CalCCA 2025 Irvine Conference Showcases Power of Community Choice

“CCAs are the future…we have shared goals and we’re working together. We want to change our future and we’re going to do it.” — Beth Vaughan, CEO of CalCCA

On April 29-30 2025, Optony team members attended the annual CalCCA conference hosted by the CalCCA organization, as part of Optony’s Technical Assistance Partnerships program. Community Choice Association’s (CCAs) provide a regulatory and legislative framework which supports the development of sustainable, locally run energy providers. The CalCCA event took place in Irvine, CA with a 2025 theme of “Powerful Together”, providing the backbone for discussions around the collaborative efforts within CCAs and the communities they serve.  

Other themes heard throughout the event included:  

Energy Affordability  
Optony team was able to join the round table discussions with program managers from San Jose Clean Energy, and Central Coast Community Energy addressing the key challenge of energy affordability. For many small business and residents on fixed income, CCAs play a critical role in ensuring clean energy accessibility for all—and cost is the most important factor in shaping the future of the grid for many customers.

Given the especially high current economic uncertainty, CCAs are stepping up to provide programs to ensure stable and affordable energy prices. It was encouraging to hear that many CCAs are increasingly prioritizing customer care—emphasizing person-to-person service as a core policy, even as AI technologies continue to transform the way customers engage with their utilities.

Virtual Power Plants (VPPs) 
Everyone is talking about VPPs because of their potential to address some of the energy system’s biggest challenges: grid stability, renewable energy integration, and grid management. VPP’s aggregate and manage distributed energy resources such as rooftop solar and home energy battery storage systems to smooth out distribution and supply-demand imbalances. There is a significant potential emerging for VPPs to disrupt the energy market, providing resilience and stability while also lowering costs for utilities and consumers. 

AI & Data Centers  
As AI becomes more prevalent in everyday life data center growth is expanding faster than ever before. A lot of the conversation in Irvine also focused on the role of AI in delivering data about the grid straight to energy users. Any conversation about the future of the energy grid must now include the growing challenge of meeting data centers’ rising energy demand. 

Looking Ahead 
In March 2025, 26 out of 31 days of the California energy grid were powered solely by renewable energy. Data like this shows us that our energy systems are moving in a positive direction.  

The Optony team was excited to be part of the conversations happening in Irvine. We look forward to future events with organizations like these who are impacting change. Email us directly at energy@optonyusa.com—we’re ready to be a part of this energy future.