Draft Minutes
Board of Directors Meeting
Wednesday, June 17, 2026
6:00 pm
In Person:
Board Room
Ava Community Energy
1999 Harrison St, Ste 2300
Oakland, CA 94612
Or from the following locations:
• Clipper Club – 5 Captain Dr. Emeryville, CA 94608
• 4917 Knowlson Terrace, Fremont, CA 94555
• 35653 Scarborough Dr., Newark, CA 94560
• 1100 Webster St, 2nd Floor Conference Room, Oakland, CA 94607 • 501 W Weber Ave Building 1 Stockton CA 95203
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].
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. (0:02) Welcome & Roll Call
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Present: Members: Marquez (Alameda County), Jordan (Albany), Tregub (Berkeley), Kaur (Emeryville), Keng (Fremont), Roche (Hayward), Barrientos (Livermore), Brown (Oakland), Balch (Pleasanton), Fugazi (Stockton), Nygard (Tracy), Sakakihara (Union City), CAC Vice-Chair Balkissoon (Community Advisory Committee), Vice-Chair Gonzalez (San Leandro) and Chair Andersen (Piedmont)
Alternate Member Jordan served as representative for the City of Albany (Lopez).
Vice-Chair Balkissoon served as the representative for the Community Advisory Committee (Souza).
Not Present: Members: Morada (Dublin), Diallo (Lathrop), Del Catancio (Newark), Rickman (San Joaquin County)
2. (2:14) Pledge of Allegiance
3. (2:30) 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.
There were no speakers for public comment.
4. (3:24) Closed Session Public Comment
There were no speakers for the closed session public comment.
5. (3:50) Closed Session
a. PUBLIC EMPLOYEE PERFORMANCE EVALUATION Pursuant to Government Code Section 54957. Title: Chief Executive Officer
b. CONFERENCE WITH LABOR NEGOTIATORS Pursuant to Government Code Section 54957.6. Agency Representatives: Inder Khalsa, Jonathan Tedesco, Betsy Andersen, and González. Unrepresented employee: Chief Executive Officer.
6. (1:17:03) Report Out of Closed Session
There were no items to report out of closed session.
CONSENT AGENDA
7. (1:17:19) Approval of Minutes from May 20, 2026
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8. Contracts Entered Into (Informational Item)
9. FY 2025-2026 Q3 Financial Statements (Informational Item) R-2026-11 Ava’s third quarter financial statements for fiscal year 2025-2026
10.PFM Financial Advisors Contract (Action Item) R-2026-12 Authorize staff to retain PFM Financial Advisors LLC for consulting services related to prepayment bond transactions.
11.Fourth Amendment Renewing SmartBidder Master Agreement with Ascend Analytics LLC (Action Item)
Authorize CEO to negotiate and sign a fourth amendment renewing the Agreement for a new one-year term.
Vice-Chair González motioned to approve the Consent Agenda. Member Marquez seconded the motion, which was approved 14/0/0/0/4 (yes/no/abstain/recuse/not present):
Yes: Members: Marquez, Jordan, Tregub, Kaur, Keng, Roche, Barrientos, Brown, Balch, Fugazi, Nygard, Sakakihara, Vice-Chair Gonzalez and Chair Andersen No: none
Abstain: none
Recuse: none
Not Present: Members: Morada, Diallo, Del Catancio and Rickman
REGULAR AGENDA
Pursuant to Board direction, any agenda item not started by 9:00 p.m. will be continued to a future meeting unless the Board, by majority vote, elects to hear the item that evening.
The Board may also determine an alternate disposition of the item at its discretion.
12.(1:19:58) CEO Report
Howard Chang, CEO, presented the CEO Report and answered questions from the Board. A written version of the report is available in the June 17, 2026 agenda packet. (1:39:05) Public Comment – Jessica Tovar spoke in favor of increasing the level of collaboration with community-based organizations to facilitate outreach, education, and install completion for electrification programs, and called for the publication of the lessons-learned.
13.(1:46:58) CAC Report
CAC Vice Chair Indira Balkissoon presented the CAC Chair Report on behalf of CAC Chair Mickey Souza, and answered questions from the Board.
