & Education Campaign
- Procurement
- Implementation
- Administration After Implementation
The services provided by the 3rd Party Administrator come at no charge to the municipality. A template RFP can be found in the Community Choice Aggregation Toolkit on the NYSERDA website.
Step 3. Complete the Process
Once you’ve chosen your 3rd Party Administrator, the process to enact CCA begins. Depending on the length of your Community Education & Outreach Campaign, market conditions, and eagerness to move forward, a CCA Campaign can last anywhere from 7 to 15 months from start to finish, and residents can choose to opt-out of the program at any time.
There is no obligation to move on to Step 4 and sign an energy supply agreement once you’ve started the process, so exploring the program is virtually risk free.
Step 4. Sign Energy Services Agreement
Based on the parameters set by the community prior to going to market, the 3rd Party Administrator will provide choices based on the responses received from potential suppliers. If the community does not like the bids, they can go back to market or choose not to move forward. If a satisfactory bid is obtained, the community can execute an Electric Services Agreement and move forward with CCA.
Step 5. Submit to NYSERDA
To obtain credit for Community Choice Aggregation, the municipality must submit a current, fully executed electric services agreement and proof of program via the NYSERDA Submission Portal. Proof of Program can be verified by either a copy of the letter from NYS Department of Public Service authorizing the applying jurisdiction to move forward with CCA, or a copy of the adopted legislation authorizing the municipality’s participation in an Opt-Out CCA Program.
If you have any questions or run into issues submitting an HIA, please contact the CEC Coordinator Rob Richardson at rrichardson@gflrpc.org
Community Choice Aggregation
The NYSERDA Clean Energy Communities Program is a $16-million initiative to help local governments across the state reduce energy consumption and drive clean energy use in their communities. Local governments that complete four out of ten identified High Impact Actions will earn the Clean Energy Community designation and may have access to grant funding to implement additional clean energy projects. Genesee/Finger Lakes Regional Planning Council is the Finger Lakes Region Clean Energy Communities Coordinator. For more information on the Clean Energy Communities Program please visit http://www.gflrpc.org/clean-energy-communities.html.
One of the ten High Impact Action Items is Community Choice Aggregation (CCA). The purpose of CCA is to allow participating local governments to procure energy supply service and distributed energy resources for eligible energy customers in the community. These customers will have the opportunity to opt out of the procurement, while maintaining transmission and distribution service from the existing Distribution Utility. Four municipalities in the Finger Lakes region have passed a CCA local law.
CCA allows local governments to work together through a shared purchasing model to put out for bid the total amount of electricity and/or natural gas being purchased by eligible customers within the jurisdictional boundaries of participating municipalities. Eligible customers will have the opportunity to have more control to lower their overall energy costs, to spur clean energy innovation and investment, to improve customer choice and value, and to protect the environment, thereby fulfilling an important public purpose.
This meeting was scheduled to give interested municipalities a chance to discuss Community Choice Aggregation and the impact for their community. Genesee/Finger Lakes Regional Planning Council is the Clean Energy Communities Coordinator for the Finger Lakes Region. Rochester People’s Choice Coalition (RPCC) is a grass-roots non-profit organization working to advance a transition to renewable energy at a local level in the greater Rochester and surrounding area. RPCC is also partnering with Joule Assets in to provide administrative and public outreach services to the area for CCA. Glen Weinburg attended the meeting representing Joule Assets along with representatives from RPCC. Together, they provided an update on local CCA activity and an overview of the proposed path forward.