Topic Areas under the track:

• Electrification best practices, action plans, retrofits, and lessons learned
• Energy efficiency energy education and curtailment behaviors for community members
• Reducing embodied carbon in building construction
• Electrification and decarbonization policies, model ordinances, and codes

Cross-Cutting Topics:

• Addressing intersectional issues through energy efficiency solutions with public health and environmental justice co-benefits
• Implementing equitable energy efficiency and renewable energy solutions
• Partnering with local and regional Community-Based Organizations (CBOs), Tribal Governments, and small businesses
• Embedding equity and inclusion in institutional processes and practices
• Legislative and regulatory updates

Submission Type: Traditional Webinar

Length of Session: 60 minutes

Abstract:

Reach codes are powerful tools for driving climate action and decarbonization efforts at the local level. These codes “reach” beyond the minimum state Building Energy Standards to require more resource-efficient buildings. Today, at least one in three Californians live in a community with effective reach codes. However, the reach code development and adoption process can present challenges for any jurisdiction, especially those that may be disadvantaged, under-resourced or are struggling to identify the best options. The statewide reach codes program is continuously developing new resources to assist these jurisdictions. One new and highly effective tool that can help ‘level the playing field’ is the free online Cost Effectiveness Explorer, which can streamline a jurisdiction’s research and discovery process. This session presents a hands-on look at this and other tools and shares lessons learned from other jurisdictions that have been using the tool.

 Attendees will gain a foundational understanding of the reach code development and adoption process, as well as why cost-effectiveness analysis is critical to successful reach code adoption. The panelists will assist attendees in exploring the new cost-effectiveness online tool to demonstrate how a local jurisdiction can effectively use the tool to identify reach code measures. Finally, attendees will hear from representatives from two jurisdictions about their experiences in developing reach code ordinances.

Equity and Diversity:

This session includes a diverse panel from across the state, including representatives from various age groups and widely diverse communities. Its content focuses on educating stakeholders about no-cost resources that can assist local jurisdiction staff in assessing the most equitable and effective reach code measures for their specific community’s needs.

Funding and Financing:

The session topic directly addresses the needs of local jurisdiction staff who may be heavily burdened and who cannot devote significant time to uncovering the right combination of reach code options and measures that might be the best fit for their communities. Another obstacle may be the lack of resources to develop the required cost-effectiveness research. Since a jurisdiction must make an official finding that the new requirements save energy and are cost-effective to the building owner who must comply, this obstacle can be fatal to the reach code adoption process. The tools and networking opportunities available through the statewide reach codes program afford local governments the ability to implement best practices in the reach code development process while minimizing impact on local budgets and resources.

Active Engagement:

The session will include interactive elements so attendees can participate. For instance, the session will include a segment where attendees can propose specific jurisdictions for discovery. The presenters will select a jurisdiction from attendee suggestions and conduct the discovery on-screen, so attendees get a “hands-on” experience to take with them to try out the tool for themselves.

Finally, the panelists will discuss the experiences of local communities like Palm Springs and Chula Vista in developing unique reach code measures that reflect the unique needs of each community.

Proposer:

Rita Renner (she/hers)
Marketing/Outreach, Statewide Reach Codes Program

Moderator:

Misti Bruceri (she/hers)
Technical Lead, Statewide Reach Codes Program, Misti Bruceri & Associates

Speakers:

David Freedman (he/his)
Member, Palm Springs Sustainability Commission, City of Palm Springs

Eric Engelman (He/his)
Principal, Energy Policy Consulting

Cory Downs (he/his)
Conservation Specialist, City of Chula Vista

Topic Areas under the track:

• Energy efficiency energy education and curtailment behaviors for community members, Access to Energy Efficiency (EE) rebate programs for renters and affordable housing retrofits

Cross-Cutting Topics:

• Implementing equitable energy efficiency and renewable energy solutions, Engaging and increasing accessibility for rural/hard-to-reach, under-resourced, BIPOC, and/or any other underrepresented community, Embedding equity and inclusion in institutional processes and practices, Equitable funding and financing (state and federal grants, financing incentives, local, sustainable funding models, layering funding sources, regional collaboration, etc.)

Submission Type: Traditional Webinar

Length of Session: 60 minutes

Abstract:

This session will feature representatives from energy and sustainability programs at the county, regional, and state levels and present a framework for interagency collaboration that provides a continuum of support for constituents to improve their energy efficiency. With many energy-focused programs and resources available statewide, it can be difficult for local governments to help their constituents navigate all options and overcome barriers to making energy upgrades. Collaboration across multiple sectors of government is key to raising awareness about support for energy efficiency and sustainability improvements at the local level.

Featuring staff from BayREN’s Home+ Program, the County of Santa Clara Office of Sustainability, and the California Hub for Energy Efficiency Financing in the State Treasurer’s Office, this webinar will provide an overview of resources available at each agency that work towards increasing energy efficiency at the local level, including rebates and financing that can be used together to help constituents undertake and complete energy upgrades. The webinar will also feature a panel discussion about how the three agencies work together to ease navigation of the complex energy retrofit landscape and will touch on the broader benefits of encouraging energy efficiency projects en masse, such as working towards regional reach codes and sustainability goals and supporting economic recovery from the COVID crisis. Participants will leave the session with an increased understanding of available energy efficiency resources for their constituents, how to pair them together to provide continuity of support for improving efficiency, and best practices for collaboration to raise awareness of these programs in their community.

Equity and Diversity:

The panel of speakers is a diverse group representing programs and agencies at multiple levels of government, including a county office, a regional energy network, and a state authority. The webinar will balance discussion around energy equity and funding/financing options in its approach, providing an overview of available resources as well as an open discussion about interagency collaboration, constituent experience, and the importance of energy efficiency. The panel discussion on the broader impacts of this wrap-around approach to supporting energy efficiency at the local level will discuss the formation of partnerships as a way to enhance both sustainability and constituent outcomes. Further, embedding equity in institutional processes is a key aspect of the work done at each agency, and the discussion will focus on how the featured energy efficiency programs are designed to enhance access to energy retrofits. For example, the BayREN Home+ program offers free services from energy advisors to help participants access rebates for home improvements, and the CHEEF’s suite of financing programs offers low rates and lengthy payback terms that help increase access to financing among underserved borrowers. Additionally, all three organizations are committed to engaging in outreach to hard-to-reach communities; one key aspect of this is the multilingual marketing efforts being undertaken at each agency, such as translating marketing materials and websites to languages other than English, offering webinars in Spanish, engaging with community-based organizations to assist with information dissemination, etc.

Funding and Financing:

This webinar will primarily focus on available funding and financing for energy efficiency improvements and features a panel that represents unique programs that help constituents pursue energy upgrades. During the first portion of the webinar, each presenter will provide an overview of their agency’s programs and offerings for constituents. The BayREN Home+ program provides rebates directly to customers for improving their home energy equipment, including up to $5,000 in rebates for improvements like insulation, HVAC equipment, and electrification measures such as heat pump water heaters. Financing options available through the CHEEF Programs allow customers to finance energy upgrades with affordable monthly payments and can be used in combination with rebates from programs like Home+. Both funding and financing are important tools for encouraging and incentivizing energy efficiency retrofits among constituents, and the County of Santa Clara’s Office of Sustainability plays an important role by promoting both programs (among others), communicating directly with constituents about their benefits, and educating audiences about complex energy efficiency information to create a “one-stop shop” for constituents. As administrators of programs designed to provide funding and financing for energy upgrades to constituents, our panel brings expertise in this area of the proposal criteria to the CCEC Forum.

