Draft Minutes
Board of Directors Meeting
Wednesday, January 21, 2026
6:00 pm
In Person:
Board Room
Ava Community Energy
1999 Harrison St, Ste 2300
Oakland, CA 94612
Or from the following locations:
• Office of Councilmember Igor Tregub, 2180 Milvia St., 5th Floor, Berkeley, CA 94704
• Hyatt Regency Sacramento, 1209 L Street, Sacramento, CA 95814 • 4917 Knowlson Terrace, Fremont, CA 94555
• 35653 Scarborough Dr Newark, CA 94560
• 1100 Webster St, 2nd Floor Conference Room, Oakland, CA 94607 • Larch Clover Community Center – 11157 West Larch Road, Tracy, CA 95376 • Stockton City Hall – 425 N El Dorado St., Stockton, CA 95202 • 1755 Harvest Landing Ln., Tracy, CA 95376
Via Zoom:
https://avaenergy-org.zoom.us/j/87023071843
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: 870 2307 1843
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) 906- 0491 or [email protected].
Ava Community Energy
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If you have anything that you wish to be distributed to the Board of Directors, please email it to the clerk by 5:00 pm the day prior to the meeting.
1. Welcome & Roll Call
Present: Members: Marquez (Alameda County), Tregub (Berkeley), Kaur (Emeryville), Keng (Fremont), Roche (Hayward), Barrientos (Livermore), Del Catancio (Newark), Brown (Oakland), Balch (Pleasanton), Rickman (San Joaquin County), Fugazi (Stockton), Bedolla (Tracy), Sakakihara (Union City), CAC Chair Souza (Community Advisory Committee), Vice-Chair Gonzalez (San Leandro) and Chair Andersen (Piedmont) Not Present: Members: Lopez (Albany), Morada (Dublin) and Diallo (Lathrop) Alternate Member Bedolla served as the representative for the City of Tracy (Nygard).
Member Kaur joined the meeting at 6:30pm.
Alternate Member Bedolla joined the meeting at 6:43pm.
Member Barrientos joined the meeting at 7:11pm.
2. (2:05) Pledge of Allegiance
The Chair led the Pledge of Allegiance.
3. Public Comment
This item is reserved for persons wishing to address the Board 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 two minutes per speaker and must complete an electronic speaker slip. The Board Chair may increase or decrease the time allotted to each speaker. (3:09) Public Comment: Jessica Tovar spoke in favor of expanding the resilience hubs program.
CONSENT AGENDA
4. (5:41) Approval of Minutes from December 17, 2025
5. Contracts Entered Into (Informational Item)
Vice-Chair Gonzales motioned to approve the Consent Calendar. Member Roche seconded the motion, which was approved 13/0/0/0/5 (yes/no/abstain/recuse/not present)
Yes: Members: Marquez, Tregub, Kaur, Keng, Roche, Del Catancio, Brown, Balch, Rickman, Fugazi, Sakakihara, Vice-Chair Gonzalez and Chair Andersen No: none
Abstain: none
Recuse: none
Not Present: Members: Lopez, Morada, Diallo, Barrientos, Bedolla Ava Community Energy
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REGULAR AGENDA
6. (7:49) CEO Report
Howard Chang, CEO, presented the CEO Report. The written version of the report is available in the January 21, 2026 agenda packet.
Chair Andersen opened the public comment period and there were no speakers.
7. (13:04) CAC Report
The newly elected CAC Chair, Lorraine Sousa, delivered her first report to the Board.
The written version of the report is available in the January 21, 2026 agenda packet.
Chair Andersen opened the public comment period and there were no speakers.
8. (18:42) IRP Overview (Informational Item)
Overview of upcoming Integrated Resource Plan compliance analysis & Ava supplemental analysis
Marie Fontenot, Senior Vice President of Power Resources, presented an overview of the upcoming Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) compliance analysis and answered questions from the Board.
(54:47) Public Comment: Jim Lutz expressed the CAC’s appreciation for staff bringing in house analysis such as that provided in the IRP Overview.
9. (1:02:17) Update on Changes to 2026 Customer Bills (Informational Item) Update on rates and a new PG&E delivery related Base Service Charge Annie Henderson, Chief Customer Officer, presented an update on changes to 2026 customer bills and answered questions from the Board.
(1:33:07) Public Comment: Jessica Tovar stated that in addition to conducting outreach about rates and affordability, there should also be discussion about the benefits that a public not for profit community choice energy agency can bring for local communities.
