Silicon Valley Clean Energy Authority
Board of Directors Meeting
Wednesday, January 11, 2023
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
Prior to the Call to Order, Board Clerk Andrea Pizano announced Vice Chair Tyson would preside over the meeting in the absence of a Chair due to Director Gibbons’ departure from the SVCE Board of Directors.
Call to Order:
Vice Chair Tyson called the Regular Meeting to order at 7:03 p.m.
Roll Call
Present:
George Tyson (Vice Chair), Los Altos Hills
Elliot Scozzola, Campbell
Sheila Mohan, Cupertino
Zachary Hilton, Gilroy
Sally Meadows, Los Altos
Rob Rennie, Los Gatos
Evelyn Chua, Milpitas
Bryan Mekechuk, Monte Sereno
Margaret Abe-Koga, Mountain View
Tina Walia, Saratoga
Larry Klein, Sunnyvale
Otto Lee, Santa Clara County
Absent:
Yvonne Martinez Beltran, Morgan Hill
Vice Chair Tyson, Director Abe-Koga, Director Klein, Director Mekechuk, Director Mohan, Director Rennie, Director Scozzola, and Director Walia attended in person; all other Directors attended via teleconference.
Public Comment on Matters Not Listed on the Agenda
Rod Sinks, Cupertino resident and past founding board member of SVCE, welcomed new board members and recognized Cupertino representative Sheila Mohan for her service on the SVCE Board of Directors. Mr. Sinks appealed to consider non-profits in the community for future programs, in addition to batteries in conjunction with rooftop solar.
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Vice Chair Tyson thanked Mr. Sinks for his comments and continued leadership in bending the carbon curve.
Bruce Karney, Mountain View resident and Chair of Carbon Free Mountain View, acknowledged the City of Sunnyvale was determined to be the happiest City in the U.S., while other cities nearby were underwater. Mr. Karney encouraged board members to read “The Ministry for the Future” by Kim Stanley Robinson, and noted board members were in the best position of any elected officials in the area to make a difference and lead communities to a future that is more sustainable.
Vice Chair Tyson thanked Mr. Karney for his comments.
Consent Calendar
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.
1a) Approve Minutes of the December 14, 2022, Board of Directors Meeting 1b) Receive November 2022 Treasurer Report
1c) Adopt Resolution Authorizing Public Meetings to Continue to Be Held Via Teleconferencing Pursuant to Government Code Section 54953(e) and Making Findings 1d) Appoint SVCE Treasurer/Auditor and Board Secretary for 2023 1e) Authorize the Chief Executive Officer to Execute Amendments to the Project Participation Share Agreements with California Community Power and Participating Community Choice Aggregators Related to Two Long Duration Storage Projects and Two Firm Clean Resource Projects
1f) Receive Q4 2022 Decarbonization Programs Update
1g) Receive SVCE Rate Schedules Effective January 1, 2023 1h) Approve SVCE Hybrid Meeting Policy
1i) California Community Power Report
1j) Additional Committee Reports
MOTION: Director Rennie moved and Director Mekechuk seconded the motion to approve the Consent Calendar, Items 1a through 1j.
The motion carried unanimously by verbal roll call vote with Director Martinez Beltran absent.
Regular Calendar
2) CEO Report (Discussion)
CEO Girish Balachandran addressed the following in his report:
1) Recognized the widespread outages in the area and acknowledged the line workers restoring power, emergency workers, and Santa Clara County for its public health and safety response to recent storms;
2) Provided an update on SVCE’s second prepay transaction; 3) Recognition of the high prices in the gas system in California; 4) Announcement that one of SVCE’s long term renewable projects, the TerraGen wind project, came online on January 1, 2023; and
5) Board Clerk Pizano provided an update on 2023 appointments to the SVCE Board of Directors and announced a series of orientation workshops that would be taking place at the end of the month and early February.
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Vice Chair Tyson opened Public Comment.
No speakers.
Vice Chair Tyson closed Public Comment.
3) Elect a Chair and Vice Chair of the SVCE Board of Directors for 2023 (Action) Board Clerk Pizano introduced the item and noted interest was received for Chair and Vice Chair of the Board from the following board members:
Chair – Director George Tyson
Vice Chair – Director Bryan Mekechuk and Director Tina Walia Vice Chair Tyson opened the floor for additional nominations for the role of Chair; there were none.
