Climate activists chant ‘Stay in OCPA’ in disrupting Irvine mayor’s speech

In his first address since being elected Irvine mayor last year, Larry Agran pledged to make his city the greenest in the United States.

No stranger to the post, Agran outlined his vision during Tuesday’s state of the city speech by reminding residents that Irvine once earned international renown for restricting chlorofluorocarbons to protect the ozone layer when he served as mayor in 1989.

Agran insisted that Irvine could be a green leader again by planting thousands of trees at its Great Park while transitioning to rooftop solar and battery-storage systems.

But well before he could articulate his green agenda, climate activists with the youth-led Sunrise Movement in Orange County disrupted the speech from the audience.

A protester called the mayor a liar.

Activists followed with “Stay in OCPA” chants in reference to the Orange County Power Authority, an embattled green energy provider the Irvine City Council gave its city manager the authority to withdraw from this year.

Agran smiled from the podium as the chants continued. After about two minutes, he directed Irvine police to escort the activists out of council chambers.

“This is nothing compared to what we’ve seen before in this chamber,” Agran quipped about the protests. “We celebrate the right of free speech in this city. At the same time, we know there are appropriate time, place and manner rules that help us live together as a civilized society.”

The disruption did not lead to any arrests or citations.

After the speech, Agran told TimesOC that he respected the position of the climate activists but deemed their interruption of his speech “unfortunate.”

“My state of the city remarks emphasized real projects to make real progress in reducing our dependence on fossil fuels in moving forward with a climate action plan,” Agran said. “Regrettably, with OCPA we’ve had nothing but disappointment and misrepresentation. OCPA was simply not delivering on the promise of greener electricity and cheaper prices.”

Casey Gallagher, spokesperson for Sunrise Movement OC, believes that staying with OCPA is critical for Irvine to meet its climate goal of being carbon neutral by 2030.

“We disrupted Agran’s speech to help raise awareness about Irvine’s potential withdrawal from the Orange County Power Authority to the city’s residents,” she said. “OCPA offers cleaner and cheaper energy. Politicians in Irvine, particularly Mayor Agran, are trying to take away clean energy choice. Southern California Edison is a monopoly with no accountability that constantly increases rates.”

Three years ago, Irvine appeared to take the lead on the environment once more when it became the largest city in O.C. to choose to receive its energy from 100% renewable sources through OCPA.

Irvine served as the driving force behind the clean energy provider’s formation with the city, providing $7 million in seed money.

Irvine Mayor Larry Agran.

(Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)

At the time, Agran voted in favor of choosing OCPA but expressed reservations about its rates in comparison with Southern California Edison. He later called for an audit of the green energy provider.

Multiple audits, including by the state, later looked at allegations of mismanagement and questions surrounding the qualifications of former OCPA chief executive Brian Poblosky.

The County of Orange and Huntington Beach have since exited OCPA.

Buena Park, Fullerton and Irvine remain member cities, with Fountain Valley poised to join in October 2026.

“OCPA completed a 24-point improvement plan,” Gallagher said. “They are actively addressing these concerns about the operation of the agency, and without Irvine’s collaboration, the agency cannot make as much progress.”

After being elected Nov. 5 to his sixth non-consecutive term as mayor, Agran wasted no time in considering a withdrawal from OCPA during a Dec. 12 special meeting.

The city comprises 65% of OCPA’s remaining customer base.

Agran opined that OCPA wasn’t in great financial health and bemoaned that Irvine paid the highest electricity rates in the county, despite promises of being greener and cheaper.

“I don’t think it can be fixed,” he said. “I think there are such structural questions in it that suggest to me we have to begin to move away from OCPA.”

To date, that hasn’t happened. A vote taken during the December meeting did reduce the OCPA energy tier for residents and businesses to the basic choice level, which provides energy from 44% renewable sources.

For climate activists, Agran’s green agenda is incomplete without a firm commitment to renewable energy.

“Mayor Agran talks a lot about solar panels and tree planting,” Gallagher said. “Community solar is no substitute for the OCPA. We want an agency that will advocate for the community and provide that clean renewable energy so Irvine can be the greenest city.”

For Agran, the call to install solar rooftop and battery-storage systems on tens of thousands of homes would be a “huge step” for the city.

The question of withdrawing from OCPA and what comes after that remains an open one — for now.

“We’ll see if OCPA is responsive to our concerns,” Agran said. “There might be some alternative pathway to withdrawing and going back to Southern California Edison. We’ll just have to see.”