Marketing, Regulatory and Legislative Subcommittee
Meeting
Friday, December 20, 2024
12:00 pm
In Person:
Conference Room 5
Ava Community Energy
1999 Harrison Street, Suite 2300
Oakland, CA 94612
Or from the following locations:
• Member Jorgens - Conference Room 5, 37101 Newark Blvd. Newark, CA 94560 • Member Patino - 33349 9th Street Union City, CA 94587 Zoom:
https://ebce-org.zoom.us/j/88008124818
Or join by phone:
+Dial(for higher quality, dial a number based on your current location):
US: +1 669 444 9171 or +1 669 900 6833 or +1 346 248 7799 or +1 719 359 4580 or +1 253 205 0468 or +1 253 215 8782 or +1 309 205 3325
Webinar ID: 880 0812 4818
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 Marketing, Regulatory and Legislative Subcommittee, please email it to the clerk by 5:00 pm the day prior to the meeting.
1. Welcome & Roll Call
2. Public Comment
This item is reserved for persons wishing to address the MRL 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 Ava Community Energy
Board of Directors Page | 2
limited to three minutes per speaker. The MRL Chair may increase or decrease the time allotted to each speaker.
3. Approval of Minutes from April 19, 2024
4. Oakland Roots and Soul Agreement (Informational Item) Review of our draft agreement with Oakland Roots and Soul Soccer Clubs for 2025.
5. Overview of Recent Research Initiatives (Informational Item) Share insights gained from recent research with EV owners and solar customers.
6. Stockton & Lathrop Launch of Service (Informational Item) Preview of Ava’s marketing, education, and outreach plan for mass enrollment in Stockton and Lathrop in 2025.
7. Preview of Upcoming LD Programs Marketing Campaigns (Informational Item) Brief overview of marketing efforts for upcoming Managed Charging, DCFC, e-bike programs.
8. Committee Member and Staff Announcements including requests to place items on future Board Agendas
9. Adjourn
The next Marketing, Regulatory and Legislative Subcommittee meeting will be held on February 21, 2025 at 12pm.
Conference Room 5
Ava Community Energy
1999 Harrison Street, Suite 2300
Oakland, CA 94612
Draft Minutes
Marketing, Regulatory and Legislative Subcommittee
Meeting
Friday, April 19, 2024
12:00 pm
In Person:
Conference Room 5
Ava Community Energy
1999 Harrison Street, Suite 2300
Oakland, CA 94612
Or from the following location(s):
• Conference Room 5, 37101 Newark Blvd. Newark, CA 94560 Zoom:
https://ebce-org.zoom.us/j/88008124818
Or join by phone:
+Dial(for higher quality, dial a number based on your current location):
US: +1 669 444 9171 or +1 669 900 6833 or +1 346 248 7799 or +1 719 359 4580 or +1 253 205 0468 or +1 253 215 8782 or +1 309 205 3325
Webinar ID: 880 0812 4818
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 Marketing, Regulatory and Legislative Subcommittee, please email it to the clerk by 5:00 pm the day prior to the meeting.
1. Welcome & Roll Call
Present: Directors: Barrientos (Livermore), Jorgens (Newark), Sakakihara (Union City) and Chair Roche (Hayward).
Absent: Directors: Bartlett (Berkeley) and Wright (Stockton).
2. Public Comment
Ava Community Energy
Board of Directors Page | 2
This item is reserved for persons wishing to address the MRL 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 MRL Chair may increase or decrease the time allotted to each speaker.
There were no speakers for public comment.
3. Approval of Minutes from April 19, 2024
Director Barrientos (Livermore) motioned to approve the minutes. Director Jorgens (Newark) seconded the motion, which passed 3/0/1/0/2:
Yes: Barrientos (Livermore), Jorgens (Newark) and Chair Roche (Hayward) No: None
Abstain: Director Sakakihara (Union City)
Recuse: None
Not Present: Directors Bartlett (Berkeley) and Wright (Stockton)
4. Legislative Update (Informational Item)
Ava staff will present on a legislative update covering assembly and senate bills The Committee Discussed:
• (21:06) Director Sakakihara (Union City) sought confirmation regarding the process for the legislative informational item, specifically inquiring whether staff will evaluate each bill, recommend a position, and then present the recommendations to the full board in May.
• (21:50) Director Barrientos (Livermore) asked for the definition of bi-directional. • (22:54) Chair Roche (Hayward) inquired about Assembly Bill 817, asking whether it would require a quorum of board members to be present in the room.
