Item No. 2
Regular Meeting of the Executive Committee of the
Peninsula Clean Energy Authority (PCEA)
Minutes
Monday, September 12, 2022
10:00 a.m.
Zoom Video Conference and Teleconference
CALL TO ORDER
Meeting was called to order at 10:00 a.m. in virtual teleconference.
ROLL CALL
Participating Remotely:
Dave Pine, San Mateo County
Rick DeGolia, Atherton, Chair
Julia Mates, Belmont
Donna Colson, Burlingame, Vice Chair
Giselle Hale, Redwood City
Marty Medina, San Bruno
Laura Parmer-Lohan, San Carlos
Jeff Aalfs, Portola Valley
Pradeep Gupta, Director Emeritus
John Keener, Director Emeritus
Absent:
Rick Bonilla, San Mateo
A quorum was established.
PUBLIC COMMENT
None
ACTION TO SET AGENDA AND TO APPROVE CONSENT AGENDA ITEMS MOTION: Director Medina moved, seconded by Director Hale to set the Agenda and approve Agenda Item Number 1-2.
1. Adopt Findings Pursuant to AB 361 to Continue Fully Teleconferenced Committee Meetings Due to Health Risks Posed by In-Person Meetings
2. Approval of the Minutes for the August 8, 2022 Executive Committee Meeting MOTION PASSED: 8-0 (Absent: San Mateo)
JURISDICTION BOARD MEMBER YES NO ABSTAIN ABSENT
San Mateo County Director Pine X
Item No. 2
Atherton Director DeGolia X
Belmont Director Mates X
Burlingame Director Colson X
Redwood City Director Hale X
San Bruno Director Medina X
San Carlos Director Parmer-Lohan X
San Mateo Director Bonilla x
Portola Valley Director Aalfs X
Totals 8 1
REGULAR AGENDA
3. Chair Report
Chair DeGolia reported that the CEO Review Committee has continued to meet and asked, since the next Board Meeting is the Retreat, if this item should proceed without a closed session?
Supervisor Pine replied that it is typical to have a closed session to hear about the review and how everything went. Chair DeGolia shared that in the past the process was to have a closed session and then in the next meeting, vote. Director Medina stated that there should be a closed session as it is an opportunity to go through the review with Jan.
Chair DeGolia concluded that he will plan to schedule a closed session for October and will ask David Silberman to prepare a contract amendment so it can be approved at the October Board meeting.
4. CEO Report
Jan Pepper, Chief Executive Officer, provided a report covering a staffing update and information on the July billing error including that rebilling for amounts over $1 on any individual bill has begun.
5. Review of September Board Retreat Agenda and Schedule (Discussion) Jan Pepper, Chief Executive Officer, gave an update to the September Board Retreat Agenda including an update with the Diversity, Equity, Accessibility, and Inclusion (DEAI) item being moved to October to allow more time to discuss this item. In addition, a Power Purchase Agreement has been added to the Agenda.
Vice Chair Colson asked for clarification on if the DEAI item is being removed entirely. Jan explained that yes, to allow more time to discuss this item and to allow the consultant more time to review the item before the meeting.
Shayna Barnes, Operations Specialist, further explained that with the timing of the workshop with the Citizens Advisory Committee (CAC) and Community Based Organizations (CBOs), October works a little bit better to gather feedback from our community groups and incorporate it into the Board packet.
Item No. 2
Vice Chair Colson asked if the Retreat packet can have an explanation of why the DEAI item was moved off and that this will allow more time to review in October.
Director Parmer-Lohan noted that she hasn’t heard from members on the subcommittee yet and asked if this was part of the plan. Vice Chair Colson explained that the subcommittee has worked diligently but has had some difficulty in coordinating schedules.
They are working to include their voices and still engaging Michael Smith even though he is no longer holding a Council seat. Staff is working on presentations and the subcommittee is overseeing the process. The CAC has also been incredibly engaged.
6. Discussion of September 2022 Heat Storm and Response (Discussion) Jan Pepper, Chief Executive Officer, gave a presentation on the Heat Storm during the span of August 31st – September 9, 2022 including information on the terminology of alerts used during that span, and a summary of events for the week.
Director Hale expressed gratitude at the success of the response and at the ability to avoid disruption. Director Hale also noted this as an opportunity to educate residents so next round they have some tools for resilience. Director Hale also noted the marketing opportunity. Jan added that on the marketing side an email was sent to customers on the 6th and encouraged the power saver rewards program, strategic accounts were called directly, staff posted on Twitter, Facebook and Nextdoor almost daily, as well as posting a notice on the PCE home page, and finally publishing a Q&A on power outages on September 1st.
KJ Janowski, Director of Marketing and Communications, added that our partner, Sunrun, promotes solar with storage as a means of avoiding power outages.
Chair DeGolia commented that the OhmConnect program sent multiple messages daily for demand response and noted that most solar installations have not been with Sunrun.
Chair DeGolia added that Peninsula Clean Energy needs a more robust program encouraging and incentivizing people to deploy batteries and noted there are Inflation Reduction Act tax benefits for deploying solar and batteries.
Director Emeritus Gupta added that he personally didn’t experience a black out but did experience a brown out. This incident is illustrated by 95% reliability versus 100% reliability plans and is a clear indication on why reliability indexes are so important. Director Emeritus Gupta also noted a negative impact with respect to electrification messaging.
Director Hale added that there is an opportunity with the Inflation Reduction Act, but there is confusion on how to qualify, what you get, and where to go. Giselle noted that there are incentives from Redwood City, Peninsula Clean Energy, BayREN, the State, and the Federal government and that a one stop shop summarizing these programs for residents would help fill in a missing piece.
Director Medina shared that Peninsula Clean Energy should be the most trusted organization and viewed as supportive to the community, and a one stop shop would be beneficial.
Chair DeGolia seconded that a comprehensive summary of all benefits rebates and items related to decarbonization which includes batteries, solar, and electrification is something Item No. 2
that Peninsula Clean Energy could provide and would cause a differentiation from everyone else in the decarbonization world.
Public Comment: David Mauro
7. Committee Members’ Reports
Director Medina shared that San Bruno will hopefully have Reach Codes on the agenda at their next City Council Meeting.
Director Hale shared that Redwood City will do a review of Reach Codes to see if a deeper look is needed. Director Hale also shared information on the bond for school districts and wondered if Peninsula Clean Energy will be working with legislators.
Director Parmer-Lohan suggested aligning reach code updates around specific types of appliances and incentivizing community members to do so.
ADJOURNMENT
Meeting was adjourned at 10:48 a.m.