PIONEER COMMUNITY ENERGY
GOVERNANCE COMMITTEE
June 15, 2026
Minutes
Entry No. 1
Heard General Administrative Functions, Part I.
Call to Order
Pioneer Community Energy Governance Committee met in open session at 3 :30 PM on June 15, 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; was accessible for viewer participation on the Zoom platform at the following link: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/87815469186; and live streamed for viewing on the Pioneer website: https: //pioneercommunityenergy.org/about-us/meetings-and-agendas/.
Roll Call
Present: Director Dowdin Calvillo (Board of Directors Chair; Expansion ad hoc Committee Chair), Director Janda (Board of Directors Vice Chair), Director Carter (Energy Procurement Review ad hoc Committee Chair), and, Director Petersen (Audit & Finance Committee Chair).
Director Dowdin Calvillo presided over the meeting.
Public Comment
There were no comments from the public regarding items not listed on this agenda.
Closed Session
Adjourned to Closed Session at 3:34 PM.
Conference with Labor Negotiator5 - GC §54957.6
Name of Agency Negotiator to Attend Closed Session:
Don Eckert, CEO, and Brad Koehn, Director of Finance & Administration Unrepresented Employee: All Employees
Entry No. 2
Reconvened Open Session at 3 :47 PM.
Public Report of Closed Session
In the matter of Conference with Labor Negotiators - Government Code §54957 .6, no reportable action was taken.
Agenda Review
Reviewed the meeting agenda for June 15, 2026, with no amendments to the agenda.
Entry No. 3
Acted on the Consent Agenda as follows:
Approved Minutes of the December 17, 2025 regular meeting of the Governance Committee as presented.
MOTION: Janda/Petersen. Vote: 4:0:0.
AYES: Carter, Dowdin Calvillo, Janda, Petersen.
NOES: None.
ABSENT: None.
Governance Committee Meeting Minutes
June 15, 2026
Entry No. 4
JPA Governance - Structural Impact from Expansion
The Committee received presentation and discussed governance with expansion and impacts to the JPA.
Staff provided examples of voting structures for three large CCAs with more than 30 members: (1) MCE utilizes a mix of electric load and one member-one vote structure; (2) AVA uses one member-one vote structure unless three or more members request a "voting shares" vote; and, (3) 3CE established structure for membership exceeding eleven members to be one seat for members with a population greater than 50,000 and one shared seat (based on a sub-regional basis) for members with a population less than 50,000.
This structure includes a Policy Board comprised of Elected Officials and an Operations Board comprised of City/County Managers.
The Committee discussed Pioneer's current structure; and, voiced support in retaining the one member-one vote structure which had been presented to the sixteen expansion territories as it is until those members have joined the Board to discuss any further changes; expressed concern in adding sixteen new members with a one member-one vote structure; suggested consideration of weighted percentage voting, but may be a disadvantage for a small city within a county; and, to consider possibility of one representative for each county.
The Committee discussed members allowing another member within the same county to vote for them due to absence; and, expressed disagreement and concern with someone voting in the place of another Member.
The Committee discussed providing boundaries on who can serve on the Board.
Per the current status, Members are to be elected officials appointed to the Board of Directors by their respective Member Agencies; and, expressed concern that City Managers/Assistant City Managers may not have an interest in participating as Board Members.
The Committee discussed defining minimum number of meetings per year; and, suggested the possibility of fewer meetings if manageable, perhaps scheduling quarterly meetings, which would create longer, all day meetings. Suggested using Brown-Act Committees to consider items first, providing recommendations to the Board of Directors and scheduling those items on the Consent Agenda; and, with the increased number of members, the committee assignments would be more readily covered. Further suggestion made for the possibility of all Members being assigned to a committee then scheduling the Board of Directors meetings to every other month or quarterly.
The Committee also discussed ways to streamline meetings, such as keeping Board presentations brief by providing more detail at the committee level for committee recommendation to the Board; and, with Members committing themselves to studying the meeting agenda packet prior to meeting.
It was suggested and discussed to adopt meeting schedules for each of the Brown Act Committees along with Committee Charters outlining structure and function of the Committee prior to the new members joining the Board; and suggested adding a Strategic Planning Committee.
The Committee discussed one seat for Placer County.
A member confirmed support for Placer County to have one member.
The Committee discussed removal of Associate Members related to the mPower Program where no mPower loans exist - Town of Truckee, City of Folsom, and County of Sacramento.
A member confirmed support for removing the Associate Members. 2 Governance Committee Meeting Minutes
June 15, 2026
The Committee discussed compensation to Board and Committee Members in the form of stipends, such as $100 per meeting, to provide incentive for Members to attend the Board of Directors meetings; agreed to find a way to engage participation by considering mileage reimbursement and/or regional meeting locations such as a regional location for each county; and some opposed stipends but agreed to revisit if there is lack of participation; and, recommended discussing this with the current Board of Directors.
General Counsel provided clarification that members are to serve without compensation per the JPA; however, current policy allows for compensation for expenses.
The Committee discussed defining action for excessive absences; and, suggested that Pioneer will not punish for absences, but for absences to be made known to the Member Agency by setting action for a Member's absence from three consecutive meetings to be brought to the attention of Pioneer Chief Executive Officer and Board Chair who would then inform the Member's county/city of not being represented for three consecutive meetings.
Next Steps concerning the Committee's findings
The Committee found there are endless scenarios for the JPA structure and agreed to provide direction in preparation for presentation to the Governing Board of Directors.
The Committee will review and discuss the Administration of Board Meetings at the next meeting.
Entry No. 5
Heard General Administration Functions, Part II.
CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER'S REPORT
CEO Eckert reported on a meeting with Liberty Utilities regarding power supply issues for City of South Lake Tahoe.
The meeting adjourned at 4: 46 PM.
ATTEST:
Minutes approved as presented by a majority vote of the Governance Committee on August 6, 2026.
Teresa Willock, Board Secretary
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