Two electricity pylons in silhouette form against an orange sunset sky, with power lines and the large round sun positioned between them.
The sun sets behind a row of electric towers in Fresno County on Sept. 6, 2022. (File photo by Larry Valenzuela, CalMatters/CatchLight Local)

Stockton residents are going to be plugging into a new electricity provider in two months — and bills may get a bit cheaper.

Ava Community Energy will become the city’s — as well as Lathrop’s — default power provider starting in April. Customers will automatically be changed over from Pacific Gas and Electric, but they can opt to stay with PG&E if they prefer.

Ava will offer two plans:

  • The Renewable 100 plan creates electricity entirely from wind and solar sources. Being “green” comes at a slightly higher cost: Rates will be a quarter-cent per kilowatt hour more than PG&E rates. 
  • The Bright Choice plan derives slightly more than half its power from renewable sources but rates are 5% cheaper than those at PG&E, Ava says.

No matter what customers choose, PG&E stays in the picture. Ava becomes the provider — either generating or purchasing electricity — but still uses PG&E lines to deliver the juice to homes and businesses. PG&E also will continue to handle the billing. Those bills will reflect how payments are being divided between the two utilities.

Ava serves 1.7 million customers in Tracy and Alameda County and estimates that it has already saved them a total of $40 million on their power bills since the not-for-profit company’s launch in 2018.

“We’re looking forward to extending benefits like these to the residents and businesses in Stockton and Lathrop,” Ava CEO Howard Chang said in a recent statement.

The expansion in Stockton and Lathop will add 120,000 new customers, Ava said.

Stockton’s changeover was approved in September 2022 by the City Council. Ava, then known as East Bay Community Energy, told the city in a letter that if all residents and businesses had received its service in the previous year, they would have collectively saved almost $1.5 million.

Ava says its cost advantage comes by relying on more renewable power sources — wind and solar, in particular — compared to PG&E, which still generates a large share of its electricity from nuclear power. 

Ava “is excited to bring cleaner and more affordable energy options to Stockton and Lathrop,” Chang said.

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