Active Engagement:

The presenters will consider multiple ways to ensure audience engagement while designing the presentation. These include beginning the presentation with an open discussion asking the audience to describe their sustainability priorities and primary constituent needs so that panelists can target their presentations and the panel discussion to address their concerns. Possible engagement activities may include a design-thinking exercise or group polls to kick off discussion among participants. One panelist has a paid account with Mentimeter, a highly interactive virtual polling tool which can be used to embed a variety of engagement experiences throughout the presentation (including multiple choice, word clouds, etc.), and has utilized Google Jamboard to increase engagement in previous presentations. In addition to their interactive nature, utilizing these tools can be educational for staff in that they can learn how these tools work and incorporate them into their own presentations. The session will also include a lengthy period for Q&A, and the closing panel discussion is intended to be open to questions from the audience.

Proposer:

Kaylee D’Amico (She/Her)
Marketing, Education and Outreach Specialist, California Hub for Energy Efficiency Financing (CHEEF), State Treasurer’s Office

Moderator:

Kaylee D’Amico (She/Her)
Marketing, Education and Outreach Specialist, California Hub for Energy Efficiency Financing, State Treasurer’s Office

Speakers:

Jeffery Liang (He/Him)
BayREN Single Family Project Manager, Bay Area Regional Energy Network (BayREN)

Tonya Veitch (She/Her)
Senior Sustainability Analyst, County of Santa Clara, Office of Sustainability

Kaylee D’Amico (She/Her)
Marketing, Education and Outreach Specialist, California Hub for Energy Efficiency Financing, State Treasurer’s Office

Topic Areas under the track:

• Energy efficiency energy education and curtailment behaviors for community members
• Responsible waste management for building retrofits and retirement of energy efficiency equipment
• Integrating Energy Efficiency (EE) with Distributed Energy Resources (DER), Electric Vehicles (EVs), storage, renewable energy, and Zero-Net Energy (ZNE)
• Access to Energy Efficiency (EE) rebate programs for renters and affordable housing retrofits
• Available funding for free low income energy retrofits coordinated through local governments

Cross-Cutting Topics:

• Addressing intersectional issues through energy efficiency solutions with public health and environmental justice co-benefits
• Implementing equitable energy efficiency and renewable energy solutions
• Engaging and increasing accessibility for rural/hard-to-reach, under-resourced, BIPOC, and/or any other underrepresented community
• Embedding equity and inclusion in institutional processes and practices
• Equitable funding and financing (state and federal grants, financing incentives, local, sustainable funding models, layering funding sources, regional collaboration, etc.)

Submission Type: Traditional Webinar

Length of Session: 60 minutes

Abstract:

REACHING LOW INCOME:  A CALIFORNIA PROBLEM, A LOCAL SOLUTION

 LOCAL GOVERNMENTS CAN OFFER FREE ENERGY IMPROVEMENTS TO LOCAL LOWER INCOME

Lower income families are increasingly being left further behind in California’s rush into a Clean Energy future.  Local governments, with more immediate needs for their limited funds, can’t provide significant financial help for their needy citizens.  Meanwhile, over $355 million previously committed to providing free energy improvements for California’s low-income families through the utility-managed ESA Program went unused and have instead now been diverted to reducing utility rates.

By working with their local ESA contractors, Local Communities can, at no cost, readily and quickly offer all of their low-income families (including renters) free energy improvements, such as free insulation, free LED lights, new furnaces, appliances and more — and personalized energy education.  They can offer all local affordable complexes free general and common area energy improvements (furnaces, boilers, lighting and more).  They can sign up all eligible low-income families and complexes for free photovoltaic solar systems and, in PSPS and fire threat districts, free back-up battery storage systems, promoting local resiliency and decentralization. They can even get free EV charging stations for local low-income complexes.

Multi-lingual ESA contractors are already funded to provide all of these services.  The interested local government must provide only outreach assistance and credibility, the contractors’ two major hurdles in providing the free pre-funded improvements, especially with local property managers who control services to their low-income tenants.  ESA contractors will happily concentrate their efforts – and their millions in budget dollars – within the jurisdictions which work with them to promote such free services to local lower income and disadvantaged communities (DACs).

Equity and Diversity:

This non-traditional public-private partnership approach is directed to helping low income, hard-to-reach and disadvantaged communities, offering them already funded and totally-free energy efficiency and clean energy improvements, with the active engagement of local jurisdictions in assisting with the community outreach.

In the interests of promoting and accommodating an increasingly diverse audience, the Proposers respectfully request that if our proposal is accepted that we be allowed to present this twice, once in Spanish and once in English.  The entire session, including “slides”, hand-outs and Q&A would be provided in that language.

The second presentation need not be in a regular time slot.  It could be offered during an unused time period, to be selected with the assistance of the CCEC Planning team, that would not conflict with other features but which would not be seen as an afterthought.

This is not a prerequisite for a presentation, but we do believe it will enhance the experience for a significant portion of the potential audience with Spanish as their primary language.

Funding and Financing:

The major ESA programs are expected to have a budget over the next 4-1/2 years of $2.2 BILLION (with a “B”) to provide free energy efficiency improvments through their ESA Contractors.  This does not count the free funding that will flow through the ESA Contractors’ efforts for solar, battery back-ups and clean energy efforts.  This presentation will discuss how local governments and communities can best work with their local ESA Contractors to direct such funding to their own low-income communities.

No funding or financing by local governments or by their low income families are required.

Active Engagement:

Because we are demonstrating a ready source of funding for immediately installing free energy improvements, we anticipate an extended Q&A session and suggest we make time for that.  In addition, If we are allowed to do a Spanish language version,  we expect a greater than average response from Hispanic audience members who will be more comfortable conversing about the programs and its implications for their communities in their native language.

Proposer:

Richard Esteves (HE/HIM/HIS/)
CHAIR, QUALITY CONSERVATION SERVICES

Moderator:

NONE SELECTED NA (NA)
NA, NA

Speakers:

Richard Esteves (HE/HIM/HIS)
CHAIR, QUALITY CONSERVATION SERVICES

OPTIONAL SPEAKER:  ALMA GONZALEZ (SHE/HER/HER)
PROJECT DIRECTOR – SOUTHWEST GAS, QUALITY CONSERVATION SERVICES

Topic Areas under the track:

• Clean energy workforce development and equitable job transition programs
• Emergency management; navigating public safety power shutoffs; disaster mitigation, and recovery
• Preparing for a decentralized energy system through DER procurement processes and community microgrids
• Grid reliability solutions via non-diesel backup power, smart grids, hardening, or distributed generation to respond to disruptions
• Transition to electric vehicles, charging infrastructure, impacts on the grid, and opportunities to diversify transportation options
• PROVIDING FREE ENERGY IMPROVEMENTS TO LOW INCOME HOUSEHOLDS AND COMMUNITIES

Cross-Cutting Topics:

• Addressing intersectional issues through energy efficiency solutions with public health and environmental justice co-benefits
• Implementing equitable energy efficiency and renewable energy solutions
• Engaging and increasing accessibility for rural/hard-to-reach, under-resourced, BIPOC, and/or any other underrepresented community
• Embedding equity and inclusion in institutional processes and practices, Equitable funding and financing (state and federal grants, financing incentives, local, sustainable funding models, layering funding sources, regional collaboration, etc.)

