MINUTES
Energy Planning & Resources Committee
of the Clean Power Alliance of Southern California
Regular Meeting
Wednesday, April 24, 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
CPA 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
Los Angeles County Sanitation District
1955 Workman Mill Road
Whittier, CA 90601
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 Absent
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
There was no public comment.
CONSENT AGENDA
1. Approve Minutes from February 28, 2024, Energy Committee Meeting
2. Receive and File March 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 oral report on an upcoming energy storage contract.
4. Authorize CPA Staff to Enter Contract Negotiations with Two Bilateral Offers (Projects A and B) and Two Bilateral Offers (Projects C and D) Provided That Projects C and D Meet Certain Valuation Thresholds, as Recommended by the RFO Review Team
Ms. Descagnia presented the item. The 2023 Clean Energy and Reliability Request for Offers (RFO) aims to fill a larger portion of CPA’s portfolio with long-term contracts. In September 2023, the Energy Committee approved a shortlist of 10 projects and a waitlist of 17 projects. Staff believes there is risk related to CPA’s near-term goal of having 95% of its annual renewable energy and 90% of RA needs under long-term contract by 2027 because of changing market conditions and uncertainty around new project development. Staff recommend consideration of high-value bilateral project offers with FCDS, or a high likelihood to receive it, and not wait until the next RFO to consider the offers. Lower risk, viable projects with FCDS may not be available in the next RFO. CPA has been presented with four bilateral offers that meet these conditions of high-value projects with FCDS, or likely to receive it. Staff is recommending entering into contract negotiations for three of the offers and conditionally recommended one other offer contingent on valuation thresholds, recommended by the review team. Ms. Descagnia presented details about FCDS, a designation approved by CAISO. Two of the projects under committee consideration have FCDS. The two that do not are expected to receive notice from CAISO of an allocation at the end of May if they can secure a long-term contract. Ms. Descagnia also described challenging market conditions, such as limited supply, lack of available interconnection, FCDS challenges, rising financing, and supply chain issues.
Ms. Descagnia described the RFO shortlist, noting that some projects did drop out, with four remaining. Chair Parkhurst asked if the withdrawn projects were procured by another agency or if they failed to meet delivery or infrastructure demands. Staff responded that sometimes a project goes to another CCA, and in other cases there were contract terms that CPA was unwilling to agree to. Ms. Descagnia presented the details of four projects for Energy Committee approval. Projects B and C have FCDS; Projects A and D do not have FCDS. Project C would enter negotiations should it meet certain valuation thresholds.
In response to Committee Member Byers’ question about relationships with energy project developers, staff stated that building relationships is important in the industry; one project can lead to another as both parties learn to work together and negotiate efficiently. Two of the projects under consideration are with a developer who has had contracts with CPA. Committee Member Lesser asked about CPA’s RA levels and if CPA can play a role in the industry to address structural limitations related to energy procurement. Regarding RA, staff responded that CPA is far from having too much RA, but if it did, it could sell the excess. If the RA was purchased at a low price and then sold at a peak time, CPA may profit. With regards to CPA’s role in the industry, CPA has informed regulators about the impact of their decisions, as well as adopted a Board position in favor of regionalization of the Western energy grid, involving governance reform of CAISO. Staff noted that CAISO now allows LSEs to participate in evaluating energy projects and gives LSEs priority in procurement over corporate buyers. In response to Committee Member Mallory’s question about standalone storage projects terms, staff explained that terms are usually 10- or 15-years, especially if its RA-only; CPA’s RFOs allow the developers the discretion to bid from 10 to 20 years.
Motion: Committee Member Lesser, Manhattan Beach
Second: Committee Member Byers, West Hollywood
Vote: The item was approved by a roll call vote.
COMMITTEE MEMBER COMMENTS
Chair Parkhurst reported that in the months of March and April, over a 40-day period, California had 100% renewable energy for 38 days and noted there was a time when people did not believe the grid could be run on 100% renewables; he expressed pride that California has had success, and thanked Committee Members for their service.
Committee Member Lesser stated he looks forward to working with the CPA to enlarge its role in dealing with structural limitations in the industry related to green energy generation.
ADJOURN
Chair Parkhurst adjourned the meeting at 12:09.