Dick Spotswood: MCE appears to be in mess of own making

The community choice energy aggregator known as MCE (formerly Marin Clean Energy) appears to be out of control. The joint-powers authority is the middleman providing electricity to 603,000 customers, including businesses and residences in Marin, Contra Costa, Solano and Napa counties.

Its assignment isn’t complicated. A letter to the IJ editor by Novato business owner Dean Moser was succinct: MCE “is nothing more than a commodity broker.”

Some of its electricity sources are from long-term contracts with clean power developers. The remainder is purchased from energy markets, which can have a higher carbon footprint than its contracted clean energy suppliers. The kilowatts are transmitted on wires owned and maintained by the Pacific Gas & Electric Co., which also does the billing. What MCE does is broker power contracts for supposedly “clean” electricity.

The reason for its penetration of the four-county retail power market stems from how MCE was set up on Day 1. Then, as now, PG&E customers are given an option. Do nothing and you’re automatically enrolled in MCE. To retain PG&E, customers need to take the affirmative action of opting out of MCE. When faced with confusing choices, it’s human nature to do nothing.

Some of the energy MCE provides isn’t as carbon-free as claimed. Marin Conservation League reports that in fiscal year 2024-25 MCE spent $202 million on “attribute-only contracts.” It’s like airline tickets when the traveler is offered, at a price, carbon renewal certificates to offset carbon produced by the flight.

It’s just a reshuffling of green electricity characteristics. With attribute-only contracts, all that’s happening is the provider sells carbon-free certificates, not the electricity delivered to customers. This paper transaction gives MCE bragging rights that its power is mostly carbon-free.

Consumers pay a price for these symbolic carbon-free attributes. As of Jan. 1, the average PG&E monthly residential bill is $160.44 compared with $190.50 for MCE’s “Light Green” product. MCE’s board is discussing whether it should dip into its substantial “rainy day” fund and reserves to narrow the gap. Heavy spending on attribute-only contracts leaves MCE with less room to maneuver.

The size of MCE’s employee roster and its total compensation is extraordinary given the agency’s limited role as an energy broker. The California State Controller’s database indicates the total compensation package for MCE’s 115 full-time employees and part-timers is $18.8 million in salary and $10.7 million in benefits totaling $29.5 million annually. Given MCE limited assignment as a broker, what do all those employees do?

Ninety of them earn six figures in total annual compensation including benefits. Topping the list is CEO Dawn Weisz. In 2025, she earned $703,511 in salary plus $103,741 in retirement and health benefits for a grand total of $817,252.

The four counties and 34 municipalities that form MCE’s joint powers agreement each have a seat at the table. Its unpaid governing board has 34 members, all elected officials. That’s unwieldy, giving Weisz and company extraordinary influence. Absent a bigger scandal, that won’t change anytime soon.

MCE’s board needs to remember its responsibilities to ratepayers by asserting control over the management team to rein in runaway energy and compensation costs.

How do ratepayers get out of this mess without abandoning their vision of a carbon-free future?

Marin’s outstanding Civil Grand Jury is examining MCE from top to bottom. A report with suggestions should be issued by summer. The Legislature should demand California’s Public Utilities Commission expand its oversight to energy aggregation agencies like MCE.

MCE’s internal corporate culture is dysfunctional. Weisz appears to run the show with minimal board involvement other than a few trusted insiders. The reality is that MCE’s broken culture will be repaired only if the board majority has the courage to select new professional leadership.

Columnist Dick Spotswood of Mill Valley writes on local issues Sundays and Wednesdays. Email him at spotswood@comcast.net.