Clean Power Alliance 2024 Board Retreat
June 21, 2024
University Club, USC
8:30am – 2pm
8:30: Registration Opens/Breakfast Begins
9:00: Opening Remarks and Agenda Review – Deborah Klein Lopez and Ted Bardacke 9:15: Around the Room – “What is your favorite thing to do in your city?” 9:30: Get to Know You Better: CPA’s Customer and Community Programs • Overview: Gina Goodhill
• Information Table 1: Customer Solar Programs (Sun Storage, Power Share, Solar for Renters/MF Buildings) – Alex Ricklefs
• Information Table 2: Backup Power for Municipal Facilities (Power Ready) – John Spector
• Information Table 3: Load Management (Power Response, Managed EV Charging) – Jillian Nelson
• Information Table 4: Building Electrification (Energy Advisor, Building Electrification Reach Codes) – Xico Manarolla
• Information Table 5: Local Government Sustainability Project Funding (Energized Communities) – Sona Coffee
• Information Table 6: Low Income Efficient Air Conditioning Incentive – Ted Bardacke 10:20: Break
10:30: CPA Expansion: Considerations and Priorities
• Overview: Ted Bardacke
• Discussion Group 1: Power Supply – Robert Parkhurst, Lindsay Descagnia • Discussion Group 2: Rates Competitiveness/Financial Outlook – Susan Santangelo, Julian Gold, David McNeil, Karen Schmidt
• Discussion Group 3: Governance – Deborah Klein Lopez, Cedric Hicks, Ted Bardacke, Nancy Whang, Gabriela Monzon
• Discussion Group 4: New Member Criteria – Vianey Lopez, Alex Monteiro, Gina Goodhill, Matt Langer
11:20: Break
11:30: Big Ideas, New Strategies, The Next Big Thing
• Overview – Karen Schmidt
• Brainstorm Topic 1: Energy Supply – Lindsay Descagnia • Brainstorm Topic 2: New Business Opportunities – Ted Bardacke, David McNeil • Brainstorm Topic 3: Innovative Marketing – Cara Rene, Astrid Raimondo • Brainstorm Topic 4: Transportation Electrification – Matt Langer • Brainstorm Topic 5: Experimental Rate Design – Karen Schmidt • Brainstorm Topic 6: Wildcards – Gina Goodhill
12:20: Break
12:30: Lunch Begins
12:55: Lunch Speaker/Q&A – Vehicles, Charging, and the Grid: What’s Next with Transportation Electrification
• Ruben Aronin, Principal, Better World Group
1:30: Installation Ceremony: CPA’s 2024-2026 Executive Committee Study Session 1
Get to Know You Better: CPA’s Customer and Community
Programs
Customer / Community Programs Overview
and Informational “Lighting Rounds”
June 21, 2024
Local Programs for a Clean Energy Future
2 Adopted in 2020, and expanded upon via the
2023 Action Plan, it sets a vision for programs
focused on 3 pillars:
Resilience & Grid
Management
Building & Transportation
Electrification
Local Procurement
Resilience & Grid Management
Resilience
Power Ready
A CPA member agency benefit program that
provides critical back-up power to a public
building
Grid Management
Power Response
Homeowners, renters, and business customers
receive financial incentives for responding
to Energy Saving Events
Managed Charging (Q1 ‘25)
Incentivize customers to shift their EV charging
to off-peak times leveraging car telematics
Electrification
Buildings
Reach Code Program
Support for member agencies in evaluating and
adopting building electrification codes
Energized Communities – Building Electrification
Funding and technical expertise for electrification of
member agency facilities
Energy Advisor
Technical support and tools to evaluate upgrades,
apply for rebates, and find local contractors
Efficient AC for CARE Customers (Q2 ‘25)
Provide tenants and landlords access to reduced cost
equipment or incentives to add efficient AC
Transportation
Energized Communities – Electric Fleet
Funding and planning support to implement member
agency fleet electrification
CALeVIP
Charging infrastructure incentives in partnership with
the California Energy Commission
Energized Communities – Community EV (Q4 ‘24)
Identify agency-owned properties for community EV
charging
Local Procurement
Front of the Meter
Power Share
provides income-qualified customers in under-resourced communities with 100% renewable energy and a 20 percent discount
Behind the Meter
Sun Storage Rebates
Rebates of $750 for residential customers (additional
