Silicon Valley Clean Energy Authority
Board of Directors Meeting
Wednesday, May 14, 2025
7:00 pm
Cupertino Community Hall
10350 Torre Avenue
Cupertino, CA
Monte Sereno Council Chambers
18041 Saratoga-Los Gatos Road
Monte Sereno, CA
MEETING MINUTES
Call to Order:
Chair Tyson called the meeting to order at 7:05 p.m.
Roll Call
Present:
George Tyson (Chair), Los Altos Hills
Larry Klein (Vice Chair), Sunnyvale
Elliot Scozzola, Campbell
J.R. Fruen, Cupertino
Sally Meadows, Los Altos
Maria Ristow, Los Gatos (arrived at 7:09 p.m.)
Bryan Mekechuk, Monte Sereno (participated remotely)
Pat Showalter, Mountain View
Otto Lee, Santa Clara County
Tina Walia, Saratoga
Absent:
Zach Hilton, Gilroy
Garry Barbadillo, Milpitas
Yvonne Martinez Beltran, Morgan Hill
A quorum was present.
Public Comment on Matters Not Listed on the Agenda
No speakers.
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 April 9, 2025, Board of Directors Meeting 1b) Receive March 2025 Treasurer Report
1c) Adopt Resolution Amending SVCE Conflict of Interest Code to Remove and Retitle Decarbonization Programs & Policy Positions and Add Senior Regulatory Analyst & Associate General Counsel and Senior Data Engineer as Designated Positions for Filing Statements of Economic Interests
1d) Approve Real Time Pricing Rate for Compliance
1e) Authorize the Chief Executive Officer to Execute a Three-Year Agreement with Strategic Energy Innovations to Host Climate Corps Fellows for the 2025-2028 Fellowship Cycles for a Not to Exceed Amount of $750,000
1f) Receive March 2025 Decarbonization Strategy and Programs Quarterly Report 1g) Receive Updates to E-TOU-C Summer Rates
1h) Receive Executive Committee Report
1i) Receive Additional Committees Report
1j) Receive California Community Power Report
MOTION: Director Lee moved and Vice Chair Klein seconded the motion to approve the Consent Calendar, Items 1a through 1j.
The motion carried by verbal roll call vote with Directors Hilton, Barbadillo, Martinez Beltran, and Alternate Director Ristow absent.
Regular Calendar
2) CEO Report (Discussion)
Alternate Director Ristow arrived at 7:09 pm during Item 2.
CEO Monica Padilla addressed the following in her report:
1) Staff promotion announcement for Sangeetha Kumar, Senior Data Engineer, who was promoted from Data Engineer to Senior Data Engineer;
2) An update on the Federal Budget Reconciliation package and the California state budget from Bena Chang, Director of Government and Legislative Affairs; 3) Invitation to a 2025 Building Codes event scheduled for May 29, 2025 at the Ameswell Hotel in Mountain View from 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm;
4) A recap from the Board of Directors Special Meeting held earlier in the evening on the design and building phases of SVCE Headquarters; and
5) Highlights and photos from SVCE’s April events which included:
Hanford Hybrid Battery Project ribbon-cutting event;
CalCCA Annual Conference in Irvine, CA; and
Earth Day events hosted in partnership with SVCE local agencies Staff responded to comments and questions on the legislative update, and a request to provide additional information on the state Cap and Invest program.
Directors commented on the various events mentioned and provided supportive comments to SVCE staff regarding their participation in Earth Day community events.
Chair Tyson opened Public Comment.
No speakers.
Chair Tyson closed Public Comment.
3) Authorize the Chief Executive Officer to Execute Two 10-Year Power Purchase Agreements with SunZia Wind South LLC and SunZia Wind North LLC (Action) Britta Bradshaw, Power Resources Manager, presented a request for the CEO to execute two agreements with SunZia Wind South LLC and SunZia Wind North LLC for the procurement of renewable wind energy in substantial form and any necessary ancillary agreements and documents as follows:
1. SunZia Wind South LLC
a) 17.25 MegaWatt (MW) or approximately 55,000 MWh per year b) 10-Year term power purchase agreement (PPA) with expected commercial operation dates (COD) and term from June 1, 2026 through May 31, 2026 c) Total amount not-to-exceed $58,000,000.
2. SunZia Wind North LLC
a) 7.75 MW or approximately 25,000 MWh per year
b) 10-Year term PPA with expected COD and term from June 1, 2026 through May 31, 2036 c) Total amount not-to-exceed $26,000,000.
The presentation included a summary of SVCE’s executed long-term PPAs, summer 2024 procurement efforts, information on SunZia Wind South LLC and SunZia Wind North LLC, SVCE’s annual renewable portfolio standard (RPS) progress, information on compliance with the long-term RPS procurement mandate, and a summary of the energy and reliability portfolio.
Staff responded to questions and comments regarding the duration of existing SunZia Wind contracts, cost comparison, battery storage, and potential future acquisition of offshore wind and geothermal energy.
Chair Tyson opened Public Comment.
No speakers.
Chair Tyson closed Public Comment.
MOTION: Director Lee moved and Vice Chair Klein seconded the motion to authorize the CEO to execute two 10-year power purchase agreements with SunZia Wind South LLC and SunZia Wind North LLC.
The motion carried by verbal roll call vote with Directors Hilton, Barbadillo and Martinez Beltran absent.
