MINUTES
Energy Planning & Resources Committee
of the Clean Power Alliance of Southern California
Regular Meeting
Wednesday, February 28, 2024, 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
Clean Power Alliance Office
Executive Conference Room
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 Absent
Thousand Oaks Helen Cox Committee Member Remote
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 January 24, 2024, Energy Committee Meeting
2. Receive and File January 2024 Risk Management Team Report Motion: Committee Member Byers, West Hollywood
Second: Committee Member Lesser, Manhattan Beach
Vote: The consent agenda was approved by a roll call vote.
REGULAR AGENDA
3. Oral Update from the Vice President of Power Supply
Lindsay Descagnia, Vice President of Power Supply, provided an update to the Committee, including the Sentinel Energy Center contract coming to the Board for approval in March. The proposed 10-year agreement, CPA's first long-term RA-only contract, would start January 2027, producing 211.85 MW of RA from a natural gas plant. There is no impact to CPA's power content label as there's no natural gas showing in the supply because the program is for RA only. The value of RA from facilities like Sentinel will be important in the new slice-of-day framework, and CPA and Sentinel may be able to transition the facility to cleaner operations using hydrogen blending in the future.
In response to Committee Member Cox’s request for details about the plant, staff responded that it’s a large substation using cycle combustion turbines near Palm Springs. Committee Member Lesser asked about the percentage of RA this project would represent, and Ms. Descagnia said less than 10 percent and that she would bring more information at the Board meeting.
4. Receive Presentation on Renewable Energy and Carbon Free Energy Procurement, including a Market Update, Regulatory Developments, and Potential Changes to the Product Content of CPA Rate Offerings
Ms. Descagnia summarized CPA’s energy content, stating that 68 percent of CPA’s load is on the 100% Green product and the overall energy portfolio in 2023- 2024 is expected to contain 75-80% renewable energy. The goal is to secure 95% of CPA’s renewable energy in long-term contracts by 2029. Procurement prioritizes renewable energy, and CPA is exploring GHG benchmarking that would be met through a combination of renewable and carbon-free resources. Ms. Descagnia described the differences between renewable and carbon-free energy and provided examples of each. Ms. Descagnia also provided a regulatory overview of laws and deadlines set for clean energy targets in the future. CPA’s current overall renewable portfolio exceeds the state targets by more than 25%. Staff conducted a review of the market which indicated an increase in the cost of renewable energy due to several factors: higher demand in California, a reduction of supplies from out-of-state sources, delays in new projects coming online, and interconnection issues. Ms. Descagnia presented a potential product content adjustment, moving to carbon-free based targets for Lean and Clean products with a preference for renewable energy for the 2024-2026 period. The cost of those products may be lowered as CPA continues to receive allocations of carbon-free energy from SCE as part of the PCIA. Ms. Descagnia reviewed the rate setting process, as well as actions to procure short-term renewable energy and continue building CPA’s portfolio of energy resources.
In response to Committee Members’ Cox and Kulcsar questions about rooftop solar incentives, the new CPA tariff, and nuclear resources, staff explained the following: CPA is launching a battery incentive program and developing additional customer programs overall to promote rooftop solar for low and moderate income customers in part to counteract the lower finanical beneifts of the new tariff primarily on the SCE side of the bill. Regarding nuclear resources, CPA has not contracted directly for nuclear, but will be reporting 1.5% nuclear in the Lean product in the 2023 Power Content Label, associated with an RA transaction.
Committee Members Lesser and Parkhurst also asked about GHG benchmarking, functionality of battery storage, and CPA’s proactive/reactive approach to market conditions. Staff explained that GHG benchmarking refers to emissions-related accounting. The challenge of meeting the state’s greenhouse gas reduction goals is the competition from other CCAs wanting to purchase clean energy; new production requires environmental review, land-use approvals, and investments in the grid. CPA’s targets require continued effort to build renewables and the agency will need to be more flexible with using carbon-free sources. Regarding battery storage, staff responded that batteries help lower CPA’s peak load, thereby reducing procurement requirements assigned to CPA by the CPUC and Energy Commission. With regards to market conditions, staff noted that the industry is in a significant transition period where commodity prices are rising sharply. Matthew Langer, Chief Operating Officer, added that staff reacts with strategies such as changing the power content, as well as pursuing long-term contracts and development projects.
Committee Member Cox asked about the cost increase for renewable energy and the possibility of CPA becoming a developer. Mr. Bardacke explained that the cost increase is mostly due to supply and demand, and to a lesser degree supply chain issues, cost of raw materials, and labor. Mr. Bardacke also noted that if CPA were to be interested in becoming a developer, that would be a policy decision requiring a new division. Consultants are reviewing the possibility, but as of now that decision doesn’t make good business sense. Committee Member Mallory expressed support for the Power Share program and its partnerships with jurisdictions that secure more renewables and asked for an update on the program.
Ms. Descagnia replied that a number of projects under development are coming online later this year and next, and that customers will be supplied with interim sources while some projects are being built. Mr. Langer added that the Power Share program is fully enrolled, serving 6,500 customers, with funding from the CPUC. Staff has applied for a grant from the California Infrastructure and Economic Development Bank (IBank) to expand Power Share in Los Angeles County and is exploring a similar grant proposal in Ventura County through the EPA Climate Reduction Grant program.
COMMITTEE MEMBER COMMENTS
Chair Parkhurst congratulated Committee Member Kulscar on the solar project in the City of Carson.
ADJOURN
Chair Parkhurst adjourned the meeting at 1:17 p.m.