November 17, 2011

SSJID Draft Subsequent Environmental Impact Report

SSJID Sphere Plan and Municipal Service Review

February 23, 2011 - Update on SSJID's Electric Plan Before San Joaquin LAFCo

The question comes up often these days: "How much longer until SSJID becomes our power provider?"

We look forward to the day when we hopefully will be able to answer that question with "Now!" The current status of our application before the San Joaquin Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCo) has not yet been deemed to be complete, as there are several more studies that are still in progress before our hearing date can be set.

The great news is that the second independent expert study that LAFCo commissioned from PA Consulting of Denver, CO, supports SSJID's contention that we have the financial resources and ability to purchase the system AND offer a 15% discount from PG&E's current rates.

The first expert study concluded that SSJID has the expertise and experience to run an electric utility. However, there were a few areas where PA's economic assumptions differed from SSJID's. In response, SSJID submitted a supplement to our original application focusing on three strategies that we believe will enable us to overcome PA's concerns. Briefly, these strategies include:

• Reinvesting revenue created by the sale of retail electricity back into the business in order to support a rate reduction.
• Recognizing that PG&E's rates will rise and that anticipated higher future wholesale power costs should also be applied to PG&E's rates, not just SSJID's.
• Investing additional equity to acquire PG&E's system and lowering our long-term borrowing costs. By using the District's considerable cash reserves from our share of Tri-Dam revenue, SSJID can ensure a 15% discount.

The consultants reviewed our supplemental application and, while SSJID is still in the process of carefully analyzing the report's findings, concurred that our strategies will enable SSJID to make the numbers work. The report by PA agreed with our estimate of $39 million in upfront equity, but determined that SSJID would have to contribute $15 million annually to achieve the 15% discount. Because PA Consulting projected future power costs to rise dramatically, if realized, this would result in SSJID's hydropower generation resources to be more valuable than ever, bringing in an estimated $20 million a year. This would leave enough cash to continue maintaining and enhancing SSJID's irrigation and treated drinking water services. In summary, there was no case in which PA could demonstrate that SSJID would not be able to deliver discounts to PG&E rates.

"We still don't agree with what PA says we may have to pay to purchase PG&E's distribution assets, but even if they're right, we can do it," says SSJID General Manager Jeff Shields, "If the $15 million a year investment from Tri-Dam revenue is the outcome, we'll still have money left over to address emergencies and continue to maintain and enhance our irrigation and municipal water systems."

Stay tuned to our efforts over the next few months. LAFCo estimates that once all studies are complete, SSJID's hearing may be scheduled for as early as mid-summer or early fall.

Click here to see PA Consulting Group's San Joaquin LAFCo Market Expert Report

May 24, 2010

Direct Testimony of South San Joaquin Irrigation District Concerning Pacific Gas and Electric Company's 2011 General Rate Case Phase 1 Application

February 4, 2010 - SSJID 3 for 3 at Local Cities!

When the Escalon City Council voted unanimously on February 1 to endorse SSJID’s plan to bring lower electric rates to city residents and businesses, it was an important step. It meant that all three cities we serve – Manteca, Ripon and Escalon – are behind our plan to deliver lower-cost electricity to the region.

Citizens see the benefits SSJID’s plan will bring to the area and turned out at all three council meetings to tell their elected leaders they are tired of paying PG&E’s ever-increasing rates. Those leaders listened and the council votes show it. From all of us at SSJID, we would like to extend a sincere thanks to everyone who came out to the city council meetings, and to all the council members who voted for progress and public power.

We wish this was the last vote necessary and we could move forward tomorrow, but it’s not. LAFCo, which will ultimately have to vote for our plan for it to become a reality, has requested further environmental studies. And although it’s a time-consuming process and will most likely delay LAFCo’s vote, it’s beginning right now. An independent economic analysis is also under way, and all those findings and reports will be completed during the months ahead.

We will keep you updated through this site, and our Twitter and Facebook pages, as new developments occur. But please know this: At SSJID, we are committed to bringing lower-cost electric power to our region. We’re working on it and will keep working on it until the last bureaucratic and regulatory hurdle is crossed and we become the area’s electric provider.

With rates 15% lower than PG&E’s, local control and increased reliability, it will be worth the wait!

December 7, 2009 - SSJID Needs Your Support at Escalon Council

After both the Manteca and Ripon City Councils voted recently to support SSJID’s application to the San Joaquin Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCo) to provide lower-cost electricity to homes and businesses in those cities, the Escalon City Council takes up the question next.

The Council will consider a resolution supporting SSJID’s plan and application to LAFCo at its Monday, December 7 meeting. The meeting is set for 7 p.m. at the Escalon Library at 1540 Second Street.

