Operator: Public Utilities Commission Public Voting Meeting.
On this day Thursday, March 25th, 2021.
Today's call is being recorded.
If you have any objections,
you may disconnect at this time.
President Batjer , you may proceed.
-: Thank you very much operator
and good morning everyone.
We need to establish a quorum.
So, will the agenda clerk please call the roll.
Clerk: Commissioner Houck.
-: Here.
Clerk: Commissioner Shiroma.
-: Present.
Clerk: Commissioner Rechtschaffen.
-: Present.
Clerk: Commissioner Guzman Aceves.
-: Here.
Clerk: President Batjer .
-: Here.
-: Thank you a quorum has been established.
Everyone welcome to
the California Public Utilities Commission.
I am calling this meeting of March 25th, 2021,
Public Agenda number 3482 to order.
Due to the coronavirus pandemic
and the shelter in Place Order,
we are conducting today's business meeting online
and by remote participation.
The meeting is livestream on the CPUC's websites.
You can view the meeting at www.adminmonitor,
all one word, .com/ca/cpuc.
Closed captioning is available in English,
and Spanish through the webcast.
You can click on the green button,
to select your language of choice.
Public engagement is critical to us here at the CPUC.
If you wish to make a public comment,
dial 800-857-1917
and enter passcode 9899501
and press star one.
You will be placed into a queue
and the operator will take your name and information,
you will be called upon to speak
when we get to the public comment period in today's agenda.
If you encounter difficulty calling
into the public telephone line,
please email votingmeetinghelp@cpuc.ca.gov.
That's votingmeetinghelp, all one word,
@cpuc.ca.gov.
We will now turn to the public comments
part of our agenda.
If you wish to make a public comment
and you have already dialed in
to the public comment telephone line,
please press star one to get into the public comment queue.
CPUC rules do not allow for parties in proceedings
to speak about open proceedings.
The public can make comments addressing items
on the Consent Agenda
and including items not on the agenda today.
Please note that there will not be public comment
on all items that are on today's closed session agenda.
You will have two minutes to speak.
You will hear a bell when your time is up.
Let me repeat that.
You will hear a bell when your time is up.
Please be mindful of other speakers in the queue
and stick to your allotted time.
With that guidance in mind, I welcome today's speaker.
I will now turn to the operator
to open the public comment line.
Operator.
Operator: Thank you, the public comment line is now open.
If you wish to speak during the public comment period
as mentioned before, press star one.
Unmute your phone and clearly record your name
and organization when prompted.
Our first speaker is Dave Schuller.
Your line is open,
please provide your organization.
Dave: Good morning.
I'd like to speak in support of the changes made
to the redline version of the proposed (indistinct).
I'm glad that the Commission have references
to redeveloping and re-powering fossil fuel plants.
The fossil-based resources
or the (indistinct) resources
that are responsible for going to change.
And they currently imposes
significant public health impact
on frontline communities particularly
while we're in this pandemic.
This decision says that the Commission
will not consider contracts for new gas plants
or for re-powering existing plants.
This is an improvement over the original proposal decision,
but the Commission needs to go further
by closing the existing loopholes on any new investments
into gas plants, We need clean energy,
not more investments into fossil fuel infrastructures
that are responsible for climate change.
Particularly, one troubling part of this decision
is that it was a lot of prohibited resources,
like diesel backup generators during emergencies.
And there needs to be not only a full ban
on the use of prohibited resources
in the Emergency Load Reduction Program,
but we need to look for better alternatives to lower demands
and incentivizing deployment
of residential battery storage.
More generally, there are better alternatives
to investing in gas plant
and relying on prohibited resources.
And I would like to
ask the Commission
to uphold the existing ban on prohibited resources
during (indistinct).
Thank you.
-: Thank you, Mr. Schuller.
Operator the next caller please.
Operator: Our next caller is Francis.
Your line is open.
Francis: Hello, can you hear me.
-: Yes we can, thank you, go ahead.
-: Perfect, okay, good morning.
My name is Francis I'm with...
I guess I'm just speaking for myself today.
So I'm really calling both the disappointment and hope
for the CPUC is extreme weather receiving redline,
the other month I was really shocked
and just downright disgusted by the Commission sudden push
for fossil fuel procurement in our grid.
I mean, we were seeing long-term contracts for power plants.
Plants are giving green lights for more natural gas
and even incentives or diesel generators.
How are we even supposed to take that?
And even more, I guess, seeing the last that could
change with the proceeding,
I guess they're filled with some sort of hope
it's kind of confusing.
Cause it's like getting stabbed in the back
and actually like showing like,
oh, we just like hurt you a little bit.
And so I guess we're glad to see more new contracts
with gas plants or repowering existing plants.
That is great we're also happy to see some limits
on the diesel generators
but obviously we need to close some of these major reports
like stopping any incremental capacity contracts
or gas plant stopping any ridiculous use
of backup generators that run on diesel
or other polluting fuels.
And we need to prioritize frontline communities
around the gas plants and other high impact communities
in transitioning off of our fossil fuel infrastructure.
And lastly, I mean,
this is how it gets kind of complicated for me.
I'm not sure if I should be applauding you
and supporting you or I should just be skeptical
and just always pessimistic
because we're really counting on you
to be our climate and environmental justice allies.
And we're looking at this redline decision
like it's you trying?
And so if you need more support, I mean, you can reach me.
You have my contact information now,
but if we just need to put more pressure on you, we will.
Thank you so much.
-: Thank you.
Operator the next caller please.
Operator: Thank you the next speaker
is Elliot Gonzalez of Long beach.
Your line is open, please go ahead.
Elliot: Hi, good evening members of the Commission.
I just wanted to speak out
against the provision that allows fossil fuels
into this plan.
To me, it's not in line with... Not to me.
We know that it's not in line with the science.
