Redwood Coast Energy Authority Board of Directors
April 27, 2023

Redwood Coast Energy Authority
633 3rd Street, Eureka, CA 95501
Phone: (707) 269-1700 Toll-Free (800) 931-7232 Fax: (707) 269-1777 E-mail: [email protected] Web: www.redwoodenergy.org

BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING AGENDA
Jefferson Community Center Auditorium April 27, 2023
1000 B Street, Eureka, CA 95501 Thursday, 3:30 p.m.

Any member of the public needing special accommodation to participate in this meeting or access the meeting materials should email [email protected] or call (707) 269- 1700 at least 3 business days before the meeting. Assistive listening devices are available.

Pursuant to Government Code section 54957.5, all writings or documents relating to any item on this agenda which have been provided to a majority of the Board, including those received less than 72 hours prior to the Committee’s meeting, will be made available to the public at www.RedwoodEnergy.org.

NOTE: Speakers wishing to distribute materials to the Board at the meeting, please provide 13 copies to the Board Clerk.

THIS IS A HYBRID IN-PERSON AND VIRTUAL MEETING.

The Board of Directors has returned to in-person hybrid meetings. When attending Board meetings, please socially distance as much as possible and be courteous to those who choose to wear a mask.

To participate in the meeting online, go to https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81972368051. To participate by phone, call (669) 900-6833 or (253) 215-8782. Enter webinar ID: 819 7236 8051.

To make a comment during the public comment periods, raise your hand in the online Zoom webinar, or press star (*) 9 on your phone to raise your hand. You will continue to hear the meeting while you wait. When it is your turn to speak, a staff member will unmute your phone or computer. In-person participants, please step up to the podium and speak into the microphone. You will have 3 minutes to speak.

You may submit written public comment by email to [email protected].

Please identify the agenda item number in the subject line. Comments will be included in the meeting record but not read aloud during the meeting.

While downloading the Zoom application may provide a better meeting experience, Zoom does not need to be installed on your computer to participate. After clicking the webinar link above, click “start from your browser.”

1 RCEA April 27, 2023, Board of Directors Meeting Agenda

OPEN SESSION Call to Order

1. ROLL CALL - REMOTE DIRECTOR PARTICIPATION

1.1. Approve teleconference participation request for this meeting by Director pursuant to Brown Act revisions of AB 2449 due to an emergency circumstance to be briefly described.

2. REPORTS FROM MEMBER ENTITIES

3. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS
This time is provided for people to address the Board or submit written communications on matters not on the agenda.

At the conclusion of all oral communications, the Board may respond to statements. Any request that requires Board action will be set by the Board for a future agenda or referred to staff.

4. CONSENT CALENDAR
All matters on the Consent Calendar are considered to be routine by the Board and are enacted in one motion. There is no separate discussion of any of these items. If discussion is required, that item is removed from the Consent Calendar and considered separately. At the end of the reading of the Consent Calendar, Board members or members of the public can request that an item be removed for separate discussion.

4.1 Approve Minutes of March 23, 2023, Board Meeting.

4.2 Approve Disbursements Report.

4.3 Accept Financial Reports.

4.4 Accept Quarterly Legislative Report.

4.5 Authorize the ad hoc Office Relocation Subcommittee to review new property listings with the Executive Director and staff and approve the Executive Director entering into negotiations and/or making an offer on any suitable property contingent on full Board approval.

4.6 Approve the Updated Terms and Conditions for the Community Choice Energy Program.

5. REMOVED FROM CONSENT CALENDAR ITEMS
Items removed from the Consent Calendar will be heard under this section.

6. OLD BUSINESS – None.

7. NEW BUSINESS

7.1. Biennial Salary Survey Report
Accept 2023 Biennial Salary Survey Report.

7.2. Blue Lake Rancheria Tribe’s Interest in Joining RCEA Adopt Resolution 2023-6 Approving the Blue Lake Rancheria Tribe as a Member Agency of the Redwood Coast Energy Authority.
2 RCEA April 27, 2023, Board of Directors Meeting Agenda

COMMUNITY CHOICE ENERGY (CCE) BUSINESS (Confirm CCE Quorum) Items under this section of the agenda relate to CCE-specific business matters that fall under RCEA’s CCE voting provisions, with only CCE-participating jurisdictions voting on these matters with weighted voting as established in the RCEA joint powers agreement.

8. OLD CCE BUSINESS – None.

9. NEW CCE BUSINESS

9.1. Quarterly Energy Risk Management Report
Accept Energy Risk Management Quarterly Report.

9.2. Humboldt’s Electric Future Planning Process Preview (Information only) Discuss and provide feedback to staff.

9.3. Biomass Technical Advisory Group Update (Information only) Discuss and provide feedback to staff.

END OF COMMUNITY CHOICE ENERGY (CCE) BUSINESS

10. STAFF REPORTS

10.1 Executive Director’s Report on Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Training Program Grant Award, RCEA’s 20th Anniversary, Fiscal Year 2023-24 Budget Process and Other Topics as Needed.

11. FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS
Any request that requires Board action will be set by the Board for a future agenda or referred to staff.

12. ADJOURNMENT

NEXT REGULAR MEETING
Thursday, May 25, 2023, 3:30 p.m.

Jefferson Community Center Auditorium, 1000 B Street, Eureka, CA 95501.

Online and phone participation will also be possible via Zoom. 3 This page
intentionally
left blank.
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STAFF REPORT
Agenda Item # 1.1
AGENDA DATE: April 27, 2023
TO: RCEA Board of Directors
FROM: Eileen Verbeck, Deputy Executive Director
SUBJECT: Member Teleconference Participation

BACKGROUND
Since emergency Brown Act meeting law changes went into effect in 2020 due to the COVID-19 public health emergency, the RCEA Board of Directors, Community Advisory Committee and the subcommittees of those bodies met online with no physical, public meeting location.

Governor Newsom signed AB 361 into law in September 2021, which allowed these bodies to continue meeting completely virtually without publishing each member’s participation location while the COVID state of emergency continued and state or local officials recommended social distancing measures or the RCEA Board determined that meeting in person posed health and safety risks.

The COVID-19 State of Emergency ended on February 28, 2023, and RCEA Board and CAC meetings returned to meeting in-person at a physical location, with allowances under existing Brown Act rules or new AB 2449 Brown Act rules should a Board or CAC member need to participate from a remote location for certain reasons. If another state of emergency is declared, these bodies may be able to return to completely remote meetings.

SUMMARY
RCEA Board Directors may attend up to two meetings per year from a remote location without making the location accessible to the public for the following reasons:

1. “Just cause”
a. To provide childcare or caregiving need to a child, parent, grandparent, grandchild, sibling, spouse, or domestic partner;
b. Due to a contagious illness that prevents the member from attending in-person; c. Due to a need related to a physical or mental disability as defined in Government Code sections 12926 and 12926.1 not otherwise accommodated; and d. Due to travel while on official business of the legislative body or another state or local agency.

2. “Emergency circumstance” due to a physical or family medical emergency that prevents the member from attending in person.

If a Board Director would like to attend the meeting remotely due to an emergency circumstance, the Board will take action by majority vote to approve the Director’s remote participation. A vote is not necessary for a request to attend remotely for just cause. A brief 5

description, protecting the Director’s (or Director’s family member’s) medical privacy, needs to be provided in both cases.

The remotely participating Board Director needs to publicly disclose at the meeting before any action (vote) is taken, whether anyone 18 years of age or older is present in the room at the remote location with the Director, and the general nature of the individual’s relationship with the Director.

If the Board Director anticipates needing to participate remotely for more than 2 meetings per year, staff recommends arranging for a publicly and ADA accessible space with visual and audio meeting capabilities from which to participate.

Staff asks to be notified one-week in advance, if possible, of remote meeting attendance so the Director’s publicly and ADA accessible remote meeting address can be published in the agenda, if required per Brown Act open meeting laws.

Current Remote Participation Requests
As of the writing of this staff report, Staff have received no notifications of Directors requesting remote participation for “just cause” or “emergency circumstances.”

RECOMMENDED ACTION
Approve teleconference participation request for this meeting by Director pursuant to Brown Act revisions of AB 2449 due to an emergency circumstance to be briefly described. 6 Redwood Coast Energy Authority
633 3rd Street, Eureka, CA 95501
Phone: (707) 269-1700 Toll-Free (800) 931-7232 Fax: (707) 269-1777 E-mail: [email protected] Web: www.redwoodenergy.org

BOARD OF DIRECTORS DRAFT MEETING MINUTES
Redwood Coast Energy Authority Office March 23, 2023
633 3rd Street, Eureka, CA 95501 Thursday, 3:30 p.m.

Chair Sheri Woo called a regular meeting of the Board of Directors of the Redwood Coast Energy Authority to order on the above date at 3:32 p.m. Notice of this meeting was posted on March 17, 2023. PRESENT: Natalie Arroyo (by teleconference due to travel for official Humboldt County business, a just cause, with no one 18 years of age or older present at this remote location), Scott Bauer, Skip Jorgensen, Kris Mobley, Alt. Director Sherri Provolt, Vice Chair Sarah Schaefer, Jack Tuttle, Frank Wilson, Chair Sheri Woo. ABSENT: Frankie Myers, Elise Scafani. STAFF AND OTHERS PRESENT: General Counsel Nancy Diamond; Power Resources Director Richard Engel; Executive Director Matthew Marshall; Board Clerk Lori Taketa; Deputy Executive Director Eileen Verbeck.

REPORTS FROM MEMBER ENTITIES
Director Mobley attended the March Community Advisory Committee meeting and will report on what was discussed at a future Board meeting. Vice Chair Schaefer attended a CivicWell Policymakers Conference and learned about Community Choice Aggregators. Director Arroyo also attended the CivicWell conference and learned about utilities and energy. She invited the community to join the County Board of Supervisors for strategic planning sessions to be held at Benbow KOA. Director Provolt thanked the Board for inviting the Yurok Tribe to join RCEA.

ORAL COMMUNICATIONS
Member of the public Julie Neander asked the directors to consider calling a special meeting and directing staff to send a letter to Wells Fargo expressing concern over the bank’s funding of fossil fuel expansion projects. Directors expressed support for addressing the topic at a future meeting.

CONSENT CALENDAR

4.1 Approve Minutes of

4.1.1 February 23, 2023, Board Meeting, and

4.1.2 March 9, 2023, Board Special Meeting.

4.2 Approve Disbursements Report.

4.3 Accept Financial Reports.

4.4 Reappoint Norman Bell, Catherine Gurin, Christopher Honar, Richard Johnson, Luna Latimer, and Kit Mann to the Community Advisory Committee for Two-Year Terms Ending on March 31, 2025.

4.5 Accept RCEA Supplier Diversity 2022 Annual Report and Plan.

Chair Woo requested that item 4.4 be removed from the consent calendar. No other member of the Board or public requested items to be removed.
7 RCEA March 23, 2023, Board of Directors Meeting DRAFT Minutes

M/S: Schaefer, Bauer: Approve Consent Calendar items 4.1, 4.2, 4.3, and 4.5.

The motion passed with a unanimous vote. Ayes: Arroyo, Bauer, Jorgensen, Mobley, Schaefer, Tuttle, Wilson, Woo. Noes: None. Absent: Scafani. Abstain: Provolt.

REMOVED FROM CONSENT CALENDAR ITEMS
Chair Woo expressed appreciation for the Community Advisory Committee’s work, including technical work. CAC Chair Dennis Leonardi thanked the Board for their comments, which he will share with the committee members. Conversion of one of the CAC’s at-large seats to a Yurok Tribe Director nominee position will be discussed by the Board prior to March 2024.

M/S: Jorgensen, Schaefer: Reappoint Norman Bell, Catherine Gurin, Christopher Honar, Richard Johnson, Luna Latimer, and Kit Mann, to the Community Advisory Committee for Two-Year Terms Ending on March 31, 2025.

The motion passed with a unanimous vote. Ayes: Arroyo, Bauer, Jorgensen, Mobley, Provolt, Schaefer, Tuttle, Wilson, Woo. Noes: None. Absent: Scafani. Abstain: None.

OLD BUSINESS

6.1 Update from the California Fishermen’s Resiliency Association (Information only) RCEA invited the Humboldt Fishermen’s Marketing Association to discussions with offshore wind power developers when the idea of Humboldt offshore wind development was first being explored and granted HFMA $10,000 to cover the legal costs of creating the California Fishermen’s Resiliency Association, a single point of contact between fishermen from ports up and down the California coast and offshore wind developers. CFRA’s Ken Bates reported on deliverables for the RCEA and other grants from the state. Mr. Bates described how Association members are witness to climate change impacts and are concerned about losing fishing grounds. He stressed the CFRA is not asking for cash, but to avoid and minimize impacts to the fishing industry. Mr. Bates requested that the RCEA Board write a letter to the California Coastal Commission to quickly form a fishermen’s working group to create offshore wind development rules.

The directors thanked Mr. Bates for his work. Staff stated they will continue to work with the local fishing community. There were no comments from the public on this agenda item.

6.2 RePower Humboldt Strategic Plan Overview of Agency Goals, Current and Upcoming Projects (Information only)
Executive Director Marshall reported on progress made on RCEA strategic plan goals in the areas of Planning and Regional Coordination, Low-Carbon Transportation, Customer Energy Solutions/Demand-Side Management, and Energy Generation and Utility Services. The successful airport microgrid project is being used as a model across the state, and agency partners are pursuing funding for northeast and southern Humboldt microgrid projects.

A request was made to discuss ramifications of making the CCE program’s 100% carbon-free and renewable REpower+ product the default RCEA customer electricity service option. 8 RCEA March 23, 2023, Board of Directors Meeting DRAFT Minutes

6.3 RCEA Community Advisory Committee Annual Report (information only) Community Advisory Committee Chair Dennis Leonardi reported on the committee’s work over the past year and work goals for the coming year. Mr. Leonardi expressed the need for the community to understand RCEA’s work and to receive accurate information regarding local offshore wind development.

The directors and staff expressed appreciation for the work and technical expertise CAC members are contributing toward the agency’s goals. Staff described how the CAC will be engaged in gathering information on the community’s energy procurement priorities to inform RCEA’s Integrated Resource Plan filing to the CPUC next year.

6.4 Review Board Ad Hoc Subcommittees and Revise Membership Executive Director Marshall described the status of three existing ad hoc Board subcommittees: the Mid-Term Reliability Zero Emission Resources Solicitation Subcommittee, the Nordic Aquafarms Non-Standard Rate Subcommittee, and the Office Relocation Subcommittee. The Directors determined that work by all three subcommittees was still required and that new director members should volunteer to serve on the Nordic Aquafarms Non-Standard Rate Subcommittee when the Nordic Aquafarm development begins determining its electricity supply source.

NEW BUSINESS

7.1 Approve Addition of a Power Resources Specialist Position and Revised Organization Chart
Executive Director Marshall described the need for an additional staff position to assist in fulfilling the growing number of state procurement mandates. There will be no budget impacts this fiscal year due to delays in filling staff vacancies. A limited-term staff member is currently performing many functions the proposed staff position would complete.

M/S: Schaefer, Bauer: Approve Addition of a Power Resources Specialist position and Revised Organizational Chart.

The motion passed with a unanimous vote. Ayes: Arroyo, Bauer, Jorgensen, Mobley, Provolt, Schaefer, Tuttle, Wilson, Woo. Noes: None. Absent: Scafani. Abstain: None.

