CEO Report Item 6
CEO Report Item 6
TO: Ava Community Energy Board of Directors
FROM: Howard Chang, Chief Executive Officer
SUBJECT: CEO Report (Informational Item)
DATE: May 20, 2026
________________________________________________________________________ Recommendation
Accept Chief Executive Officer (CEO) report on update items below.
Executive Committee Meeting
An Executive Committee Meeting was held on Wednesday, May 6, 2026. Quorum was lost during the proceedings and the meeting was adjourned. The next regular Executive Committee will be held on June 3, 2026, at 3pm.
CalCCA Annual Conference
CalCCA held its annual conference May 12-14, 2026 in Sacramento, CA. This year marked the 10-year anniversary of CalCCA, which now represents 25 CCAs throughout California, collectively serving over 15,000,000 people. Ava sent a contingent of staff and board members to collaborate, learn, and share best practices. In addition to CCA staff, industry partners, state legislators, along with members of the CPUC, CEC, and CAISO, convened to celebrate this milestone and collaborate.
San Joaquin County Launch
On May 1, Ava began enrolling customers in unincorporated San Joaquin County. Customers will see this change reflected on the PG&E bill they receive beginning in June 2026. Ava is currently distributing the third of four required enrollment notices; customers will receive either an oversized postcard or an email, depending on the contact information available.
As of May 11, 2026, unincorporated San Joaquin County customers have a participation rate of 92%, meaning that 3,900 customers have opted to stay with PG&E for generation service.
The first solar customer enrollments will begin in June for customers with a PG&E true-up month in May or June. Like non-solar customers, solar customers receive four required enrollment notices: two prior to their enrollment month, one during the enrollment month, and one following enrollment.
CEO Report Item 6
Ava enrolls solar customers on a rolling schedule designed to reduce potential bill impacts associated with an early solar true-up. Enrollment timing takes into account seasonal energy usage patterns and each customer’s specific PG&E true-up month. Solar customer enrollments will continue throughout 2026, with the final group scheduled to enroll in April 2027.
Marketing & Outreach
Ava continues outreach in San Joaquin County through participation in local events (see “Ava in the Community” below) including Municipal Advisory Committee meetings and tailored webinars in Spanish and English for agriculture and residential customers.
In May, Ava is running advertisements online featuring updated creative that reflects the official launch of service. Ads are appearing on Google, Meta, YouTube, and AudioGo platforms, as well as in print publications (Latino Times, San Joaquin Magazine, Tracy Press). Sample advertisements shown here:
CEO Report Item 6
Ava in DC
Community Choice Energy Alliance, the national trade association for CCAs (formerly known as LEAN Energy US), held its annual advocacy trip from April 20-24 in Washington, DC. Sam Sadle and Dominic Faria on Ava’s Public Policy team were there representing Ava alongside a diverse group of CCA leaders from across the country. In total, 22 participants representing 14 CCAs—from California, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, and Ohio—engaged in 28 total meetings with Congressional offices and Federal agencies and led networking events that strengthened connections among CCA advocates, national organizations, and Congressional staff. This included meetings with members of Ava’s Congressional delegation and their staff (Reps. Lateefah Simon, Josh Harder, Ro Khanna, Adam Gray, and Mark DeSaulnier, and Sens.
Alex Padilla and Adam Schiff), along with other members of the California Congressional delegation.
During these meetings and events, Ava and fellow CCA leaders educated policymakers on the CCA business model and how CCAs provide affordable, clean, and reliable power to millions of Americans all over the country. These included discussions on both challenges and opportunities, including the loss of federal clean energy tax credits, the importance of maintaining tax-exempt bond financing as a key tool for affordability, strengthening federal programs that support energy efficiency and reliability, and removing unnecessary burdens on clean energy development. Policymakers were particularly interested in solutions related to affordability, permitting reform, and emerging large load issues. Overall, this was a meaningful opportunity that helped Ava continue to establish itself as a player and leader in the federal policy space, as well as further relationships with decisionmakers in both parties.
