San Joaquin Valley Energy Leader Partnership (VIEW)
PARTNERS MARKETING TASKFORCE SUMMARY NOTES July 7, 2011 | 9:00 a.m. County of Tulare RMA, RMA Main Conference Room 5961 South Mooney Boulevard, Visalia, California 93277
Attendees: Barbara Marty, City of Hanford Gail Henry, County of Tulare Kim Loeb, City of Visalia
Paulo Morais, So Cal Gas Hammad Chaudhry, SCE Cal Rossi, SCE
Courtney Kalashian, SJVCEO Maureen Hoff, SJVCEO
Location: County of Tulare, RMA, RMA Main Conference Room, 5961 South Mooney Boulevard, Visalia, California, 93277 Time: 9:00 a.m. Next Meeting: Thursday, September 1, 2011 Location: County of Tulare, RMA, RMA Main Conference Room, 5961 South Mooney Boulevard, Visalia, California, 93277
Agenda Topics for July 7, 2011 1. Welcome 2. Event Recap a. Porterville Prospect Education Center Earth Day b. Tulare-Kings Senior Day c. Lindsay Farmers’ Market 3. Upcoming Events a. Lindsay Friday Night Market - July 22nd, 2011 b. Hanford Thursday Night Market & Employee Appreciation 4. Cool Center Promotion 5. Energy Education Center Classes 6. Next Steps a. Action Items b. Next meeting – September 1, 2011 SUMMARY of DISCUSSION: Welcome Courtney Kalashian called the meeting to order at 9:10am.
2011 Meeting Schedule: September 1, 2011; December 1, 2011
San Joaquin Valley Energy Leader Partnership (VIEW) Event Recap Courtney Kalashian presented the MEU and self-staff reports for the most recent past events. The Porterville Prospect Education Center Earth Day was a great event focused on educating K-6 students on energy efficiency. Compared to last year, more time was spent with each class coloring and asking students how they save energy around the home and school. The partnership also had a booth and the large Mobile Education Unit (MEU) at Senior Day in Mooney Grove Park. The event was sponsored by Southern California Edison (SCE) and Brian Thoburn organized to have VIEW tabling outside of the SCE MEU. Half of the seniors visiting the booth either only spoke Spanish or English as a second language so there were some communication barriers; however, the event was a success and it was nice to be able to send people to the MEU for more detailed questions on specific program offerings. The Partnership will be bringing the second MEU to a couple summer markets in the City of Lindsay. The first Friday Night Market attended had an estimated 2,000 attendees and over 100 direct contacts at the booth. Most visitors were already enrolled in the low income programs. Upcoming Events In upcoming events, the Partnership will bring the second MEU to the July 22nd Lindsay Friday Night Market and the August 11th Hanford Market and Employee Appreciation Night. Courtney recommended that, if interested, both utility managers should attend one of the summer markets because they are really great community events that draw thousands of attendees. Cool Center Promotion Cal Rossi thanked Courtney for interviewing with news channel CSB 47 regarding conservation on behalf of SCE. Courtney said she tried to tie the interview into promotion for the Cool Centers but most of that was edited. SCE Cool Centers are open Monday through Friday and the SJVCEO staff has been promoting them, especially during the recent high temperatures, through its blog, Twitter and Facebook. Courtney and Maureen Hoff visited four of the centers to do spot checks, take pictures and deliver Partnership materials. It was noted from these visits that the centers are in need of Spanish language materials. Paulo Morais asked about demographics of center visitors and Courtney said mainly seniors and low income individuals. Courtney was also interested in promoting Gas Company programs at the centers so Hammad encouraged her to put together a list of questions in a memo and he will put her in touch with Jeannie Harrell, Cool Center program manager. Maureen will check to see what So Cal Gas materials we have on hand in the office to be distributed to these centers if possible. Courtney said her personal goal is to double the number of centers in VIEW territory for next year’s program. Kim Loeb noted that there are other cooling centers open that are not associated with this particular SCE program, including one at the City of Visalia Transit Center. It was also believed that CSET has some cooling centers in the Hanford area. Talk of the Cool Centers spurred the idea of warming centers through the Gas Company. Courtney explained that there are burn restrictions in the Central Valley and it could potentially help with air quality. Kim said a lot of Valley residents are spending a great deal of money ignorantly heating their houses. Gail Henry agreed and said there are a lot of inefficient heaters in homes. Paulo said he will have 2011 Meeting Schedule: September 1, 2011; December 1, 2011
San Joaquin Valley Energy Leader Partnership (VIEW) to look into this idea. Courtney suggested a heating program could be tied into an alert system; for example, centers could be available on bad air days when people are not allowed to burn wood. Talk of the cooling centers and idea of heating centers inspired discussion of energy efficiency practices with hotels. Several people said they had stayed in hotels with occupancy sensors. It was noted that Lodging Energy Efficiency Programs (LEEP) do exist. Courtney was curious if there is a direct install program geared towards this so Hammad, while doubtful, said he would look into it. There may be available incentives. The Palm Desert partnership has a huge focus on resort efficiency so Hammad will talk to his counterpart there. Energy Education Center Classes Courtney explained that she still would like to coordinate classes through the Energy Education Center Tulare, formerly known as AgTAC, for all of the jurisdictions. It is a challenge for everybody to attend classes so she and Maureen are trying to best address the needs of the individual cities and counties. At the very least promotion of the available classes is a start and there are a couple classes coming up at the center in September – Introduction to Lighting and Motor Efficiency. Ideally it would be great to bring classes out into the jurisdictions for easy access, probably having a class in a central point where two or three jurisdictions could attend. Courtney was also curious if there was a way to combine So Cal Gas and SCE classes because the Energy Education Center only offers classes based in electricity. Paulo said the focus for So Cal Gas classes is energy efficiency so it shouldn’t just be gas or electricity and shouldn’t be a problem to combine. As discussed in a previous meeting, it could be fun to do a class for food service professionals including a demo with an expert in the field (i.e. local chef) while featuring energy efficient equipment. Courtney will be in touch with all of the jurisdictions to schedule a hosted lunch or breakfast before or after partnership meetings to find out what each jurisdiction needs and wants from these classes. By working with the appropriate people from each jurisdiction we can start tailoring the classes. Cal Rossi made the point that due to staffing issues it is hard for people to make meetings; however, things are still getting done and jurisdictions are advancing tier levels and receiving checks and savings via their participation in this partnership. Any interaction with the smaller cities will be a challenge.
ACTION ITEMS: Courtney Kalashian will put together a memo with a list of questions regarding the Cool Centers. Hammad Chaudhry will put Courtney in touch with Jeannie Harrell, Cool Center program manager. Maureen Hoff will check to see what So Cal Gas brochures are in stock in SJVCEO office and will touch base with Paulo Morais. Courtney Kalashian will be in touch with all of the jurisdictions to schedule a hosted lunch or breakfast before or after partnership meetings to find out what each jurisdiction needs and wants from educational classes.
2011 Meeting Schedule: September 1, 2011; December 1, 2011