In a 5-4 vote Tuesday evening, the Long Beach City Council decided against moving forward with a Community Choice Energy program that would provide 100% clean energy to the city.
The Clean Power Alliance presented their findings, which are already being used by 32 cities across Los Angeles and Ventura counties, to the council and were met with a split reaction. Supporters advocated for the measure’s focus on climate concerns and the city’s future, while the opposition cited financial risks as well as a lack of research and community outreach.
“I really don’t see a downside with this motion,” Councilmember Rex Richardson said, as reported by the Signal Tribune. “A lot of people are invested in our climate, invested in our future. As we understand and address our concerns, we should be able to express that this is something that we’re going to continue to take seriously and not just going to delay for two years.”
Southern California Edison provides Long Beach with its current electrical energy, which defaults at 35% renewable energy, but the proposed program would default at 100% renewable energy. SCE would continue to provide the city with its energy and would handle any maintenance issues, but the energy would be distributed through the CPA.
The CPA was created in 2017 in an effort to provide more energy services at different costs and promote renewable energy, as explained on their website.
It was originally established as a joint venture with the founding cities being Los Angeles County, Rolling Hills Estates and South Pasadena. Now several communities across Southern California are utilizing the CPA’s services.
While Long Beach residents currently have the option to upgrade their renewable energy percentages, having a city-wide standard of 100% clean energy would help to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Residents would be able to return to their current plans under SCE instead of opting into the renewable energy plan, if desired. The CPA offers three rate options and allows customers to choose their desired percentage option in regard to the amount of renewable energy.
According to CPA’s impact report from 2018-19, the group has a 94% retention rate within its customer base and at that time had 28% of their consumers using 100% green power and 52% of consumers on 50% clean power.
During the meeting, councilmembers discussed the financial risks related to filing a letter of interest, which included a consulting cost of roughly $35,000 to add Long Beach to CPA’s list of cities.
The councilmembers in favor of the measure included Jeannine Pearce, Rex Richardson, Roberto Uranga and Mary Zendejas. Pearce strongly advocated for the program and even offered to pay for the entire $35,000 cost using her district’s discretionary funds as she strongly supported the endeavor.
Those opposed to the motion were Councilmembers Dee Andrews, Al Austin, Stacy Mungo, Suzie Price and Daryl Supernaw.
During the public comment section, several community members voiced their support for the measure, and some said they had been longtime advocates for this program. Other participants voiced different community concerns such as the reallocation of funding to Long Beach Police Department elsewhere.
The council unanimously approved to revisit the program in one year instead of the originally proposed wait time of two years.
The next city council meeting will occur on Tuesday, Sept. 1 at 5 p.m. via teleconference.
This story was updated on Friday, Aug. 28 at 12:09 p.m. to include more information on the CPA and a reference to the Signal Tribune.