Submission Type: Traditional Webinar

Length of Session: 60 minutes

Abstract:

LLEGAR A FAMILIAS DE BAJOS INGRESOS: UN PROBLEMA DE CALIFORNIA, UNA SOLUCIÓN LOCAL

 LOS GOBIERNOS LOCALES PUEDEN OFRECER A LAS FAMILIAS LOCALES MEJORAS DE ENERGÍA GRATUITAS DE BAJOS INGRESOS

Las familias de bajos ingresos se están quedando cada vez más atrás en la marcha de California hacia un futuro de Energía Limpia. Los gobiernos locales, con necesidades más inmediatas para sus fondos limitados, no pueden proporcionar una ayuda financiera significativa a sus ciudadanos necesitados. Mientras tanto, más de 355 millones de dólares previamente comprometidos para proporcionar mejoras de energía gratuitas a las familias de bajos ingresos de California a través del Programa ESA administrado por los servicios públicos no se utilizaron y, en cambio, ahora se han redirigido a reducir las tarifas de los servicios públicos.

Al trabajar con sus contratistas locales de la ESA, las Comunidades Locales pueden, sin costo alguno, ofrecer fácil y rápidamente a todas sus familias de bajos ingresos (incluidos los inquilinos) mejoras energéticas gratuitas, como insolación para Ático, luces LED gratuitas, nuevos calentones de casa, electrodomésticos y más — y educación energética personalizada. Pueden ofrecer a todos los complejos locales asequibles mejoras de energía generales y áreas comunes gratuitas (calentones de casa, boiler de agua, iluminación y más). Pueden inscribir a todas las familias y complejos de bajos ingresos elegibles para sistemas solares fotovoltaicos gratuitos y, en PSP y distritos de amenaza de incendio, sistemas de almacenamiento de baterías de respaldo gratuitos, promoviendo la resiliencia local y la descentralización. Incluso pueden obtener estaciones de carga EV gratuitas para complejos locales de bajos ingresos.

Los contratistas multilingües de el programa ESA ya cuentan con fondos para proporcionar todos estos servicios. El gobierno local interesado debe proporcionar sólo asistencia de alcance y credibilidad, los dos principales obstáculos de los contratistas para proporcionar las mejoras gratuitas ya financiadas., especialmente con los administradores de propiedades locales que controlan los servicios a sus inquilinos de bajos ingresos. Los contratistas de el programa ESA concentrarán felizmente sus esfuerzos – y sus millones en dólares de presupuesto – en las jurisdicciones que trabajan con ellos para promover tales servicios gratuitos a las comunidades locales de bajos ingresos y desfavorecidas (DACs).

Equity and Diversity:

Criterios de la propuesta:   Este enfoque de asociación público-privada no tradicional está dirigido a ayudar a las comunidades de bajos ingresos, de difícil acceso y desfavorecidas, ofreciéndoles mejoras de eficiencia energética y energía limpia ya financiadas y totalmente gratuitas, con la participación activa de las jurisdicciones locales para ayudar a la divulgación en la comunidad.

Funding and Financing:

NA

Active Engagement:

Estimado Comité de Selección:

Con el fin de promover y dar cabida a una audiencia cada vez más diversa, los Proponentes solicitan respetuosamente que si nuestra propuesta es aceptada, se nos permita presentarla dos veces, una en español y otra en inglés. Toda la sesión, incluidas las “diapositivas”, los folletos y las preguntas y respuestas, se proporcionarán en ese idioma.

No es necesario que la segunda presentación se realice en un horario regular. Podría ofrecerse durante un período de tiempo no utilizado, para ser seleccionado con la asistencia del equipo de Planificación CCEC, que no entraría en conflicto con otras características pero que no se consideraría una idea tardía.

Este no es un requisito previo para una presentación, pero creemos que mejorará la experiencia de una parte significativa de la audiencia potencial con el español como idioma principal.

Por favor, tenga la seguridad de nuestra plena cooperación para brindar cualquier asistencia que ayude a que el Foro CCEC sea el éxito que se merece.

 Presentado respetuosament,

 /s/ Alma Gonzalez

Proposer:

ALMA GONZALEZ (SHE/HER)
PROJECT DIRECTOR – SOUTHWEST GAS, QUALITY CONSERVATION SERVICES

Moderator:

na na (na)
na, na

Speakers:

ALMA GONZALEZ (SHE/HER)
PROJECT DIRECTOR – SOUTHWEST GAS, QUALITY CONSERVATION SERVICES

Track: Equitable Decarbonization Strategies

Topic Areas under the track:

• Electrification best practices, action plans, retrofits, and lessons learned
• Electrification and decarbonization policies, model ordinances, and codes

Cross-Cutting Topics:

• Addressing intersectional issues through energy efficiency solutions with public health and environmental justice co-benefits
• Implementing equitable energy efficiency and renewable energy solutions
• Engaging and increasing accessibility for rural/hard-to-reach, under-resourced, BIPOC, and/or any other underrepresented community
• Partnering with local and regional Community-Based Organizations (CBOs), Tribal Governments, and small businesses
• Embedding equity and inclusion in institutional processes and practices
• Equitable funding and financing (state and federal grants, financing incentives, local, sustainable funding models, layering funding sources, regional collaboration, etc.)

Submission Type: Keynote Roundtable Panel

Length of Session: 75 minutes

Abstract:

While many Cities have begun the transition to decarbonize new construction through electrification ordinances, the conversion of existing buildings from mixed fuel to all-electric must consider the implications for low-income, disadvantaged, and historically under-invested communities. This session presents a facilitated discussion with the parties involved in the recently completed City of Berkeley Existing Building Electrification Strategy, which serves as a guide to an equitable transition of existing buildings from fossil fuel reliance to primarily renewable electricity by identifying the policy, funding, and regulatory processes which must be addressed. The City of Berkeley strategy is a first of its kind document which combines a parcel level cost and energy assessment of electrification options, funding mechanisms for the electric building transition, and a thorough evaluation of the equity impacts on the community. To develop the strategy, the project team conducted extensive and targeted outreach to Berkeley’s marginalized communities and received substantial feedback that guided the goals, timeline, and associated actions. The discussion panel will address topics relevant to their expertise and development of the strategy, including the detailed analysis of existing residential buildings, extensive community engagement, equity considerations, regulatory constraints, and electrification policy development.

Equity and Diversity:

The panelists themselves represent a diverse range of races, genders, and areas of professional expertise. Panelists’ roles/experience include building and costs technical analysis, community engagement and equity, municipal government, and climate policy development.
The Berkeley Existing Building Electrification Strategy put equity at the center of the project. The Strategy included extensive outreach to community organizations and individuals especially those in Berkeley’s marginalized communities. The feedback from these communities provide the basis for the equity guardrails, a set of requirements that any electrification action would need to adhere to. These guardrails included:
• Access to health and safety benefits
• Access to economic benefits
• Maximize ease of installation
• Promote housing affordability and anti-displacement
The panelists worked within this framework in development of the strategy, and ultimately made substantial changes to the original actions to ensure the guardrails were met. Based on this process, the role of accessible funding and financing became exceptionally clear. While the specific costs and actions found in the City of Berkeley may not transfer to all cities, the framework developed to identify equitable electrification approaches can help guide other cities as they undergo this process.
A public draft of the City of Berkeley Existing Building Electrification Strategy, which will be the primary guide for the discussion, can be found at the following link.
https://www.cityofberkeley.info/uploadedFiles/Planning_and_Development/Level_3_-_Energy_and_Sustainable_Development/Draft_Berkeley_Existing_Bldg_Electrification_Strategy_20210415.pdf

Funding and Financing:

Based on the findings of the energy and cost modeling and the equity guardrails assessment, accessible funding and financing became a key aspect that the panel worked to include in the City of Berkeley Existing Building Electrification Strategy. Funding and financing mechanisms that ensure equitable access to building electrification through local incentives and strategies like tariffed on-bill financing, using energy bills as a means to pay back retrofit costs, will be key to electrifying existing building stock without creating displacement or financial hardships. In addition, the project identified regulatory changes that would allow utilities to shift investment away from the natural gas system in order to perform large scale electrification projects and natural gas infrastructure pruning. These funding and financing mechanisms will be addressed in the panel discussion and can serve as example mechanisms for cities looking to electrify. This discussion will include how the utility provider, Pacific Gas and Electric, was engaged to develop these mechanisms.