STAFF REPORTS

8.1 Executive Director’s Report (Information only)
Executive Director Marshall stated that a quorum of the RCEA Board will likely not attend any CORE Hub offshore wind meeting, so no formation of a CORE Hub offshore wind engagement subcommittee was needed. Addressing recent Silicon Valley Bank collapse concerns, Mr. Marshall reported that the majority of RCEA Community Choice Energy banking is done through Umpqua Bank, the most local bank large enough to safely manage the CCE program’s volume of deposits and withdrawals. RCEA maintains a small account with First Republic Bank to satisfy USDA loan requirements. The balance that will be maintained in the account is expected to be around $65,000, well below the FDIC insured limit. RCEA has no relationship with Silicon Valley Bank. RCEA maintains a PG&E escrow 9 RCEA March 23, 2023, Board of Directors Meeting DRAFT Minutes

account with $142,000 with Wells Fargo. Wells Fargo is one of a handful of banks capable of fulfilling PG&E requirements for Community Choice Aggregator financial security deposits.

While the CCE program operates, RCEA is required to maintain this escrow account, which may be replaceable should RCEA earn a good credit rating.

FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS
The directors requested:
• Discussion of requesting that Wells Fargo consider divesting from fossil fuel project development at the next RCEA Board meeting,
• A report on a federal grant for offshore wind public engagement in May, • Discussion of REpower+ becoming the default CCE customer service option prior to achieving the 100% clean and renewable portfolio in 2025, and • Discussion with legal counsel about whether County-declared states of emergency can expand Board director remote meeting participation allowances.

CAC Chair Leonardi suggested that the Yurok Tribal Council representatives encourage potential CAC nominees to begin observing committee meetings to familiarize themselves with the agency’s and committee’s work.

Chair Woo adjourned the meeting at 5:33 p.m.

Lori Taketa
Clerk of the Board
10 Accrual Basis Redwood Coast Energy Authority
Disbursements Report
As of February 28, 2023
Type Date Num Name Memo Amount
Liability Check 02/03/2023 ACH Internal Revenue Service Payroll Taxes -28,077.62 Liability Check 02/03/2023 ACH EDD Payroll Taxes -6,045.44 Liability Check 02/03/2023 ACH Newport Group Deferred compensation contributions -18,684.85 Bill Pmt -Check 02/03/2023 ACH Keenan Anthem Medical Insurance February 2023 -28,966.55 Check 02/03/2023 14670 CCE Customer Heat Pump Rebate #DS-R-230104-0859 -1,675.00 Check 02/03/2023 14671 CCE Customer Heat Pump Rebate #DS-R-220830-0489 -1,100.00 Check 02/03/2023 14672 CCE Customer Heat Pump Rebate #DS-R-221128-0743 -1,100.00 Check 02/03/2023 14673 CCE Customer Heat Pump Rebate #DS-R-230119-0899 -950.00 Check 02/03/2023 14674 CCE Customer Heat Pump Rebate #DS-R-230104-0857 -950.00 Check 02/03/2023 14675 CCE Customer PA Equipment Rebate - Res #DS-R-221208-0769 -940.00 Check 02/03/2023 14676 CCE Customer PA Equipment Rebate - Res #DS-R-221223-0813 -330.00 Check 02/03/2023 14677 CCE Customer PA Equipment Rebate - Res #DS-R-221109-0699 -80.00 Check 02/03/2023 14678 CCE Customer EV Rebate #EV45 & REVSE18 -1,500.00 Check 02/03/2023 14679 CCE Customer Res EVSE rebate #EVSE18 -376.59 Check 02/03/2023 14680 CCE Customer Heat Pump Rebate #DS-R-221128-0740 -1,600.00 Check 02/03/2023 14681 CCE Customer PA Equipment Rebate - Res #DS-R-230110-0869 -940.00 Check 02/03/2023 14682 CCE Customer PA Equipment Rebate - Res #DS-R-230124-0929 -290.00 Check 02/03/2023 14683 CCE Customer PA Equipment Rebate - Res #DS-R-230119-0906 -680.00 Check 02/03/2023 14684 CCE Customer PA Equipment Rebate - Res #DS-R-230124-0931 -940.00 Check 02/03/2023 14685 CCE Customer PA Equipment Rebate - Res #DS-R-230120-0909 -480.00 Check 02/03/2023 14686 CCE Customer PA Equipment Rebate - Res #DS-R-221209-0777 -940.00 Check 02/03/2023 14687 CCE Customer PA Equipment Rebate - Res #DS-R-221209-0774 -20.00 Check 02/03/2023 14688 CCE Customer Heat Pump Rebate #DS-R-221109-0690 -875.00 Check 02/03/2023 14689 CCE Customer Heat Pump Rebate #DS-R-221109-0690 -800.00 Check 02/03/2023 14690 CCE Customer Heat Pump Rebate #DS-R-221109-0690 -800.00 Check 02/03/2023 14691 CCE Customer PA Equipment Rebate - Res #DS-R-230119-0904 -940.00 Check 02/03/2023 14692 CCE Customer PA Equipment Rebate - Res #DS-R-221102-0665 -30.00 Check 02/03/2023 14693 CCE Customer PA Equipment Rebate - Res #DS-R-230128-0943 -500.00 Check 02/03/2023 14694 CCE Customer Heat Pump Rebate #DS-R-230119-0905 -875.00 Check 02/03/2023 14695 CCE Customer PA Equipment Rebate - Res #DS-R-221205-0759 -940.00 Check 02/03/2023 14696 CCE Customer Heat Pump Rebate #DS-R-230110-0870 -1,450.00 Check 02/03/2023 14697 CCE Customer PA Equipment Rebate - Res #DS-R-230130-0949 -1,270.00 Check 02/03/2023 14698 CCE Customer Heat Pump Rebate #DS-R-230130-0950 -950.00 Check 02/03/2023 14699 CCE Customer PA Equipment Rebate - Res #DS-R-221219-0808 -970.00 Bill Pmt -Check 02/03/2023 14700 Advanced Security Security monitoring: Feb 2023-April 2023 -132.00 Bill Pmt -Check 02/03/2023 14701 Alber's Tractor and Ag Work Mowing services for ACV solar site on 1/27/23 -1,000.00 Bill Pmt -Check 02/03/2023 14702 Balance Point Home Performance, Inc Onsite Heat Pump Training by Dan Perunko -4,300.00 Bill Pmt -Check 02/03/2023 14703 Boone, J. Mileage reimbursement -December 2022 -15.00 Bill Pmt -Check 02/03/2023 14704 Braun Blaising & Wynne Legal Services - Regulatory -December 2022 -2,844.76 Bill Pmt -Check 02/03/2023 14705 Colonial Life Colonial Life Premiums January 2023 -1,840.25 Bill Pmt -Check 02/03/2023 14706 FedEx Late fee for invoice 798736513 dated 12/23/22 -6.87 Bill Pmt -Check 02/03/2023 14707 Frontier Energy, Inc. PA Program Consulting - December 2022 -123.75 Bill Pmt -Check 02/03/2023 14708 Hilson, D. Mileage reimbursement - January 2023 -27.58 Bill Pmt -Check 02/03/2023 14709 Humboldt Bay Coffee Co. Office Coffee -43.25 Bill Pmt -Check 02/03/2023 14710 Keenan July 2022 Late Fee on Health Insurance Premiums -430.47 Bill Pmt -Check 02/03/2023 14711 Law Office of David Peffer December 2022 Legal Services - RuralREN regulatory and legal support -3,689.00 Bill Pmt -Check 02/03/2023 14712 Liebert Cassidy Whitmore ERC Membership + Liebert Library -5,815.00 Bill Pmt -Check 02/03/2023 14713 Los Bagels Co., Inc. Heat Pump Workshop Refreshments -128.65 Bill Pmt -Check 02/03/2023 14714 Mission Uniform & Linen Jan 2023 Mat Service & Janitorial Supplies -145.66 Bill Pmt -Check 02/03/2023 14715 PG&E EV Account EV stations 12/14/2022-01/12/2023 -798.99 Bill Pmt -Check 02/03/2023 14716 PG&E Utility Account 12/14-01/12/22 utilities for 633 3rd Street -1,316.79 Bill Pmt -Check 02/03/2023 14717 Ramone's Stepping Stones Employee Workshop-Pasteries & Coffee -129.84 Bill Pmt -Check 02/03/2023 14718 Rennie, J Mileage Reimbursement- Jan 2023 -77.42 Bill Pmt -Check 02/03/2023 14719 Ruby Canyon Environmental, Inc RCEA TCR Ver 2017-2019: Virtual site visit -4,700.00 Bill Pmt -Check 02/03/2023 14720 Stephenson, Nancy Purchase reimbursement: Refreshments for Heat Pump Workshop -79.13 Bill Pmt -Check 02/03/2023 14721 Wilson, Sonsini, Goodrich & Rosati PC December 2022 Legal Services - RA Swap with Valley Clean Energy -1,692.00 Bill Pmt -Check 02/03/2023 14722 Newport Group Participant Fees for Retirement Plan - 01/01 - 03/31/2023 -846.38 Bill Pmt -Check 02/03/2023 14723 AT&T RCAM Router charges - ACV: 12/19 - 01/18 -163.00

11 Accrual Basis Redwood Coast Energy Authority
Disbursements Report
As of February 28, 2023
Type Date Num Name Memo Amount
Liability Check 02/03/2023 14724 Umpqua Bank Health Savings Account contributions -72.07 Paycheck 02/03/2023 ACH Employees Payroll -69,140.60
Bill Pmt -Check 02/07/2023 ACH Viridity Energy Solutions, Inc. Tierra Buena RA-January 2023 -16,900.00 Check 02/07/2023 ACH Internal Revenue Service Q3 2022 Revised 941- Resubmission of returned interest payment -23.41 Bill Pmt -Check 02/07/2023 ACH Renewable America, LLC Foster A Project shortlist deposit return -19,125.00 Check 02/09/2023 14725 VISA January 2023 Statement 12/22/2022 - 01/20/2023 -16,982.88 Liability Check 02/17/2023 ACH Internal Revenue Service Payroll Taxes -28,943.44 Liability Check 02/17/2023 ACH EDD Payroll Taxes -5,971.63 Liability Check 02/17/2023 ACH Newport Group Deferred compensation contributions -18,472.17 Bill Pmt -Check 02/17/2023 ACH CalPine Corporation Calpine January 2023 Costs -61,097.28 Bill Pmt -Check 02/17/2023 ACH Humboldt Sawmill Co. January 2023 Electricity Charge -367,320.41 Bill Pmt -Check 02/17/2023 ACH Leapfrog Energy January 2023 RA -36,740.00 Bill Pmt -Check 02/17/2023 ACH Snow Mountain Hydro, LLC January 2023 Electricity -108,604.80 Liability Check 02/17/2023 14726 Umpqua Bank Health Savings Account contributions -72.07 Check 02/17/2023 14727 CCE Customer Heat Pump Rebate #DS-R-230104-0855 -725.00 Check 02/17/2023 14728 CCE Customer PA Equipment Rebate - Res #DS-R-221211-0789 -260.00 Check 02/17/2023 14729 CCE Customer PA Equipment Rebate - Res #DS-R-221230-0827 -940.00 Check 02/17/2023 14730 CCE Customer PA Equipment Rebate - Res #DS-R-230119-0900 -60.00 Check 02/17/2023 14731 CCE Customer PA Equipment Rebate - Res #DS-R-230119-0901 -480.00 Check 02/17/2023 14732 CCE Customer Res EVSE rebate #EV46 -1,000.00 Check 02/17/2023 14733 CCE Customer Res EVSE rebate #EV47 -1,000.00 Check 02/17/2023 14734 CCE Customer Res EVSE rebate #EV48 -1,000.00 Check 02/17/2023 14735 NEM Customer NEM Close Out Acct #6480799882 -327.33 Check 02/17/2023 14736 NEM Customer NEM Close Out Acct #5099913484 -8.22 Check 02/17/2023 14737 NEM Customer NEM Close Out Acct #4847002303 -61.57 Check 02/17/2023 14738 NEM Customer NEM Close Out Acct #3663314567 -2.79 Check 02/17/2023 14739 NEM Customer NEM Close Out Acct #7604283058 for 2344 Progress Ave -378.05 Check 02/17/2023 14740 NEM Customer NEM Close Out Acct #7947295513 -182.12 Check 02/17/2023 14741 NEM Customer NEM Close Out Acct #4781894688 for 2997 Wildrose Ct Unit A -20.85 Check 02/17/2023 14742 NEM Customer NEM Close Out Acct #6087850253 for 3005 Wildrose Ct Unit B -97.89 Check 02/17/2023 14743 NEM Customer NEM Close Out Acct #4075020940 -217.38 Check 02/17/2023 14744 NEM Customer NEM Close Out Acct #49956616 -330.04 Check 02/17/2023 14745 NEM Customer NEM Close Out Acct #4253373501 -131.96 Check 02/17/2023 14746 NEM Customer NEM Close Out Acct #435500944 -25.25 Check 02/17/2023 14747 NEM Customer NEM Close Out Acct #3394526896 -117.85 Bill Pmt -Check 02/17/2023 14748 Aiqueous, LLC Stage 6 Next 90 & Stage 7 Jan 2023 -3,037.50 Bill Pmt -Check 02/17/2023 14749 Amazon.com Monthly billing - January 2023 -2,991.41 Bill Pmt -Check 02/17/2023 14750 Ameritas - Dental #010-055098-00001 Dental - Mar 2023 -2,559.36 Bill Pmt -Check 02/17/2023 14751 Ameritas - Vision 010-055098-00002 Vision - March 2023 -532.32 Bill Pmt -Check 02/17/2023 14752 AT&T RCAM charges: 02/01 - 02/28/2023 for Account 8003-251-9276 -942.10 Bill Pmt -Check 02/17/2023 14753 AT&T Long Distance Phone charges 01/25/2023 - 02/24/2023 -203.10 Bill Pmt -Check 02/17/2023 14754 Baker Tilly US, LLP Professional services - period ending 1/31/23 -4,525.00 Bill Pmt -Check 02/17/2023 14755 Bithell, M. January 2023 Mileage Reimbursement -62.88 Bill Pmt -Check 02/17/2023 14756 Cissna, A. VOID: CalCCA Semi-Annual Joint Conference-Per Diem meals 0.00 Bill Pmt -Check 02/17/2023 14757 City of Arcata January 2023 Utility User Tax #6310 -14,890.01 Bill Pmt -Check 02/17/2023 14758 City of Arcata January 2023 Excessive Energy Use Tax #6315 -3,878.73 Bill Pmt -Check 02/17/2023 14759 City of Eureka-Water Water service, 12/19/22- 01/23/23 -210.63 Bill Pmt -Check 02/17/2023 14760 David L. Moonie & Co., LLP Financial consulting - January 2023 -1,214.00 Bill Pmt -Check 02/17/2023 14761 Diamond, Nancy Legal Services -7,081.90 Bill Pmt -Check 02/17/2023 14762 Donald Dame Professional Services January 2023 -232.75 Bill Pmt -Check 02/17/2023 14763 Engel, R. VOID: Incorrect amount on check 14763, reissued 0.00 Bill Pmt -Check 02/17/2023 14764 FedEx Res Kit - service 495 & 506 -85.49 Bill Pmt -Check 02/17/2023 14765 Frontier Energy, Inc. PA Program Consulting - January 2023 -1,358.25 Bill Pmt -Check 02/17/2023 14766 Gwynn, J. VOID: incorrect amount on ck 14766, reissued 0.00 Bill Pmt -Check 02/17/2023 14767 HireRight Background Check:New Hires -193.50 Bill Pmt -Check 02/17/2023 14768 Humboldt Area Chapter CSDA Humboldt CSDA Dues 2023 -50.00 Bill Pmt -Check 02/17/2023 14769 Humboldt Recycling, LLC Account 338211: Jan 2023 disposal -222.40 Bill Pmt -Check 02/17/2023 14770 Humboldt Transit Authority Reusable Bus Pass cards for RCEA staff -75.00

