Sonoma Clean Power’s board of directors Jan. 9 adopted rates for its community choice aggregation program. The rates are projected to save households and businesses an average of 2-3 percent on monthly electricity bills compared to remaining a Pacific Gas & Electric customer. “For well over 99.5 percent of the population of this county,” said Sonoma Clean Power chief executive officer Geoff Syphers, “this is a better deal.” The charge for power on bills actually is to be 5 percent less than what PG&E charges, Sonoma Clean Power consultant John Delassi told the board. However, after adding in distribution fees and surcharges collected by PG&E total actual savings will be narrower. PG&E does not comment on proposed community aggregation programs. With rates adopted, Sonoma Clean Power is set to begin service in May. By doing so, it will join neighboring Marin County in offering power that’s purchased under the public purview instead of by investor-owned utilities. Constellation, a subsidiary of Chicago-based Exelon, with California plants owned by IHI, is to supply 85 percent of Sonoma Clean Power’s electricity initially. Another 15 percent is expected to come from the local Geysers geothermal resource area operated by Calpine. Under the program, customers in unincorporated areas of the county, as well in the cities of Cotati, Santa Rosa, Sebastopol, Sonoma, and Windsor, are to be automatically enrolled in the program in waves beginning in May unless they opt out. In the first year of operation as many as 20,000 are expected to be enrolled, eventually growing to as many as 120,000 by 2017. Customers are to be placed into a default energy supply program that will provide power that’s 33 percent renewable unless they choose Sonoma’s “Evergreen Energy” supply, which is to be 100 percent renewable. That will entail paying about 20 percent more than what customers pay PG&E. The rate structure also provides continued net metering for customers with solar rooftops. Under the program, PG&E will distribute electricity from its infrastructure, but no longer provide it to customers enrolled in Sonoma Clean Power. Syphers pointed out that Sonoma Clean Power plans to enter additional power supply contracts as more customers enroll, including a feed-in tariff program yet to be developed. Its goal is to support developing local renewable energy projects, he said. Sonoma Clean Power in February is set to begin notifying residents and businesses in the county of the coming switch in power providers this May.