Pioneer Community Energy
Governance Committee
October 6, 2026
3:30 PM
Pioneer Community Energy Board Room
2540 Warren Drive, Suite C, Rocklin, CA 95677
This regular meeting will convene in person at the address printed above; be accessible on the Zoom platform at the following link:
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/84812829878.;
and live streamed for viewing on the Pioneer website:
https://pioneercommunityenergy.org/about-us/meetings-and-agendas/.
Members of the public may participate in person or by remote audio/visual access. Those who participate remotely and wish to comment should be prepared to use the Zoom platform via computer or telephone. Public comment will be opened for each agenda item in sequence.
How to Participate Using Zoom
You can join the meeting using the following link:
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/84812829878.
When you join the meeting, you will be muted by default. To inform the Clerk that you would like to make a public comment, you will use the “Raise Hand” feature.
Public Comment via Computer or Smartphone
If you would like to make a comment, you will use the “Raise Your Hand” feature. Please note that you should only raise your hand during the item to which you will comment. Instructions for using the “Raise Hand” feature when using a computer or mobile device can be found at the link:
https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/205566129-Raising-your-hand-in-a-webinar Public Comment via telephone (Audio Only Option)
1. Dial (669) 900-6833
2. When asked for the meeting ID, enter 848 1282 9878#
3. When asked for your participant ID, press # to continue You will be muted by default. To inform the Clerk that you would like to make a comment during each agenda item, dial *9 to “Raise your hand.” When it is your turn to speak, the clerk will identify you by the last three digits of your phone number, at that time dial *6 to unmute yourself and state your name and comment for the record. Please note that you should only raise your hand during the item to which you will comment.
Committee Members
Board of Directors
Board Chair
Alice Dowdin Calvillo
Board of Directors
Board Vice Chair
Greg Janda
Audit & Finance Committee
Committee Chair
Gary Petersen
Energy Procurement
Review ad hoc Committee
Committee Chair
Ryan Carter
Expansion
ad hoc Committee
Committee Chair
Alice Dowdin Calvillo
Plf)NEER
COMMUNITY ENERGY
I. GENERAL ADMINISTRATIVE FUNCTION – PART 1
A. CALL TO ORDER
1. Roll Call
B. PRESENTATIONS BY THE PUBLIC ON MATTERS NOT ON THE AGENDA WITHIN THE
JURISDICTION OF THIS COMMITTEE
Persons may address the Committee on items not on the agenda and within the jurisdiction of this Committee. Please limit comments to 3 minutes per person. According to State Law (the Brown Act), items must first be noticed on the agenda before any discussion or action, so the Committee is prohibited from discussing issues not on the agenda brought to them at this time.
C. AGENDA REVIEW
II. CONSENT AGENDA
1) APPROVAL OF THE CONSENT AGENDA
All items on the Consent Agenda have been recommended for approval by the Chief Executive Officer. All Consent items will be approved by a single vote. Anyone may ask to address Consent items prior to the Committee acting, and the item may be moved for discussion. a) ADMINISTRATION
Approve minutes of the August 6, 2026 meeting. (ECKERT) III. REGULAR AGENDA
2) Consideration of Recommendations for Administrative Amendments to the JPA for Pioneer Community Energy (ACTION-ECKERT)
3) Consideration of Recommendations for Amendments to the Bylaws for Pioneer Community Energy (ACTION-ECKERT)
4) Consideration of Recommendation for Adopting a Code of Conduct for the Board of Directors (ACTION-ECKERT)
IV. GENERAL ADMINISTRATIVE FUNCTION – PART 2
A. CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER’S REPORT
B. ADJOURNMENT
Accommodations
Pioneer Community Energy is committed to ensuring that persons with disabilities are provided with the resources to participate fully in its public meetings. If you are hearing impaired, we have listening devices available. If you require additional disability-related modifications or accommodations, including auxiliary aids or services, please contact the Clerk of the Board. If requested, the agenda shall be provided in appropriate alternative formats to persons with disabilities. All requests must be in writing and must be received by the Clerk five business days prior to the scheduled meeting for which you are requesting accommodation. Requests received after such time will be accommodated only if time permits.
