Draft Minutes
Financial, Administrative and Procurement Subcommittee
Meeting
Wednesday, July 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:
• Clipper Club, 5 Captain Drive, Emeryville, CA 94608
• 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: Kaur (Emeryville), Andersen (Piedmont), Gonzalez (San Leandro), and Bedolla (Tracy).
Absent: Director Cox (Fremont).
2. Public Comment
Ava Community Energy
Board of Directors Page | 2
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.
Public Comment – Dan Schoenholz noted their attendance at the meeting to discuss Renewable 100 item 4 of the agenda.
3. Approval of Minutes from May 8, 2024
Director Gonzalez (San Leandro) motioned to approve the minutes. Director Andersen (Piedmont) seconded the motion, which passed 4/0/0/0/1.
Yes: Kaur (Emeryville), Andersen (Piedmont), Gonzalez (San Leandro), and Bedolla (Tracy).
No: none
Abstain: none
Recuse: none
Excused: Cox (Fremont).
There were no speakers for public comment.
4. Renewable 100 (R100) Cost Allocation Methodology and Fremont Renewable 100 Citywide Default (Informational Item)
Discuss impact of overview of cost allocation methodology options for pricing Renewable 100 and Bright Choice and the potential impact of Renewable 100 citywide default. Also, consider two implementation timelines approved by City Council (i.e., all 2025 vs. Phased Res/Com 2025/2026).
The Committee Discussed:
• (25:42) Director Bedolla (Tracy) asked about the impact of options A, B, and C on residential and commercial customers currently enrolled in Renewable 100.
He also inquired whether Ava could exempt the current rates for existing customers.
• (30:10) Director Andersen (Piedmont) asked whether now is the right time for Ava to decouple from PG&E and inquired about the time and internal resources staff would need to manage the increased complexity if options B and C were pursued.
• (36:51) Director Gonzalez (San Leandro) sought clarification on whether PG&E’s prices or market prices in general have softened over the past two to three months. He also asked whether PG&E’s residential energy prices are substantially different from Ava’s Bright Choice plan, and if waiting three to five years would alter the market dynamics.
• (54:41) Director Andersen (Piedmont) asked whether market research was done to find out how many renewable 100 customers would opt-down to Bright Choice. She also asked if increasing the premium on Renewable 100 customers is going to impact customers opting down.
Ava Community Energy
Board of Directors Page | 3
• (59:05) Director Gonzalez (San Leandro) expressed concern about why cities with contracts signed during better times are disadvantaged when a new city enters a new product. He also sought clarification on whether the committee was taking a formal position coming out of the meeting.
• (1:04:25) Director Andersen (Piedmont) asked if there are other communities involved in the cost allocation methodology besides the new community potentially opting into Renewable 100. She also suggested that more time and a better understanding of how those variables might impact future trajectories. (50:56) Public Comment – Audrey Ichinose asked for clarification on whether CARE and FERA customers are unaffected by the Fremont opt-up and inquired about the size of CARE and FERA accounts within Ava’s service territory.
5. San Joaquin County JPA Membership (Informational Item) Discuss potential impact of including unincorporated San Joaquin County within Ava’s JPA and service territory (2026 enrollment).
The Committee Discussed:
• (1:45:26) Director Andersen (Piedmont) questioned how large Ava planned to grow its service territory and whether Ava is competing with other CCAs to expand into different parts of California.
• (1:49:58) Director Gonzalez (San Leandro) asked about PG&E’s prices in different parts of the state and how they compare to Ava's. He also asked about the difference between “San Joaquin County’s 2026 High Power Resource” and “Ava with San Joaquin County’s 2026 High Power Resource” i
.
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 was adjourned at 2:56pm.
Minutes written by Raïssa Ngoma.
i Please refer to slide #12 of item 5 for more information.