OCPA: New Management. Same Old False Claims.

The Orange County Power Authority (OCPA) is telling member cities, ratepayers and anyone else who will listen that it has cleaned up its act since removing former CEO Brian Probolsky, and is now giving the public the straight story and bringing down electricity rates. Really?
 
Even under new management, OCPA continues to peddle two false claims as part of its high-priced PR campaign:

False Claim #1. OCPA is delivering 95.6% “green” energy to its ratepayers.

False Claim #2. OCPA’s rate is 2% less than Southern California Edison (SCE).

OCPA doesn’t deliver energy. OCPA simply acts as a middleman that contracts with “green” energy producers — those that do not burn fossil fuels to generate their power — to pay for electricity that is put into the state’s electrical grid. (Most of OCPA’s green portfolio is solar, nuclear, and wind-generated power.) The grid distributes a mix of power from all suppliers, which is about 54.2% renewable, according to the California Energy Commission.
 
OCPA ratepayers then draw their electricity from the grid, as does every other ratepayer in the state. And it’s all the same. OCPA is not delivering 95.6% green energy to Irvine ratepayers. OCPA’s Irvine ratepayers are getting exactly the same mix of electricity as SCE’s Irvine ratepayers and everyone else in the state served from the grid.
 
Further, OCPA power purchases do not significantly affect the mix of power in the grid, if at all. Basically, OCPA’s purchases are a drop of green in an ocean of brown power. If OCPA did not exist, someone else would be buying those green-power contracts, as there is demand for clean power driven by state laws and regulations aimed at making California’s electricity grid 100% green by 2045.
 
OCPA is not 2% cheaper than SCE. The 2% discount applies only to those customers enrolled in the very lowest tier (OCPA’s “Basic Rate”). But, remember, Irvine ratepayers were not enrolled in OCPA’s Basic Rate. They were all forced into the very highest tier (OCPA’s “100% Renewable Rate”), which is considerably more expensive than SCE. As a practical matter, Irvine ratepayers are being forced to pay substantially more for the very same electricity everyone else is using.
 
So, OCPA may be under new management, but it’s still delivering more happy talk than green results … at great cost, month after month, to Irvine residents.

About 30% of Irvine residents have already opted-out of OCPA. You can too by clicking here or calling (866) 262-7693.