MCE BOARD MEETING MINUTES
Thursday, July 21, 2022
7:00 P.M.
This Meeting was conducted pursuant to the requirements of Assembly Bill No. 361 (September 16, 2021) which allows a public agency to use teleconferencing during a Governor-proclaimed state of emergency without meeting usual Ralph M. Brown Act teleconference requirements. Committee Members, staff and members of the public were able to participate in the Committee Meeting via teleconference.
Present: Denise Athas, City of Novato
Tom Butt, City of Richmond, Chair
Tom Campbell, Alternate, City of Benicia
Barbara Coler, Town of Fairfax
Gina Dawson, City of Lafayette
David Fong, Town of Danville
Ford Greene, Town of San Anselmo
Kevin Haroff, City of Larkspur
Janelle Kellman, City of Sausalito
Aaron Meadows, City of Oakley
Katy Miessner, City of Vallejo
Devin Murphy, City of Pinole
Teresa Onoda, Town of Moraga
Doriss Panduro, City of Fairfield
Patricia Ponce, City of San Pablo
Scott Perkins, City of San Ramon
Matt Rinn, City of Pleasant Hill
Katie Rice, County of Marin
Gabriel Quinto, City of El Cerrito
John Vasquez, County of Solano
Brad Wagenknecht, County of Napa
Sally Wilkinson, City of Belvedere and City of Mill Valley Brianne Zorn, City of Martinez
Absent: Edi Birsan, City of Concord
Cindy Darling, City of Walnut Creek
John Gioia, Contra Costa County
Maika Llorens Gulati, City of San Rafael
C. William Kircher, Town of Ross
Leila Mongan, Town of Corte Madera
Shanelle Scales-Preston, City of Pittsburg
Holli Their, Town of Tiburon
DocuSign Envelope ID: 2E43EDAD-95E3-4CA4-BD96-D32ABC107F07 Staff
& Others: Jesica Brooks, Assistant Board Clerk
Stephanie Chen, Senior Policy Counsel
Sarah Dillemuth, Marketing and Communications Associate Mariela Herrick, Community Development Manager
Vicken Kasarjian, Chief Operating Officer
Joey Lande, Manager of Customer Programs
Catalina Murphy, Associate General Counsel
David Potovsky, Principal Power Procurement Manager
Evelyn Reyes, Internal Operations Coordinator
Enyonam Senyo-Mensah, Office Manager
Dawn Weisz, Chief Executive Officer
1. Roll Call
Chair Butt called the regular meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. with quorum established by roll call.
2. Board Announcements (Discussion)
Comments were made by Director Haroff.
3. Public Open Time (Discussion)
Chair Butt opened the public comment period and there were no comments.
4. Resolution No. 2022-09 Authorizing Continued Remote Teleconference Meetings for the Board of Directors and Every Committee of the Board of Directors Pursuant to Government Code Section 54953(e)
(Discussion/Action)
Chair Butt opened the public comment period and there were no comments.
Action: It was M/S/C (Onoda/Greene) adopt proposed Resolution No. 2022-09 Authorizing Continued Remote Teleconference Meetings for the Board of Directors and Every Committee of the Board of Directors Pursuant to Government Code Section 54953(e). Motion carried by DocuSign Envelope ID: 2E43EDAD-95E3-4CA4-BD96-D32ABC107F07 unanimous roll call vote. (Absent: Directors, Birsan, Darling, Gioia, Gulati, Kircher, Mongan, Scales-Preston, and Thier).
5. Report from Chief Executive Officer (Discussion)
CEO, Dawn Weisz, reported the following:
Announced our first Virtual Power Plant project in Richmond which will help low-income residents. A great article was published about this in InsideClimate News clearly explaining the benefits and how it will work.
Expanded the MCE Sync app beyond the pilot program with a target of enrolling 4,000 customers. This new phase is beneficial in several ways:
o increases the number of customers we can serve
o includes aligning EV charging with home rooftop solar generation, grid solar availability, grid-reliability, incentive payments worth up to $10 per month, and customer
education about smarter charging strategies.
We have just reported an almost 150% year-over-year increase in our energy efficiency programs.
We have finalized the addition of battery storage at the West Marin Medical Center, a critical facility in Point Reyes, who is participating in our Energy Storage Program.
