Another audit of the troubled Orange County Power Authority is due to be released in a matter of days or weeks. The latest report will come from the City of Irvine and is expected to be highly critical. City Manager Oliver Chi says getting accurate information about the agency’s operations has been an ongoing issue before and during the review.
Irvine is not alone. City leaders in Fullerton are incredibly frustrated with OCPA’s lack of transparency. City Councilmember Ahmad Zahra, who helped convince the city to join the authority, is now a vocal critic. He had no idea about the previous audits until he heard about them in the news.
“We were the first city to join and things were not supposed to go this way,” Zahra told Voice of OC. “I find it egregious that I have to find out this information from the press.”
For months, Zahra has been asking what it would cost to pull out. OCPA still hasn’t given him an answer.
The Orange County Board of Supervisors voted to cancel the county’s contract with OCPA in December. The move could cost up to $65 million, but OCPA hasn’t given them a proper estimate either. Huntington Beach is also considering leaving.
Voice of OC reports that power authority staff are preparing non-disclosure agreements with some member cities so that they can find out what has been purchased on their behalf.
Read the latest here.