Michael Uhl believes there might just be a “magic wand” solution that would lower electricity prices, increase sustainable energy supplies, and chip away at the suffocating market influence of utility company giants, all in one fell swoop.
Such is the potential power, so to speak, of Community Choice Aggregation.
Uhl joined a half-dozen fellow alternative energy advocates this past Thursday night to make that pitch for Community Choice Aggregation, or CCA, at the most recent meeting of the Board of Alders City Services and Environmental Policy (CSEP) Committee meeting on the second floor of City Hall.
The local energy engineer kicked off a spate of passionate testimony about how New Haven city government might someday be able to leverage its bulk buying power to purchase electricity en masse for its residents — while giving constituents a greater say about where that energy comes from.
The alders on the committee voted unanimously in support of a proposed resolution that would have the city formally call on the state legislature and the governor to pass enabling legislation that would allow CCAs to be created in Connecticut. That proposed resolution (which can be read in full here) now advances to the full board for a final vote.
Thomas Breen photo
Uhl makes his CCA pitch at Thursday night’s meeting.
Each speaker who addressed the committee Thursday night stressed at least three points over the course of their respective testimonies.
They warned that CCAs are complicated. One shouldn’t despair at not understanding every detail the first time through.
They explained that the proposed resolution would not result in New Haven creating a CCA immediately. Instead, it would have the city lobby the state to give it permission to create a CCA if it wanted to sometime down the road.
And they emphasized that regional utility company monopolies (with no names named) destroy the environment, democracy, and the supposedly “free” market, and for consumers’ pocket books.
“Would you wave the wand over New Haven” if you could? Uhl asked the alders.
Because there’s really no magic to it, he said. Just the need for a collective push to reimagine the energy economy.
But What In The World Is a CCA?
At its core, Uhl said, CCAs are actually quite simple.
A municipality and an existing power company collaborate to create a new nonprofit that uses the bulk buying power of that city (or region) to purchase electricity for its residents.
The existing utility company maintains ownership and control over the distribution of electricity — the polls and meters — while the new CCA nonprofit focuses on purchasing energy from a variety of sources.
Customers would know — and be able to choose — where the energy they’re buying is coming from. CCAs can prioritize energy sourced from existing wind or solar farms, or invest in the creation of new renewable energy outlets. They provide a clear understanding of how much of their electricity comes from natural gas or coal or other nonrenewable sources.
Massachusetts and California have allowed for CCAs in their states for decades, Uhl said. Rhode Island, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, and Illinois all also all permit municipalities to create such alternative energy buying programs.
CCAs typically save customers between 2 and 20 percent on their electricity bills in comparison to regular utility companies, he said.
“We, the people, want the power to make our own lives more affordable, convenient, resilient, diverse, and equitable,” he told the alders. Middletown recently passed a similar resolution calling on the state to allow for CCAs.
There has been a proposed bill in the state legislature’s Committee on Energy and Technology that would do just that, he said.
“We ask you, our elected officials, to join us in advocating for enabling legislation now, and championing Community Choice Aggregation to help address our climate and cost concerns in our communities.”
“Power To Make Our Own Choices”
Uhl wasn’t alone Thursday night in his bid to convert alders to the power of CCA.
“If you don’t get it yet, that’s OK,” said city Environmental Advocacy Council (EAC) Chair Laura Cahn (pictured). The EAC held two full meetings about CCAs, and she still feels a little hazy on the details.
But the gist of it is easy to grasp — and rally behind, as a potential solution for the climate crisis and high electricity costs.
“We’re asking the state to do enabling legislation so that we could do what we want,” she said. “So that we have more power to make our own choices instead of letting a big company make those choices for us.”
CCA is not a public takeover of utilities, she said. Instead, it leaves the distribution infrastructure and maintenance in place, and relies on expertise of existing power companies to keep up that work. It targets municipal choice — and power — at the source of the electricity being distribution. “It enables us to buy different kinds of power if we wanted to make a statement about which kind of place we are.”
Kathleen Fay (pictured), a fellow member of the EAC, said that setting up a CCA wouldn’t cost much — just a couple hundred thousand dollars to cover the administrative infrastructure of hiring staff and renting office space for the to-be-formed nonprofit. That money could come from a bank loan or municipal bonding, not necessarily a tax increase.
She stressed that the best kinds of CCAs function on “opt out” models: Electricity customers are a part of the program by default, and can choose to leave at no cost if they want to stick with the conventional utility company.
“Opt in” models require CCAs to spend all their time marketing to attract new customers, she said. That wastes precious resources that could otherwise be spent on making sure that residents can get clean, affordable electricity.
Wooster Square resident Aaron Goode (pictured) said that, back in the “dark ages of 2013,” he and then-Bridgeport Mayor Bill Finch and a few other energy policy geeks were the only people to testify before the Connecticut General Assembly in support of CCA-enabling legislation.
Now, he said, as the climate crisis worsens and as CCAs catch on around the country, New Haven should make sure to be a progressive leader in the state and push for a bill that might actually pass.
A CCA would provide no risk exposure to the city budget, he said, because relatively low start-up costs could be covered by bank loans, which should not be difficult to secure for an organization that would have hundreds of millions of dollars a year in cash flow when up and running.
It would provide city residents with the opportunity to choose more environmentally responsible energy sources for their home electricity.
And it would result in lower energy costs for the city and for its residents because of discounts available through bulk purchases.
“Connecticut’s energy supply market deregulation has been a massive failure,” he said. CCAs represent one opportunity to undo those past missteps.
A Tipping Point founder Anthony Allen (pictured) reminded alders not to lose sight of that very human impact amidst all of the complicated process considerations.
“This body hears a lot about the urgency of climate action,” he said. “That kind of change happens much more quickly when more people are able to take ownership of the issues and feel connected, via their decisions, to the broader impacts that we’re seeing.”
“To the extent that CCAs bring the decisions about our energy closer to home,” he continued, “and allows people to see on a different scale how they’re connected to it, it could really help us move things a lot quicker in terms of” transitioning to renewable energy.
“I’m Going To Push As Hard As I Can”
Prospect Hil/Newhallville Alder Steve Winter (pictured) praised those who came out to testify, and promised to do his part to lobby Hartford for CCA-enabling legislation, before the committee alders cast their unanimous vote in support.
“The energy economics here have changed,” he said. “It’s more efficient, it’s more cost-effective, and it’s better for the planet to go with green options.”
CSEP Chair and Morris Cove Alder Sal DeCola agreed. “This would help families immensely,” he said. “Especially the poor and needy” who have to choose every month between paying for rent or paying for utilities.
“I’m going to push as hard as I can on this.”
This has never lowered energy bills anywhere else it has been tried. How will this be different in New Haven? The cents per kilowatt are the same or higher then any other provider usually in other regions where this has been tried.