We know that if we keep burning natural gas
burning, what is it?
Diesel that's oil,
burning oil and gas into the air that warms up the planet
that it causes cancer, asthma, global warming.
So the fact that it's a year 2021
after coronavirus, after everything
after we lost the City of Paradise, California
to massive fire where this is just the beginning.
Now we are still considering adding more natural gas
or still using natural gas as a response to an emergency.
The reason why we're having this extreme weather
in the first place is because we already burned too much.
So burning more during emergencies
that we know are going to be coming heat waves.
And other times when we have high electrical demands
we know that it started from fossil fuels
being burned into the air.
That's the source of the extreme weather.
So to me, that's just going backwards.
That's not aligned with what people
in California expect of the utilities Commission.
What we want is a publicly owned utility
so that we're not spending a hundred bucks,
200 bucks to Edison in the year 2020
to private corporations
that indicate when an emergency happens.
They're like, "oh, cut the gas on."
That's not in line with the science.
It's not... Seeing what just happened in Texas
It's not understanding what happened
in Paradise with the utilities there.
We have to get off of natural gas generation
and fossil fuel generation immediately
and you know that.
So we're on you.
We're gonna start participating in this meeting.
If you want to stay on this Commission
you're gonna do the right thing.
So yeah, I wish you all the best.
Thank you.
-: Thank you.
Okay, operator next caller, please.
Operator: Thank you, the next speaker is David McCord.
Your line is open, please go ahead.
McCord: This is David McCord
and I'm a rate payer in El Cerrito.
And this morning, a colleague discovered
that the revised version of the proposed decision
for item 10
that had been been put in
with no public notice that there had been a revised version.
That should be taken
and that kind of public notice
and the docket or wherever it should be made in the future.
And I understand that in this item, number 10,
that backup generation, diesel generation is still allowed.
It should not be.
The CAISO software glitch
that caused the building black outs last summer
has been fixed.
So there's much less of a need for that.
There's really no emergency now.
Thank you.
I'm done.
Thank you, Mr. McCord.
Next speaker, please.
Operator: The next speaker is Jacob.
Your line is open, please go ahead.
Jacob: Hi, this is Jacob Gilkey
reaching on behalf of the Bay Area
Quality Management District.
My comments pertain to the proposed decision for item 10
the Air District opposes
the Emergency Load Reduction Program in its current form,
specifically the potential to compensate
backup diesel generators in emergency situations
as the air quality permitting agency
for backup diesel engines in the Bay Area
I'd like to provide some context into
how many of these engines exists in our region?
We have approximately 10,000 internal combustion
engines permitted in the Bay Area alone
and have recently been receiving
about 400 engine permit applications per year
for the data center subsector alone
the fleet of diesel backup generators in the Bay Area
is growing from the existing capacity
of 1.2 gigawatts to more than 2.7 gigawatts.
And many of these diesel generators are located
in AB 617 disadvantage communities
that are already overburdened with poor air quality.
Again, this is just for one industrial sub-sector
in the Bay Area alone.
In addition, the notion that backup generators
for seldom use is a convenient but misleading argument.
Their district analysis for data centers
for the period, including last summers heat storm events
for a portion of Santa Clara County shows
that nearly half of the identified facilities
operated their backup diesel generators
for emergency purposes.
Many facilities operated diesel generators
during multiple emergency events.
And one facility ran diesel generators
for approximately 400 hours
for emergency purposes over the course of the period.
And so with the proliferation
of these fossil diesel generators
and their greater use associated with emergency events
we can expect continuation of adverse air quality
public health and climate impacts.
The Air District is not view continued reliance
on fossil diesel as a solution to our problems
or it's consistent with our air quality,
environmental justice climate
for energy policies as such the Air District views
the proposed ELRP program is a step backwards
in improving air quality in the most impacted communities
throughout the region and the state
the ELRP program should ensure that the grid is reliable
by incentivizing
(callers voice is drowned by ringing bell)resources
instead of incentivizing use of fossil diesel generators.
Thank you.
-: Thank you.
Operator the next caller, please.
Operator: Thank you, the next speaker is Chuck Roselle.
Your line is open, please go ahead.
Chuck: Thank you, my name is Chuck Roselle.
I'm a resident of Oakland and I'm calling as a rate payer.
My call regard is revised proposed decision
for extreme weather emergencies.
Currently it places significant reliance
upon the use of backup diesel generators.
I would note that these generators were approved
and installed last year, despite the availability
of alternative local renewable resources
municipalities noted their preference for these alternatives
at the time but were ignored.
Further the primary reason
for last summer's power outage has been described
as an unnecessary export of power
by CAISO a problem that has reportedly
been resolved by a software upgrade
at recent Senate hearings regarding last falls outage
President Batjer committed to investigate providing CCA's
with timely or load information
in order for the CCA's to better support power emergencies.
In April, in the April CPC workshop,
it was noted that the IOUs have the ability
to provide such information to CCA's
through the use of daily audited smart meter readings.
Nevertheless, the current revised PD
does not address providing this information.
CCA's will soon provide in the aggregate more powers
than the IOUs.
It is past time that the CPUC better integrate CCAs
into the response to power emergencies.
Thank you.
-: Thank you.
Operator next caller please.
Operator: The next caller is Yasi Kavasare
I apologize if I said your name wrong.
Your line is open.
Yasi: Good morning.
It's all good.
My name is Yasi Kavasare
and I'm a resident of Riverside County.
I'm also here to air my concerns
about the revised proposed decision
on the emergency reliability procurement
like the previous Bay Area Air Quality staff mentioned.
These diesel generators are in our communities
disadvantaged communities
in the inland region already experienced cumulative impacts
from gas power plants, freeways, rail yards.
We have constant pollution at our fingertips
and we're disappointed to see the emergency procurements
still rely on a heavy amount of fossil fuels.
