OCPA Charges Higher Monthly Electricity Rates for Dirtier Energy

In 2022, Irvine’s electricity customers were automatically enrolled in the Orange County Power Authority (OCPA).

Since that time, Irvine City Councilmember Kathleen Treseder, who is Irvine’s representative on the OCPA board, has continued to mislead the City’s electricity customers by stating that OCPA charges lower monthly rates and provides more renewable energy than Southern California Edison (SCE). Watch Treseder make these false claims here.

OCPA Charges Higher Monthly Rates
According to OCPA’s own website, Irvine ratepayers enrolled in OCPA are paying about $20/month more than SCE customers pay:

Rate comparison obtained from data published on OCPA’s website

OCPA Purchases Dirty Energy
The State of California requires all public utility companies to publish an annual Power Content Label that details the energy sources used to generate electricity for consumers.

The most recent Power Content Label for OCPA (published in October 2025) shows that about 75% of its Basic Choice electricity tier is derived from “primarily fossil fuels,” which means that each megawatt hour of OCPA’s Basic Choice electricity produces the equivalent of 942 pounds of greenhouse gas emissions. By contrast, only 43% of SCE’s Default Rate electricity tier is derived from primarily fossil fuels, which means that each megawatt hour of SCE’s Default Rate electricity produces the equivalent of 515 pounds of greenhouse gas emissions.

According to OCPA’s state-mandated Power Content Label (shown below), OCPA’s Basic Choice electricity tier — the energy tier that Irvine customers are enrolled in — is nearly twice as dirty as SCE’s default electricity tier.

OCPA Power Content Label