Community Choice program
Clean Power Alliance and your solar: how it actually works
Clean Power Alliance is the Community Choice Aggregator serving 38 communities across Los Angeles and Ventura counties — the largest CCA in California. If your city is a member, CPA buys your electricity's generation (at 40%, 50%, or 100% renewable tiers: Lean Power, Clean Power, and 100% Green Power) while Southern California Edison still owns the wires, delivers the power, and sends the bill. You didn't sign up for it — membership is by city, with enrollment automatic and opt-out available. For solar owners the practical question is what happens to your export credits, and the answer is: two line items instead of one.
How solar billing works on CPA
Solar billing under CPA splits down the bill: CPA credits the generation portion of your exports, SCE credits the delivery portion. If your system was interconnected before September 1, 2023, you're on CPA's NEM program — retail-value generation credits with an April true-up, credit balances over $100 paid by check, and Net Surplus Compensation set 10% higher than SCE's own rate. Systems interconnected after that date fall under CPA's Solar Billing Plan: generation-side export credits at the CPUC's hourly Avoided Cost Calculator prices, with SCE separately applying the nine-year Energy Export Bonus Credit for pre-2028 installs. Net effect: being on CPA doesn't take your NEM away — for most solar owners the terms are equal to or slightly better than SCE-only billing.
Delivery-side rules live with the utility: SCE net metering explained. Program details: cleanpoweralliance.org.
CPA programs worth real money
Sun Storage Rebate
CPA pays up to $2,250 toward an eligible home battery: a $750 base rebate, plus $1,250 for homes in PSPS-prone Reliability+ areas, plus $250 for medical-baseline or income-qualified households. Stacked against NEM 3.0 battery economics, this is one of the few real battery rebates left in SCE territory — and it belongs in the quote math for every CPA-member homeowner we design for.
Power Response
CPA's smart-device program pays customers for flexing usage during grid events — compatible with solar-charged batteries and smart thermostats, and stackable with self-consumption design.
Opting out (and why solar owners usually shouldn't)
You can opt out of CPA anytime and return to full SCE service; more than 60 days after your community's launch, SCE places returning customers on its Transitional Bundled Service rate for six months and may bar re-joining CPA for 12 months. For most solar owners there's no economic reason to leave — CPA's solar terms match or beat SCE's.
CPA member communities we serve
Also CPA members: Alhambra, Arcadia, Calabasas, Carson, Downey, Hawaiian Gardens, Hawthorne, La Cañada Flintridge, Lynwood, Monrovia, Ojai, Paramount, Port Hueneme, Rolling Hills Estates, Sierra Madre, South Pasadena, Temple City, Ventura, West Hollywood, Whittier.
Unincorporated Los Angeles County and unincorporated Ventura County are also CPA members — so communities like Altadena, Topanga, La Crescenta-Montrose, Castaic, Acton, and Oak Park are served by CPA through their county rather than as member cities.
CPA questions, answered.
- Does being on Clean Power Alliance change my NEM 3.0 credits?
- It splits them, and slightly improves them: CPA credits the generation side of your exports while SCE credits delivery. Legacy (pre-9/2023) systems keep retail-style CPA NEM with Net Surplus Compensation 10% above SCE's rate; newer systems get CPA's Solar Billing Plan at hourly avoided-cost prices plus SCE's nine-year export bonus for pre-2028 installs.
- What is the CPA Sun Storage Rebate worth?
- Up to $2,250 per home battery: $750 base, +$1,250 in PSPS-prone Reliability+ areas, +$250 for medical-baseline or income-qualified households. We check your address against the current tiers and build it into the quote.
- Do I have to do anything to keep my solar working under CPA?
- No — enrollment is automatic by city, your interconnection stays with SCE, and your system operates identically. The change is billing mechanics: two credit lines instead of one. We handle the paperwork the same way on every CPA-member install.
- Should I opt out of CPA before going solar?
- Generally no. CPA's solar billing matches or slightly beats plain SCE terms, and its battery rebate is money SCE doesn't offer. Opting out also triggers SCE's six-month transitional rate. We model your actual CPA tier and rate before recommending anything.
We model CPA's actual terms in every quote.
Your CCA tier, your export credits, your rebate eligibility — real numbers, one line-item quote, owner-reviewed.