We appreciate the redline attempt
and we look forward to keep working with,
advocating for clean energy.
I've been advocating personally for the last 10 years
of my life because the climate change crisis
has hit my family personally.
And I know many of you have had probably children
and relatives that have suffered
from chronic respiratory illnesses
like asthma or cancer or heart disease now
and more studies are showing that air pollution
and climate changes is linked
to many other health circumstances that we can avoid.
So the technology is there to move away from gas
and we're not gonna achieve California's ambition
for 2045 clean energy with this plant.
I hope today we can make some changes.
I highly doubt it cause I know,
it's what you all got to do and work with.
And this agency just sometimes I feel does the bare minimum
with the public interest.
And I hope that you can actually look at
the public's interest today
instead of relying on fear to invest
and continue the same the gas processes
that you're looking at.
Those are my points.
And thank you so much.
-: Thank you, operator the next caller, please.
Operator: Thank you, before we go to the next caller
if you wish to speak during the public comment period
please press star one, unmute your phone
and clearly provide your name
and organization when prompted.
Our next speaker is Baras Risby.
Once again, I apologize if I pronounced your name wrong.
Your line is open.
Risby: All right, can you hear me?
Operator: Yes we can thank you.
-: Go ahead, yes we can here you fine.
-: I'm calling because I'm here in Riverside County
an area that has some of the worst air quality
in the nation.
And we've been following this entire proceeding
and I was excited to see some of the changes
in the redline version of the decision.
It's good to see a Commission that has taken,
the voices of the community very seriously
but for all the changes that were made
there were still some crucial things
that need to be changed.
The decision still allows
for new fossil fuels generation contracts
for up to five years with existing power plants.
And we need to stop fossil fuel generation at all costs.
Many people have come in and said why this is so
and the reality is we're reaching the climate catastrophe
way closer than we've ever been.
We saw it in Texas.
We saw it last year here with extreme weather events.
We're gonna see more of them
and we need to really change our grid
from any more fossil fuels to clean renewable energy.
California needs to lead the way
we've led the way in terms of clean energy,
green technology and four thinking policies.
And we need to make sure
that just because of industry narratives,
we don't move backwards here.
Thank you.
-: Thank you.
Operator the next caller, please.
Operator: Thank you, the next caller is Gabriela Mendez.
Your line is open, please go ahead.
Gabriela: Hello, can you hear me?
-: Yes, we can fine, please go ahead.
Gabriela: Thank you.
Hi, I'm Gabriela Mendez.
I'm a resident of Riverside County here in California
and while I support the changes made
in the redline version, excuse me,
of the proposed decision.
And I'm glad that the Commission took out the reference
to redeveloping and repowering fossil fuel plants.
And I'm disappointed that this is actually
something that was put in the first decision.
I don't think right that anyone here supports that
because it is illogical to do so, right?
We are in a climate emergency
and we continuously come to these meetings
and tell you guys
that people are dying our their communities.
I speak for my neighbors.
I speak for my friends.
I speak for my family.
We're incredibly disappointed.
And we need you guys to turn to renewable energy
because it's available
because it's better for our communities.
It's better for our earth.
I'm not sure what it will take.
Whether it will take completely dark sky for us to see
that we are in the climate emergency
or for more folks to be passing away at a rapid rate,
because you been through COVID, right?
With folks passing away so quickly
it still doesn't get to us sometimes, right?
And we still don't see the impact
but this is happening in our communities
more than it's happened in other ones.
So I really hope that it doesn't have to get
to you guys for you to realize the importance of this
and for you to really hear us out.
When we see that we need investment in these things,
this is our future.
We are not in the 18th century.
We are not somewhere that was super far away.
This is supposed to be existing right now
because it's possible.
It's attainable.
We need to have a vision for a clean future.
What are our generations going to live in, in the future?
I'm terrified.
I don't know, I'm really young.
And I don't know if in the future if I even want children
because I'm scared of what they will live in.
This is crazy.
So while I support the new version, right?
I think that there needs to be better investments.
Thank you so much.
-: Okay, thank you.
Operator next caller, please.
Operator: Thank you, if you wish to speak
during the public comment period
please press star one, unmute your phone
and clearly provide your name
and organization when prompted.
-: There another speaker?
Operator: President Batjer there are no more participants
on the public telephone line at this time.
-: Okay, thank you, operator.
And that there are no more callers on the telephone lines.
The public comment period is now closed.
Thank you all for calling.
Here are the changes in the agenda today.
Actually, there are no changes in today's agenda.
We will now take up the consent items.
Is there a motion?
-: Moved.
-: Second. -: Second.
-: It's been moved and seconded.
Can we please have the roll call?
Agenda clerk.
Clerk: Commissioner Houck.
-: Yes.
Clerk: Commissioner Shiroma.
-: Aye.
Clerk: Commissioner Rechtschaffen.
-: Yes.
Clerk: Commissioner Guzman Aceves.
-: Aye.
Clerk: President Batjer .
-: Yes, thank you.
The Consent Agenda items have been passed unanimously.
Now, moving on, we will now take up
the regular agenda items for today.
The item number 10, I will be presenting.
I will introduce item 10
which is the second proposed decision
in our summer 2021 reliability rulemaking
this proposed decision directs, PG&E, SCE and SDG&E.
To take up multiple actions to avert the potential need
for rotating outages in the summer of '21 and 2022.
Let me repeat that.
Outages in summers of 2021 and 2022
by adopting or modifying programs
aimed at decreasing energy demand
and increasing energy supply
during peak demand and net demand peak hours.
I wanna start by acknowledging my appreciation
and thanks to all the commenters from the public
for expressing your thoughts and concerns
regarding this decision in particular
to express that I also share the concerns
over the use of diesel backup generators
often located in low income and disadvantaged communities
that are already facing the brunt
of air pollution and fossil fuel generating plants,
refineries and other industrial facilities.