10.(1:45:25) Meeting Agenda Schedule Protocol (Action Item) Discuss a schedule management protocol to require agenda items to start prior to 9PM for regular board meetings with an option to extend with majority board vote Chair Andersen presented the Meeting Agenda Schedule Protocol and answered questions from the Board.
Ava Community Energy
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Member Roche motioned to approve the Meeting Agenda Schedule Protocol.
Member Barrientos seconded the motion, which was approved 14/0/0/0/4 (yes/no/abstain/recuse/not present):
Yes: Members: Marquez, Tregub, Kaur, Keng, Roche, Barrientos, Del Catancio, Brown, Balch, Rickman, Fugazi, Sakakihara, Vice-Chair Gonzalez and Chair Andersen
No: none
Abstain: none
Recuse: none
Not Present: Members: Lopez, Morada, Diallo and Bedolla
11.(1:51:08) Board Member and Staff Announcements including requests to place items on future Board of Directors Meeting Agendas
There were no announcements or requests.
12.Adjourn
The meeting was adjourned at 7:53pm.
The next Ava Board of Directors meeting will be held on Wednesday, February 18, 2026 at 6pm.
1/21/26 – Ava Board of Directors
AI Generated Courtesy Summary
not official minutes
This summary has not been reviewed for accuracy
Welcome & Roll Call
The Board of Directors meeting was called to order at 6:02 PM on Wednesday, January 21, 2026, by the Chair.
The meeting was held at Ava headquarters at 1999 Harrison Street, Suite 2300 in Oakland, California in the Altamonte conference room. The Clerk conducted roll call and established that a quorum was present with representatives from Alameda County, Albany, Berkeley, Dublin, Emeryville, Fremont, Hayward, Lathrop, Livermore, Newark, Oakland, Pleasanton, San Joaquin County, Stockton, Tracy, Union City, Community Advisory Committee, San Leandro, and Piedmont in attendance.
Pledge of Allegiance
The Chair led the Pledge of Allegiance.
Public Comment
Jessica Tovar from Local Clean Energy Alliance and People's Clean Power Alliance addressed the Board. She reminded the Board about the devastating wildfires that occurred a year ago, emphasizing how these events demonstrated the need for community resilience in the face of climate change. She advocated for resilience hubs to respond to current crises and thanked the Board for not moving forward with contracting Deloitte, which holds contracts with ICE and the Department of Homeland Security. She urged the agency to create a policy that prevents public funds from being used to contract with organizations collaborating with what she termed a "fascist regime."
CONSENT AGENDA
Approval of Minutes from December 17, 2025
Contracts Entered Into (Informational Item)
The consent agenda included two items: approval of minutes from December 17, 2025, and contracts entered into by Ava in January 2026.
Motion to approve the consent agenda was made by Vice Chair and seconded by Member Roche. The motion was approved unanimously by roll call vote.
CEO Report
The CEO presented several updates:
● Recent meetings included an Executive Committee meeting on January 14th where members received an update on customer care and data management services procurement plans. The next Executive Committee meeting on February 4th would likely be canceled due to staff being in Sacramento. ● The Financial Administrative and Procurement (FAP) meeting is scheduled for January 28th at 3:30 PM, while the Marketing Regulatory Legislative subcommittee meeting on December 19th was canceled, with the next one scheduled for March 6th.
● Applications for the Community Advisory Committee (CAC) are now open through February 20th.
The CEO welcomed and congratulated Mickey Sousa as the newly elected CAC Chair. ● The CEO mentioned ongoing work on Ava's outreach strategy, with plans to survey board and CAC members for input on 2026 outreach plans.
● Recent community sponsorship recipients were highlighted, with funding provided to organizations across Ava's service area in areas such as sports, art, music, and STEM. ● A grants ideation public community workshop will be held on January 28th from 5:30-7:30 PM at the Oakland office, with a remote option available.
CAC Report
The newly elected CAC Chair, Mickey Sousa, delivered his first report to the Board. He thanked the committee for electing him as Chair alongside Vice Chair Indera Bachlissen. Souza outlined his goals for the year, which included better understanding how the advisory committee can serve both Ava staff and the Board while acting as a bridge to community needs.
