Community Choice Aggregation (CCA) is a municipal program in New York State established by local law and governed by the rules of the New York State Public Service Commission. Local governments that pass CCA enabling laws are permitted to buy bulk energy supply (both gas and electricity) on behalf of eligible customers within their legal boundaries. CCA is used by localities as a tool to achieve climate targets, since securing a 100% renewable electricity supply for all customer accounts is a significant emission reduction tool.

CCA in New York is an Opt-Out model. This means that once the local law is passed and the municipality secures an energy supply contract, all eligible customers will be automatically enrolled, but must be given clear written instructions on how to opt out.

MHET’s vision for Advanced CCA, also known as CCA 3.0, prioritizes equity and access for all, and expands on conventional CCA offerings to add new programs that help community members make their homes and workplaces more energy efficient and cheaper to live in. We bring in new local sources of clean renewable power and design shared ownership programs that allow everyone to benefit from the energy transition.

Advanced CCA aims to increase local knowledge, control, and increasingly local ownership of the energy we rely on. Only by taking our energy future into our own hands will we be able to ensure resilience, stability, and affordability for all in the coming era of climate crisis. This means including everyone, making homes and businesses more energy efficient, and creating new forms of cooperative energy ownership, wealth-building, and control.

Where are we now?

New York State first introduced CCA in 2016 with the promise that it would “demonstrate that local governments are an effective and powerful resource for educating and engaging citizens to take action with regard to energy that is positive for the environment, the resiliency of our power grid, and their own pocketbooks.” Until now, CCA has not lived up to that promise. MHET is working with municipalities in the Mid-Hudson region to make it happen.

New York now has 148 municipalities with CCAs; most of them focus on buying cheaper, greener power – increasingly, 100% clean power. That’s great as far as it goes, but CCAs that limit themselves to the purchase of energy supply (CCA 1.0) are not able to include customers in utility affordability programs and fall short in helping communities take other steps to improve their lives and respond to climate change.

Looking for more information?

Here are some helpful resources about Community Choice Aggregation (CCA).

NYS Department of Public Service CCA Webpage

CCA Program Rules issued 3/20/2023 (PDF)

New York State Public Service Commission Cases:

• Case 14-M-0224 Proceeding on Motion of the Commission to Enable Community Choice Aggregation Programs.
• Case 19-M-0463 In the Matter of Consolidated Billing for Distributed Energy Resources.
• Case 15-E-0082 Proceeding on Motion of the Commission as to the Policies, Requirements and Conditions For Implementing a Community Net Metering Program.

Key Public Service Commission “Orders“:

• Order Authorizing Framework for CCA Opt-Out Program (April 2016) (PDF)
• Order Modifying CCA Programs and Establishing Further Process (January 2023) (PDF)
• Staff Whitepaper on CCA Programs (October 2021) (PDF)