MINUTES
Executive Committee of the
Clean Power Alliance of Southern California
Regular Meeting
Thursday, August 15, 2024
2:00 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:
Agoura Hills City Hall
Planning Conference Room
30001 Ladyface Court
Agoura Hills, CA 91301
Clean Power Alliance Office
Executive Conference Room
801 S. Grand Ave., Suite 400
Los Angeles, CA 90017
Sierra Madre City Hall
Council Chambers
232 W. Sierra Madre Blvd.
Sierra Madre, CA 91024
Camarillo City Hall
Office of the Mayor
601 Carmen Drive
Camarillo, CA 93010
Ventura County Government Center
CEO Rincon Room, 4th Floor
Hall of Administration
800 South Victoria Avenue
Ventura, CA 93009
Carson City Hall
Executive Conference Room
701 East Carson Street
Carson, CA 90745
Los Angeles County Hall of Administration
Sybil Brand Conference Room, Room 372
500 West Temple Street
Los Angeles, CA 90012
Ojai City Hall
Conference Room
401 S Ventura St.
Ojai, CA 93023
The Westin Hotel Long Beach
Belmont Conference Room, 1st Floor
333 East Ocean Boulevard
Long Beach, CA 90802
Hawthorne City Hall
Administrative Office
4455 W. 126th Street
Hawthorne, CA 90250
CALL TO ORDER & ROLL CALL
Chair Klein Lopez called the meeting to order at 2 p.m. and Gabriela Monzon, Clerk of the Board, conducted roll call.
Roll Call
Agoura Hills Deborah Klein Lopez Chair Remote
Alhambra Jeff Maloney Committee Member Absent
Beverly Hills Julian Gold Immediate Past Chair Remote
Camarillo Susan Santangelo Committee Member Remote
Carson Cedric Hicks Committee Member Remote
Hawthorne Alex Monteiro Committee Member Remote
Los Angeles County Lindsey Horvath Vice Chair Absent
Ojai Betsy Stix Committee Member Remote
Sierra Madre Robert Parkhurst Committee Member Remote
Ventura County Vianey Lopez Vice Chair Absent
All votes are unanimous unless otherwise stated.
GENERAL PUBLIC COMMENT
There was no public comment.
CONSENT AGENDA
1. Approve Minutes from May 16, 2024, Executive Committee Meeting Motion: Committee Member Hicks, Carson
Second: Committee Member Parkhurst, Sierra Madre
Vote: The consent agenda was approved by a roll call vote with one abstention from Committee Member Parkhurst on Item 1.
REGULAR AGENDA
2. Oral Update from the CEO on CPA Operations
Ted Bardacke, Chief Executive Officer, announced the launch of educational forums for new Board members; congratulated Los Angeles County for securing $328 million in California Energy Commission grants to install electrification measures in low-income communities. Regarding the Clean Energy and Reliability RFO, CPA received 172 bids, 58 of them offering deliverability in CAISO. The Energy Committee will meet to analyze the proposals. Mr. Bardacke stated that Board members have received memos regarding the joint rate comparison mailer, and that staff is watching for expected SCE rate changes in October and January.
Mr. Bardacke clarified for Committee Members Parkhurst and Hicks that the grant-funded program will target low-income residents willing to make upgrades to their homes using contractors. The program will be marketed in 2025, with customers getting installations by the end of that year. Los Angeles County will be administering the program for the larger Southern California area; there is a different administrator for the Central Coast area, including Ventura County.
3. Review Draft Agenda for the September 5, 2024, Board of Directors Meeting Mr. Bardacke discussed the consent agenda, including a Community Advisory Committee appointment to represent West Ventura County; the records retention policy; and a contract amendment with SunZia reflecting membership in CAISO and provisions related to the interconnection from New Mexico to California. Mr.
