Irvine City Council Unanimously Approves Measure to Withdraw from OCPA

Tensions between the City of Irvine and the Orange County Power Authority (OCPA) boiled over this week, as the new City Council unanimously approved a measure threatening to withdraw from the agency, prompting an angry anti-Irvine rant from the OCPA chairman.

Irvine is one of three cities — along with Fullerton and Buena Park — in the agency and represents 65% of its ratepayer base. Fountain Valley recently voted to join the OCPA, but that won’t take effect until next year.

The Council’s action on December 12th came in response to the OCPA’s surprise request two weeks earlier that the City agree to move its 115,000 ratepayers from the agency’s top tier of 100% renewable energy to a middle tier of 55% renewable energy, so that OCPA could scale back expensive renewable purchases. Otherwise, the agency said Irvine customers would be hit with a rate increase of 49% on January 1, 2025.

Irvine Councilman James Mai made a motion to have the City draft a notice of intent to withdraw from the OCPA, but not send it until next year. His motion also included moving all of the City’s ratepayers into OCPA’s least expensive tier, and directing the City’s staff and representatives on the OCPA board to work with the agency to address concerns regarding OCPA’s lack of transparency.

“I think people should have a choice, but it needs to be a transparent one,” Mai said, adding that the vote would “send a message: no organization will have the power to bully us.” 

Mai’s motion was passed unanimously by all six Councilmembers, including Councilmember Kathleen Treseder, who is one of the City’s representatives on the OCPA board and has long been supportive of the embattled agency.

Treseder expressed frustration that in recent weeks she hasn’t been able to get the information she needs from the OCPA. “It’s been like pulling teeth. … I don’t know what else to do at this point,” she said.

This echoed what City Manager Oliver Chi told the Council. “OCPA has for some reason decided not to inform Irvine about significant (developments),” Chi said. “There have been financial challenges at OCPA that have not been disclosed to Irvine.”

During the November 26th Council meeting, OCPA officials told the Council that the agency had become concerned about rising prices for renewables in the spring and had created an ad hoc committee in September to look at the problem and come up with alternatives for the agency. However, Treseder said she was not told about the financial pinch at the agency until November 5th, right after the Fountain Valley City Council voted to join OCPA.

The Irvine City Council’s threat to withdraw from OCPA drew an angry response from Fullerton Councilmember Fred Jung, who chairs the OCPA board. “That governing body is amateur hour,” Jung told Voice of OC, after the Council’s vote. “Now, once again, an agency that is tasked with doing good things is being held hostage by Irvine.”

Jung’s hostile comments were similar to what Treseder encountered during a December 6th OCPA board meeting. Treseder asked that “Irvine’s representatives on the board are kept informed.” Jung replied that the energy market is volatile and he doesn’t want board members “to over- or under-react.” When Treseder said, “I haven’t witnessed that to be an issue,” Jung doubled down, saying sharply, “Your Council consistently overreacts.”