She also questioned whether the intent of Assembly Bill 2427 is to provide charging stations.
There were no speakers for public comment.
5. Brand Campaign Update (Informational Item)
Metrics and updates on the brand campaign
The Committee Discussed:
• (50:26) Director Sakakihara (Union City) questioned whether Ava stands for Alameda Valley and if Ava receives any government, nonprofit or Bart benefits for the campaign ads.
• (53:38) Chair Roche (Hayward) queried about the algorithm for Ava’s digital ads, whether they would show up if someone searched for keywords like "solar energy." She also clarified that the East Bay Times Ava ad is digital, and remarked that the Tri-City Voice is becoming more important locally since there are no local papers anymore.
Ava Community Energy
Board of Directors Page | 3
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 1:04pm
The next Marketing, Regulatory and Legislative Subcommittee meeting will be held on June 21, 2024 at 12pm.
Conference Room 5
Ava Community Energy
1999 Harrison Street, Suite 2300
Oakland, CA 94612
Minutes written by Raïssa Ngoma.
2025 Oakland Roots &
Oakland Soul Sponsorship
Proposal
MRL Subcommittee Meeting
December 20, 2024
2 Why Ava Sponsors Teams
Why Do Sports Sponsorships
• Increase brand awareness
• Inform customers about Ava services and
programs through engaging activations
• Create brand luster by association with
community events
• Meet our customers where they are (they
might not be online)
• Boost in employee engagement and morale
• Strengthen local partnerships and alliances
Benefits of Ava’s sponsorships have included a mix
of:
• Booth activation at games
• Field signage
• Game tickets for Ava staff, also used as
social media contest prizes, given to
non-profit partners, etc.
• Social media posts about Ava by teams
• Game night including swag handout
• Player access/appearance
• Clock wrap and streaming ads on
broadcasts
• PA announcements during games
• Ava’s logo on the team jersey
3 Ava History of Sports Sponsorship
Ava has sponsored:
• Oakland Roots men’s professional soccer team
since its inception in 2018
• Oakland Soul women's professional soccer team
since its inception in 2023
• Pleasanton RAGE women’s professional soccer
team since 2023
• Oakland Ballers minor league baseball team
since its inception in 2024
4 About Oakland Roots Soccer
Club (ORSC)
Oakland Roots
• Founded in 2018 (the same year Ava launched
service) as a men’s team
• Played their first season in 2019 in National
Independent Soccer Association, a Division III
league
• In 2021 they moved up to the Division II USL
Championship league (top league is MLS)
• They play 34 games per year, and have played at
Laney College (2019-2022), and Cal State East
Bay (2023-2024)
• Will play next year at the Oakland Coliseum
Oakland Soul
• Launched in 2023 as a women’s team in the
USL-W league (top league is NWSL)
• Soul played at Merritt college in 2023 and 2024
• They will play at the Oakland Coliseum in 2025
• They play 12 games per season (6 at home)
ORSC plans to build a new stadium in the Malibu
parking lot just south of Oakland Coliseum
5 Ava’s Sponsorship of ORSC
Sponsorship history:
• 2019 - $25,000
• 2020 - $25,000
• 2021 - $125,000 (moved up to USL)
• 2022 - $125,000
• 2023 - $125,000 (plus $10k for soul)
• 2024 - $196,000 ($150k Roots/ $46k Soul),
first time with our logo on the jerseys
2024 Sponsorship Package
• Booth activation at games (average
attendance 3,902 mens)
• Field signage
• Season tix available for Ava staff usage,
give-aways
• Social media posts by teams about Ava
• Clock wrap and streaming ads
• PA announcements
• Back of jersey logo (players and fans)
6 2024 Assets
Booth with Ava staff Branded backdrop for photos
Clean & Green night
Branded scoreboard
Social media
Field signage
7 2025 Proposed Sponsorship
• OFFICIAL PARTNER + IP RIGHTS
• PARTNER PAGES WITH LOGO LINK
• PRESS ANNOUNCEMENT
• BACK OF JERSEY
• MEDIA BACKDROP
• SOCIAL MEDIA “POWER” SERIES
• COLISEUM VIDEO BOARD + LED RIBBON
• FIELD BOARDS
• GAME DAY ACTIVATIONS + TICKETS
• PA ANNOUNCEMENTS DURING GAME
• DRONE LIGHT SHOW TITLE NIGHT
• UPCYCLED FASHION COMPETITION
• PRE-POST FAN SURVEY
Analysis
● Lower price point than last year’s
sponsorship
● Upside potential of more fans at games
○ BART-accessible stadium
○ More seats (audience not limited by
small stadium size)
● Larger stadium means better branding
opportunity on large stadium screens
● Focus on in-game assets. We removed the
