Claremonters will see something different in their electricity bill for 2019.

The city is entering into a multi-city partnership called the Clean Power Alliance. Starting in February 2019, residents will be able to choose what percentage of renewable energy would be provided to them, City Spokesperson Bevin Handel said in a release.

Link to educational video on how it works

The city council narrowly voted 3-2 to join the program—then called Los Angeles Community Choice Energy (LACCE)—in November 2017. LACCE rebranded as the Clean Power Alliance (CPA) in February 2018.

The CPA is comprised of 31 different agencies across Los Angeles and Ventura counties. The goal of the group is to promote higher use of cleaner and more renewable energy in the counties, which is procured by the CPA and distributed by SCE.

While the CPA will be the energy provider in Claremont, Southern California Edison (SCE) will still deliver the power and send bills to residents in their name, Ms. Handel said.

Claremonters will receive a notice in the mail informing them of the city’s participation in the program, and presenting three different options regarding the amount of renewable energy included in their package.

The “Lean Power” option provides 36 percent renewable energy content to the consumer, according to Clean Power Alliance. CPA says the lean power rate would cost one to two percent less than Southern California Edison’s default rate.

The second option is “Clean Power,” where 50 percent of the energy sent to the consumer will be renewable energy. CPA says that the rates for this option are “competitive,” which means residents can save up to one percent from current SCE rates.

At the top of the ladder is “100% Green Power,” which provides 100 percent renewable energy to the consumer. CPA says this option would have a seven-to-nine percent “premium” to SCE’s rate, meaning it’s going to be more expensive.

Ms. Handel told the COURIER that Claremonters would be automatically enrolled in the “Clean Power” level, unless they change their power levels themselves.

Residents will embark on the new service in February and businesses will start in May, Ms. Handel said.

If you don’t want to be involved, there’s still some time to opt out.

You’ll have 60 days from February 2019 to opt out of the program at no cost—go to www.cleanpoweralliance.org, under “rates and options” click “opt out,” plug in your Southern California Edison account number, your last name and service location.

It gets more complicated after the 60 days have passed.

Customers will have two options: visit sce.com, opt out immediately by filling out the Clean Power Alliance opt-out form and be subject to “transitional bundled rates” from SCE for six months, or give SCE six months notice that you want to switch while paying CPA’s rates in the meantime.

If you opt out before the 60 days are up, you are free to return to the CPA at any time within a year for no fee. However, if you opt out afterward, you won’t be able to return to CPA for a minimum of twelve months, which the CPA says is an Edison requirement.

For new customers who move to Claremont after the partnership with CPA is underway, they will be automatically enrolled and receive two notices from the city within the first 60 days about their options, Ms. Handel said.

More information can be found at cleanpoweralliance.org

—Matthew Bramlett

news@claremont-courier.com