Prestigious U.S. Department of Energy Ranking Caps a Year of Strides and Accomplishments for California’s Largest Community Choice Aggregator
LOS ANGELES — Clean Power Alliance (CPA) has capped its fifth anniversary year of serving Southern California customers with a prestigious number one national ranking by the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in the sale of green power.
The NREL 2022 Utility Green Power Rankings, announced in fall 2023, is an annual list of top green power providers throughout the United States. The national report has historically identified and compared investor owned (IOU) and publicly owned utilities’ (POU) clean energy programs, evaluating green pricing, customer acquisition and sales. This year marked the first time the NREL included the nation’s community choice aggregators (CCAs), such as CPA.
“Clean Power Alliance is being recognized as the nation’s leading green power provider amongst all utilities. This is a testament to the trust our customers have put in us to provide them with cleaner energy options at competitive rates,” said CPA Board Chair and Beverly Hills Mayor Dr. Julian A. Gold. “I’m incredibly proud of how far CPA has come in its mission to address the impacts of climate change and provide the communities we serve with avenues to meet their clean air goals and to improve the health and wellbeing of their residents.”
In its first year appearing in the report, CPA ranked number one in green power sales, with a total of 3,570,040 megawatt hours (MWh). The NREL report also cited CPA, the largest CCA in California, with serving the largest number of green power customers in the United States with 881,572 customers.
Additionally, 88% of CPA customers received more renewable energy than mandated by California’s Renewable Portfolio Standard requirements in 2022. Renewable energy sales and customers are expected to grow as CPA welcomes three new communities to CPA service in 2024, each of which has selected 100% Green Power as its preferred energy option.
Overall, CCAs dominated the green power rankings in the category for serving the most customers, securing nine of the top 10 spots of all utilities.
“CPA has taken a leadership role in fostering clean energy adoption in California and partnering with communities to make it easier to transition to a greener more sustainable future,” said Ted Bardacke, Chief Executive Officer of Clean Power Alliance. “I thank our board, community advisors, and dedicated staff for their work that resulted in this NREL ranking.”
In addition to the distinguished national ranking, CPA had several other key accomplishments in 2023 including:
- Secured a record amount of wind power from the largest renewable energy infrastructure project in United States history, which begins construction this year and will begin serving customers in late 2026. The 575 megawatts of renewable energy from the SunZia Wind project in New Mexico will provide enough renewable energy to power 265,834 homes in Southern California annually.
- Transitioned the cities of Alhambra and Paramount and businesses located in unincorporated Los Angeles County to cleaner energy options. Collectively, these actions will prevent 820 million pounds of harmful greenhouse gas emissions from being emitted each year.
- Contracted for 482 megawatts of solar and 280 megawatts of energy storage, enough to power more than 85,000 homes and businesses, from the Daggett Solar plus Storage facility, one of the largest operating hybrid facilities in the country.
- Approved six new 20-year power purchase agreements to expand capacity in the Power Share program, which provides 100% renewable energy to income qualified customers at a 20 percent discount. Two of the agreements are for community solar projects that supply locally generated power to residents living within five miles of the project site. An additional 1,400 Power Share customers will benefit from the expansion.
- Achieved a financial milestone by receiving an A- issuer credit rating (ICR) with a stable outlook from S&P Global Ratings. This first credit rating positively reflects CPA’s overall strengths and bolsters its position to secure large supplies of energy at lower costs.
- Issued two prepay green energy bonds, totaling nearly $2 billion. The bonds allow CPA to save on the future costs of purchasing renewable energy, providing over $98 million in cost savings to customers over the next eight years.
- Contributed to the largest electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure investment in Ventura County history, via the California Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Project (CALeVIP). Half of the $4.8 million in total funding was designated for EV charging stations located in low-income and disadvantaged communities to grow access to clean mobility options for all.
- Provided $280,000 in funding to 12 non-profit organizations through CPA’s Community Benefits Grant program to advance clean energy, green jobs, environmental education and stewardship, and energy equity and diversity within Southern California communities.
- Invested $105,000 into CPA’s Voyager Scholarship program to support 105 scholarships for students in renewable energy studies attending seven colleges throughout Los Angeles and Ventura counties.
Ahead in 2024: In March, the cities of Hermosa Beach, Monrovia, and Santa Paula will each begin electricity service with CPA. With the addition of these cities, CPA will serve a total of 35 communities with clean energy options throughout Los Angeles and Ventura counites. CPA will also launch new programs for its communities and customers, including incentives to pair rooftop solar with battery storage and for municipalities to transition their fleets to zero emission vehicles.
Visit CleanPowerAlliance.org/news for further details on CPA’s accomplishments in 2023.
About Clean Power Alliance — Founded in 2017, Clean Power Alliance is the locally operated not-for-profit electricity provider for 30 cities across Los Angeles County and Ventura County, as well as the unincorporated areas of both counties. CPA is the fourth largest electricity provider in California and leads the nation in serving the most customers with 100% renewable energy. CPA serves approximately three million residents and businesses via more than one million customer accounts, providing clean renewable energy at competitive rates. Learn more at CleanPowerAlliance.org.