City Council
Staff Report
From: City Manager
Report Type: CONSENT CALENDAR
Lead Department: Utilities
Meeting Date: October 20, 2025
Report #:2506-4913
TITLE
Adoption of a Resolution to Extend the City’s Participation in the Northern California Power Agency’s Support Services Program for Another 10 Years to 2037, Designating Authorized Signatories, and Updating Contracting Authority to Align with the Municipal Code; CEQA Status – Not a Project
RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends that the City Council adopt the Resolution (Attachment A) to:
1. Reaffirm the City Manager’s authority to execute the Support Services Program Agreement (Attachment B) between the Northern California Power Agency (NCPA) and the City of Palo Alto; and
2. Reaffirm appointment of the City Attorney and City Manager, or their designees, as designated representatives to jointly execute any individual Confirmation for Support Services on behalf of the City: (a) without Council approval, provided the Confirmation satisfies the contracting authority for the City Manager as set forth in the Palo Alto Municipal Code 2.30.210; or (b) with Council approval, for all other Confirmations.
3. Set a self-imposed term limit for the City’s participation in the Support Services Program of 10 years from the current self-imposed participation period ending of 2027, to extend City’s participation through 2037, and return to Council in 2035 to consider ongoing participation.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
This report and the attached Resolution satisfy the requirement in Council’s June 2017 Resolution 9681,1 Section 4, that staff bring to the City Council a recommendation to extend or terminate participation in the NCPA Support Services Program (Program) in 2025. Although the underlying agreement with NCPA has no termination date, the City as a signatory member would be required to provide two years’ written notice to terminate its participation. Staff 1 City Council, June 5, 2017; Agenda Item #14; Resolution 9861 https://portal.laserfiche.com/Portal/DocView.aspx?id=10422&repo=r-704298fc
recommends continuation of the Program for an additional 10 years from Council’s authorized participation period running through 2035, and updating as of 2025 the authorized confirmation expenditure and term limits to align with those set forth in Palo Alto Municipal Code (PAMC) 2.30.210 for the City Manager, or else require Council approval.3 Since 2017, the City has benefited from the Program through procurement of services from 14 vendors with expenditures occurring at a rate of approximately $79,000 per year, and future participation is expected at similar levels.
BACKGROUND
The City is a founding member of NCPA, a joint action agency providing members with opportunities for joint generation, transmission and other projects, as well as other supporting programs such as scheduling and dispatch services and legislative advocacy services to publicly owned utilities throughout Northern California. The City currently receives benefits from various services and programs offered by NCPA.
Council unanimously adopted Resolution 9681 on June 5, 2017 which gave the City Manager authority to execute the Support Services Program Agreement with NCPA, as described in Staff Report 7869.4 Resolution 9681 also identified the City Manager as the designated representative to execute Confirmations to receive services through NCPA’s or Southern California Public Power Agency’s (SCPPA) preapproved vendors and contracts either (a) without City Council’s approval provided the term does not exceed three years, the total not to exceed amount with any individual vendor does not exceed $85,000 per year, or (b) with Council approval provided the total not-to exceed amount does not exceed $250,000 per year.
Additionally, the Resolution included a 10-year, self-imposed term limit and required staff to bring a recommendation to the City Council in 2025 on whether to withdraw from the program (providing two years’ written notice) or extend the program beyond 2027.
ANALYSIS
Adoption of the attached Resolution will extend participation in the Program for 10 years from Council’s previously established term limit expiration of 2027, while aligning the service confirmation expenditure and/or confirmation term limits that can be authorized without Council approval with those set forth in PAMC 2.30.210 for the City Manager, and removing the expenditure cap from Confirmations requiring Council approval. These will not change how the City participates in the Support Services Program, in which NCPA competitively solicits and contracts for professional services and general services, such as equipment maintenance, at set rates available to any participating member agencies, upon a member agency’s execution of a support services Confirmation with NCPA. From 2017 to April 2025, the City spent an average of 3 PAMC Section 2.30.200 (d) Procurement officer contract award authority https://codelibrary.amlegal.com/codes/paloalto/latest/paloalto_ca/0-0-0-61873 4 City Council, June 5, 2017; Agenda Item #14; SR #7869, https://www.paloalto.gov/files/assets/public/v/1/agendas-minutes-reports/reports/city-manager-reports- cmrs/year-archive/2017/id-7869-6-5-17-reso-ncpa.pdf
$79,000 per year, on professional services from 14 different vendors; the expenditures are categorically listed as follows:
$381,000 on EV promotion and public education over four years from four vendors $50,000 on energy efficiency consulting over three years from two vendors $46,000 on engineering consulting over one year from one vendor $37,000 on resource planning consulting over one year from one vendor $35,000 on transmission planning consulting over one year from one vendor $26,000 on wildfire mitigation consulting over two years from two vendors $24,000 on natural gas regulatory consulting over two years from one vendor $21,000 grant application services over one year from one vendor $13,000 on executive leadership training over one year from one vendor.
