San Joaquin Valley Partnership Program July 2010 Focus: San Joaquin Valley kWh and peak kW reductions This Month’s Major Accomplishments: An assessment meeting with the City of Visalia was held on July 1 st before the regularly scheduled monthly Partners meeting. The monthly Partnership meeting was held on July 1 st where Strategic Planning was discussed. Courtney Kalashian, on behalf of the implementing partner, SJVCEO, after review by Executive Director, Paul Johnson recommended to the Partners that the US Green Building Council Central California Chapter (USGBC CC) be selected as a consultant to perform work assigned to the Long Term Strategic Plan menu options 4.1.1 and 4.1.3. There was minimal discussion and the Partners approved to use the USGBC CC as a consultant. Two of the eight Jurisdictions worked with SJVCEO staff writers to produce ‘VIEW the Success’ stories that were approved by the Utility partners to go live on the website. The implementing partner hopes to get multiple stories from each jurisdiction so there is a rotating library. The Cities of Visalia and Lindsay had the MEU 2nd unit with bilingual staff at their summer Farmers Markets on July 22nd and 23rd, respectively. On Sunday, July 25th, the Partnership held an LED holiday light exchange at the Visalia Rawhide ‘Christmas in July’ promotional baseball game. The press release created by the implementing partner was picked up by two local papers and seemed to create enough of a buzz that a total of 10 strands were exchanged at the game. Rawhide staff members collected strands from the stadium and exchanged 7 more with the Visalia Partners the next day. Overall, the event was a success as the Partnership was well received and the exchange seemed to inspire great ideas for the exchanges to be held later in the year. Key Issues or Emerging Concerns: After making updates to the partnership website, it was brought to our attention by the Utility partners that we would need photo releases for all people in any photos found on the website. Obtaining releases for the photos we hoped to publish online has proven difficult; however, the partnership will take more precaution in the future when photographing events. The main concern is that the partnership will be limited in what can be published online; however, it will continue to work within the release parameters. Jurisdictions continue to show concern over whether or not their projects will be awarded funds, especially after the City of Visalia’s airport runway light project fell through. There seems to be a need and want for better communication between Utility partners and Jurisdictions. The partnership would like to maximize its exposure to gain awareness and would like to explore the use of social media. Utility partners originally showed hesitation as this
form of marketing requires continuous monitoring; however, after some research it looks as though other local government energy efficiency partnerships may be using some forms of social media and the partnership hopes for a ‘level playing field’. Upcoming Milestones Jurisdiction Needs Assessment face to face meetings will be scheduled with the remaining Partners (City of Lindsay and City of Woodlake). The City of Hanford will have the MEU 2nd unit with bilingual staff at their August 12th Farmers Market / City Employee Appreciation Night. The MEU 2nd unit will also be at the City of Visalia’s Fall Home Show in September.