City OKs study for new energy program, reviews 2022 police response times

May 10—City leaders on Wednesday approved a feasibility study on the potential cost and scope of a locally controlled energy supply program.

Titled a Community Choice Aggregation, the program installs a local agency that can buy and generate power for businesses and residents provided from local energy suppliers, including many clean energy sources.

"We can generate our own power, save our constituents money in the long run and it's a great local control opportunity," said Ward 4 Councilman Bob Smith, who made the original referral to consider the program. "Kern is the energy capital of California ... our past and our future is energy so we should be ahead on this."

At the recommendation of policy experts present Wednesday, a single-jurisdiction-style CCA agency in Bakersfield would need about a half-dozen staff, while the City Council would run the program in a policy-based capacity.

It's an attractive option for communities that want more local control over their electricity sources, more local jobs from local energy companies and potentially lower utility prices.

"Right now you have one choice of energy: PG&E," said Gary Hallen, an assistant city manager for Bakersfield. "This allows the city to say 'we've got this CCA as an additional choice, as your competition' and that could drive down prices."

There are 26 operational CCA programs statewide, composed of more than 200 cities and 20 counties that serve more than 11 million customers — about one quarter of the state's population. Of the 26, all have paid off their start-up costs within two to three years, said Woody Hastings, a program manager at the Climate Center, a Santa Rosa-based think tank.

But it's not the "poles and wires," that a CCA would be after, Hastings said — PG&E would still control the passage of power to residents by the power lines and substations the utility owns.

"It gives our community members a choice," said Rob England, Central Valley regional organizer with the Climate Center. "If they want to opt-out for CCA, they can; if they want to stick with their current power system, they can."

Experts present at the meeting noted that savings from a CCA program are minimal. Hastings noted in his report the $125 million in revenue that exits the city annually, but it's hard to say how much would translate into savings for the city and its residents. Estimates provided were between 3% and 9% in savings compared to current rates by PG &E, though no number is accurate until a study is conducted, officials said.

Bruce Freeman, the sole council member to oppose the program, said he was skeptical about whether it would be worth its estimated $15 million startup cost.

"We talked about savings, but I don't see it here," Freeman said. "It seems we would do it for local control."

But it does bring jobs. Since 2010, CCAs have contracted 11 gigawatts of newly constructed, clean energy projects with more than one-third of those projects already operational, Hasting said. That equates to more than $13 billion invested by CCAs in long-term power purchase agreements and up to 11,000 union construction jobs.

It will take four to six months to conduct a feasibility study, after the city goes through the general bidding process. Hallen said it could cost around $50,000, though at least one vendor said it would do it for free.

"It could be a savings to residents, as that's what alternative energy is supposed to do," Hallen said. "In some CCAs, it has; in some it's been kind of neutral. I think we'd have to see."

In other business ...

Officials were also updated on the city police department's 2022 response times. Numbers provided in a presentation by Police Chief Greg Terry were similar to 2021 statistics, with slight decreases in priority 1 and 2 calls, which Terry attributed to increased officer staffing, among other factors.

"Staffing, technology and partnerships, which are all a part of the holistic approach to shortening response times," Terry said.

Police dispatchers in Bakersfield are also answering the phones about 7% faster than last year's estimates, with 91.7% of calls answered within 20 seconds, though the figure is still 3.3% below the national average.

Response times for Priority 1 calls — the most serious ones — in 2022 also gave mixed results. Officers took an average of eight minutes and 43 seconds to respond to an average call in south Bakersfield and just over eight minutes in north Bakersfield, both of which are increases from 2021 figures, and well above the department averages of San Jose and San Diego.

Property crime rates have gone up, as have low-priority and non-hazardous calls. Terry hopes that with the new budget, the department can improve its telephone reporting system, which he said has been a continuing issue.

The increases in response times and rates of property crime are examples of challenges the department will address going forward, Terry said, as these directly impact the public's perception of and reliance on Bakersfield police.