Active Engagement:

In addition to the 15 minutes for audience Q&A, the session will include polling of the audience through the virtual webinar software platform so the moderator can understand the topics of most interest for the audience. The moderator will address the polling results and subsequently guide the discussion to focus on these topics of interest. This will serve as the most beneficial audience engagement tool for the session, as there are a wide range of topics that could potentially be covered in respect to the City of Berkeley Existing Building Electrification Strategy, and understanding the audience’s level of interest can guide where more or less detail will be provided.

Proposer:

Andrew Beecher (he/him)
Sustainability Planner, Rincon Consultants, Inc.

Moderator:

Reema Shakra (she/her)
Senior Planer, Rincon Consultants, Inc.

Speakers:

Denaya Shorter (she/her)
Community Engagement Program Director, Ecology Center

Michael Gartman (he/him)
Manager, Carbon Free Buildings, Rocky Mountain Institute

Katie Van Dyke (she/her)
Climate Action Program Manager | Chief Resilience Officer, City of Berkeley

Topic Areas under the track:

• Energy efficiency energy education and curtailment behaviors for community members
• Integrating Energy Efficiency (EE) with Distributed Energy Resources (DER), Electric Vehicles (EVs), storage, renewable energy, and Zero-Net Energy (ZNE)

Cross-Cutting Topics:

• Addressing intersectional issues through energy efficiency solutions with public health and environmental justice co-benefits
• Engaging and increasing accessibility for rural/hard-to-reach, under-resourced, BIPOC, and/or any other underrepresented community
• Post-pandemic opportunities to rebuild budgets, processes, and staff capacity

Submission Type: Facilitated Discussion

Length of Session: 60 minutes

Abstract:

This session will highlight how SoCalREN leveraged its regional partner model to build energy efficiency skills that were immediately applicable to public agencies during the significant challenges of COVID-19. Participants will discuss the process of identifying and translating regional needs into a relevant learning opportunity, how to engage and serve those that historically have had many barriers to participate, and how to share those outcomes.

 In early 2020, SoCalREN launched its groundbreaking regional partner initiative to work with trusted partners to customize engagement and reach agencies across Southern California. When COVID-19 sent public agencies and the world reeling, SoCalREN leveraged its regional partners to gain insights into the needs of their respective regions, from the South Bay to the High Sierra. The multi-regional need for capacity building emerged and SoCalREN worked closely with esteemed experts to build a workshop series that helped agencies adapt to the unique energy needs of their facilities given COVID-19, including managing modified schedules and operations and ventilation and energy needs. SoCalREN’s regional partners shared the opportunity with their communities to recruit a diverse cohort of participants, 64% of whom represented agencies serving disadvantaged communities. Over three weeks, representatives from 20 agencies participated in 10+ hours of no-cost interactive virtual training. The largest demographic of participants were in their first years of working in an energy-related field. After the training, over 90% of participants agreed the capacity building series provided them with new skills to make more informed decisions about energy and facility management.

Equity and Diversity:

Regional partner reach

 Speakers representing local government and implementation partners will come from diverse regions across Southern California (urban-to-rural). Further, they will share tailored strategies being deployed that address localized needs, including those in DACs and other hard-to-reach communities.

Funding and Financing:

Sponsoring agency staff to attend training

 The capacity-building training was developed leveraging utility ratepayer funding and essentially offered sponsorship for agency staff with facilities and energy management purview to attend. This training offering fills a unique gap because, though IOUs provide education & training, they are not providing curriculum targeted for application within public agency operations and management structures.

Active Engagement:

Sparking conversations about energy efficiency

 The series incorporated a number of virtual engagement best practices to spark conversation about energy efficiency and encourage participants to share experiences from their own day-to-day work. Many who attended expressed that the peer-to-peer learning environment provided networking value beyond the knowledge gains.

Proposer:

Jack Hawley (He/Him)
Project Coordinator, The Energy Coalition

Moderator:

Ivana Dorin (She/Her)
Program Manager, The Energy Coalition

Speakers:

David Wylie (He/Him)
Course Instructor, Professional Engineer, D&R International

Lena Luna (She/Her)
Facility & Energy Manager, El Monte Union High School District

Topic Areas under the track:

• Energy Efficiency (EE) energy education and curtailment behaviors for community members
• Integrating Energy Efficiency (EE) with Distributed Energy Resources (DER), Electric Vehicles (EVs), storage, renewable energy, and Zero-Net Energy (ZNE)
• Access to Energy Efficiency (EE) rebate programs for renters and affordable housing retrofits

Cross-Cutting Topics:

• Partnering with local and regional Community-Based Organizations (CBOs), Tribal Governments, and small businesses
• Embedding equity and inclusion in institutional processes and practices

Submission Type: Presenter

Description of Expertise:

I am submitting this on behalf of MCE as an organization and we would be able to select subject matter experts according to what topics we are selected to speak on. MCE has subject matter experts that speak to the following:

1. Our Low-income Families and Tenants Program (LIFT) focuses on income-qualified multifamily properties to increase energy efficiency, home comfort, and quality of life for residents. This program as been extremely successful and has operated a pilot program focused on increasing adoption of heat pump water and space heating that has been a partnership with local contractors. This is an energy efficiency/equity overlap and often requires close partnership with CBOs that work with these vulnerable populations. An overview of the success of this program can be found in our 2020 Energy Efficiency Report.
2. MCE recently launched our Demand FLEXmarket program which addresses the twin challenges of decarbonization and climate adaptation in California by enabling the integration of a wide range of clean distributed energy resources, such as batteries, smart thermostats, or electric vehicle chargers, and ensuring that those resources are fully deployed to avoid or minimize crises such as the blackouts in August, 2020. By offering a payment for energy reductions that values a range of resources equally, the Demand FLEXmarket ensures that incentives match the value of energy usage and that different solutions work together in a coordinated way. You can learn more about this in our recent press release: https://www.mcecleanenergy.org/news/press-releases/mce-launches-new-grid-responsive-demand-flexmarket/
3. MCE has been focused on equity and inclusion across our business practices since our inception. We have a sustainable workforce policy that focuses on inclusive contracting practices and job development. Our Workforce Education and Training program partners with local workforce suppliers and contractors to create a pipeline of jobs and training for underserved populations in our service area. We also have a Feed-in Tariff program that incentives local renewable development with requirements for 50% local hire and prevailing wage, creating family sustaining jobs while creating a pathway for the just transition.

Topic Areas under the track:

• Using On-Time Utility Bill Payments to Build Credit Scores –> We’re doing a pilot in Modesto, CA, targeted at LI/DAC adults

Cross-Cutting Topics:

• Engaging and increasing accessibility for rural/hard-to-reach, under-resourced, BIPOC, and/or any other underrepresented community
• Embedding equity and inclusion in institutional processes and practices, Equitable funding and financing (state and federal grants, financing incentives, local, sustainable funding models, layering funding sources, regional collaboration, etc.)

Submission Type: Presenter

Description of Expertise:

The Problem: Energy and water utilities have not reported consumer payments to the credit agencies (TransUnion, Equifax and Experian.) This is unlikely to change because reporting payments puts utilities under an additional regulatory burden, that of complying with the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA).

