General

Clean Energy Alliance (CEA) follows a community choice energy model that allows its member cities to purchase power to meet their community’s electricity needs, offering an alternative to investor-owned utility, San Diego Gas & Electric. CEA offers competitive prices and clean energy options while reinvesting revenues into projects and programs that benefit members’ communities.

Community choice energy (CCE) is a model that allows communities to purchase power to meet their electricity needs, offering an alternative to the traditional investor-owned utility (IOU) model. CCE programs can provide the communities they serve with competitively priced, clean energy choices while reinvesting revenues into projects and programs, supporting the local economy.

You’ll also often hear the term community choice aggregation (CCA) used interchangably with CCE.

Community choice energy (CCE) programs are established by local communities, either through the creation of a multiple-agency partnership or new city or county department. While CCE programs are locally operated, they work in partnership with the region’s existing investor-owned utility (IOU). Through this partnership, CCE programs determine the source and procure the electricity while the existing utility company continues delivering the energy, maintaining the grid and providing billing services.

Residents and businesses within CEA’s member agencies have access to CEA’s services and programs. CEA members currently include the cities of Carlsbad, Del Mar, Escondido, Oceanside, San Marcos, Solana Beach and Vista.

Clean Energy Alliance (CEA) is governed by a Joint Powers Authority made up of local elected officials who oversee decisions regarding power purchasing, programs and rate setting, and are directly accountable to the people who elected them. Each member city has equal voting power and meetings are conducted in an open, transparent manner, ensuring the public has a voice in the decision-making process. CEA is operated under the direction of a chief executive officer (CEO) appointed by the Board, with legal and regulatory support provided by a Board-appointed General Counsel.

Because Community Choice Energy (CCE) programs are locally managed, not-for-profit entities, any excess revenue is reinvested into the community through on-bill savings and innovative energy projects and programs, including rebates and other incentives, low-cost energy programs, job training and more.

Maintaining grid reliability is the function and responsibility of the California Independent System Operator (CAISO). The CAISO will continue to perform this function under the Community Choice Energy (CCE) business model; therefore grid reliability will remain unchanged.

Grid reliability is the responsibility of the California Independent System Operator (CAISO), and this responsibility does not change with the implementation of a Community Choice Aggregation (CCA) program such as Clean Energy Alliance (CEA).

Relationship with SDG&E

If you are a San Diego Gas and Electric (SDG&E) customer who has an 11-digit SDG&E account number, please enter two (2) leading zeros (0) before the start of your SDG&E account number, and eliminate the last digit, when opting up, opting out, opting down or returning to Clean Energy Alliance (CEA). This addition is required due to an SDG&E update. Your updated 13-digit SDG&E account number will be reflected in the SDG&E invoice you are to receive in April 2021.

No. You will continue to receive just one bill from SDG&E. Clean Energy Alliance’s charges for electricity generation are included as a line item on your utility bill. SDG&E will continue to charge for the transmission and delivery of electricity, along with a variety of other regulatory and program charges at the same rates they always have. There are no duplicate charges for electricity generation.

Clean Energy Alliance controls the generation side of customers’ electricity bills: approximately 25 percent of the total cost. Clean Energy Alliance customers can be affected by SDG&E’s rate increases for transmission and delivery, the same as non-CEA customers.

Clean Energy Alliance is committed to providing customers rate stability by reviewing and setting rates just once per year.

The Clean Energy Alliance Board of Directors oversees decisions regarding rate setting. The Board is made up of elected officials from its member communities who are directly accountable to the people who elected them. Open meetings ensure the public has a voice in decision-making.

Clean Energy Alliance is committed to an easy and transparent billing process. For more information about understanding your monthly bill, please explore our interactive sample bill.

Yes. SDG&E will continue to provide the same level of service to Clean Energy Alliance customers as they provide to all their customers. SDG&E is responsible for maintaining transmission and distribution lines that deliver the energy we purchase. Please call SDG&E if you’re experiencing a power outage to restore power: 1-800-411-7343.

Customer Participation

The automated enrollment process is mandated by state law, but as an organization that emphasizes choices, customers will always have a choice in who provides their energy. While Clean Energy Alliance is proud to provide customers with competitive rates and cleaner energy and local control, you can opt-out of CEA service at any time.

Participation in the Clean Energy Alliance (CEA) is completely voluntary. Customers will always have the option to opt up, opt down and opt out.

Economic Impacts

No. Investor-owned utilities (IOU), such as San Diego Gas and Electric (SDG&E), charge Community Choice Energy (CCE) customers a power charge indifference adjustment (PCIA) fee, also known as an exit fee, to cover the difference in the market value of energy resources that were already contracted on a customer’s behalf by the IOU and the cost of those resources.

A feasibility study completed for Clean Energy Alliance (CEA) shows that the Community Choice Energy (CCE) model is financially feasible and CEA has a stated goal of achieving a minimum 2% savings in energy generation costs compared to San Diego Gas and Electric (SDG&E). Net revenues could be used for investment in local distributed energy generation, enhanced energy efficiency programs, additional support for low-income customers, energy storage, electric vehicle charging and other programs related to the CCE business model. The decisions regarding utilization of discretionary net income will rest with the CEA Board of Directors.

The Clean Energy Alliance (CEA) has established a priority of supporting the local economy through local energy programs and local power development. CEA’s economic impact could be greater if the Community Choice Energy (CCE) invests in local distributed energy resources. Through incentive programs and direct investments, CCEs can create new demand for manufacturing, construction and installation of local distributed energy resources, leading to an increase in employment in those sectors. Decisions concerning investments in distributed energy resources, such as the construction of new community solar or battery storage projects, would be made by the CEA Board of Directors.