The Chair reported that during their recent meeting, Jessica Tovar had emphasized that communities are already suffering from wildfires and climate change issues, and thanked Ava for opposing corporations working with ICE. The CAC was pleased with the addition of AI-generated minutes despite some name misspellings.
The CAC expressed disappointment regarding the reduction of renewable investments and removal of unbilled credits. The committee also discussed streamlining ad hoc committee communications using categories such as risks, community concerns, legislative issues, and opportunities.
Souza highlighted the possibility of joining forces with San Diego CCA, which has sued for a review of the PCIA (Power Charge Indifference Adjustment), suggesting that Ava and the CAC might help with efforts to reverse recent PCIA reform.
IRP Overview (Informational Item)
Marie Fontenot, Senior Vice President of Power Resources, presented an overview of the upcoming Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) compliance analysis. She explained that the IRP is a biennial compliance filing required by the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) that serves as a long-term road map detailing how Ava will meet future energy demand reliably and affordably.
Key points from her presentation included:
● The CPUC mandates prescriptive modeling assumptions for all load-serving entities, with the filing deadline set for June 1, 2026.
● Previous IRP analyses in 2018, 2020, and 2022 have resulted in procurement mandates from the CPUC.
● Ava is now using an open-source software called GenX to conduct this analysis in-house for the first time, which represents a significant advancement in organizational capabilities. ● The analysis includes three main modeling components: capacity expansion, production cost, and portfolio expansion.
● The CPUC will require analysis of different carbon emission scenarios, including assumptions about statewide carbon goals by 2040.
● The results will be presented to the Board for approval before submission to the CPUC in May or June.
Howard Choy, CEO, emphasized the significant undertaking this analysis represents and noted that developing these capabilities in-house will allow Ava to perform similar analyses more regularly to inform decision- making. The Board discussed the potential for an ad hoc committee to provide additional review of the IRP materials before they come back for final approval.
Members expressed concerns about forecasting data center loads, which are projected to grow significantly (up to 20% year-over-year from 2027-2029), and questions about whether small-scale nuclear power would be part of the state's energy future.
Update on Changes to Customer Bills (Informational Item) Annie Henderson, Chief Customer Officer, presented an update on changes to 2026 customer bills. She explained that due to a late December filing with final rates for January 2026, there were changes from the forecast presented in December 2025:
● Previously, the total bill decrease for average residential customers was forecasted to be about 11%, but based on final numbers, it will be about 5%.
● Ava is still reducing its generation charges by 15-21% depending on service level, but PG&E's delivery charges have increased more than expected.
● The Bright Choice discount and Renewable 100 premium changes approved by the Board in December have been implemented, with most customers seeing these new rates on bills received in early February.
● A new base services charge (fixed monthly fee) from PG&E will begin appearing on residential customers' bills in March 2026, with standard residential customers paying $24 per month, CARE customers paying $6, and FERA customers and those in subsidized housing paying $12.
Several Board members expressed concern about customer confusion regarding bills and the need for clear communication distinguishing between Ava charges and PG&E charges. Member Fugazi shared that her office receives daily questions about energy bills and requested consistent messaging and clear side-by-side comparisons to help constituents understand their bills.
Vice Chair emphasized the importance of clearly communicating that Ava is working to lower customer bills through its portion of the charges, even if the overall bill has increased due to PG&E charges. Member Tregub noted concerns about the base services charge's potential impacts on lower-income customers, especially those in smaller housing units.
Meeting Agenda Schedule Protocol (Action Item)
The Chair presented a proposed protocol to require agenda items to start prior to 9 PM for regular board meetings, with an option to extend with a majority board vote. The proposal was developed to improve meeting efficiency and help staff prepare accordingly, now that meetings are held at Ava offices without the previous venue's 10 PM cutoff.
Board members were supportive of the proposal, with Member Roche noting that it would encourage items to be completed on time and Member Barantas adding that it would prevent items from being drawn out unnecessarily. The Chair clarified that if a substantive agenda item had not begun by 9 PM, it would be continued to the next meeting unless a majority of members voted to proceed.
Motion to approve the meeting agenda schedule protocol was made by Member Roche and seconded by Member Barantas. The motion was approved unanimously by roll call vote.
Board Member and Staff Announcements including requests to place items on future Board of Directors Meeting Agendas There were no announcements or requests.
Adjourn
The meeting was adjourned at 7:53 PM. The next Ava Board of Directors meeting will be held on Wednesday, February 18, 2026, at 6 PM.