Imperial Beach, Calif., Mayor Paloma Aguirre and the County of San Diego’s Interim Vice Chair Supervisor Terra Lawson-Remer were recently selected to lead the San Diego Community Power 2025 Board of Directors.
Aguirre began her board service at San Diego Community Power in 2023, shortly after she was elected Mayor of Imperial Beach. During the public meeting where Aguirre was selected, her fellow board members "commended her on her commitment to the organization’s mission to provide cleaner, renewable, cost-competitive electricity to nearly one million customers across six cities and the unincorporated communities of San Diego County," San Diego Community Power said.
Along with Aguirre, Supervisor Lawson-Remer was unanimously elected to continue serving as San Diego Community Power’s vice chair.
Since San Diego Community Power launched in 2019, it has made steady progress on its goal to provide 100% renewable energy to its customers by 2035 while reinvesting in the communities it serves, the community choice aggregator noted.
Some of the significant milestones include:
- Providing electricity choice and competition for the first time: After it began serving customers in March 2021, there have been fewer electricity generation pricing changes every year than there were in 2019 and 2020.
- Expanding renewable energy sources: Community Power has entered into 13 long-term power purchase agreements "that will provide predictably-priced, reliable renewable energy for nearly 1.2 million homes."
- Job creation: Community Power projects have created more than 2,800 construction jobs and more than 50 permanent jobs through the use of project labor agreements that require skilled union workers.
- Creating additional rate options to meet customer needs: 2024 introduced two new electricity rate products for customers who are seeking LEED certification for their businesses or a more economical option.
- Launching the Solar Battery Savings program: A pilot intended to spur residential solar and battery development resulted in more than 1,600 customers installing about 2,200 batteries was recognized in the U.S. Department of Energy’s Virtual Power Plants Liftoff Report.
- Securing funding for regional energy efficiency programs: The California Public Utilities Commission approved $124.3 million in funding for the San Diego Regional Energy Network, a partnership between Community Power and the County of San Diego to deliver energy efficiency benefits via equity programs to historically underserved customers and communities.
- Distributing nearly $2 million in Community Clean Energy Grants: Dozens of regional nonprofits received funding for clean energy projects as part of Community Power’s commitment to reinvest in the people it serves with the third funding round opening next month.
“Mayor Aguirre has been a dedicated board member whose actions have always put her constituents and the people of the greater San Diego region first,” Community Power Chief Executive Officer Karin Burns said. “Mayor Aguirre and Supervisor Lawson-Remer are sustainability champions whose work with the Community Power team will further our goal to bring clean, reliable, competitively-priced power to our customers for decades to come.”
Community Power serves nearly a million municipal, business and residential power customers in the cities of San Diego, Chula Vista, Encinitas, Imperial Beach, La Mesa and National City, as well as the unincorporated communities in the County of San Diego.
The American Public Power Association has initiated a new category of membership for community choice aggregation programs.
