San Joaquin Valley Energy Leader Partnership (VIEW)
PARTNERS MEETING SUMMARY NOTES December 2, 2010 | 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 Leslie Caviglia, City of Visalia Nathan Garza, City of Visalia Gail Henry, County of Tulare
Mark Okino, SCE Jesse Langley, SCE Cal Rossi, SCE
Troy Nguyen, SCE Business Solutions
Frank Lauro, So Cal Gas
Lindsay Buckley, Institute for Local Government
Courtney Kalashian, SJVCEO Maureen Hoff, SJVCEO
Maria Serret, SCE Business Solutions
John Heiser, County of Tulare Planning
Location: County of Tulare RMA, RMA Main Conference Room, 5961 South Mooney Boulevard, Visalia, CA 93277 Time: 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. Next Meeting: Thursday, January 6, 2011 Location: County of Tulare RMA, RMA Main Conference Room, 5961 South Mooney Boulevard, Visalia, CA 93277 Agenda Topics on December 2, 2010 Welcome and Introductions Energy Savings Goals for 2010 Marketing and Outreach Report 2011 Strategic Planning Timeline Beacon Award Direct Install Other Business a. Topics of interest for next meeting b. Facilitator for next meeting c. Action items 8. Adjourn VIEW Partnership Meeting 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.
Summary of Discussion: •
Gail Henry called the meeting to order at 10:00am and the meeting began with introductions.
2011 Meeting Schedule: January 6, 2011; February 3, 2011; March 3, 2011; April 7, 2011; May 5, 2011; June 2, 2011; July 7, 2011; August 4, 2011; September 1, 2011
San Joaquin Valley Energy Leader Partnership (VIEW) •
As a last minute agenda item addition, John Heiser from the County of Tulare’s Planning Commission gave a presentation on a recently approved solar farm project. The county put together 6 permits that will produce a combined 150 megawatts of power. Other jurisdictions have been interested in Tulare County’s processes as these solar facilities will be installed on agricultural land. So far the plan has yet to be challenged. The private solar company will pay the county a $1,000 per megawatt fee on private lands and a $125 per megawatt fee on public lands.
•
Energy Savings Goals – On his most current spreadsheet for the partnership, Mark Okino highlighted what has been paid and said this should sum up 2010. Maureen Hoff will go back through the list and highlight the EECBG projects and re-send to all via email. Gail Henry expressed concern about the Air District contract for Tulare County’s Floresco lighting project and Courtney Kalashian updated her that the contract has yet to be signed so no work can commence. Frank Lauro reported that as far as gas savings go, we are still in the same place but would like to do audits in 2011 to look for potential projects.
•
Strategic Planning Timeline – Courtney explained the color-coded strategic planning timeline to show when she expects the partnership to accomplish the select menu items. She estimated that policies and procedures will be set in place before the end of the year but put it on the timeline for January. In 2011 we will begin with benchmarking and indexing and then do test training on Portfolio Manager. She plans to do training one-on-one with each jurisdiction as opposed to a group session. It has been estimated to take about six weeks to get to every jurisdiction. The U.S. Green Building Council Central California Chapter representatives are scheduled to attend the January 6th partnership meeting for introductions and to discuss their contracted role in strategic planning. Frank was curious about the time commitment required by each jurisdiction to accomplish everything by the end of 2011. Courtney explained that we don’t want to take up too much of anyone’s time and the plan looks like 4 hours (not subsequent – collection/transfer of data, phone calls here and there, etc) per jurisdiction. Collecting the building inventory data will be a case by case situation and depends on whether or not the release forms were filled out properly. Frank thought the biggest problem we might run into is identifying the facilities. Gail suggested searching by tax payer ID number.