12 Accrual Basis Redwood Coast Energy Authority
Disbursements Report
As of February 28, 2023
Type Date Num Name Memo Amount
Bill Pmt -Check 02/17/2023 14771 Lost Coast Communications Radio spots - Heat Pump Workshop-Jan 2023 -480.00 Bill Pmt -Check 02/17/2023 14772 Mission Uniform & Linen Jan 2023 Mat Service & Janitorial Supplies -141.63 Bill Pmt -Check 02/17/2023 14773 North Coast Cleaning January 2023 monthly cleaning service -480.00 Bill Pmt -Check 02/17/2023 14774 Optimum Business Phone & Internet access - 01/28 - 02/27/2023 -1,102.91 Bill Pmt -Check 02/17/2023 14775 Petty Cash Replenish petty cash for 10.26.22-01.31.23 reimbursement -21.54 Bill Pmt -Check 02/17/2023 14776 Ray Morgan Company Printer Charges: 01/06-02/05/23 -201.35 Bill Pmt -Check 02/17/2023 14777 Recology January 2023 garbage service -95.55 Bill Pmt -Check 02/17/2023 14778 Regli, S VOID: Incorrect amount on ck 14778, reissued 0.00 Bill Pmt -Check 02/17/2023 14779 Stepping Stones Consulting Foundations of Racial Equity Workshops- 1/25 & 2/8 -6,000.00 Bill Pmt -Check 02/17/2023 14780 Times Printing Company Mailings, printing and postage -1,198.21 Bill Pmt -Check 02/17/2023 14781 Verizon Wireless Tablet/cell service for staff & equipment - 12/29 - 01/28/2023 -1,532.02 Bill Pmt -Check 02/17/2023 14782 Westside Community Center Venue Rental: Jefferson Center for Stepping Stones workshops -525.00 Check 02/17/2023 14783 Rio Dell Volunteer Fire Department Rio Dell earthquake 2022 Donation -6,303.12 Bill Pmt -Check 02/17/2023 14784 Cissna, A. CalCCA Joint Committees mtg - Per Diem meals -97.00 Bill Pmt -Check 02/17/2023 14785 Engel, R. CalCCA Joint Committees mtg - Per Diem meals -79.00 Bill Pmt -Check 02/17/2023 14786 Gwynn, J. VOID: Ck 14786 $79.00-Did not attend meeting, check returned to RCEA 0.00 Bill Pmt -Check 02/17/2023 14787 Regli, S CalCCA Joint Committees mtg - Per Diem meals -79.00 Paycheck 02/17/2023 ACH Employees Payroll -71,735.56
Check 02/22/2023 Debit Umpqua Bank Service Charge -186.30 TOTAL -1,028,848.42

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14 Redwood Coast Energy Authority
Profit & Loss Budget vs. Actual
July 2022 through February 2023
Jul '22 - Feb 23 Budget % of Budget
Ordinary Income/Expense
Income
Total 4 GRANTS AND DONATIONS 7,500.00
5 REVENUE EARNED
Total 5000 · Revenue - government agencies 416,214.67 1,101,031.00 37.8% Total 5100 · Revenue - program related 56,453.39 30,400.00 185.7% Total 5300 · Revenue - interest on deposits 819.69
Total 5400 · Revenue-nongovernment agencies 210,223.33 489,124.00 42.98% Total 5500 · Revenue - Electricity Sales 48,462,451.17 78,613,344.00 61.65% Total 5 REVENUE EARNED 49,146,162.25 80,233,899.00 61.25% Total Income 49,153,662.25 80,233,899.00 61.26%
Gross Profit 49,153,662.25 80,233,899.00 61.26%
Expense
Total 6 WHOLESALE POWER SUPPLY 32,814,874.59 54,381,799.00 60.34% Total 7 PERSONNEL EXPENSES 2,229,468.88 4,071,684.00 54.76% Total 8.1 FACILITIES AND OPERATIONS 365,651.25 976,816.00 37.43% Total 8.2 COMMUNICATIONS AND OUTREACH 72,675.57 177,004.00 41.06%

8.4 PROFESSIONAL & PROGRAM SRVS
8400 · Regulatory 105,643.84 180,000.00 58.69%
8410 · Contracts - Program Related Ser 91,868.59 290,000.00 31.68% 8420 · Accounting 18,158.00 87,455.00 20.76%
8430 · Legal 119,856.12 180,000.00 66.59%
8450 · Wholesale Services - TEA 548,465.28 654,984.00 83.74% 8460 · Procurement Credit - TEA 353,772.27 690,545.00 51.23% 8470 · Data Management - Calpine 490,728.00 737,532.00 66.54% Total 8.4 PROFESSIONAL & PROGRAM SRVS 1,728,492.10 2,820,516.00 61.28% Total 8.5 PROGRAM EXPENSES 411,257.81 638,100.00 64.45% Total 8.6 INCENTIVES & REBATES 334,671.20 577,823.00 57.92% Total 9 NON OPERATING COSTS 196,725.67 246,020.00 79.96% Total Expense 38,153,817.07 63,889,762.00 59.72%
Net Ordinary Income 10,999,845.18 16,344,137.00 67.3%
Net Income 10,999,845.18 16,344,137.00 67.3%

15 Redwood Coast Energy Authority
Balance Sheet
As of February 28, 2023
Feb 28, 23
ASSETS
Current Assets
Checking/Savings
1010 · Petty Cash 300.00
1050 · GRANTS & DONATIONS 3840 15,995.51
1060 · Umpqua Checking Acct 0560 132,938.36
1071 · Umpqua Deposit Cntrol Acct 8215 6,829,912.45
1075 · Umpqua Reserve Account 2300 1,319,298.52
1076 · First Republic Bank - 4999 62,263.94
8413 · COUNTY TREASURY 3839 5,329.01
Total Checking/Savings 8,366,037.79
Total Accounts Receivable 71,213.88
Other Current Assets
1101 · Allowance for Doubtful Accounts -3,363,330.64
1103 · Accounts Receivable-Other 14,839,244.41
1120 · Inventory Asset 21,715.00
1202 · Prepaid Expenses 8,993.97
1499 · Undeposited Funds 1,403.00
Total Other Current Assets 11,508,025.74
Total Current Assets 19,945,277.41
Total Fixed Assets 8,998,747.23
Other Assets
1700 · Security Deposits 4,051,123.26
Total Other Assets 4,051,123.26
TOTAL ASSETS 32,995,147.90

LIABILITIES & EQUITY
Liabilities
Current Liabilities
Total Accounts Payable 4,252,572.95
Total Credit Cards 8,070.69
Other Current Liabilities
2002 · Deposits Refundable 1,498,545.01
2013 · Unearned Revenue - PA 2020-2023 572,133.33
Total 2100 · Payroll Liabilities 135,554.71
Total Other Current Liabilities 2,206,233.05
Total Current Liabilities 6,466,876.69
Long Term Liabilities
Total 2700 · Long-Term Debt 6,287,592.00
Total Long Term Liabilities 6,287,592.00
Total Liabilities 12,754,468.69
Equity
2320 · Investment in Capital Assets 215,489.00
3900 · Fund Balance 8,976,318.69
Net Income 11,048,871.52
Total Equity 20,240,679.21
TOTAL LIABILITIES & EQUITY 32,995,147.90

16

STAFF REPORT
Agenda Item # 4.4
AGENDA DATE: April 27, 2023
TO: Board of Directors
PREPARED BY: Aisha Cissna, Regulatory and Legislative Policy Manager SUBJECT: Quarterly Legislative Report

BACKGROUND
The RCEA Board of Directors adopted the RCEA 2023 Policy Platform in December 2022 to serve as a guide for RCEA’s regulatory and legislative engagement based on the principles set forth in RCEA’s RePower Humboldt strategic plan.

In accordance with the procedures as described in the Platform, staff keeps the Board apprised of legislative stances taken by RCEA through a quarterly report summarizing RCEA’s legislative engagement. Staff have authorization to conduct regulatory engagement internally.

The current legislative session started in January 2023 and will continue through September 14, 2023, which is the last day for each house to pass legislation.

SUMMARY
This legislative session has seen an unprecedented number of introduced bills. RCEA has emphasized engagement on legislation intended to resolve interconnection delays that have been impacting our region, as well as the rest of California. Additionally, RCEA is monitoring several bills related to offshore wind, although it has not adopted a position on any of these offshore wind bills to date.

RCEA has adopted an individual agency position for the bills listed below. Per the Platform procedures, RCEA conferred with the Board Chair and Vice Chair to gain approval of staff’s recommended positions.
• Assembly Bill 50 (Wood) - Support
o RCEA submitted a Letter of Support for AB 50 in April 2023. o This bill is also supported by the California Community Choice Association (CalCCA), the trade association that represents the interests of California’s community choice aggregators (CCAs).
o This bill requires that:
 The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) by January 1, 2025, establish criteria for timely service for electric customers. Until these criteria are established, the Investor-Owned Utilities (IOUs) are required to make a good faith effort to deliver service for new connections within 90 days of issuing a commitment to serve and within 30 days for customers seeking upgrades to an existing connection.
 IOUs shall also respond to requests for service in writing within 30 days of receiving the request for service.
17

o In addition to improving interconnection timelines for new and existing electric customers, this bill promotes more efficient distribution planning and increases communication between large electric corporations, local governments, and the state government regarding capacity constraints for purposes of more efficient planning.
• Senate Bill 488 (Alvarado-Gill) – Support
o RCEA signed a coalition letter of support for SB 488 in April 2023. o This bill is also supported by CalCCA.
o This bill would allow CCAs to participate in the Bioenergy Renewable Auction Mechanism (BioRAM), which streamlines the procurement process for bioenergy from high fire hazard zones to mitigate wildfires.
o As of 2016, IOUs and Publicly Owned Utilities (POUs) were required to procure their proportionate share of 125MW of biomass energy to help reduce wildfire risk. Subsequently, the Legislature required the extension of these contracts except in the circumstances where a contract was entered into and the bioenergy facility declared bankruptcy, or where the contract does not deliver energy to the grid. This means that approximately 30MW of the original 125MW would never be procured. This bill would allow CCAs to participate in the BioRAM program in instances where bankruptcy or non-deliverability to the grid exceptions occur. o Although CCA ratepayers have funded this program since its inception, only IOUs and POUs have been able to participate to date. This bill would allow CCAs, if they so choose, to participate in BioRAM.

As alluded to above, CalCCA adopts positions on behalf of all its members. A summary of CalCCA positions on various bills from this session is attached. As outlined above, RCEA adopted its own position on two of these bills, which happened to align with CalCCA’s positions.

ALIGNMENT WITH RCEA’S STRATEGIC PLAN
This report reflects legislative activity that reflects RCEA’s Policy Platform, the purpose of which is to facilitate the achievement of RCEA’s Strategic Plan goals.

EQUITY IMPACTS
This report reflects legislation that is intended to ensure CCA customers are receiving equitable benefits to that received by IOU ratepayers for the dollars they contribute to state programs.

This report also reflects legislation intended to address the interconnection issues that are posing dire impacts to our rural communities. The legislation that CalCCA is monitoring, and engaging in, has numerous other equity benefits.

FINANCIAL IMPACT
None.

RECOMMENDED ACTION
Accept Quarterly Legislative Report.

ATTACHMENTS
• Attachment A: Table of CalCCA legislative activity
18 - 3 -

ATTACHMENT
Bills with Board adopted positions:

Bill Summary Position Status
AB 625 (Aguiar-Curry) Extends the BioMat
program that was
amended via AB 1383
(2001)
Support Assembly
Appropriations
AB 1538 (Muratsuchi) Established the Clean
Energy Reliability
Program to provide
financial incentives for
LSEs that exceed their
procurement
requirements.

Support Assembly Energy, 4/12
SB 410 (Becker) Seeks to improve the
process and timeline
for distribution capacity
improvements.

Support Senate Energy, 4/18
SB 488 (Alvarado-Gil) Allows CCAs to procure
bioenergy resources for
capacity requirements.

Support Senate Energy, TBD
Interconnection and Transmissions bills currently being reviewed and analyzed by LegCom:

Bill Summary Status
AB 50 (Wood) Seeks to improve timeline for interconnection service; Requires CPUC to develop timely
criteria; Allows bill credits for customers for
delays.

Assembly Energy, 4/26
AB 643 (Berman) Focused on DER interconnection timelines; Requires CPUC report; IOU penalties for delays.

Assembly Energy, 4/26
AB 914 (Friedman) Exempts some infrastructure projects from CEQA.

Assembly Natural Resources,
TBD
AB 1293 (Irwin) Establishes a 125 day “shot clock” for EV energization.

Assembly Energy, 4/26
SB 83 (Wiener) Establishes an 8-week timeline for
interconnection projects; Provides
compensation for customers for IOU delays.

Senate Energy, 4/18
SB 319 (McGuire) Focused on transmission planning, this bill seeks greater coordination and reporting by
the CAISO, CEC, and CPUC.

Senate Energy, TBD
SB 420 (Becker) Requires improved clean energy transmission facility planning and deployment.

Senate Energy, TBD
SB 422 (Portantino) Establishes specified labor requirements for certain CEQA reviewed projects.

Senate Environmental
Quality, TBD
SB 619 (Padilla) Spot bill. Author is looking for additional pathways to permit and build transmission
projects quicker.

Senate Energy, 4/18
A
19 - 4 -
ZEV bills currently being reviewed and analyzed by LegCom:

Bill Summary Status
AB 241 (Reyes) Extension of the Clean Transportation Program Assembly Transportation, 4/17
AB 463 (Hart) Seeks to prevent temporary discontinuation of electrical service for public transportation.

Assembly Appropriations,
TBD
AB 579 (Ting) Creates a ZEV school bus mandate of 100% of new purchases by 2035.

Assembly Appropriations,
TBD
AB 591 (Gabriel) Requires charging infrastructure companies to use universal chargers.

Assembly Floor, TBD
AB 772 (Jackson) Requires rapid compact EV charger for all new residential construction after 1/1/2025.

Assembly Energy, TBD
AB 1267 (Ting) ZEV financial incentives for diesel and gas “super users”.

Assembly Natural Resources,
4/10
AB 1349 (Irwin) Live data portal for ZEV charging stations and requirement that all publicly funded stations
participate in the portal.

Assembly Transportation,
4/17
AB 1504 (MaCarty) Seeks to streamline permitting for EV charging infrastructure.

Assembly Local Government,
4/19
AB 1525 (Bonta) Seeks to provide more ZEV funding in low-income communities.Assembly Transportation, 4/24
SB 84 (Gonzalez) Extension of the Clean Transportation Program Senate Transportation, 4/11 SB 233 (Skinner) Seeks to establish a requirement for all EVs to support bidirectional charging.

Senate Energy, TBD
SB 493 (Min) ZEV infrastructure assessment for medium and heavy-duty vehicles.

Senate Environmental
Quality, 4/19
SB 507 (Gonzalez) Increases scope of information that the CEC must consider to determine EV infrastructure
needs.

Senate Transportation, 4/25
Building decarbonization bills currently being reviewed and analyzed by LegCom:

Bill Summary Status
AB 593 (Haney) Requires the CEC to develop a carbon
emissions reduction strategy for the building
sector.

Assembly Natural Resources,
4/10
AB 698 (Essayli) Prohibits state agencies or local governments from adopting gas stove bans.

Assembly Energy, 4/12
AB 704 (Patterson) Makes a change to PV system requirements for those homes impacted by a natural
disaster.

Assembly Appropriations,
TBD
AB 1623 (Muratsuchi) Requires CPUC to review NQC rating for energy storage systems.

Assembly Energy, 4/26
AB 1664 (Friedman) Establishes a block grant system process for residential energy storage systems.

Assembly Energy, 4/12
SB 48 (Becker) Large scale building energy and water
reporting requirements to develop new
building performance standards.

Senate Energy, 4/10
20 - 5 -
SB 306 (Caballero) Proposes changes to the CEC’s equitable building decarbonization programs to ensure
more equitable outcomes.

