MINUTES
Energy Planning & Resources Committee
of the Clean Power Alliance of Southern California
Regular Meeting
Wednesday, April 23, 2025, 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
City of Oxnard Service Center 1
East Conference Room
214 South C Street
Oxnard, CA 93030
West Hollywood City Hall
3rd Floor Conference Room
8300 Santa Monica Blvd.
West Hollywood, CA 90069
Arcadia City Hall
Council Chambers Conference Room
240 W. Huntington Drive
Arcadia, CA 91007
L.A. County Sanitation District
Conference Room D
1955 Workman Mill Road
Whittier, CA 90601
CALL TO ORDER & ROLL CALL
Acting Chair Maloney called the meeting to order at 12:15 p.m. and Annie Mendoza, Deputy Clerk of the Board, conducted roll call.
ROLL CALL
Alhambra Jeff Maloney Committee Member Absent
Arcadia Michael Cao 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 Chair Remote
South Pasadena Diana Mahmud 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 the March 26, 2025, Energy Committee Meeting
2. Receive and File March 2025 Risk Management Team Report Motion: Committee Member Mahmud, South Pasadena
Second: Committee Member Byers, West Hollywood
Vote: The consent agenda was approved by roll call vote, with an abstention from Committee Member Cao on Item 1.
REGULAR AGENDA
3. Oral Update from the Vice President of Power Supply
None.
4. Receive Presentation on the 2025 Clean Energy and Reliability Request for Offers Launch and Provide Feedback to Staff
Lindsay Descagnia, Vice President of Power Supply, presented the 2025 Clean Energy and Reliability RFO goals, which include filing a larger portion of CPA’s portfolio needs for renewable energy and Resource Adequacy (RA) with long-term contracts. The 2025 solicitation has a fast-track provision allowing CPA to target and start negotiations for high-value projects that have Full Capacity Deliverability Status (FCDS). CPA will continue to solicit energy and RA from hybrid natural gas plants that would reduce GHG-emissions by adding battery energy storage or utilize blended fuels. She described the product types and eligible resources, as well as project terms in years, their sizes in megawatts, and the earliest and latest online dates. CPA’s standard evaluation criteria would be applied to all projects with the exception of natural gas tolls.
Ms. Descagnia explained how tariffs might impact contracting. Staff believes most sellers will require contract language to address uncertainties regarding tariff-related cost changes. Staff has discussed potential approaches to mitigate risk related to tariffs and will draft effective contract language. Staff has also prepared ways to address the potential loss of the Inflation Reduction Act tax credits. Ted Bardacke, Chief Executive Officer, added that the federal government announced new tariffs on solar panels from four Southeast Asian countries, which may make big solar projects infeasible though developers have been stockpiling solar panels and there has been increased domestic manufacturing.
Committee Member Mahmud asked if project sizes were being reduced to mitigate risk, and staff responded in the affirmative, adding that smaller projects fit with the volume of resources needed in this RFO. Committee Member Mahmud suggested staff follow contract negotiating strategies developed during the pandemic, as historic supply chain disruptions and other challenges may be similar to tariff impacts. In response to Committee Member Lesser’s inquiry about tariff impacts on current contracts, staff stated that exposure is fairly limited as projects are far along in construction or are a small part of CPA’s portfolio. Staff clarified that they have been communicating with other CCAs on anticipating tariffs.
Committee Member Mahmud asked if CPA anticipates fewer fast-track requests because of tariffs, and staff said they will know more about the number of fast-track projects in the summer. They also clarified that most batteries are manufactured in China, South Korea, and Vietnam, with China producing approximately 70% overall. Committee Member Lesser inquired about CPA community programs impacted by battery storage concerns, and staff responded that the Power Ready program may be affected. In response to Committee Member Lesser’s concerns about the industry, staff said a well-funded, well-organized energy lobby is advocating for tax credits at the federal level.
COMMITTEE MEMBER COMMENTS
Committee Member Lesser inquired about new legislation that would impact household solar panel use, and Mr. Bardacke responded that there’s a bill that would change the net energy metering that benefits homeowners putting electricity onto the grid. CPA’s response last time this issue came forward was launch an incentive program for existing and future solar customers to add battery storage to their home solar systems.
ADJOURN
Chair Parkhurst adjourned the meeting at 1:00 p.m.