"We're asking Escalon residents to come to the meeting and tell the council you want SSJID to deliver your electricity – and for less than PG&E," says Troylene Sayler, SSJID's Communications Coordinator. "The strong support of Manteca and Ripon residents at those councils made a real difference."

A positive vote in Escalon would give SSJID the unanimous support of the cities it wants to serve as the area’s electric provider and send a powerful message to LAFCo, the county commission that ultimately must approve the plan.

"We know that lowering electric rates 15% below PG&E's rates will benefit the residents, businesses and farms in and around Escalon," Sayler says. "And we'd like the Council members to hear it from Escalon residents directly."

Call (209) 294-4624 for more information.

October 22, 2009 - Thank You, Ripon, for Focusing on Facts

When the Ripon City Council voted 4-0 this week to support SSJID’s plan to provide electricity to Ripon, Escalon and Manteca, it was more than a victory for SSJID.

It was a victory for facts over fear.

The Ripon residents who came to the meeting, and the members of the City Council who voted to support our plan, looked at the facts. And the facts are simple:

• SSJID has significant and specific competitive advantages over PG&E that will allow us to lower rates 15% and increase the reliability of electric distribution within the District boundaries.
• A 15% cut in electric rates benefits families, businesses, farms, schools and the cities of Ripon, Escalon and Manteca themselves.  It will also give the cities a competitive advantage in attracting new businesses to the area.
• SSJID has a 100-year history of providing reliable irrigation water, and 50 years of experience generating clean, renewable electricity.  SSJID has been a partner with the City of Ripon for many years and is committed to providing it even more benefits in the future.
• Public power provided by SSJID gives area residents more say and more local control than they will ever have under PG&E.

The Council’s resolution calls for SSJID to demonstrate these benefits, which is exactly what we will do as our application goes through the LAFCo review and approval process. More importantly, once SSJID becomes the electric provider for Ripon, Escalon and Manteca, we will demonstrate the benefits to you, our customers, each and every day.

October 8, 2009 - SSJID Plan will save low-income families even more

A question we’ve been asked several times since filing our application to become the electricity provider for Manteca, Ripon and Escalon is if SSJID will have low-income assistance programs like PG&E does.

The answer is absolutely.

SSJID will not only lower electric rates 15% across the board, we will also offer discounts that are similar to programs offered by other electric utility companies for low-income individuals, families and seniors who qualify.

The SSJID low-income discount program will work like Modesto Irrigation District’s CARES program or PG&E’s CARE and FERA programs: customers will submit an application and verification of income to qualify for the rate discount. (Many people think of these current programs as “senior discounts,” but they are all actually income-based, not age-based.)  A “third-party” non-profit organization will administer the low-income discount programs, ensuring that applications will be reviewed with impartiality.  The low-income discount program will be offered along with other energy efficiency, demand response, medical baseline allowance and balanced payment programs.

Applications and qualification details will be made available once SSJID becomes the electricity provider within its service territory, but the bottom line is that SSJID’s plan was developed to help our entire region benefit from lower-cost electricity. And that includes everyone –families and fixed-income seniors, agricultural and commercial/industrial businesses, all of which will benefit from the cost savings, increased reliability and local control.

September 15, 2009 - WELCOME TO THE SAVE WITH SSJID WEBSITE AND BLOG!

At SSJID, we believe strongly in the benefits of public power - lower rates, increased reliability and greater local control. And we know you, the public, has a role to play in bringing about those benefits.

This website was created to help you play an active part in bringing public power to the people of south San Joaquin County. Visit the “What You Can Do” page for specific, positive steps you can take to make sure SSJID’s application to deliver lower-cost electricity to our district is approved. (You can also send us an e-mail at info@ssjid.com  and we’ll be happy to help you with other ways to get involved.) And do check out some of the links on this site - there’s a lot of great information out there.

Unfortunately, we’ve learned the hard way that there is a lot of misinformation out there, too. PG&E seems intent on using fear, threats and misinformation to muddy the waters and hold onto the double-digit profits it pockets from ever-increasing rates.

In the days and weeks ahead, this blog will correct that misinformation. It will give you facts, not fear. And it will show you the benefits public power will bring to the homes, businesses, schools and cities of Manteca, Escalon and Ripon.

In fact, the city of Manteca has already calculated the benefits it will receive, as well as those its citizens will appreciate. After reviewing our detailed plan for providing lower-cost electricity – rates that will save the city of Manteca about $300,000 a year - the Manteca City Council voted unanimously to support our public power plan.  We want to thank the Mayor and Council Members for their support. The plan is available on this site, and we invite you to review it as well.

Please check back for the latest information, and thank you for your support.