Under the community choice aggregation (CCA) model, CEA is positioned to offer customers energy rates that compete with the local investor-owned utility (IOU), in this case, SDG&E. 

First, CEA is a public, non-profit agency providing a new option for energy generation in North County San Diego, offering customers an alternative to SDG&E for purchasing power, with more options in what rates they can choose, and with a higher renewable energy content. CEA is responsible for energy generation (the energy itself) while SDG&E continues to deliver the energy to residents and businesses over its poles and wires. On average, CEA’s energy generation costs on your electricity bill are roughly 25% of the delivery charges for which SDG&E is responsible. 

Second, CEA offers rate stability. Since its inception in 2020, CEA has adjusted its generation rates once annually in a public meeting, while SDG&E has adjusted its rates an average of three times per year since 2014.

Finally, unlike investor-owned utilities, CEA’s rates are set at the local level in a process where the Board of Directors, consisting of one City Council Member from each participating city, considers the priorities of the customers in their respective communities and relies upon energy and rate setting experts to establish competitive rates for the three available clean energy products available to CEA customers. Unlike CEA, which is a non-profit public agency, SDG&E’s rate-setting process must consider shareholder interests when setting rates.

Because CEA’s energy generation rates are set based on factors that fluctuate, and its minimum renewable energy content is always higher than SDG&E’s, it is not certain that CEA’s rates will always be lower than SDG&E’s. CEA uses the following process to calculate rates:

  1. CEA indexes generation rates to the local investor-owned utility.  
  2. Based on higher renewable content, CEA buys energy in the open market. 
  3. CEA sells energy to customers.  

In the past, the process above has allowed CEA to offer customers savings. From inception in 2020 to December 2023, CEA saved a typical residential customer an average of $6.16 per month on their bills. Because CEA has not changed its rates since February 2023, rates are currently at a slight premium.

Power Charge Indifference Adjustment

The Power Charge Indifference Adjustment (PCIA) is an exit fee charged by San Diego Gas and Electric (SDG&E) to customers that choose another provider of electricity generation service through direct access or Community Choice Aggregation (CCA) like Clean Energy Alliance (CEA). The fee is designed to cover the difference in the market value of energy resources that were already contracted on a customer’s behalf by SDG&E and the cost of those resources.

For more information, take a look at our PCIA Fact Sheet.

The intent of the Power Charge Indifference Adjustment (PCIA) is to ensure that San Diego Gas and Electric’s (SDG&E) remaining customers are not burdened with costs associated with energy resources that were procured on behalf of departing Community Choice Aggregation (CCA) customers. Current statute requires that remaining utility customers not experience any cost increase as a result of the implementation of a CCA program.

Currently, the methodology is complex and includes calculating the difference between the actual costs paid by San Diego Gas and Electric (SDG&E) and the current market value of those energy resources, or above market costs. In addition to conventional power, the Power Charge Indifference Adjustment (PCIA) includes benchmarks for resource adequacy, renewable energy, and other energy attributes that impact the value of the utility’s energy portfolio. The calculation methodology is intended to ensure that both utility and Community Choice Aggregation (CCA) customers pay their fair share for energy resources that the utility procured on their behalf.

No. Power Charge Indifference Adjustment (PCIA) rates use the concept of “vintaging” to assign different sets of costs to different customers. Each Community Choice Aggregator (CCA) is assigned a vintage based on the month and year the CCA’s customers left utility service. PCIA rates are different between the vintages.

The Power Charge Indifference Adjustment (PCIA) continues until the last energy contract in that vintage expires.

In theory, there should be less contracted energy in the customer’s vintage, however other variables affect the Power Charge Indifference Adjustment (PCIA), such as the market value of energy. In recent years, the market value of conventional energy, which is heavily influenced by natural gas prices, has declined. Additionally, renewable energy prices have declined. Both of these factors cause the PCIA to increase even though the contracted volume of the energy resource may be less than the previous year.

The Power Charge Indifference Adjustment (PCIA) directly affects a Community Choice Aggregator’s (CCA) ability to set rates competitive to the incumbent utility. The PCIA was initially conceived to prevent cost shifts between utility customers and direct access customers in 2001.

The issues with the PCIA are many:

  • Non-transparency
  • Lack of auditing of utility costs to determine accuracy
  • Does not incentivize the utility to minimize or mitigate costs
  • Leads to rate volatility
  • Does not prevent cost shifts as required by statute

Net Energy Metering and True-Up Dates

A true-up date occurs on the anniversary of the date that a customer enrolled in Net Energy Metering, and is only applicable for customers who generate renewable energy and who are enrolled in our net energy metering program (Personal Impact). As a private rooftop solar customer, you will receive your annual true-up statement at the end of the 12th month of your billing cycle. 

At true-up, you may be entitled to compensation for the surplus energy if your system produced more energy than your property used over the 12-month billing cycle. If renewable energy produced by the customer exceeds the amount of power they used for that 12-month relevant period, the customer will earn Net Surplus Compensation (NSC), calculated at $.06 per kilowatt-hour for Net Excess Generation (the amount of excess power they generated). Customers with NSC greater than or equal to $100 will be sent a direct payment by check. NSC payments of less than $100 will be rolled over into the next relevant period and used to offset future charges.

Throughout the year, energy charges and credits will be calculated each month, based on the customer’s applicable rate and the amount of renewable energy they generate. If a net charge is due, the charge will be presented on the bill. If there is a net credit, it is accumulated for future use against future charges. On the true-up date, any remaining credits will be zeroed out. 

New customers who are considering installing a solar, wind or other self-generation system: the system installer can guide you on how to sign up for SDG&E’s NEM program.

Once you have signed up for SDG&E’s NEM program, you will automatically be enrolled in Personal Impact.