Local Development Update
Given the high number of local development activities and varied status of design, implementation, and operations, we will aim to provide a summary update of all programs and services on a quarterly basis via the CEO report. The purpose is to keep the Board appraised of Local Development Programs and activities at a summary level. Action items and deep dives will continue to be brought forth on an as needed basis.
CEO Report Item 6
Program Name Status Description Key Metrics Key Upcoming Dates Planning
Customer Programs
Roadmap On Hold
Define Ava's customer
programs roadmap for 2027-
2032 N/A
Ava evaluating options to
progress the Roadmap
Transportation
Electrification
Ava Charge Operational
Developing EV fast charging
sites on City lots and garages
across Ava's service territory
with a focus on locating near
multi-family dwellings
Oakland City Center West garage
with 31 chargers is now in operation
Ava negotiating with developers
currently under contract to deliver
the next Ava Charge projects
Ava SmartHome Charging Operational
Program to shift home EV
charging away from peak
hours while helping customers
lower their cost of home EV
charging.
>2,700 EVs enrolled, Virtual Power
Plant performance metrics are being
met
Refining customer engagement
and dispatch strategy to increase
participation and optimize
performance
Ava Bike Electric Operational
Program to provide incentives
for customers to purchase
electric bikes, CARE
customers receive higher
incentives and 40% of
allocated funds
over 19,000 applications received,
4,444 e-bikes purchased from 29
participating bike shops. 52% of
rebate funding has been for CARE
customers
Drawing on 4th Tuesday of each
month.
Building Electrification
Health-e Communities Pilot Closed
Direct installation program to
replace gas stoves with
induction for CARE customers
and complete indoor air quality
monitoring to evaluate air
quality impacts. Installed 162 induction cooktops
Ava has closed the program and
is documenting Program
Learnings
CEO Report Item 6
Building Efficiency
Accelerator Operational
CPUC funded program to
complete energy efficiency and
building electrification projects
on commercial and industrial
customers, like LED lighting
and heat pump water heaters
On target to reduce consumption by
12.8 GWh, 14 customers engaged
in 100 unique projects
Program enrollment ends April
2026
SolarApp Heat Pump Water
Heater (HPWH) permitting Canceled
Contract with SolarApp to add
heat pump water heaters to
their online permitting
application
SolarApp will deliver lessons
learned from permitting
departments, HPWH installers, and
manufacturers on the value of
expedited permitting
Contract cancelled do to Federal
withdrawal of IRA funding and
SolarApp needing to focus on
core solar permitting business
Resilience
Critical Municipal Facilities In Development
Program to provide resilience
on critical municipal sites.
Eight projects across four
cities will provide bill savings
Installing 258kW of PV and
1.34MWh of batteries generating
778,000 kWh of clean energy in
year 1.
Five projects have recieved
electrical sign-off. All seven NEM
2.0 projects are expected to be
completed on time. Projects will
become operational over the next
quarter. Ava coordinating
celebrations with City staff.
SmartHome Battery Operational
Program to provide $11.25M in
upfront and ongoing incentives
for residential solar and
storage projects
Manage 21MW of solar paired
batteries for residential and low
income customers.
SmartHome Battery Program
launched in March. Initial projects
being connected to Ava VPP
Community Resilience Hubs Operational
Provide $5.75M in funding for
Technical Assistance and
incentives for the development
of Community serving
Resilience Hubs
Provide technical assistance for up
to 50 Resilience Hubs sites and
provide incentives for Resilience
Hubs
Currently providing Technical
Assistance to cohort of 14 sites
that will be eligidle to apply for an
incentive this summer. Additional
sites can enroll in Technical
Assistance.
CEO Report Item 6
Community Grants
Community Grant Program Operational
$8M budgeted for Community
Grants to work with
Community Based
Organizations across four
strategic focus areas Award ~24 grants through 2033
Staff hosted Community Grants
public workshop to solicit ideas for
next round of community grants.
