Community Choice Energy

Local, clean energy programs that meet community needs

Solar installation by Deposit Photos.

Community Choice Aggregation (CCA), also known as Community Choice Energy, is a local, not-for-profit government program that empowers communities to purchase electrical power on behalf of its residents. This puts more control in the hands of people, businesses, and local governments, allowing them to choose clean energy, administer energy efficiency programs, and more.

The Climate Center played an integral role between 2005 and 2020 in working with local governments throughout California to assist them in initiating their CCAs.

There are now more than 20 Community Choice Agencies in California representing over 200 cities and nearly half the counties in the state. They are serving 15 million people — about one-third of the population of California. These agencies are recognized as the purchasers of nearly all of the new renewable energy between now and 2030. See the map at the bottom of this page showing all CCAs in California.

The benefits of Community Choice Energy include:

  • Greater consumer choice;
  • Local control;
  • Programs that are more responsive to community needs;
  • Expanding the portfolio of renewable energy;
  • Local economic development and investment; and
  • Less climate pollution and better air quality.

Community Choice 101

Community Choice programs are opt-out programs, meaning that once a local government votes to form a Community Choice Agency, the constituents of that local government are automatically enrolled and can opt out if they wish.

Community Choice is only involved in the electrical generation decision-making and has no involvement with transmission and distribution — the poles, wires, and other physical infrastructure. The electrical utility also continues the metering and the billing for customers. The Community Choice Agency replaces the line item on the electric bill for “generation.”

When a community, or group of communities, decides it wants to pursue a Community Choice program, a typical first step is to identify funding in order to produce a technical study. The technical study analyzes the electrical load of the community and offers projections about the kinds of power mix and rates that might be possible. Once the early investigation is complete, the jurisdiction or group of jurisdictions must pass an ordinance stating the intention to form a Community Choice Agency. 

Webinars

The map below includes county-level information for Community Choice Agencies. Hover your cursor over counties for the name and click into any county to pull up population and load data. For information on all 482 cities in California, see this CCA Map Database that provides CCA status information for all of them.

Map of CCA Program Status by County

Map Key

  • 0 - Ineligible service territory
  • 1 - Eligible but no activity
  • 2 - Earliest stages of exploration
  • 3 - Local government has taken official action
  • 4 - Local government has voted to establish a Community Choice agency
  • 5 - Local governments are at varying stages of evaluation, including operational
  • 6 - Program is launched and serving customers; or, jurisdiction has joined existing Community Choice program
Map of California Counties

County Status List

  • Alameda County: 6 - Program is launched and serving customers; or, jurisdiction has joined existing Community Choice program
  • Alpine County: 1 - Eligible but no activity
  • Amador: 1 - Eligible but no activity
  • Butte County: 4 - Local government has voted to establish a Community Choice agency
  • Calaveras: 1 - Eligible but no activity
  • Colusa County: 1 - Eligible but no activity
  • Contra Costa County: 6 - Program is launched and serving customers; or, jurisdiction has joined existing Community Choice program
  • Del Norte: 1 - Eligible but no activity
  • El Dorado: 2 - Earliest stages of exploration
  • Fresno County: 3 - Local government has taken official action
  • Glenn County: 1 - Eligible but no activity
  • Humboldt County: 6 - Program is launched and serving customers; or, jurisdiction has joined existing Community Choice program
  • Imperial County: 0 - Ineligible service territory
  • Inyo County: 2 - Earliest stages of exploration
  • Kern County: 3 - Local government has taken official action
  • Kings County: 2 - Earliest stages of exploration
  • Lake County: 3 - Local government has taken official action
  • Lassen County: 0 - Ineligible service territory
  • Los Angeles County: 6 - Program is launched and serving customers; or, jurisdiction has joined existing Community Choice program
  • Madera County: 1 - Eligible but no activity
  • Marin: 6 - Program is launched and serving customers; or, jurisdiction has joined existing Community Choice program
  • Mariposa County: 1 - Eligible but no activity
  • Mendocino County: 6 - Program is launched and serving customers; or, jurisdiction has joined existing Community Choice program
  • Merced County: 5 - Local governments are at varying stages of evaluation, including operational
  • Modoc County: 0 - Ineligible service territory
  • Mono County: 1 - Eligible but no activity
  • Monterey County: 6 - Program is launched and serving customers; or, jurisdiction has joined existing Community Choice program
  • Napa County: 6 - Program is launched and serving customers; or, jurisdiction has joined existing Community Choice program
  • Nevada County: 5 - Local governments are at varying stages of evaluation, including operational
  • Orange County: 6 - Program is launched and serving customers; or, jurisdiction has joined existing Community Choice program
  • Placer County: 6 - Program is launched and serving customers; or, jurisdiction has joined existing Community Choice program
  • Plumas County: 1 - Eligible but no activity
  • Riverside County: 5 - Local governments are at varying stages of evaluation, including operational
  • Sacramento County: 0 - Ineligible service territory
  • San Benito County: 6 - Program is launched and serving customers; or, jurisdiction has joined existing Community Choice program
  • San Bernardino: 5 - Local governments are at varying stages of evaluation, including operational
  • San Diego County: 6 - Program is launched and serving customers; or, jurisdiction has joined existing Community Choice program
  • San Francisco County: 6 - Program is launched and serving customers; or, jurisdiction has joined existing Community Choice program
  • San Joaquin County: 5 - Local governments are at varying stages of evaluation, including operational
  • San Luis Obispo County: 6 - Program is launched and serving customers; or, jurisdiction has joined existing Community Choice program
  • San Mateo County: 6 - Program is launched and serving customers; or, jurisdiction has joined existing Community Choice program
  • Santa Barbara County: 5 - Local governments are at varying stages of evaluation, including operational
  • Santa Clara County: 6 - Program is launched and serving customers; or, jurisdiction has joined existing Community Choice program
  • Santa Cruz County: 6 - Program is launched and serving customers; or, jurisdiction has joined existing Community Choice program
  • Shasta County: 1 - Eligible but no activity
  • Sierra County: 1 - Eligible but no activity
  • Siskiyou County: 1 - Eligible but no activity
  • Solano County: 6 - Program is launched and serving customers; or, jurisdiction has joined existing Community Choice program
  • Sonoma County: 6 - Program is launched and serving customers; or, jurisdiction has joined existing Community Choice program
  • Stanislaus County: 2 - Earliest stages of exploration
  • Sutter County: 1 - Eligible but no activity
  • Tehama County: 1 - Eligible but no activity
  • Trinity County: 0 - Ineligible service territory
  • Tulare County: 2 - Earliest stages of exploration
  • Tuolumne County: 3 - Local government has taken official action
  • Ventura County: 6 - Program is launched and serving customers; or, jurisdiction has joined existing Community Choice program
  • Yolo County: 6 - Program is launched and serving customers; or, jurisdiction has joined existing Community Choice program
  • Yuba County: 1 - Eligible but no activity