San Joaquin Valley Energy Leader Partnership (VIEW)
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PARTNERS MEETING SUMMARY NOTES January 5, 2012 | 10:00 a.m. County of Tulare RMA, RMA Main Conference Room| 5961 South Mooney Blvd., Visalia, CA 93277 Attendees: Barbara Marty, City of Hanford Lew Nelson, City of Tulare Kim Loeb, City of Visalia
Courtney Kalashian, SJVCEO Maureen Hoff, SJVCEO Hammad Chaudhry, SCE Mark Okino, SCE
Brian Thoburn, SCE William DeLain, SCE Paulo Morais, So Cal Gas
Location: County of Tulare RMA, Conference Room E, 5961 South Mooney Boulevard, Visalia, CA 93277 Time: 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. Next Meeting: Thursday, February 2, 2012 Location: County of Tulare RMA, RMA Main Conference Room, 5961 South Mooney Boulevard, Visalia, CA 93277
Agenda Topics on January 5, 2012 1. Welcome and Introductions 2. Energy Savings 3. Marketing and Outreach Report 4. Strategic Plan Effort Update 5. Support for Core Programs in 2012 6. Other Business 7. Adjourn VIEW Partnership Meeting
SUMMARY OF DISCUSSION Welcome and Introductions Kim Loeb facilitated the meeting, starting with a welcome. Energy Savings A list of projects for each jurisdiction was provided to meeting attendees. Plug Load Occupancy Sensor (PLOS) order fulfillment has been taking place over the last month or so and Hammad Chaudhry told Mark Okino to expect new orders soon from Tulare and Hanford. Kim Loeb said that Visalia also needs additional units. Paulo Morais planned to visit the City of Hanford after the Partnership meeting to look into potential projects. Paulo has also been in talks with Kim Loeb regarding Visalia’s water conservation plant, but was concerned that the estimate of therms seemed low so will be looking for another source. Courtney Kalashian reported on the EECBG projects within the partnership jurisdictions, noting there have been some challenges, specifically in the County of Tulare. Unused funds will be directed to other cities in this region. Courtney expressed concern that the cities of Woodlake 2012 Meeting Schedule: February 2, March 1, April 5, May 3, June 7, July 5, August 2, September 2, October 4, November 1, December 6.
San Joaquin Valley Energy Leader Partnership (VIEW) and Lindsay might not have enough opportunities for projects. Paulo suggested looking into pool heating or pool covers, but wasn’t sure if pools counted under the grant. Kings County is currently working with a contractor who should have submitted the incentive application. Courtney will check with Mike Nemeth to make sure the application was submitted prior to work starting. The main concern with the City of Lindsay is that they get their pump projects done on time because the ordering process takes several months for the parts required. If the city chooses not to move forward with the project, the money will go back into the pot and again, will be used elsewhere. Courtney reminded everyone that projects must be completed by March 12th. Kim Loeb added that jurisdictions should be mindful of what their contractors purchase for projects, making sure they follow Buy American guidelines. Marking and Outreach Report Courtney described the marketing work plan for 2012 as focusing on sharing success stories as well as assisting the utilities in promoting core programs in addition to the regular schedule of outreach events. The partnership will be using funds from the budget to help more of the rural areas by buying local radio time in English and Spanish and printing materials in multiple languages to be distributed throughout the community. Upcoming outreach events include the Springfest Home and Patio Show at the Visalia Convention Center (2/10 – 2/12) and the Valley Go Green Summit at the Energy Education Center Tulare (2/23). The Mobile Education Unit will be present at the home show and Courtney and Maureen will self-staff the Valley Go Green event. Volunteers are encouraged to attend both events. Per request, Paulo explained the term ‘transition’ period which is now being used in place of ‘bridge’ period for the next partnership funding cycle. Simply, it is all a matter of semantics. The PUC will be coming out with a draft decision by the end of January with a possible final decision at the end of February. Courtney explained this is the reason why marketing and other efforts are only outlined through 2012 and future planning will be adjusted as soon as a decision is made. Kim asked about the suspension of Engage 360 and Paulo explained that because the whole program was centered on marketing, the entire program has been put on hold indefinitely. After a brief discussion it was decided to change the marketing meetings from one hour to a half hour. The next marketing meeting will be on March 1st at 9:30am before the 10am Partnership meeting. Courtney presented the VIEW website and highlighted cosmetic changes as well as the archive page (www.viewthesavings.com/archive) that houses past meeting agendas and summary notes, presentations, and much more. Maureen will be in contact with all jurisdictions to provide the link to this part of the website and to encourage jurisdictions to link their websites
2012 Meeting Schedule: February 2, March 1, April 5, May 3, June 7, July 5, August 2, September 2, October 4, November 1, December 6.