Staff compiling results and will
develop next round of grant RFPs
for issuance in 2026 with
community input
EV Charging Operational
Provided grants to local non-profits to install up to twelve level 2 EV chargers at multiple
places of worship
Two grants of $300k over 3 years to
Green the Church and Interfaith
Power and light to install community
owned EV chargers
Green the Church has installed
their first project at Glad Tidings
Church in Hayward. Both grantees
continue to work on identifying
sites
Youth Training Operational
Empowering young individuals
through education and
exposure to employment
opportunities and hands-on
training in clean energy
technologies through
Two grants of $300k over 3 years to
Rising Sun and AGAPE to train over
150 youth in electrification and
clean energy trades
Students are beginning to
matriculate into the job market.
Rising Sun is developing an online
jobs platform to help graduates
find work in the trades.
Community Resilience Hubs Operational Emerald Cities Collaborative Grant of $350k over 2 years, ECC
has completed three community
workshops with over 170
participants and 26 unique
community based organizations
ECC planning additional
Community engagement
workshops in 2026 to educate
groups about Resilience Hubs and
get potential sites into Ava's
Technical Assistance Program
Ava in the Community - May
To raise awareness of Ava’s service, support our community, and connect customers to our offerings, Ava sponsors and staffs events throughout our service territory all year long. Additionally, we also deliver presentations to community groups. Below is a list of upcoming events we’ll be attending between 5/20 and 6/30. Learn more at https://avaenergy.org/about-ava/meetings-events/events/ Date Event Type Location
CEO Report Item 6
5/21/2026 French Camp CMAC Presentation French Camp Elementary 5/20/2026 Stockton State of the City Sponsoring & Tabling Adventist Health Arena 5/29/2026 Wind Farm Tour Internal Tour Scott Haggerty Wind Energy Center 5/29/2026 El Concilio Coalition Meeting Sponsoring & Tabling El Concilio California Community Center 5/31/2026 Ballers Sun Day #1 Sponsoring & Tabling Raimondi Park 6/6/2026 San Leandro Cherry Festival Sponsoring & Tabling Downtown San Leandro 6/6/2026 East Bay Green Home Tour Sponsoring & Tabling Various homes in East Bay 6/12/2026 Stockton Ports game Sponsoring & Tabling Banner Islandball Park 6/13/2026 Fremont Pride Fair Tabling Fremont Main Library 6/14/2026 San Joaquin AgFest Sponsoring & Tabling San Joaquin County Fairgrounds 6/20/2026 Hayward Juneteenth Sponsoring & Tabling Hayward Heritage Plaza 6/20/2026 Stockton Juneteenth Sponsoring San Joaquin County Fairgrounds 6/27/2026 E Bike Test and Ride Sponsoring & Tabling Oakland Coliseum BART CEO Report Item 6
Community Sponsorship Recipients
Three times a year, Ava awards sponsorships to community organizations across our service area. Funding areas include (but are not limited to) sports, art, music, and STEM. More information, eligibility criteria, and a link to apply for the next round of sponsorships can be found at https://avaenergy.org/community/grants-sponsorships/community-sponsorships/. The most recent sponsorship recipients are:
Recipient Org City Type Sponsorship Amount
Women of the World Fund Oakland Social Services $2,500
Oakland Ballet Company Oakland Arts and Culture $2,500
The Leap Center San Leandro Environmental $2,500
California Field School Oakland Bike $2,500
Beloved Communities
Network Oakland Food $2,500
Stockton Art League Stockton Arts and Culture $2,500
Roosevelt Green Hornets San Leandro Education $2,500
Seneca Family of Agencies San Leandro Youth $2,500
Partners For Change Tri-Valley Livermore Social Services $2,500 Green Silicon Valley Fremont Education $2,500
CEO Report Item 6
The Peace Haven Corporation Hayward Social Services $2,500 Albany Climate Action
Coalition Albany Environmental $2,500
Trybe Inc. Oakland Arts and Culture $2,500
Walk Oakland Bike Oakland Oakland Bike $2,500
Down by the Bay Nursery Hayward Environmental $2,500
East Bay Photo Collective Oakland Arts and Culture $2,500 Serenity House Oakland Public Health $2,500
Tri-City Ecology Center Fremont Environmental $2,500