SLECC Key Challenges and State and Local Solutions Database
Challenge/Local/State
Increase transparency in utility decision-making – Mandate open and public review processes for utility planning and investment decisions
Challenge/Local/State
Reform IOU incentive structures – Require utilities to support distributed resources and community-scale projects, not just centralized assets
Challenge/Local/State
Support CCA expansion – State should provide technical and financial assistance to CCAs, recognizing them as key actors in democratizing energy
Challenge/Local/State
Local governments and tribes often learn of CPUC decisions affecting utility operations only after they are made, leaving them without meaningful input on structural decisions that shape energy access and costs
Challenge/Local/State
Utility resistance and misaligned incentives: Investor-owned utilities (IOUs) prioritize shareholder profits and large-scale transmission projects that generate returns, while resisting or delaying distributed solutions such as rooftop solar, community solar, microgrids, and battery storage. They have little incentive to value or compensate distributed energy resources, undervalue battery reserves, and often oppose regulatory changes that would enable local or community-driven resilience. As a result, local governments, tribes, and communities face persistent legal, procedural, and financial hurdles in advancing decentralized clean energy solutions.
Challenge/Local/State
Efforts to create public power utilities or municipalize existing systems face extensive legal battles, long timelines, and high costs, discouraging communities from pursuing alternatives
Challenge/Local/State
Exploring alternatives to IOU service in response to persistent barriers. Some jurisdictions described examining municipalization or other alternatives due to interconnection and service delays.
Challenge/Local/State
Additional coordination challenges arise when jurisdictions have a different electrical and natural gas utility.
Challenge/Local/State
Fund distributed energy pilots outside IOU control – State can directly fund non-IOU projects (tribal, local government, or CCA-led) to demonstrate alternatives
Challenge/Local/State
San Diego Community Power, a Community Choice Aggregator (CCA) focused on providing more renewable energy at lower costs. It manages procurement of locally-sourced energy and energy efficiency programs, including SD Regional Energy Network, and implements programs like Solar Battery Savings, which placed batteries in 1,600 homes.
Challenge/Local/State
The state should pass legislation that would remove items from utility purview
Challenge/Local/State
Reduce legal hurdles for municipalization – Streamline statutes and procedures so cities and regions can more easily establish public power entities
Challenge/Local/State
Align CAPs with community power goals – Local climate plans should include explicit pathways for public or community-led energy solutions, helping frame municipalization as part of climate action
Challenge/Local/State
Regional governance advocacy – Establish regional coordination tables to push collectively for fairer utility processes and accountability
Challenge/Local/State
Stakeholders voiced mistrust that utilities and energy markets are manipulating rates and slowing reforms to protect profits, increasing skepticism about decarbonization policies
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