Orange County Power Authority hires communications and external affairs director

The Orange County Power Authority has hired someone with both energy and local government experience as its new director of communications and external affairs.

The OCPA announced Monday that Joe Mosca, former mayor of Sierra Madre and deputy mayor of Encinitas, will step into the position.

Mosca, a 50-year-old Encinitas resident, said he decided not to run for reelection to the city council in that city this year so he could focus on clean energy.

“I’m really excited to be a part of this team,” he said. “I’ve been in the Community Choice Energy space for some time, and just really enthusiastic about CCAs [Community Choice Aggregators] and the promise that they hold to move our state and communities to a healthy clean energy future. When this opportunity came up, I really jumped at it.

“It’s our newest CCA in the state of California, the only one in Orange County and it really holds tremendous promise for the future,” he continued. “I’m excited to be here at a time when we’re kind of moving from that startup mode to that fully operational mode.”

He was the chairman of the board of directors and founding member of San Diego Community Power, which launched in 2019, and also has served on several energy-related boards, including the San Diego County Water Authority.

Mosca said San Diego Community Power has grown to 30 staff members and increased energy production and revenues.

“Certainly, you learn a lot of lessons on how to put together a team and how to inspire the team, how to put together plans and goals and deal with the investor-owned utilities,” he said. “You learn how to communicate with your customers and to plan for the future, and also work with all of the other CCAs in the state.”

Mosca also previously worked for the Southern California Gas Co. from 2010 to 2011, and as the public affairs lead on major projects for San Diego Gas and Electric from 2015 to 2018.

More recently, he also served two terms as the president of the San Dieguito Water District.

Mosca, a 20-year member of the California Bar Assn., holds a juris doctorate from Quinnipiac University School of Law and a bachelor’s degree in political science from Rhode Island College.

His hiring comes during a key week for the OCPA. The community CCE program is currently the default energy choice for four Orange County communities — Irvine, Huntington Beach, Fullerton and Buena Park — as well as unincorporated areas.

Surf City started commercial service last spring, and residential service in October, as the OCPA took over for Southern California Edison as a default energy option in Huntington Beach.

But after a pair of audits performed by the county, the Orange County Board of Supervisors is expected to discuss pulling the unincorporated areas out of the OCPA during Tuesday’s meeting.

Additionally, an item on Tuesday night’s Huntington Beach City Council agenda, submitted by new Mayor Pro Tem Gracey Van Der Mark and Councilman Casey McKeon, would change Huntington Beach’s OCPA energy rate to basic choice and seeks guidance from staff on how to withdraw from the organization entirely.

The basic choice plan provides 38% renewable energy, instead of the 100% rate that is currently Huntington Beach’s default.

“I’ve spent a large amount of my time in government and public agencies ... so I welcome the conversations,” Mosca said. “I think we embrace having these conversations with our member agencies, to make sure that we’re giving them what they want and basically tailoring our program to meet the needs of their communities ... Hopefully the conversation doesn’t stop [Tuesday]. I think that Community Choice Energy programs have proven to be invaluable for the state and all of our communities as we work toward that clean energy future.”

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