$250 for customers on CARE) when they install an
eligible solar battery storage system in their home
Solar and Storage for Low Income Customers
No cost solar and storage systems for CARE and
Medical Baseline customers and multifamily affordable
housing or multifamily buildings in disadvantaged
communities
Learn about our customer programs
6 Lightning round activity:
There will be three (3) fifteen-minute rounds
Select a table and then rotate
through the stations you are
interested in (15 minutes each)
At the table hear the “elevator
pitch” overview of the program
and ask questions
Table 1: Resiliency – Power Ready
John Spector
Table 2: Load Management – Power Response / Managed Charging Jillian Nelson
Table 3: Energized Communities – Pathways to Electrification Sona Coffee
Table 4: Building Electrification – Reach Codes / Energy Advisor Xico Manarolla
Table 5: Solar Programs – Power Share / Sun Storage Rebates / LMI Alex Ricklefs
Table 6: High Efficiency AC for CARE Customers
Ted Bardacke
Clean Power Alliance Programs
Help Customers and Communities
Create a Sustainable Future
Clean Power Alliance (CPA) is a not-for-profit electricity provider serving 35 Southern California communities with clean energy options. Our customer programs help
enhance community resilience, conserve energy, reduce
harmful greenhouse gas emissions, and save residents
and businesses money on their electric bills.
CPA’s programs support8
Grid management and resiliency2
Transportation and building electrification2
Local energy procuremen;
Energy and cost savings
Find the CPA program
that is best for you
Join CPA in its commitment to
strengthening local communities,
benefiting the environment, and
building a clean energy future.
Power Share
Income-qualified customers in under-resourced
communities receive 100% renewable energy at
a 20% monthly bill discount.
Power Response – Smart Home
Customers receive enrollment incentives by
registering qualified smart devices, such as
thermostats and electric vehicle chargers.
Registered smart devices automatically adjust
during high electricity demand, reducing grid
stress and increasing resiliency.
Power Response – Home
Customers earn money to participate in
conserving energy during times of high electricity
demand. Residential customers manually adjust
their thermostats, lights, and appliances to
reduce grid stress and increase resiliency.
Power Response – Multifamily Community
Residents and property owners work together to
reduce their electricity use when electricity
demand is high. The program provides customers
in participating units with smart thermostats and
financial incentives.
Sun Storage Rebate
Homeowners who install an eligible solar battery
storage system in their home can apply for a
$750 rebate with an additional $250 available
to income-eligible customers.
Learn more about CPA s programs
and their benefits at
cleanpoweralliance.org/programs
Residential Customers
Clean Power Alliance Programs
Help Customers and Communities
Create a Sustainable Future
Power Response – Commercial Leaders
Business owners can earn $80/kW-year for
reducing energy use during high electricity
demand. Eligible devices can be enrolled, or
conservation can be adjusted manually to help
relieve stress on the electrical grid.
Power Ready
This program provides cities and counties with
clean energy backup systems at their facilities to
support critical community or municipal functions
during power outages.
For more information, please visit
cleanpoweralliance.org/programs/
Reach Code Program
Supports partner communities in evaluating and
adopting building electrification codes that
improve indoor air quality, increase electric
vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure, and reduce
harmful greenhouse gas emissions.
Commercial Customers
Partner Communities
Energized Communities
CPA assists partner communities in achieving
sustainability goals through the program’s three
Pathways to Electrification offerings and an
Innovation Grant. Pathways offer financial and
technological support for adopting electric
technologies, while the Innovation Grant funds
local customized sustainability projects.
