The City of Irvine will be paying about $60,000 less each month for the electricity that runs its many operations. This savings is a result of a November 26th vote by the City Council to opt-down to the lowest-cost plan offered by the Orange County Power Authority (OCPA).
The City government, like other electricity customers in Irvine, is currently enrolled in OCPA’s most expensive tier, which the agency claims to be 100% renewable energy.
However, just before the November 26th Council meeting, the City received a request from OCPA to opt-down the entire City to the agency’s mid-tier plan, called “Smart Choice,” which OCPA says provides 55% renewable energy. The agency stated the request was being made because of steep increases in the cost of renewable energy in the past 12 months. OCPA officials said they are faced with the choice of either cutting back on renewable energy purchases or raising rates, and the decision needs to be made before the end of this year.
Following a brief presentation by OCPA, Councilmember Kathleen Treseder made a motion for the Council to adopt OCPA’s request.
Vice Mayor Larry Agran made a substitute motion for the City government to move to the lowest tier, called “Basic Rate,” which OCPA says is 44% renewable energy. By doing so, Agran said the City’s taxpayers would save about $60,000 every month.
Agran’s substitute motion passed 3-2 with support from Mayor Farrah Khan and Councilmember Mike Carroll. (Councilmembers Treseder and Tammy Kim, who represent Irvine on the OCPA Board, voted against it.)
Treseder then made a second motion to move Irvine residents and businesses currently enrolled in OCPA’s top-tier plan into the agency’s mid-tier plan for the calendar years 2025 and 2026.
Khan, Agran and Carroll were unwilling to vote for Treseder’s motion without more detailed information, saying they were unprepared to support it based solely on a 10-minute OCPA presentation followed by some questions.
OCPA CEO Joe Mosca told the Council the OCPA board was informed of the looming budget crunch back in September, and an ad hoc board committee began seriously studying alternatives at that time. However, the majority of Irvine Councilmembers indicated that neither Kim nor Treseder had alerted them about the financial issues at OCPA.
Agran stated: “The fact that this information comes to us at this time, when in fact it should have come to us back in September, is very troubling.” He then made a substitute motion to hold off on a vote until the new Council is seated on December 10th. That motion passed on another 3-2 vote, with Khan and Carroll again agreeing with Agran, while Kim and Treseder voted No.
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