I hope that over the course of my comments today
I can explain that we came to where we landed
in this proposed decision
after many restless days, nights grappling with the question
of what plans we should have prepared
in the worst case, weather and reliability scenarios.
Let me underscore there will be backup generation
only if needed as a last resort
only and likely for minutes, hours
not multiple days as we have experienced in the PSPS events.
As we all know in August of last year
the CAISO initiated rotating outages across the state
due to extreme heat event that affected much
of the Western United States.
Following those events, the CPUC, the CEC
and CAISO completed a root cause analysis
and determined that swift action was needed
at each of our agencies to avoid reoccurance of the outages
if we were to experience a similar weather event
this summer.
Californians deserved a reliable grid
and they deserve a CPUC that will do everything
in its power to ensure they have one.
And they state that is the fifth largest economy
in the world.
Frankly, we should be able to keep the lights on.
As I have said numerous times before
I view this as both my highest priority
and my basic responsibility.
Our first decision in this proceeding voted on
at the February 11th, 2021 Commission meeting
ordered the IOUs to seek contracts
for incremental capacity that is available
to serve peak and not net peak demand in summer of 2021.
That decision resulted in approximately 565 megawatts
of incremental capacity.
This proposed decision is more focused
on the demand side of things.
We have developed a number of programs and proposals.
Some we hope to never have to use.
Let me repeat that.
We hope we never have to use
because of the efficacy of the other programs.
However, we have tried to plan to have options
for the most difficult scenario.
If they happen to arise,
we are planning for both '20 and '21 and 2022
while the summer of 2021 is right in front of us.
The same critical pressures remain for 2022.
I will give a brief overview now
of some of the major programs and proposals
we are trying to implement.
The proposed decision launches a new Statewide
Emergency Load Reduction program, ELRP.
It is a pilot.
This is a pilot program designed
to allow PG&E, SCE, SDG&E and CAISO
to rely on additional reductions in electric use
during times of high demand.
When there may be limited generation to meet that demand.
We have modified the IOU's critical peak pricing,
CPP programs.
The CPP has a retail rate.
Whereby a load serving entities charges a higher price
for electricity consumption during peak hours
on selected days.
For that program, we have shifted the CPP window
to the hours of 4:00 PM to 9:00 PM.
To better align with the grid needs.
Increase the maximum number of CPP events allowed per year
in our providing customer education
with a focus on improving participation.
We have modified the IOU's existing demand response programs
for the years of '21 and '22
through a host of changes intended to expand eligibility
and increase incentives.
This includes the IOUs base interruptible program
and capacity bidding program,
several individual tariffs and granting
Edison's proposal to create a second phase
of its virtual power plant, pilot,
to test dispatchable technologies
during grid reliability events
including Emergency Load reduction Program events.
We are funding a new Statewide flex alert
paid media campaign
with a focus on social and digital media.
Finally, the PD encourages procurement
of additional capacity by the IOUs.
First, I ordered the IOUs to procure
an additional 2.5% of resources
for all customers in their territories
which is effectively an increase
of their planning reserve margin
above the existing 15% planning reserve margin.
Essentially, we have sought a minimum of 1000 megawatts,
but up to 1500 megawatts of procurement
between the authorizations
from this decision and the February decision
as well as demand side resources from this decision.
As I mentioned earlier,
the IOUs have already procured 565 megawatts
toward this obligation
from our earlier decision in this proceeding
this requirement is only in place for 2021 and 2022.
The resource adequacy
and integrated resource planning proceedings
are the proper venues for the actual changes
to the planning reserve margin.
Secondly, we are strongly encouraging the IOUs
to prioritize energy storage contracts
and seek upgrades in the efficiency
of existing generation resources
to meet any residual procurement needs
to meet the thousand megawatt requirements.
Okay, now I would like to highlight some revisions
that we have made in response to comments of the parties
and from the concerns of my fellow Commissioners.
At the outset I want to note
that we are keeping the proceedings open
to address additional party proposals
that can be implemented before the summer of 2022.
This will allow us to evaluate important data
and information we obtain in the summer of 2021
to allow us to make any necessary changes
or course corrections for 2022.
We appreciate the effort that parties have extended
in putting innovative proposals on the table.
We want to consider all ideas
including PG&E's residential rewards pilots
which would utilize smart thermostats
and the center for environmental justices
ELRP proposals called Just Flex rewards
which would incent residential customers
to reduce energy consumption.
We found these proposals to be particularly promising.
However, we need more data and information
on implementation before moving forward with them.
We have increased some of the funds authorized
for new customer education focus
on improving critical peak pricing performance.
We have committed to revisit the design
of the Emergency Load Reduction pilot
for the years '23 through '25,
we'll take commitment to minimizing
the use of backup generators
where safe cost effective and feasible clean alternatives
are available.
We will consider local air pollution impacts
on disadvantaged communities
and any other modifications
that can make the program more effective
and consistent with the state's decarbonization goals.
Furthermore, we have clarified
that use of prohibited resources
during a test event is not permitted
and will not be compensated.
I hope that these adjustments help clarify
that the ELRP pilot is an emergency last resort program.
It will only be deployed
when the grid is absolutely at the edge,
which we hope will never occur again.
As a side note if rotating outages
are triggered this summer and next
it is likely that these prohibited resources will be used
in an unplanned and unmanaged manner
as frankly occurred in the summer of 2020.
This is not something we want repeated.
Additionally, we are directing the IOUs to collect data
on backup generator in participation in the ELRP
including location, type of fuel use,
the capacity of the generator for years '21 and '22.
I would like to make a personally request
to the Commission's energy division for this summer
that they coordinate with the IOUs,
the local Air Districts and the Air Resources Board
to see if there are additional steps
we can take this summer to reduce likelihood
of triggering the use of backup generators, bugs,
especially in disadvantaged community.