MCE was named as one the “Top Bay Area Workplaces 2022”! There were favorable responses to Federal meetings MCE attended a few months ago. Earmark requests are moving along the approval process to expand MCE’s EV program, Green and Healthy homes program, and possible energy storage for critical facilities.
MCE is looking forward to receiving final funding information later this year.
On May 5th, 2022, the Technical Committee authorized staff to consider acceptance of PCIA eligible renewable allocations from PG&E. Since then, MCE has received information on its potential Voluntary Allocation share from PG&E and will soon be executing an attestation accepting allocations from PG&E within the authorization limits granted by the Technical Committee. Stephanie Chen provided a brief update on the recent
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) decision. West Virginia vs.
Environmental Protection Agency. The Decision limits a couple of the tools that the EPA would have had under the clean power plan to reduce emissions associated with electricity generation.
Specifically, the decision prevents the EPA from establishing a national cap and trade program like the one we have here in California and it would also prevent the EPA from requiring utilities to DocuSign Envelope ID: 2E43EDAD-95E3-4CA4-BD96-D32ABC107F07 shift from dirtier fuels like coal to cleaner fuels like gas or renewables. If the country is going to take either of these steps the direction to do so has to come from Congress. The decision from the Supreme court just says that decision cannot come from an executive agency. However, the ruling still leaves many reduction tools at the EPA’s disposal. It also does not implicate other federal agencies like the Department of Energy which provides a lot of grants for research and development as well as deployment of clean energy technologies. The decision also does not touch what states and local agencies like cities, counties, and MCE can do to reduce emissions. Our work at MCE is not impacted by the decision of the Supreme Court.
6. Consent Calendar (Discussion/Action)
C.1 Approval of 5.19.22 Meeting Minutes
C.2 Approved Contracts For Energy Update
Chair Butt opened the public comment period and there were no comments.
7. Energy Storage Resource Adequacy Agreement with Hecate Grid Humidor Storage 185 LLC (Discussion/Action)
David Potovsky, Principal Power Procurement Manager, introduced this item and addressed questions from Board members.
Chair Butt opened the public comment period and there were no comments.
Action: It was M/S/C (Haroff/Perkins) to authorize execution of the Energy Storage Resource Adequacy Agreement with Hecate Grid Humidor Storage 185 LLC. Motion carried by unanimous roll call vote. (Absent:
Directors, Birsan, Darling, Gioia, Gulati, Kircher, Mongan, Scales-Preston, and Thier).
Action: It was M/S/C (Perkins/Wagenknecht) to approve Consent Calendar items C.1 and C.2. Motion carried by unanimous roll call vote. (Absent: Directors, Birsan, Darling, Gioia, Gulati, Kircher, Mongan, Scales-Preston, and Thier).
DocuSign Envelope ID: 2E43EDAD-95E3-4CA4-BD96-D32ABC107F07
8. MCE Policy 018 - Ticket and Pass Distribution (Discussion/Action) Catalina Murphy, Associate General Counsel, introduced this item and addressed questions from Board members.
Chair Butt opened the public comment period and there were no comments.
Action: It was M/S/C (Wagenknecht/Coler) to approve Proposed MCE Policy 018 – Ticket and Pass Distribution. Motion carried by unanimous roll call vote. (Absent: Directors, Birsan, Darling, Gioia, Gulati, Kircher, Mongan, Scales-Preston, and Thier).
9. Because of Youth Campaign Update (Discussion)
Mariela Herrick, Community Development Manager and Sarah Dillemuth, Marketing and Communications Associate, introduced this item and addressed questions from Board members.
Chair Butt opened the public comment period and there were no comments.
Action: No action required.
10.Overview of MCE’s Marketplace Load-Modifying Programs (Discussion) Joey Lande, Manager of Customer Programs, introduced this item and addressed questions from Board members.
Chair Butt opened the public comment period and there were no comments.
Action: No action required.
11.Board Matters & Staff Matters (Discussion)
There were no comments.
12.Adjournment
DocuSign Envelope ID: 2E43EDAD-95E3-4CA4-BD96-D32ABC107F07 Chair Butt adjourned the meeting at 8:29 p.m. to the next scheduled Board Meeting on August 18, 2022
___________________________________________
Tom Butt, Chair
Attest:
___________________________________________
Dawn Weisz, Secretary
DocuSign Envelope ID: 2E43EDAD-95E3-4CA4-BD96-D32ABC107F07