MINUTES
Energy Planning & Resources Committee
of the Clean Power Alliance of Southern California
Regular Meeting
Wednesday, August 23, 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
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 Absent
Thousand Oaks Helen Cox Committee Member Absent
West Hollywood Chelsea Byers Committee Member Remote
All votes are unanimous, unless otherwise stated.
GENERAL PUBLIC COMMENT
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There was no public comment.
CONSENT AGENDA
1. Approve Minutes from July 26, 2023, Energy Committee Meeting
2. Receive and File July 2023 Risk Management Team Report Motion: Committee Member Lesser, Manhattan Beach
Second: Committee Member Mallory, Oxnard
Vote: The consent agenda was approved by a roll call vote.
REGULAR AGENDA
3. 2023 Clean Energy and Reliability RFO Longlist Overview Lindsay Saxby, Vice President, Power Supply, provided a presentation on the 2023 Clean Energy and Reliability Request for Offers (RFO) longlist. Ms. Saxby reviewed the purpose, expansions, and goals of the 2023 RFO. CPA received a total of 128 compliant offers and 21 offers from 16 local projects, with most offers being for standalone storage. Ms. Saxby compared the offers based on product and technology type, location, commercial online date, capacity ranking, and solar and storage pricing. Among the bids received were 12 thermal toll offers, 8 offers for existing dispatchable thermal resources with added energy storage, and 3 offers for hydrogen blending. Ms. Saxby also discussed the advantages of hydrogen blending and the addition of storage to existing thermal resources. For expedited project consideration, CPA allowed sellers to request fast track evaluation based on project circumstances and/or CPA’s procurement needs, resulting in 14 such requests across all product categories.
Responding to Committee Member Lesser’s questions about the market shift, Ms.
Saxby explained that the substantial response to the RFOs indicates that the market is increasingly competitive, which would ideally decrease market prices.
Committee Member Mallory asked about staff assessment of hydrogen types and the impact of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). Ms. Saxby explained that the staff will also take into consideration a project’s potential incentive from the IRA or other state funding. Matt Langer, Chief Operating Officer, added that only Green Hydrogen is under consideration, awaiting further guidance from the Department of Treasury. In response to Committee Member Mallory’s question about the fast track process, staff clarified that many projects drop out between receiving an offer and being approved for a shortlist; the fast track process streamlines contract signing in a competitive market. Committee Member Kulcsar requested more information about the water intensity of Green Hydrogen, and staff agreed to provide future updates. Chair Parkhurst asked several questions about early decommissioning, Resource Adequacy (RA) compliance updates and impacts, and hydrogen sources. Staff clarified that CPA may transition a traditional thermal plant to cleaner operations to provide capacity for a cleaner resource. Regarding RA compliance, Ms. Saxby noted challenges in meeting Year Ahead RA requirements due to limited market capacity, potentially resulting in citations and expansion restrictions. Lastly, staff clarified that two of the three hydrogen-blending RFO offers propose that CPA might need to supply its own hydrogen, necessitating further research for the best approach. In response to Committee Member Lesser’s question about RA procurement options, Mr. Langer noted that staff is focused on both short- and long-term procurement; long-term capacity will enhance CPA’s control and reduce reliance on the short-term market.
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4. Power Ready Request for Offers (RFO) Update
Ms. Saxby provided a presentation on the Power Ready RFOs. The Power Ready program offers CPA member agencies the opportunity to host a no-cost behind-the-meter battery energy storage system (BESS) and solar photovoltaic system, enhancing resiliency. Ms. Saxby noted there are 11 different member agency sites; discussed the Power Ready RFO process. Final bids are due September 1 and an RFO Review Team will evaluate final submissions and make recommendations to the Energy Committee for approval.
Committee Member Lesser noted there was some concern regarding contract length and asked if there is any leniency with regard to the length of contracts and asked about bid responses. Staff noted they expect to receive responses from all four bidders. After the initial round of responses, a program analysis will be conducted, seeking feedback for necessary refinements. Chair Parkhurst inquired about potential conflicts of interest relating to Energy Committee members participating in the analysis, especially if their cities are involved in Power Ready projects. Nancy Whang, General Counsel, clarified that staff had evaluated any potential conflicts and are comfortable with committee members engaging in the analysis phase and actively participate in the review team as needed because similar to Clean Energy RFOs, the member agencies are not competing with other bidders in the solicitation process. As other member agencies receive approval for future projects, they will be able to vote in the PPA decisions.
COMMITTEE MEMBER COMMENTS
None.
ADJOURN
Chair Parkhurst adjourned the meeting at 1:13 p.m.