Silicon Valley Clean Energy Authority
Board of Directors Meeting
Wednesday, February 12, 2025
7:00 pm
Cupertino Community Hall
10350 Torre Avenue
Cupertino, CA
Morgan Hill City Hall
17575 Peak Ave.
Morgan Hill, CA 95037
MEETING MINUTES
Call to Order:
Vice Chair Klein called the meeting to order at 7:02 p.m.
Chair Tyson provided a statement regarding his remote participation pursuant to AB 2449 under the “Just Cause” provision due to a physical disability that could not be accommodated and there was no one else 18 or over present in the location.
Director Showalter provided a statement regarding her remote participation for a personal medical issue and requested to participate in the meeting remotely due to emergency circumstances under Government Code Section 54953 (f), and noted no one over the age of 18 was present in the location.
Roll Call
Present:
George Tyson (Chair), Los Altos Hills (participated remotely) Larry Klein (Vice Chair), Sunnyvale
Elliot Scozzola, Campbell
Sally Meadows, Los Altos
Rob Rennie, Los Gatos
Garry Barbadillo, Milpitas
Lisa Shannon, Monte Sereno
Yvonne Martinez Beltran, Morgan Hill (participated remotely) Pat Showalter, Mountain View (participated remotely)
Otto Lee, Santa Clara County
Tina Walia, Saratoga
Absent:
J.R. Fruen, Cupertino
Zach Hilton, Gilroy
Public Comment on Matters Not Listed on the Agenda
No speakers.
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Adopt Resolution Commending Melody Tovar for her Dedication in the Formation of Silicon Valley Clean Energy
Vice Chair Klein introduced the item and provided historical background on the formation of Silicon Valley Clean Energy (SVCE), including the City of Sunnyvale and Melody Tovar’s contributions.
Directors Walia and Showalter provided supportive comments and thanked Melody Tovar for her efforts in the formation of Silicon Valley Clean Energy and her career.
Vice Chair Klein opened Public Comment.
Ramana Chinnakotla, Environmental Services Director, City of Sunnyvale, acknowledged Melody Tovar for her efforts in helping form SVCE and her involvement in other various environmental initiatives at the City of Sunnyvale.
Don Bray, Director of Strategic Development, acknowledged Melody Tovar and provided supportive comments regarding her leadership in forming SVCE.
Anthony Eulo, Senior Manager of Public Sector Services, thanked Melody Tovar for her service and role in forming SVCE and congratulated her on her retirement.
Vice Chair Klein closed Public Comment.
MOTION: Director Walia moved and Director Lee seconded the motion to adopt Resolution 2025- 03 Commending Melody Tovar for her dedicated service in the formation of the Joint Powers Authority in 2016 and as city staff of a founding member agency of Silicon Valley Clean Energy Authority.
The motion carried by verbal roll call vote with Director Fruen and Director Hilton absent.
Vice Chair Klein presented Melody Tovar with a plaque and resolution on behalf of the SVCE Board of Directors and acknowledged her contributions toward the formation of SVCE.
Melody Tovar acknowledged the Board of Directors and expressed her gratitude for their supportive comments.
Consent Calendar
Vice Chair Klein opened the floor for questions or comments on the Consent Calendar.
Director Showalter noted she would be voting no on Item 1f on the Consent Calendar; Andrea Pizano, Board Clerk, reconfirmed the item number.
Director Barbadillo requested Consent Calendar Items 1e and 1h be pulled.
Vice Chair Klein opened Public Comment.
No speakers.
Vice Chair Klein closed Public Comment.