Senate Energy, 4/10
SB 527 (Min) Seeks to establish a small-scale community-targeted decarbonization program to assist with equitable transition.

Senate Energy, TBD
SB 851 (Stern) Makes changes to SGIP that would allow CCAs and others to apply for block grants to assist
low-income residential households install
energy storage systems.

Senate Energy, TBD
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22

STAFF REPORT
Agenda Item # 4.5
AGENDA DATE: April 27, 2023
TO: Board of Directors
PREPARED BY: Eileen Verbeck, Deputy Executive Director
SUBJECT: Office Relocation Ad Hoc Subcommittee Role and Authority

BACKGROUND
The RCEA Board of Directors formed an Office Relocation Ad Hoc Subcommittee at the August 26, 2021, board meeting. The purpose of this ad hoc subcommittee is to support real property negotiations, acquisition and development related to relocation to a new RCEA office space. The membership of this ad hoc subcommittee was updated on January 26, 2023, and includes Directors Arroyo, Bauer, Mobley and Scafani. Due to new Board membership, staff wanted to summarize the role and define the authority of the ad hoc subcommittee.

SUMMARY
The ad hoc Office Relocation Subcommittee was formed to allow RCEA to move quickly during real property negotiations. Opportunities come up quickly and there are times that staff need the ability make decisions prior to the next Board meeting. The ad hoc subcommittee is a mechanism to allow staff the ability to react quickly while also getting Board direction.

In the past, the Board has given the ad hoc subcommittee approval on a per property basis. Staff would like to expand the authority of the ad Hoc Office Relocation Subcommittee approval to include all properties to allow for an expanded search for a suitable permanent location for RCEA’s office building.

Staff is requesting the Board of Directors authorize the ad hoc Office Relocation Subcommittee to review new property listings with the Executive Director and staff, and approve the Executive Director entering into negotiations and/or making an offer on any suitable property contingent on full Board approval.

FINANCIAL IMPACT
Any real property negotiations made by RCEA will be contingent upon full board approval, and the financial implications will be evaluated at that time. 23

STAFF RECOMMENDATION
Authorize the Office Relocation Ad Hoc Subcommittee to review new property listings with the Executive Director and staff and approve the Executive Director entering into negotiations and/or making an offer on any suitable property contingent on full Board approval.
24

STAFF REPORT
Agenda Item # 4.6
AGENDA DATE: April 27, 2023
TO: Board of Directors
PREPARED BY: Sally Regli, Account Services Manager
SUBJECT: Update to Community Choice Energy Terms and Conditions

SUMMARY
Staff is working towards collecting overdue charges from Community Choice Energy (CCE) customers. The proposed update to RCEA’s CCE Terms and Conditions removes a minimum threshold of $50 for referring accounts to collections currently stated in the “Failure to Pay” section. In addition, an update in the “Rates” section clarifies that changes to RCEA’s rate discount relative to PG&E’s rates, not rate changes that simply track changes to PG&E’s rates while maintaining the same percentage discount, will be presented to the Board for adoption.

FINANCIAL IMPACTS
Changing the Terms and Conditions is an administrative change and will have minimal financial impact. The current amount of debt impacted by the proposed action is approximately $75,000 (total of $50 or lower past due amounts since 2019). The industry standard collection success rate is 12-15%, and if RCEA recovered 12% of the above total, this would result in approximately $9,000 of additional recovered revenue. RCEA pays the collection agency 40% of revenue recovered for this value of debt and retains the balance.

The small debts to be made collectable under this proposed change represent less than 3% of total collectable customer debt.

ALIGNMENT WITH RCEA’S STRATEGIC PLAN
Not applicable – the Terms and Condition is an operational matter.

EQUITY IMPACTS
Equity impacts of the proposed change are unknown.

RECOMMENDED ACTIONS
Approve the updated Terms and Conditions for the Community Choice Energy Program.

ATTACHMENTS
Draft updated Terms and Conditions
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26 Redwood Coast Energy Authority CCE Terms and Conditions April 7, 2023 Rates
Redwood Coast Energy Authority (RCEA) electric generation rates are proposed to be stable and cost competitive. Any changes to RCEA’s rate discount relative to PG&E’s rates will be adopted at duly noticed public meetings of RCEA’s Board of Directors. Changes to PG&E or RCEA rates will impact cost comparisons between RCEA and PG&E.

PG&E charges RCEA customers a monthly Power Charge Indifference Adjustment (PCIA) and Franchise Fee Surcharge. These fees are always included in our rate information. Call (707) 269- 1700 or (800) 931-7232 to learn more. These rates and cost comparisons may change over time.

Financial assistance programs like CARE (California Alternate Rates for Energy), FERA (Family Electric Rate Assistance) and Medical Baseline Allowance remain the same with RCEA and will continue to be administered by PG&E.

If you are enrolled in any of these programs with PG&E, you will continue to be enrolled if you choose RCEA.

Billing
You will receive a single monthly bill from PG&E that includes RCEA’s power generation charges.

RCEA’s electric generation charge replaces PG&E’s electric generation charge. RCEA’s charge is not a duplicate charge or extra fee. PG&E will continue to charge you for electric delivery services. If you opt out of RCEA, PG&E will resume charging you for electric generation.

Enrollment
California State Assembly Bill 117, passed and signed into law in 2002, requires that Community Choice Energy programs like RCEA’s operate as the primary electric generation service provider through an automatic enrollment process.

Accounts within RCEA’s service area are automatically enrolled with RCEA’s REpower energy service unless the account holder chooses to opt out or sign up for REpower+ 100% renewable and carbon-free energy. Account holders may request to opt out at any time, or to choose REpower+ 100% renewable and carbon-free energy. To sign up for REpower+, call our office at (707) 269-1700, (800) 931- 7232 for automated assistance, or visit https://redwoodenergy.org/residential-electricity-service/ Opt Out
You may opt out of RCEA’s CCE program at any time by calling (707)-269-1700, (800) 931- 7232 or by visiting RedwoodEnergy.org. Please have your PG&E account information on hand to process your request. RCEA does not charge a fee to opt out at any time.

Please be advised that if you do opt out and return to PG&E’s bundled service, you will not have the option to return to RCEA’s service for one full year, subject to PG&E’s terms and conditions of service. Accounts will be transferred on the day the electric meter is read and cannot be transferred during the middle of a billing cycle. In order for your request to be processed on your next meter read date, your request must be received at least 5 business days prior to the date on which the meter is read. If you opt out after 60 days of service, you will have two options: 1) return to PG&E service immediately, paying PG&E’s transitional electricity rate (which varies and could be higher or lower than PG&E’s standard rate) for the first 6 months of PG&E service, or 2) provide notice of your DRAFT
27 chosen opt-out date 6 months in advance, then return to PG&E service at their standard rate after continuing service with RCEA for those 6 months.

Failure to Pay
Redwood Coast Energy Authority customer accounts overdue for more than 90 days will be sent a late payment notification. If payment is not received by the date specified in the notice, the customer will receive a second notification. If payment in full is not received by the date specified in the second notification, or the terms of an agreed-to payment plan are not fulfilled, the customer account may be returned to Pacific Gas & Electric Company (PG&E) generation service on the next account meter read date. RCEA may retain any customer deposit. Customers will be obligated to pay RCEA for services provided through the date of transfer, including any transfer or termination fee.

RCEA accounts with overdue amounts may be referred to a collection agency. Collection agencies retained by RCEA shall be vetted to ensure all consumer protection laws are strictly followed. RCEA shall periodically review the practices and results of any retained collection agency or agencies, taking immediate action to address any concerns that may arise.

Privacy
RCEA is committed to protecting customer privacy. Our customer confidentiality policy may be viewed at https://redwoodenergy.org/privacy/.
28 STAFF REPORT
Agenda Item # 7.1
AGENDA DATE: April 27, 2023
TO: Board of Directors
PREPARED BY: Eileen Verbeck, Deputy Executive Director
Kristy Siino, Human Resources & Workforce Development Manager SUBJECT: Biennial Salary Survey Report

SUMMARY
Attachment A shows the results of our latest biennial salary survey, which is required to be prepared and presented to the Board of Directors every two years, as per RCEA’s Compensation Policy. The last RCEA salary survey was prepared in April 2021 and was based on comparisons made to “Benchmark Classifications” at “Labor Market Agencies.” Staff received copies of job descriptions and added additional positions to match existing job classifications at RCEA.

Since the 2021 survey, the benchmark classifications have seen salary increases between roughly 7% and 25%, with an average increase of 12% for all classes (excluding the Executive Director class). During this same period, the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Consumer Price Index – All Urban Consumers, West Region (CPI-W) has increased by 13.5%. Additionally, the Social Security Administration total cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) for 2022 and 2023 is

14.6%.

Attachment B shows a survey of selected employee benefits at RCEA’s Labor Market Agencies, in addition to a couple of RCEA’s member agencies. This data is not part of the formal biennial salary survey, but it may be informative when comparing relative pay scale differences to consider non-salary benefits such as paid time off, longevity pay, and retirement.

FINANCIAL IMPACT
No impact at this time. Staff uses the updated survey information to propose any revisions to the RCEA salary schedule in conjunction with the annual budget development process.

STAFF RECOMMENDATION
Accept 2023 biennial salary survey report.

ATTACHMENTS:

Attachment A – April 2023 Salary Survey
29 Attachment B – Survey of Selected Employee Benefits at Labor Market Agencies Attachment C – Board Adopted Compensation Policy and Resolution 2021-1 Modifying List of Labor Market Agencies.
30 Attachment A
Biennial Salary Survey of Benchmark Classifications at RCEA's Labor Market Agencies, 2023 Title Organization Midpoint of range RCEA Salary
Assistant/Associate/Coordinator
Administrative Support North Coast Air Quality Mang District 31,567.00Administrative Assistant City of Eureka 38,386.00Student/Grad Student Assistant CalPoly Schatz Energy Research Center 40,300.00 Accounting Tech I Humboldt Bay Municipal Water District 46,021.71 Administrative Secretary County of Humboldt 50,876.80Customer Services Representative I/II City of Ukiah Electric Utility 50,953.80 Customer Service Representative Sonoma Clean Power 55,650.00Administrative Assistant CalPoly Schatz Energy Research Center 55,920.80 Administrative Assistant Pioneer Community Energy 62,547.50AVERAGE $ 43,442.00 48,024.85 $ Current RCEA Midpoint (Asst/Assoc/Coord step 5), effective 7/1/2021 11%Specialist/Senior Specialist Electric Utility Program Coordinator City of Ukiah Electric Utility 62,082.36Executive Assistant & Board Secretary Humboldt Bay Municipal Water District 63,399.24 Clerk Of The Board/Burn Permit Coordinator North Coast Air Quality Mang District 63,473.00 IT Technician I/II County of Humboldt 65,124.80
Research Assistant/Engineering Technician CalPoly Schatz Energy Research Center 69,087.20 Accounting & HR Specialist/Customer Service Humboldt Bay Municipal Water District 69,917.59 Clerk III Trinity County PUD 71,292.00Program Analyst/Board Clerk Valley Clean Energy 79,931.50 Executive Assistant/Board Clerk Pioneer Community Energy 91,294.50 Executive Assistant/Board Clerk Sonoma Clean Power 95,400.00 AVERAGE $ 68,266.00 73,100.22 $
Current RCEA Midpoint (Specialist step 8), effective 7/1/2021 7% Apr-23
31 Attachment A
Title Organization Midpoint of range RCEA Salary
Apr-23
Technician/Senior Technician
Inspector I-III North Coast Air Quality Mang District 63,473.06 Project Manager City of Eureka 77,164.00
Program & Regulatory Analyst/Senior Analyst Humboldt Bay Municipal Water District 79,566.49IT Systems Supervisor County of Humboldt 82,534.40Research Engineer CalPoly Schatz Energy Research Center 86,286.00 Senior Estimator Trinity County PUD 92,913.50Information Technology Manager City of Eureka 93,729.00 Electrical Engineering Technician I-III City of Ukiah Electric Utility 101,077.47 Program Specialist I Pioneer Community Energy 112,873.50AVERAGE $ 80,678.00 87,735.27 $ Current RCEA Midpoint (Technician step 8), effective 7/1/21 9%Manager/Senior Manager AdminCompliance and Enforcement Manager North Coast Air Quality Mang District 84,058.50Billing & Customer Service Manager City of Ukiah Electric Utility 86,390.04Construction Projects Manager County of Humboldt 88,067.20Deputy Assistant Finance Director/Special Proj Mang/PrinipalCity of Eureka 89,176.00 Senior Research Engineer CalPoly Schatz Energy Research Center 104,946.00 Program Manager Sonoma Clean Power 116,600.00Power Resource Manager/Leg Reg Mang Pioneer Community Energy 140,415.50AVERAGE $ 93,090.00 101,379.03 $ Current RCEA Midpoint (Manager step 8), effective 7/1/21 9% 32 Attachment A
Title Organization Midpoint of range RCEA Salary
Apr-23
Director
Superintendent Humboldt Bay Municipal Water District 117,203.63Administrative Services Manager Trinity County PUD 117,949.50Finance Director City of Eureka 119,675.00 Principal Engineer/Operations Director CalPoly Schatz Energy Research Center 130,542.00 Assistant Utility Director City of Ukiah Electric Utility 157,091.52Director of Customer Care and Marketing Valley Clean Energy 165,375.50Electric Superintendant Trinity County PUD 172,456.50Director (Finance and Public Affairs & Mktg Prgrms) Pioneer Community Energy 188,271.00 Director of Finance & Internal Operations Valley Clean Energy 192,937.50Director of Regulatory Affairs/Director of Prog. Sonoma Clean Power 195,358.00AVERAGE $ 124,120.00 155,686.02 $ Current RCEA Midpoint (Director step 5), effective 7/1/21 25%Executive Director Air Pollution Control Officer North Coast Air Quality Mang District 125,000.00 General Manager Humboldt Bay Municipal Water District 167,142.00 Electric Utility Director City of Ukiah Electric Utility 188,550.00 Interim General Manager Valley Clean Energy 220,500.50
General Manager Trinity County Public Utility District 241,144.00 Executive Director Pioneer Community Energy 276,659.00Chief Executive Officer Sonoma Clean Power 344,196.84AVERAGE $ 161,356.00 223,313.19 $ Current RCEA Midpoint (Executive Director step 5), effective 7/1/21 38%Average Midpoint excluding Executive Director 12.14%Social Security Cola 2022 and 2023 14.6%CPI - US West Region Jan 2021 - Dec 2022 13.50% 33 ATTACHMENT B
Agency
PERS
agency?
Deferred comp
plan offered? Vacation
Holidays
(including
floating) Sick leave
Management/
Admin Longevity pay?
Employer paid
life Insurance? Juneteenth
RCEA No
457(b) with up to 7%
employer match 10 to 25 14 12 no no no no
City of Eureka Yes 457(b), $10 per month 12 to 22 15 12 6 to 9 days/yr 1% of salary @5 yrs;
2%@10; 3%@15
yes, $5K for
employee ad $1K
for each dependent Yes
Sonoma Clean Power No
457/401, with 10%
employer match
Combined
PTO, 20 to 35 12 see PTO see PTO no
yes, $300K policy
paid by SCP Yes
City of Ukiah Electric Dept Yes
457, without employer
match 13 to 26 14 12 10 days/yr
$1000@7 yrs;
$2500@12; $3500@20
(mgmt only)
yes, $10K policy
paid by City no
NCUAQMD Yes
457, without employer
match 12 to 30 14 12 no no
yes, $50K paid by
agency Yes
Trinity County PUD Yes ? 14 to 29 14 13 5 to 15 days/yr no yes, policy equal to
twice the
employee's salary ?
HBMWD Yes
yes, with $50 to
$100/mo. employer
match 10 to 25 15 12 2 to 4 days/yr

