Entry No. 1
PIONEER COMMUNITY ENERGY
GOVERNING BOARD
REGULAR MEETING
February 26, 2026
MINUTES
Heard General Administrative Functions - Part I
Call to Order
Pioneer Community Energy Governing Board met in open session at 3:00 PM on February 26, 2026. The Members convened in person and the meeting was accessible to the public at Pioneer Community Energy, 2510 Warren Drive, Suite B, Rocklin, California 95677; at remote location County of El Dorado, 330 Fair Lane, Building A, Placerville, California 95667; the meeting was accessible for viewer participation on the Zoom platform at the following link: https://us06web.zoom.us/i/89020017279; and, was live streamed for viewing on the Pioneer website: https://pioneercommunityenergy.org/about-us/meetings-and-agendas/.
A. Roll Call
Present: City of Auburn (Dowdin Calvillo), County of El Dorado (Parlin), City of Grass Valley (Ivy), City of Lincoln (Pearl), Town of Loomis (Ring), Nevada City (Petersen), City of Placerville (Carter), City of Rocklin (Janda).
Absent: County of Placer (DeMattei), County of Placer (Jones), City of Colfax (Lomen).
Director Parlin (County of El Dorado) participated by Zoom; the remote location was noticed on the meeting agenda as County of El Dorado, 330 Fair Lane, Building A, Placerville, California 95677; and, was open to the public.
Chair Dowdin Calvillo presided over the meeting.
Chair Dowdin Calvillo requested for General Counsel to provide a report at the March 19, 2026 meeting in regard to taking Board action on Senate Bill 707 allowing exemption for eligible multijurisdictional bodies.
B. Public Comment
There were no comments from members of the public on items not listed on this agenda.
C. Agenda Review
Reviewed and made no revision to the meeting agenda for February 26, 2026.
Director Lomen arrived prior to consideration of the Consent Agenda.
Entry No. 2
Acted on the Consent Agenda as follows:
Pulled Item la, Minutes for Approval, for separate consideration.
Adopted Resolution 2026-5 Approving a Bill Credit Issuance in Response to Billing Errors and/or Disasters Policy.
February 26, 2026 - page 2
Adopted Resolution 2026-6 Authorizing the Chief Executive Officer to execute Amendment No. 1 to the Agreement with ProPose LLC dba Sagent authorizing Marketing and Communications Services and Modifying the Scope of Work not to exceed $600,000.
MOTION: Pearl/Ring. Vote: 9:0:2
ROLL CALL: Carter, Dowdin Calvillo, Ivy, Janda, Lomen, Parlin, Pearl, Petersen, Ring .
No/Abstain: None.
Absent: DeMattei, Jones.
Entry No. 3
Approved the minutes of the January 15, 2026 Regular meeting as amended to show that Director Ring did not attend the meeting of January 15, 2026.
MOTION: Ring/Pearl. Vote: 9:0:2
ROLL CALL: Carter, Dowdin Calvillo, Ivy, Janda, Lomen, Parlin, Pearl, Petersen, Ring.
No/ Abstain: None.
Absent: DeMattei, Jones.
Entry No. 4
Acknowledgement and Celebration of the Complete Payoff of the Term Loan Chief Executive Officer Eckert introduced the item and provided a summary of Pioneer's process for securing a loan from an independent banking institution; expressed appreciation for the Board of Directors; and, introduced Anastasia Efstathiu, Corporate Lender, Columbia Bank (formerly known as Umpqua Bank), who expressed appreciation for Pioneer Community Energy and commended staff for their term loan early pay off resulting in nearly $2.2 million savings on interest costs and looks forward to working with Pioneer in future ventures.
Board Chair Dowdin Calvillo expressed appreciation of staff and to Anastasia Efstathiu and Columbia Bank; and acknowledged the payment in full of the Term Loan with a celebratory toast.
Vice Chair Janda also congratulated staff; provided a summary of Pioneer's history of Placer County initiating the start of a Community Choice Aggregate and the outstanding start-up funds loaned from the County and Pioneer securing a loan from a banking institution to fully pay off the loan to the County, allowing Pioneer to function independently.
