Community Choice Aggregation in California: What Solar Owners in Temecula Need to Know in 2026

What Is Community Choice Aggregation and Why Does It Exist?

Community Choice Aggregation, commonly called CCA, is a California program that allows cities and counties to act as electricity buyers on behalf of their residents. Instead of every homeowner purchasing electricity generation from Pacific Gas and Electric, Southern California Edison, or San Diego Gas and Electric, a CCA pools the buying power of thousands of accounts and goes to the wholesale energy market to purchase electricity directly.

The underlying wires, transformers, and meters still belong to the investor-owned utility (IOU). SCE still delivers power to your home, reads your meter, and sends your bill even when you are enrolled in a CCA. What changes is the generation portion of your bill, which covers the actual cost of the electricity flowing through those wires. Under CCA enrollment, you pay the CCA for generation and SCE for delivery. Under standard bundled service, you pay SCE for both.

California authorized CCAs under AB 117 in 2002. The first CCA, Marin Clean Energy, launched in 2010. Since then, dozens of CCAs have launched across the state, including Clean Power Alliance, Silicon Valley Clean Energy, East Bay Community Energy, and Valley Clean Energy. The driving motivation was simple: municipalities wanted to source more renewable energy than the IOUs were offering and set their own energy mix targets, often at competitive or lower rates.

For solar owners, the arrival of CCA programs raised immediate questions: what happens to NEM credits, what changes about billing, and is there any reason to opt out or stay enrolled? Those questions are exactly what this guide addresses for Temecula and SW Riverside County homeowners.

How the CCA Billing Structure Works Alongside SCE

When you are enrolled in a CCA, your SCE bill is split into two components. The first is the delivery charge, which covers all the physical infrastructure costs: transmission, distribution, metering, and customer service. The second is the generation charge, which covers the actual electricity supply. When you are on CCA service, the generation charge is calculated by the CCA and the CCA remits payment to SCE as the billing agent.

From the homeowner's perspective, this appears as a single SCE bill with line items showing both CCA generation charges and SCE delivery charges. You receive one bill, make one payment, and your account is credited accordingly. The CCA is essentially invisible to the practical experience of receiving electricity.

The generation rate the CCA charges can be higher or lower than what SCE would charge on standard service. Most CCAs offer a standard tier at or near SCE rates and a premium 100 percent renewable tier at a modest premium. Clean Power Alliance, for example, offers a Clean Power tier at competitive rates and an Renewable 100 tier for customers who want all renewable energy at a small cost increase.

For solar owners, the generation charge is the component your NEM credits are applied against. This is a critical detail that we will explore in the next section.

How NEM Credits Work Under a CCA: The Mechanics

Under NEM 3.0 in California, when your solar panels export excess electricity to the grid, SCE credits your account at the Avoided Cost Calculator (ACC) rate. This rate averages approximately 8 cents per kWh, though it varies by time of day and season. This mechanism is set by the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) and applies to both CCA-enrolled and standard service customers. The CCA does not control the NEM export rate.

Where things get more nuanced is in how those credits are applied against your charges. When you import electricity from the grid during periods your panels are not producing, you draw against both the delivery and generation components. Your NEM credits offset generation charges first, since generation is what your solar replaced. If you are on CCA service, your credits offset CCA generation charges. If you are on SCE standard service, they offset SCE generation charges.

For most solar owners, this distinction is immaterial in practice. The NEM credit rate (ACC) is the same regardless of your supplier. The generation charge rate may differ by a few cents per kWh between a CCA and SCE standard service, which can make credits slightly more or less effective at zeroing out your monthly balance, but the effect is typically small.

The 12-month true-up structure also works identically. At your annual true-up date, SCE calculates your net energy position across all 12 months. Surplus credits above your annual consumption are settled at a low rate, typically under 5 cents per kWh. This settlement applies whether you are on CCA or SCE standard service.

CCA Export Rates vs SCE Standard: What the Numbers Show

The ACC export rate is set by the CPUC, not by individual utilities or CCAs. This means the export rate you receive for solar production is identical whether you are on Clean Power Alliance, Valley Clean Energy, or SCE standard service. The CPUC publishes ACC rate tables annually and all NEM 3.0 customers in California use the same schedule.

Where the CCA versus IOU comparison matters for solar economics is in the avoided cost of electricity you self-consume. Every kilowatt- hour your panels produce and your home uses directly saves you whatever your import rate is at that moment. If a CCA charges slightly less per kWh for generation than SCE standard service, each kilowatt-hour of self-consumed solar saves you slightly less money. If a CCA charges slightly more, each self-consumed kilowatt-hour saves you slightly more.

For Temecula homeowners evaluating solar in 2026, the practical takeaway is this: CCA enrollment does not meaningfully change the ROI calculation for a solar system. The biggest variable in your solar economics is your total combined import rate (generation plus delivery), your system size relative to your consumption, and how well your usage patterns align with solar production hours.

