Community choice energy is a scam 

It appears that our San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors has decided to unilaterally embroil their constituents into the community choice energy scam, which involves purchasing clean energy from existing out-of-state sources and claiming it as one's own. Meanwhile, on paper, the carbon emissions from the power actually produced and consumed in California magically become someone else's responsibility, although it is unclear who that might be. In reality, the level of carbon-emissions for the Western grid remains unchanged, while the emissions from California production linger and grow ever more pervasive in the atmosphere over California.

Carbon emissions from power production can only be reduced by increasing the capacity of clean energy sources to permanently replace carbon-emitting production. Purchasing power from existing clean energy sources does not increase clean energy capacity, so there is no effect on reducing global emissions at all ... anywhere. So, for the proponents of community energy to claim that this process reduces carbon emissions goes beyond deception.

As far as the current lower rates for community choice, that is only temporary. The availability of clean power in the Western grid is a limited resource and subject to the vagaries of climate and season and, as community choice programs proliferate, the demand for clean power will inevitably rise and the rates will increase accordingly. Unfortunately, community choice consumers have no regulatory protections when participating, willingly or not, in the inherent instability of the wholesale power market, so they and their communities could eventually have to pay an enormous price, as happened in Texas not too long ago. In California some disillusioned communities have already withdrawn their memberships in community choice programs.

In summary, members of the Board of Supervisors, along with some on our local city councils, have managed to commit their communities to a program that enriches private entities, exposes their communities and constituents to liability, and yet does absolutely nothing to mitigate climate change. I believe that makes them complicit in this deception, and as such I submit that those responsible should be held personally accountable when the inevitable comes to be.

Mark Henry

San Luis Obispo