streaming clock wrap and video ads - we
think these have more value for a national
brand
$141,000 Roots
$ 34,000 Soul
$175,000 total
8 Next Steps
• Answer questions and solicit feedback from MRL
subcommittee today about the proposed ORSC
proposal
• Request Board approval at the January meeting
• If approved by Board, negotiate contract for 2025
season
Overview and Insights from
Recent Market Research
MRL Subcommittee Meeting
December 20, 2024
Research and Insights to Fuel Our Work
2 Ava Community
Energy
2x yearly survey to
measure brand health
(Existing territory +
San Joaquin County)
DCFC
Qualitative and
quantitative work to
shape DCFC GTM
Managed Charging
Pre-launch quant
survey to measure
brand awareness and
sentiment conducted
in September
DERMs
Focus Groups to
inform messaging and
program design
3 EV Charging Insights
• Audience: EV and PHEV drivers in our territory
• Sample: 400 total online surveys divided into
two demographically consistent sub-groups
• Split A: will receive standard
communications
• Split B: will receive “heavy”
communications
• Results in baseline reported in aggregate
4 Managed Charging: Baseline Study
Methodology Key Findings
• Awareness of Ava is low, but those who are
familiar hold broadly positive views of us
• After reading a short description, > ¾ of
respondents expressed favorable opinions of
CCAs; viewed Ava as a trustworthy provider of
an essential service
• Few respondent had heard of managed
charging before the survey; after learning
more, 4 in 5 reported a favorable opinion of it
• Statements about cost savings, environmental
benefits, and grid resiliency were most
motivating
• Strong positive response to the MC program
did not impact drivers’ perception of Ava
Q3-10. Next you will see a list of several organizations. Please indicate if you have a favorable or unfavorable opinion of each one.
Ava Community Energy EV Driver Survey
DRAFT| 5
Energy Provider Favorable Ratings
While a majority of EV drivers aren’t able to form an opinion of Ava, those who have generally view Ava favorably.
PG&E carries significant unfavorable sentiments among drivers, and very few have heard of Optiwatt today.
Ava Community Energy EV Driver Survey| 20
3%
15%
82%
Heard a lot
Heard a little
Haven't heard
anything
Managed Charging Awareness
Few have heard of managed charging for electric vehicles. 18%
n=71
Never heard of
67%
Thinking about electric vehicle charging, have you heard or seen anything recently about “managed charging” of electric vehicles in [your] county? What is your opinion of “managed
charging” for electric vehicles?
“You could earn an extra
$225 a year when you
charge your EV at home”
“That they will vary your car's charging
time to when renewables are available”
“You can subscribe to a program that
will determine when you charge”
“Helps EV owners schedule
charging for non-peak times”
“That the EV will ask permission
from the utility to charge” Favorable: 26%
Somewhat: 17%
Strongly 9%
Unfavorable: 8%
Somewhat: 5%
Strongly 3%
9 7
• Learn about EV and EV charging knowledge and attitudes in our service territory, with a special focus on residents of MFH
• Understand perceptions of existing public charging options • Discover what aspects of the public charging experience are most important to customers, and if there are
differences among different customer types
• Validate network name
DCFC Research
Objectives
8 DCFC Research - October 2024
Key Findings
Cost is a key factor
9 As a NFP, we are expected to be less expensive
10 Public DCFC Feature Expectations
11 The Climate Beats Community, but Speed
and Availability Beat Them Both
12 13
DERMS
14 Methodology
• Four virtual focus groups were conducted on October 16th & 17th , 2024 via Zoom • Each group lasted 90 minutes and was conducted with Ava customers • Group 1: 10 solar customers who also own a battery
• Group 2: 9 solar customers who would consider purchasing a battery • Group 3: 8 non-solar customers
• Group 4: 10 solar owners (mixed battery and non-battery) • Participants were offered $150 for their time
15 Summary of Findings
DERMS program can be an incentive to drive
adoption of home batteries with a solar panel
system
Program messaging must highlight approximate
size of rebates and ability of customers to
retain some control of their energy
Being independent of the electrical grid is a key
driver for adding a home battery. DERMS
program must be perceived as preserving this
independence for the customer.