With regard to additional procurement,
we have clarified that the directive for the IOUs
to target a minimum of 2.5% of incremental resources
that are available at net peak
is only in place for years, 2021 and 2022
unless superseded by a future Commission decision.
Finally, we have clarified that contracts
for fossil fuel development at new sites
or for redevelopment or full re-powering and existing
or mock fault electric generation sites
will not be considered.
This proposed decision,
along with our earlier decision
reflects our commitment to approach the challenges
we have faced this summer and next
from both the supply side and then demand side perspective.
We have had to make difficult choices as I have mentioned,
there are options on the table
that I hope we never have to rely on.
However, I believe it's important that we have plans
and contingency plans and backup plans in our arsenal
should we need them to ensure reliability
for both this summer and next summer.
A tremendous amount of work was put into providing proposals
and comments for this proceeding
on both demand and supply side approaches.
I am grateful for the active participation
of parties on this expedited timeframe.
Finally, I would like to extend my thanks
and my deepest admiration to our superb PUC staff
that have been working incredibly hard
since last November on this proceeding
through the holidays, through the weekends, night and day
it's been nothing short of incredible .
First are excellent and incredibly dedicated
and thorough Administrative Judge Brian Stevens,
our brilliant attorneys,
Aaron Jacob Smith and Candace Morris.
Our amazingly thoughtful and resourceful
energy division staff
starting out first with our superstar project manager
Jason Ortego, Simon Rant, Jamie Gannon
Lynn Alco,
Masoud Foudeh,
Lauren Reiser,
Eric Johnson and Ed Pipe.
Many members of the energy division management
who have rolled up their sleeves
and work nights and weekends
along with their staff, a special, special, thanks
To Luke Burta,
He understands demand response like few of the people alive.
And Bruce Kanashiro, Michelle Pido,
Nathan Barsik, Carl Cain, Dina Mackin.
And of course, of course, Pete Scala and Ed Randolph
their intellect and their stamina is unsuppressed.
I want to particularly thank my Begley team partner
Commissioner Rechtschaffen, and his adviser,
Yuliya Shmidt, and his chief of staff Sean Simon.
And most deeply, I want to thank my advisor
and the former adviser to the great man Randolph
who started this proceeding in November,
Annen Urvasla and my incredible chief of staff
who has kept this proceeding rolling and moving
every day along tracks
with great respect and comedy
and thoughts for my chief of staff Shannon O'Rourke.
With that I request my fellow Commissioners support
for item number 10.
I will first turn to my Begley team partner
Mr. Rechtschaffen for comments.
Thank you, Cliff.
(clears throat)
-: Thank you, President Batjer .
I would like to first echo your appreciation
and offer my own deep thanks
to an extraordinarily hard working team
that worked on this decision.
I'm not going to repeat the numerous
energy division staff that you mentioned,
but they really are extraordinary
and put in an incredible amount of time
and are incredibly knowledgeable
as well as Judge Steven and your office,
your staff they've all put in an enormous amount of time
to come up with this decision in a very compressed timeline.
I also wanna thank you personally
you put in an unbelievable amount
of energy and effort into this decision.
It's an extremely difficult one, stressful
you balancing a host of issues under extreme time pressure
very strong views from the parties and the Commissioners.
And you've pulled off a decision
that touches on many many aspects of our demand programs
and our supply programs.
So I thank you very much for that.
And for your partnerships, Begley team partnership.
I will also echo the Commission's very strong commitment
to reliability.
As President Batjer said
keeping the lights on is our top priority.
And we are extremely focused on preventing the type
of rotating outages we saw last August.
And as President Batjer said
this decision takes important steps
both to maintain reliability
and to rethink our current demand side program.
I support the efforts to bring new customers
into demand response program
by expanding some programs to residential customers
and to customers with smaller loads, lowering penalties
and providing more flexibility in enrollment.
I very much appreciate President Batjer
and the team making several important modifications
that the parties proposed.
Some of those have been discussed
by the parties and President Batjer
but these important ones include
clarifying that re-powering
not just existing by mothballed gas plants.
Can't be used toward the procurement requirements
in this order authorizing phase two
of Southern California Edison virtual power plant pilot
I think that will help us move forward
with an innovative distributed energy resource
that has a lot of promise for this application and others.
We also heard President Batjer explain
that the use of backup generation
during test events in the ELRP program is prohibited.
I think it's very important that the proceeding
is left open to consider demand response proposals
that the parties have put forward.
Like President Batjer ,
I find particularly promising
say has Just Flex Rewards program.
This is a simple...
Looks like a simple easy to use DR program
with a very low barrier of participation
for low-income customers.
And look it could bring in numerous participants
to our demand response programs.
So it's well worth considering.
I'd also like to see how we can explore further
how to prioritize disadvantaged communities,
low income customers in our demand response programs.
One other set of issues that I hope gets a closer look
in the next phase of the proceeding
is ways to provide more opportunities
for electric vehicles to participate in demand response.
There's several barriers that could be removed potentially
allowing residential EVs to participate in the ELRP program,
lowering the minimum size of a customer
in group A in the program
and temporarily waving the interconnection fee
under rule 21.
I think that those are important potential opportunities
that we should take advantage of.
I also want to note that the decision acknowledges
that the CAISO is considering changes
to baseline methodology to account for extreme events
and pave the way for any changes that result
from the process to be incorporated
into demand response programs.
I finally wanna address the issue of backup generators.
Like President Batjer ,
like all of us are quite concerned
about the use of these generators,
particularly in disadvantaged communities
like President Batjer we all very much hope
they won't have to be deployed.
And if that has to be part of our emergency procurement
we want to use them as sparingly as possible.
I understand including them in the program for this summer
given the acute conditions we're currently facing.
However, I would like to see this aspect
of the program reviewed after this summer
in order to determine whether to continue it
after this calendar year.