2.5%@5 years; 5% @10,

7.5% @ 20
$50K policy paid by
HBMWD Yes
CalPoly Schatz Energy Research Center No
403(b) with 10%
employer contribution 10 to 24 15 12 no no no No
County of Humboldt Yes
457(b), no employer
match 10 to 30 15 12 10 days/yr
5%@10 years; 10% @
20 years
$10K policy paid by
County Yes
Pioneer Community Energy No
401(a) with $22,500
employer contribution
optional 457(b) 10 to 25
11(plus 1 week
off 12/24 to 1/1) 12 10 days/yr no ? No
Valley Clean Energy No
457(b) & 401(a), with
employer contribution
between 7% and 10% of
salary
20 days PTO,
with 1 add'l
day/yr thru year
10 10 see PTO see PTO no
yes, $25K policy
paid by agency No
Selected Employee Benefits at Labor Market Agencies:

Retirement Paid Time Off Days/Year
34 Agency
PERS
agency?
Deferred comp
plan offered? Vacation
Holidays
(including
floating) Sick leave
Management/
Admin Longevity pay?
Employer paid
life Insurance? Juneteenth
Retirement Paid Time Off Days/Year
Non ‐Labor MarketAgencies
City of Arcata Yes
457 with $90 ‐
$130/month employer
contribution depending on
years of service 12 to 30 16 12 10 to 14 days/yr
3%@10 years; 6%@15;
9%@20 (OE3)
yes, $50K policy paid
by City Yes
City of Fortuna Yes 10 to 20
12 (Mgmt); 14
(FEA) 12 20 to 80 hrs/yr 5% @ 10 yrs
yes, $10K policy paid
by City Yes
City of Ferndale No 11 NoCity of Trinidad No
6% contribution plus up to
6% match (total of 12%) ? 11 12 3 days No
Yes, $1K ‐ $5K per
employee No
City of Rio Dell No
10% contributes 457(b)
plus 4% match (for a
potential total of 14%) ? 14 ? ? ? ? Yes
* for Salaried ‐exempt employees only ‐  who qualifes varies by agency Note: this information was gathered from agency websites and through personal communications. Benefits may vary between bargaining units, and the accuracy of this information is not guaranteed ‐ please contact agencies directly to verify. 35

REDWOOD COAST ENERGY AUTHORITY

EMPLOYEE COMPENSATION POLICY

1. Purpose
The purpose of this policy is to define the philosophy of compensation for the Redwood Coast Energy Authority (hereinafter the Authority) for regular employees, and to specifically define how salary increases for various job classifications are determined.

The Compensation Policy specifically addresses:
• Objectives of the Policy
• Statement of Compensation Policy
• Basis for Determination of Salary and Salary Changes
• Salary Surveys
• Internal Alignment
• Review of Performance and Salary
• Procedures
Specific clarification of Performance Evaluation, Employee Classifications, and all matters pertaining to employee benefits are addressed under separate policies.

2. Definitions
a. Average of the Salary Survey
The average of the salary survey is the average of the salary figures for all the agencies surveyed at the mid-point of the salary range.
b. Labor Market Agencies
The Authority recognizes one labor market for all of its regular positions. The labor market includes the following agencies:

1. Humboldt Bay Municipal Water District

2. City of Eureka

3. County of Humboldt

4. North Coast Unified Air Quality Management District

5. HSU Schatz Energy Research Center

6. Mendocino Energy Watch (administered by Community Development Commission of Mendocino County)

7. Trinity County Public Utility District

8. City of Ukiah Electric Utility

9. Sonoma Clean Power
Additions and/or deletions to the recognized labor market may be made by the Board at a scheduled meeting of the Authority.
36

c. Benchmark Classification
A benchmark classification is a position or classification which is regarded as representative or comparable from agency to agency and which will serve as the basis for the internal alignment of salaries of related agency classifications. The Executive Director shall determine the benchmark positions to be utilized in any survey. d. Salary Surveys
A periodic survey of the Labor Market Agencies will be conducted of the designated benchmark classifications at least every two (2) years. The results of the survey, including the collected raw survey data will be shared with the Authority board in a public meeting prior to adoption of changes to the Authority’s salary ranges. e. Merit Increase
A salary increase granted to an employee on the basis of performance that meets or exceeds performance criteria for the job classification.

3. Statement of Policy
In order to attract and retain qualified employees at all levels of the organization, it is the policy of the Authority to maintain fair and competitive salary ranges consistent, within the economic constraints of the Authority, with the labor market in which we compete for talented employees. a. Statement of Compensation Policy
It is the policy of the Authority to:
i. Establish salary ranges that reflect the value of various jobs, as determined by periodic job evaluation and review, taking into account the duties and levels of responsibility of each job;
ii. Establish salary ranges consistent with the Authority’s fiscal ability to maintain services consistent with projected revenues and Board direction; iii. Survey other agencies who employ similar positions relative to salary and to adjust salary ranges when warranted by changing economic and competitive factors, including periodic salary surveys;
iv. Encourage superior performance by adjusting the salary of each employee on the basis of the quality of individual performance (merit) as determined by performance evaluations;
v. Ensure that compensation is not influenced by race, creed, national origin, color, marital status, age, sex or sexual identity, or disability. 37

b. Basis for Determination of Salary and Salary Changes Salary levels will be based upon:
i. The fair and competitive salary ranges adopted by the Authority Board consistent with the economic constraint of the Authority and the labor market. This will be determined by the Board and at its sole discretion after reviewing the local area’s consumer price index, salary increases granted by the comparable Labor Market Agencies, and the Authority’s ability to maintain organizational services at a level consistent with projected revenues and Board direction. ii. A periodic (every 2 years) salary survey of benchmark positions within the established labor market to determine if any classifications should be considered for a market adjustment in salary;
iii. Internal Authority classification relationships, and; iv. All compensation increases within a classification’s salary range will be based upon merit.
c. Salary Surveys
The Authority has identified the Labor Market Agencies for benchmark classifications. The biennial salary survey shall identify the “average” level of salary for each benchmark classification paid by the labor market.
d. Internal Alignment
A minimum and maximum salary range is established for each job classification based upon external labor market data and upon the internal alignment of job classifications throughout the Authority. The alignment of the job classification system will be maintained and reviewed on a regular and systemic basis.
e. Review of Performance and Salary
While the performance of each employee is regularly reviewed, overall performance and salary level shall be appraised, in detail, at least once during every twelve (12) month period. The merit of employee performance as reported on such appraisals will determine salary increases to be granted.

Change in pay of an individual employee shall primarily reflect upon competence in the performance of all assigned duties and sustained accomplishment of the objectives and tasks of the position. Performance will be evaluated by those in management having direct supervisory responsibility for the employee and shall be reviewed and approved in accordance with the procedures outlined in the Performance Evaluation Policy. 38

Specific situations which warrant review of performance and of salary include the following:
i. New Hire/Initial Hire Employees
Before an applicant is hired or an employee promoted to a new or revised position, a job description must be prepared and the position must be evaluated, approved and placed in a salary range. Starting salary will be at the minimum established for the range, with the following exceptions:
• Directors may appoint new employees up to and including 5% above the range minimum, subject to approval of the Executive Director. • The Executive Director may authorize appointments up to and including the mid-point of the salary range in the event of a recruitment emergency or exceptional qualifications of a candidate.

During the initial employment period, or first twelve (12) months of employment, employees are eligible to receive up to a 5% increase based upon the merit of their performance.
ii. Merit Increases
Employees are eligible to receive up to a 5% salary increase per year based upon the merit of their performance as established in their annual performance evaluation.

The merit increase consideration allows an individual employee’s salary to increase within the range established for his/her job classification (ie., no more than the maximum salary in the salary range.)
iii. Compensation Adjustments
Employees may receive additional compensation adjustments at such time that the Board determines that classifications and/or salary ranges should be adjusted based upon survey data. However the Board retains the jurisdiction to adjust salary ranges without modifying individual salaries, or to adjust individual salaries only for a portion of the classification (for example limiting the adjustment to employees who have been at the top step of the salary range for more than one year). iv. Promotion
Employees promoted to a new position in a classification with a higher salary range will be compensated at least at the minimum salary in the new range.

A promoted employee begins a twelve (12) month probationary period in the new classification. During this period, employees are eligible to receive up to a 5% merit increase based upon completion of probation and a performance review with satisfactory or better performance.
v. Out of Class Pay
Subject to the prior written authorization of the Executive Director, employees may be eligible for up to 5% out of class pay for performing the majority of their assigned duties at a level significantly above their current job classification for periods 60 or more days.
39

4. Procedures for Approval of Salary Adjustments
a. Documentation Required
To ensure that salary adjustments are based upon an individual employee’s current performance, proposed personnel actions that result in a change in compensation must include an explanation of the employee’s performance in the space provided at the bottom of the Personnel Action Form (PAF).
b. Procedure
i. Supervisors shall evaluate employee performance formally prior to any personnel action that affects salary positively, or negatively. The Personnel Action Form should be prepared and forwarded to the Director responsible for Human Resources for the Authority. It is important that proposed compensation increases are not discussed with the employee until after the Director responsible for Human Resources has reviewed the PAF for accuracy and consistency with the employee’s salary, performance history, and policy.
ii. The Director responsible for Human Resources will receive and review all Employee PAFs and initiate further discussion with the supervisor if necessary. If the PAF documents are in order, the supervisor will be authorized to schedule a meeting with the employee to discuss both their performance and the recommended salary adjustments and effective date.
iii. The completed evaluation form, signed by the employee and supervisor shall be returned to Human Resources for processing and permanent placement in the employee’s personnel file.
40 RESOLUTION NO. 2021-01

A RESOLUTION OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS

OF THE REDWOOD COAST ENERGY AUTHORITY

MODIFYING THE LIST OF LABOR MARKET AGENCIES

IN THE EMPLOYEE COMPENSATION POLICY
WHEREAS, in December 2016, the Board approved the RCEA Employee Compensation Policy ("Compensation Policy"), which included a requirement to perform a biennial salary survey; and
WHEREAS, Section 2 of the Compensation Policy recognizes certain agencies within the labor market for use in the biennial salary survey and allows for additions and/or deletions to the recognized Labor Market Agencies list to be made by the Board at a scheduled meeting of the Authority; and
WHEREAS, many more Community Choice Aggregation agencies, including rural agencies, now operate in California than when the Compensation Policy was approved in 2016 and one of the original Labor Market Agencies is no longer in operation.

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the Board of the Redwood Coast Energy Authority hereby modifies the recognized labor market defined in Section 2 of the Compensation Policy, by adding Valley Clean Energy and Pioneer Clean Energy and deleting Mendocino Energy Watch.

Adopted this 25th day of February , 2021 .

ATTEST:

Sheri Woo, RCEA Board Chair Clerk of the Board, RCEA
Date:-~? __,_ \ 1,--+-\ ____. 'l,j __ Date: February 25, 2021 Modification of Compensation Policy, 2021 Page I of2
41 CLERK'S CERTIFICATE
I hereby certify that the foregoing is a true and correct copy of Resolution No. 2021-01 passed and adopted at a regular meeting of the Redwood Coast Energy Authority, County of Humboldt, State of California, held on the 25th day of February , 2021, by the following vote:

AYES:

NOES:

ABSENT:

ABSTENTIONS:

Avis, Curran, Grover, Losey, Schaefer, F. Wilson, M. Wilson, Woo None
Bauer
None
Clerk of the Board, Redwood Coast Energy Authority
Modification of Compensation Policy, 2021 Page 2 of2
42

STAFF REPORT
Agenda Item # 7.2
AGENDA DATE: April 27, 2023
TO: Board of Directors
PREPARED BY: Matthew Marshall, Executive Director
SUBJECT: Blue Lake Rancheria Tribe’s Request to Join RCEA

BACKGROUND
Section 1.4 Membership of the RCEA Joint Powers Agreement (JPA) states:

In addition to the original forming Members, any public agency as defined in Government Code Section 6500 which is located wholly or partly within the boundaries of Humboldt County or any adjacent county is eligible for membership in the RCEA. Upon approval by a simple majority vote of the full Board, any such public agency may become a Member if:
(a) Its governing body duly approves membership and agrees to all of the terms of this Joint Powers Agreement, and
(b) An authorized officer of such agency executes this Agreement on its behalf.

Native American Tribes are eligible to join the RCEA joint powers authority pursuant to Government Code Section 6500. Any Tribe’s membership status would be similar to that of the Humboldt Bay Water District, which has voting rights equal to those of the other RCEA member agencies for non-CCA Program business. However, because Public Utilities Code § 331.1 limits CCA participation to cities and counties only, Tribes, as for the Water District, would not be eligible to vote in CCA Program business.

Pursuant to RCEA’s JPA Section 1.4 set out above, a majority vote of the RCEA Board is required to approve a new entity’s membership in the RCEA.

SUMMARY
In February 2023 the RCEA Board of Directors approved the Yurok Tribe joining RCEA. The RCEA Board also directed staff to reach out to the other North Coast federally recognized Tribal governments to see if there was broader interest in RCEA membership. The Blue Lake Rancheria responded with interest in joining and their Tribal Council subsequently voted to approve entering into the RCEA Joint Powers Agreement (JPA). Follow-up with other Tribes is ongoing.

RCEA has a long history of collaboration with the Blue Lake Rancheria (BLR). BLR was a key partner on a $1.75 million California Energy Commission Grant for renewable energy research 43

and development secured by RCEA in 2013 thanks in large part to over $1.7 million in match funding provided by the Tribe. BLR is one of the site hosts for RCEA’s public electric vehicle charging network. The BLR microgrid was a flagship project for the region and the state, and a foundational example for the development of RCEA’s airport microgrid project.

As a local, state, and national leader in sustainable energy initiatives, BLR wishes to provide input on the development of secure, sustainable, clean, and affordable energy resources and participate in the governance of RCEA, and has thus approved membership and agreed to all the terms of the RCEA JPA.

ALIGNMENT WITH RCEA’S STRATEGIC PLAN
Participation and leadership through membership in RCEA’s governance supports all RePower goals, and especially,
• Goal No. 1 Regional Planning and Coordination
o 1.4.4 Support Countywide Strategic Energy Planning

EQUITY IMPACTS
The proposed action furthers RCEA’s goals outlined in the Racial Justice Plan’s External Partnerships and Programs Stakeholders and Partners section:
• RCEA staff will continue and expand work with local Tribes on program development, customer outreach, and policy setting.
• RCEA staff will continue and expand efforts to identify opportunities to collaborate with local Tribes as partners on sustainable energy initiatives. • The RCEA Board of Directors will strive to include Tribal representation on the RCEA Community Advisory Committee.

RCEA leadership will seek to meet with individual Tribal governments to determine interest in participation in RCEA’s programs and governance.

FINANCIAL IMPACT
Not applicable.

STAFF RECOMMENDATION
Adopt Resolution 2023-6, Approving the Blue Lake Rancheria Tribe as a Member Agency of the Redwood Coast Energy Authority.

