Consent Item 9
TO: East Bay Community Energy Board of Directors
FROM: JP Ross, VP Local Development, Electrification and Innovation SUBJECT: Authorizing CEO to negotiate and execute an Agreement with CLEAResult for the Ride Electric E-Bike Program
DATE: May 17, 2023
__________________________________________________________________ Recommendation
Approve a Resolution authorizing the CEO to negotiate and execute a Consulting Services Agreement with CLEAResult to develop and implement the Ride Electric Bike (e-Bike) Program, compensation under this Agreement will not exceed $10,000,000.
Background and Discussion
East Bay Community Energy (EBCE) is working to increase adoption of zero-emission micromobility options that are safe, affordable and reduce motor vehicle trips across our service area. The e-Bike Program will provide EBCE’s customers and residents of Alameda County and the Cities of Tracy and Stockton (once enrolled) with the opportunity to get hands-on experience using e-Bikes while reducing the cost of ownership. The e-Bike Program will have two components:
1. E-Bike Short-Term Lending: EBCE aims to stimulate e-Bike ownership beyond the financial limits of EBCEs ability to provide ongoing, long-term incentives.
Therefore, EBCE solicited proposals for an e-Bike Lending Program that will allow residents to check out e-Bikes for a period of ~1 week. Borrowing an e-Bike and receiving bike & road safety training will enable participants to gain hands-on experience to determine if an e-Bike could meet the needs of their daily activities. The intent of the e-Bike Lending Program will be to increase awareness and enthusiasm for e-Bikes, resulting in residents eventually purchasing e-Bikes. While coordinated with the incentive program, discussed below, there is no commitment on the participant to purchase an e-Bike to be eligible to check out an e-Bike through the e-Bike Lending Program.
2. E-Bike Ownership Incentive: The incentive is intended to increase adoption and ownership of e-Bikes in EBCE’s service territory. Incentives will be provided as point-of-sale vouchers and available to all income levels, with at least 40% of incentives dedicated to low-income customers on EBCE’s CARE electricity rate. The incentive amounts are indicated in the table below.
Customer Type Base
Incentive
Adders
CARE Customer $1,000 +$500 Cargo or
Non-CARE Customer $400 Adaptive e-Bikes
Table 1. E-Bike incentives for qualified participants and eligible e-Bikes.
Cargo and adaptive e-Bikes have a higher incentive because they tend to be more expensive, can offset more vehicle trips and can provide mode-shifting options to people who may not be comfortable using a traditional two-wheeled bicycle. Cargo e-Bikes have increased weight capacity and an elongated frame & seats to especially help, for example, parents to travel with their kids in tow. Adaptive e-Bikes are uniquely designed for those with mobility-related disabilities and can remove the barriers of biking for those who are dependent on additional equipment, such as a wheelchair, for mobility.
As a result of this program, over 13,000 people would experience an e-Bike via a 1- week lending session and 7,000-7,500 people would newly own an e-Bike with the primary purpose of mode shifting personal trips and work commute. EBCE will stagger incentives to ensure they last for a long duration of the program. In the event of exhausted incentives, we could estimate 30 of non-CARE customers based on data from other e-Bike lending libraries in Central and Southern California.
While e-Bikes rise in popularity, disparities exist in how common biking is based on where someone lives and who is riding those bikes across EBCE’s service area. In Alameda County, commuting by bike as the primary mode varies widely between Berkeley (7.8%) and neighboring Oakland (2.8%) and Emeryville (2.6%) and there is even greater variation with Fremont (0.3%)1. Across the Bay Area, those who commute on bikes are disproportionately male (2-to-1), white (61%), and affluent (25% earn more than $225,000/year)2.
1 https://www.vitalsigns.mtc.ca.gov/commute-mode-choice 2 https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/philmatier/article/One-place-where-white-men-still-reign-supreme-15084274.php EBCE recognizes these disparities and barriers to bike commuting, as well as the opportunity this program provides to reduce those barriers. EBCE and CLEAResult will prioritize engaging those in harder to reach communities and have key performance indicators to track progress with program participants that fully reflect the entire service area instead of those who are likely to participate regardless of this program. 2022 Request For Proposals
EBCE issued an RFP on October 28, 2022, to solicit proposals for program design, marketing, outreach, and implementation of a consumer facing e-Bike adoption program available across our service area, including Stockton.
EBCE received five bids in response to its RFP for e-Bike program implementers. After reviewing bids and interviewing respondents, EBCE has selected the team led by CLEAResult as the primary implementer. CLEAResult is a private company founded in 2003 with 2,400 employees across North America and extensive experience managing energy programs. To date, they’ve implemented 50 energy programs in California and include six CCAs as their clients. In fact, EBCE contracted with them from 2020 to 2022 for what became a successful implementation of its residential pay-for-performance energy efficiency pilot.
EBCE believes the team led by CLEAResult will successfully implement their e-Bike program due to their broad energy program experience (including e-Bike lending), program management expertise & infrastructure, local partnerships, flexibility to adapt and iterate, and a clearly outlined proposal and solicitation response that demonstrates ambitious yet realistic outcomes.
Program Expansion with Alameda County Transportation Commission (ACTC) After EBCE released the RFP, ACTC and EBCE met to discuss a funding partnership to leverage the e-Bike program managed by EBCE to obtain shared goals by both agencies. In February 2023, the Board of ACTC approved a $4,000,000 grant to be used toward e-Bike incentives for all Alameda County residents under the EBCE e-Bike program. This funding will allow EBCE to expand the reach and scale of the program to $10M in total, while developing a key partnership toward our longer-term electric transportation goals.