1a) Approve Minutes of the February 12, 2025, Board of Directors Meeting 1b) Receive December 2024 Treasurer Report
1c) Receive January 2025 Update for All Retail Rates
1d) Approve 2025 Updates to Exhibit C, Annual Energy Use, and Exhibit D, Voting Shares, of the SVCE Joint Powers Agreement
1f) Adopt Resolution No 2025-04 Updating SVCE’s Annual Net Surplus Compensation Cash-Out Terms Effective May 2025
1g) Receive December 2024 Decarbonization Strategy and Programs Quarterly Report Docusign Envelope ID: D55096F9-D2B7-410F-8D02-4295C40A0B00
1i) Receive Executive Committee Report
1j) Receive Additional Committees Report
1k) Receive California Community Power Report
MOTION: Director Walia moved and Director Barbadillo seconded the motion to approve the Consent Calendar with the exception of Items 1e and 1h.
The motion carried by verbal roll call vote with Director Fruen and Director Hilton absent, and a no vote from Director Showalter on Item 1f.
1e) Approve Increase to SVCE’s Payments to California Community Choice Association in the Amount of $200,000 for Special Assessments
Monica Padilla, Chief Executive Officer, provided information to the Board of Directors (Board) regarding Consent Calendar Item 1e, and stated that the CalCCA $200,000 special assessment fee will provide SVCE and CalCCA members with consulting services relating to rate proceeding studies, and California Public Utility Commission and Pacific Gas & Electric rates.
Staff responded to questions and comments regarding SVCE’s membership in CalCCA and its supportive role in providing joint action advocacy to CalCCA members relating to regulatory and legislative matters.
Board members provided supportive comments regarding SVCE’s CalCCA membership.
Vice Chair Klein opened Public Comment.
No speakers.
Vice Chair Klein closed Public Comment.
MOTION: Director Lee moved and Director Walia seconded the motion to approve Consent Calendar Item 1e.
The motion carried by verbal roll call vote with Director Fruen and Director Hilton absent. 1h) Authorize the Chief Executive Officer to Finalize and Execute an Amendment to an Agreement with Optony Inc. for One Additional Year and to Increase the Not to Exceed Amount from $300,000 to $512,000 for Fleet Electrification Planning Support Consulting Services Zoe Elizabeth, Director of Decarbonization Policy and Community Strategy, and Anthony Eulo, Senior Manager of Public Sector Services, provided information regarding electrification transition planning services provided by Optony Inc. and the need to extend the program to meet increasing demands for technical consulting services.
Vice Chair Klein opened public comment.
No speakers.
Vice Chair Klein closed public comment.
MOTION: Director Barbadillo moved and Director Walia seconded the motion to approve Consent Calendar Item 1h.
The motion carried by verbal roll call vote with Director Fruen and Director Hilton absent.
Regular Calendar
2) CEO Report (Discussion)
CEO Monica Padilla addressed the following in her report:
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1) An update on the new administration’s federal executive orders Bena Chang, Director of Government and Legislative Affairs, provided information regarding to the temporarily halted funding and its direct impact on customers and partners, including: a temporary halt on federal off-shore and on-shore wind leasing permitting and loans, a directive to federal agencies to examine streamline permitting for fossil fuel, hydro power, bio-fuel and nuclear projects, and a temporary pause on disbursement of funding allocated for some Inflation Reduction Act and Infrastructure Investment Jobs Act;
2) An introduction to SVCE’s Strategic Goals and Accomplishments Quarterly Report Andrea Pizano, Senior Executive Assistant and Board Clerk, provided information relating to SVCE’s progress on Board approved initiatives.
Staff responded to questions and comments regarding SVCE’s strategic goals and priorities and ongoing organizational alignment.
3) An update on SVCE’s battery energy storage portfolio Britta Bradshaw, Power Resource Manager, provided information relating to safety measures implemented at battery storage sites, which included: a discussion regarding containerized outdoor storage locations and their full compliance with industry safety standards.
Vice Chair Klein opened Public Comment.
No speakers.
Vice Chair Klein closed Public Comment.
