San Joaquin Valley Energy Leader Partnership (VIEW)
PARTNERS MEETING SUMMARY NOTES October 17, 2013 | 9:30-11:30 a.m. Attendees: Ma ri o Krs tic, Ci ty of Farmersville Ma ri o Arosco, City of Ha nford Lew Nelson, Ci ty of Tulare Bets y Ga rcia, Ci ty of Visalia Ki m Loeb, Ci ty of Visalia
Location: Time: Next Meetings:
Rhonda Mann, County of Ki ngs Ga i l Henry, County of Tulare Ma ureen Boese, SJVCEO Sa ra h Farell, SJVCEO Mi cha el DeSousa, SCE
Ma rk Oki no, SCE Bob Decker, So Ca l Gas Ca m Ma l oy, PG&E Ma rci a Tolentino, Build It Green
Tulare County RMA, Main Conference Room 9:30 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. Partnership Luncheon - Thursday, November 21, 2013 – location TBD December Partnership Meeting - December 19, 2013 – Tulare County RMA, Main Conf. Room
SUMMARY OF DISCUSSION Welcome & Introductions Mario Krstic welcomed the group and introductions were made. Business Items Portfolio Manager (PM) was temporarily unavailable due to the government shut down, but it should now be back up and running. Sarah Farell reminded partners to take a look at the highest user reports she downloaded from each partner’s PM account. She is working to identify the highest gas and electric users in each jurisdiction so audits can be performed if and when necessary. In addition to the highest users report, she also included reports on facilities that may qualify for the Energy STAR. Please review these and confirm all the space type details such as square footage and hours of operation. Once these are verified the SJVCEO will move forward in the Energy STAR application process. Maureen Boese read an announcement regarding an on-bill financing program change that Dave Christensen had provided to her: As mandated by the CPUC, starting on November 18, no more than 20 percent of the project cost associated with OBF Loans will be able to be used for non-advanced lighting measures. It is expected that government agency customers, LED lighting measures, and advanced lighting control measures will be exempt from these restrictions going forward. More detail around the exemptions will be provided as soon as it is available. Public Affairs Update Cam Maloy announced that the economic development rate was approved for PG&E customers. This is a strategic business attraction and retention tool for industrial or commercial customers who may otherwise take their business out of state. She said they are hoping to roll it out in early December. Municipal Energy Savings Project Updates SCG 2013 Meeting Schedule: Luncheon - November 21, December 19
San Joaquin Valley Energy Leader Partnership (VIEW) Bob said he is working on a meeting regarding the South County Detention Facility to see if there are gas opportunities. In other SCG news, Bob reported that one of the issues that came out of recent outreach events was the use of the SCG logo and co-branding. Bob has provided Maureen with the most current logo and said that SCG will be having conversations with the other utilities to figure out how best to represent everyone in the co-branding situations. In addition, SCG can now provide event support such as collateral and staff depending on the type of event and the amount of advanced notice. Bob gave an update on the finance pilots that will allow larger financial institutions to create their own lending options and have utilities to be the facilitators for on-bill repayment (separate than OBF). Over the next six months the program details will be refined but it is still just in the pilot stage. SCE Michael presented the current project tracking list and asked partners to touch base if something did not look right. He also encouraged partners to work with Mark if there were any projects on the horizon. Michael will also be communicating with partners who are close to moving up tiers in the ELP model in order to spell out all the next steps. Gail Henry thanked SCE for their efforts in producing a more clear and concise list of projects that was easy to understand. SCE has new Demand Response banners for each city and county of the partnership. Michael recommended that these be displayed in high traffic areas and for those partners who would like corresponding brochures, please contact Maureen and she can coordinate. Michael added that it is important to raise awareness that peak periods for energy usage are not just during the summer. Mark will be following up by visiting and taking pictures of the banners at each of the partner cities. Michael reminded partners of the October 30th Energy Action Plan Summit in Bakersfield. PG&E Cam thanked and highlighted the hard work of Gail and Rhonda for the very successful Waukena and Stratford events. 104 flu shots were given at Stratford and 50 at Waukena. Both were truly community events and had wonderful turn-outs. PG&E will report back to the group once the final numbers are in regarding sign-ups for programs and work completed. Cam said that PG&E would like to do something similar in a few other smaller communities next year. ME&O Update Betsy Garcia reported on the success thus far of Visalia’s Battle of the Buildings. Halfway through the month and competition and the facilities were working very hard. If all efforts were kept up, the city would save over $80,000 over the year. Some facilities reported that they were a bit discouraged because they were not seeing as many results as they had hoped. The main goal of the competition was to simply start a discussion around energy usage and that has proven successful. The Tulare County Health Fair was another very successful outreach event this year. Gail’s only disappointment was not having much information on customer assistance programs like CARE, but other than that, she was very pleased. It was an excellent turnout and those that visited the booth had great questions/comments regarding solar, utility bills, and other energy related matters.
2013 Meeting Schedule: Luncheon - November 21, December 19
San Joaquin Valley Energy Leader Partnership (VIEW) Visalia also had a health benefits fair for employees. Booth visitors were required to fill out a suggestion card on how to save energy in order to receive a solar powered flashlight. It helped to regulate the giveaway supply. Build It Green Marcia Tolentino from Build It Green, a nonprofit that advocates for energy efficient homes, presented on her current efforts in the San Joaquin Valley. The goal is to educate real estate professionals so they can in turn educate their customers. She had organized a training in Porterville with the Orange Belt Association of Realtors, but due to the low number of registrants they had to cancel. She hopes that with the assistance of the VIEW partners she can reschedule a training with enough participants. Her goal would be to have at least 10 real estate professionals, but all interested parties (agents, brokers, mortgage lenders, inspectors, etc.) are welcome to the training. If there are at least 10 realtors in the room Marcia said she would be happy to open up the free training to city staff. Maureen will get more information from Marcia and distribute to all partners. Additionally, Marcia said if VIEW ever had community events, she would love to come and have a booth to distribute information. Other Business The Kern EAP Summit will be held on Wednesday, October 30th. Please RSVP if you have yet to do so. The VIEW luncheon will take place on Thursday, November 21st. Mark Okino reminded partners of the SCE/SCG partnership meeting in Downey on November 4 th. There was some discussion as to whether or not partner travel expenses could be covered by the partnership. For those who are interested in going to the meeting in Downey, please let Maureen know and she can check on covering costs. The December meeting facilitator will be Betsy Garcia. Adjourn Meeting
ACTION ITEMS:
Partners are to review the highest user reports and Energy STAR reports provided by Sarah Farell. Maureen will distribute Build It Green training information to partners. Partners interested in attending the SCE/SCG partnership meeting in Downey should contact Maureen regarding covering travel expenses. Maureen will check with the utility partners on logistics.
2013 Meeting Schedule: Luncheon - November 21, December 19