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Powering a Region
City-owned electric utility in Roseville and community choice aggregation in Lincoln and Rocklin bring lower rates to Placer Valley
by Bill Sessa
During last year ’ s PG & E public safety power shut-offs throughout California , nearly 800,000 customers across Northern California were left without electricity , in some cases for several days . But the residents and businesses of Roseville were unaffected . That ’ s because these customers get their electricity from the City of Roseville-owned Roseville Electric Utility , which operates on a different grid than PG & E .
Roseville Electric provides some of the most reliable power in the state . The municipal ownership of the system also allows the utility provider to offer electricity at a lower cost than many other power providers in Northern California . Local control has also meant that the city can integrate its electric utility with its city-owned water , wastewater and solid-waste services to better serve residents and businesses , and be more efficient with its use of natural resources .
Other Placer County cities , including Lincoln and Rocklin , are also proactive when it comes to providing energy at lower rates for its residents . They do so by participating in a community choice aggregator , Pioneer Community Energy . This approach provides lower energy rates and reliability to these Placer Valley cities ’ commercial and residential customers , as well as environmental advantages , adding value to those who work or live in the region .
Roseville Electric gets about 40 percent of its electricity from a city-owned natural gas power plant in Roseville . It accesses other sources of energy as a member of the Northern California Power Agency , a collective that enables utilities to jointly invest in energy sources . “ That gives us access to geothermal power ( from Lake County ) and hydropower from Shasta Lake and the Central Valley ( Project ),” says Todd White , assistant director of Roseville Electric . “ We also buy solar and wind power on the open market .”
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