City Council Agenda Report
Meeting Date: March 21, 2023
From: Todd Dusenberry, General Manager of Public Utilities Department: Public Utilities
Submitted by: Adriana Ramos, Administrative Analyst
Subject
Shared Services Agreement with Northern California Power Agency, Southern California Public Power Authority, and Ascend Analytics, LLC
Recommendation
Approve and authorize the General Manager of Public Utilities to execute the Northern California Power Agency (NCPA) Confirmation No. 0282 (Agreement) among the City of Vernon, Southern California Public Power Authority (SCPPA), and Ascend Analytics, LLC (Ascend), for services related to the development of an Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) for a total amount not-to-exceed $374,245 through June 14, 2024.
Background
An Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) is a 20-year planning document that outlines how a utility plans to meet its energy and capacity needs, policy goals, regulatory requirements, physical and operational constraints, and other priorities. This document must be updated and filed at least once every five years to fulfill State of California compliance requirements, as detailed under California Public Utilities Code Section 9621 and disseminated by the California Energy Commission (CEC)’s Publicly Owned Utility Integrated Resource Plan Submission and Review Guidelines. Developing an IRP is an extensive process that requires evaluation of the City’s existing resources, electric distribution system, load growth, potential for increasing renewable generation as well as careful consideration of a variety of issues including greenhouse gas emissions, energy storage, and cost impacts, to name a few.
As a member of SCPPA, Vernon Public Utilities (VPU) has the ability to contract with vendors who have competitively bid for specific scopes for projects and services. SCPPA is a public entity duly organized and existing under the Joint Exercise of Powers Act (Cal. Government Code sec. 6500 et seq.), under a Joint Powers Agreement entered into by and among the cities of Anaheim, Azusa, Banning, Burbank, Cerritos, Colton, Glendale, Los Angeles, Pasadena, Riverside, and Vernon; and the Imperial Irrigation District (Members) with authority to engage in various activities supportive of the Members’ electric utilities. The SCPPA Board of Directors is responsible for the general management of the affairs of SCPPA, and under the JPA, has the power, among other things, to make and enter into contracts for services specific to electric utility needs. This allows VPU and other member agencies to benefit from economies of scale and procure goods and services with volume discounts.
Additionally, NCPA and SCPPA have a Shared Services Agreement dated August 1, 2015, that enables both agencies participating members to piggy-back on service agreements. NCPA is a governmental joint powers authority like SCPPA but comprises northern California publicly owned utilities. Ascend has an active agreement with NCPA for IRP development services. Staff requested a proposal from Ascend, to which they responded on September 30, 2022. Ascend’s proposal met the needs of VPU and provided excellent examples of extensive experience in assisting agencies in developing IRPs. Following the acceptance of Ascend’s proposal, VPU notified NCPA of the intention to proceed. NCPA’s Commission approved the Vernon task order request at its Commission meeting on December 1, 2022, for a total amount not-to-exceed $374,245, with services requested from December 2022 through June 2024.
The Scope of Work under the proposed Agreement with Ascend would consist of:
• Developing a load forecast
• Reviewing and evaluating the City’s existing and proposed energy resources and programs
• Reviewing the City’s Interconnections and Distribution facilities • Assessing Renewable Energy and RPS Compliance
• Developing Market Scenarios utilizing proprietary PowerSIMM planning model and Ascend Market Intelligence modeling framework
• Preparing materials and presenting at customer engagement meetings • Writing a comprehensive IRP Report
Staff recommends that the City Council approve the agreement with Ascend to assist staff with developing its required IRP. Since VPU is using a vendor approved by SCPPA and NCPA, the proposed agreement is exempt from the City’s competitive bidding and competitive selection requirements per Vernon Municipal Code (VMC) Section 3.32.110, subsections (A)(5) and (B)(1). The Finance Director is of the opinion it is to the advantage of the City to contract with Acsend through their existing agreement with the NCPA. City Council approval of the proposed Agreement is necessary since the Agreement exceeds $100,000, per VMC Section
3.32.030(A).
The Agreement has been reviewed and approved as to form by the City Attorney’s Office.
Fiscal Impact
The total fiscal impact is not-to-exceed $374,245. Approval of this action requires an appropriation of $200,000 to the Public Utilities Electric Fund, Professional Services - Other Account No. 055-050-590-529215 for FY 2022-23. An additional $174,000 would be included in the FY 2023-24 budget.
Attachments
1. NCPA Confirmation No. 0282 (Agreement) between City of Vernon, SCPPA, and Ascend Analytics, LLC