MINUTES
Energy Planning & Resources Committee
of the Clean Power Alliance of Southern California
Regular Meeting
Wednesday, July 26, 2023, 12:15 p.m.
Meeting videos are available on CPA's YouTube Channel.
http://www.youtube.com/@CPApublicmeetings
Committee Members participated in this meeting from the following locations:
Manhattan Beach City Hall
City Manager Conference Room
1400 Highland Avenue
Manhattan Beach, CA 90266
CPA Office
801 S. Grand Ave., Suite 400
Los Angeles, CA 90017
Alhambra City Hall
Conference Room A
111 S. First Street
Alhambra, CA 91802
Carson City Hall
Executive Conference Room
701 East Carson Street
Carson, CA 90745
West Hollywood City Hall
3rd Floor Conference Room
8300 Santa Monica Blvd.
West Hollywood, CA 90069
Sierra Madre City Hall
Council Chambers
232 W. Sierra Madre Blvd.
Sierra Madre, CA 91024
City of Oxnard Service Center 1
East Conference Room
214 South C Street
Oxnard, CA 93030
Thousand Oaks City Hall
Public Works Conference Room
2100 Thousand Oaks Blvd.
Thousand Oaks, CA 91362
CALL TO ORDER & ROLL CALL
Chair Parkhurst called the meeting to order at 12:15 p.m. and Gabriela Monzon, Board Clerk, conducted roll call.
ROLL CALL
Alhambra Jeff Maloney Committee Member Remote
Carson Reata Kulcsar Committee Member Remote
Manhattan Beach David Lesser Committee Member Remote
Oxnard Kathleen Mallory Committee Member Remote
Sierra Madre Robert Parkhurst Committee Chair Remote
South Pasadena Diana Mahmud Committee Member Remote
Thousand Oaks Helen Cox Committee Member Absent
Clean Power Alliance Energy Planning & Resources Committee Page 2 of 3 July 26, 2023
West Hollywood Chelsea Byers Committee Member Remote
All votes are unanimous, unless otherwise stated.
GENERAL PUBLIC COMMENT
There was no public comment.
CONSENT AGENDA
1. Approve Minutes from June 28, 2023, Energy Committee Meeting
2. Receive and File June 2023 Risk Management Team Report Motion: Committee Member Lesser, Manhattan Beach
Second: Committee Member Byers, West Hollywood
Vote: The consent agenda was approved by a roll call vote.
REGULAR AGENDA
3. Oral Update from Vice President, Power Supply
Lindsay Saxby, Vice President, Power Supply, stated that CPA successfully fulfilled its Resource Adequacy (RA) requirements for September and is increasingly focused on meeting the 2024 year-ahead RA requirements due at the end of October in the face of continued challenging market conditions. CPA received a robust response for each of its product categories in the Clean Energy and Reliability Request for Offers (RFO). Due to recent heat events, the California Independent System Operator (CAISO) has been exporting energy to support western states. Staff is monitoring CAISO emergency protocol executions, but Flex Alerts have not been issued in July.
In response to Committee Member Mahmud’s question concerning Power Response notices, Matt Langer, Chief Operating Officer, explained that notices are deployed via a third party when market energy price thresholds are reached. Committee Member Mahmud expressed concern about repeating notices causing participant fatigue and recommended adjusting criteria for notices and/or increasing program compensation.
Responding to Chair Parkhurst’s inquiry about grid forecasts, staff indicated that the energy load appears manageable due to the significant number of new resources on-line and favorable weather. Committee Member Lesser asked about the state’s energy capacity, and Mr. Langer noted that energy loads are below 45,000 MW but recent challenges with thermal plant outages make it difficult to predict load capacity. Responding to Chair Parkhurst’s questions about RFOs, Ms. Saxby reviewed the timeline for review teams, shortlisting, and approvals.
4. A) Approve the DAC-GT shortlist as recommended by the 2022 Power Share RFO Review Team; B) Approve the CS-GT shortlist as recommended by the 2022 Power Share RFO Review Team
Alexandra Caryotakis, Contract Manager, provided a presentation on the 2022 Power Share RFO shortlist. CPA’s Power Share Program includes both the Disadvantaged Community Green Tariff (DAC-GT) and Community Solar Green Tariff (CSGT) programs, providing approximately 7,600 income-qualified customers in disadvantaged communities with 100% renewable energy. The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) is currently evaluating potential modifications, terminations, or expansions of the DAC-GT and CSGT programs in its Green Access Program (GAP) proceeding. Staff recommends Clean Power Alliance Energy Planning & Resources Committee Page 3 of 3 July 26, 2023
filling the entire program allocation now, as the GAP review might result in the discontinuation of both programs for future solicitations. Ms. Caryotakis reviewed the DAC-GT and CSGT program descriptions, offer results summaries, and shortlist recommendations from the RFO Review Team.
Committee Member Mahmud asked several questions about Developer B. Ms. Caryotakis indicated that CPA currently has contracts with Developer B for other DAC-GT projects; all projects are in good standing; PPA requirements include a security deposit. Staff added that the DAC-GT projects are facing Wholesale Distribution Access Tariff (WDAT) interconnection delays, but Developer B is compliant with allowable extensions of the PPA-specified milestones. Staff is monitoring the delays and providing quarterly updates to the CPUC detailing the project timelines and delays. In response to Committee Member Kulcsar’s question about progress reports submitted to the CPUC, staff noted they contain confidential information from the developers. Chair Parkhurst asked several questions about the scope of Power Share programs offered, program performance results, and additional load acquired. Mr. Langer clarified that CCAs and IOUs have Power Share programs if they serve disadvantaged communities, but those with programs have not fully allocated the DAC-GT and CSGT programs. CPA has one of the most successful programs and the highest number of signed contracts. Regarding the additional load, staff clarified that CPA acquired some small community solar allocations from other CCAs. CPA was the first CCA to implement the Power Share program, reach full program subscription, and with the proposed shortlist will fulfill the full megawatt allocation. Chair Parkhurst asked about the cost implications of having executed the shortlist contracts if the CPUC decides not to cover the above-market costs in the future. Staff indicated it would be highly unlikely for the CPUC to approve 20-year contracts with a cost recovery and then change course. Additionally, if CPA were unable to downsize two of the proposed shortlisted projects, the yearly cost not reimbursed by the CPUC would be in the manageable tens of thousands of dollars range. Committee Member Mahmud commented that the CPUC has always provided 100% recovery of the above-market contracts entered into by IOUs.
Motion: Committee Member Mahmud, South Pasadena
Second: Committee Member Lesser, Manhattan Beach
Vote: Item 4a was approved by a roll call vote.
Motion: Committee Member Mahmud, South Pasadena
Second: Committee Member Lesser, Manhattan Beach
Vote: Item 4b was approved by a roll call vote with a recusal from Committee Member Kulcsar as the City of Carson is a Community Sponsor for the CSGT projects.
COMMITTEE MEMBER COMMENTS
Committee Members Mahmud and Lesser thanked staff for their excellent work to increase reliability and benefit CPA’s low-income customers.
ADJOURN
Chair Parkhurst adjourned the meeting at 1:15 p.m.