MINUTES
Board of Directors of the
Clean Power Alliance of Southern California
Special Meeting
Friday, September 26, 2025, 9:00 a.m.
South Park Center, USC Tower
1150 S. Olive Street
Los Angeles, CA 90015
I. ROLL CALL & OPENING REMARKS
Chair Klein Lopez and Ted Bardacke, CEO, provided opening remarks. Gabriela Monzon, Clerk of the Board, conducted roll call.
Roll Call
1 Agoura Hills Deborah Klein Lopez Chair Present
2 Alhambra Jeff Maloney Director Present
3 Arcadia Absent
4 Beverly Hills Craig Corman
Julian Gold
Director
Alternate Present
5 Calabasas Ed Albrecht Director Present
6 Camarillo Susan Santangelo Director Present
7 Carson Cedric Hicks
Reata Kulcsar
Director
Alternate Present
8 Claremont Corey Calaycay Director Present
9 Culver City Absent
10 Downey Absent
11 Hawaiian Gardens Absent
12 Hawthorne Alex Monteiro Director Present
13 Hermosa Beach Ray Jackson
Doug Krauss
Director
Alternate Present
14 La Cañada Flintridge Stephanie Fossan Director Present 15 Los Angeles County Rita Kampalath
Aaron Ordower
Alternate
Alternate Present
16 Lynwood Juan Muñoz-Guevara Director Present
17 Malibu Marianne Riggins Director Present
18 Manhattan Beach David Lesser Director Present
19 Monrovia Edward Belden Director Present
20 Moorpark Absent
21 Ojai Michelle Ellison Alternate Present
22 Oxnard Kathleen Mallory Alternate Present
23 Paramount Absent
24 Port Hueneme Laura Hernandez Director Present
25 Redondo Beach Brad Waller Director Present
26 Rolling Hills Estates Debby Stegura
Jeannie Naughton
Director
Alternate Present
27 Santa Monica Gleam Davis Alternate Present
28 Santa Paula Jenny Crosswhite Director Present
29 Sierra Madre Robert Parkhurst Director Present
30 Simi Valley Absent
31 South Pasadena Omari Ferguson
Diana Mahmud
Director
Alternate Present
32 Temple City Ed Chen Director Present
33 Thousand Oaks David Newman Director Present
34 City of Ventura Absent
35 Ventura County Vianey Lopez Vice Chair Present
36 West Hollywood Absent
37 Westlake Village Absent
38 Whittier Absent
II. GENERAL PUBLIC COMMENT
Jeff Bush provided public comment.
III. Study Session 1: Clean Energy Targets
Staff noted that it is evaluating whether to set a goal of providing 100% Greenhouse Gas (GHG)-free energy by 2035, a decade ahead of California mandates. Some of the considerations for doing this are cost, feasibility, and CPA’s portfolio composition. Recent policy changes have added uncertainty. Staff requested Board input on these considerations ahead of CPA’s Q1 2026 Integrated Resources Plan submission.
Board members encouraged staff to be as ambitious as possible in reducing the greenhouse gas footprint of CPA’s overall energy portfolio but generally endorsed a 100% Clean Energy by 2035 goal only if the organization could do so while keeping Lean Power less expensive than SCE’s base rate. Board members supported flexibility both in determining the trajectory of the Lean Power product clean energy content based on market conditions and technological development and in determining the optimal balance of renewable and zero-carbon resources in the Lean and Clean Power products so that clean energy goals are met most affordably.
III. Study Session 2A and 2B: Asset Ownership: Power Ready and Transmission Staff reviewed the Power Ready program and the electricity transmission sector focusing on opportunities, risks, and considerations for potential asset ownership. Staff discussed exploring the transition of the Power Ready program from its current Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) model to one where CPA develops and owns behind-the-meter solar and battery storage systems for critical sites, as well as opportunities for CPA to own or lease transmission assets in partnership with the private sector. Staff requested feedback from the Board on Power Ready program enhancement, benefits and risks of asset ownership, and identify any due diligence and planning needed to guide future action.
Power Ready Feedback
Board members noted the difficulty of communicating the “value” of resiliency when that value was non-economic, recommended that comprehensive talking points about the program be developed to assist Board members in communicating about the program’s value to staff and fellow councilmembers, and suggested that CPA could be more flexible on contract terms than a private developer when negotiating project details with member agencies. Board members were generally supportive of CPA continuing to explore project ownership within the Power Ready program and provided a number of potential liability and contracting issues they wished to see addressed in that exploration process.
Transmission Feedback
Board members were generally supportive of CPA continuing to pursue this opportunity.
Board members underlined the need to effectively manage risks – particularly wildfire liability and the need to deliver value to CPA customers.
Board members recognized that in order to take advantage of this opportunity:
1. CCAs or California Counties would need to be granted explicit permission by the state legislature to own and finance transmission assets; or
2. CPA would have to facilitate the creation of a new Joint Powers Authority with the explicit permission to own and finance transmission assets; or
3. CPA would have to partner with an existing agency authorized to own and finance transmission.
Board members encouraged staff to pursue all three options simultaneously to see which pathway would be most viable.
IV. ADJOURN