ATTACHMENTS

1. Resolution No. 2023-6 – A Resolution of the Board of Directors of the Redwood Coast Energy Authority Approving the Blue Lake Rancheria Tribe as a Member Agency of the Redwood Coast Energy Authority
44

RESOLUTION NO. 2023-6

A RESOLUTION OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS

OF THE REDWOOD COAST ENERGY AUTHORITY

APPROVING THE BLUE LAKE RANCHERIA TRIBE AS A MEMBER AGENCY

OF THE REDWOOD COAST ENERGY AUTHORITY
WHEREAS, on April 22, 2003, Redwood Coast Energy Authority (“RCEA”) was established as a joint powers authority pursuant to a Joint Powers Agreement, amended and restated December 15, 2015 (“Joint Powers Agreement”), with the mission of promoting sustainable energy initiatives that reduce energy demand, increase energy efficiency, and advance the use of clean efficient and renewable resources available in the region; and WHEREAS, pursuant to provisions in the Joint Powers Agreement, any public agency as defined in the Government Code Section 6500 which is located wholly or partly within the boundaries of Humboldt County or any adjacent county is eligible for membership in the RCEA; and
WHEREAS, eligible public agencies may become new RCEA members upon approval by a simple majority vote of the full RCEA Board of Directors if 1) the governing body of such prospective public agency approves membership and agrees to all of the terms of the Joint Powers Agreement, and 2) an authorized officer of such agency executes the Joint Powers Agreement on its behalf; and
WHEREAS, on February 22, 2016, the RCEA Board of Directors adopted Ordinance 2016-01 authorizing the RCEA to act as a community choice aggregator (“CCA”) to implement and operate a CCA program under California law; and
WHEREAS, pursuant to Public Utilities Code Section 331.1, only cities and counties are eligible to aggregate the electrical load of its residents, businesses, and municipal facilities in a communitywide electricity buyer’s program such as the RCEA CCA Program; and WHEREAS, the RCEA Board of Directors adopted Resolution No. 2020-3 Adopting a Commitment to Racial Justice and a commitment to increase engagement with the local Tribes and work directly with the Tribes on a long-term plan for meaningful collaboration; and WHEREAS, on October 27, 2022, the RCEA Board of Directors adopted a Racial Justice Plan which stated RCEA leadership will seek to meet with individual Tribal governments to determine interest in participation in RCEA’s programs and governance; and WHEREAS, the Blue Lake Rancheria Tribe, a federally recognized Tribe, wishes to provide input on the development of secure, sustainable, clean and affordable energy resources, and participate in RCEA as a stakeholder; and
WHEREAS, the Blue Lake Rancheria Tribe is eligible for membership in the RCEA, but not as a voting member of the RCEA CCA program; and
WHEREAS, the addition of the Blue Lake Rancheria Tribal Council as a member of the RCEA requires approval by a simple majority vote of the full RCEA Board of Directors, the 5(9,6('

approval of RCEA membership by the governing body of the Blue Lake Rancheria Tribe to all of the terms of the Redwood Coast Energy Authority Joint Powers Agreement, and execution of the Redwood Coast Energy Authority Joint Powers Agreement by an authorized officer of the Blue Lake Rancheria Tribe on that government's behalf.; and
WHEREAS, the Blue Lake Rancheria Tribal Council has indicated its intent to voted to approve Blue Lake Rancheria Tribal membership in the RCEA and agreeing to all of the terms of the RCEA Joint Powers Agreement.

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the Board of Directors of the Redwood Coast Energy Authority hereby:

1. Approves and welcomes the Blue Lake Rancheria Tribe as a member of RCEA to contract with every other member of the RCEA to jointly exercise those powers in common as set out in the RCEA Joint Powers Agreement, effective upon receipt of a duly executed Joint Powers Agreement, provided that the Blue Lake Rancheria votes to approve its membership in the RCEA and agrees to all of the terms of the RCEA Joint Powers Agreement,; and

2. Acknowledges that the Blue Lake Rancheria Tribe will not be a Participating Member of the RCEA CCA Program, as those terms are defined in the Joint Powers Agreement, and as such, the Blue Lake Rancheria Tribe Director appointed to the RCEA Board of Directors would not be eligible to vote on matters related to the RCEA CCA Program; and

3. Directs and authorizes the Executive Director to execute any associated documents.

Adopted this day of _________________, 2023.

ATTEST:

Sheri Woo, RCEA Board Chair Lori Taketa, Clerk of the Board Date: Date:

CLERK'S CERTIFICATE
I hereby certify that the foregoing is a true and correct copy of Resolution No. 2023-6 passed and adopted at a regular meeting of the Redwood Coast Energy Authority, County of Humboldt, State of California, held on the ____ day of __________________ 2023, by the following vote:

AYES:

NOES:

ABSENT:

ABSTENTIONS:

Clerk of the Board, Redwood Coast Energy Authority

RESOLUTION NO. 2023-6

A RESOLUTION OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS

OF THE REDWOOD COAST ENERGY AUTHORITY

APPROVING THE BLUE LAKE RANCHERIA TRIBE AS A MEMBER AGENCY

OF THE REDWOOD COAST ENERGY AUTHORITY
WHEREAS, on April 22, 2003, Redwood Coast Energy Authority (“RCEA”) was established as a joint powers authority pursuant to a Joint Powers Agreement, amended and restated December 15, 2015 (“Joint Powers Agreement”), with the mission of promoting sustainable energy initiatives that reduce energy demand, increase energy efficiency, and advance the use of clean efficient and renewable resources available in the region; and WHEREAS, pursuant to provisions in the Joint Powers Agreement, any public agency as defined in the Government Code Section 6500 which is located wholly or partly within the boundaries of Humboldt County or any adjacent county is eligible for membership in the RCEA; and
WHEREAS, eligible public agencies may become new RCEA members upon approval by a simple majority vote of the full RCEA Board of Directors if 1) the governing body of such prospective public agency approves membership and agrees to all of the terms of the Joint Powers Agreement, and 2) an authorized officer of such agency executes the Joint Powers Agreement on its behalf; and
WHEREAS, on February 22, 2016, the RCEA Board of Directors adopted Ordinance 2016-01 authorizing the RCEA to act as a community choice aggregator (“CCA”) to implement and operate a CCA program under California law; and
WHEREAS, pursuant to Public Utilities Code Section 331.1, only cities and counties are eligible to aggregate the electrical load of its residents, businesses, and municipal facilities in a communitywide electricity buyer’s program such as the RCEA CCA Program; and WHEREAS, the RCEA Board of Directors adopted Resolution No. 2020-3 Adopting a Commitment to Racial Justice and a commitment to increase engagement with the local Tribes and work directly with the Tribes on a long-term plan for meaningful collaboration; and WHEREAS, on October 27, 2022, the RCEA Board of Directors adopted a Racial Justice Plan which stated RCEA leadership will seek to meet with individual Tribal governments to determine interest in participation in RCEA’s programs and governance; and WHEREAS, the Blue Lake Rancheria Tribe, a federally recognized Tribe, wishes to provide input on the development of secure, sustainable, clean and affordable energy resources, and participate in RCEA as a stakeholder; and
WHEREAS, the Blue Lake Rancheria Tribe is eligible for membership in the RCEA, but not as a voting member of the RCEA CCA program; and
WHEREAS, the addition of the Blue Lake Rancheria Tribal Council as a member of the RCEA requires approval by a simple majority vote of the full RCEA Board of Directors, the 45

approval of RCEA membership by the governing body of the Blue Lake Rancheria Tribe to all of the terms of the Redwood Coast Energy Authority Joint Powers Agreement, and execution of the Redwood Coast Energy Authority Joint Powers Agreement by an authorized officer of the Blue Lake Rancheria Tribe on that government's behalf.; and
WHEREAS, the Blue Lake Rancheria Tribal Council has voted to approve Blue Lake Rancheria Tribal membership in the RCEA and agreeing to all of the terms of the RCEA Joint Powers Agreement.

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the Board of Directors of the Redwood Coast Energy Authority hereby:

1. Approves and welcomes the Blue Lake Rancheria Tribe as a member of RCEA to contract with every other member of the RCEA to jointly exercise those powers in common as set out in the RCEA Joint Powers Agreement, effective upon receipt of a duly executed Joint Powers Agreement; and

2. Acknowledges that the Blue Lake Rancheria Tribe will not be a Participating Member of the RCEA CCA Program, as those terms are defined in the Joint Powers Agreement, and as such, the Blue Lake Rancheria Tribe Director appointed to the RCEA Board of Directors would not be eligible to vote on matters related to the RCEA CCA Program; and

3. Directs and authorizes the Executive Director to execute any associated documents.

Adopted this day of _________________, 2023.

ATTEST:

Sheri Woo, RCEA Board Chair Lori Taketa, Clerk of the Board Date: Date:

CLERK'S CERTIFICATE
I hereby certify that the foregoing is a true and correct copy of Resolution No. 2023-6 passed and adopted at a regular meeting of the Redwood Coast Energy Authority, County of Humboldt, State of California, held on the ____ day of __________________ 2023, by the following vote:

AYES:

NOES:

ABSENT:

ABSTENTIONS:

Clerk of the Board, Redwood Coast Energy Authority
46

STAFF REPORT
Agenda Item # 9.1
AGENDA DATE: April 27, 2023
TO: Board of Directors
PREPARED BY: Jaclyn Harr, TEA Client Services Specialist Richard Engel, Director of Power Resources
SUBJECT: Energy Risk Management Quarterly Report

BACKGROUND
The RCEA Board of Directors adopted an Energy Risk Management Policy (RCEA-ERMP-Approved-Dec-2022.pdf (redwoodenergy.org) in December 2016 and most recently revised in December 2022, to establish functions and procedures to manage the risks associated with the Community Choice Energy program’s power procurement activities. In accordance with this policy, a quarterly update on activities and projected financial performance is presented to the Board during regularly scheduled meetings. The last update in February was delayed a month from its usual January timing until new Board members were seated. This month, the reports return to the normal update schedule.

SUMMARY
The Energy Authority (TEA) Client Services Specialist Jaclyn Harr and RCEA staff will provide an energy risk management quarterly update.

ALIGNMENT WITH RCEA’S STRATEGIC PLAN
Not applicable

EQUITY IMPACTS
Not applicable

RECOMMENDED ACTION
Accept Energy Risk Management Quarterly Report.

ATTACHMENTS
Energy Risk Management Quarterly Report slides will be presented at the meeting. 47 Agenda Item 8.1: Energy Risk
Management Quarterly Report
April 2023 Board Meeting
Redwood Coast Energy Authority
Quarterly Energy Risk Management Update
Presented by Jaclyn Harr, Client Service Manager from The Energy Authority Topics
•Financial Update
•Including Further Delay of Sandrini Solar
•(Sorry) State of the Energy Market
•Environmental Procurement Update for 2023
29 Overview of Financial Drivers
Rates & Load Forecast Modeling:
• Updated rate modeling, plus improved uncollected revenue assumptions for 2023+
• Reduced 2023+ load forecast down by 10% – 13%
Net Power Costs:
• Sandrini Solar delay modeled as Q2 2024
• NP15 forward energy prices (including shaping) increase:
• Balance of Year 2023 up 11% (average hedged: 98%)
• 2024 up 14% (average hedged: 76%)
• Significant increases in 2023+ prices for renewable, carbon-free, & RA 30 Sandrini Delay Impacts
• Now conservatively modeling Sandrini COD for Q2 2024
• $6.3M in lost value from additional six-month delay
• Total lost value from initial June 2023 COD: ~$15M
• Positions Impacted:
• Energy Hedging: 2023 decrease from 106% to 98%
• Energy Hedging: 2024 decrease from 83% to 76%
• Environmental: increased need of ~87,000 MWh of renewable energy to meet RCEA’s internal clean energy targets for 2023 & 2024 • Capacity: increased need of ~21 MW of RA in late 2023 & early 2024 31 Forecasted PG&E Generation Rates & PCIA
32 $(10)
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Cash Balance Historical + Projected 35
RCEA Cash Balance History & Projection
Reserves target set by Board in CCE Program
Launch Period Strategy and Targets*
36 RCEA Two-Year Cash Projection
Apr - Dec 2023 CY 2024 Jan - Mar 2025
Min Avg Ending Min Avg Ending Min Avg Ending
Feb Board $5.6M $16.0M $25.9M $21.5M $37.4M $52.6M $51.9M $54.7M $57.6M Apr Board $7.5M $16.6M $24.6M $17.3M $30.3M $39.3M $38.2M $40.4M $42.7M (Sorry) State of the Energy Market
• Year-over-Year Price Increases:
• Energy – 2023 Q3 “Around-The-Clock” Energy: 13%
• Environmental – 2023 PCC1
Renewable Energy: 247%
• Environmental – 2023
Carbon-Free Energy: 52%
• Capacity – 2023 Q3 Resource
Adequacy: 108%
37 Energy
62%
Capacity
9%
Environ
mental*
20%
Administrative
8%
Grid
Access
Charges
1%
CCE Program Costs
(Sorry) State of the Energy Market
• Supply chain fundamentals are normalizing
• But multitude of bottlenecks remain in project
development
• Project delays are norm, not exception
• Vast majority of TEA’s clients nationwide have seen
power purchase agreement price increases of 40% -
200%
38 (Sorry) State of the
Energy Market
39 Project Developer’s Story
Reality The rest
of the
story
Environmental Procurement Update
40 $14.4M
$10.9M
$9.1M
28%
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Do Nothing Further Achieve Linear State
RPS Target
Achieve Board Target
2023 Net Revenue
2023 Renewable %
2023 RCEA Net Revenue vs. Renewable Energy Target
RCEA Net Revenue Renewable %
scenario used in net revenue
forecast shown earlier
This page
intentionally
left blank.
48

STAFF REPORT
Agenda Item # 9.2
AGENDA DATE: April 27, 2023
TO: Board of Directors
PREPARED BY: Richard Engel, Director of Power Resources SUBJECT: Humboldt’s Electric Future Planning Process

BACKGROUND
Every two years, California’s load-serving entities including RCEA are required to submit an Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) to the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC). RCEA filed its most recent IRP on November 1, 2022. In each IRP cycle, staff present alternative energy portfolios to the Board and ask for a Board recommendation, with the public having the opportunity to comment. However, the IRP’s format as dictated by the CPUC, consisting of a jargon-filled report template and large, detailed spreadsheets, is not readily comprehensible to the layperson. Staff have developed the “Humboldt’s Electric Future” project as a more accessible venue for gathering public input that will inform the 2024 IRP.

SUMMARY
As a first step in engaging the public, staff have prepared a Humboldt’s Electric Future (HEF) initial report and created a web page where people can read a brief description of the project, download the report, and sign up for notifications of meetings and project milestones. The initial HEF report describes RCEA’s electric power portfolio and how it has been shaped both by direction from RCEA’s own Board and legislative and regulatory mandates from the State of California. The report gives an overview of the CPUC’s IRP process and describes how RCEA must balance its efforts to meet four key goals that each have important financial implications:
• Maximizing procurement of renewable and carbon-free energy resources • Minimizing customer rates
• Maximizing funding for customer programs, such as rebates for electric vehicles and energy efficient home appliances
• Building cash reserves to ensure long-term financial stability for RCEA and its Community Choice Energy program despite volatile energy markets Next month staff will present the HEF initial report to the Community Advisory Committee (CAC) and ask them to form an ad hoc HEF subcommittee to help staff plan public engagement and interpret the outcomes from that engagement. In June, RCEA will host a professionally facilitated public workshop using a format similar to our 2019 strategic plan update workshops.

In those workshops, we used brief presentations, interactive graphics and worksheets, and small group discussions to inform and query participants. For the HEF workshop, we will present community members with a set of questions aimed at balancing the key goals mentioned above. The questions will be framed in a way that qualitative responses from participants can be used to inform quantitative resource procurement decisions to be incorporated in the 2024 IRP.
49

Outcomes from the workshop will be analyzed and incorporated into several portfolio scenarios that will be summarized in a draft final HEF report. This report will be presented to the CAC in July, with CAC feedback incorporated in the draft final report for presentation to the Board later that month.

Key HEF events are to be timed as follows:
* The CAC will be asked at their May 9 meeting whether they prefer to have the June 5 workshop be a noticed meeting of the full CAC, or delegate participation to an ad hoc HEF subcommittee.

ALIGNMENT WITH RCEA’S STRATEGIC PLAN
The Humboldt’s Electric Future project is intended to gather community input to support several of the RCEA Strategic Plan’s highest-level goals:

Regional Planning and Coordination
• Achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions county-wide by 2030. • By 2030 fully establish Humboldt County as an energy secure community that can affordably and reliably meet its local energy needs with local renewable resources and has the robust local capabilities and infrastructure necessary to effectively respond to energy emergencies or disruptions in energy supply.