Clean Power Alliance: What It Is and Who It Serves

Clean Power Alliance (CPA) is one of California's largest and most visible CCAs. It was established in 2017 and began serving customers in 2018. CPA serves member cities and unincorporated county areas across Los Angeles County and parts of Ventura County. Its service territory includes cities like Los Angeles, Culver City, Santa Monica, Torrance, Thousand Oaks, and many others, with a combined enrollment of over one million customer accounts.

Clean Power Alliance sources electricity with a higher renewable content than SCE's default supply. Its standard Clean Power tier is delivered at competitive rates, and its Renewable 100 tier delivers electricity matched 100 percent by renewable energy certificates. For customers without solar who want a greener electricity source, CPA offers a meaningful option without any equipment installation.

Temecula, Murrieta, Menifee, Lake Elsinore, Wildomar, and the broader SW Riverside County area are not in Clean Power Alliance's service territory as of 2026. These communities fall within SCE's standard distribution territory but are not currently included in any active CCA program. Residents in these cities receive bundled SCE service: both generation and delivery from SCE.

This is good news for solar owners evaluating NEM credits without the added complexity of a CCA billing overlay. Temecula solar customers deal with a single billing entity (SCE), a single NEM tariff (NEM 3.0 ACC rate), and a single 12-month true-up cycle. There is no CCA supplier to coordinate with and no generation charge split to reconcile.

Valley Clean Energy and the CCA-NEM 3.0 Interaction Model

Valley Clean Energy (VCE) is a CCA serving Yolo County and parts of the Sacramento area within PG&E's territory. It is not directly relevant to Temecula homeowners, but it was among the first CCAs to publicly work through the mechanics of NEM 3.0 billing for CCA customers and publish clear guidance. Understanding how VCE addressed the CCA-NEM 3.0 interaction clarifies what Temecula homeowners should expect if their city ever joins a CCA.

Under VCE and NEM 3.0, the billing sequence works like this: your solar panels produce power, which is first consumed by your home directly. Any surplus is exported to the grid and credited at the ACC rate. That credit appears on your bill and is applied against the generation charges first. The delivery charges remain intact because your solar production does not affect the physical infrastructure costs. If your NEM credit exceeds the generation charge, the remaining credit is carried to the next billing period and eventually to the annual true-up.

The practical implication for solar sizing under a CCA is the same as under SCE standard service: do not dramatically overbuild. Surplus credits that reach the annual true-up are settled at a low rate whether your generation supplier is a CCA or an IOU. The math that makes a right-sized solar system more economical than an oversized one applies uniformly across California's billing structures.

Valley Clean Energy's published NEM 3.0 guidance also reinforced that battery storage significantly improves solar economics under NEM 3.0 within a CCA context for the same reason it does under standard IOU service. Storing midday solar production and discharging it during the evening on-peak window maximizes self-consumption and avoids exporting to the grid at low ACC rates.

Opting Out of a CCA: How It Works and When to Consider It

California law guarantees every customer the right to opt out of CCA enrollment. If your city or county joins a CCA, you will receive a notice at least 60 days before automatic enrollment. During that notice period, you can submit an opt-out request and remain on SCE standard bundled service indefinitely.

If you miss the initial opt-out window and are enrolled in the CCA, you can still opt out at any time. You will be subject to the Power Charge Indifference Adjustment (PCIA), sometimes called the exit fee. The PCIA is a per-kWh charge that recovers your share of the IOU's long-term power purchase contracts. SCE maintains those contracts whether you are enrolled in a CCA or not, and the PCIA ensures that customers who leave bundled service continue to pay their portion of those sunk costs.

The PCIA amount varies year to year based on market conditions and SCE's contract portfolio. In years when wholesale electricity prices are high, the PCIA is typically lower because SCE's older contracts look cheaper by comparison. In years when wholesale prices are lower, the PCIA can be more significant.

For solar owners evaluating whether to opt out of a CCA, the relevant comparison is between your total all-in rate under CCA service (CCA generation plus SCE delivery plus any applicable PCIA) and your total rate under SCE standard service. In many cases, CCA rates are competitive enough that opting out provides no clear financial benefit. The question matters most when:

• The CCA's generation rate is materially higher than SCE standard service, increasing your total import rate and slightly reducing the effective value of self-consumed solar.
• You are evaluating a premium 100 percent renewable tier that carries a significant surcharge, which may not improve your solar economics since your panels already produce clean energy.
• Your billing has become complex due to multiple service changes, making it harder to verify your NEM credits are applying correctly.

For most solar homeowners in California, opting out of a CCA is not financially necessary. The NEM export rate is set by the CPUC regardless of supplier, and the generation rate difference between a CCA and IOU standard service is typically small enough that other factors dominate your solar economics.

Moving Between CCA and IOU Service: What Happens to Your Solar Account

If you have solar under NEM 3.0 and your city adopts a CCA, your interconnection agreement with SCE remains in place and your NEM tariff continues. The CCA adoption is a change in your generation supplier, not a change to your interconnection status or your NEM eligibility. Your panels continue operating under the same NEM rules regardless of who supplies your grid electricity.

