Calif. CCA Valley Clean Energy completes repayment to SMUD

by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
November 10, 2020

California community choice aggregator Valley Clean Energy (VCE) recently made its final installment payment to the Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD), reimbursing SMUD for its assistance with operating services during VCE’s launch in 2018.

The $1.5 million in deferred charges and interest were paid off on schedule, “which demonstrates VCE’s financial discipline while continuing to offer clean electricity at competitive rates,” VCE said in a Nov. 9 news release.

The SMUD payback is the second major financial commitment met by VCE during its start-up. VCE began its operations in 2018 with a $1.5 million seed loan from its three founding jurisdictions: Woodland, Davis and Yolo County.

Don Saylor, chair of VCE’s board of directors, noted that these funds, with interest, were paid back in October 2019, years ahead of schedule.

“SMUD continues to assist us in our business operations and we are grateful for their partnership,” he said.

Tracy Carlson, director of customer services and operations for SMUD, said that the public power utility is proud of its partnership with VCE and believes “that partnership can continue to bring benefits to VCE’s and SMUD’s customers for many years to come.”

SMUD in September 2017 said that it had been selected to negotiate a services agreement to provide VCE with technical and energy services, data management/call center services, wholesale energy services, credit support services and up to five years of business operations support.

SMUD noted that this was its first services agreement in the fast-growing CCA market.

The American Public Power Association has initiated a new category of membership for community choice aggregation programs.