MINUTES
Energy Planning & Resources Committee
of the Clean Power Alliance of Southern California
Regular Meeting
Wednesday, July 22, 2026, 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
LA County Sanitation District
Conference Room A
1955 Workman Mill Road
Whittier, CA 90601
West Hollywood City Hall
3rd Floor Conference Room
8300 Santa Monica Blvd.
West Hollywood, CA 90069
Carson City Hall
Executive Conference Room
701 East Carson Street
Carson, CA 90745
City of Oxnard Service Center 1
East Conference Room
214 South C Street
Oxnard, CA 93030
CALL TO ORDER & ROLL CALL
Chair Maloney called the meeting to order at 12:24 p.m. Annie Mendoza, Deputy Clerk of the Board, conducted roll call.
ROLL CALL
Alhambra Jeff Maloney Chair Remote
Carson Reata Kulcsar Committee Member Remote
La Cañada
Flintridge Stephanie Fossan Committee Member Remote
Manhattan Beach David Lesser Committee Member Remote
Oxnard Kathleen Mallory Committee Member Remote
South Pasadena Diana Mahmud Committee Member Remote
Temple City Ed Chen 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 June 24, 2026, Energy Committee Meeting
2. Receive and File June 2026 Risk Management Team Report Motion: Committee Member Mahmud, South Pasadena
Second: Committee Member Chen, Temple City
Vote: The consent agenda was approved by a roll call vote, with an abstention from Committee Member Lesser on Item 1.
REGULAR AGENDA
3. Approve CPA’s 2026 Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) Filing Package for Submission to the California Public Utilities Commission by the Filing Deadline in a Form Substantially Similar to the Attached IRP
Matt Langer, Chief Operating Officer, introduced the item, noting that the Committee has reviewed the Integrated Resource Plan twice. The current draft includes the Board’s feedback from its July meeting. The Board authorized the Energy Committee to approve the plan that each load-serving entity must file to meet the 2045 clean energy and emissions targets. It comprises a narrative, a resource data template, and a clean system power document, all due by August 10, 2026. Mr. Langer noted that Anthony Boukarim, Resource Planner, Power Supply, was available to answer questions.
Committee Member Mahmud inquired about GHG emissions dropping significantly from 2030 to 2035, and Mr. Boukarim responded that staff entered emission numbers provided by the CPUC into the clean system power tool and generated charging and discharging profiles for battery storage to minimize emissions. The slight increase from 2035 to 2040 is attributable to load growth.
Committee Member Lesser asked whether the CPUC has ever rejected an IRP and on what grounds, and Mr. Langer responded that CPA’s plans have always been accepted, adding that other agencies have had their documents returned for correction because they didn’t follow directions or use the suggested assumptions.
Committee Member Kulcsar praised staff for their work in ensuring emissions remain below the GHG benchmarks set by the State. She also inquired about CPA’s explanation of hydro generation risks and how increasing solar and wind production would be mitigated. Mr. Boukarim stated that hydro makes up a very small percentage of CPA’s portfolio, adding that California imports hydroelectric power from the Pacific Northwest. However, as those source areas increase their decarbonization, hydropower will be retained locally to meet renewable energy targets. Chair Maloney complimented staff for meeting all targets. Committee Member Mahmud added that CPA’s assumptions are reasonable and data is accurate.
Motion: Committee Member Mahmud, South Pasadena
Second: Committee Member Lesser, Manhattan Beach
Vote: Item 3 was approved by a roll call vote
4. 2026 Clean Energy and Reliability RFO Longlist Overview John McNamara, Senior Director, Structured Contracts, stated that CPA received 100 compliant proposals for the 2026 Clean Energy and Reliability RFO. The majority received were for either Standalone Storage or Renewable Generation + Storage. CPA received 27 Long-Duration Energy Storage (LDES) offers that may be used to meet the new CPUC Procurement Order. There were 33 proposals that requested Fast-Track consideration. Mr. McNamara noted that renewable generation prices are higher and more volatile than last year’s RFO but storage prices continue to stabilize and drop.
Mr. McNamara explained that the purpose of this RFO is to solicit long-term contracts, reducing the need to procure products such as Resource Adequacy (RA) and renewable energy in volatile short-term markets. CPA has implemented several changes to the RFO protocol this year, including increased focus on Clean Firm Resources and LDES to support compliance with CPUC’s procurement order.
A new product category has been introduced called “RPS Generation or Storage Paired with an Existing CPA Resource.” It encourages the development of co-located projects that leverage existing contracted resources and interconnection capacity. Staff has revised project eligibility requirements, including reducing maximum project size limits across most product categories to better align procurement volumes, manage risk, and improve portfolio flexibility.
Mr. McNamara broke down the offers by product and technology type, and by size, commenting that large-scale projects are popular. He presented an overview of reduced emissions thermal toll offers. Staff is performing due diligence on proposals, conducting valuations, and the results will be presented to the RFO Review Team and Energy Committee in September. A shortlist and waitlist will be presented to the Energy Committee for consideration. The Board will consider PPAs from November 2026 to March 2027.
Committee Member Mahmud inquired about the lack of geothermal proposals and asked for confirmation that CPA has met its minimum requirement. Staff responded that CPA met its midterm reliability compliance through past procurement and that there are ways to meet the new Clean Firm Resources requirement through geothermal or biomass. She also asked whether SB 1383 has spurred new biomass resources, and staff stated that some shutdown facilities are being repowered and using fuel stock from burned or diseased forests in the Sierras. CPA can now use LDES to meet compliance.
Committee Member Mahmud asked if transmission access is an impediment to geothermal, and staff responded that those resources are early in the development pipeline and are not in the interconnection queue yet. Staff clarified the status of four projects shortlisted from last year’s RFO for the Committee, stating that one was withdrawn, due diligence is being conducted on another, the third is pending, and the fourth, Rexford II, was executed. Responding to Committee Member Mahmud’s question about the two pending offers, staff said they remain pending for various reasons and are evaluating whether they would be a good deal for CPA.
Committee Member Mahmud noted that the consolidation of pricing in standalone storage and co-located projects indicates a maturing market, and staff stated that storage projects, unrelated to renewable energy, still qualify for tax credits, and that results in less volatility.
Staff confirmed for Committee Member Kulcsar that this RFO limited eligibility to Queue Cluster 14, and there are no new-build geothermal projects in that cluster.
Committee Member Kulcsar inquired about the Innovation Solicitation RFO and its timeline, asking if biomass projects could bid during that process. Staff responded that it has already been launched and offers are due December 14, 2026. Staff further explained that with biomass and geothermal, CPA has to proactively look for those projects as developers may not submit formal bids. They typically will become bilateral offers and may be incorporated into the Clean Energy and Reliability review process. Projects involving a re-started natural gas facility would not meet the criteria for Innovation Solicitation.
COMMITTEE MEMBER COMMENTS
Committee Member Mahmud complimented Chair Maloney on presiding over his first meeting as Chair.
Committee Member Kulcsar asked staff to include a map of all of CPA’s energy sources in the Integrated Resource Plan.
ADJOURN
Chair Maloney adjourned the meeting at 1:12 p.m.