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Last year, Orange County’s first green power agency almost collapsed amidst a slew of state audits, infighting and lack of oversight – losing almost half of its members in a few months and opening questions on whether the agency would make it through the end of the year.
Auditors found questions around the agency’s spending and concerns about the lack of experience by senior leadership, while county and city leaders lambasted the agency they’d once championed for failing to be transparent with the public and its customers.
But over a year after a vote to dissolve the agency by its own board of directors failed, the Orange County Power Authority appears to be getting back on its feet even as one of its founding cities completed its exit in August.
The turnaround came after the power authority fired CEO Brian Probolsky and instituted several new transparency measures recommended by state auditors.
[Read: Is OC’s Green Power Agency on the Way to Being Clean?]
“We have been making great strides toward achieving all the goals we set out for ourselves,” said Joe Mosca, the agency’s current CEO. “One of our objectives is to really reach out to other cities in OC and let them know about the benefits of belonging to OCPA.”
And for the first time in nearly two years, more cities are joining.
Fountain Valley is in the process of joining according to Mosca who said they’re also studying what it would take for Costa Mesa and Stanton to come onboard.
Cities like Orange, Laguna Beach, San Clemente, Laguna Woods and Santa Ana have also talked with staff about potentially joining according to Mosca.
Mosca also highlighted a series of perks the power authority was launching for customers, including a program to help people buy e-bikes and purchase energy efficient appliances for less money.
“We’re expending our net revenue back into our communities,” Mosca said.
Despite the changes, Huntington Beach leaders still pushed ahead with pulling out, citing concerns about how residents were automatically opted in at the highest rate.
Councilman Casey McKeon, the city’s former representative on the agency’s board, praised the decision to get out, highlighting how while there had originally been concerns they’d have to pay millions of dollars to bail out, they only had to pay some small consultant fees.
“We were able to negotiate an exit from the OC Power Authority that again resulted in zero dollars,” McKeon said at a city council meeting last month. “These community choice energy programs are based on deception … this is a massive win for our city and its taxpayers.”
Mosca said the city could exit for free because the agency sold off several of its electricity contracts for a higher price than they originally bought them, covering the city’s exit costs.
“As we move forward, the price of energy has gone up,” Mosca said. “We really worked with the team to ensure there were no costs.”
But Mosca disputed McKeon’s claims of secrecy around the agency, saying that while the contracts are extremely technical, the city had a chance to review all of them.
“This sounds like something of the past for OCPA,” Mosca said. “That is kind of an old claim that no longer exists.”
Noah Biesiada is a Voice of OC reporter and corps member with Report for America, a GroundTruth initiative. Contact him at nbiesiada@voiceofoc.org or on Twitter @NBiesiada.
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