The proceeding is being held open
and as President Batjer notes
it directs utilities to collect data
on backup generator participation
in the program this summer
several parties have argued that a backup generator
should be dispatched last in the ELRP program
and should be dispatched
after the base interruptible program.
So President Batjer
I very much appreciate your earlier comment
about the intent to continue looking at the program.
And I just want to follow up
about just to confirm your understanding and agreement
about what we're doing
and is it that we will be looking at data collected
from this summer
to inform what should be done about bugs
in future years of the program including 2022
and including whether to require that a be dispatched
after all other resources.
Can I ask you that?
-: Yes, of course.
And I do agree with you Commissioner Rechtschaffen.
that it will be valuable, very valuable
as I mentioned, to look at the data collected this summer
to inform decisions regarding the use of bugs
in the future of the program.
I want to reiterate that I'm also requesting
that this summer the energy division coordinate
with the IOUs.
I mentioned this before, I just want to repeat
I've asked the energy division to coordinate with the IOUs
and the local air districts and the air resources board.
See if there is additional steps that we can take
to reduce the likelihood of triggering the use of bugs
especially in the disadvantaged communities.
Absolutely, we will be looking at that.
One of the reasons I want to keep this proceeding open
and we will be looking at that once we conclude
the high weather danger periods of August, September
and I dare say October,
because we came close this last year,
the two first two weeks in October as well
the demand for it got very frightening.
So we will be looking at this in the proceeding
and we will be looking at it in particular
to see how it will be feasible
to not use bugs and including by the way,
the feasibility of a dispatch order.
I didn't mention that earlier, but we will.
You have my pledge.
That's what you're asking for that we will do that.
And I've already spoken
to Deputy Executive Director Ed Randolph
and he fully agreed.
-: Thank you very much.
I appreciate that.
That focused, especially
and including the direction
for the staff to work with other agencies,
to see if there are additional steps we can take
to reduce the likelihood of triggering
the use of these resources in disadvantaged communities.
-: I would say that my real hope
is that we will have no data to look at.
Because there will be no use of backup generation
because we will not have to call on it so.
-: That would be a very good result.
-: I don't wanna renege on my pledge
if indeed we have no data,
but we will still look at the feasibility.
(audio breaks)
-: Correct, Thank you.
And I very much look forward to the discussion
that will follow from the data we collect after this summer.
And that can inform our decisions regarding
the use of backup generators in 2022 and in the future.
With that I will be voting to support the decision
that concludes my remarks.
-: Thank you, Commissioner Rechtschaffen.
And who would like to speak next?
Commissioner Guzman Aceves.
-: Thank you, President Batjer
and thank you for highlighting all the tremendous work
by our staff and all of the parties
that have spent so much time
in preparing us for this summer and next.
And as I've shared in the past,
I won't spend any more time on this backup generation issue
as the public so eloquently stated
and as you and Commissioner Rechtschaffen
have already committed to a pathway here.
I'm glad to hear in addition to what's in the decision
some of what you've highlighted is a commitment
on our own to work with our sister agencies
and particularly our local agencies
and the commitment to really update the program
as we move forward.
I agree fundamentally our role as Commissioners here
in addition with our sister agencies
is to have the power stay on and be reliable,
particularly when customers are not given
any sort of planning or notice
and all of the danger that comes with that.
And that being our most fundamental role
last summer was something that the pace of climate
has really caught up to us
in a way that many times as we've seen in our work,
we did not anticipate.
And this along with many of the decisions
and our sister agency acted yesterday
to really boost the supplies for this fall and late summer,
excuse me, to be prepared for these events.
I too hope that the particular program
we've had a lot of discussion
about the Emergency Load Reduction Program
is not called upon
because of all the other actions that have been taken
by ourselves and our sister agencies
most notably increasing the planning reserve margin.
And I also wanted to speak to some of the concerns
that these actions persist summer next,
or somehow while I acknowledge seemingly inconsistent
they do not in any way take us off our pathway
to meeting our goals, our 100% clean energy goals
and certainly look to some of our concurrent actions.
Most notably the Commissioner Rechtschaffen
proceeding on the integrated resource planning
and really accelerating the need to...
Accelerate our procurement to meet our goals,
given the reality that we've been faced with
over the last year and this upcoming year
and the following year.
So I know that these packages
don't seem to be a building block
but I think it's important for the public to know
that we're just as committed as before.
And we have these other venues
where we're discussing the acceleration
of meeting those goals
given the reality of our climate changing
at a much more rapid pace than we previously planned on.
So with that, I will be supporting this decision.
Thank you.
-: Thank you, Commissioner Guzman Aceves.
Yes Commissioner Shiroma.
-: Thank you President Batjer and the tremendous team
they're here at the CPUC on this effort.
It is clear and from your presentation
I do hope that the viewing audience,
the folks who've tuned in can see the efforts made
how hard this is, how personal this is
and (clears throat)I will be voting
in support of the decision
and very much appreciate revisions that were made
in response to comments.
I think back to the series of events last summer
the urgent scrambling by us,
the energy Commission, the CAISO,
the Governor's office and others.
And it is a reminder that things get thrown at us
and we must be flexible and nimble in responding
while keeping an eye to the long game here
that other Commissioners have referred to
in terms of our commitment and our path to 2045, 2030, 2040
in the path to the clean energy
to the zero greenhouse footprint.
In the meantime, we had those horrendous, heat storms
and we don't want to be caught unprepared.
We've got to be prepared for this coming year and beyond.
This decision contains many actions
to decrease energy demand and also increase energy supply
during peak net peak demand hours.
Again, as others have said, it is a collective effort
by many state agencies who are working very hard
to assure that we have that reliability this summer
and are poised for the future.
We definitely need all engagement.
So I understand why there are...
