Good news: Canandaigua, Rochester, Geneva, Brighton, Irondequoit, Pittsford, Penfield, Lima, Brockport, Victor are all adopting a CCA(Community Choice Aggregation), making renewable energy the default choice – And it seems as though Ithaca is next! So what could this mean for the Finger Lakes as a whole?
Here are some advantages and challenges of the CCA model (courtesy of the EPA)…
Advantages:
- Potential retail electric rate reduction
- Enables rapid shift to greener power resources
- Local control of electricity generation, which can be responsive to local economic and environmental goals
- Expands consumer choices
- Can spur local jobs and renewable energy development
Challenges:
- Implementation is dependent on enabling state legislation
- Requires successful navigation of various CCA regulations and passing the appropriate ordinances
- Administrative costs
- Opt-in versus opt-out clauses can be confusing to consumers
- Potential for push-back from utilities in traditionally regulated electricity states that would face new competition under CCAs
The Ithaca Times notes, “If Ithaca were to decide to go with a CCA, they would likely partner with groups like Sustainable Tompkins (us!) to provide administrative support to take the burden of customer service off of the city.” We have our fingers crossed! Access and implementation of renewables on a community scale is clearly having a domino effect on the region and hopefully beyond. Learn more about CCA’s at Democrat & Chronicle. Get the details on what this could mean for Ithaca at the Ithaca Times.
More info on CCA’s coming soon…