4) Adopt Resolution Authorizing the Chief Executive Officer to Execute a Main Services Agreement with Lunar Energy for a Distributed Energy Resources Management System (DERMS) and Related Customer Demand Flexibility Services (Action) Don Bray, Director of Strategic Development, Joseph Lande, Energy Services Manager, and Colton Heath, Trading Planner, presented a request for the Board of Directors to authorize the CEO to negotiate and execute an agreement with Lunar Energy for a Distributed Energy Resource Management (DERMS) software platform and related services. Staff’s presentation included information on the following:
The benefits and value of demand flexibility;
SVCE’s demand flexibility goals;
Definition of a DERMS;
SVCE and Peninsula Clean Energy’s RFP for DERMS software as a service platform and an outline of implementation phases, which consisted of the following two parts:
Part 1 – Implementation of DERMS software as a service platform, and enrollment of approximately 5MW of demand flexibility capacity from existing resources in SBCE’s service area in 2026.
Part 2 – Programs for enrollment and management of approximately 25MW of new demand flexibility capacity by 2030, from batteries, commercial buildings, thermostats and HPWH; and
Background information on the recommended vendor, Lunar Energy.
Staff responded to questions and comments regarding features of DERMS software as a service platform, similar DERMS contracts with local CCAs, residential battery storage capabilities and future customer incentives.
Board members provided supportive comments regarding demand flexibility opportunities and recognition of local innovation efforts in the clean energy sector.
Chair Tyson opened Public Comment.
Bruce Karney, Mountain View resident, addressed the CAISO Wholesale Energy Prices graph on slide three of staff’s presentation, commented on the existing transition distribution system and future grid demands and cost, and provided supportive comments regarding the future implementation of a DERMS software platform.
Chair Tyson closed Public Comment.
MOTION: Director Walia moved and Director Showalter seconded the motion to Adopt Resolution 2025-11 Authorizing the Chief Executive Officer to Execute a Main Services Agreement with Lunar Energy for a Distributed Energy Resources Management System (DERMS) and Related Customer Demand Flexibility Services.
The motion carried by verbal roll call vote with Directors Hilton, Barbadillo and Martinez Beltran absent.
5) Adopt Resolution to End SVCE’s “E-ELEC 1.0” Electrification Discount Rate Pilot Program and Establish the “E-ELEC 2.0” Rate Pilot Program with Dedicated Funding (Action) Peter Mustacich, Technical Manager of Decarbonization Planning and Strategy, and Michaela Pippin, Communications Manager, presented a request for the Board of Directors to approve ending the current E-ELEC 1.0 Rate Pilot Program associated rate schedule effective July 1, 2025 and adopt the E-ELEC
2.0 Rate Pilot Program and associated rate schedule with a budget of $3.5M. The presentation included information on:
Time-of-Use (TOU) rates;
Learnings from the E-ELEC 1.0 Rate Pilot Program;
Introduction of the E-ELEC 2.0 Rate Pilot Program; and, E-ELEC 2.0 pilot program budget and timeline.
Staff responded to questions regarding customer enrollment flexibility, notifications regarding enrollment, the proposed E-ELEC 2.0 rate structure and affordability, communication ideas, heat pump installation requirements, and SVCE’s efforts to increase customer interaction and education of the E-ELEC 2.0 rate pilot program.
Chair Tyson opened Public Comment.
Bruce Karney, Mountain View resident and E-ELEC 1.0 customer, commented on the proposed transition from E-ELEC 1.0 to E-ELEC 2.0 and its impact, suggested an alternative approach to end the E-ELEC
1.0 pilot at a later time when E-ELEC 2.0 is closer to launching, and allowing time for early customer notification of the program’s transition.
Chair Tyson closed Public Comment.
Director Mekechuk provided a comment regarding customer enrollment restrictions of the E-ELEC 1.0 and 2.0 rate pilot programs and inability to participate.
MOTION: Director Scozzola moved and Director Walia seconded the motion to Adopt Resolution 2025-12 to End SVCE’s “E-ELEC 1.0” Electrification Discount Rate Pilot Program and Establish the “E-ELEC 2.0” Rate Pilot Program with Dedicated Funding.
The motion carried by verbal roll call vote with Directors Hilton, Barbadillo and Martinez Beltran absent, and Director Mekechuk abstaining.
6) Approve Formation of Ad Hoc Committee to Propose Amendments to Silicon Valley Clean Energy’s Operating Rules and Regulations (Action)
Chair Tyson provided an overview of a request for the Board to consider the formation of a three-person Ad Hoc Subcommittee, comprised of Board Chair Tyson, Vice Chair Klein, and Director Showalter, to review and propose amendments to Silicon Valley Clean Energy’s Operating Rules and Regulations.
Chair Tyson noted the Ad Hoc Committee would report back to the Executive Committee and Board with recommendations.
Directors provided supportive comments regarding the formation of an ad hoc committee and the importance of good governance.
Chair Tyson opened Public Comment.
No speakers.
Chair Tyson closed Public Comment.
MOTION: Director Mekechuk moved and Vice Chair Klein seconded the motion to approve the formation of an Ad Hoc Committee, made up of Chair Tyson, Vice Chair Klein, and Director Showalter, to propose amendments to Silicon Valley Clean Energy’s Operating Rules and Regulations.
The motion carried by verbal roll call vote with Directors Hilton, Barbadillo and Martinez Beltran absent.
CEO Padilla commented support on the formation of the Ad Hoc Committee, noting staff would also be looking at the Operating Rules and Regulations for opportunities for improvement, and would work with the Ad Hoc Committee in proposing amendments.
Board Member Announcements and Future Agenda Items
Director Lee requested information regarding SVCE’s electric yard care equipment rebate programs; staff responded to the request with information on SVCE’s eHub appliance marketplace electric yard care instant rebate promotion. Staff noted they would follow up on the timing of the promotion.
Adjourn
Chair Tyson adjourned the meeting at 8:57 p.m.
ATTEST:
_____________________________
Andrea Pizano, Board Secretary