In particular the proposed revisions that were made
to the Emergency Load Reduction Program
and in the proposed decision it's referred to as the ELRP.
And meanwhile the more recent revisions made
are very, very welcomed.
And as President Batjer has outlined
this program is one that we hope is never invoked.
That's the last resort, but certainly the absolute
the temporary allowance of prohibited resources
is a tough one,
especially pertaining to diesel backup generation
here, again with everything that has been put in place
if we can be informed and informed you
that it is the last resort unlikely to be invoked,
but if it is invoked it will be there
for keeping that reliability.
Those revisions that were made(clears throat)
the so-called redlines
set up a path for cleaner backup resources,
by committing revisions
through the demand response application proceeding
expected in November, this very November.
And that is outlined in the proposed decision
that's before us today,
that is geared all towards minimizing
the use of diesel backup generation
especially in disadvantaged communities.
And today I very much appreciate
that President Batjer has clearly outlined
that we're not waiting.
She has tasked our energy division, very hardworking staff,
to work with the investor on utility
to work with the Air Reources Board
the Air Quality Management District
on addressing what other resources are there
what else can be done in addressing air pollution
and scowering whether there are any alternatives
for diesel backup generation.
I am pleased too to see that the proceeding will remain open
after we vote out this decision.
Parties and expressed that
in comments are a lot of good ideas left to consider
and the Commission can continue building
upon the work done so far to keep the lights on
now, 2021 summer and beyond.
It's been a Herculean effort, a very tough effort.
I appreciate all the hard work that everyone has done
and that out of adversity
we've looked at opportunities for the future.
And I think that's what the proposed decision
that the revisions in response to comments
has pleased to have us do.
Thank you.
-: Thank you Commissioner Shiroma.
Commissioner Houck please.
-: Thank you, President Batjer .
I would like to begin by thanking you
President Batjer and your office and ALJ seasons
for this important decision
and all of the hard work that was done to get
to this very thoughtful results.
There was a tremendous amount of work
on a very accelerated timeframe
as was noted by the other Commissioners.
And I also want to thank the parties
who participated in the proceeding,
including the recent oral arguments
thank and acknowledge the public
for coming to comment today.
And again for President Batjer
and all of the Commissioners that stated
I agree with all of you that we are concerned
and aware that we need to move forward
with our SB 100 clean energy goals.
And we need to also balance that
with ensuring that we have reliability on the grid,
particularly for 2021 and 2022.
This PD establishes a framework and a plan
to increase energy supply and decrease energy demand
during peak demand hours in the event California experiences
and other extreme weather events like last summer
as my colleagues have discussed today
the Emergency Load Reduction Program,
the ELRP will be used on a contingency basis
to ensure that additional capacity is available
during an weather event.
I share the concerns raised by the other Commissioners
and want to note that the Commission maintains a policy
where diesel backup generators are not eligible
to participate in our standard demand response programs.
And that this PD does not alter that policy.
The Emergency Load Reduction Program establishes a framework
where the ELRP is for use in emergencies only
and is triggered by an alert from CAISO.
This means that the resources ,
they can only be used if triggered
and that's only if and when they're needed.
In the event there's another extreme weather event.
Like the one we experienced in August and September of 2020
the ELRP provides a plan that's structured, organized
and still in compliance
with the existing air permitting requirements
as noted by President Batjer.
I also wanna highlight that the addition
of the data collection requirement is very important.
And I agree with my other Commissioners
that this revision is going to...
That requires reporting about the location
and fuel types for backup generators
that participate in the ELRP
will provide data for us to allow us to take another look at
the backup generators where they're located,
how often they're used.
And again, we all hope that this program
will not be utilized this summer.
But consistent with the decision.
This is going to allow the Commission to revisit the design
of the program app going forward
and will minimize or potentially could eliminate
the use of backup generators going forward
after these initial years.
I'm pleased with President Batjer comments
and Commissioner Rechtschaffen
that this data will be looked at on an ongoing basis.
And the proceeding is being left open.
I also want to support and point out
that this is an opportunity for coordination
and information sharing with our sister agencies,
that Air Resources Board, Local Air Districts
and encourage our staff to closely monitor
the information that comes in
and review it with our sister agencies and stakeholders.
Next, I wanted to turn to some of the other revisions
in particular.
I am also pleased that the proceeding will be kept open
to consider additional demand response options
for the summer of 2022.
Given the robust record the parties developed
in the proceeding underlying the importance
of the DR policy going forward.
I wanna note that the California Energy Commission
recently adopted their scoping memo
for the 2021 hyper report on March 16th.
And that is going to examine future energy needs
for California.
And the scoping memo is particularly going to look at
reliability over the next five years
and identifies demand response as an opportunity to support
and improve reliability and resource efficiency,
both in the near term and longterm planning.
To that end it's important that Commission also
have an active procedural venue
whether it's the continuation of this proceeding
or the proceeding that Commissioner Shiroma referenced
for November to consider opportunities and barriers
related to expanding the role of demand response.
Before I close, I want to again,
reiterate my thanks to ALJ Stevens
and President Batjer and her office for their leadership
and taking on this very challenging role.
I also want to thank and recognize
the energy division staff who were named earlier
for all of their hard work.
This is a tremendous amount of work
in a very short period of time with very challenging issues.
So again, this decision requires thoughtful balancing
very difficult and challenging issues.
And I wanna thank everyone for their work
and thoughtfulness that went into this important decision
and I will be supporting that decision.
Thank you.
-: Thank you, Commissioner Houck.
And I do want to thank all my fellow Commissioners
for their appreciation of staff and their recognition
of all of this hard work that was done
over a very short amount of time.
We've done some records, speed decisions
in the last two or three years.
Well, I can only say for the last year and a half
while I've been here I have witnessed,
and it's not without expense.
Often times to people, their personal lives, their families
their time to celebrate holidays and birthdays.