Entry No. 5
Appoint Members to Energy Procurement Review Committee, Audit & Finance Committee, and the Expansion Committee through January 2027
Chair Dowdin Calvillo waived the presentation and introduced the item by mentioning that there are several committees and the Board of Directors have been asked to serve on at least one committee; provided an overview of the committee composition as the Audit & Finance Committee is subject to the Brown Act; the Energy Procurement Review Committee is an ad hoc committee not subject to the Brown Act that is renewed each year; the Expansion Committee is an ad hoc committee to discuss expansion and is not expected to be very active this year due to the current expansion; and the Governance Committee which is subject to the Brown Act and comprised of the Board Chair, Board Vice Chair, and the Committee Chair from each of the committees.
In Director DeMattei's absence, Chair Dowdin Calvillo confirmed that he was in agreement to serve on the Energy Procurement Review Committee.
February 26, 2026 - page 3
Directors reviewed, discussed the proposed committee assignments, and recommended adding a seat to the Audit & Finance Committee as it is a Brown Act committee and it may ease the efforts in scheduling meetings with a quorum of members.
The Board appointed members to Pioneer Community Energy's Audit & Finance Committee, Energy Procurement Review Committee, and Expansion Committee through January 2027 as proposed; and, added Director Lomen to the roster of the Audit & Finance Committee.
MOTION: Carter/Pearl. Vote: 9:0:2
ROLL CALL: Carter, Dowdin Calvillo, Ivy, Janda, Lomen, Parlin, Pearl, Petersen, Ring.
No/Abstain: None.
Absent: DeMattei, Jones.
The Pioneer Community Energy Governing Board Committees through January 2027 are as follows:
Audit & Finance Committee
Sean Lomen (Colfax), Richard Pearl (Lincoln), David Ring (Loomis), Gary Petersen (Nevada City), and Greg Janda (Rocklin).
Energy Procurement Review (ad hoc Committee not subject to the Brown Act) Alice Dowdin Calvillo (Auburn), Sean Lomen (Colfax), Anthony DeMattei (County of Placer), and Ryan Carter (Placerville).
Expansion ad hoc Committee (ad hoc Committee not subject to the Brown Act) Alice Dowdin Calvillo (Auburn), Lori Parlin (El Dorado County), Tom Ivy (Grass Valley), and Suzanne Jones (Placer County).
Governance Committee
Alice Dowdin Calvillo (Board of Directors Chair), Greg Janda (Board of Directors Vice Chair), vacant (Audit & Finance Committee Chair), vacant (Energy Procurement Review ad hoc Committee Chair), and vacant (Expansion ad hoc Committee Chair).
Entry No. 6
Adopt Resolution Amending the 2026 Governing Board Meeting Schedule (ACTION- ECKERT) Chair Dowdin Calvillo introduced the item and waived the presentation.
The Board discussed the option of moving meetings to the evening as afternoons may not be ideal in the future with added member agencies; and, discussed setting the annual calendar according to the regular schedule and refrain from rescheduling meetings.
The Board adopted Resolution 2026-7 amending the 2026 Governing Board Meeting Schedule through January 2027, by moving the July 16, 2026 meeting to July 23, 2026; and moving the November 19, 2026 meeting to November 12, 2026.
MOTION: Lomen/Pearl. Vote: 9:0:2
ROLL CALL: Carter, Dowdin Calvillo, Ivy, Janda, Lomen, Parlin, Pearl, Petersen, Ring.
No/ Abstain: None.
Absent: DeMattei, Jones.
February 26, 2026 - page 4
Entry No. 7
Adopt Resolution Approving Fiscal Year 2025-26 Mid-Year Budget Adjustments Chief Executive Officer Eckert introduced the item and expressed appreciation for Brad Koehn, Director of Finance and Administration, who would be presenting a balanced Fiscal Year 2025-26 mid-year budget with proposed adjustments.
Brad Koehn, Director of Finance and Administration, acknowledged that the Audit & Finance Committee had reviewed and recommended the Fiscal Year 2025-26 mid-year budget adjustments as proposed; presented and discussed the proposed Fiscal Year 2025-26 mid-year budget adjustments.
Regarding funding Programs, Chief Executive Director Eckert provided background regarding a needed recruitment for a Programs Manager. To be confident in beginning that process, staff is requesting general direction and a longer term commitment from the Board for a budget that funds Programs with no less than one percent of the budget.