Energy Generation and Utility Services
• By 2025 100% of RCEA’s power mix will be from a combination of state-designated renewable energy sources—solar, wind, biomass, small hydroelectric, and geothermal— and state-designated net-zero-carbon-emission existing large hydroelectric facilities. • By 2030 Humboldt County will be a net exporter of renewable electricity and RCEA’s power mix will consist of 100% local, net-zero-carbon-emission renewable sources.

May 9
• Present initial HEF report to CAC; ask CAC to form ad hoc HEF subcommittee
June 5 •Hold community workshop*
July 10
• Present community workshop outcomes and draft
final HEF report to CAC
July 28 • Present draft final HEF report to Board
50

EQUITY IMPACTS
The Humboldt’s Electric Future report includes a discussion of equity considerations. Equity impacts will be incorporated in the discussion questions presented to the community in the planned Humboldt’s Electric Future workshop. In addition, the last IRP cycle required load-serving entities to report on local air pollutants and their impacts on disadvantaged communities. Staff anticipates that the 2024 IRP, which is to be informed by the community input gathered through Humboldt’s Electric Future, will similarly require RCEA to report on this equity-related issue.

FINANCIAL IMPACT
The direct costs from the Humboldt’s Electric Future project are minor and include staff time toward project administration and expenses for the rental facility and professional meeting facilitator for the community workshop. Outcomes of the project may ultimately have financial implications in the form of increased or decreased energy procurement costs and revenues resulting from long-term changes to RCEA’s procurement and rate-setting strategies. Any such proposed changes would come before the Board for discussion and direction to staff before being implemented.

RECOMMENDED ACTION
Discuss and provide feedback to staff.

ATTACHMENTS
Humboldt’s Electric Future initial report
51 This page
intentionally
left blank.
52 How the Redwood Coast
Energy Authority is
Buying and Building Local,
Renewable Power Resources
…and How You Can Participate
Humboldt’s
Electric Future
April 2023
53 Preface
Dear Community Member:

Redwood Coast Energy Authority is the public power provider for approximately 92% of Humboldt County’s eligible homes and businesses. We are striving to provide 100% clean and renewable power by 2025, and get as much as possible of that power from local sources by 2030. We are looking for community input on how to get there.

During 2023 we are engaging the community in a process we call Humboldt’s Electric Future. This report explains how we get our electricity today, what goals our Board of Directors has set, and what we need to do to comply with state regulations on power procurement. Within this framework, there is still ample opportunity for community members to have their voices heard on important decisions such as:
• Which clean and renewable resources should we maximize in our power portfolio? • What criteria should we use in siting local renewable energy projects? • How should we balance the community’s priorities, such as clean energy, local economic development, and low utility rates?
We will be doing community engagement later this year to collect input on these and other questions.

Please visit https://www.redwoodenergy.org/humboldts-electric-future to sign up for event notifications and learn more about how you can participate in Humboldt’s Electric Future.

Sincerely,
Matthew Marshall
Executive Director
54 1
RCEA as Humboldt County’s Clean Energy Leader
Redwood Coast Energy Authority (RCEA) is a local
government Joint Powers Agency whose members
include the County of Humboldt; the Yurok Tribe; the
Cities of Arcata, Blue Lake, Eureka, Ferndale, Fortuna, Rio Dell, and Trinidad; and the Humboldt Bay
Municipal Water District. RCEA’s mission is to develop
and implement sustainable energy initiatives that
reduce energy demand, increase energy efficiency,
and advance the use of clean, efficient, and renewable
resources available in the region for the benefit of the member agencies and their constituents.

Beginning in May 2017, Humboldt County customers
were automatically enrolled into RCEA’s new
Community Choice Energy (CCE) program and served
by RCEA’s default electricity service, REpower. RCEA
customers interested in receiving electricity service
with a higher renewable energy content can “opt up”
into RCEA’s 100% renewable electricity service option,
REpower+, costing an additional $0.01 per kilowatt-hour (kWh).

RCEA works in partnership with the local utility company, Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E). While RCEA assumes responsibility for procuring and developing power (the “generation” component of the PG&E bill) on behalf of participating customers, PG&E continues to deliver your electricity, maintain the power lines and electrical grid, and handle customer billing, including the charges for the generation procured by RCEA.
55 2

RCEA’s Strategic Plan and Community Choice Energy start-up procurement guidelines RePower Humboldt, RCEA’s Comprehensive Action Plan for Energy1 (Strategic Plan), is intended to support achieving RCEA’s mission through various strategies and initiatives. The Strategic Plan was last updated in 2019 and includes the following areas of emphasis:

Regional Energy Planning & Coordination: RCEA will take a leadership role to develop and advance strategic regional energy goals through economic development, funding, planning efforts, and education. This work will be done in coordination with RCEA’s member governments, other local public agencies, local tribes, and other public and private stakeholders.

Integrated Demand Side Management: RCEA will use an Integrated Demand Side Management approach to develop distributed energy resources and reduce energy consumption in the residential, commercial, industrial, agricultural, and government sectors and to align customer energy use with variable clean and renewable energy supplies. RCEA will prioritize efforts that enhance local energy resiliency and independence.

Low-Carbon Transportation: RCEA will decarbonize regional transportation through efforts to reduce vehicle miles travelled, increase advanced fuel vehicles adoption and fuel efficiency, and expand advanced fuel infrastructure.

Energy Generation & Utility Services: RCEA will address Humboldt County’s supply-side energy needs through our existing CCE program and development of new programs and initiatives.
1 htps://redwoodenergy.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/RePower-2019-Update-FINAL-.pdf 56 3

Figure 1. California’s Renewables Portfolio Standard (RPS) Requirement Timeline 0%
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2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2027 2028 2029 2030 Compliance Period 3 Compliance Period 4 Compliance Period 5 Compliance Period 6 57 4

RCEA’s Electric Portfolio
RCEA is committed to providing power that has more renewable energy and lower greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions than what local energy users would otherwise receive. RCEA has set out to provide our customers with 100% renewable and carbon-free energy by 2025 and 100% local renewable energy by 2030. Specifically, our Strategic Plan states that “By 2030 Humboldt County will be a net exporter of renewable electricity and RCEA’s power mix will consist of 100% local, net-zero-carbon-emission renewable sources.” In this context, RCEA defines “local” as resources located within the Humboldt Local Reliability Area, an area that roughly corresponds to Humboldt County, with some allowance for substations and hydropower plants that serve loads on both sides of the county line.

When our CCE program was first established, RCEA entered into a contract with Humboldt Sawmill Company to provide local biomass power generated by burning wood waste at its Humboldt Redwood plant in Scotia. The rest of our power initially came from short-term contracts for renewable and non-renewable resources across the western states. RCEA has issued at least one solicitation each year since 2019 targeted at procuring long-term renewable contracts to help meet RCEA’s procurement requirements and the clean energy goals noted above. Table 1 is a breakdown of all the renewable energy projects RCEA currently has in our power portfolio, including operational projects and projects in varying stages of development.

58 5
Table 1. RCEA’s Long-Term Contracted and Owned Generation Resources *local resource
RCEA also has agreements with PG&E to receive energy from two pools of resources, one comprised of hydroelectric plants and the other a mix of renewable energy sources. These resources are no longer needed by PG&E since a large portion of their former load is now served by RCEA and other community choice energy programs.

Carbon-Free: Since 2020, RCEA has been receiving carbon-free energy from PG&E’s portfolio of large hydroelectric facilities. The contract is executed on an annual basis at RCEA’s discretion.

The amount of energy RCEA receives varies year to year depending on the hydrologic conditions throughout California, but in 2021 we received approximately 33,700 MWh of carbon-free energy.

Renewable Energy: Since 2023, RCEA has been receiving renewable energy from a variety of PG&E’s eligible renewable sources, including biomass, digester gas, landfill gas, geothermal, small hydro, solar, and wind technologies. RCEA expects to receive approximately 51,300 MWh in 2023, with the amount gradually declining every year as resources retire until the contract expires in 2045.
2 Hybrid resources are a combina�on of energy generators and energy storage systems. In RCEA’s case, all of our hybrid resources u�lize solar as the energy genera�on.

Project Name Resource
Type
Project
Location
Delivery
Start
Contract
Length
Capacity
(MW)
Annual Energy
(MWh)
Humboldt
Redwood* Biomass Scotia, CA 2017 14 Years 18.0 125,000
Cove Hydroelectric Small Hydro Montgomery
Creek, CA 2020 15 Years 5.5 14,800
Redwood Coast
Airport Microgrid* Hybrid2 McKinleyville, CA 2021 N/A 1.8 5,600 North Coast
Highway Solar 1* Solar Hydesville, CA 2024 20 Years 0.99 2,100 North Coast
Highway Solar 2* Solar Hydesville, CA 2024 20 Years 0.99 2,100 Sandrini Solar Solar Bakersfield,
CA 2023 15 Years 100 307,500
Foster Clean
Power A* Hybrid Arcata, CA 2023 20 Years 3.0 6,100
Fish Lake Geothermal Dyer, NV 2024 20 Years 0.4 3,000
Ormat Portfolio Geothermal CA & NV 2025 20 Years 4.0 TBD 59 6
In addition to our renewable energy contracts, RCEA has also entered into a number of contracts for aggregated customer demand response and standalone battery energy storage as shown in Table 2.

While these do not generate additional energy, they provide RCEA with some of our required resource adequacy and allow us to strategically balance the above generation resources with customer demand in real time, helping ensure grid reliability as we transition to using more intermittently available renewable energy resources such as wind and solar.

Table 2. RCEA’s Long-Term Resource Adequacy Agreements
*local resource
As shown in Tables 1 and 2, different resources enter RCEA’s portfolio in different years and persist for longer or shorter terms, eventually needing to be extended or replaced with other resources. See Figures 2 and 3 for a conceptual illustration of how our various contracts make up our past, present, and future energy portfolio.

Project Name Resource Type Project
Location
Initial Operation
Date
Contract
Length
Capacity
(MW)
Leapfrog Demand
Response
CA
statewide 2021 10 Years 5.5
Tierra Buena Energy
Storage
Lithium Ion
Battery
Tierra
Buena, CA 2022 10 Years 2.5
Fairhaven Energy
Storage*
Lithium Ion
Battery
Fairhaven,
CA 2024 10 Years 17.25
Goal Line Energy
Storage
Lithium Ion
Battery
Escondido,
CA 2025 15 Years 2.0
Tumbleweed Energy
Storage
Lithium Ion
Battery
Rosamond,
CA 2026 15 Years 2.72
60 7

Figure 2. RCEA Energy Portfolio Timeline
61 8

Figure 3. RCEA Resource Adequacy Timeline
62 9
Despite our Board’s goal that all our energy come from local resources by 2030, RCEA has found it necessary for compliance with state laws and regulations to enter into some contracts for non-local resources that extend beyond 2030. One state law, Senate Bill 350, requires at least 65% of our renewable energy required under the CA Renewables Portfolio Standard to come from contracts of ten years’ duration or longer, or from resources we own. In addition, the CPUC has issued a series of procurement orders aimed at ensuring grid reliability; contracts compliant with these orders also need to be of minimum ten years’ duration. Figure 4 illustrates how RCEA is currently positioned to meet customer demand through a combination of short-term and long-term contracts.

Figure 4: RCEA’s Progress Towards Long-Term Procurement Each solicitation issued by RCEA since 2019 has stated a preference for local projects, but the great majority of offers received have been for non-local projects. RCEA has had to weigh the importance of local procurement against several other factors, including cost, developer qualifications, and project risk. In addition, RCEA often finds itself competing for few available new resources when other energy providers across the state are working on the same schedule to fulfill the same CPUC-ordered procurement. At times, this has led to RCEA committing to non-local projects as the only alternative to non-compliance.

Some of RCEA’s contractual commitments needed for compliance and risk management purposes are at odds with the goal of 100% local procurement by 2030. However, as noted above RCEA’s strategic plan couples that goal with the aim that Humboldt County become a “net exporter of renewable electricity.” That goal could be fulfilled if other power providers, such as RCEA’s sister CCE agencies across the state, procure offshore wind or other Humboldt County renewable resources in sufficient 0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
2020 2023 2026 2030
% of Total Energy Load
Long-Term Contracted (≥ 10 years) Short-Term Contracted (< 10 years) Long-Term Not Contracted Short-Term Not Contracted
63 10
quantities to offset RCEA’s purchase of non-local renewable energy. Given that the developable wind resource off the Humboldt coast is much larger than our local electricity demand, this scenario is very likely to come to pass within the coming decade.

Figure 5. Redwood Coast Airport Microgrid
Most of RCEA’s power is procured through contracts with power project developers or operators.

However, RCEA has invested in one important RCEA-owned energy project. In 2021, RCEA began commercial operation of the Redwood Coast Airport Microgrid (RCAM), a solar plus energy storage facility at the California Redwood Coast Airport in McKinleyville. RCAM is California’s first 100% renewable energy, front-of-the-meter3, multi-customer microgrid. The microgrid provides energy resilience for the regional airport and U.S. Coast Guard Air Station and electricity to RCEA’s customers. Tax provisions in the federal 2022 Inflation Reduction Act make it more financially attractive for public agencies like RCEA to develop their own renewable energy projects, which may lead to RCEA developing more projects of this type.
3 “front-of-the-meter” means that this resource is serving the grid at large, rather than just offse�ng load at one customer’s site like a “behind the meter” roo�op solar system does. 64 11
Over the first six years of operating RCEA’s CCE program, our power portfolio has evolved. While we have sought to advance gradually toward our 100% renewable goal, we have had to respond to external challenges by temporarily adjusting our procurement. During 2020 and 2021, short-term financial challenges required RCEA to temporarily reduce our renewable energy content to keep customer rates competitive. These financial challenges included increased wholesale power costs, lower than expected PG&E electric rates that are used to benchmark RCEA’s own rates, and delayed or reduced customer revenues due to financial hardships during the pandemic.

The financial outlook in 2022 and future years has improved, allowing RCEA to resume our trajectory toward 100% renewable and carbon-free energy by 2025 and 100% local renewable energy by 2030.

Figure 6 shows our power mix to date and our projected power mix to meet our 2025 and 2030 goals.

Note RCEA’s 2022 power mix is a preliminary estimate using data received as of the publication of this document.

Figure 6. Past and Projected RCEA Power Mix
For the time being, RCEA’s power mix includes unspecified power in addition to renewable and carbon-free resources. Unspecified power cannot be traced back to a specific source. It tends to be less expensive and have greater emissions than renewable and carbon-free power. RCEA currently includes some power from unspecified sources in its portfolio to keep customer rates affordable. As we continue to add long-term renewable energy contracts to RCEA’s power portfolio, we plan to gradually phase out our reliance on unspecified sources of power.

44% 47% 43% 39% 34%
51% 48% 50% 56% 62% 68%
76%
84%
100%
45%
47% 55%
34%
10%
45%
42% 45%
44% 38% 32%
24%
16% 11% 6% 2%
27%
56%
5% 10% 5%
2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2027 2028 2029 2030 Renewable Carbon Free Other/Unspecified Power
100%
0%
Actual Power Mix Preliminary Power Mix Projected Power Mix 65 12
Greenhouse Gas Emissions
RCEA’s GHG emissions have mostly been below the California utility average. However due to the short-term financial challenges in 2020 and 2021, the temporary reduction of our renewable and carbon-free energy procurement resulted in higher than usual GHG emissions. Also, a regulatory change took effect that ascribed GHG emissions to energy RCEA purchased from out-of-state renewables. As mentioned previously, RCEA’s finances improved in 2022. This, along with procuring only in-state renewables in 2022, enabled us to get back on track to reducing GHG emissions associated with our energy mix, as shown in Figure 7. Please note that the 2022 GHG emissions shown in Figure 7 are a preliminary estimate. However, we will have RCEA’s final GHG emissions for the 2022 calendar year published in summer 2023.