And if that's able to go out for a run with their dog
I mean, people given up a lot of of things
and I appreciate your recognition of that.
So with that will the agenda clerk
please call the roll for item 10.
Clerk: Commissioner Houck.
-: Yes.
Clerk: Commissioner Shiroma.
-: Aye.
Clerk: Commissioner Rechtschaffen.
-: Yes.
Clerk: Commissioner Guzman Aceves.
-: Aye.
Clerk: President Batjer .
-: Yes, the vote for item number 10 is unanimous.
Thank you all.
Will be known in the agenda today
management reports, there's no report for item 11
which is a Management Report and Discussion
on recent consumer protection and safety activities.
And there's no report for item 12
Management Reports and Discussion
on Administrative Activities.
We'll now turn to the Commissioner's report.
Who would like to speak first?
-: Okay, Commissioner Shiroma.
-: I was pausing to see if the other Commissioners
wanna go first.
(indistinct)
To kind of be on the spot.
Anyways, I have a few things to share.
Thank you, President Batjer.
Yesterday, I participated on a panel
for the National Diversity Coalition's virtual town hall.
They had invited the CPUC to participate.
(clears throat) And I was pleased to
do that on our behalf.
It was a town hall in response
to the unprecedented health and economic impact of COVID-19
that has been experienced by Californians
and across the nation
especially the most vulnerable utility customers.
I also appreciated that during the town hall
there was acknowledgement expressed
by the National Diversity Coalition
and the panelists on the need to do more
to combat anti-Asian rhetoric.
And I do want to thank Faith Bautista
the Chief Executive Officer
at the National Diversity Coalition
where the opportunity to share how the CPUC
in concert with Governor our sister agencies
and utilities supposedly responded to the pandemic
with emergency customer protections
that suspended disconnection for essential services,
payment plans to manage the pandemic driven arrearages
and low-income programs to help reduce customer bills.
There were a couple of takeaways I learned
from the other panelists
which included Robert Kenny from PG&E
and Dr. Kiesha Taylor from T-Mobile.
First the work that we do at the CPUC
is critically important.
We talked about that earlier this morning.
This is especially during times of crisis.
We touch so many lives and let's ensure
all California's and our vulnerable customers
have access to affordable and reliable services.
Second, we must continue to seek ways
to address the diverse needs of the communities we serve
to ensure the state meets its clean energy goals.
We need to clearly understand the diversity of our state
economically and geographically
to make California better prepared for natural disasters.
It was a great event with a diverse audience outside
of the industry including students
and the military from across the country.
And I always appreciate the opportunity
to share our important work.
I also want to take a moment to introduce our new analyst
on my team, Brianna Grant,
prior to joining my team Brianna worked
at the San Joaquin County District Attorney's office
and her final assignment being
on the Child Abuse and Sexual Assault Prosecution team
prior to working for San Joaquin County District Attorney
she worked in the private sector of the law firm,
Dreyer Babich Buccola Wood and Campora.
Brianna received her Bachelor's in Psychology
from Saquon State University
recently earned a JD McGeorge School of Law.
She's currently pursuing her master's
in Clinical Psychology at Pepperdine University.
She is joining us in our Sacramento office.
Please give a warm welcome to Brianna.
Virtually or if you eventually see her in person.
And I want to wrap up by saying congratulations
to Assemblymember, Rob Bonta
on being nominated by Governor Newsom
to be our next California attorney general,
a long time attorney and Yale alumni
like Commissioner Rechtschaffen.
He authored or coauthored a number of successful bills.
For example, 'the ban and the use
of for-profit private prisons'
and 'expunge old marijuana convictions
from Californians records'.
And like former Attorney General
and now National Secretary of Health and Human services,
Xavier Becerra, he hails from Sacramento.
and Assemblymember Bonta's case
he arrived here through LaPaz
where his parents were organizers
for the United Farm Workers.
He credits his parents who taught him to fight injustice
to right wrongs and help people.
I had the privilege of knowing his mother, Cynthia
as a civil rights activist and staunch supporter
of Filipino and Asian cultural preservation heritage here
in the Sacramento region.
It is a proud moment and an important moment
not only for the Asian and Pacific Islander community,
but for all Californians who aspire to the American dream
and believe in California.
And I say mabohay, thank you.
-: Thank you, Commissioner .
And I want to welcome Brianna that's terrific news
that she'll be joining our staff.
Is there anybody else that would like to
make a report this morning?
Yes Commissioner Guzman Aceves.
-: Well, just wanted to say in real time here
we are in our COVID Arrears Workshop,
that is a two day workshop.
And as I'm looking at my other screen,
I see that one of our sister agencies
is currently presenting on what they are doing
and how we can collaborate and it will continue to tomorrow.
So I encourage you if you have some time to join
to do so and hear from all of the parties
in the public on remaining ideas of what can still be done
and how we can collaborate with our sister agencies.
In addition, next week, we also, as a reminder,
have a couple of other workshops
and hopefully I know some of you will be joining.
We have the California Advanced Service Fund Workshop.
I will...
I know that Commissioner Houck has mentioned already ,
mentioned again that is on Tuesday.
And also on Tuesday in the afternoon
we will be having a workshop
on the phase three of the Aliso Canyon study
and looking at the pathways that we need to examine
for our alleviation or getting off of Aliso Canyon.
So that's a very exciting kickoff
and hearing again from the public
on all of the strategies for dealing with Aliso Canyon.
So hopefully if you have some times you can join both
or any of those workshops
and an invitation to the public as well.
Thank you.
-: Thank you Commissioner Guzman Aceves.
Are there any other Commissioner Reports for today?
Okay, seeing none that concludes our Commissioner Reports
and it also concludes our public meetings today.
This public meeting of the CPUC is now adjourned.
Thank you all, everyone have a very nice day.
Thank you.