San Joaquin Valley Energy Leader Partnership (VIEW)
PARTNERS MEETING SUMMARY NOTES April 18, 2013 | 9:30-11:30 a.m. Attendees: Blanca Beltran, City of Dinuba Lou Camara, City of Hanford Lew Nelson, City of Tulare Betsy Garcia, City of Visalia Kim Loeb, City of Visalia
Location: Time: Next Meeting: Location:
Rhonda Mann, County of Kings Gail Henry, County of Kings Courtney Kalashian, SJVCEO Maureen Hoff, SJVCEO Michael DeSousa, SCE
Mark Okino, SCE Alma Briseño, SCG Dave Christensen, PG&E Steve Newvine, PG&E
Visalia Chamber of Commerce, 220 N. Santa Fe Street, Visalia, CA 93292 9:30 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. Thursday, May 16, 2013 Visalia Chamber of Commerce, 220 N. Santa Fe Street, Visalia, CA 93292
SUMMARY OF DISCUSSION Welcome & Introductions Kim Loeb welcomed the group and introductions were made.
Business Items Report from April 9th LGC CC Meeting Rhonda Mann and Betsy Garcia both shared that the April 9th Local Government Commission’s Central California partnerships meeting provided for good connections and peer sharing, including an opportunity to hear about the offerings through the Southern California Regional Energy Network (SoCAL REN). Alma Briseño added that she was a bit confused over the RENrelated Energy Upgrade California (EUCA) offerings. Howard Choy from the SoCAL REN will be in attendance at the May VIEW Partnership meeting for an in-depth presentation and to answer any questions/clarify. Many of the programs and ideas from the REN are still waiting on approval from the CPUC so the list of offerings is still just ideas coming to fruition. Kim Loeb added that the jargon and acronyms used at these types of local government meetings can be very confusing. Courtney/Maureen will provide this feedback to LGC. May meeting presentations: SoCAL REN and HERO residential PACE program As it was mentioned, Howard Choy will present on the SoCAL REN at the May partnership meeting. In addition, Barbara Spoonhour from the Western Riverside Council of Governments (WRCOG) will present on the Home Energy Renovation Opportunity (HERO) residential PACE financing program. Kim mentioned a conversation he had at the April 9th LGC CC meeting in which Angie from Santa Barbara County warned that residential PACE programs could jeopardize any residential lending and increase interest rates for the entire region. This would be a good question to ask Barbara when she presents in May. 2013 Meeting Schedule: May 16, June 20, July 18, August 15, September 19, October 17, November 21, December 19
San Joaquin Valley Energy Leader Partnership (VIEW)
Public Affairs Update Courtney described AB 327 (Perea) the Rate Payer Equity Act, current legislation that would allow the CPUC to set utility rates. The SJVCEO will be submitting a formal letter of support and Courtney will provide a fact sheet to all jurisdiction partners. The utilities are in support of AB 327 and have been the driving force behind it. Marketing Update Maureen Hoff will coordinate a Marketing Task Force meeting on May 6 th as most partners said that date would be best. Discussion will include marketing events for the program cycle, how best to use partnership marketing dollars, support and rollout for utility programs, and more. Lunch will be provided. Maureen and Courtney will staff a VIEW booth at the both the Kings County Employee Recognition BBQ and the Porterville Prospect Education Center Earth Day. Alma did not have any updates related to Energy Upgrade California. She did mention that the RENs might take over the Basic program offering and utilities will only roll out the Advanced path, but this was still undetermined. Utility Programs Presentation PG&E Dave Christensen presented on PG&E’s program offerings and stated that there are four key points in defining a local government partnership and why they exist. First, local government partnerships help municipalities improve the energy of their facilities. Second, they help small and medium businesses become energy efficient. Third, they provide residential offerings. And lastly, they help local governments to promote energy efficiency within their communities. PG&E has a 1.5 million kWh savings goal for the partnership, with about 90-95% of this coming from the Direct Install program. Dave also added that while the utilities all have different offerings, they are currently working together to provide consistency between all of the utilities. Staples Energy performs the work for the PG&E Direct Install (DI) program. Customers pay a $25 fee for an energy assessment and detailed report of their facility. Based on the findings and recommendations, the customer can choose to proceed with energy efficiency measures. Currently, the contractors are paid on energy savings and the customer is required to pay a copay that runs close to 10 percent of the cost of the installed measures. DI is for small businesses with 200 kW demand or less; however, any size business can participate but the copay will change. In PG&E’s effort to reach every part of the community, there are also Direct Install programs for middle income customers who do not qualify for any of the low income offerings.
