San Joaquin Valley Partnership Program July 2011 Focus: San Joaquin Valley kWh and peak kW reductions This Month’s Major Accomplishments: The quarterly Marketing Task Force meeting was held on July 7 th. Cool Centers were discussed at length, which inspired the idea of warming centers for wintertime. Implementer expressed interest in bringing at least two Energy Education Center classes to jurisdiction partners by the end of the year and will meet with the appropriate people to coordinate and tailor to jurisdiction needs. The monthly Partnership meeting was held on July 7th. Eugene Sedeno gave a presentation on available assistance to customers interested in solar and what questions one should ask when looking to implement a project. The Partnership had a booth with the 2nd MEU at the July 22nd City of Lindsay Friday Night Market. Implementer drafted a story on the City of Porterville and County of Tulare tier level advancement from Valued Partner to Silver status as an opportunity to highlight energy efficiency and inform the community as to what their jurisdiction is up to. Implementers attended the Statewide Local Government Partners meeting on Wednesday, July 27 and participated in small groups addressing: codes and ordinances, small community partnerships, and marketing education and outreach to commercial and industrial sectors. They picked up useful information—especially in the conversation on codes and ordinances that they will share at the August VIEW Partners meeting. Implementer attended and presented on Benchmarking efforts at the 2 nd Annual Statewide Energy Efficiency Best Practices Forum Thursday, July 28th in San Jose. In the week following the presentation, the implementer has received many inquiries as to the availability of the Benchmarking Made Easy tool from non-VIEW jurisdictions. The need for greater understanding and assistance in benchmarking is evident, and the implementer is pleased that the VIEW partners recognized the benefit early on. Key Issues or Emerging Concerns: Implementer remains concerned that Strategic Plan 3.1.1—Benchmarking—is still behind schedule. The Implementer continues to assist all eight jurisdictions to gather specific information and to assist getting them ready for facilities upload to Portfolio Manager. To date, only Tulare County and Hanford have returned the required information. All jurisdictions have been late in the return of their data due to budgeting and lack of time. It is recommended that completion of the project be pushed back to August 31, 2011—pending cooperation from jurisdiction personnel. The cities of Woodlake, Lindsay, Visalia, and Hanford are quite close to reaching their Silver Tier level and completion of ARRA funded projects should help them all to reach
the next level through kWh savings. Based on success with Tulare county and Porterville, the same partnership approach should be initiated to see these four to success. The Program Manager and Implementer will meet to strategize next steps in assisting the City of Tulare to pursue Gold Tier status. Implementer and Utility managers are working to ensure submission of application for incentive on ARRA funded projects with all eight jurisdictions. Some jurisdictions are now working with Utility Account Manager to identify savings opportunities to replace less efficient projects. Upcoming Milestones Partnership will have a booth with the 2nd Mobile Education Unit at the August 11th Hanford Farmers’ Market and Employee Appreciation Night. Implementer will schedule a hosted lunch or breakfast before or after partnership meetings to find out what each jurisdiction needs and wants from Energy Education Center classes. Cities of Hanford, Lindsay, and Woodlake will initiate their Energy Action Plans by the end of August. Implementer will begin drafting language to address Partnership strategic plan menu selection 4.1.3: general plan efficiency language template.