Logo courtesy of the California Community Choice Association 

SACRAMENTO REGION, CA (MPG) - California Community Choice Association (CalCCA) recently filed a Petition for Writ of Review with the California Court of Appeal, Third District, challenging a recent California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) decision that retroactively changes the methodology used to calculate the Power Charge Indifference Adjustment (PCIA), a key component of electric rates for more than 15 million Californians who receive service from Community Choice Aggregators (CCAs).

State law requires the CPUC to ensure “ratepayer indifference,” meaning neither IOU customers nor CCA customers should experience cost shifts due to retail choice. To accomplish this, the CPUC compares each utility’s procurement costs with the current market value of its generation portfolio and applies the resulting difference -- positive or negative -- to customer bills as a PCIA charge.

For many years, the PCIA produced higher charges for CCA customers. But in 2024 and 2025, rising market prices increased the value of utility portfolios, resulting in lower PCIA charges for some CCA customers. Although the existing methodology was developed with utility support in 2018 and applied consistently for years -- including during periods when utility customers benefited -- the CPUC acted once it began to increase rates for utility customers.

In an abbreviated four-month proceeding and with the support of the IOUs, the CPUC adopted Decision 25-06-049, altering the methodology for setting market price benchmarks used in the PCIA. The decision was justified by concerns about transaction volumes underlying one benchmark for 2025, despite no evidence in the record showing that the existing benchmark was inaccurate. The CPUC then applied the new methodology retroactively to 2025 rates already in effect.

CalCCA’s petition argues that the CPUC’s action violates the statutory prohibition against retroactive ratemaking, which protects rate stability and prevents after-the-fact changes to approved rates. The petition also asserts that the CPUC lacked adequate findings or evidence to change the existing methodology.

For more information, visit www.cal-cca.org.