Green Leader
Businesses and public entities on 100% Green
Power are highlighted for their sustainability
efforts. Green Leaders receive complimentary
marketing and networking benefits.
Study Session 2
CPA Expansion: Considerations and Priorities
Memorandum
To: Board of Directors
From: Ted Bardacke, Chief Executive Officer
Karen Schmidt, Director, Rates and Strategy
Subject: CPA Expansion: Strategy and Considerations, 2025 - 2030 Date: June 21, 2024
INTRODUCTION
Since inception, CPA’s Board has been supportive of pursuing expansion opportunities within Los Angeles and Ventura Counties. Expansion of CPA territory promotes CPA’s mission by providing more choices to more customers, giving more cities more control over their energy mix, extending environmental benefits over a broader swath of Southern California, and giving access to CPA’s programs to more customers and communities. In certain circumstances it can also lower CPA’s overall energy costs and minimize the impact of price volatility in the energy market.
Realizing these benefits of expansion comes with risk. As CPA has matured and energy markets have become more volatile, the organization’s understanding of these risks has deepened. In addition, the current cycle of expansion to six new cities has highlighted potential new issues to contend with in the areas of power supply, ratemaking, and organizational efficiency. Moreover, this recent expansion cycle has fulfilled some of the Board’s 2020 goals regarding what type of new cities to target for inclusion in CPA’s membership. With no new cities contemplated for expansion in 2026, it is an opportune time to revisit the topic of expansion holistically.
BACKGROUND
History
CPA launched service over a period of 16 months (February 2018 to June 2019) with 31 members in the JPA. Westlake Village joined in 2018 and began service in June 2020. In 2020 and 2021 there were no successful expansion activities due to Covid-19 and 2021’s rate competitiveness issues. In fall 2022, the cities of Hermosa Beach, Monrovia, and Santa Paula voted to join CPA and began service in March 2024. In fall 2023, the cities of La Cañada Flintridge, Lynwood, and Port Hueneme voted to join CPA and are scheduled to begin service in October 2025. Together these six new cities increase CPA’s eligible customer base by approximately 7% and expected load by about 9%.
Expansion Logistics
It takes at least two years, and often closer to three years, to move from initial conversations between a prospective city and CPA to launching service. Year One is taken up with several discussions between CPA staff/Board members and city councils/staff, feasibility studies, formal votes by both the CPA Board and city councils, and preparation of an Implementation Plan amendment that must be submitted to the CPUC by the end of a calendar year. The CPUC then imposes a mandatory one calendar year waiting period (Year Two) before service can begin in Year Three. CPA staff, in consultation with new cities and with approval by the CPA Board, determine what month in Year Three is optimal for service to begin.
While cities and CPA commit to one another by the end of Year One, energy markets and rate competitiveness can fluctuate during Years Two and Three. New cities are asked to appoint a Board member and indicate their preferred energy option (default rate product) about nine months prior to service, primarily so that CPA can procure additional Renewable Energy if necessary and so that new cities are represented on the Board when rates and budget are determined for the period in which service will begin in their communities.
Current State
Within Los Angeles and Ventura Counties, there remain 50 cities that could join CPA.1 Only one of these (Fillmore) is located in Ventura County. Of the remaining Los Angeles County eligible cities, most are small to medium-size; only Long Beach, Santa Clarita, Torrance, El Monte, West Covina, Inglewood, and Norwalk have populations greater than 100,000.
Due to Renewable Energy supply challenges and Resource Adequacy market uncertainty, CPA staff has not deeply engaged with new prospective cities during 2024 and no feasibility studies are currently underway; hence, there will be no new service launches in 2026. If CPA desires to continue with expansion efforts for potential service launch in 2027, initial outreach ideally would begin to take place in the fall and winter of 2024.
