New energy provider can help Stockton, Lathrop residents save money starting in April 2025

By Hannah Workman in The Stockton Record

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Stockton residents could save money on their energy bill and help the climate when they’re switched over to a new energy provider next year.

The switch is scheduled to happen in April 2025, according to a presentation by Ava Community Energy at the Dec. 3 Stockton City Council meeting.

Ava Community Energy, formerly known as the East Bay Community Energy Authority, is an alternative to Pacific Gas and Electric Company that will give residents the choice to save on their energy bill or source their power from 100% renewable resources, company officials said.

In the spring, residents will automatically be enrolled in Ava’s service with the option to opt out back to PG&E if they desire. The city and Ava will be communicating with residents throughout the process.

Power will still be delivered through PG&E infrastructure, but customers will have the choice to save on average 5% compared to PG&E rates with Ava Community Energy’s “Bright Choice” option sourced from majority solar, hydro, wind and biomass or go 100% wind and solar at 1/4-cent per kilowatt-hour more than PG&E rates with the “Renewable 100” plan.

The “Bright Choice” option will be the default plan for all Stockton customers, which is 55% renewable energy, according to Alex DiGiorgio, senior manager of public engagement at Ava Community Energy.

“All of our customers are still PG&E customers for everything else, so all billing services are still handled by PG&E,” DiGiorgio said. “Customers don’t have to do anything different by state law. They will be automatically enrolled in our service. They don’t have to take if they don’t want to, people can opt out, but our service is at a discounted rate of currently 5% with a higher level of renewable and carbon free energy.”

Ava Community Energy will also provide service in Lathrop beginning in April 2025 and unincorporated areas of San Joaquin County in 2026, pending Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter (CPCU) certification.

The Stockton City Council voted unanimously at the Sept. 13, 2022 council meeting to join the joint powers authority, which was originally scheduled to start providing services in Stockton by Jan. 1, 2024. However, the services were delayed due to evolving regulations at the California Public Utilities Commission, DiGiorgio said.

“As those regulations evolved, we had to press the pause button,” DiGiorgio told the council. “Usually it’s a one year waiting period by state regulation. In Stockton’s case, it was a bit longer, but nevertheless throughout that time, your city has been very well represented by Councilmember (Dan) Wright, and your city will always have a seat on our board to help make the decisions about our rates, our procurement policies, et cetera.”

Wright — who has pushing for Stockton to join a community choice aggregation like Ava since 2016 — said one of the key differences between Ava and PG&E is both are working toward 100% renewable sources, but one of PG&E’s renewable sources is nuclear energy from Diablo Canyon, and “that’s not a sustainable source.”

“One of the really important reasons for working with Ava on this is they continue to look for the true renewable sources, and wind, and solar, and hydroelectric primarily,” Wright said.

Ava Community Energy buys from — and is building — clean power plants, according to the presentation. Ava sells the power to customers at low rates. Ava’s power is delivered to customers by PG&E, and customers pay PG&E for power delivery as they always have.

Through this process, Ava believes customers benefit from clean energy, low rates, local governance, and innovative programs, the presentation said.

DiGiorgio said Stockton customers can expect to see a new line item titled “Ava Community Energy Electric Generation Charges” on their energy bill starting in April 2025.

“Those are not additional charges,” DiGiorgio said. “Those are replacement charges and customers will be saving money with Ava, and of course if they want to opt out for any reason, they’re welcome to do so.”

Stockton residents will likely be contacted about the changes by Ava and city officials via email and mail starting in February 2025, DiGiorgio said. Outreach efforts are expected to last through next summer.

There will also be advertising on television and digital platforms, billboards, a social media campaign, outreach at local events, webinars, and a landing page dedicated to Stockton on Ava’s website, DiGiorgio said.

“There will be a myriad of ways in which we’ll try to contact your constituents about these choices,” DiGiorgio said.