Affidavit of Posting
I, Teresa Willock, Board Secretary, declare under penalty of perjury that the foregoing agenda for the October 6, 2026, meeting of the Pioneer Community Energy Governance Committee was posted and available for public review on October 1 , 2026, at the offices of Pioneer Community Energy, 2540 Warren Drive, Suite C, Rocklin, CA 95677; and on the Pioneer website at:
https://pioneercommunityenergy.org/about-us/meetings-and-agendas/.
All public materials related to an item on this agenda submitted to the Governance Committee after distribution of the agenda packet are also made available for public inspection on Pioneer’s website at:
https://pioneercommunityenergy.org/about-us/meetings-and-agendas/. Any document provided at the meeting by staff or by the public will be provided by the Board Clerk upon request by phone at (916) 251- 8573, or by email at: [email protected].
DRAFT
PIONEER COMMUNITY ENERGY
GOVERNANCE COMMITTEE
August 6, 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/83557273150; 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.
Agenda Review
Reviewed the meeting agenda for August 6, 2026, with no amendments to the agenda.
Entry No. 2
Acted on the Consent Agenda as follows:
Approved Minutes of the June 15, 2026 meeting of the Governance Committee as presented.
MOTION: Petersen/Janda. Vote: 4:0:0.
AYES: Carter, Dowdin Calvillo, Janda, Petersen.
NOES: None.
ABSENT: None.
Entry No. 3
Administration Considerations to Meet the Challenge of a Large Governing Board in 2027 CEO Eckert provided a review of the last meeting including: JPA Structure, the Committee had confirmed to defer the voting issue until new members have joined the Board; agreed to remove the Associate Members; agreed that only elected officials are to serve as Board Members; and, agreed to provide compensation for mileage.
CEO Eckert informed the Committee that the JPA Structure and Administration Considerations would be moving from Committee to the Board in Quarter 4 of this year; that the new Board Members will be joining in July 2027; confirmed that Pioneer has already begun outreach efforts in the expansion areas; and, is actively recruiting five Outreach Specialists.
CEO Eckert requested the Committee to make a recommendation to the Board and confirmed that the next Committee meeting is to be scheduled in late September/early October to finalize recommendations to the Board of Directors.
ITEM 1a
DRAFT - Governance Committee Meeting Minutes
August 6, 2026
2 CEO Eckert informed the Committee that information presented has been gathered from observations at SACOG, other CCAs, and from General Counsel.
CEO Eckert provided an overview of committee structure and confirmed that committees can provide recommendations to the Board without the entire Board needing to workshop every issue from scratch.
Standing committees for the areas of Finance, Governance, Operations, and Policy have recurring subject areas and are Brown Act committees. At Board meeting, if an item is not substantially changed, public comment can be disallowed since the public already had an opportunity to comment at the Committee level.
The Committee conveyed that moving items to the Consent Agenda is not to disallow public comment, only as a time management solution as any member of the public or Board Members may request for an item to be pulled from Consent for discussion and separate consideration.
Ad Hoc Committees consider narrow, temporary tasks without complying to the Brown Act procedural requirements; the Ad Hoc Committees need to maintain a defined task and limited duration. The Energy Procurement Review Committee (EPRC) needs to remain Ad Hoc due to the sensitive market data and is reviewed each year for renewal; and, confirmed that General Counsel is working on ways to maintain the EPRC as an Ad Hoc Committee.
CEO Eckert also provided an overview of Pioneer’s current committees for discussion.
Audit & Finance Committee, a Brown Act body, for the purpose of overseeing the financial audit, budgets, rates, and other significant financial events.
Expansion Committee, an Ad Hoc committee, for the purpose of acting as an advisory committee providing direction and insight on expansion opportunities and reviewing Impact Assessment Studies results.