NCPA continually updates their contract offerings and members can recommend NCPA solicit and contract for specified services of interest across the membership. The Program has been used exclusively for Professional Services and has not, nor is it anticipated to, be used for Purchase of Goods or Public Works-related activities. Upon approval of continued participation in the Program, staff expect similar levels of participation and expenditure.
Extending participation in the Program for 10 years from 2027 has little policy implication as the internal processes and guidance to ensure compliance with PAMC requirements are already in place and the Support Services Program Agreement with NCPA has been unchanged since its initial execution. Further, participation in the Program is consistent with the Utilities Department’s Strategic Plan to manage costs.
Aligning the Confirmation expenditure amounts and terms limits to be consistent with authority provided to the City Manager in PAMC 2.30.210 ensures any future changes to contracting authority limits in the Municipal Code would be automatically applied to the Program service Confirmations, without potentially having two different standards and needing a separate Council action to align each PAMC update. As specified in Section 2.2.1 of the SSPA, such changes would require 30 days’ written notice to NCPA accompanied by the approved Resolution in Attachment A before going into effect. Additionally, internal processes and guidance would be updated to reflect changes to expenditure and/or terms limits. The new resolution also proposes removing the annual cap on the confirmation amount that could be approved by Council, removing the need to make periodic inflation adjustments.
Program Benefits
The benefits of participating in the Program have largely been realized through an efficient procurement process that manages the due diligence of public procurement and the timeliness of professional service needs and the ability to agregate interest across all member agencies.
Use of vendors preapproved by NCPA has reduced City staff time spent on procurements of services for utility programs and projects as well as vendor onboarding, with this work in these instances being done by NCPA with a nominal administrative fee.
Adherence to City’s Competitive Solicitation Requirements As per Staff Report 7869, staff created and adhered to guidelines to ensure compliance with PAMC Section 2.30.360 (k), allowing reliance on another governmental agency‘s competitive solicitation process in place of the City conducting its own competitive solicitation. 7 Adherence to these guidelines will continue upon extension of the City’s participation in the Program.
FISCAL/RESOURCE IMPACT
Extension of participation in the Program does not have a cost unless the City procures services under the Program Agreement. Each Confirmation includes not only the services rates, but also NCPA’s costs associated with the administration of the Program. From August 2018 to July 2024, administrative costs per Confirmation were $685 plus $165 for each subsequent month the services extend beyond the initial month of service. Since July 2024, the administrative costs per Confirmation are the lesser of $890 or 4% of the value of the requested service plus a fee of $215 for each additional invoice processed beyond the initial month of service. Under most circumstances and current costs, administrative costs are expected to be under $1,500 per Confirmation. Utilities staff expect these costs to be covered under the existing NCPA services budget.
The City’s direct costs related to participation in the Program will be based on the City’s level of participation and use of the various services offered in each specific procurement activity or services provided by NCPA’s vendors. Staff expect future expenditures to remain near current levels since services under the Support Services Program Agreement remain voluntary, and each member can select and pay for such support services as needed for their organization.
Expenditures under each individual service Confirmation that are authorized without Council review will adhere to the contracting authority for the City Manager established in PAMC section 2.30.210; otherwise the Confirmation will require Council approval. Payment to NCPA’s vendors will be made through NCPA’s All Resource Bill.
STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT
This resolution extending City’s participation in the agreement for procurement of services through NCPA’s preapproved vendors does not directly impact customers to require community outreach.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
The City Council’s adoption of a Resolution extending the Support Services Agreement with NCPA does not require review under the California Environmental Quality Act, because it does not meet Public Resources Code Section 21065’s definition of a “project”.
ATTACHMENTS
Attachment A: Resolution to Reapprove Participation in the Support Services Program with the Northern California Power Agency through 2037
7 PAMC Section 2.30.360(k) Exemptions from competitive solicitation requirements https://codelibrary.amlegal.com/codes/paloalto/latest/paloalto_ca/0-0-0-61990 Attachment B: Support Services Program Agreement (June 2017) APPROVED BY:
Alan Kurotori, Director Utilities
Staff: Riley Yaylian, Resource Planner