Choose PG&E

We support your right to choose where you receive your energy, but we are sorry to see you go! Before we finalize your enrollment with PG&E, please read the following information.

What You Need to Know Before Opting Out of RCEA

We are sorry to see you go! Before you finalize your enrollment in PG&E, we want to share the following information with you:

RCEA is not a duplicate charge

The RCEA generation charges on your PG&E bill are not an additional cost. They simply replace PG&E generation charges. If you opt into PG&E bundled service, you will pay PG&E for generation instead of RCEA.

We understand that energy bills are complicated. All electricity statements include generation, transmission, and delivery. RCEA provides generation services instead of PG&E in Humboldt County. On your bill, the separation between these charges is shown on the PG&E Delivery Charges Page and the RCEA Generation Charges page.

For a breakdown of a sample PG&E bill, see our Understanding your PG&E Bill page, or contact us and we’d be happy to help!

RCEA is less expensive than PG&E

Based on board guidelines, RCEA rates are set at half a percent lower than PG&E’s. Still having trouble affording your electricity? RCEA offers almost all of the same financial assistance programs as PG&E. Check out our Rate Discounts & Assistance page for more information or contact us for help.  

90% of energy users in Humboldt County choose to get their electricity from Redwood Coast Energy Authority

RCEA is a local company, and our office is located in downtown Eureka. We are a not-for-profit company, and all of our profits are invested in the local community. We help fund new local renewable energy sources as well as programs and rebates for RCEA customers.

FAQs: Opting Out of RCEA Service

Historically, investor-owned utilities like PG&E were the default service provider for customers in their jurisdictions. However, state legislators passed California’s Community Choice Aggregation (CCA) law in 2002, transferring this default status from investor-owned utilities to the local community choice aggregator (CCA), also known as community choice energy (CCE), wherever available. RCEA is the CCE provider for Humboldt County.

 If you are opting out of Redwood Coast Energy Authority (RCEA) service sixty (60) days after you are enrolled or later, you will be subject to PG&E’s terms and conditions of service, including not having the option to return to RCEA for one year.

RCEA requires that customers use one of the following options for returning to PG&E generation service:

This option is an immediate transfer to PG&E service on your next meter read. At that time, RCEA will stop billing you for electric generation and PG&E will begin doing so. Please note that the billing cycle must complete before the opt out is processed. Depending on the timing of your opt out and meter read dates, RCEA may appear on one more bill after you opt out.

For the first 6 months with PG&E, you will be billed at a transitional rate. This rate is based on the current energy market and can change over the 6-month period. Once that 6-month period is over, PG&E will return you to a standard bundled rate.

For more information on PG&E’s transitional rate, please contact PG&E at 1-866-743-0335 or visit http://www.pge.com/tariffs/tbcc.

If you don’t want to be charged this transitional rate, you may prefer Option 2.

By selecting this option, you will not have to pay the transitional rates described in Option 1. If you choose Option 2, you will remain on Redwood Coast Energy Authority service for the next six billing months (plus five business days to process this request). After six months, Redwood Coast Energy Authority generation charges will be replaced by PG&E’s standard generation rates automatically. By providing six months’ advance notice to PG&E that you intend to return to their service, you may be excluded from the transitional rates described above.

Yes! However, if you’ve used RCEA service for 60 days or more and then switch to PG&E, state law dictates that you must remain with PG&E for at least one year before you have the option to return back to RCEA, even if RCEA costs less than PG&E.

No. There is no charge to leave RCEA and choose PG&E generation service.

How to Opt Out of RCEA Service

You may opt out of RCEA service and choose PG&E as your energy provider online using our Manage Your Service Plan tool, or you may contact us for assistance.