Meanwhile, many consumers are not actively using credit and would benefit from on-time payment data being reported. These consumers are largely low income and/or of the Millennial generation or younger.

The Pilot Program: GLYNT, under the program name Smarter Cooler Homes, will offer up 200 consumers the opportunity to report their on-time Modesto Water bill payment to TransUnion. The pilot will measure impact on credit scores and consumer participation rates as well as test the program workflows. GLYNT expects to launch a larger beta program in early 2022 with increased use of software for secure data handling and automation.

Topic Areas under the track:

• Use of inclusive financing to capture decarbonization benefits of water-energy nexus

Cross-Cutting Topics:

• Equitable funding and financing (state and federal grants, financing incentives, local, sustainable funding models, layering funding sources, regional collaboration, etc.)

Submission Type: Presenter

Description of Expertise:

I am program manager for an innovative water efficiency program called Water Upgrades $ave (waterupgradessave.org ) from the Bay Area Regional Energy Network. This program enables water customers to install water and energy efficient upgrades with little-to-no upfront cost — using a utility-approved on-bill charge that is significantly less than the monthly savings — so they begin saving right away.

In this era of extreme drought, Water Upgrades $ave helps customer lower their utility bills and save water by installing high efficiency toilets, showerheads, and aerators, as well as outdoor upgrades that support conversion to drought tolerant landscaping (a key state policy focus). Funded by the California Public Utilities Commission, this is a water-energy nexus program that uses water conservation to deliver energy efficiency by reducing water heating demand and embedded energy required to transport and treat water — which comprise 20 percent of electricity and 30 percent of consumer natural gas demand in California.

The program was first piloted in 2010 in the Town of Windsor, and subsequently with the City of Hayward and East Bay Municipal Utilities District before expanding to a regional program. I worked on the Windsor pilot and returned as program manager for the regional program in 2019. I have worked on climate change solutions since 2007 with a focus on water-energy nexus and building efficiency. My LinkedIn profile is available at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chriscone2/

Topic Areas under the track:

• Electrification best practices, action plans, retrofits, and lessons learned
• Electrification and decarbonization policies, model ordinances, and codes

Cross-Cutting Topics:

• Implementing equitable energy efficiency and renewable energy solutions
• Engaging and increasing accessibility for rural/hard-to-reach, under-resourced, BIPOC, and/or any other underrepresented community
• Partnering with local and regional Community-Based Organizations (CBOs), Tribal Governments, and small businesses

Submission Type: Presenter

Description of Expertise:

For the past two years I’ve worked with the City of San José and our building electrification team to develop an Equitable Building Electrification Roadmap. This Roadmap will serve as a guide to decarbonize San Jose’s existing building stock, the second largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in San Jose. The Roadmap contains key information, including an existing building stock inventory, various environmental and social vulnerability indicators showing how different communities are impacted; and provides a preliminary snapshot of building and vehicle electrification access in different communities across San Jose. Based on this data, we know that low income and minority communities face a greater burden and are more susceptible to the impacts of climate change, including higher levels of air pollution, and increased rates of asthma. These communities are also less likely to be able to afford building electrification or have access to opportunities.

Over the last 6 months we’ve partnered with two community-based organizations (CBOs)– Veggielution and ICAN–to better understand the community’s priorities and their barriers to building electrification adoption. These CBOs primarily serve the Vietnamese and Latinx communities, the two largest demographic populations in San Jose.

We are using this information along with our data to develop equitable building electrification policies and program measures that are inclusive and equitable– meaning they are accessible and directly benefit disadvantaged communities based on need and impact. These policies and program are also aligned with the community’s priorities, including policies that: focus on inclusive workforce development opportunities, increase energy affordability, and improve indoor air quality. We are also looking into how we can include tenant protections to ensure we are addressing the community’s concerns around displacement and gentrification. This list of measures will be included as recommendations in our Equitable Building Electrification Roadmap.

This is an ongoing effort and we are continuing to work with our CBOs to gather more input on our process and on the community’s priorities. I’d like to share more about our approach, findings and lessons learned. I hope to share my knowledge on how the City of San Jose has approached building electrification in a way that is inclusive, equitable and is transforming the way we think about sustainable building policies.

Topic Areas under the track:

• Electrification best practices, action plans, retrofits, and lessons learned

Cross-Cutting Topics:

• N/A

Submission Type: Presenter

Description of Expertise:

I would be interested in sharing about the regional “systems mapping” project we led to better understand the landscape of decarbonizing existing single-family homes in the San Francisco Bay Area. A description of the project is below, and this blog was written about the process:  https://www.greenbiz.com/article/systems-approach-electrifying-existing-buildings

A systems mapping process could be used to better understand many other complex issues that will be discussed at the Forum, especially in Track 2: Equitable Decarbonization Strategies (Electrification best practices, action plans, retrofits, and lessons learned)

Project Description:
Systems Mapping Project: Decarbonizing Existing Single-Family Homes in the San Francisco Bay Area

Decarbonizing homes is an important strategy to reach the goal of carbon neutrality. Unfortunately, there are many barriers to transitioning existing single-family homes from natural gas to electric appliances. While there are many great initiatives and programs supporting this fuel switch, they suffer from a lack of consistency and coordination and don’t address some of the core issues at the heart of the problem. That’s why in fall 2020, the County of San Mateo Office of Sustainability received funding from the Bay Area Regional Energy Network (BayREN) to map out the challenges and identify opportunities for regional collaboration to accelerate electrification.

With assistance from Presidio Graduate School (PGS Consults), the County of San Mateo convened a multi-stakeholder group to analyze the current situation, uncover the barriers and inefficiencies, and recommend collaborative action. The process to achieve this result consisted of two multi-stakeholder workshops, as well as two focus groups conducted with two key stakeholders: contractors and homeowners.

After coming to a clearer common understanding of the complex system that governs home carbon emissions, the multi-stakeholder group agreed on four, regionally coordinated actions that are believed to have the most significant impact. They include an instant rebate program, a “cash for clunkers”-style rebate program to encourage the replacement of inefficient appliances, a public/private partnership approach to financing improvement projects, and simplifying permitting.

Topic Areas under the track:

• Electrification best practices, action plans, retrofits, and lessons learned

Cross-Cutting Topics:

• N/A

Submission Type: Presenter

Description of Expertise:

I serve as the City of Burlingame’s Sustainability Coordinator and am proposing to present in our recently adopted EV Action Plan. The plan details trackable goals and actions to increase charging accessibility for all residents. Burlingame’s hardest to reach sector are people living in multifamily buildings since those tend to be older buildings with limited space and power capacity for charging. The City recently adopted building reach codes requiring that all new multifamily buildings have access to an charging; and our EV Action Plan contains actions to improve charging access in existing buildings. See our EV Action Plan here, http://cms6.revize.com/revize/burlingamecity/document_center/Sustainability/EV%20Action%20Plan.pdf

Topic Areas under the track:

• Integrating Energy Efficiency (EE) with Distributed Energy Resources (DER), Electric Vehicles (EVs), storage, renewable energy, and Zero-Net Energy (ZNE)

Cross-Cutting Topics:

• Addressing intersectional issues through energy efficiency solutions with public health and environmental justice co-benefits
• Implementing equitable energy efficiency and renewable energy solutions
• Engaging and increasing accessibility for rural/hard-to-reach, under-resourced, BIPOC, and/or any other underrepresented community

Submission Type: Presenter

Description of Expertise:

Julie Castro, Program Manager, manages project delivery for public agency energy efficiency projects through the SoCalREN Public Agency Programs. She also develops benchmarking tools to enhance data-driven insights and decision-making. Julie previously worked as the Director of Strategic Partnerships at Chia Energy, a behavioral energy efficiency technology start up. She has a Master of Urban and Regional Planning from Cal State LA and a B.A. in Global Studies and International Studies from UCSB.