MOTION: Director Chua moved and Director Walia seconded the motion to nominate Director George Tyson as Chair of the 2023 SVCE Board of Directors.
Vice Chair Tyson opened Public Comment.
No speakers.
Vice Chair Tyson closed Public Comment.
The motion carried unanimously by roll call vote with Director Martinez Beltran absent.
Newly appointed Chair Tyson thanked board members and provided brief comments.
Chair Tyson opened the floor for additional nominations for the role of Vice Chair; there were none.
Chair Tyson requested Director Mekechuk and Director Walia speak briefly to their interest in the role of Vice Chair; both Directors provided brief comments.
Director Abe-Koga and Director Chua commented their support of Director Walia.
Vice Chair Tyson opened Public Comment.
No speakers.
Vice Chair Tyson closed Public Comment.
Vice Chair Tyson summarized the process for selection of the Vice Chair, noting a roll call would be done by the Board Clerk and members would be asked for their selection of Vice Chair by name; Board Clerk Pizano noted members would be called on in alphabetical order by agency.
VOTE FOR THE POSITION OF VICE CHAIR:
Director Scozzola: Walia
Director Mohan: Walia
Director Hilton: Walia
Director Meadows: Walia
Chair Tyson: Walia
Director Rennie: Walia
Director Chua: Walia
Director Mekechuk: Mekechuk
Director Abe-Koga: Walia
Director Lee: Walia
Director Walia: Walia
Director Klein: Walia
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Board Clerk Pizano reported 11 votes for Walia, one vote for Mekechuk, and one absence.
MOTION: Director Abe-Koga moved and Director Mekechuk seconded the motion to appoint Director Tina Walia as Vice Chair of the 2023 SVCE Board of Directors.
The motion carried unanimously by verbal roll call vote with Director Martinez Beltran absent.
Vice Chair Walia thanked board members for their support. 4) Appoint Directors to the 2023 SVCE Executive Committee (Action) Board Clerk Pizano reported five Directors expressed interest in joining the 2023 Executive Committee:
Director Yvonne Martinez Beltran,
Director Bryan Mekechuk,
Director Rob Rennie,
Director George Tyson, and
Director Tina Walia.
Chair Tyson opened Public Comment.
No speakers.
Chair Tyson closed Public Comment.
MOTION: Director Klein moved and Director Abe-Koga seconded the motion to appoint the following directors to the 2023 SVCE Executive Committee: Director Martinez Beltan, Director Mekechuk, Director Rennie, Director Tyson, and Director Walia.
The motion carried unanimously by verbal roll call vote with Director Martinez Beltran absent. 5) Clean Energy Procurement Informational Update (Presentation) Monica Padilla, Chief Operating Officer (COO) and Director of Power Resources, presented a PowerPoint presentation with an informational update on SVCE’s clean energy goals, challenges, and future initiatives; COO Padilla and CEO Balachandran responded to board member questions.
Chair Tyson opened Public Comment.
Bruce Karney commented he has confidence that with the SVCE Board of Director’s guidance, staff will achieve as much as can be achieved as fast as possible.
Arnold de Leon made the following comments: 1) clean hydrogen is not going to be an energy source, it is just another form of energy storage, 2) in renewables like solar and wind, we will need to have more than needed, 3) comments on heat pumps and their high costs with a suggestion that there is an opportunity to reduce the difference in cost and offer incentives, and 4) his belief that we have an opportunity to get to 100% renewable, but we need to accept the fact that everything is not going to be used 100% of the time.
Chair Tyson closed Public Comment.
Board Member Announcements and Future Agenda Items
Director Chua announced Congressman Ro Khanna secured $3M for the City of Milpitas’ Carbon Neutral Homes Incentive Program, to incentivize single-family residential homeowners to replace fossil fuel powered appliances with ones powered by carbon-free electricity.
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Adjourn
Chair Tyson adjourned the meeting at 8:11 p.m.
ATTEST:
_____________________________
Andrea Pizano, Board Secretary
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