Figure 7. RCEA’s Historic Greenhouse Gas Emissions (lbs CO2e/MWh) 0 100
200
300
400
500
600
700
2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022
Emissions Factor
(lbs CO2e/MWh)
REpower+ REpower CA Average
66 13
RCEA’s Rate Structure
To date, RCEA has offered standard rates to our
customers that parallel PG&E’s generation rates with a
Board-approved discount. Currently, RCEA customers
receive a half a percent discount from what they would
otherwise pay PG&E. This type of rate structure
indexed to the local utility’s rates is common among
CCAs across California.

While RCEA’s rate structure ensures that every
customer will pay less than they would as a PG&E
customer, it doesn’t accurately represent the true cost of serving our customer base. This is because PG&E’s
rates reflect their cost to serve millions of customers across Northern California, plus an approved rate of
return for their shareholders. Humboldt County has a
unique climate, economy, and demography that
determines our customers’ energy consumption
patterns. Most of RCEA’s customer load is located on
the temperate coast with more demand for winter
heating than summer air conditioning, while PG&E’s
load is typically the opposite. Coupling RCEA’s rate
structure with PG&E’s means our operational budget for
power procurement and customer energy programs
must fit within the confines of the current rate structure.

Building financial reserves over time will allow RCEA more short-term flexibility in setting its rates.

An accelerated timeline toward 100% renewable energy, or a decision to procure more premium priced renewable resources would drive up RCEA’s operating costs. This could require RCEA to decouple our rates from PG&E’s to appropriately cover the operational costs for meeting our procurement goals and serving our customers. Resulting rates could turn out to be lower or higher than PG&E’s, depending on our comparative power procurement costs and other operating expenses.

Some CCE providers in California have begun to adopt rates based on their actual cost of service, rather than using a set discount relative to the investor-owned utility’s rates. If RCEA were to adopt such a cost-of-service rate-making model and the resulting rates were higher than PG&E rates, we would face the risk of customers opting out of RCEA service. We would also need to consider all the challenges a utility faces in developing its own rates, including an added analytic burden and potential shifting of costs among customer classes.
67 14

REpower and REpower+ Participation
In 2017, when RCEA began serving customers in Humboldt County, all customers4 were automatically enrolled into RCEA’s REpower electricity service. However, approximately 1.4% of customers have “opted-up” into REpower+, RCEA’s 100% renewable electricity service. RCEA monitors the number and load of opted up customers and procures additional renewable energy to cover this load.

The Customers We Serve
RCEA provides electricity to 92% of eligible customers in RCEA’s service area. RCEA’s customer base differs from what is typically seen across the State of California. In RCEA’s service area, residential customers make up the largest electricity use sector, while for the state as a whole, commercial electricity use is dominant. Figures 8 and 9 are a comparison of how RCEA’s customer base differs from the State as a whole.

Figure 8. RCEA Usage by Customer Class Figure 9. California Usage by Customer Class 4 Some large commercial and industrial customers who have special contracts with third-party electricity providers through a statewide program called Direct Access were not enrolled.

Residen�al Industrial Commerical Residen�al Industrial Commerical 68 15
69 16
California’s Integrated Resource Planning (IRP) Process Integrated resource planning is a standard long-term planning exercise conducted periodically by utilities to assess resources needed to meet customer energy demand at affordable rates. In California, load-serving entities including RCEA are required to submit an Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) to the CPUC every two years. These plans also address non-energy requirements that the LSE must meet, such as system reliability, dependence on unspecified system power, renewable resource integration, GHG emissions targets, and consideration of impacts that power plants may have on disadvantaged communities.

RCEA’s 2022 IRP
RCEA filed its biennial IRP with the CPUC on November 1, 2022. The plan details RCEA’s electricity procurement plans through 2035 in keeping with statutory requirements for grid reliability and GHG emissions targets. RCEA is expected to submit its next IRP to the CPUC in 2024.

The CPUC requires load-serving entities like RCEA to submit a comprehensive package as part of the IRP process. The CPUC provides load-serving entities with spreadsheets to enter our proposed power portfolio(s) and demonstrate the portfolio’s compliance with the State’s grid reliability and GHG emissions targets. In 2022, RCEA submitted a detailed narrative describing our proposed portfolio, and two sets of spreadsheets, corresponding to two different 2030 and 2035 GHG emission scenarios.

RCEA’s 2022 and prior IRP materials are available for viewing on our website. However, some of the information required by the CPUC to be included in the resource data templates is market-sensitive and therefore redacted from the public versions. Learn more by visiting:
https://redwoodenergy.org/integrated-resource-plan/.

Figure 10. RCEA’s Integrated Resource Planning Process
Figure 10 represents the cyclical IRP process that RCEA undertakes every two years. First, RCEA and other LSEs engage in the regulatory process via the CPUC’s IRP proceeding to understand and critique state planning assumptions and analysis methods. From this, the CPUC issues final guidance, requirements, and templates for the compliance filing, which staff review along with RCEA policies, plans and programs that will all advise development of the IRP portfolio. To develop the portfolio, staff 70 17
review existing and planned resource commitments and consider new resources to fill out the portfolio over time in different configurations, referred to as candidate portfolios. Then, RCEA’s consultant (in consultation with staff) analyzes the economic performance of each candidate portfolio, and the options are presented to the RCEA Board along with a portfolio recommendation. After Board input and approval, RCEA submits the IRP to the CPUC, whose staff combine all LSE IRPs into one statewide portfolio that is used for grid planning, and the cycle is then repeated two years later.

Equity Considerations
Many communities disproportionately lack access to clean, reliable, and affordable energy due to race, nationality, income, or geographic location. Currently the U.S. Department of Energy is working toward providing disadvantaged communities with 40% of the overall benefits from federal investments in climate and clean energy. When it comes to the energy system, many communities face serious challenges.

Energy justice is aimed at overcoming these challenges by reducing energy costs and burdens on low-income customers, avoiding disproportionate impacts, guaranteeing the equitable distribution of the benefits of energy generation and transmission, ensuring access to reliable and clean energy, and providing community participation in energy related decision-making and development.

To help overcome some of these challenges, RCEA’s Board approved a Racial Justice Plan in 2022, which is designed to remove racial disparities among communities in accessing energy services, and increase access to clean energy, energy efficiency, and healthy communities. In relation to RCEA’s CCE program, the Racial Justice Plan includes the following commitments:
71 18
• Tribal engagement
• Diversity, equity and inclusion in program selection design and implementation • Energy justice in power procurement and energy resource development • Collaboration with other California CCE providers and other external organizations on environmental justice and energy equity matters

Achieving True Round-the-Clock Renewable Energy
In keeping with the current regulatory framework and common accounting methods for clean energy procurement, RCEA has set its procurement goals on an annual basis. If our goal is a 40% renewable portfolio, we purchase enough renewable energy over the course of a year to meet 40% of our customer load. This is an important step toward a truly clean energy portfolio, but it doesn’t get us all the way there. For example, if we were to procure that 40% by buying only solar energy, we would not actually be providing renewable energy to our customers at night when the sun isn’t shining, so we would need to purchase energy from other, potentially more polluting, sources to meet customer load round-the-clock.

Aiming for a 100% renewable portfolio on an annual basis is an ambitious goal RCEA and other electricity providers have set, but it does not ensure a completely clean portfolio every hour of the year.

Years before launching our CCE program, RCEA in partnership with the Schatz Energy Research Center at Cal Poly Humboldt and PG&E performed a California Energy Commission-funded study on the feasibility of transitioning Humboldt County to a renewable energy-driven economy. The study used detailed computer modeling to identify a pathway to meeting loads in all seasons and times of day with renewable energy, using natural gas for generation only minimally to fill in gaps due to intermittency of wind and solar resources. At the time, battery energy storage at utility scale was not yet considered cost-effective. Inclusion of energy storage in the scenarios analyzed could further reduce dependency on fossil fuels.5
More recently, some clean energy leaders, notable among them Peninsula Clean Energy, the CCE agency serving San Mateo County, have set goals to serve their customers with 100% renewable energy around-the-clock, by carefully analyzing what renewable energy, energy storage, and other resources they would need to procure to meet their load in every hour of the year without having to call on fossil fuel power plants. Peninsula Clean Energy concluded that truly meeting a 100% renewable goal every hour of the year would be cost-prohibitive. Their study recommends procuring a portfolio 5 htp://schatzcenter.org/docs/RePower_Humboldt_Strategic_Plan.pdf 72 19
that can meet the 100% renewable goal 99% of the time. In Peninsula Clean Energy’s case, this is estimated to result in only a 2% cost increase over a portfolio that merely meets the goal of 100% renewable on an annual basis.6
RCEA has embarked on our own analysis to study the costs and benefits of a round-the-clock renewable energy portfolio. We will share our findings as they become available.

RCEA Goals vs Constraints
As highlighted throughout this document, there are numerous factors for RCEA to consider when supplying our customers with energy. As we strive to achieve our various goals, we’re required to strategically navigate various constraints, whether they be internally or externally imposed. As represented in Figure 11, there are times when our goals are in conflict with the constraints that we operate within, but we’re determined to overcome these challenges through innovative solutions and adaptive strategic planning.
6 htps://www.peninsulacleanenergy.com/achieving-24-7-renewable-energy-by-2025/ 73 20
Figure 11. Goals & Constraints
74 21
Conclusion
RCEA appreciates your interest in planning Humboldt County’s clean electricity future. We will offer opportunities during 2023 for the public to provide input to be incorporated as feasible in RCEA’s 2024 integrated resource plan.

Please visit https://www.redwoodenergy.org/humboldts-electric-future to find updated information and to sign up for event notifications.

You can also email us at [email protected] any time with comments or questions about RCEA’s Community Choice Energy program.

Luna Latimer, RCEA Community Advisory Committee member, indicates her priorities during RCEA's 2019 Comprehensive Action Plan for Energy update 75 22
76 “Humboldt’s Electric Future”
project
Presentation to RCEA Board of Directors
April 27, 2023
Project Purpose
• Educate the community about the Integrated
Resource Planning process that RCEA is required by
the California Public Utilities Commission to complete
every two years
• Provide an accessible venue for gathering public
input that will inform RCEA’s 2024 Integrated
Resource Plan, and procurement planning in general
Key Events and Timing
Activities to Date
• Prepared initial report
• Launched web page
• Provided means to sign up for
notifications
• Scheduled public workshop for
June 5
• Hired workshop facilitator

STAFF REPORT
Agenda Item # 9.3
AGENDA DATE: April 27, 2023
TO: Board of Directors
PREPARED BY: Richard Engel, Director of Power Resources SUBJECT: Formation of Biomass Technical Advisory Group

BACKGROUND
The 2019 update of RCEA’s RePower Humboldt Strategic Plan called for creation of a biomass technical advisory committee (see details below under “Alignment with RCEA’s Strategic Plan”).

In September 2022, the Community Advisory Committee (CAC) reviewed a staff proposal for establishing a Biomass Technical Advisory Group (BTAG). The purpose of BTAG will be to advise staff on matters related to RCEA’s procurement of biomass energy as part of our power portfolio. Currently RCEA has a single contract for biomass energy with Humboldt Sawmill Company (HSC) that extends until 2031. In 2021, this contract provided 15.5% of RCEA’s electricity.

A near-term function for BTAG will be to help staff formulate our annual data request to HSC under the Memorandum of Understanding between RCEA and HSC approved by the Board in September 2021, and to review and discuss HSC’s next annual report to RCEA before it is presented to the CAC and the Board. The report from HSC discloses information on their biomass power plant’s feedstock types and sources, energy performance, and emissions.

SUMMARY
The CAC in its September 2022 meeting helped staff flesh out the following list of stakeholder groups to draw on for BTAG membership:
• Tribal/traditional ecological
• Forest products industry
• Agricultural producers
• Energy industry
• Environmental groups
• Public health/air quality
• Federal and state regulators
• Academic/research
• Local agencies
• Communities of practice
• Vulnerable communities
Using the CAC’s guidance, in early April staff reached out to 24 agencies and individuals from these stakeholder groups. As of the date of this report, the following persons have agreed to participate in BTAG, representing a broad range of expertise and perspectives on biomass energy.
77

Name Affiliation
Elicia Goldsworthy Green Diamond Resource Company
Dennis Leonardi RCEA CAC member and local agricultural producer Dean Kerstetter Humboldt Sawmill Company
Daniel Chandler 350 Humboldt
Tom Wheeler Environmental Protection Information Center Caroline Griffith Northcoast Environmental Center
Jason Davis North Coast Unified Air Quality Management District Kristen Lark US Forest Service/Six Rivers National Forest Clarke Stevenson CLERE Inc. (clereinc.com)
Yana Valachovic UC Cooperative Extension
George Schmidbauer Schmidbauer/North Fork Lumber
Pending additional responses from invitees, membership in BTAG may increase and diversify beyond the persons listed. Staff plans to engage with this newly formed group in hopes of bringing a BTAG-reviewed report from HSC to the Board at a meeting later this year.

ALIGNMENT WITH RCEA’S STRATEGIC PLAN
Strategy 4.1.11.4 states:

Establish a Biomass Technical Advisory Committee. Create a technical advisory committee made up of local government representatives; state and federal natural resource agencies; and subject matter experts on biomass energy, public health, the local forest products industry, and environmental impacts associated with biomass energy. The committee shall meet periodically and provide a quarterly report to the RCEA Board of Directors on technical feasibility and financial, environmental, and health implications of biomass use alternatives.

EQUITY IMPACTS
Part of the impetus for forming BTAG is to consider how equitably the impacts, both positive and negative, of biomass energy in Humboldt County are distributed in the community. This was taken into account by staff and the CAC in developing the list of interest groups, entities, and individuals to solicit for membership.

FINANCIAL IMPACT
Formation of BTAG will have no direct financial impact on RCEA other than a modest staff time investment to facilitate the group and report to the CAC and the Board on the group’s activities.

RECOMMENDED ACTION
Discuss and provide feedback to staff.

ATTACHMENTS
None
78 Biomass Technical Advisory Group
Presentation to RCEA Board of Directors
April 27, 2023
From RCEA Strategic Plan (2019 Update)
Strategy 4.1.11.4:

Establish a Biomass Technical Advisory Committee. Create a technical advisory committee made up of local government representatives; state and federal natural resource agencies; and subject matter experts on biomass energy, public health, the local forest products industry, and environmental impacts associated with biomass energy. The committee shall meet periodically and provide a quarterly report to the RCEA Board of Directors on technical feasibility and financial, environmental, and health implications of biomass use alternatives.

Stakeholder groups solicited,
in consultation with CAC
• Tribal/traditional ecological
• Forest products industry
• Agricultural producers
• Energy industry
• Environmental groups
• Public health/air quality
• Federal and state regulators
• Academic/research
• Local agencies
• Communities of practice
• Vulnerable communities
Accepted invitations, to date:

Additional acceptances after Board packet published:

Candy Stockton Humboldt County Public Health Officer
Kevin Fingerman Cal Poly Humboldt, Environmental Science Roberto Beltran US Forest Service/Klamath National Forest

STAFF REPORT
Agenda Item # 10.1
AGENDA DATE: April 27, 2023
TO: Board of Directors
FROM: Matthew Marshall, Executive Director
SUBJECT: Executive Director’s Report

SUMMARY
Executive Director Matthew Marshall will provide updates on:
• Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Training Program Grant Award, • RCEA’s 20th anniversary,
• Fiscal Year 2023-24 budget process, and
• Other topics as needed.

RECOMMENDED ACTION
None. (Information only.)
79 This page
intentionally
left blank.
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