Over the last year, the COVID-19 pandemic has beset public agency budgets with uncertainty and challenged their ability to address energy-related risks such as wildfires or power outages. Communities are making impossible decisions every day about what to fund and what to cut. For disadvantaged communities, what are the risks of delaying resilience investments, especially before wildfire season?

Public agencies, especially disadvantaged communities, play an important role in getting to zero net energy (ZNE). This session will focus on how the Southern California Regional Energy Network (SoCalREN) Pathway to Zero Program, a ratepayer-funded program serving Southern California, has developed ZNE projects to maximize community impact for urban and rural areas that suffer most from economic, health, and environmental burdens.

SoCalREN leverages custom energy portfolio and community-level tools to develop zero net energy projects. These tools, though customizable, are highly replicable, and can lead to widespread adoption of ZNE measures. This session will review these tools and share takeaways that are replicable for organizations serving the public sector. We’ll demonstrate how industry leaders can create tools to streamline this process without losing the customized support unique agencies may need.

SoCalREN also offers services to guide public agencies through the challenges of today’s sweeping budget cuts so they can implement resilience-focused projects. This session will showcase how guiding public agencies through ownership models, financing options, and incentives can help them overcome barriers and unlock the financial savings and resilience benefits of ZNE.

Topic Areas under the track:

• Electrification best practices, action plans, retrofits, and lessons learned
• Electrification and decarbonization policies, model ordinances, and codes
• Integrating Energy Efficiency (EE) with Distributed Energy Resources (DER), Electric Vehicles (EVs), storage, renewable energy, and Zero-Net Energy (ZNE)

Cross-Cutting Topics:

• Implementing equitable energy efficiency and renewable energy solutions
• Engaging and increasing accessibility for rural/hard-to-reach, under-resourced, BIPOC, and/or any other underrepresented community
• Partnering with local and regional Community-Based Organizations (CBOs), Tribal Governments, and small businesses
• Embedding equity and inclusion in institutional processes and practices

Submission Type: Facilitator

Description of Expertise:

I have over 14 years of experience working in the broader environmental sector with a focus on equity and environmental justice. Since 2014, I’ve been working explicitly on various decarbonization policies and initiatives in the EV industry and building sector. Whether it is legislation or regulatory processes at the state level, or regional efforts (with a particular focus in the San Diego area), I have a deep understanding of the intersectional approaches that are needed to keep elevating equity. I am my organization’s subject matter expert on equity principles, best practices and lessons learned, and as such, I ensure that equity is embedded into all policy and decision-making processes that we participate in. This can only be accomplished through genuine partnerships with communities and community-based organizations (CBOs) that result in a community-driven approach where low-income communities, disadvantaged communities and communities of color are equal partners with decision-makers, such as local governments and agency staff. Throughout my career, I have worked with and in these communities and with CBOs and advocates across the state, so not only do I have the knowledge on equity issues, but I also have the lived expertise. To further get a sense of my expertise, please refer to this article I wrote last year: https://energycenter.org/thought-leadership/blog/prioritizing-equity-policy-and-decision-making

I would like to participate to facilitate a session in this forum to ensure that a deeper conversation around equity happens, to be able to acknowledge the systemic racism that has been the root cause of inequities for so many communities. Many people in the energy sector fail to realize that energy and decarbonization issues are just one piece of a larger puzzle. Disadvantaged and low-income communities are not single-issue entities, and a holistic approach to addressing their needs is needed; one that takes into account economic and health benefits. I have attended many equity panels and webinars during the past few years, and what I have seen sometimes is that while the speakers/panelists truly understand equity and have lived community experience (I know this because many of them are my friends and colleagues), sometimes the audience doesn’t get this deep perspective. This is often due to the facilitator not always asking the questions that will prompt a genuine dialogue about equity, one that will often be uncomfortable to hear for many in the audience. If a facilitator does not have a deep understanding of equity, nor personal experience with the issues, then they are limited in the type of questions they can think to ask. As a result, panels/sessions just end up scratching the surface. As a facilitator, I would ensure that this would not be the case.

Topic Areas under the track:

• Electrification best practices, action plans, retrofits, and lessons learned

Cross-Cutting Topics:

• Midstream and upstream incentive programs for efficient technologies

Submission Type: Presenter or Facilitator

Description of Expertise:

I have been leading on a regional heat pump water heater midstream incentive program for the Bay Area, with BayREN, and would like to participate in a forum event where my expertise might be useful! I am open to any of the formats – so put me where you can use me! Or if preferred, I would be happy to facilitate a conversation about how we must do better to integrate equity into our midstream programs, as I am interested, but don’t yet have the answers. https://www.bayren.org/hpwh

Topic Areas under the track:

• Preparing for a decentralized energy system through DER procurement processes and community microgrids
• Grid reliability solutions via non-diesel backup power, smart grids, hardening, or distributed generation to respond to disruptions

Cross-Cutting Topics:

• Equitable funding and financing (state and federal grants, financing incentives, local, sustainable funding models, layering funding sources, regional collaboration, etc.)
• Legislative and regulatory updates

Submission Type: Traditional Webinar

Length of Session: 60 minutes

Abstract:

Solar Microgrids facilitated by the Clean Coalition provide schools, municipalities, and communities unparalleled economic, environmental, and resilience benefits. These benefits should be accessible to all; to benefit entire communities, not just the facilities that deploy the microgrids, the Clean Coalition focuses on Solar Microgrids at critical community facilities such as fire stations, water departments, and schools. The Solar Microgrids are designed to provide Net Zero Energy and 100% resilience for critical electric loads, as well as significant resilience for all loads. Generally financed by power purchase agreements (PPAs), these deployments are accessible to all communities because they bring significant bill savings with no upfront costs. We have developed a Solar Microgrid methodology that includes sizing, tiering loads, performing resilience analysis, and optimizing economics. Our innovative and straightforward methodology to quantify the value-of-resilience, VOR123, makes it possible to quantify the value of renewables-driven resilience at any facility type, making these deployments even more attractive. This session will highlight our methodology and best practices using case studies of our work with The Santa Barbara Unified School District, the City of Camarillo, and the Northern California Land Trust, as well as our work on the Valencia Gardens Energy Storage Project, serving a low-income and senior housing development in the heart of San Francisco’s Mission District. These projects provide replicable models that can be followed throughout California and the US to decentralize our energy system and provide our communities the resilience that is so sorely needed in today’s world.

Equity and Diversity:

Our proposal addresses the need for equity and environmental justice in the transition to renewable energy and a modern grid. Many communities are being left behind in the current push for resilience. Solar Microgrids deployed at critical community facilities, such as schools that serve as sheltering sites, benefit entire communities. Furthermore, these deployments are within reach of any community with power purchase agreements (PPAs) that guarantee bill savings with no upfront costs. Our work on the Valencia Gardens Energy Storage Project, serving a low-income and senior housing development in the heart of San Francisco’s Mission District, shows how solar+storage can benefit a disadvantaged community, allowing them to shelter-in-place in the event of a disaster and bringing them significant environmental and economic benefits during regular operations.

Funding and Financing:

The Clean Coalition has experience successfully guiding the creation of innovative requests for proposals (RFPs) and PPAs that guarantee significant bill savings and resilience benefits to facilities, school districts, and municipalities deploying Solar Microgrids. We have developed best practices and templates for these RFPs and PPAs that can serve as models for others to follow.