Key Finding Categories:
● Managing energy consumption
● Motivations for installing solar +
batteries
● DERMs Programs
● Brand awareness and trust
16 Home Electrification
Moving to solar, especially with a battery, drives
many homeowners to electrify their home
appliances
“I have a gas dryer, a gas water heater, and a gas stove. And so I was also thinking if I converted those to electric at any time in the near future, that would be another reason, because it's going to be the lack of gas and fear of a fire or a broken that would limit my possibilities. I don't think I use that much electricity. I was thinking I might have an electric powered car someday…” (Lyn)
Homeowners without solar tend to look first to their
hot water heater as the most effective way to
improve their overall energy efficiency
“The hot water heater for me. Well, I just have always been told that that takes up a lot of the energy, in addition the refrigerator.” (Deneen) I had PG&E come out and have a look at where most of my usage was coming from, which I mentioned earlier, it was around the hot water. So I have the tankless water heater and you can set the timer on it for when you want hot water to be available on demand, that's helpful.” (Neelam) Lyn clip
Group 4
58:55-59:18
17 Control Over the System
Giving up control of their system is a significant concern for homeowners. Specifically, they are worried about not having electricity when they need it.
• Most want to set a limit to the amount of battery that can be used
“I set my battery, it can go down to like 14% or something, and I see that it does go all the way down because evidently they're pulling, I get no kind of notification, but they're pulling energy from my battery.” (Mark, Solar w/ Battery)
Yeah, I mean it's basically to the point that if I buy a battery for backup purposes, I want to have the backup still in place. Otherwise what's the point? So that means I can, within reason based on my usage parameters and the size of the battery and all that, determine how much of the battery is, let's say, reserved for personal use or so. I mean, obviously if the grid is totally down then they can't draw anything through the grid from the battery. But for those situations where that's not the case, where the grid is still up and running, I still want to be able to have the backup in place for that and otherwise I would be fine with giving somebody control over the remainder of the battery if the conditions are clearly laid out beforehand.” (Johannes, Solar w/o Battery) • Being able to opt-out is equally important
“I think I'd also want to make sure that that option really is in the app for me to access so that if there was a power outage suddenly in my neighborhood, I could change that switch so that the next day I could have power that evening.” (Heather, Solar w/ Battery) “Adding maybe a control on top of that, that if there is a certain circumstance that I just don’t want even them to take any of my energy, I'd be able to hit that button and say no, for that period of time, like a day or two days or whatever it might be” (Neelam, No Solar) “And I think that's the key part of when you say have a third party manage it, are you allowing them to take power when they need it and you don't, or do you have some control over that? In other words, could you have it set that way? But then if you hear there's going to be a power outage, you turn that off.” (David, Solar w/o Battery)
Stockton and Lathrop Launch
of Service
MRL Subcommittee Meeting
December 20, 2024
Background
2 • The cities of Stockton and Lathrop, both in San Joaquin County, will start receiving Ava service in April 2025
• Both cities have selected Bright choice for default service • Unincorporated San Joaquin County will start Ava service in 2026
• The demographics of Stockton and Lathrop are different than our current service area. That presents communications challenges: • Lathrop - new city, fast growing city, lots of rooftop solar • Stockton - one of America’s most diverse cities, very high portion of customers on CARE/FERA, relatively low literacy rates, high proportion of Spanish language
• This is our third mass enrollment phase as an organization, so we have a lot of experience and learnings that we will apply • Key messaging will be about Ava providing savings • We’re working closely with City staff and local CBOs, are hiring a local staff member, and contracting with local vendors to ensure we understand our audience and messaging accordingly
Ava and New Communities - Brief Comparisons
3 City Total
% of Total
Average Residential
Monthly Usage
Average Residential
Monthly Bill
NEM CARE (total electricity)
Lathrop 8,088 38% 34% 370 kWh $155
Stockton 112,260 19% 46% 455 kWh $190
Ava 643,165 20% 19% 360 kWh $150
This will be our first mass enrollment as Ava Community Energy!!! Mass Enrollment Objectives, Strategy, and Approach
4 Objectives:
• Inform residents in Stockton and Lathrop about Ava Community Energy launching our electricity service in April 2025
• Increase Ava brand awareness in a new market
• Maximize retention of customers in Stockton and Lathrop (minimize opt-outs) Strategy:
• Regulatory compliance (enrollment notices)
• An informed customer is a good customer
• Meet people where they are (digital/social, out-of-home, events, languages) Approach
• Keep messaging simple because this is a new product type • Focus messaging on automatic savings
• Work with local partners to help carry the message: cities, chambers of commerce, community-based organizations. They bring credibility to Ava and the city is the “reason” we’re doing this
Marketing, Outreach, and Education Campaign Tactics
5 • Enrollment notices - 4 per customer, via USPS and email, English and Spanish • Also special notices to customers on CARE/FERA, NEM, BPP, PDP, AMP • Advertising - digital, social media, streaming audio, TV, out-of-home, etc. • Event outreach - we’re hiring a full-time outreach coordinator for SJ County • Social media - organic and paid
• Website landing pages - /stockton, /lathrop, /welcome • Press release - also maybe a media event
• Opinion piece by elected official - TBD
• Sponsorships - in discussion with Stockton Ports and Stockton Cargo • Key account outreach
• Partner channels - social media and newsletter toolkits for cities and other partners (chambers of commerce, CBOs) to distribute
• Webinars/office hours - to answer questions about bills in May/June • City Council presentations
