By Ry Rivard

Across California, local governments are trying to slow down climate change by starting their own agencies to buy and sell energy. In some cases, though, the green power they buy may be replaced with dirty power.

These government agencies are known as community choice aggregators, or CCAs. Solana Beach is about to start one. San Diego is thinking about forming one, too.

Two of the state’s oldest CCAs are Marin Clean Energy and Sonoma Clean Power. Marin, in particular, is a model for governments across the state hoping to fight climate change and wrest control of the energy market from power monopolies, like San Diego Gas & Electric.

Almost all CCAs start without any power to sell. So, to quickly enter the market, they sign contracts to buy energy from existing projects.

By Ruben Barrales, Haney Hong and Jack Monger

Not enough attention has been focused on the risks of government-controlled energy, and last week’s story in Voice of San Diego is the latest example of coverage that misses an opportunity to highlight the pitfalls cities like San Diego would face if they decide to enter the volatile energy business.

​We helped form the Clear the Air Coalition to ensure important questions are answered before San Diego makes critical decisions about our energy and climate future. All of us want cleaner air, but the truth is government-controlled energy programs like the one the San Diego is considering are not delivering on their promises to create more jobs and provide cheaper and greener electricity. They do, however, carry a tremendous amount of risk for taxpayers — and could trigger California’s next energy crisis.