Active Engagement:

We encourage audience Q&A and are considering breakout discussions about the best ways to bring our model to the communities who need it the most.

Proposer:

Rosana Francescato (She/Her)
Communications Director, Clean Coalition

Moderator:

Rosana Francescato (She/Her)
Communications Director, Clean Coalition

Speakers:

Craig Lewis (He/Him)
Executive Director, Clean Coalition

Topic Areas under the track:

• Overview of climate risks to the energy sector and key transition opportunities
• Clean energy workforce development and equitable job transition programs
• Preparing for a decentralized energy system through DER procurement processes and community microgrids

Cross-Cutting Topics:

• Addressing intersectional issues through energy efficiency solutions with public health and environmental justice co-benefits
• Engaging and increasing accessibility for rural/hard-to-reach, under-resourced, BIPOC, and/or any other underrepresented community
• Partnering with local and regional Community-Based Organizations (CBOs), Tribal Governments, and small businesses
• Embedding equity and inclusion in institutional processes and practices

Submission Type: Keynote Roundtable Panel

Length of Session: 75 minutes

Abstract:

The CA Public Utilities Commission’s Environmental and Social Justice Action Plan outlines key goals related to bolstering workforce development opportunities, more equitable decision making processes, and leveraging enforcement authority. In this session, we will hear from CPUC staff and key stakeholders about how environmental justice and equity priorities can be meaningfully implemented in regulatory policy and in enforcement activities. Participants will leave with an understanding of how one of the state’s key agencies is moving towards equity and how to engage and support these efforts.

Equity and Diversity:

This panel will directly address issues of equity in a context of CPUC decision-making, which has historically been opaque and exclusionary.

Funding and Financing:

While this session will indirectly address issues of funding and finance, considerations related to promoting high quality jobs and the role of state agencies will be covered.

Active Engagement:

While we intend for the session to be a roundtable, we plan to incorporate interactive poll/word cloud activities and a few key discussion questions for engaging the audience.

Proposer:

Monca Palmeira (she/her/hers)
Analyst, California Public Utilites Commission

Moderator:

Monica Palmeira (she/her)
Analyst, CA Public Utilities Commission

Speakers:

Shrayas Jatkar (he/his)
Interagency Policy Specialist, California Workforce Development Board

Martha Guzman Aceves (she/her)
Commissioner, CA Public Utilities Commission

Anthony Kinslow (he/his)
Lecturer, Stanford University

Track: A Just Transition to Clean Energy

Topic Areas under the track:

• Overview of climate risks to the energy sector and key transition opportunities

Cross-Cutting Topics:

• Partnering with local and regional Community-Based Organizations (CBOs), Tribal Governments, and small businesses
• Equitable funding and financing (state and federal grants, financing incentives, local, sustainable funding models, layering funding sources, regional collaboration, etc.)

Submission Type: Keynote Roundtable Panel

Length of Session: 75 minutes

Abstract:

California’s local government coalitions, regional collaboratives, and their community partners, rather than for-profit utilities, are the best drivers for an equitable transition to a clean and democratized energy economy. Across the state, Regional Energy Networks (RENs) and Community Choice Aggregators (CCAs) are prime examples of coalitions with deep and expanding roots in climate program deployment. Local governments are uniquely positioned to ensure that local economic opportunity prevails and that under-resourced, vulnerable populations are acknowledged, prioritized, and meaningfully engaged in the next phase of California’s transition away from fossil fuel dependence. RENs and CCAs are crafting programmatic solutions to address local risks, including energy resilience, climate change mitigation, and workforce preparedness. They are administering utility ratepayer-funded programs alongside initiatives funded through innovative means and informed by the unique needs of communities served.

 This panel will be moderated by The Energy Coalition and panelists will provide a peek into pilot efforts, programs, and partnerships offering community-focused initiatives with the potential to scale up and spark innovation in this era of renewed national commitment to climate change work. This session will celebrate the change-makers and initiatives harnessing the power of local mobilization and engagement to shepherd in a cleaner, environmentally just energy future—one that succeeds by increasing access while building community equity and resilience. Whether representing a local government agency, a CBO, education institution, or private sector climate practitioner, this session will serve as a call to action for those ready to build coalitions and bring focus, resources, and power back to communities.

Equity and Diversity:

Speakers will highlight programs that were developed to serve under-resourced community members (not a one-size-fits-all approach). Further, REN & CCA programs are supporting a broad spectrum of customer segments and workforce (current and future) affording opportunity for more synergy and community-wide benefit.

Funding and Financing:

RENs and CCAs are leveraging EE-ratepayer funds and supplementing with other funding sources to launch programs that meet needs of the local community. They are also key resource hubs for building awareness around and coordinating funding opportunities for local stakeholders.

Active Engagement:

The panel discussion will incorporate poll questions. 15 minutes of Q&A.

Proposer:

Jack Hawley (He/Him)
Project Coordinator, The Energy Coalition

Moderator:

Laurel Rothschild (She/Her)
Vice President, The Energy Coalition

Speakers:

Kathy Wells (She/Her)
Energy Program Manager, California Choice Energy Authority

Lujuana Medina (She/Her)
Environmental Initiatives, County of Los Angeles

Alice Havenar-Daughton (She/Her)
Director of Customer Programs, MCE Clean Energy

Topic Areas under the track:

• Preparing for a decentralized energy system through DER procurement processes and community microgrids
• Grid reliability solutions via non-diesel backup power, smart grids, hardening, or distributed generation to respond to disruptions

Cross-Cutting Topics:

• Equitable funding and financing (state and federal grants, financing incentives, local, sustainable funding models, layering funding sources, regional collaboration, etc.)
• Legislative and regulatory updates

Submission Type: Presenter

Description of Expertise:

Craig Lewis, Executive Director of the Clean Coalition, has over 30 years of experience in the renewables, wireless, semiconductor, and banking industries. Previously VP of Government Relations at GreenVolts, he was the first to successfully navigate a solar project through California’s Renewable Portfolio Standard solicitation process. Craig was energy policy lead on Steve Westly’s 2006 California gubernatorial campaign. His resume includes senior government relations, corporate development, and marketing positions at leading wireless, semiconductor, and banking companies such as Qualcomm, Ericsson, and Barclays Bank. Craig received an MBA and MSEE from the University of Southern California and a BSEE from the University of California, Berkeley.

As a nonprofit, an important part of the Clean Coalition’s mission to accelerate the transition to renewable energy and a modern grid is to proliferate our learnings and provide models that can be replicated anywhere. We want to share our experience designing and staging Solar Microgrids, and the work we have done refining innovative RFPs and PPAs, so that others may benefit from the work we are doing. Our breakthroughs with our value-of-resilience (VOR123) methodology also help pave the way for proliferating microgrids, by quantifying the value of resilience, one of the major reasons for deploying microgrids. Our goal is to disseminate this information to a wide audience, to help speed up the adoption of microgrids — especially for communities who have been left out of the clean energy transition.

Topic Areas under the track:

• Preparing for a decentralized energy system through DER procurement processes and community microgrids

Cross-Cutting Topics:

• Implementing equitable energy efficiency and renewable energy solutions

Submission Type: Presenter

Description of Expertise:

As managing partner of ZeroCity LLC, I acted as project manager for the initial phase of the City of Gonzales’ Sustainable Energy Project, a first-of-its kind microgrid project currently under development in the Salinas Valley that will provide off-grid sustainable power to industrial customers in the Gonzales Business Park. I led the small team that developed the project concept, evaluated feasibility, and secured EPC (engineering, procurement, and construction) services and financing. The microgrid project will serve some of the largest names in California’s food processing industry and demonstrates that a small, rural city with a limited budget can deliver distributed energy resources at prices substantially below PG&E/3CE and that are not subject to PG&E’s public safety power shut-offs. The project is a win for both climate resiliency and social equity.