2013 Meeting Schedule: May 16, June 20, July 18, August 15, September 19, October 17, November 21, December 19
San Joaquin Valley Energy Leader Partnership (VIEW) PG&E is offering grants to incorporated cities for up to $10,000, asking cities to come up with ways on how they would promote energy efficiency in their community. An additional $5,000 would be provided for marketing support. This particular opportunity is not available to unincorporated cities but there are other opportunities that may apply in those areas. Dave also provided a comprehensive list of PG&E programs and Maureen will add this to the archive page of the VIEW website. Steve Newvine from PG&E presented on the Home Energy Tune Up program. Previously an ARRA funded program, PG&E now provides support for this 5 county, residential energy efficiency assessment program. Upon signing up for the program, a customer is classified by need for the type of testing that should be performed. New to the program will be an online/telephone consultation path for those customers who are not classified as needing a home energy assessment. All customers receive a comprehensive written report. PG&E is also currently piloting a tune up program for businesses. SCE Michael DeSousa presented on SCE’s current program offerings and highlighted the Energy Leader Model tier structure that differentiates Edison from the other utilities. The City of Visalia showed interest in the HVAC Optimization program. Michael will provide more information on the program and the related contractor training. SCE’s Direct Install program is currently focused in the regions typically serviced by San Onofre in order to help reduce demand. The program will likely return to VIEW territory in 2014 but funding is currently limited. SCE’s Direct Install program is different from PG&E’s because it is not constant and only runs in cycles. PG&E can also do Direct Install at municipal facilities where SCE cannot. Michael briefly described Demand Response (DR) programs and Courtney suggested having a DR presentation at the July partnership meeting. SCG Alma presented on SCG’s current program offerings, highlighting differences between incentives and rebates, explaining on-bill financing, and more. She will investigate Energy Resource Center courses that may be applicable and interesting for this area and report back to the group. Other Business May 3rd is the Spring Electricity Outlook in Tulare at the Energy Education Center (formerly known as AgTAC). There’s a webinar on May 14th titled ‘Major Profit Potential for Cities in Supplying RE and EE for Commercial and Residential Markets’ and Courtney will send out the details. 2013 Meeting Schedule: May 16, June 20, July 18, August 15, September 19, October 17, November 21, December 19
San Joaquin Valley Energy Leader Partnership (VIEW) The SEEC Best Practices Forum will take place June 19-20 in Sacramento. Gail Henry volunteered herself as the May partnership meeting facilitator. Adjourn Meeting
ACTION ITEMS:
Michael will get more information on the HVAC Optimization contractor training and overall program details.
Courtney will send around details on the May 14th webinar titled ‘Major Profit Potential for Cities in Supplying RE and EE for Commercial and Residential Markets’.
Courtney/Maureen will report to the LGC that the jargon and acronyms at local government meetings can be very confusing and that a terminology/description list might be helpful.
Courtney will email the summary on AB 327 (Perea), the Rate Payer Equity Act.
Maureen will coordinate a Marketing Task Force meeting on May 6th.
Michael will check with Holly Merrihew on her availability to give a presentation on Demand Response at the July partnership meeting.
Alma will investigate Energy Resource Center courses that may be applicable and interesting for the VIEW territory and report back to the group.
2013 Meeting Schedule: May 16, June 20, July 18, August 15, September 19, October 17, November 21, December 19