Draft Minutes
Financial, Administrative and Procurement Subcommittee
Meeting
Wednesday, January 10, 2024
1:00 pm
In Person:
Conference Room 5
Ava Community Energy
1999 Harrison Street, Suite 2300
Oakland, CA 94612
Or from the following locations:
Conference Room, Irvington Community Center 41885 Blacow Rd. Fremont, CA 94538 1755 Harvest Landing Lane, Tracy, CA 95376
Via Zoom:
https://ebce-org.zoom.us/j/83599993289
Or join by phone:
Dial(for higher quality, dial a number based on your current location): US: +1 669 900 6833 or +1 346 248 7799 or +1 253 215 8782 or +1 929 205 6099 or +1 301 715 8592 or 888 475 4499 (Toll Free) or 877 853 5257 (Toll Free) Webinar ID: 835 9999 3289
Meetings are accessible to people with disabilities. Individuals who need special assistance or a disability-related modification or accommodation to participate in this meeting, or who have a disability and wish to request an alternative format for the meeting materials, should contact the Clerk of the Board at least 2 working days before the meeting at (510) 707-1764 or [email protected].
If you have anything that you wish to be distributed to the Finance, Administration and Procurement Subcommittee, please email it to the clerk by 5:00 pm the day prior to the meeting.
1. Welcome & Roll Call
Present: Directors: Cox (Fremont), Bedolla (Tracy), Gonzalez (San Leandro) and Chair Bauters (Emeryville).
Absent: Director Andersen (Piedmont).
2. Public Comment
Ava Community Energy
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This item is reserved for persons wishing to address the FAP Subcommittee on any Ava-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 Board are customarily limited to three minutes per speaker. The FAP Chair may increase or decrease the time allotted to each speaker.
(2:08) Tim Frank expressed gratitude to the FAP subcommittee and staff for initiating a conversation with Ava on policies for CCAs in the bay.
(3:29) Leslie Austin also thanked the FAP subcommittee and staff for advancing the conversation on Workforce and environmental justice standards and policy. (5:01) Eric Veium echoed the previous comments and praised Ava for setting a model for collaboration and stakeholder engagement during the policy’s collaboration process.
3. Approval of Minutes from November 8, 2023
Chair Bauters (Emeryville) motioned to approve the minutes. Director Gonzalez (San Leandro) seconded the motion, which passed 4/0/1:
Yes: Cox (Fremont), Bedolla (Tracy), Gonzalez (San Leandro) and Chair Bauters (Emeryville).
Excused: Director Andersen (Piedmont).
(5:59) Director Cox requested that her written public comment in support of agenda item
4. Workforce Guidelines and Policy (Informational Item) on the November 8th, 2023 FAP meeting be added to the minutes and agenda packet.
4. Budget Surplus (Informational Item)
A discussion on how to allocate the projected budget surplus for the current fiscal year The Committee Discussed:
• (29:41) Chair Bauters (Emeryville) inquired about staff’s proposed timeline to bring back the project to the subcommittee for recommendation before it goes out to the board.
• (30:37) Director Cox (Fremont) endorsed the plan to use some of the surplus money towards bill credits to help communities that have lost their jobs. Director Cox also suggested dividing the surplus money three ways to broaden allocation. • (31:58) Director Gonzalez (San Leandro) affirmed bill credits and the distribution of generation by mean to distribute the risk in Ava’s system. Director Gonzalez also stated that he was not inclined to support the purchase of Material out of market renewable due to the market’s volatility.
• (35:23) Chair Bauters (Emeryville) stated support for investing in a combination of bill credits and establishing resilience subs. Chair Bauters sought clarification about the final audit calculation and whether there is a formula that differentiates residential from commercial properties.
• (39:25) Chair Bauters (Emeryville) asked whether giving customers their actual rate based on consumption would incentivize them to consume more energy. The Ava Community Energy
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chair also asked if there are any reasons why Ava doesn’t consider closer number to the higher end of the average for consumers in residential properties. • (43:35) Director Gonzalez (San Leandro) sought clarification on whether more money should go to residential customers and how Ava decided on the distribution of money between residential and commercial properties. • (49:34) Director Cox (Fremont) amended their previous comment to say that instead of dividing the surplus money in three ways, it should be divided in two and two with the renewable projects as long as it's within the jurisdiction. • (54:05) Chair Bauters (Emeryville) recommended that Ava prioritizes 60% on bill credits and reserve 40% of the total for local renewables and resilience hubs.
Public Comment:
• (27:30) Jessica Tovar stated that there is a transparency issue concerning Ava not addressing what bill credits look like for municipal and commercial accounts.
Tovar also voiced that money is better spent invested in energy resilience for local communities.
5. Overview of Long-Term Offtake Agreements for January Board Approval (Informational Item)
Overview of multiple long-term contracts/offtake agreements from 2023 RFO and bilateral negotiations
The Committee Discussed:
• (1:13:16) Director Cox (Fremont) asked whether the union, IBEW, that Ava is working with agrees with the arrangement of the IGNIS Wind project. She also inquired about how the project is going to be categorized under the contract and expressed concerns about labor laws since the project’s facility is in Mexico.
Director Cox inquired about whether the project would need to be sent to the CPUC for approval.
• (1:25:20) Director Gonzalez (San Leandro) queried whether it is advantageous to get a PPA signed as opposed to the option agreement and clarified that Ava is neither building nor contracting to build the project.
There were no speakers for public comment.
6. Committee Member and Staff Announcements including requests to place items on future Board Agendas
There were no committee member or staff announcements.
7. Adjourn – the meeting adjourned at 2:55pm.
The next Financial, Administrative and Procurement Subcommittee meeting will be held on Wednesday, March 13, 2024 at 1pm.
Conference Room 5
Ava Community Energy
Ava Community Energy
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1999 Harrison Street, Suite 2300
Oakland, CA 94612
Minutes written by Raïssa Ngoma.