Topic Areas under the track:

• Transition to electric vehicles, charging infrastructure, impacts on the grid, and opportunities to diversify transportation options

Cross-Cutting Topics:

• Embedding equity and inclusion in institutional processes and practices
• Equitable funding and financing (state and federal grants, financing incentives, local, sustainable funding models, layering funding sources, regional collaboration, etc.)

Submission Type: Presenter

Description of Expertise:

The City of Torrance is interesting in participating in the California Climate & Energy Collaborative as an individual presenter to discuss the City’s efforts in transitioning to electric vehicle/infrastructure through our “ONE MILE, ONE CHARGER” PROJECT”. The City of Torrance’s, “One Mile, One Charger” Project was undertaken with the main goal of a resident, area employee or visitor never being more than one mile from a charging station within the boundaries of the City.  This goal was established in order to help to achieve Key Performance Indicators that if met, would provide better air quality and promote stewardship of the environment, a new strategic priority of the City’s 2008 Strategic Plan.  Through the installation of publicly accessible electric vehicle (EV) charging stations in multiple locations, the City hoped to help meet the growing demand for EV infrastructure, thereby promoting the switch to electric vehicles and reducing greenhouse gas emissions from the transportation sector.

In order to obtain public input, City staff developed an exercise known as the “Plug-(P)in Maps” where members of the public could “plug-in” a pin into aerial maps of the city to reflect their preferred location for an EV charger.  This exercise was completed at various environmental functions, such as the Torrance Environmental Fair and the Honda Employee Earth Day Fair, with much success.  In an effort to expand the public outreach the exercise was made available on the City’s website, allowing individuals to submit their suggestions from anywhere. The suggestions received were layered to a GIS map. City staff reviewed these suggestions and proposed sites for City-owned charging stations that best reflected the public’s interest in the EV charging station locations.  Where higher concentrations of pins were observed, staff was able to note the greater public interested reflected in a particular area or property and encourage private development to incorporate charging into their redevelopment pursuits.

The City successfully pursued grant funding from the Mobile Source Reduction Committee (MSRC) and the California Energy Commission (CEC) to install a total of 14 Level II charging stations and 6 DC Fast charging stations.  The charging stations were installed across six publicly owned sites that were selected with significant input from members of the public on where EV charging stations would be most beneficial: The Katy Geissert Library and Civic Center Complex, McMaster Park, Columbia Park, Charles Wilson Park, Walteria Park and Library and a City parking lot located in the center of Downtown Torrance. Each of the six sites had a dual port Level II charging station, allowing two vehicles to charge at one time, and a DC Fast charging station, with the exception of the Civic Center location which had one DC Fast Charging station and two dual port Level II chargers, allowing four vehicles to be charged at one of the level two units at one time.

At each of the six sites, additional conduit was installed along with a “Christy Box” in order to allow for future expansion at the sites without the need for additional trenching.  Expansion of the existing infrastructure would only occur at such time as the units are overly impacted by heavy usage and with direction from the Torrance City Council.  At that time, the six sites were analyzed for their capacity to handle such an expansion.  In the future, if additional sites are requested by the City Council or members of the public, staff will be able to utilize the public outreach already undertaken (Plug-(P)in Maps of the City) to determine the EV Charging sites that the public would want added to the network.  The City could also determine which sites could address areas that are underserved by reviewing the “One Mile, One Charger” map which shows areas within one mile of an existing or forthcoming charging station.

At the conclusion of construction, data was collected from the charging stations in order to analyze the success of the project in achieving the goals that had been established at the outset of the project.  The data collected included: total amount of energy expended at each site, the total number of individual charging sessions, the average length of charging sessions, and the amount of greenhouse gas emissions that were reduced.  Furthermore, the City can leverage the statistical capabilities of the EV charging stations to inform more regional transportation questions, including which zip codes users come from and how the conversion to EV realizes air quality improvements at the regional level.  By leveraging networked infrastructure and GIS technology, the accomplishments of the effort and environmental benefits can be visualized for their benefits far beyond the Torrance City’s limits and advance cleaner air quality, realize public health benefits and address climate change.  Over the duration of the project, the EV charging stations saved a total of 158,019 kg of greenhouse gas emissions (as of 03/31/2021).  This reduction in emissions was due to the 49,117 vehicles charged throughout the project, replacing a total of 387,667 conventional gasoline powered engine miles travelled with electric vehicle miles.  While the project fell short of the goal to replace 4 million conventional gas powered engine miles with electric vehicle miles, the total number of vehicles charged within a six month period increased by 303% from the start of the project, indicating a great success in meeting the growing demand for electric vehicle infrastructure.

The overall success of the City of Torrance’s One Mile, One Charger Project is clear from the analysis of the data collected from the charging stations.  These efforts have been rooted in public engagement, efficient resource allocation and dynamic communication of the results with GIS layers and story mapping.   Furthermore, the City successfully achieved the main goal of the project, which was to never be more than a mile from a publicly accessible electric vehicle charging station within the City’s boundaries, as 98.6% of the City is now within one mile of a charging station.  This percentage of coverage increases to 99.6% when the publicly available EV charging stations that are planned or currently under construction within the City are taken into account.  While the achievements of the project are clearly attributable to the heavy and growing demand for electric vehicle infrastructure, the significant outreach efforts to members of the public to determine barriers to EV ownership and possible locations for future charging stations cannot be discounted.  By engaging the community early and often, the City’s grant team was able to put together a project that would meet the demand for growing infrastructure in locations where the charging stations would be used most.

With the successful expansion of EV charging infrastructure in the community for public use, the focus has now shifted towards the expansion of alternative fuel vehicles in the City’s fleet, along with its supportive infrastructure. In February 2018, staff presented a proposal to the City Council to submit an application to the Mobile Source Air Pollution Reduction Review Committee (MSRC) Local Government Partnership Program. The program encourages an accelerated transition to zero and near-zero vehicles for either fleet or public use by offering funding for vehicle replacements and the associated infrastructures. The City of Torrance was able to secure funding to install up to eight (8) level II EV charging stations for fleet use at the Civic Center and up to eight (8) level II charging stations at the City Yard.  The City anticipates completing construction of the project by January 2022.

For this proposal, the Assistant City Manager, Danny E. Santana, would be the presenter of the above project. The City of Torrance would prepare a presentation format that would provide a comprehensive overview of the City’s EV infrastructure efforts, including the program planning, implementation, and lessons learned, while highlighting best practices and obstacles during the process. At the conclusion of the overview, the presentation could allocate time for participants to ask questions related to our city program.

ArcGIS story map: https://torranceca.maps.arcgis.com/apps/Cascade/index.html?appid=ada98df80e03451c9ae742fceee849c1

Topic Areas under the track:

• Preparing for a decentralized energy system through DER procurement processes and community microgrids

Cross-Cutting Topics:

• Implementing equitable energy efficiency and renewable energy solutions

Submission Type: Presenter

Description of Expertise:

I am a renewable energy expert (Solar, wind, ground source heat pumps), and a climate change consultant. I am also author of a recently published book, “Brighter Climate Futures – A Global Energy, Climate & Ecosystem Transformation”, but Dr. Hari Lamba, Regent Press, Berkeley, California. I am interested in participating to so as to help cities in my areas with a whole range of solar, electric charging, battery and green Hydrogen activities for electric power generation and green transportation.