ISSUE #1: SUPPLY OF RENEWABLE ENERGY AND RESOURCE ADEQUACY (RA) The current pause on new city outreach is largely a result of tight supply conditions for Renewable Energy and RA, which has led to high prices, particularly in the short-term market. CPA is currently engaged in an effort to reduce its reliance on the short-term market for these products via the sustained pursuit of long-term contracts. Until more long-term contracts can be signed and development has advanced to a point where CPA staff believes those new projects have a high likelihood of reaching Commercial Operations, further expansion carries heightened risk.
At the same time, CPA staff also believes that the RA market tightness is beginning to wane, even if short-term prices remain elevated and are only beginning to exhibit a downward trend. As such, the supply risk of further expansion is likely to be more centered in the Renewable Energy space than with RA. If project development challenges ease (i.e. through permitting reform, transmission buildout, changes to CAISO’s interconnection process, further integration of the western electricity grid, etc.) expansion 1 The cities of Azusa, Burbank, Cerritos, Glendale, Los Angeles, Pasadena, and Vernon have municipal utilities and are not eligible to receive service from CPA. The cities of Lancaster, Palmdale, Pico Rivera, and Pomona operate their own CCAs through the Lancaster-controlled CalChoice JPA, which is no longer taking new members. could mitigate price risk to CPA in long-term renewable energy contracting. By adding new load, CPA would lengthen the time frame in which CPA remains a major purchaser of new long-term renewable energy projects, thus reducing risk if later in the decade prices of those projects were to fall from their current elevated levels. A similar dynamic with RA, if prices are trending downward, could emerge as well.
Key Questions:
• Is there a minimum percentage of Renewable Energy and/or Resource Adequacy that CPA should have under long-term contract before it considers further expansion?
• If so, what should those percentages be and, given the risk of project delay and failure, how close to Commercial Operation Date should individual projects be before they are included in these percentage calculations? ISSUE #2: RATE COMPETITIVENESS/FINANCIAL OUTLOOK
Expansion can either raise or lower CPA’s average energy costs, thus impacting rate competitiveness. Because CPA makes significant forward energy purchase commitments (in both the short-term and long-term markets), when energy prices are rising, expansion generally will raise average energy costs, thus providing upward pressure on rates.
Conversely, if energy prices are falling, expansion can lower average costs and therefore put downward pressure on rates.
Variation in the Power Charge Indifference Adjustment (PCIA) between different annual vintages can also impact rate competitiveness and CPA’s overall finances. Currently the PCIA for 2018 vintage customers (the vast majority of customers are this vintage) is lower than the 2023 vintage charged to customers in the new communities. For FY 2023/24 and again for FY 2024/25, the Board decided to provide 2023 vintage customers with the same bill comparisons as 2018 vintage customers. As a result, 2023 customers are covering their costs but contribute lower margins than 2018 vintage customers.
One potential way to mitigate potential adverse financial impacts of enrolling new communities with different PCIA rates than current communities would be to set different bill comparison targets for the new communities based on their respective PCIA vintage.
A second way to mitigate potential adverse financial impacts of enrolling new communities would be to abandon “total bill comparisons” as a rate-setting metric; instead, CPA could charge identical levels of cost-of-service based generation rates across all PCIA vintages and let total bill comparisons differ among customers of different cities.
Both these options bring with them significant marketing challenges and could lead to a lack of cohesiveness among the Board when it comes to rate-setting. In times when overall margins are low and/or PCIA rates for certain vintages are high, this would also pose challenges to marketing CPA to new cities – it could be hard to convince a new city to join if they are required to pay higher rates than CPA’s existing customers, particularly if there were not a CPA rate product available for a new community which is lower than SCE at the time of new enrollment.