Coordination with Additional E-Bike Programs
The number of programs helping consumers access and own e-bikes continues to grow. In EBCE’s service area, comparable – but not the same – programs exist through the City of Oakland (short-term lending), City of Berkeley (long-term lending), and via an upcoming low-income incentive program through the State of California. EBCE is working closely with these partners and many others to ensure we are leveraging and supporting each other’s programs, while filling in gaps (i.e. geographic, income levels) across peer programs to provide the best service for residents of Alameda County, Tracy, and Stockton.
Fiscal Impact
The Agreement would be funded through the already Board approved $6,000,000 allocation to the Local Development Transportation Electrification budget derived from EBCE’s net revenue. EBCE will also allocate an additional $4,000,000 in funding via a grant from the Alameda County Transportation Commission (ACTC).
Attachments
A) RESOLUTION OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF THE EAST BAY COMMUNITY
ENERGY AUTHORITY AUTHORIZING THE CEO TO NEGOTIATE AND EXECUTE A
CONSULTING SERVICES AGREEMENT WITH CLEARESULT FOR THE EBCE RIDE
ELECTRIC E-BIKE PROGRAM
B) Presentation
Attachment Consent Item 9A
RESOLUTION NO. R-2023-XX
A RESOLUTION OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS
OF THE EAST BAY COMMUNITY ENERGY AUTHORITY TO AUTHORIZE THE CEO TO
NEGOTIATE AND EXECUTE A CONSULITNG SERVICES AGREEMENT WITH CLEARESULT
FOR THE EBCE RIDE ELECTRIC E-BIKE PROGRAM
WHEREAS The East Bay Community Energy Authority ("EBCE") was formed as a community choice aggregation agency ("CCA") on December 1, 2016, Under the Joint Exercise of Power Act, California Government Code sections 6500 et seq., among the County of Alameda, and the Cities of Albany, Berkeley, Dublin, Emeryville, Fremont, Hayward, Livermore, Piedmont, Oakland, San Leandro, and Union City to study, promote, develop, conduct, operate, and manage energy-related climate change programs in all of the member jurisdictions. The cities of Newark and Pleasanton, located in Alameda County, along with the City of Tracy, located in San Joaquin County, were added as members of EBCE and parties to the JPA in March of 2020. The city of Stockton located in San Joaquin County, was added as a member of EBCE in December of 2022.; and
WHEREAS EBCE seeks to support the adoption electric bikes (e-Bikes) across its service territory to reduce vehicle miles traveled and the associated reductions of greenhouse gas and particulate emissions that disproportionately impact lower income and disadvantaged communities; and
WHEREAS EBCE issued a Request for Proposals for E-Bike Adoption in October 2022 and received a conforming bid from CLEAResult; and WHEREAS The project proposed by CLEAResult will significantly increase e-Bike usage and adoption in EBCE service territory; and WHEREAS EBCE has negotiated the scope, implementation timeline, goals, and budget to ensure a successful and transformative program.
NOW, THEREFORE, THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF THE EAST BAY COMMUNITY ENERGY AUTHORITY DOES HEREBY RESOLVE AS FOLLOWS:
Section 1. THE CEO is hereby authorized to negotiate and execute an Agreement for the development and implementation of EBCE’s Ride Electric E-Bike Program with total compensation not to exceed $10,000,000, subject to the approval of the General Counsel.
ADOPTED AND APPROVED this 17th day of May, 2023.
Attachment Consent Item 9A
Elisa Márquez, Chair
ATTEST:
Adrian Bankhead, Clerk of the Board
Ride Electric:
E-Bike Program
Report
MAY 2023
Attachment Consent Item 9B
Ride Electric Program Overview
2 • Increasing access to electric bikes with at least 40% of the benefits going to EBCE CARE customers
• 3 prongs: Marketing, Education, & Outreach, Short-term Lending, Ownership Incentive - over 13,000 lending sessions and 7,000-7,500 new e-bikes via incentives • 3-year, $10 Million program
- $6M EBCE net revenue and…
- +$4M in funding from the Alameda County Transportation Commission (ACTC) toward the incentive portion of the program.
- 20% for lending and 80% for incentive
• Coordination and alignment with peer e-mobility programs: City of Oakland, City of Berkeley, CARB’s CalBike Program
Attachment Consent Item 9B
3 2 Main Interventions: Try and Buy
Short-Term Lending
• Over 13,000 lending sessions
• 5-7 Physical locations across our service
area
• ~1 week experience
• Training (e-bike & road safety) and
helmet & lock provided
• Class 1/2/3 Ebike, Cargo, and Adaptive;
no mountain or road bikes
Ownership
• Expected 7,000-7,500 e-bikes
• Point-of-sale voucher with higher $ for
CARE customers; adders for cargo and
adaptive e-bikes
• Priority for local bike shop purchasing
and an on-line marketplace to
supplement.
Attachment Consent Item 9B
Request for Proposal (RFP) Process
4 Prior Board approved Funding
Oct 2022: EBCE issued RFP
- Coverage: Alameda County, Tracy, and Stockton
Feb - March 2023: RFP Closed and Interviews
- Response: Received 5 bids and interviewed 3 bidders as finalists April 2023: winning bid selected
Attachment Consent Item 9B
5 Selected Counterparty: CLEAResult
- Private company with 2,400 employees across North America; operating since 2003 and West Region HQ in downtown Oakland
- Managed 50 California energy programs for clients, including 6 CCAs - Utilizing and leveraging existing infrastructure, like incentive processing and connection between retail & on-line purchasing
- Teaming up with 3 CBOs – two of whom are local to our service area – with additional expertise on e-bike and micromobility programs, as well as community engagement and local partnerships
Attachment Consent Item 9B
Requested Action
6 Authorize CEO to negotiate and execute Agreement with CLEAResult - Financial impact: $6M over 3 years via our net revenue, already approved by the Board
Attachment Consent Item 9B