The Community Choice Aggregation (CCA) model was developed to drive down household energy costs, uniting community purchasing power and cutting out the middleman. The CCA model enables communities to access clean electricity, at the same prices that big corporates get.

CCA is another emerging community energy model, whereby a large number of energy consumers aggregate their consumption, then collectively approach energy generators and retailers to receive renewable energy at wholesale prices.

The CCA model is based on increasing buying power by bringing local energy consumers into a single purchasing block. It can create a strong win-win scenario by enabling consumers to negotiate advantageous energy tariffs, resulting in more affordable and greener energy for local community participants, and better consumption guarantees for generators.

Retailers and network operators are often the ones missing out in this scenario as their margins are reduced and distributed between consumers and generators.
This model provides purchase guarantees to the generator, and empowers energy users, allowing them access to power cheaper than any retail offering, and ensuring this power is 100% renewable. This is a common model being implemented successfully across the United States with 13 examples across the
country – a notable example being the Clean Energy Power Alliance which has successfully reduced electricity prices for Los Angeles community participants.

The 3 Key Steps of the CCA

• Get a community together and get their bills together to identify how much power the community uses – households register interest and provide IEA with recent bills
• Shop around for generators, finding generators that can give the community the best deal for their energy needs – find the generator that matches the community’s specific requirements, and then work out cost
• See which middleman (Energy Retailer) can facilitate the deal at the lowest cost – sort through the retailer out there to see who can best help the community’s and generators deal to come to fruition.