A related rates consideration is the temporal disconnect between the time in which cites and CPA vote on membership (Year One) and the launch of service (Year Three). In between those two key moments in time, markets, the PCIA, and rate competitiveness can fluctuate.2 It is staff’s view that to effectively market to prospective new cities and then to deliver on expectations, CPA will need to make, at the time a city votes to join CPA, a limited time (i.e. one to two years) “introductory” promise that the new city’s customers will have at least one rate, Lean, available to them at a discount to SCE. CPA would need be comfortable following through on that promise before it has sufficient data to understand the rate implications.
2 This may eventually be the case with the three new cities that are scheduled to begin service in October 2025.
Key Questions:
• Should CPA move towards identical generation rates for all PCIA vintages and therefore have different bill comparison targets for different cities depending on when they joined CPA?
• Is the Board comfortable with offering an “introductory” commitment to new cities that the Lean rate offered their customers will be less than SCE even if that means that the financial implications for this commitment is uncertain? ISSUE #3: GOVERNANCE
From a staff perspective, CPA’s current Board structure is working well, particularly given the potential challenges of maintaining cohesion on such a large Board. Through structure (particularly CPA’s various committees and stability among their membership), individual leadership characteristics (strong Board Chairs and Vice-Chairs, only one CEO, senior leadership that has been with the organization since 2018-2019), and relentless focus on the organization’s mission of providing choice and local control while leading on decarbonization, CPA has avoided major Board and interorganizational conflict. Indeed, because of the strong Board culture that has been established, it may be that CPA’s large Board size is an asset in terms of cohesion, rather than a liability. Certainly CPA’s size in terms of load – enabled by a large number of JPA members – is an asset in terms of economies of scale, market leverage, and policy influence.
However, there is concern that at some point, size could become a liability. Potential flashpoints could be around large issues – organizational priorities or equity in customer program spending for example. Other areas could be a drag on the organization and reduce efficiencies; logistics within the Board office are already stretched and a hefty amount of the CEO’s time is spent on Board relations (as it should be), particularly due to the continual rotation/onboarding of new Board members.
Key Questions:
• Does the Board believe that at a certain size, the governance risks to CPA of expansion outweigh the potential benefits of expansion. If so, can a number be established?
• If that number were to be established, what structural changes might be considered to mitigate those risks? Some changes could be delegating more authority to the Executive Committee and/or Policy Committees, fewer Board meetings, allowing regional delegation of voting power,3 etc. • Are there ways to ensure that new members of CPA have institutional buy-in to the CPA mission that can outlast changes in the local leadership, such as requiring a supermajority vote at a city council to join CPA?
• Is there a need to develop a more ongoing training program for new Board members, to ensure that there is a steady stream of engaged Board members, including those who might take on future leadership roles? ISSUE #4: NEW MEMBER CRITERIA
Generally, prospective cities come to CPA through one of two routes. They may contact CPA staff seeking information about CPA and the membership process; this is usually because a councilmember has expressed interest, often as a result of them learning about CPA from a fellow elected official. Or, CPA makes the initial contact, often at the urging of local community or advisory groups.
In 2020, the CPA Board established three criteria that staff should consider when assessing these opportunities:
• Does the city fill in a geographic hole in CPA’s service territory? • Does the city have a particularly unique customer mix or load type that is important to decarbonize?
• Would the city maintain and/or enhance CPA’s diverse membership and customer base?
3 For example, MCE, which covers three counties, lets individual members, on an annual basis, delegate their votes to the County Supervisor who represents their County on the MCE Board.
The six cities that voted to join CPA in 2023 and 2024 all met at least two of these three criteria.
Should CPA continue to entertain and pursue expansion opportunities, it is time to revisit these criteria (if only, at a minimum, to reconfirm them) as they are now four years old and both CPA and the energy landscape has changed. Given that some of the most obvious geographic holes have been filled by our six new cities, staff believes that the issues of geography and regional balance are most ripe for modification.
Key Questions:
• Should maintenance and/or enhancement of CPA’s regional balance in Los Angeles County (e.g., recruiting members from across Los Angeles County’s subregions and avoiding dominance on the Board of any particular subregion) replace the filling geographic holes and/or diverse membership base criterion? • Should CPA add any criteria around mission alignment, such as looking at cities with recent Climate Action Plans or other foundational sustainability policy commitments?
