Silicon Valley Clean Energy Authority
Board of Directors Meeting
Wednesday, August 10, 2022
7:00 pm
Cupertino Community Hall
10350 Torre Avenue
Cupertino, CA
Pursuant to State of California Gov’t Code Section 54953 (e) the meeting was conducted via teleconference with an option for members of the Board of Directors and staff to participate in person.
MEETING MINUTES
Call to Order:
Chair Gibbons called the Regular Meeting to order at 7:00 p.m.
Roll Call
Present:
Liz Gibbons (Chair), Campbell
George Tyson (Vice Chair), Los Altos Hills
Jon Robert Willey, Cupertino (arrived at 7:35 p.m.)
Neysa Fligor, Los Altos
Rob Rennie, Los Gatos
Evelyn Chua, Milpitas
Javed Ellahie, Monte Sereno (arrived at 7:05 p.m.)
Yvonne Martinez Beltran, Morgan Hill
Margaret Abe-Koga, Mountain View
Tina Walia, Saratoga
Larry Klein, Sunnyvale
Absent:
Rebeca Armendariz, Gilroy
Otto Lee, Santa Clara County
Chair Gibbons, Vice Chair Tyson, Director Abe-Koga and Director Willey attended in person; all other Directors attended via teleconference.
Public Comment on Matters Not Listed on the Agenda
No speakers.
Consent Calendar
1a) Approve Minutes of the June 8, 2022, Board of Directors Meeting 1b) Approve Minutes of the June 8, 2022, Board of Directors Special Meeting 1c) Approve Minutes of the June 10, 2022 Board of Directors Special Meeting 1d) Receive May and June 2022 Treasurer Report
DocuSign Envelope ID: 1027189F-E8F9-4A73-83CB-B0801C96880C
1e) Adopt Resolution Authorizing Public Meetings to Continue to Be Held Via Teleconferencing Pursuant to Government Code Section 54953(e) and Making Findings 1f) SVCE 2021 Annual Power Source Disclosure Report Attestation 1g) Establish Policy and Authorize Funding for SVCE Support of Electric Vehicle Charging in Affordable Housing Developments
1h) Authorize the Chief Executive Officer to Execute an Amendment to Agreement for FY21-22 with Keyes and Fox, LLP for Legal Services around Power Transactions 1i) Executive Committee Report
1j) Finance and Administration Committee Report
1k) Audit Committee Report
1l) Legislative and Regulatory Response to Industry Transition 2022 Ad Hoc Committee Report 1m) California Community Power Report
There were no questions or comments from the Board; there were no requests from the public to speak on any matter on the Consent Calendar.
MOTION: Director Abe-Koga moved and Vice Chair Tyson seconded the motion to approve the Consent Calendar, Items 1a through 1m.
The motion carried unanimously by verbal roll call vote with Directors Ellahie, Lee, Willey and Alternate Director Armendariz absent.
Regular Calendar
2) CEO Report (Discussion)
CEO Girish Balachandran welcomed board members and staff back from the July meeting hiatus, expressed his apologies that he would not be able to attend board meetings in person for the next couple of months, and noted he would be departing the meeting following his report and Monica Padilla, Acting CEO, would continue in her interim role for the remainder of the meeting. CEO Balachandran addressed the following in his CEO report:
• Announced SVCE staff would be meeting in-person Thursday and Friday for a retreat to meet within their departments and continue work on the FY 22-23 workplan; • Introductions of the following new employees: Leslie Madarang, Marketing Specialist, and Kris Van Vactor, Wholesale Energy Markets Manager; both provided brief welcome comments; • Reintroduced Colleen McCamy, Digital Engagement & Data Visualization Specialist, and announced her new part-time role as she returns to school to pursue a Master of Environmental Data Science; Digital Engagement & Data Visualization Specialist McCamy provided brief comments; and
• Provided an update on the Customer Focused Strategic Plan, which would be a more customer facing document based on the SVCE Strategic Plan.
Chair Gibbons opened Public Comment.
No speakers.
Chair Gibbons closed Public Comment.
3) Provide Feedback on the FY 2022-23 Proposed Operating Budget and Updated Reserves Policy (Discussion)
Amrit Singh, CFO and Director of Administrative Services, presented a PowerPoint presentation on the proposed FY 22-23 Operating budget which included a summary of the proposed budget, revenue modeling, current and new proposed reserve targets, customer discount rate and funding for programs, power supply costs, and other cost drivers.
DocuSign Envelope ID: 1027189F-E8F9-4A73-83CB-B0801C96880C
CFO and Director of Administrative Services Singh responded to board member questions regarding the proposed discount rate, customer participation rate, cost analysis, CCA comparisons on net position and discount rates, and anticipated PCIA charges.
