Loomis Council approves Pioneer expansion to El Dorado County, Placerville

Loomis Town Council voted to approve the first amendment of Pioneer Community Energy's Joint Powers Agreement for expansion into El Dorado County and the city of Placerville as voting members in a special Nov. 19 meeting. Pioneer Community Energy is a not-for-profit government agency that aims to provide electricity at lower, more stable rates, governed by representatives from Placer County and the cities of Auburn, Colfax, Lincoln, Loomis and Rocklin. Expansion to El Dorado County and the city of Placerville would help the company keep its competitive rates, said Pioneer Community Energy executive director Don Eckert. "Pioneer has done a very good job at being competitive with rates," Eckert said at the Nov. 19 meeting. "But we're sort of stuck in this trench, if you will, where we're so focused on rates that our margins are very tight and we can't deliver on a lot of the other value plays that I think are important to Loomis." A key factor in adding El Dorado County and the city of Placerville is eliminating the Pioneer Community Energy's Board of Directors' weighted voting system. Under the current seven-member system, Placer County has the largest voting power with two voting members and 49 percent of voting shares. With one voting member each, Rocklin has nearly 26 percent of the voting shares, Lincoln nearly 15 percent, Auburn 6.3 percent, Loomis 2.7 percent and Colfax just over 1 percent. With expansion, El Dorado would instantly become the biggest shareholder at 36.81 percent. Placer County would drop to 29.15 percent, Rocklin 15.41 percent, Lincoln 8.91 percent, Auburn 3.75 percent, Placerville 3.72 percent, Loomis 1.61 percent and Colfax 0.63 percent. On Nov. 9, Pioneer Community Energy's Auburn City Council representative Cheryl Maki voiced her concern for Pioneer's weighted voting system, which would allow its newest members the lion's share of voting authority. "A person who sits on this board spends an extraordinary amount of time, more than any other of the boards or commissions," Maki said on Nov. 9. "Why does anyone want to sit on this board if their vote is watered down at any time?" Loomis Mayor Jan Clark-Crets agreed with Maki's sentiments. "For me personally, it seems to be better for (the weighted voting system) to be gone," Clark-Crets said. Councilman Jeff Duncan also concurred during the Pioneer Board of Directors meeting earlier that day. "After spending as much time and doing the research and all, it was somewhat of a disheartening feeling that your vote doesn't count as much," Duncan said. Eckert said Pioneer Community Energy's Board of Directors verbally agreed earlier on Nov. 19 but did not officially vote to remove the company's weighted voting system, opting to move forward with a "one member, one vote" system. "We spent a lot of time with El Dorado and Placerville, making sure that they were in line with the goals and the vision that the Pioneer board has, as well as Loomis," Eckert said. "And to make sure we're not getting folks that are just going to be in conflict with what you want out of Pioneer." With expansion, Pioneer Community Energy projects to add close to 70,000 accounts from the new areas. This would help Pioneer keep rates that could compete with PG&E, Eckert said. The Placer County Board of Supervisors and the Auburn, El Dorado and Placerville City Councils have all approved the amendment to the Joint Powers Agreement. The Rocklin, Lincoln and Colfax councils are expected to vote Dec. 8 and Dec. 9. If approved by all members, Pioneer Community Energy would need to submit its implementation plan to the California Public Utilities Commission by Dec. 31 with a hope of expansion by 2022. "We believe this is a win-win for Loomis," Eckert said. "We believe it's a win-win for Pioneer. It's a win-win for El Dorado and Placerville, and overall, it benefits both sides."