Campaign Themes and Messaging
6 Ava is coming soon!
You’ll be automatically
enrolled and start saving
on your energy bill in
April—no effort required.
You’re saving on
clean electricity
Stockton/Lathrop’s choice
for clean energy and lower
rates.
Ava Community Energy is
your local not-for-profit
electricity provider.
Benefits of being an
Ava customer
Service: understanding
your bill
Programs: DCFC, e-bike,
SmartHome
Community: local
sponsorships
April – May June – July Feb – Mar Apr – May Feb – Mar June – July 7 Digital Display and Out of Home
February - March Coming soon!
April - May Welcome to Ava!
June - July Now you’re saving!
8 Landing Pages
• These are currently in preview-mode only, unpublished • https://avaenergy.org/welcome/
• https://avaenergy.org/community/who-we-serve/stockton/ • https://avaenergy.org/community/who-we-serve/lathrop/ • There will be re-directs from /welcome, /stockton, /lathrop • The cities and other channel partners will direct constituents to these pages
• Our advertising and enrollment notices will direct customers to these pages
9 TV Ads
• 0:15 and 0:30 versions to place on Comcast and YouTube • Each will have versions in English and Spanish
• They feature Ava staff and “talent” from the Stockton area • We will have three different messaging versions:
• Coming soon!
• Welcome to Ava!
• Now you’re saving!
Local Support for a
Community-Aware
Launch
10 • We have held several face-to-face meetings with City Staff including sustainability managers and Public Information Officers to ensure we understand how they communicate
with constituents and what channels are available to us • We had an information sharing meeting with numerous
CBOs, hosted by Little Manila Rising
• Ava is hiring a full-time, bilingual San Joaquin County Outreach Coordinator based in Stockon - we made an
offer
• Ava is contracting with a Stockton-based media placement company to help run a substantial ad campaign
• Ava is selecting a local PR/influencer outreach consultant
Upcoming Local
Development Programs
Campaigns
MRL Subcommittee Meeting
December 20, 2024
Managed Charging
2 Name
• Ava SmartHome Charging
Approach
• In partnership with Optiwatt
• Multi-channel integrated marketing effort
• A/B test to gauge the impact of intensive marketing on our brand and program enrollments
• Ava managing tactics requiring PII; Optiwatt managing all others
Timing
• Outreach begins in January
3 SmartHome Charging Landing Pages (Draft)
E-Bike Incentives
4 Name
• Ava Bike Electric
Approach
• In partnership with Aptim
• Email, direct mail (CARE/FERA), PR, collaboration with municipal partners
• Monthly instant rebate drawing
Timing
• Q1 2025 (tentative)
E-Bike Marketing Materials
Postcard
Bike shop poster
Window cling
Point-of-purchase sign
DCFC
6 Name
• Ava Charge
Approach (Oakland City Center West Garage)
• Passive communications for soft launch (site on
PlugShare, signage on site)
• Integrated campaign for main launch. Creative
development in process now
Timing
• Soft launch - January 2025
• Main launch - Q2 2025 (tentative)
7 8
Oakland City Center West Garage
Temporary signage for soft launch
9 Oakland City Center West Garage
Real estate for future
branding (to be installed
with permanent signage)