Bardacke reported on the progress of the first 11 sites for the Power Ready program, providing backup power for critical facilities. Staff is finalizing site leases, which depending on the City may need to be approved by city councils, and additional member agencies are showing interest in the program. Sites proposed in partnership with other government agencies or non-profit organizations would need to be assessed, requiring technical assistance. Staff will add reports on Energized Communities to the quarterly Power Ready program report. Focusing on the regular agenda, Mr. Bardacke stated there will be an item related to an increase in power demand when EV charger programs go online, including educational engagement.
Committee Member Hicks and Monteiro inquired about CPA working with their cities to produce PSAs relating to EV charging. CPA staff may explore collaboration and suggested member agencies look to the City of Carson’s efforts in launching its own program. A managed charging program may be ready by February. Committee Member Gold asked about management options such as assigning customers specific days to charge their vehicles or using optimization charging times. Joanne O’Neill, Director of Customer Programs, said the goal is to have people charge off-peak and at different times; incentives will be helpful.
4. Receive Presentation on Power Share (DAC-GT) Auto-Enrollment and Provide Direction
Joanne O’Neill, Director of Customer Programs, provided a presentation. The program provides CPA low-income customers a 20% bill discount and 100% renewable energy from local sources and is funded by the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC). The current number of more than 6,000 customers will increase to over 10,000. Ms. O’Neill described required changes to the expansion; instead of the current opt-in process, new customers must be auto-enrolled into the program and they must be at a high risk of disconnection. Ms. O’Neill provided background on Power Share, described how auto-enrollment would work, discussed the current enrollment baseline, and explained potential auto-enrollment criteria. In early 2025, staff will be targeting a pool of eligible customers from about 14 member agencies. The customer has to be in the CARE program and live in a disadvantaged community. Committee members were asked to recommend criteria in selecting from the pool of customers: customers with outstanding bills, those on a payment plan, or those in the 90th percentile of census tracts according to CalEnviroScreen. She described the pros and cons of each and provided projected numbers of potential eligible customers.
Committee Member Hicks inquired about customer data from City of Carson and staff noted they have general information about neighborhoods they can share to assist with outreach. Chair Klein Lopez asked if the benefits of the program can be used to encourage customers to sign up for a payment plan if they are in arrears.
Staff responded that while the CPUC has reduced marketing budgets through auto-enrollment, the program would be offered to anyone who contacts CPA about a payment plan; customers can still voluntarily sign up for Power Share as well.
Staff clarified for Committee Member Parkhurst that after auto-enrollment, CPA would randomly select additional customers using the criteria determined by the Board. In response to Committee Member Gold’s question about how to ensure customers that need the program most can participate, staff explained that customers in CARE have been income screened through the school system or government social service agencies, not by providing income data to SCE. While CPA cannot obtain customer income data, the criteria presented by staff aims to target customers who need this program most. Chair Klein Lopez suggested a weighted criteria system to capture more new eligible customers.
After Committee discussion, staff explained that it would present criteria that the Executive Committee has emphasized as important, including criteria that captures customers with the greatest need for the program that also considered reaching customers in a diversity of CPA’s service area. Staff did note that the established criteria for auto-enrollment must meet CPUC guidelines but can be changed over time. Ms. O’Neill closed the presentation with a list of next steps, including incorporating the Committee’s feedback into tariffs that will be presented to the full Board and implementing a new auto-enrollment approach. The Committee agreed that staff should work on an iteration suggested by COO Matt Langer that customers who fall in all three priority categories take precedence, then prioritize those who are in two of the three categories, and then those that fall into only one category.
COMMITTEE MEMBER COMMENTS
Committee Member Hicks requested information about new regulations requiring swimming pool heaters to go from natural gas to electric power.
Committee Member Parkhurst asked if the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles will have an impact on CPA operations; staff responded that CPA is part of Olympics planning as a member of the energy implementation working group, and that the City of Carson will host some events.
ADJOURN
Chair Klein Lopez adjourned the meeting at 3:35 p.m.