PRESS RELEASE: San Diego Community Power Saves Customers $54.1M with Green Bonds
- Aug 11, 2025
- by Jill Monroe
TAX-EXEMPT BONDS BRING REDUCED ENERGY COSTS, MORE AFFORDABILITY FOR CUSTOMERS
SAN DIEGO — As part of its ongoing efforts to provide its customers with clean energy at competitive rates, San Diego Community Power has approved the use of tax-exempt “green bonds” to lock in clean energy at a discount. This strategic move will drive down costs and generate about $54.1 million in savings over the next nine years.
The California Community Choice Financing Authority (CCCFA) issued the $1 billion, 30-year “Clean Energy Project Revenue” bond that is expected to save Community Power customers about $6.1 million each year.
“These green bonds are our number one financing tool for keeping costs low for our customers, and it comes with the added benefit of helping us secure more renewable energy for our region,” said Ditas Yamane, National City Councilmember and chair of the Community Power Finance and Risk Management Committee. “This cost-saving measure directly supports Community Power’s mission to provide our local communities with clean, reliable and affordable energy.”
The Board authorized the transaction at its June 26 meeting and the bond closed on Friday, July 25. Energy cost savings are expected to begin in September and will be factored in when Community Power sets its rates.
Prepayment transactions like this bond allow the public to benefit from energy purchased at lower interest rates. Public entities, such as Community Power and other Community Choice Aggregators, have the ability to prepay long-term power purchase agreements with these tax-exempt green bonds – reducing the cost of energy for customers.
Rather than paying for energy each month like a typical household, Community Power buys years’ worth of clean energy all at once. By paying upfront and using tax-exempt bonds that come with lower interest rates than private financing, the energy supplier offers Community Power a discount on the cost of the energy. That discount translates to millions of savings for local customers over the life of the contract.
“Using tax-exempt bonds to purchase power from energy projects is a strategic part of Community Power’s efforts to bring cost-competitive, clean energy into the region,” said Community Power CEO Karin Burns. “It allows us to secure renewable sources at predictable, more affordable rates.”
Here’s how it works: When Community Power enters a long-term contract to receive clean energy from a taxable energy supplier, such as a large-scale solar farm run by a private renewable energy developer, the CCCFA will issue the tax-exempt bonds, which fund a prepayment of the energy that will be delivered over the course of the contract.
The savings come when the private energy supplier uses the bond funds and, as a result, provides a discount to Community Power based on the difference between the taxable and tax-exempt rates. This discount historically ranges from 8 to 12%, which can equate to millions of dollars for long-term power procurement contracts.
This is the second prepayment transaction undertaken by Community Power. In November 2024, it issued a $1 billion, 30-year “Clean Energy Project Revenue” bond, which generated $53.2 million in total savings, with an annual average savings for customers of $6.9 million.
Community Power serves nearly a million municipal, business and residential power customers in the Cities of San Diego, Chula Vista, Encinitas, Imperial Beach, La Mesa and National City, as well as the unincorporated communities in the County of San Diego.
Community Power is a not-for-profit public agency that provides competitively-priced clean energy and invests in the community to create an equitable and sustainable future for the San Diego region. Learn more at www.sdcommunitypower.org.
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