The Board discussed the proposed one percent fund allocation to Programs, the value-added services for customers, and to not prioritize rates and deprioritize programs. Many agreed to keep the funding no lower than one percent, some requested to keep the target funding at two percent with ability to adjust no lower than one percent. Also, discussed customer usage of programs in that not all customers take advantage of programs but all customers take advantage of rate savings.
Director Ivy requested update on GridGen generation revenue for Pioneer; and, Vice Chair Janda requested a future agenda item on cost of Programs and cost-neutral programs in place.
Chief Executive Officer Eckert confirmed that today's approval is to move forward with the current budget adjustment for Fiscal Year 2025-26 Mid-Year. With that, he is confident in moving forward with recruitment for a new Programs Manager.
The Board adopted Resolution 2026-8 approving Fiscal Year 2025-26 Mid-Year budget adjustments as recommended.
MOTION: Lomen/Pearl. Vote: 9:0:2
ROLL CALL: Carter, Dowdin Calvillo, Ivy, Janda, Lomen, Parlin, Pearl, Petersen, Ring.
No/ Abstain: None.
Absent: DeMattei, Jones.
Entry No. 8
Overview of the Base Services Charge
Chief Executive Director Eckert introduced the item as previously presented legislation on the "Income Graduated Fixed Charge" which is now become the Base Services Charge, a fixed charge which will be applied to Pacific Gas & Electric billing in March; and, introduced Chau Pham, Legislative & Regulatory Analyst, to present the item.
The Board received an overview of the Base Services Charge (BSC), which is a fixed charge that investor-owned utilities (IOUs) are authorized to collect to recover a portion of fixed costs associated with electricity service. The BSC will begin appearing on PG&E residential ratepayer bills in March 2026.
Directors discussed and raised their concerns regarding the Base Services Charge.
February 26, 2026 - page 5
Concerned that if this Base Services Charge was added for transmission then it may be possible to implement an added charge for generation in the future, which would directly affect Pioneer's rates. Analyst Pham responded that it would require CPUC oversight.
Concerned that the Base Services Charge may disincentivize solar generation. Analyst Pham responded that the purpose of the Base Service Charge is to encourage electrification.
Concerned for Pioneer's customers receiving the right message and requested that Pioneer's messaging e added to the website and be clear in this fee being imposed by Pacific Gas & Electric for transmission and not affecting Pioneer's generation rate. Chief Executive Officer Eckert confirmed that all CCAs are looking for good messaging and agreed that the messaging would be easily accessible on Pioneer's website.
Entry No. 9
Heard General Administrative Function - Part II
Board Member Communications
Committee Chair Ring reported that the Audit & Finance Committee met on February 18, 2026. The Committee approved the meeting minutes of January 6, 2026; received and discussed an overview of Power Prepays with staff and presenter, Michael Berwanger from PFM Financial Advisors; received an overview of the proposed Fiscal Year 2025-26 Mid-Year Budget Adjustments, provided feedback to staff, and recommended staff present the proposed budget adjustments to the Board. The Committee will convene again in the spring to select officers, review the Power Pay Transaction, and provide feedback on the FY 2026-27 Operating Budget.
Board Chair Dowdin Calvillo extended congratulations to Pioneer Community Energy receiving the designation of "Great Place to Work" designation.
Chief Executive Officer Communications
Chief Executive Officer Eckert inquired about Board interest in attending a tour of Diablo Canyon which would probably be a two-day trip to be scheduled for late summer or early fall. The Board agreed to proceed with planning.
Chief Executive Officer Eckert expressed appreciation for Board Chair Dowdin Calvillo on a successful Lobby Day meeting with ten legislators.
Chief Executive Officer Eckert informed the Board of the 2026 Annual CalCCA Conference scheduled for May 12-14 in Sacramento; and, requested that Directors who are interested in attending to contact the Board Clerk no later than Monday for registration.
Items for Information
Received the Glossary of Terms.
Adjournment
The meeting adjourned at 4: 12 PM.
ATTEST:
Minutes approved as presented by a majority vote of
the Governing Board on Mcirch 19, 2026.
Teresa
~~ Willock, Board Secretary