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Territorial Dispatch

Live Oak Considers Joining Pioneer Community Energy

Oct 09, 2024 02:19PM ● By Shaunna Boyd

LIVE OAK, CA (MPG) - At the Oct. 2 meeting, the Live Oak City Council heard a presentation about the possibility of joining Pioneer Community Energy, a community choice aggregator (CCA) for electricity services.

In response to the energy crisis, California passed legislation allowing local governments to contract energy purchases from CCAs in place of investor-owned utilities, such as Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E). The first community choice aggregator was formed in 2010, and today there are 25 community choice aggregators serving 14 million customers.

Pioneer Community Energy was established in 2018, and their main goal is to save their customers money on electricity costs. Community Outreach Manager Lisa DeLaby said that they have saved their customers $85 million since they launched, and they expect the savings in 2024 to total $21 million.

Pioneer purchases electricity directly from power suppliers, which allows them to sell it to their customers at a lower rate than PG&E but they still use PG&E to deliver the electricity and maintain the infrastructure. So, Pioneer customers are still also PG&E customers and will receive just one bill from PG&E with Pioneer Community Energy listed for the energy generation.

As a not-for-profit joint powers authority, Pioneer’s board members are elected officials from the various service areas. If Live Oak joins, they would have one seat on the board that the community would elect. The board prioritizes customer savings, community reinvestment, and customer service. When you call the office, DeLaby said you can easily reach a person who can answer your questions.

Currently serving customers in Placer County and El Dorado County, as well as parts of Nevada City and Grass Valley, Pioneer is in the process of working with various local governments on a potential expansion, which would double their power output. The expansion could include Butte County, Nevada County, Tuolumne County, Sutter County, Sonora, Oroville, Paradise, Chico, Yuba City and Live Oak.

Over the summer, an impact assessment study was conducted to analyze the potential for Live Oak and Sutter County to join Pioneer. The study, which was conducted by an independent consultant, looked at two years of consumption pattern data and found that Pioneer would be able to bring in Live Oak without impacting rates for existing customers. Currently, Pioneer says they offer customers approximately 7% in savings over PG&E and they are confident they can extend those savings to Live Oak.

But for the numbers to work out, the launch is slightly delayed from Pioneer’s initial conversations with city staff. The current recommended launch for the expansion is October 2027, which will allow the launch to begin after the summer heat when rates are highest.

Pioneer submitted Request for Proposals (RFPs) last month to find additional energy suppliers and they will be going before their board in December with the official numbers to get final approval for expansion.

Councilmember Bob Woten said, “It’s very exciting to make a step forward like this.”

Councilmember Jeramy Chapdelaine agreed.

“This would be great for our residents. Anything we can do to help out with rates would be awesome,” Chapdelaine said. He did ask for clarification on how the change would affect solar customers, and he was assured that Pioneer has an excellent solar program that will offer savings without changing any of the tiers or rates already established with PG&E.

Councilmember Lakhvir Ghag said with energy costs always increasing, he’s glad there is another option.

Mayor Ashley Hernandez said it would be a wonderful program allowing the city to offer residents a choice.

“Anytime we can provide any kind of savings, we want to do that,” Hernandez said. She said she fully supports moving forward.

Pioneer will come back to Live Oak in January to handle the administrative work, after final board approval for the expansion.

During general Public Comment, resident Dave Carlson said councilmembers should maintain a professional demeanor in their online interactions. But he reported that a councilmember was engaging in rude comments on social media in response to negative comments regarding the dog park. When Carlson was engaging on the post, he said this councilmember responded angrily, telling him to run for City Council again since he has so many ideas—which he said was not meant sincerely but instead as “taunting remarks.”

The council then heard options to improve existing conditions at the dog park. The city brought in John Suesens of Quadriga Landscaping Architecture and Planning, who visited the site and offered recommendations for resurfacing. Suesens said each option has pros and cons, including longevity and cost, for council to consider.

While full lawn areas are a nice option, Suesens said that is expensive to install, irrigate, and maintain. And the site’s various low areas with poor drainage will destroy lawns over the winter months due to the standing water. But partial lawns on the downslopes in addition to other improvements would be a workable solution.

The areas of poor drainage also create muddy conditions for the dogs, so low areas could be filled with rock base and boulders to keep dogs out of the mud and give them a higher spot to climb.

An additional decomposed granite pathway along the park perimeter could help decrease weed encroachment and give dogs another path to run. While decomposed granite is a stable and long-lasting surface, it is more expensive and can be hard on the dogs’ feet, so it’s only recommended for use in select areas.

Mulch or wood chips are other, less expensive options to combat mud and weeds, but those are not stable surfaces and have to be frequently reapplied.

Parks and Recreation Director Luis Cibrian said another option is to irrigate the entire park, which would keep out the thistles since they like dry conditions. The irrigation would encourage the growth of the natural grasses already there, keeping them green over the spring and summer months. This option would maintain the natural terrain, with seasonal mowing to manage the growth. 

Mayor Hernandez said she’d like to see an official cost rundown on the various options.

Interim City Manager Mark Scott said staff should look into running the numbers to get cost estimates and then submit a Request for Proposals.

The next meeting of the Live Oak City Council is scheduled for Oct. 16 but that date coincides with the League of California Cities annual conference, which some councilmembers might attend. Scott suggested the possibility of canceling or rescheduling that meeting if there will not be enough councilmembers in attendance. Council decided to wait until closer to the meeting to see whether any pressing matters will be up for discussion and then decide how to proceed.