Your accumulated NEM credit balance also carries forward. Credits you have built up on SCE standard service do not disappear when your supplier transitions to a CCA. They remain on your account and continue to apply against your charges under the same 12-month true-up structure.

There is one practical caution: billing system transitions when a new CCA launches can occasionally cause errors. Solar accounts are among the most complex billing arrangements SCE manages, and when a CCA transition overlaps with a solar billing cycle, there is a small risk of credit misapplication. After any supplier change, solar owners should review their first two monthly statements carefully to confirm that NEM credits are appearing correctly and that the credit balance from prior periods has transferred intact.

If you notice a discrepancy, contact SCE's solar billing support directly and reference your interconnection agreement number. Most errors are corrected within one billing cycle once they are identified.

The PCIA: Understanding the Exit Fee Before You Opt Out

The Power Charge Indifference Adjustment is one of the most misunderstood elements of California's electricity market. When SCE signs a long-term power purchase agreement with a generation plant, it allocates the cost of that contract across its customer base. If a customer leaves bundled service (by joining a CCA or going to Direct Access), SCE cannot simply cancel those contracts.

The PCIA is the mechanism that ensures departing customers still pay their proportionate share of those legacy contract costs. It is charged per kilowatt-hour to any customer who has left bundled service. The PCIA rate is set annually by the CPUC and is published each year. It varies by customer class and is typically in the range of 2 to 5 cents per kWh, though it has fluctuated.

For solar owners on CCA service, the PCIA applies to all electricity you import from the grid. Your self-consumed solar production is not subject to the PCIA, since no grid electricity is involved in that transaction. This is a small but meaningful advantage of solar ownership under CCA service: the more solar you self-consume, the less of your consumption is subject to the PCIA and the CCA generation charge.

If you decide to opt out of a CCA and return to SCE standard bundled service, you will no longer pay the PCIA, but you will pay SCE's bundled generation rate instead. Whether that is a better deal depends entirely on the current PCIA rate, the CCA generation rate, and SCE's standard generation rate in your rate tier. The CPUC publishes all three, and the math is transparent if time-consuming to track.

2026 Guidance for Temecula and SW Riverside County Solar Owners

As of May 2026, Temecula, Murrieta, Menifee, Lake Elsinore, Wildomar, and Winchester are all on SCE standard bundled service. There is no active CCA enrollment in any of these cities. You are not enrolled in Clean Power Alliance or any other CCA unless you have taken specific steps to join a voluntary green pricing program.

What this means for your solar decision in 2026:

• Your NEM credits are calculated under NEM 3.0 at the ACC export rate, the same rate that applies to all NEM 3.0 customers in California regardless of generation supplier.
• Your billing is handled entirely by SCE. There is no generation charge split, no CCA invoice, and no PCIA adjustment on your current account.
• If SW Riverside County cities begin exploring CCA formation in coming years, you will receive notice before automatic enrollment and can evaluate the financial impact at that time.
• A solar system installed today under NEM 3.0 will continue to operate under your existing NEM tariff even if your city later joins a CCA. Your interconnection agreement is not affected by supplier changes.
• Battery storage remains the single most impactful upgrade you can pair with a solar system under NEM 3.0, regardless of whether you are on CCA or IOU service, because it maximizes self-consumption during the high-rate on-peak window.

The most important thing a Temecula homeowner can do right now is not to wait for CCA developments before going solar. CCA enrollment does not change the core economics of solar ownership in California. The federal 30 percent Investment Tax Credit is available today and is scheduled to remain at 30 percent through 2032 before stepping down. SCE rates have increased an average of 7 to 9 percent annually for the past decade and are projected to continue rising. Every year you delay solar is another year of paying those higher rates while the equipment costs remain stable.

If you are planning to install solar in Temecula or the surrounding area, getting a quote from a licensed local installer is the right next step. A properly sized NEM 3.0 system with battery backup delivers strong returns under current SCE rates, and those returns are not materially altered by whether or when a CCA arrives in your city.

CCA for Renters and Households Without Solar: A Different Calculus

For renters and homeowners who cannot or have not yet installed solar, CCAs represent a genuine option for reducing the carbon content of their electricity without any equipment investment. Enrolling in a CCA standard tier typically costs the same as or slightly less than SCE standard service, while providing a higher renewable energy percentage in the grid mix.

For these households, the CCA value proposition is environmental rather than financial. A renter in an apartment building in a future CCA-covered city in SW Riverside County would automatically receive greener electricity without changing anything about their living situation.

The financial argument for CCA enrollment is more compelling for non-solar households than for solar owners. For solar owners, the environmental benefit of CCA enrollment is largely redundant since their panels already produce zero-emission electricity. The financial impact is also minimal since the NEM export rate is controlled by the CPUC, not the CCA. The CCA's influence on a solar owner's economics is limited to the generation charge rate, which is a fraction of the total bill.

Frequently Asked Questions