Huntington Beach residents will maintain its membership with the community choice energy (CCE) program following a Feb. 1 council vote. The confirmation of program participation means local government will provide energy to power the city, rather than Southern California Edison. The Orange County Power Authority is spearheading the effort with the regional community choice aggregate Joint Powers Authority, which will subsidize a green energy farm and obtain energy credits. It will use the credits to purchase electricity on the open market, and resell it to people within the city, utilizing the same transmission lines as SCE. Power will be produced by renewable energy—solar and wind—as opposed to gas. Residents who don’t want to participate in the CCE must opt out and join SCE, to avoid automatic registration. City council initially voted to join in the program last Dec. 10. It moved to maintain its membership Feb. 1, rather than withdrawing. Councilmember Erik Peterson opposed the decision, and said government should …