Fledgling OC Power Authority loses veteran clean-energy leader

Longtime green-energy advocate Antonia Castro-Graham abruptly resigned as chief operating officer for the Orange County Power Authority on Friday, Dec. 3, amid reports of a tense standoff with the utility’s CEO and concerns of ongoing conflicts between the two.

The authority, formed last year, is one of some two dozen such public agencies established statewide to produce cleaner, less expensive electricity than provided by private utilities. Irvine spearheaded the formation, with Huntington Beach, Fullerton and Buena Park joining as the other city members so far. Additionally, on Tuesday, Dec. 7, county supervisors gave final approval for unincorporated areas to join.

Castro-Graham’s resignation is the latest issue to raise concerns over authority CEO Brian Probolsky. Some clean energy advocates complain he’s a politically connected bureaucrat with no experience in the energy field and no college diploma.

Castro-Graham, on the other hand, has extensive experience, having advocated since 2015 for clean-choice utilities, known as community choice energy. She holds three college degrees, including a master’s in sustainability leadership. Her previous jobs — with the cities of Fullerton, Huntington Beach, Placentia and the Port of Long Beach — all focused on sustainability, a career arc that seemed to culminate with her post at the power authority.

“It was my dream job,” Castro-Graham said Monday of her role at the Power Authority. “I am passionate about sustainable communities and community choice energy.”

She declined to comment on why she resigned or on reports of conflicts with Probolsky. She also declined to say if she has another job lined up.

As of late afternoon Monday, Probolsky had not responded to requests for comment.

Authority board member Fred Jung, a Fullerton councilman, said he plans to follow up on Castro-Graham’s resignation letter in an effort to better understand her reasons for leaving.

“I’m grateful for her remarkable advocacy for the authority’s formation and her continued stewardship,” Jung said, noting that he’d interviewed Fullerton staff about her 16 months as assistant city manager there before backing her appointment

“City staff who worked with her all had positive things to say,” he said. Environmental activists have also praised Castro-Graham.

Internal conflict

Buzz about Castro-Graham’s apparent conflicts with Probolsky spiked in the wake of the authority’s Nov. 9 meeting, which was held online via Zoom.

Archived video of the meeting shows that at about the 14 minutes into the meeting, Castro-Graham left a conference room where she’d been sitting with Probolsky and authority counsel Ryan Baron. She can be seen outside the room’s glass door talking on her cell phone and it soon becomes clear that she is talking to authority clerk Shauna Clark, who was attending offsite and who’s Zoom microphone is on.

Castro-Graham can be heard, faintly, telling Clark, “Brian is totally flipping out.” Clark replies, “You’re not going to get fired. He needs to talk to me.”

In the archived video, the screen has gone black at this point and remains so for 26 seconds, with the names of the off-camera remote speakers — including Clark — appearing on the black background.

Activist Kathleen Treseder said that in her live feed of the meeting, she could see Probolsky leave the room and confront Castro-Graham. Treseder co-founded OC Clean Power to advocate for the authority’s formation, but because of reservations with early agency decisions has discouraged cities from joining. She has been a vocal critic of Probolsky.

“Mr. Probolsky stood up, jerked the door open, and approached Ms Castro-Graham in the hallway,” Treseder said in a written account she shared with the Register. “He appeared to be yelling at her, although I could not hear.”

By the time the video feed of the conference room resumes, Castro-Graham can be seen on her phone in the hallway and Probolsky, apparently locked out of the room, is let back in by an unidentified woman.

Jung said he was unaware of any conflict between the authority’s top two staffers at the meeting or of any ongoing friction.

“I didn’t notice anything but that doesn’t mean it didn’t happen,” he said.

The Newport Beach-based advocacy group Women for American Values and Ethics wrote a Nov. 22 letter to authority board members, calling for an independent investigation into Probolsky’s treatment of employees. It cited the account of Treseder, who was one of 19 officers and advisory council members from the group to sign the letter.

“Any abuse including verbal abuse is unacceptable, and we are concerned at what treatment employees may be subject to by Mr. Probolsky off-camera,” the letter said. “We also question the professionalism of someone who chooses to communicate with an employee in such a manner during a public meeting.”

The Register found no indication that the requested investigation was being considered.

Past complaints

Community choice energy, approved by the California Legislature in 2002, was designed to correct problems resulting from the state’s deregulation of the electricity industry in the 1990s and to empower local jurisdictions to establish their own power authorities. Also known as community choice aggregation, the effort has evolved into a tool for environmentalists eager to accelerate the state’s move away from fossil fuels.

When initially established, these municipal providers typically buy electricity from the same sources as Edison and other private utilities. But unbound by long-term contracts many private utilities hold, the public agencies can adjust their mix of energy sources to take advantage of lower costs or to favor renewable energy — or both. Additionally, they can be more aggressive than private utilities in encouraging and developing clean local power generation and battery storage.

In many cases, customers are offered a choice of clean energy mixes, although cleaner amounts can increase their costs.

The city of Irvine has a predicted a 2% decrease in customer bills under the new Orange County agency, which is slated to start delivering electricity in member cities for commercial customers next April and for residential customers in October.

The Orange County Power Authority, like its statewide counterparts, has been touted as a way to hasten the state’s push toward 100% clean electricity by 2045. But that issue has transformed into a bone of contention.

Activists point to the authority’s target of just 57% clean energy by 2030 as evidence of the low bar being set, noting that the state’s goal is 60% by 2030. They’ve also complained that nothing in the current plan indicates customers will have the choice to get as much as 100% clean energy.

Probolsky told the Register in August that the board could step up the agency’s renewable energy timetable in January, when it considers amendments to the plan. He also said high-level clean energy options are likely to be added to the plan.

Board Chairman Mike Carroll has defended criticism that Probolsky, who was chief of staff for a succession of three county supervisors over seven years, is inexperienced in the energy field and undereducated. He said Probolsky was hired for his organizational skills, and that his practical experience more than accommodates for his lack of a college degree.

Carroll and board member Mike Posey declined comment on Castro-Graham’s resignation. Board member Susan Sonne could not be reached Monday. Board member Farrah Khan praised Castro-Graham but declined further comment.