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The CAC made two recommendations related to the budget item:
Recommendation 1.Since the revenue deficits are not as dire as were projected back in December 2025, the CAC recommends that the BOD approve of the FY2026-2027 annual budget contingent on the restoration of the $10 million to the local development fund.
Recommendation 2.It is recommended that the BOD develop a policy for a minimum dollar amount for local development funding each year based on some percentage of Ava’s net revenues.
A written version of the report is available in the June 17, 2026 agenda packet. (1:52:07) Public Comment - Alice Sung spoke in support of the CAC’s recommendations regarding the Local Development Fund. Alice Sung stated that much of the remaining funding was already committed and encouraged restoring an additional $10 million for local development projects in the next year's budget. (1:53:06) Public Comment - CAC Chair Souza reiterated the Community Advisory Committee's recommendation to restore the previously allocated $10 million for the Local Development Fund, stating that the allocation had been removed during the budget deficit and should be reinstated now that the agency's financial position had improved.
(1:53:58) Public Comment - Daniel Franco urged the Board to preserve funding for the Local Development Fund and spoke in support for the budget recommendations advanced by the Local Clean Energy Alliance regarding the Local Development Fund.
14. (1:55:34) FY 2026-2027 Annual Budget (Action Item) R-2026-13 Approve the FY 2026-2027 budget
CEO Howard Chang presented the final proposed FY 2026-2027 budget and answered questions from the board.
Public Comment:
(2:28:50) Avi Wong
(2:29:43) Jessica Tovar
(2:30:44) Brett Andrews
(2:32:06) Margie Lewis
(2:32:57) Daniel Franco
(2:33:45) Alice Sung
Six public comment speakers spoke in support of the Community Advisory Committee's recommendations to restore the previously reduced $10 million allocation to the Local Development Fund and to establish a long-term funding framework for future local development investments. Several speakers also encouraged continued investment in Ava Community Energy
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community-based programs, restoration of the grants manager position, and ongoing collaboration with community organizations.
Vice-Chair González motioned to approve the staff recommendation of the FY 2026-2027 Annual Budget, with the understanding that the fall mid-year review will include consideration of restoring Local Development Fund contributions.
Member Balch seconded the motion, which was approved 12/0/0/0/6 (yes/no/abstain/recuse/not present):
Yes: Members: Marquez, Jordan, Tregub, Kaur, Roche, Barrientos, Brown, Balch, Nygard, Sakakihara, Vice-Chair González and Chair Andersen No: none
Abstain: none
Recuse: none
Not Present: Members: Morada, Keng, Diallo, Del Catancio, Rickman and Fugazi
15. (2:49:44) Prepay Financings (Action Item) R-2026-14 Authorize staff to enter into all agreements necessary to transact and close two to three Prepay Bond transactions
CFO Russell Mills presented the prepay financings item and answered questions from the Board.
There were no speakers for public comment.
Member Barrientos motioned to approve the staff recommendation. Member Tregub seconded the motion, which was approved 13/0/0/0/5 (yes/no/abstain/recuse/not present):
Yes: Members: Marquez, Jordan, Tregub, Kaur, Keng, Roche, Barrientos, Brown, Balch, Nygard, Sakakihara, Vice-Chair González and Chair Andersen No: none
Abstain: none
Recuse: none
Not Present: Members: Morada, Diallo, Del Catancio, Rickman and Fugazi
16. (3:03:45) Board Member and Staff Announcements including requests to place items on future Board of Directors Meeting Agendas
CEO Howard Chang announced two upcoming items: First, an ebike test and ride event will be held in Oakland on June 27th from 11:00 AM to 3:00 PM, where customers will be invited to experience ebikes and explore the agency's rebate program. Second, CEO Chang noted that June 1 marked Ava's eighth anniversary of serving customers.
17. (3:04:50) Adjourn
The meeting was adjourned at 9:06pm.
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The next Ava Board of Directors meeting will be held on Wednesday, July 15, 2026 at 6pm.