MCE BOARD MEETING MINUTES
Thursday, December 15, 2022
7:30 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: Mark Armstrong, Alternate, City of San Ramon
Eli Beckman, Town of Corte Madera
Edi Birsan, City of Concord
Tom Butt, City of Richmond, Chair
Tom Campbell, Alternate, City of Benicia
Barbara Coler, Town of Fairfax
Cindy Darling, City of Walnut Creek
Gina Dawson, City of Lafayette
David Fong, Town of Danville
Maika Llorens Gulati, City of San Rafael
Kevin Haroff, City of Larkspur
Janelle Kellman, City of Sausalito
C. William Kircher, Town of Ross
Jim Lynch, Alternate, City of Belvedere
Aaron Meadows, City of Oakley
Devin Murphy, City of Pinole
Doriss Panduro, City of Fairfield
Max Perrey, City of Mill Valley
Patricia Ponce, City of San Pablo
Gabriel Quinto, City of El Cerrito
Katie Rice, County of Marin
Matt Rinn, City of Pleasant Hill
Shanelle Scales-Preston, City of Pittsburg
Holli Thier, Town of Tiburon
John Vasquez, County of Solano
Brad Wagenknecht, County of Napa and All Five Napa Cities Brianne Zorn, City of Martinez
Absent: John Gioia, Contra Costa County
Ford Greene, Town of San Anselmo
Katy Miessner, City of Vallejo
Mark Milberg, Alternate, City of Novato
Teresa Onoda, Town of Moraga
DocuSign Envelope ID: 4F21ACFA-410C-46BE-84B2-47BD3913574E Staff
& Others: JB Ackemann, Director of Public Affairs
Jesica Brooks, Assistant Board Clerk
Tyla Brown, Community Development Manager
John Dalessi, President & CEO, Pacific Energy Advisors
Vicken Kasarjian, Chief Operating Officer
Justin Kudo, Senior Strategic Analysis and Rates Manager Catalina Murphy, Associate General Counsel
Evelyn Reyes, Internal Operations Coordinator
Garth Salisbury, Chief Financial Officer & Treasurer
Lindsay Saxby, Director of Power Resources
Daniel Settlemeyer, Internal Operations Coordinator
Jamie Tuckey, Chief of Staff
Dawn Weisz, CEO
1. Roll Call
Chair Butt called the regular meeting to order at 7:30 p.m. with quorum established by roll call.
2. Board Announcements (Discussion)
There were no comments.
3. Public Open Time (Discussion)
Chair Butt opened the public comment period and there were no comments.
4. Resolution No. 2022-16 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)
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 (Scales-Preston/Quinto) to adopt proposed Resolution No. 2022-16 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 DocuSign Envelope ID: 4F21ACFA-410C-46BE-84B2-47BD3913574E by roll call vote. (Absent: Directors Campbell, Gioia, Greene, Milberg, Miessner, Onoda, and Rice).
5. Consent Calendar (Discussion/Action)
C.1 Approval of 11.17.22 Meeting Minutes
C.2 Approved Contracts For Energy Update
Chair Butt opened the public comment period and there were no comments.
6. Western Systems Power Pool Confirmation with Geysers Power Company LLC (Discussion/Action)
Lindsay Saxby, Director of Power Resources, 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 (Perrey/Fong) to authorize execution of the Western Systems Power Pool Confirmation with Geysers Power Company LLC for supply of bundled renewable energy and RA. Motion carried by roll call vote. (Abstained: Director Thier) (Absent: Directors Gioia, Greene, Milberg, Miessner, Murphy, Onoda, Rice, and Wagenknecht).
7. Power Purchase Agreement with Geysers Power Company LLC (Discussion/Action)
Lindsay Saxby, Director of Power Resources, 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 (Perrey/Coler) to authorize execution of the Power Purchase Agreement with Geysers Power Company LLC for supply of bundled renewable energy and RA. Motion carried by unanimous roll call vote (Abstained: Thier) (Absent: Directors Gioia, Greene, Milberg, Miessner, Onoda, Rice, and Wagenknecht).
8. Report from Chief Executive Officer (Discussion)
Action: It was M/S/C (Dawson/Coler) to approve Consent Calendar items C.1 and C.2. Motion carried by unanimous roll call vote. (Absent: Directors Campbell, Gioia, Greene, Milberg, Miessner, Onoda, and Rice).
DocuSign Envelope ID: 4F21ACFA-410C-46BE-84B2-47BD3913574E Dawn Weisz, CEO, introduced this item and addressed questions from Board members.
Chair Butt opened the public comment period and there were no comments.
9. MCE Rate Adjustment Effective January 1, 2023 (Discussion/Action) Garth Salisbury, Chief Financial Officer & Treasurer, and Justin Kudo, Strategic Analysis and Rates 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/Darling) to implement updated rates as provided in Attachments A and B, effective January 1 2023. Motion carried by unanimous roll call vote. (Absent: Directors Gioia, Greene, Milberg, Miessner, and Onoda).
10.Resolution No. 2022-17 Increasing Purchasing Agent’s Authority (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 (Thier/Zorn) to adopt proposed Resolution 2022-17 Increasing Purchasing Agent Authority to $400,000 (Attachment A.1).
