The Challenge

California Choice Energy Authority (CalChoice), a joint powers authority supporting community choice aggregators (CCA), recognized a growing need to better orient newly elected City council members to their respective CCAs. These local leaders play an essential role in overseeing their City’s programs, yet many arrive with limited background in energy policy or its operational insights. With that, CalChoice wanted to create clear resources to help demystify CCA concepts and build confident governance.

Our Approach

To meet this challenge, CalChoice partnered with Tripepi Smith to develop customized orientation packets for each of its eight associate members. These materials were designed to be both informative and visually appealing, offering City council members a comprehensive yet digestible resource that could be referenced during and long after their onboarding.

Tripepi Smith’s approach included:

  • Collaborating with CalChoice staff to understand distinct features and structure of each CCA program
  • Reviewing existing resources, presentations and relevant program materials to identify any content gaps and determine what needed to be expanded or simplified
  • Drafting accessible, easy to understand content covering key areas like program benefits and CCA structure
  • Designing brand-aligned packets that could be shared digitally or in print, with infographics, charts and consistent formatting
The Results

The completed orientation packets provide newly elected officials with the knowledge they need to represent and guide their communities on energy-related issues. With a mix of informative content and strategic design this tool enhances transparency and empowers informed decisions.

Key outcomes include:

  • A deeper understanding among council members of their City’s energy program and the value of local control, renewable energy and community revenue
  • A document that can be easily updated as programs grow or information evolves that can be shared with feature leaders, partners and stakeholders

Together, these packets strengthen CalChoice’s mission to support local governance by providing all leaders the resources they need to lead effectively from day one.