San Joaquin Valley Partnership Program May 2011 Focus: San Joaquin Valley kWh and peak kW reductions This Month’s Major Accomplishments: The monthly Partnership meeting was held on May 5th where guest, Gordon Smith, presented to Partner on the Energy Upgrade California program and financing options available to their residents. SCE Program Manager presented the Partners with their Q1 tier level progress reports. It was announced that the County of Tulare has completed their kWh reductions to move up to Silver Level and will work with the Program Manager and Implementer to complete Demand Response and Energy Action Plan related criteria. Utility Program Manager gave a presentation on Energy Action Plans and shared the SCE developed template. Some jurisdictions later inquired if the embedded strategic plan dollars could be directed toward assistance with EAP instead of CAP, as they recognize the importance of an EAP towards their saving efforts. Additionally, it is felt that some of the more rural and conservative jurisdictions would be more inclined to adopt an EAP while they are highly likely to reject adoption of a CAP. Utility Program Managers and Implementer are considering options. The Partnership had a self-staffed booth at the May 6th Porterville Prospect Education Center Earth Day (Implementer staff only). The event was targeted toward children K-6 and promotional giveaways shared the message of energy efficiency. The partnership had a joint self-staff and MEU booth May 13th Kings-Tulare Senior Day (Implementer, SCE and SoCalGas staff). The event targeted community members over the age of 65. The Partnership was grateful to have the MEU at the event, as many of the attendees wanted to know more about Medical Baseline. Local Public Affairs, in cooperation with SCE Outreach, brought the 1st Unit MEU to the VIEW region May 8th through 13th. LPA worked with Implementer to find community events or schools in the unincorporated County areas, including the Kings-Tulare Senior Day. Key Issues or Emerging Concerns: There is some concern that Strategic Plan 3.1.1—Benchmarking—is still behind schedule. The Implementer is working with the eight jurisdictions to gather specific information and to assist getting them ready for facilities upload to Portfolio Manager. To date, only Tulare County has returned the required information. All jurisdictions have been late in the return of their data due to budgeting and lack of time. The project is now planned for completion by July 31, 2011. County of Tulare is working with Utility Managers and Implementer to complete requirements to move up to Silver Tier level before the end of Q2 2011.
Seven of the eight partnership jurisdictions are quite close to reaching their next tier level and completion of ARRA funded projects should help them all to reach the next level through kWh savings. 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 Demand Response Programs will be presented at the June Partnership meeting. Several jurisdictions will need to implement demand response in order to advance their tier level and are anxious to learn more about what is required of them in order to earn greater payback. The City of Lindsay partner had a recent staff change so Implementer and SCE account manager will meet with the jurisdiction June 3rd to bring up to speed on partnership activities. Partnership will have a booth with the 2nd MEU at the June 17th City of Lindsay Friday Night Market. Implementer will attend and present on Benchmarking efforts at the 2nd Annual Statewide Energy Efficiency Best Practices Forum Thursday, July 28th in San Jose.