Study Session 3
Big Ideas, New Strategies, The Next Big Thing
Memorandum
To: Board of Directors
From: Ted Bardacke, Chief Executive Officer
Karen Schmidt, Director, Rates and Strategy
Subject: Big Ideas, New Strategies
Date: June 21, 2024
SUMMARY
CPA Board members will brainstorm and discuss long-term goals and strategies for CPA to consider for the next 3-5 years and beyond. The Board’s input will help inform future staff investigation and Board deliberation on new opportunities and strategies.
BACKGROUND
Having successfully launched and achieved several major milestones over the past six years, CPA staff took time out during two recent all-staff meetings to consider the future, asking what goals the organization should be setting for next 3-5-10 years to leverage our resources, our experience, and our position as the largest provider of green power in the country to speed the transition to a clean energy future.
In October 2023, staff brainstormed on “big hairy audacious goals” (BHAGs), generating more than 150 ideas for ways that CPA could continue moving the needle on climate action, clean energy innovation, and economic and environmental justice. In March 2024, staff revisited their October 2023 output, distilled and clustered around five recurring themes:
1) More renewable energy more of the time
2) New business opportunities
3) Innovative marketing
4) Transportation electrification
5) Experimental rate design
In this second session staff continued to explore and expand on longer-term ideas while also identifying potential quick wins and things that CPA should consider stopping doing, or doing less of, in order to make room for new opportunities.
A selection of the ideas generated by staff for each of the five themes are included in Attachment 1, as examples to stimulate Board members’ thinking and discussion during a similar exercise that will be facilitated at the Board retreat. They are not all necessarily good ideas, or practical ones – though as staff noted during their process, sometimes the most far-fetched proposal may hold the germ of the next great Big Idea.
Attachment
Big Ideas, New Strategies, The Next Big Thing Presentation Big Ideas, New Strategies, The Next Big Thing
June 21, 2024
February 28, 2023
Objective
Brainstorm about future CPA goals
or initiatives in the areas of:
• Energy supply
• New business opportunities
• Marketing
• Transportation electrification
• Experimental rate design
2 Format
Overview of themes and ideas
from staff
Individual brainstorming
Small group discussions by
theme
Identify areas of interest for
further exploration
3 Theme #1: Energy Supply
Provide 24/7 renewable
offering
Put Lean and Clean products
on a defined pathway to reach
100% carbon free
Fully supplied by long-term
contracts
More renewable energy more
of the time
4 Theme #2: New Business Opportunities
Form research foundation to
fund/develop/patent clean
energy technology
Create a business to repurpose
old EV batteries
Build or invest in proprietary
billing system and market it to
other CCAs/ESPs
Leverage CPA expertise and
resources in new ways
5 Theme #3: Innovative Marketing
Contest or Lottery: Win free
renewable energy for life!