Energy Procurement Review Committee, an Ad Hoc committee, for the purpose of reviewing Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) greater than five years and other power supply events.
Governance Committee, a Brown Act body, for the purpose of reviewing JPA Amendments, CEO contract, Health and Welfare proposals, Board Policies, and other CEO proposals.
Risk Oversight Committee, instead of Board Members, Committee voting members are the CEO, General Counsel, and Director of Finance. This committee reviews Energy Risk Management Policy Compliance, Customer Opt-Out risk, and Regulatory and Legislative risk.
Community Advisory Committee, an advisory committee that reports to the CEO, for the purpose of reviewing Programs.
CEO Eckert provided proposed changes to Pioneer’s committees for discussion.
Audit & Finance Committee: a Brown Act body, to oversee the financial audit, budgets, rates, and other significant financial events. There are no recommended changes to the Audit & Finance Committee.
Legislative & Regulatory Committee: a Brown Act body, to advise the CEO and Board on matters regarding Pioneer’s Legislative & Regulatory principles, strategies, and priorities. This would be a new committee.
Energy Procurement Review Committee: an Ad Hoc committee, to review Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) greater than five years and other power supply events.
Governance Committee: a Brown Act body, to review JPA Amendments, CEO contract, Health & Welfare proposals, Board Policies, other CEO proposals; and, to include the scope of Expansion Committee and eliminate the Expansion Committee.
DRAFT - Governance Committee Meeting Minutes
August 6, 2026
3 Risk Oversight Committee: instead of Board Members, Committee voting members consist of the CEO, General Counsel, and Director of Finance. This committee reviews Energy Risk Management Policy Compliance, Customer Opt-Out risk, and Regulatory & Legislative risk.
Community Advisory Committee: an advisory committee that reports to the CEO, to be reset by converting the scope to community outreach and to include two members from each county to focus on outreach, strategic partnerships, programs, and sponsorships. As such, this Committee would become a Brown Act body.
The next meeting of the Community Advisory Committee will be in October, at which time the current members would be informed of the change in scope and recruitment for Members would be for 2027.
The Committee reviewed and discussed proposed structure for Pioneer’s Committees and expressed concern for enough members to fill the Committee Rosters without having members assigned to multiple Committees.
Staff confirmed that Board Members would be appointed to the Energy Procurement Review ad hoc Committee, the Audit & Finance Committee, and the new Legislative & Regulatory Committee.
The Community Advisory Committee would become a Brown Act body but no Board Members would be appointed to the Committee; and, there are no Board Members appointed to the Risk Oversight Committee as it is comprised of the CEO, Director of Finance, and General Counsel; and, the Governance Committee is comprised of the Board of Directors Chair and Vice Chair along with the Committee Chairpersons. Other than that, it has been proposed that the Expansion Committee scope be moved to the Governance Committee, thus eliminating that Committee.
The Committee also discussed proposing annual meeting schedules for all Committees in addition to adopting a meeting schedule for the Board of Directors. The planning and coordination for meeting schedules to begin in September.
The Committee suggested renaming the “Governance” Committee to the “Executive” Committee.
The Committee reviewed and discussed meeting rules and CEO Eckert provided Board meeting suggestions for consideration.
Public Comment
More communities could result in more public comment, suggest adjusting the minutes allowed per speaker. If one to four speakers, allow four minutes for comment; If five to fifteen speakers, allow three minutes for comment.
The Committee supported three minutes per comment, then if more comments than normal, reduce time to two minutes rather than increase if there are fewer comments; and, voiced that this is not to disallow public comment, only as a time management solution.
Board Member Comments
Suggest consideration for each Board Member having opportunity to speak before another makes multiple comments and to consider time limits on comments.
The Committee was not supportive of limiting comments, only self-governance, discretion of the Board Chair regarding a Point of Order.
