CCA stands for Community Choice Aggregation, which is a program that allows local governments and qualifying entities to aggregate the buying power of individual customers within a defined jurisdiction in order to secure alternative energy supply contracts. CCAs are an alternative to the investor-owned utility energy supply system in which the CCA chooses the power generation source on behalf of the consumers. The main goals of CCAs have been to either lower costs for consumers or to allow consumers greater control of their energy mix, mainly by offering "greener" generation portfolios than local utilities. CCAs are local, not-for-profit, public agencies that take on the decision-making role about sources of energy for electricity generation. Once established, CCAs become the default service provider for the power mix delivered to customers. In a CCA service territory, the incumbent utility continues to own and maintain the transmission and distribution system. CCAs are currently authorized in eleven states in the United States, including California, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Rhode Island, and Virginia.