Dive Brief:

• The Alameda County, California, Board of Supervisors has voted unanimously to start the process of creating its own public power agency.
• If created, the county would be able to run Community Choice Aggregation programs, which would allow the county to set rates and buy electricity for residents. Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E), the utility in the region, would continue to own and operate the transmission and distribution grid.   
• The County is set to embark on a $1.3 million feasibility study for the project. 

Dive Insight:

Alameda County hopes to follow in the example of Marin County, California, which set up a public power agency in 2010. Marin, where the plan is working "brilliantly," according to an aide who helped set up the program, now sets rates lower than PG&E and gets more than half of its electricity from renewable resources. 

Alameda's residents could experience a reduction in utility bills if the plan goes through, according to county planner Bruce Jensen. PG&E has to siphon profits to shareholders and pay to run a large operational and maintenance staff, something the new public agency would not need to do. This would allow the county to return savings to customers instead. 

PG&E has been cautiously supportive of the plan so far. The utility cannot legally protest against the County's plans using any customer revenue. "We'll continue to cooperate with local governments as they consider pursuing and developing a CCA [Community Choice Aggregation] program," said spokeswoman Tamar Sarkissian.

Under the plan, county residents would be automatically enrolled with the public agency, with the option to opt-out and rejoin PG&E's service. But this provision may be set to change: A bill currently working its way through the state Senate would force CCA programs to become opt-in.