Rules of Order / Designate Parliamentarian
As Roberts Rules of Order is the guide, suggest consideration of designating a Parliamentarian as a procedural advisor who helps apply Pioneer’s bylaws and meeting rules.
The Committee agreed that General Counsel would act as designated Parliamentarian.
DRAFT - Governance Committee Meeting Minutes
August 6, 2026
4 Discussed use of Roberts Rules of Order or possibly moving to the Rosenberg Rules of Order; found that Rosenberg’s Rules of Order are more streamlined and user-friendly; and, noted that the Bylaws site use of Roberts Rules of Order so a change to that would need to be amended by resolution.
Code of Conduct
As civility rules, suggest consideration of guidelines for Board Members on how to interact with staff, the public, and the media.
The Committee suggested providing printed material for member orientation.
Teleconferencing and Frequency of Meetings
Due to geographical size, Pioneer will to utilize teleconferencing and diligence will be required to maintain compliance.
General Counsel confirmed remote participation must be prearranged and noticed on the meeting agenda unless a Board Member is absent due to Just Cause or Multijurisdictional events which are allowed no more than twice per category in a calendar year.
Suggested a designated remote location set up for each County which would be accessible to the public and use of Zoom for all at the location to participate fully in the meeting.
Staff confirmed that Communications Specialists would be assigned to each of the new member agencies.
The Committee reviewed and discussed other considerations including Board Engagement, Planning, Committees, and Training.
Board Engagement
Staff expect to know who will be appointed to the Board by end of 2026.
Member Orientation has been scheduled for every two years concurrent to the election cycle with offsite retreats and industry field trips in the opposite years.
Discussed two points of orientation as Governance (Code of Conduct, Bylaws, JPA) and Technical (Pioneer business) so, perhaps not have it all at once.
Also discussed placing an item on the Board agenda designated as a “workshop” for education and decision-making purposes.
CEO Eckert will initiate one-on-one meetings with Members for clarification of agenda items.
Planning
Committee Calendar planning begins in September and to provide schedule of committee meetings in advance.
Committees
The Committee discussed Board assignments to committees to diversify engagement; to solicit input from members on their priorities of interest and if they would be willing to act as Chair or Vice Chair in that Committee; and, how to best utilize committees to limit Board meetings to 2-3 primary topics.
Training
Train staff to be uniform in staff reports and to limit presentations to ten minutes or less; and, encourage members to prepare themselves to be informed by reading the reports and provided materials.
Next Steps
CEO Eckert provided next steps and requested direction on what ideas to convert to draft policy for JPA and Bylaw amendments.
1) Staff requested direction on what ideas to convert to draft policy for JPA/Bylaw amendments DRAFT - Governance Committee Meeting Minutes
August 6, 2026
5 The Committee provided direction for the draft policy to include the following items:
Separate Board Member Committees (Audit & Finance Committee, Legislative/Regulatory Committee, Energy Procurement Review ad hoc Committee, and Governance Committee) from non-Board Member Committees (Community Advisory Committee and Risk Oversight Committee).
Change name of this Committee from “Governance” Committee to “Executive” Committee.
Suggested new Member committee assignments to not begin until 2028.
The Committee also requested staff to provide the scope and number of meetings to be scheduled for each of the Board Member Committees so that canvassing could begin for the 2027 assignments. 2) Convene a Governance Committee meeting in September/October to review the amendments. 3) Subsequently, elevate amendments to the Board at following Board meeting date (October 15 or November 12).
Entry No. 4
Heard General Administration Functions, Part II.
CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER’S REPORT
CEO Eckert informed the Committee that staff expect the September 17 Board of Directors meeting to convene in the new boardroom.
CEO Eckert also reported that Pioneer had signed a Non-Disclosure Agreement with Liberty Utilities regarding power supply issues for City of South Lake Tahoe; expect next steps to include conducting an Impact Assessment and if all goes well, an Implementation Plan could be filed by end of year.
The meeting adjourned at 4:44 PM.