•
Beacon Award – Lindsay Buckley of the Institute for Local Government presented on the Beacon Award. She explained how the program launched late summer and they are beginning to aggressively market it statewide. The award is a recognition program with three tiers where a jurisdiction receives increased recognition as it increases its efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Participation in the Beacon Award program gives a jurisdiction the opportunity to join a network of people addressing similar issues which
2011 Meeting Schedule: January 6, 2011; February 3, 2011; March 3, 2011; April 7, 2011; May 5, 2011; June 2, 2011; July 7, 2011; August 4, 2011; September 1, 2011
San Joaquin Valley Energy Leader Partnership (VIEW) in turn offers information sharing and a great pool of educational resources. It is an opportunity to commit your city or county to achieve statewide levels and could possibly put you at an advantage for grant opportunities in the future. The application is not saying your city or county has done XYZ, rather it is a good faith promise and commitment to reduce GHG emissions to meet statewide requirements. Simply put, a city/county has the opportunity to be recognized for efforts they will have to take at one point or another! A city/county that applies must also provide a point of contact and must adopt a resolution to show that they are on board. A sample staff report has already been created to make the process easier. Through participation, a jurisdiction is committing to take action in a series of 10 best practices areas. The Institute provides suggestions and resources on how this can be accomplished. It is an on-going application process and the Institute puts an emphasis on cities and counties going at their own pace. Currently there are 10 accepted participants, three of which are valley cities. Monetary awards will not be given; however, there will be a physical plaque and electronic recognition through email communications and the website. If a jurisdiction is interested in participation, they can either contact Maureen or get in touch with Lindsay directly. •
Direct Install – Maria Serret and Troy Nguyen from SCE’s Business Solutions ‘energy efficiency outreach’ team were available for any questions regarding the upcoming Direct Install efforts to come through the area in 2011. Direct Install (DI) is a very specific and staged program and offers installation and products for free. SCE will be spearheading all of the outreach including letters, banners, and anything and everything. DI is available to small businesses such as liquor stores, beauty shops, clothing stores, auto body shops, barber shops, bakeries, and other small businesses as long as their demand is less than (not equal to) 100 kW. The obvious benefits of the program are that it is free and can save small businesses money by modernizing with energy efficient products and reducing their carbon footprint. If a business does not already have a product, they will not get the new, energy efficient version of that product – DI’s purpose is energy upgrades and includes retrofits for lighting, HVAC, refrigeration, LED open and exit signs, occupancy sensors, and vending misers. The three approved contractors are scheduled to come to Visalia around February 24th and Hanford, Lindsay, Porterville, Tulare, and Woodlake around March 10th. Jesse interjected that the list of cities has been expanded to other surrounding areas and requested that this be confirmed because the key to DI’s success is spreading the message to these unincorporated areas so they are prepared. It was noted that prior participation in DI will not prevent a visit this time around. The business owner must sign off on participation in the program; however, DI contractors are willing to accommodate the owner’s schedule. There are several ways for small businesses to learn about DI and these include letters, the website, informational brochures at city kiosks, street banners, city council and chamber presentations, community outreach events, city web pages, chamber
2011 Meeting Schedule: January 6, 2011; February 3, 2011; March 3, 2011; April 7, 2011; May 5, 2011; June 2, 2011; July 7, 2011; August 4, 2011; September 1, 2011
San Joaquin Valley Energy Leader Partnership (VIEW) newsletters, and more. The letters are drafted by SCE and are to be signed by the city mayor and then distributed by SCE; however, having counties in our partnership means tailoring this specific outreach piece to our needs by figuring out who should sign depending on where the letters will go. The letters also include a response card with a checkbox that can be returned if a business is interested in the program. The response card is for tracking purposes only and whether or not a card is returned, if a business is sent a letter, it will be visited. As far as outreach presentations, the DI team does not do chamber type presentations but jurisdictions are welcome to coordinate these on their own. Courtney used the City of Beaumont as an example saying their chamber sent out an email to its members with an image of the DI contractor badge so businesses could be prepared. Troy confirmed that something like this does not need prior approval. Maria said they do have an email template for chambers to use and this would go through SCE’s local public affairs. Courtney explained that the partnership tried to put through a press release but got push back and was curious if it could use the Edison approved press release. The Business Solutions team didn’t see why this would be an issue. Cal also stressed the importance of sending any press release to local media as SCE typically only releases to larger media sources. Barbara Marty asked for clarification on how to go about with outreach efforts. It was advised to go through the SJVCEO (Courtney and Maureen) and they can coordinate any efforts. Courtney and Maureen will work with Jesse who in turn will work with Maria and Troy. Mark Okino suggested the use of local contractors in the future. All those in attendance agreed upon the use of both English and Spanish marketing materials instead of trying to guess what was most appropriate for select areas. Lew Nelson asked how businesses will receive a savings credit and Troy clarified that the products themselves will provide wattage reduction. Jesse requested clarification on many pieces and once the kinks are worked out, the information, dates, etc will be passed along to all partners. •
Other Business – For the January partnership meeting we will continue the DI conversation, wrap up the holiday light exchange, and go more into detail on benchmarking and strategic planning. The U.S. Green Building Council Central California chapter contractors will also be present to discuss their role in strategic planning. Leslie nominated Kim Loeb as facilitator.
•
As there was no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 12noon.
2011 Meeting Schedule: January 6, 2011; February 3, 2011; March 3, 2011; April 7, 2011; May 5, 2011; June 2, 2011; July 7, 2011; August 4, 2011; September 1, 2011
San Joaquin Valley Energy Leader Partnership (VIEW) ACTION ITEMS: •
Maureen will highlight the EECBG projects on Mark Okino’s most current list energy savings list and send to all Partners.
•
DI kinks will be worked out and the Business Solutions team will confirm the list of designated areas for visits.
•
Those jurisdictions interested in Beacon Award participation should contact Maureen and she can put them in contact with Lindsay Buckley for any further questions.
2011 Meeting Schedule: January 6, 2011; February 3, 2011; March 3, 2011; April 7, 2011; May 5, 2011; June 2, 2011; July 7, 2011; August 4, 2011; September 1, 2011