Our Story
Ava Community Energy is a special kind of public entity: a Community Choice Aggregator, or CCA. A CCA’s core function is to source renewable energy and offer it to communities at competitive rates.
Our History
Deregulation Stalls, but Demand for Green Energy Does Not
In the wake of California’s energy deregulation in the 1990s, a group of concerned citizens fought for the right to clean energy provided by public agencies.
In 2002, California AB 117 passed, enabling CCAs to form. Community members organized to demand clean power options that big utilities were not offering.
Local Energy Entities Created
The CCA movement in California took off in May 2010 when Marin Clean Energy (MCE) became the state’s first CCA. As of 2024, California has 25 CCAs serving upwards of 14 million customers in more than 200 cities and counties. Together, we are accelerating the reduction of emissions and hastening investment in wind, solar, and battery storage projects.
A Brighter Future
In 2018, Ava (named East Bay Community Energy at the time) launched electricity generation service. The County of Alameda and 11 of its cities launched Ava as a not-for-profit public agency, and Ava became the default provider of electricity generation service for residents, businesses, and municipal accounts in our service area. In 2021, Ava’s Joint Power Authority expanded. The cities currently served are Albany, Berkeley, Dublin, Emeryville, Fremont, Hayward, Livermore, Newark, Oakland, Piedmont, Pleasanton, San Leandro, Tracy, and Union City. The unincorporated areas of Alameda County (including Ashland, Castro Valley, Cherryland, Fairview, San Lorenzo, and Sunol) are also served by Ava. In 2025, Ava will extend service to the San Joaquin County cities of Stockton and Lathrop.
At Ava, providing more renewable energy at lower rates to our customers is a top priority. We’ve already saved our customers over $100 million on their electricity bills, while contracting for over 1,100 MW of wind, solar, geothermal, and battery storage. This is creating local jobs, and helping us build a more sustainable future for our communities.
Some of Ava’s member cities have taken the bold action of transitioning customers in their jurisdiction onto our Renewable 100 service, which provides 100% California wind and solar energy, to accelerate the reduction of emissions and adoption of wind, solar, and battery storage projects. Customers can compare our plan options and choose the plan they prefer.
Ava’s processes and decisions are completely transparent. You are welcome to view our key documents and/or attend and comment during our Board of Directors and Community Advisory Committee meetings, which are all open to the public.