Build a mobile clean energy
food truck or demonstration
home
High profile brand
partnerships
Make CPA a trusted
household name
6 Theme #4: Transportation Electrification
Financing/rebates for customer
EV purchases
CPA owned and maintained
EV chargers in each member
community
Procure heavy-duty EV “test”
fleet and lease to cities or
companies
Drive electrification of the
transport sector
7 Theme #5: Experimental Rate Design
Free EV charging during peak
solar production hours
Dynamic rates tied to
incentives for smart devices
and automated energy
management
Rate pilots with targeted
customer segments
Align price signals and
incentives for clean energy
8 Theme #6: Wild Cards
Ideas that don’t fit any of the
above themes
Quick wins
BHAGs – Big Hairy Audacious
Goals that might take 10-15
years to achieve – moonshots
Sky’s the limit
9 Your charge:
1. Individually brainstorm for 5-10
minutes – one idea per sticky
note. Place sticky notes on
appropriate flip chart by theme
(or wild card)
2. Small group discussion for 15
minutes with theme group of
your choice – discuss/add/build
on ideas
3. Pitch top 1-2 ideas to full group
– 2 minutes max per group
4. Vote for your favorite ideas
using sticky dots – 3 per person
10 Process
Energy Supply
New Business Opportunities
Marketing
Transportation Electrification
Experimental Rate Design
Wild Cards
1. Individually brainstorm for 5-10 minutes – one
idea per sticky note. Place sticky notes on
appropriate flip chart by theme (or wild card)
2. Small group discussion for 15 minutes with theme
group of your choice – discuss/add/build on ideas
3. Pitch top 1-2 ideas to full group – 2 minutes max
per group
4. Vote for your favorite ideas using sticky dots – 3
per person
Themes
11 EDUCATION
Bachelor of Arts Degree
Political Science and European
History
University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia
PROFESSIONAL HIGHLIGHTS
CORO LEAD-LA Inaugural Public Affairs
Program; 2018-2019
Delegate, Gov. Brown Climate & Trade
Mission to Mexico; 2014
Developed and ran Red Carpet/Green
Cars Hollywood Campaign; 2005 -
2018
Created and led National Green
Schools Competition; 2010 - 2012
Selected as one of five global TOYP
Fellows by Osaka Chamber of
Commerce, Japan; 2010
Developed environmental
communications campaign for Salt
Lake Winter Olympics; 2002
AFFILIATIONS
LA League of Conservation Voters
Board Member
UCLA Luskin Center for Innovation
Advisory Board Member
Former California Energy Commission
Clean Transportation
Advisory Board Member
Former KCET Advisory Board Member
Ruben Aronin
Principal
Ruben leads the firm’s clean transportation campaigns in California and in more than a dozen states across the country. He also oversees a growing practice of equity-focused policy advocacy and communications strategies for zero emission vehicle pilot projects and initiatives. His demonstrated commitment to developing and scaling solutions to create a clean economy has yielded enduring relationships with a vast network of stakeholders from the nonprofit, media, government, philanthropy, and private sectors.
Ruben managed and led the California Clean Cars and Trucks Coalitions to successfully win California’s adoption of the Advanced Clean Cars II and Advanced Clean Fleets regulations that will require 100% of new cars and trucks sold in California to be zero emission by 2035 and 2036 respectively.
Ruben architected the campaigns with a diverse coalition of dozens of advocacy organizations including labor, health, consumer, equity, business and environmental organizations. The campaign successfully influenced the California Air Resources Board to strengthen the rule and incorporate equity provisions.
Ruben is also leading a national effort to support more than a dozen states across the country to adopt California’s first-in-the-nation zero emission clean car and clean truck regulations.
Ruben also has created and managed highly effective coalition campaigns to support passage of climate bills and regulations and to win passage of $10 billion dollars in California state funding for zero emission vehicle incentives and infrastructure that prioritizes benefits for frontline communities. He is the director of the California Business Alliance for a Clean Economy -- a statewide alliance of California business leaders who support strong and equitable climate policies. Previously, he led a multi-state campaign opposing the Trump administration’s rollback of clean car standards, co-authored a report on electric vehicle incentives and contributed to several clean truck and clean cars studies.
Prior to joining Better World Group, Ruben served as the Director of Communications and Corporate Relations for Global Green USA, founded by President Gorbachev. He helped lead an innovative green rebuilding effort in New Orleans post Hurricane Katrina and developed a national green schools initiative. Before Global Green, he ran the Earth Communications Office (ECO), a Hollywood-based national nonprofit organization.
Ruben serves on the Advisory Board for the UCLA Luskin Center for Innovation and is a Board member of the LA League of Conservation Voters. He was selected to be an inaugural CORO Lead LA Fellow and recently completed service on the KCET/PBS SoCal Advisory Board where he successfully relaunched their Local Heroes initiative.