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Draft Minutes
Marketing, Regulatory, Legislative Subcommittee
Meeting
Friday, April 1, 2022
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1. Welcome & Roll Call
Directors: Kumagai (Dublin), Munro (Livermore), and Chair Patino (Union City) Excused: Tiedemann (Albany), Vice-Chair Harrison (Berkeley),
2. Public Comment
This item is reserved for persons wishing to address the Committee on any EBCE-related matters that are not otherwise on this meeting agenda. Public comments on matters listed on the agenda shall be heard at the time the matter is called. As with all public comment, members of the public who wish to address the Committee are customarily limited to three minutes per speaker and must complete an electronic speaker slip. The Committee Chair may increase or decrease the time allotted to each speaker.
Tom Kelly stated that EBCE’s carbon emissions shot up from 100 pounds of CO2 per megawatt hours of electricity delivered in 2019 to 590 pounds of CO2 in 2020, the worst in Northern California. Tom Kelly asked why the Board has not demanded an explanation for why this is and how to get back to where EBCE was in 2018-2019, and hopes the issue will be addressed at an upcoming Board meeting.
East Bay Community Energy
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Audrey Ichinose, on behalf of East Bay Clean Power Alliance and the California Alliance for Community Energy, spoke regarding last month’s CPUC’s workshop on keeping utility bills affordable, especially for low-income ratepayers, where EBCE’s Melissa Brandt proposed that public purpose programs, such as energy efficiency plans and PG&E CARE and FERA programs, be funded through state tax revenue instead of electric utility rates. Audrey Ichinose stated that if that change were to occur the implications for EBCE need to be discussed regarding the advantages and disadvantages, fuel switching efforts, and whether it would weaken EBCE’s commitment to social equity and impair it’s ability to act.
3. Approval of Minutes from October 8, 2021 and February 2, 2022 Director Munro motioned to approve the minutes from October 8, 2021 and February 2, 2022. Director Kumara seconded the motion, which passed 3/0.
Excused: Directors Harrison and Tiedemann
4. Proposed Brand Update
Recommendation: Brief description and request for feedback on brand update Tom Kelly challenged the presentation and stated that while people do want low rates, if the benefits of renewable clean energy is explained to them the numbers of people willing to pay more for their electricity goes up significantly. Tom Kelly stated that people are demanding their local governments and energy providers respond to climate change.
The Subcommittee Discussed:
• Highlighting and talking about how people are directly contributing locally to addressing energy resilience and climate change.
• Branding strategies to accommodate the difference between residential customers and business customers and their different needs. • How EBCE engages with people who opt out to find out why they made that choice.
• What is not being considered when talking about cost, and how can EBCE make its counting for cost more accurate?
• The cost of climate change and whether EBCE wants to defer that cost to future generations?
• Outreach to apprise the public of the things EBCE does.
5. Proposed Amendment to Rate Setting Protocol
Recommendation: Brief description of rationale for proposed change and request for feedback.
Tom Kelly stated one thing EBCE could do is speak in plain English to the public rather than using terms such as “value proposition.” Tom Kelly noted that EBCE’s rate bearer costs have come down on the PCIA side, but the generation rate now would increase rates to EBCE customers and asked why not look at what the actual costs of EBCE’s own East Bay Community Energy
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generation are and the PCIA and charge that amount to customers? Tom Kelly stated the rates of the other CCAs in Northern California are falling and the Board should insist EBCE start building its rates around its actual costs rather than tying them to PG&E.
The Subcommittee Discussed:
• Using simpler language to communicate with the public. • Branding, education, and maintaining public interest over time. • How the public might make comments regarding rate setting if no workshop is held.
• EBCE setting a rate that would not be tied to PG&E and lower than EBCE’s percentage is now.
6. Regulatory Update
Recommendation: Update on regulatory items of interest to EBCE Tom Kelly stated PG&E’s generation rates have increased by 30%, but EBCE does not buy electricity from PG&E and is gouging its customers when it follows suit, because there is no justification for that increase other than the “value proposition.” Tom Kelly pointed out that the 40% reduction in the PCIA could mean between one and two cents a kilowatt-hour reduction in the cost of electricity for residential and commercial customers, which is huge, and although EBCE’s rate increase would help make up for losses last year, EBCE has very substantial reserves in the area of $150M dollars. Tom Kelly stated that EBCE customers deserve cleaner power and a break on rates, and EBCE is in a position to now do that.
7. Legislative Update
Recommendation: Update on regulatory items of interest to EBCE and bill tracker There were no speakers for public comment.
The Committee discussed:
• Talking points or fact sheets about the various bills.
8. Committee Member and Staff Announcements including requests to place items on future Board Agendas
There were no announcements or future agenda requests.
9. Adjournment