MINUTES
MEETING of the Legislative & Regulatory Committee of the Clean Power Alliance of Southern California
Wednesday, January 25, 2023, 10:00 a.m.
Meeting videos are available on CPA’s YouTube Channel.
www.youtube.com/@CPApublicmeetings
Committee Members participated in this meeting from the following locations:
Agoura Hills City Hall
Planning Conference Room
30001 Ladyface Court
Agoura Hills, CA 91301
CPA Office
801 S. Grand Ave., Suite 400
Los Angeles, CA 90017
Carson City Hall
Executive Conference Room
701 East Carson Street
Carson, CA 90745
Manhattan Beach City Hall
City Manager Conference Room
1400 Highland Avenue
Manhattan Beach, CA 90266
Los Angeles County
Hall of Administration
Sybil Brand Conference Room, Room 372
500 West Temple Street
Los Angeles, CA 90012
CALL TO ORDER & ROLL CALL
Committee Chair Deborah Klein Lopez called the meeting to order at 10:00 a.m. and Gabriela Monzon, Board Clerk, conducted roll call.
Roll Call
Agoura Hills Deborah Klein Lopez Chair Remote
Carson Reata Kulcsar Alternate Committee
Member Remote
Los Angeles County Lindsey Horvath Committee Member Remote Manhattan Beach Amy Howorth Committee Member Absent
All votes are unanimous unless otherwise stated.
GENERAL PUBLIC COMMENT
There was no public comment.
CONSENT AGENDA
1. Approve Minutes from November 16, 2023, Legislative & Regulatory Committee Special Meeting
Clean Power Alliance Legislative & Regulatory Committee Page 2 of 3 January 25, 2023 Minutes
Motion: Committee Member Horvath, Los Angeles County
Second: Alternate Committee Member Kulcsar, Carson
Vote: The consent agenda was approved by a roll call vote.
REGULAR AGENDA
2. Review and Recommend Approval of the Proposed 2023 Legislative & Regulatory Policy Platform and Revised Bill Position Protocol to the Board of Directors Gina Goodhill, Director, Government Affairs, and CC Song, Director, Regulatory Affairs, provided a presentation on the proposed updated Legislative & Regulatory Policy Platform. Ms. Goodhill indicated that the previous policy platform has hindered CPA from acting nimbly on bills presented later in the legislative session, amended bills, and bills that do not rise to a high priority level when first presented.
After an analysis of other Community Choice Aggregators (CCAs), staff determined that some CCAs used their respective policy platforms as guidance documents, allowing their staff to use the platform to take positions and subsequently report to their boards. Ms. Goodhill explained that staff proposes revising the platform to make it more prescriptive to provide staff with clear guidance and therefore more comfort with allowing staff to take positions on bills without Board approval. All bill positions would be reported to the Board on a monthly basis. This process will have exceptions, such as for bills that fall outside the scope of the platform, controversial bills with high profile stakeholders, bills that would knowingly put CPA positions out of step with positions CPA cities have taken, or any bill that will raise taxes. Such bills would be presented to the Legislative & Regulatory Committee and then go through the regular Board-approval process before CPA takes a position. Ms. Song reviewed the proposed platform policy principals. The five policy principals include protecting CPA’s local control and competitive position, pursuing power resource planning and procurement, developing and administering customer programs that encourage clean energy adoption, ensuring fair access to data, and supporting CPA’s ability to set its own rates and offer affordable and inclusive services. Ms. Goodhill and Ms. Song reviewed the five principles’ respective categories and reasons for their inclusion in the platform.
Committee Member Horvath asked where the investment of money into development of capacity would be categorized in the policy platform. Ms. Song indicated the second policy platform, power resource planning and procurement.
The category would help guide staff to pursue policies enabling CPA to procure and develop new capacity. Committee Member Horvath commented that the platform should allow staff to swiftly advocate for bills concerning investment in building clean energy infrastructure, even if that investment is not coming directly to CPA but would benefit the region. Staff agreed and suggested including a mention of infrastructure investment under Section 1 Competition and Local Control, Subsection B Finances. In response to Chair Klein Lopez’s question concerning the platform’s coverage at local and regional levels, staff clarified that CPA has taken a more local proactive approach with bills aligning with Board decisions about a direction in CPA policy or programs. For example, when CPA agencies consider building electrification and decarbonization codes, CPA would provide support at the request of Board members. The policy platform would allow for CPA to provide support for such items. Chair Klein Lopez expressed Clean Power Alliance Legislative & Regulatory Committee Page 3 of 3 January 25, 2023 Minutes
apprehension about the policy procedure allowing CPA staff to express support at the local level without a specific request from a Board Member and requested language clarification. Staff suggested the inclusion of a distinction in the proposed platform for differences between the state, federal, and local actions; the platform will help inform the local policy CPA supports but does not allow staff to take proactive action without explicit Board request. Committee Member Kulcsar referenced Committee Member Hicks’ concern for customer affordability and requested that staff ensure the policy acknowledges both competitiveness and an overall focus on customer affordability.
Based on the Committee feedback, staff noted that the changes to the proposed Legislative & Regulatory Policy Platform include clarifications for ‘local’ support, system-wide investments, and enhanced language around affordability in addition to competitiveness.
Motion: Committee Member Horvath, Los Angeles County
Second: Alternate Committee Member Kulcsar, Carson
Vote: Item 2 was approved by a roll call vote with the recommended changes outlined in the discussion.
COMMITTEE MEMBER COMMENTS
Committee Member Horvath announced that the deadline for the submission of bills and spot bills is February 17. Chair Klein Lopez shared that CPA’s virtual lobby day will be held on February 23. Ms. Goodhill shared that lobby day themes include reliability, the state budget, CPA’s Clean Energy Capacity Proposal, and public meeting laws. Mr.
Bardacke added that legislative changes to public meeting laws presented challenges for geographically dispersed public agencies. Mr. Bardacke requested feedback from the Committee on CPA’s engagement in this matter. Committee Member Horvath shared that it is important to maintain and promote accessibility to meetings. Chair Klein Lopez agreed and expressed a preference for potentially agendizing the discussion once staff has had an opportunity to research the matter.
ADJOURN
Chair Klein Lopez adjourned the meeting at 10:52 a.m.