Chair Gibbons opened Public Comment.
Bruce Karney applauded the consistent carbon-free decision and 1% customer discount, and noted SVCE has a 96-97% market share. Karney provided four things that could be done with profits: 1) give money back to customers through discounts, 2) use money for program expenses, 3) use the money for non-program expenses, and 4) use the money to increase the size of reserves. Karney noted he is interested in seeing the programs budget expanded, and inquired if it would be possible for SVCE to deploy programs quickly.
Chair Gibbons closed Public Comment.
Monica Padilla, Acting CEO, noted a summary report on the Inflation Reduction Act was included in the CEO report, and added staff would bring a discussion item to the August Executive Committee meeting.
Board members provided feedback and comments on the proposed operating budget; Director Ellahie suggested staff begin exploring how SVCE could help people generate energy at home. 4) New Construction Reach Code Update (Presentation)
Zoe Elizabeth, Deputy Director of Decarbonization Programs and Policy, presented a PowerPoint presentation on a status update and upcoming actions for member agency reach codes and responded to board member questions.
Chair Gibbons opened Public Comment.
No speakers.
Chair Gibbons closed Public Comment.
Board Member Announcements and Future Agenda Items
Director Ellahie announced the City of Monte Sereno would be hosting its annual picnic on August 21, 2022, noon, at Vasona Park and invited all to attend.
Director Klein announced a Mercury News article was published on August 7, 2022, addressing the City of Sunnyvale’s new City Hall development, which will be net zero and will receive a platinum LEED rating.
Director Chua announced Congressmember Ro Khanna visited the City of Milpitas to gather ideas for projects that he could speak with other congressmembers about. Director Chua noted the City of Milpitas requested $3M to electrify approximately 200 homes, and anticipated the project would be approved in the fall.
Director Martinez Beltran announced the Children’s Business Fair occurred on August 6, 2022, and suggested SVCE be involved in future children’s business fair events. Director Martinez Beltran announced a Women’s Walk & Open Mic on August 26, 2022 in Downtown Morgan Hill, and a brunch on August 27, 2022 with a panel discussing impacts of overturning Roe.
Chair Gibbons suggested expanding the SVCE engagement at community events to provide power through solar as opposed to gas generators, as was done at the City of Cupertino Earth Day event.
Director Abe-Koga thanked SVCE staff for their partnership in developing concepts for submission to the Metropolitan Transportation Commission transportation electrification program Call for Project ideas, which was a call for projects to solicit ideas on how to accelerate and expand access to electric mobility options. Dir. Abe-Koga noted the City of Mountain View and the City of Milpitas split the projects and represented the partnership and would continue to monitor the progress of the program. Dir. Abe-Koga noted she was hopeful there would be funding opportunities for the area.
DocuSign Envelope ID: 1027189F-E8F9-4A73-83CB-B0801C96880C
Public Comment on Closed Session
This item was not heard.
Convene to Closed Session
Chair Gibbons announced the Board of Directors would convene to Closed Session at 8:34 p.m. to discuss the following:
Conference with Legal Counsel—Existing Litigation
(California Government Code Section 54956.9(d)(1))
Name of case: Central Coast Community Energy, a California joint powers authority; Silicon Valley Clean Energy Authority, a California joint powers authority v. Big Beau Solar, LLC, et al, Santa Clara County Superior Court Case No. 22CV398156
Conference with Legal Counsel – Anticipated Litigation
Initiation of litigation pursuant to paragraph (4) of subdivision (d) of Section 54956.9: (one potential case) Public Employee Performance Evaluation
Title: Chief Executive Officer
Conference with Labor Negotiators
Agency Representatives: Liz Gibbons, Chair, Board of Directors, George Tyson, Vice Chair, Board of Directors
Unrepresented Employee: Chief Executive Officer
Report from Closed Session
The Board of Directors returned from Closed Session at 11:04 p.m.; Chair Gibbons noted there was nothing to report out on the following:
Conference with Legal Counsel—Existing Litigation
(California Government Code Section 54956.9(d)(1))
Name of case: Central Coast Community Energy, a California joint powers authority; Silicon Valley Clean Energy Authority, a California joint powers authority v. Big Beau Solar, LLC, et al, Santa Clara County Superior Court Case No. 22CV398156
Conference with Legal Counsel – Anticipated Litigation
Initiation of litigation pursuant to paragraph (4) of subdivision (d) of Section 54956.9: (one potential case) Public Employee Performance Evaluation
Title: Chief Executive Officer
Adjourn
Chair Gibbons adjourned the meeting at 11:06 p.m.
ATTEST:
_____________________________
Andrea Pizano, Board Secretary
DocuSign Envelope ID: 1027189F-E8F9-4A73-83CB-B0801C96880C