What's next for Imperial Irrigation District customers in the Coachella Valley?

A key report released this week outlines two possible recommendations for the future of electricity service for Coachella Valley residents under Imperial Irrigation District's authority: a joint powers authority or a new publicly owned utility.

The report comes with a decade left until expiration of the 99-year agreement that allows Imperial Irrigation District to provide electricity service to parts of the Coachella Valley.

Imperial Irrigation District, which is based in Imperial County, provides power to several public entities in eastern Riverside County, including La Quinta, Indio, Coachella, Bermuda Dunes and other unincorporated areas, as well as small parts of Palm Desert, Rancho Mirage and Indian Wells.

The utility offers the electricity under the 99-year agreement with the Coachella Valley Water District, but that contract is set to expire in 2033.

The Coachella Valley now represents more than 60% of IID’s ratepaying customers, but IID’s board is still comprised entirely of representatives of Imperial County, where the agency manages a massive allocation of Colorado River water for farming. IID has historically opposed adding any Riverside County representation to its board because it says that would give Riverside County officials a say over Imperial County water issues.

This arrangement has raised concerns over representation for years, an issue that Coachella Valley officials are hoping to address with the lease’s looming expiration.

Coachella Valley officials have also expressed concerns over the ability of IID’s aging infrastructure to handle growth, and possibly higher costs being passed onto consumers to pay for new equipment.

Taxation without representation? How we got here

Some in the Coachella Valley have referred to the current arrangement as an example of “taxation without representation,” with the IID setting energy rates and collecting payments from the area without a Coachella Valley representative on the board.

Former Assemblymember Chad Mayes proposed legislation aiming to get some Riverside County members on IID’s board, which would have required Imperial and Riverside LAFCOs to conduct a joint study and publish the results by July 1, 2022. The bill passed through the legislature but was vetoed by Gov. Gavin Newsom in 2021. But Newsom’s veto message said he mainly vetoed the bill due to its timeline, and a grant of $500,000 for the study was included in the state’s Budget Act of 2021.

The two agencies were tasked with reviewing options for continued publicly owned and managed electrical service in the area, and options for alternative governance structures that would provide voting rights and proportional representation on a governing board to those within the IID service area. Notably, study was directed to “isolate water rights and management as the sole responsibility of the current Imperial Irrigation District Board of Directors and shall not affect the water service area boundaries of the Imperial Irrigation District.”

The two LAFCOs finalized that study this week, with Imperial LAFCO accepting the study presented during their Thursday meeting.

What are the recommendations?

A consulting group, Dopudja & Wells Consulting, conducted the study and started out by reaching out to about 50 different local and special interest groups to complete a survey on electrical service in the area. That survey was used to form a list of “foundational objectives” that any solution should aim for, and those objectives were used to rank possible options. The objectives included representation, a public and locally governed entity, an efficient use of public resources, promotion of local renewable energy programs, and maximized public involvement, along with several others.

Two options were selected as the most preferred: a joint powers authority or a new publicly owned utility.

Under the joint powers authority option, IID would continue to provide electrical service to its current Coachella Valley territory, but a new joint powers authority would be formed between IID and local cities, counties, and tribal governments to oversee the Coachella Valley area. The report describes this option as preferred “if the desire among Coachellla Valley stakeholders is to pursue an alternative option that is uncomplicated, efficient to implement, and adaptable going forward.”

The other option, forming a new publicly owned utility, would involve terminating IID service to the Coachella Valley area and forming a new Public Utility District or Municipal Utility District to provide electricity service to the area.

What happens now?

The two LAFCOs were only tasked with conducting the study, not making a final decision, and the report recommendations aren’t binding. This means local stakeholders like cities and others could continue considering the several other options outlined in the study, beyond the two that were found to be most preferable.

The Coachella Valley Energy Commission, established by IID and tasked with creating a long-term plan for continued energy service to the Coachella Valley after 2033, is “the best organization to continue its efforts” on making a final decision, according to Imperial LAFCO. The Coachella Valley Energy Commission includes members from IID, the cities of La Quinta, Indio, and Coachella, Imperial and Riverside counties, the Coachella Valley Water District, local tribes, and other entities.

Those groups will still need to make some major decisions and compromise regarding the future governance plans, legal steps, and infrastructure ownership, among many other issues, while determining the best option for electricity service for Coachella Valley residents in IID’s service area.

This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Imperial Irrigation District electricity customers in the Coachella Valley next steps