San Joaquin Valley Energy Leader Partnership (VIEW) to the VIEW website. Google Analytics will also be set up for tracking web activity which will be reported at the quarterly marketing meetings. Bill DeLain presented an important safety video from SCE that discusses downed power lines. Maureen will provide a link to the video to all jurisdictions and will also put the link on the VIEW website. Bill encouraged jurisdictions to also put the link on their websites. On the topic of safety, Paulo agreed to provide natural gas ‘scratch and sniff’ cards from the gas company to hand out at events. It was mentioned to connect with the teachers involved in the Energy Wise program so they could use the VIEW website for resources. Discussion moved back to the upcoming events. It was agreed that the Valley Go Green event has good speakers lined up but attendance could be an issue because the message is a bit unclear of which demographic this event is geared towards. Betsy McGovern from the City of Tulare has been pushing for a community-based event while the USGBC-CC is leaning towards industry professionals. Paulo suggested looking into local radio for advertising. Hammad noted that if the MEU is not available for Visalia Springfest through utility partnership funding, the VIEW partnership can use marketing funds to cover the cost. Paulo said that he will check on having a Gas Company volunteer for the event. Strategic Planning Effort Update Courtney reminded all partners that the benchmarking data needs to be turned in to Maureen in order to move forward with Energy Action Plans. Data can be entered into Portfolio Manager with temporary values; however, to receive a score, facilities must be entered with real data. VIEW’s benchmarking efforts were highlighted in a best practices story by Pat Stoner. It includes details on the comprehensive benchmarking project, a factsheet, and the VIEW logo. It was professionally printed as well as distributed via email. It was agreed by those in attendance that one of the reasons VIEW was recognized in a best practices story was because the partnership structure works really well and our group has mutual respect for one another. Paulo noted that VIEW is really leading by example and Bill added that the mentality of putting results ahead of marketing has set a good foundation. Visalia is still evaluating whether or not they will use their competitive grant funds to utilize a consultant for benchmarking/Energy Action Plans but should know by the end of the week. Courtney noted that the partnership version of the EAP would be much more focused as opposed to a detailed product that the consultant would produce. Hammad added that the City of Tulare’s Climate Action Plan was comprehensive enough to count towards the tier model 2012 Meeting Schedule: February 2, March 1, April 5, May 3, June 7, July 5, August 2, September 2, October 4, November 1, December 6.
San Joaquin Valley Energy Leader Partnership (VIEW) requirement of Energy Action Plan. Lew said the City was actually putting the document to good use! Paulo asked if anybody has utilized the ICLEI tools. Kim said Visalia had but was not too happy because they were having real challenges syncing old and new versions. Support for Core Programs in 2012 Courtney explained that one of the things that the partnership is designed to do is promote core programs. In 2012 the partnership will increase support with links from the VIEW website to appropriate pages, utilize the SJVCEO strong social media following, meeting presentations and more. Kim asked about the final report from Direct Install. Hammad believes that final numbers should be in so he will send the results to Courtney next week for distribution. Retro-commissioning is a core program that will be presented in an upcoming partnership meeting. This is a joint SCE and SCG program so there is the potential for gas savings. Paulo and Hammad explained that there is a screening process to determine whether or not a building will be a good qualifier for the program. The HVAC program consists of a maintenance plan that will help with energy efficiency. This is a tune-up type of program and Hammad will know more details soon. The Living Wise program did very well in the area, reaching over 650 students. The program will return to the area around February. The partnership will have the same amount of Cool Centers this summer. Courtney added that the SJVCEO hopes to have some as well to double the number of centers in the Valley. Cool Centers – will have same amount. SJVCEO also hopes to do some more and double amount in Valley. The Gas Company would like to see if the partnership can help to promote Energy Upgrade California in 2012. Kim said this should be a big push at the Visalia Springfest Home and Patio Show. Courtney said that we have discussed the matter offline and will continue to find ways to help promote the program and make the Valley community aware. Other Business Gail Henry was nominated as the February Partnership meeting facilitator. ACTION ITEMS:
2012 Meeting Schedule: February 2, March 1, April 5, May 3, June 7, July 5, August 2, September 2, October 4, November 1, December 6.
San Joaquin Valley Energy Leader Partnership (VIEW) Courtney will check with Mike Nemeth to make sure the Kings County’s EECBG incentive application was submitted. Maureen will be in contact with all jurisdictions to provide the link to the Archive page of the VIEW website and to encourage jurisdictions to link their websites to the VIEW website. Maureen will set up Google Analytics for the VIEW website for reports at the quarterly marketing meetings. Maureen will provide a link to the SCE safety video to all jurisdictions and will also put the link on the VIEW website. Paulo will provide natural gas ‘scratch and sniff’ cards from the gas company to hand out at events. Paulo will check on having a Gas Company volunteer at the Visalia Springfest Home and Patio Show. Hammad will provide final results of Direct Install to Courtney
2012 Meeting Schedule: February 2, March 1, April 5, May 3, June 7, July 5, August 2, September 2, October 4, November 1, December 6.