Camarillo City Council
AGENDA REPORT
Date: September 9, 2026
To: Honorable Mayor and City Councilmembers
From: Greg Ramirez, City Manager
Submitted by: Mitchell Cameron, Director of Administrative Services/Chief Innovation Officer
Subject: Advance the Camarillo Public Library as the City’s Clean Power Alliance Power Ready Round 2 Project Site
BACKGROUND
Power outages caused by planned Public Safety Power Shutoff events and unplanned grid disruptions continue to threaten essential City services. In response, Clean Power Alliance (CPA), the City's Community Choice Energy provider, offers the Power Ready program, which installs solar-plus-battery backup power systems at member agency facilities at no upfront or ongoing cost. CPA guarantees, through an on-bill adjustment mechanism, that a participating facility's annual electricity charges will be equal to or less than what the agency would have paid without the system.
In April 2025, CPA opened its Power Ready Round 2 solicitation, and on April 28, 2025, the City submitted three facilities for consideration: City Hall, the Camarillo Public Library (Library), and the City's police facility. The police facility was not advanced because the Ventura County Sheriff's Office, not the City, holds the onsite utility account, and the Power Ready program requires the site host to be the account customer.
City Hall and the Library passed CPA's initial technical screening in July 2025 and advanced to detailed site assessment with CPA's technical consultant, Arup. Staff reviewed and commented on the draft assessment in January 2026, and CPA and Arup issued a final scope-of-work report for the Library in August 2026, which CPA presented to the Information Technology & Facilities Committee on August 20, 2026.
Separately, City Hall's resiliency needs are being addressed outside of Power Ready.
City Hall has an existing backup generator, and Congresswoman Julia Brownley secured $1,145,144 in congressionally directed spending in the Fiscal Year 2026 Homeland Security and Related Agencies Appropriations Act for the City's Hybrid Microgrid Standby Power Resiliency Project, which will add battery storage and switchgear controls to City Hall's existing generator infrastructure.
CPA Round 2 Power Ready Project List
September 9, 2026
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DISCUSSION
Staff is recommending the City advance the Library, at 4101 Las Posas Rd., as the City's Power Ready Round 2 site. The proposed scope includes a carport-mounted solar array in the northern parking lot and a battery storage system near the rear maintenance area, with some tree removal possible to meet code clearance. The system will support the Library as a cooling center during heat events and serve as a backup Emergency Operations Center if City Hall becomes unavailable, powering select critical loads including elevators, cooling, lighting, outlets, and emergency lighting.
Key specifications from CPA’s scope-of-work report:
Solar capacity: 90 kilowatts (alternating current), generating an estimated 165,400 kilowatt-hours annually (about 18% of the site's electricity use) Battery capacity: 208 kilowatts / 830 kilowatt-hours, with 51% reserved for critical loads, providing up to four hours of backup power
CPA funds and manages the project through its full life cycle, including engineering consulting, contractor solicitation, construction oversight, and performance verification, at no cost to the City. The City's role as Site Host is formalized through a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) and a Site Lease Agreement with Clean Power Alliance.
Council consideration now confirms the City's selected site ahead of CPA’s Board meeting in November 2026, where the Board is expected to approve the full Round 2 portfolio of participating agencies. If approved, CPA would award its construction and operations contracts, and staff will return to Council in early 2027 for approval of the MOU and Site Lease Agreement. Per Clean Power Alliance's preliminary schedule, construction will run from late 2028 through mid-2029, with operations and maintenance beginning in the third quarter of 2029.
FISCAL IMPACT
There is no budget impact as a result of this action.
CITY COUNCIL STRATEGIC PLAN FY 2026/27
This recommendation supports the City Council’s Strategic Plan Goal and Objective 7.2 Sustainability and Environmental Stewardship – Integrate sustainable design and materials into all City facility improvements and capital projects.
CEQA DETERMINATIONS
City staff has determined, in accordance with Section 15061(b)(3) of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Guidelines, recommendation of a project is not subject to CEQA review because it can be seen with certainty that there is no possibility that the proposal to add the Camarillo Public Library Site to CPA’s Power Ready Round 2 Project List may have a significant effect on the environment.
CPA Round 2 Power Ready Project List
September 9, 2026
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RECOMMENDATION
1. Find the advancing the Library as the City’s CPA Power Ready Round 2 Site exempt from review under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) pursuant to CEQA Guideline 15301 of the CEQA Guidelines; and
2. Authorize the City Manager to direct Clean Power Alliance to advance the Camarillo Public Library at 4101 Las Posas Rd., as the City's Power Ready Round 2 site.
ATTACHMENTS
1. Camarillo Public Library Power Ready Presentation 08.20.2026
REFERENCE MATERIALS – AVAILABLE FOR REVIEW AT CITY HALL None