San Joaquin Valley Partnership Program December 2010 Focus: San Joaquin Valley kWh and peak kW reductions This Month’s Major Accomplishments: Holiday Light Exchange programs launched at various dates across jurisdictions and ran through December while supplies lasted. A press release with exchange details was sent out the week of Thanksgiving and stories were subsequently written in the Fresno Bee, the Hanford Sentinel, and the Visalia Times Delta. On December 2 the Visalia Times Delta ran a centerpiece story with multiple color photos, and an A1 above the fold reference. By the afternoon of the 2nd four of the ten exchange locations had run out of lights. The program proved to be a hit this year and jurisdictions ran out of lights within just days! The monthly Partnership meeting was held on December 2nd. Guests included Troy Nguyen and Maria Serret of SCE’s Business Solutions outreach team and Lindsay Buckley of the Institute for Local Government. Troy and Maria discussed and addressed concerns about the Direct Install program and Lindsay presented on the Beacon Award program. The implementer continued to draft the processes and procedures document for benchmarking on the Strategic Plan. The overall Strategic Plan menu items are estimated to be completed on time by the end of 2011.
Key Issues or Emerging Concerns: The County of Kings Partner does not have the staff time to devote to a Jurisdiction Needs Assessment follow up meeting. The Utility Partners and Implementing Partners will probably have to schedule a time to travel to the County of Kings’ Partner’s office if a face-to-face meeting is preferred. As previously reported attendance continues to be a major issue for Partnership meetings. Currently, the implementer is looking for another meeting site that world be able to utilize web-conferencing. Currently, the EECBG funded projects for Energy Efficiency Path (Only County of Tulare is affected) are still on hold as the attorneys with the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District (SJVAPCD) review the implementation contract. The SJVCEO EECBG Project manager responsible for implementing the projects will remain in close communication with the County to keep them advised of the project process. The cities of Lindsay and Woodlake chose to pursue the Direct Purchase path and are under way with the permitting process.
Upcoming Milestones Implementer will continue work with jurisdiction partners to update and finalize the Detailed Partnership Plan. The DPP has been under review and revision over the summer months, as it had not been updated since the 2009 bridge funding period. Partner jurisdictions have been slow to respond with updates to their historical and future efforts. The Partnership will hold its monthly Partnership Meeting on Thursday, January 6, 2011. At the January meeting, representatives from the U.S. Green Building Council will present their proposed scope of work as subcontractors to see through the regional climate action plan templates for the Partnership’s embedded strategic plan funds. Implementer will work with jurisdiction partners to update and finalize the Marketing and Outreach plan for 2011 with a greater focus on achieving municipal savings. SCE Business Solutions will bring Direct Install to the VIEW territory in late February and March of 2011. Partners are working with the implementer to publicize the program at a local level, and the implementer is working with the utility to ensure correct information and materials are provided to the jurisdictions. Implementer is on track to begin data load for municipal buildings into the EPA Energy Star Portfolio Manager benchmarking program beginning the second week in February.