FROM: James D. Herberg, General Manager
Originator: Rob Thompson, Assistant General Manager
SUBJECT:
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DIRECT ACCESS ENERGY PURCHASE PROGRAM
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GENERAL MANAGER'S RECOMMENDATION
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RECOMMENDATION:
A. Approve Orange County Sanitation District's participation in the Southern California Edison Direct Access Program;
B. Authorize the General Manager to select an energy service provider and execute a Direct Access Purchase Contract with a registered vendor for the period of January 11, 2022 to June 30, 2022, in a form approved by General Counsel; and
C. Direct staff to initiate the procurement of a long-term direct access purchase agreement for continuation of service, for Board approval by June 30, 2022.
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BACKGROUND
In 2009, California Senate Bill 695 established the Direct Access (DA) program, a retail electric service that allows customers to purchase electricity from a competitive provider, called an Electric Service Provider (ESP), instead of from a regulated electric utility. The utility delivers the electricity that the customer purchases from the ESP over its distribution system and collects a fee for doing so.
An ESP is a non-utility entity that offers electric generation service to customers within the service territory of an electric utility. The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) currently lists 20 ESPs for the Southern California Edison service territory.
The CPUC sets limits on the number of kilowatt hours a utility is required to accept from other providers. Since 2013, utilities have used a lottery system every six months to allocate their available load to customers who apply for the DA program. If there are more applicants than can be included, the unsuccessful applicants are put on a wait list.
The Orange County Sanitation District (OC San) has applied for the DA program multiple times in the past but has never been successful. The most recent application in August was ini...
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