Motion carried by roll call vote. Yays-25 No-1 (Absent: Directors Gioia, Greene, Milberg, Miessner, Onoda, and Vasquez).
11.Review of Member Community Needs & Priorities (Discussion) Tyla Brown, Community Development Manager, 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.
12.Resolution No. 2022-18 Honoring Chair Tom Butt (Discussion/Action) DocuSign Envelope ID: 4F21ACFA-410C-46BE-84B2-47BD3913574E Director Scales-Preston, introduced this item and there were comments from other Board members and staff. In addition, a video honoring Director Butt’s service was played.
Chair Butt opened the public comment period and there were no comments.
Action: It was M/S/C (Scales-Preston/Quinto) to adopt Resolution No. 2022-18 Honoring Chair Tom Butt. Motion carried by unanimous roll call vote. (Absent: Directors Gioia, Greene, Milberg, Miessner, Onoda, and Vasquez).
13.Resolution No. 2022-19 Honoring Director Denise Athas (Discussion/Action) Director Coler, introduced this item and there were comments from other Board members and staff.
Chair Butt opened the public comment period and there were no comments.
Action: It was M/S/C (Coler/Perrey) to adopt Resolution No. 2022-19 Honoring Director Denise Athas. Motion carried by unanimous roll call vote. (Absent: Directors Gioia, Greene, Milberg, Miessner, Onoda, and Vasquez).
14.Resolution No. 2022-20 Honoring Director Ford Greene (Discussion/Action) Director Haroff, introduced this item and there were comments from other Board members and staff.
Chair Butt opened the public comment period and there were no comments.
Action: It was M/S/C (Butt/Haroff) to adopt Resolution No. 2022-20 Honoring Director Ford Greene. Motion carried by unanimous roll call vote. (Absent: Directors Gioia, Greene, Kellman, Milberg, Miessner, Onoda, and Vasquez).
15.Resolution No. 2022-21 Honoring Director Brad Wagenknecht (Discussion/Action)
Chair Butt, introduced this item and there were comments from other Board members and staff.
Chair Butt opened the public comment period and there were no comments.
DocuSign Envelope ID: 4F21ACFA-410C-46BE-84B2-47BD3913574E Action: It was M/S/C (Rice/Coler) to adopt Resolution No. 2022-21 Honoring Director Brad Wagenknecht. Motion carried by unanimous roll call vote. (Absent: Directors Gioia, Greene, Kellman, Milberg, Miessner, Onoda, and Vasquez).
16.Election of Officers and Additions to Committee Membership (Discussion/Action)
CEO Weisz, introduced this item and addressed questions from Board members.
Chair Butt opened the public comment period and there were no comments.
Action 1: It was M/S/C (Haroff/Quinto) to elect Director Shanelle Scales-Preston as MCE Board Chair effective January 10, 2023. Motion carried by unanimous roll call vote. (Absent: Directors Gioia, Greene, Kellman, Milberg, Miessner, Onoda, and Vasquez).
Action 2: A vote was conducted for the two nominees for MCE Vice Chair and the tally was reported as: 10 for Director Coler, and 11 for Director Quinto. (Absent: Directors Gioia, Greene, Kellman, Milberg, Miessner, Onoda, and Vasquez).
Action 3: It was M/S/C (Ponce/Fong) to establish Devin Murphy as Chair to the Technical Committee. Motion carried by unanimous roll call vote. (Absent: Directors Gioia, Greene, Milberg, Miessner, Onoda, and Vasquez).
Action 4: It was M/S/C (Thier/Darling) to approve addition of Board Members to Committees. Directors: Dave Fong, and Eli Beckman to the Executive Committee, Directors: Kevin Haroff, and Barbara Coler to the 2023 Ad Hoc Contracts Committee, Directors: Max Perrey, and Eli Beckman to the 2023 Ad Hoc Committee for VPP, and Directors: Dave Fong, and Kevin Haroff to the 2023 Ad Hoc Audit Committee. Motion carried by unanimous roll call vote. (Absent: Directors Gioia, Greene, Kellman, Milberg, Miessner, Onoda, Rice, and Vasquez).
Staff Correction: Following adjournment staff determined that the correct vote tally for Vice Chair was (15) Coler, (11) Quinto because the vote of Director Wagenknecht counted for the County of Napa and all five Napa Cities. It was also determined that the MCE Operating Rules and Regulations require a majority vote of the full Board (not just those present) to elect any officer. Because neither candidate reached this threshold, a new vote for Vice Chair will need to be conducted.
DocuSign Envelope ID: 4F21ACFA-410C-46BE-84B2-47BD3913574E
11.Board Matters & Staff Matters (Discussion)
There were comments made by Chair Butt.
12.Adjournment
Chair Butt adjourned the meeting at 10:18 p.m. to the next scheduled Board Meeting on January 19, 2023.
___________________________________________
Tom Butt, Chair
Attest:
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Dawn Weisz, Secretary
DocuSign Envelope ID: 4F21ACFA-410C-46BE-84B2-47BD3913574E