3) Appoint Members to SVCE’s 2025 Committees (Action)
Senior Executive Assistant and Board Clerk Andrea Pizano introduced the item and reviewed the members interested in serving on SVCE’s 2025 committees as follows:
2025 Legislative Ad Hoc Committee Finance and Administration Committee
1. Dir. Elliot Scozzola, Campbell 1. Dir. Elliot Scozzola, Campbell
2. Dir. Zach Hilton, Gilroy 2. Alt. Dir. Sheila Mohan, Cupertino
3. Dir. Bryan Mekechuk, Monte Sereno 3. Alt. Dir. Maria Ristow, Los Gatos
4. Dir. Yvonne Beltran Martinez, Morgan Hill 4. Dir. Pat Showalter, Mountain View
5. Dir. Pat Showalter, Mountain View 5. Alt. Dir. Murali Srinivasan, Sunnyvale
6. Dir. Tina Walia, Saratoga
Audit Committee
1. Alt. Dir. Sergio Lopez, Campbell
2. Harjot Sangha, Finance Director, Gilroy * nominated by Dir. Zach Hilton
3. Dir. George Tyson, Los Altos Hills
4. Dir. Bryan Mekechuk, Monte Sereno
Vice Chair Klein opened the floor for additional Board members interested in serving on committees to express their interest.
Director Barbadillo expressed his interest in serving on the 2025 Legislative Ad Hoc Committee.
Vice Chair Klein opened Public Comment.
No speakers
Vice Chair Klein closed Public Comment.
Board members provided comments regarding Director Barbadillo’s interest in serving on the Legislative Ad Hoc Committee, with a recommendation from Vice Chair Klein that Director Barbadillo consider serving on an alternate committee. Following discussion, Director Barbadillo withdrew his interest in serving on the 2025 Legislative Ad Hoc Committee.
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Director Walia provided a comment in support of an additional Board member potentially serving on the Finance and Administration Committee in 2025; there was no additional interest from board members.
MOTION: Director Lee moved and Director Scozzola seconded the motion to appoint committee members as presented by staff to serve on SVCE’s 2025 committees.
The motion carried by verbal roll call vote with Director Fruen and Director Hilton absent. 4) Programs Impact Summary – January 1, 2024 to December 31, 2024 (Discussion) Justin Zagunis, Director of Customer Success, provided a presentation regarding 2024 SVCE programs.
The presentation included an update on the following:
Six major program launches in 2024, which included: Multi-family Affordable Housing Electrification Program, Turnkey Single-Family Electrification Service, Commercial and Industrial Decarbonization Program, Innovation Onramp Cycle Program, Income Qualified Electric Vehicle (EV) Rebates Program, and eHub 2.0, an online resource center for customers in SVCE territories.
Highlights from programs included: increased installations of EV chargers at residential and multi-family properties, with 47 additional properties receiving charging technical plans, and increased customer usage of the GridShift App for managing EV loads.
Staff responded to questions and comments regarding electric panel upgrades, contractor training program enrollment, future single and multi-family direct-program installation results, and availability of community impact summaries for SVCE agencies.
Vice Chair Klein opened Public Comment.
No speakers.
Vice Chair Klein closed Public Comment.
Board members provided supportive comments to staff regarding SVCE’s customer support programs and comments on potential future programs.
5) Local Agency Action Planning (Informational)
Zoe Elizabeth, Director of Decarbonization Policy and Community Strategies, provided information on member agency partnerships and action planning updates, which included: the launch of two complimentary SVCE programs to provide member agencies with $4 million in technical resources and grants to support local permitting policies and processes; and a three-tier action plan for agencies to scale their permitting processes.
Vice Chair Klein opened Public Comment.
No speakers.
Vice Chair Klein closed Public Comment.
Board members provided supportive comments to SVCE staff for their work on local agency action planning initiatives.
Board Member Announcements and Future Agenda Items
Chair Tyson expressed his gratitude to the Board for his appointment as Chair to the 2025 SVCE Board of Directors and stated his interest regarding best practices and governance of local CalCCA members.
Vice Chair Klein announced an EV shuttle program ribbon-cutting ceremony in Sunnyvale on Tuesday, March 4, 2025.
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Adjourn
Vice Chair Klein adjourned the meeting at 9:00 p.m.
ATTEST:
_____________________________
Andrea Pizano, Board Secretary
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