SLO County to enroll in Central Coast Community Energy 

The last remaining local government to hold out from joining Central Coast Community Energy (3CE) is now opting in to the regional power provider.

The San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors voted 3-2 on March 21 to join as a member agency of 3CE—a Monterey-based utility that buys power on behalf of more than a million customers in four Central Coast counties and 29 cities.

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• File Photo By Jayson Mellom
• SIGNING UP SLO County is joining Central Coast Community Energy, starting service in January 2025.

SLO County supervisors requested a hearing in January to join 3CE, after past boards repeatedly turned down chances to enroll. The decision sets in motion a process that will result in 3CE service beginning for unincorporated areas of SLO County in January 2025.

Supporters, like SLO County 2nd District Supervisor Bruce Gibson, highlighted 3CE's rate savings compared to PG&E—which range from 31 percent to 43 percent, depending on the customer type, according to a county staff report—and the ability to take local control over power decisions.

"I supported this a long time ago," Gibson said at the meeting. "I think the reasons for supporting this are even stronger today than the last time we considered it. The rates are the key here. I can't see how we can get around that."

Launched in 2018, 3CE is one of 25 Community Choice Aggregation agencies in California—and the largest in terms of geographic area, stretching from Santa Cruz to Santa Barbara.

The model enables local governments to pool their customer bases and decide where to purchase power from and how to reinvest revenues. PG&E continues to manage distribution, transmission, and billing.

Customers are automatically opted in to 3CE but can voluntarily opt out and continue bundled service with PG&E.

"For the first time, many Californians have a choice of where to get their power," 3CE Communications Director Catherine Stedman said in a March 21 presentation to the board. "They have more options, and better options, and our local governments ... have a say in what we pay for energy and where that energy comes from."

The energy aggregator has aggressive clean energy goals, including a target of achieving 100-percent renewable energy by 2030. The agency's current portfolio is about 60-percent renewable, according to officials.

In January, 3CE announced that it secured a 25-year agreement with energy company Hydrostor to build the largest compressed-air energy storage facility in the world in Kern County—with 200 megawatts of its power reserved for 3CE customers. The agency has also inked agreements with several newly constructed renewable energy projects that've come online around the state.

"The goal of decarbonization is attainable," Stedman said. "3CE and CCAs [Community Choice Aggregators] have proven we can deliver projects."

While advocates pointed to those clean energy goals, the rate savings, and 3CE's various rebate programs as reasons to join, detractors expressed skepticism about the agency's long-term viability.

Third District Supervisor Dawn Ortiz-Legg—who used to work for PG&E and helped with the development of Topaz Solar Farm in the California Valley—said that she felt "a lot of pain in this situation, I will admit."

"Right now, there are many, many things that are in flux in the energy business," she said. "It's a very complex subject. There's a lot that's at stake here."

Ortiz-Legg said that agencies like 3CE are now largely responsible for procuring adequate power resources for California—and noted that they've "come up short."

"They were expected to go out and procure energy, and that energy didn't come," Ortiz-Legg said. "The story is such that we still need that behemoth [PG&E]. That's very important because when we turn on the lights today, guess who's doing that? Not 3CE, but PG&E."

While expressing reservations, Ortiz-Legg ultimately supported the county joining 3CE, noting that "you can't refute the fact that people get a deal here."

John Peschong and Debbie Arnold, 1st and 5th District supervisors, respectively, dissented in the vote. Peschong said he felt he needed to support residents in his North County district who are employed by PG&E.

"These are not the top jobs. These are the guys who drive around in blue trucks, football dads and football moms," Peschong said. "They're community members and they're constituents. I have to represent them." Δ