HomeMy WebLinkAbout01-15-2019 Item 8 - MOU with Morro Bay for Monterey Bay Community Power Boards
Department Name: Administration
Cost Center: 1001
For Agenda of: January 15, 2019
Placement: Consent
Estimated Time: N/A
FROM: Robert A. Hill, Interim Deputy Director, Office of Sustainability
Prepared By: Chris Read, Sustainability Manager
SUBJECT: APPROVE A MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING WITH THE CITY OF
MORRO BAY FOR SHARING POLICY BOARD, OPERATIONS BOARD,
AND COMMUNITY ADVISORY COMMITTEE SEATS ON MONTEREY
BAY COMMUNITY POWER
RECOMMENDATIONS
1. Approve the draft Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the City of Morro Bay for
sharing Policy Board, Operations Board, and Community Advisory Committee seats on
Monterey Bay Community Power (Attachment A); and
2. Authorize the City Manager to execute the MOU in a form subject to approval of the City
Attorney’s Office.
DISCUSSION
Background
Community Choice Energy (CCE), authorized by Assembly Bill 117, is a state law that allows
cities, counties, and other authorized entities to aggregate electricity demand within their
jurisdictions to purchase and/or generate electricity supplies for residents and businesses within
their jurisdiction while maintaining the existing electricity provider for physical transmission and
distribution services. CCEs are typically created to provide a higher percentage of renewable
energy electricity, such as wind and solar, at competitive and potentially cheaper rates than
existing investor owned utilities, while giving consumers local choices and promoting the
development of renewable power sources and local economic development. The City Council
has been supportive of the research and development of a viable regional CCE program for the
City of San Luis Obispo and surrounding communities for the last several years.
In November of 2018, the City of Morro Bay and the City of San Luis Obispo adopted
ordinances and resolutions committing both cities to join Monterey Bay Community Power
(MBCP). On December 5, the MBCP Policy Board unanimously voted to approve the two cities’
membership.
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MBCP is governed by two Boards: 1) a Policy Board that meets quarterly and is comprised of
elected officials, and 2) an Operations Board that meets at least eight times per year and is
comprised of City Managers and County Administrative Officers. MBCP also has a Community
Advisory Council comprised of local residents and business owners.
In MBCP, counties and jurisdictions with 50,000 or more residents hold six permanent Board
seats. An additional six Board seats are shared by multiple jurisdictions based on geography. As
part of membership, the City of San Luis Obispo and the City of Morro Bay agreed to share a
seat in each of the three bodies.
Upon approval of joining MBCP, the City of San Luis Obispo and the City of Morro Bay each
agreed to negotiate a formal agreement for sharing the Policy Board, Operations Board, and
Community Advisory Council seat. In December of 2018, staff from the two cities drafted and
negotiated the draft MOU that is provided as Attachment A. The draft MOU outlines the
following provisions:
1. Policy Board. The Policy Board representative shall serve for a term of two years and shall
alternate between cities. The City of San Luis Obispo shall provide the initial representative
and will serve from January 2019 to December 2020 and thereafter shall rotate every two
years between the City of Morro Bay and San Luis Obispo.
a. The City with the currently serving Policy Board representative shall, after each Policy
Board meeting, distribute via email to both City Councils and City Managers the meeting
minutes and any additional narrative deemed necessary to stay informed of policy,
business or other related matters.
b. The Policy Board Director alternative shall be identified by the city currently holding the
seat.
2. Operations Board. The Operations Board representative shall serve for a term of two-years
and may be one of two options:
a. The City Manager for the city of the Policy Board representative; or
b. director or deputy-director level staff member as determined by the City Manager of the
Policy Board representative.
3. Community Advisory Council. There shall be one Community Advisory Council (CAC)
member that shall serve a two-year term and shall be selected by the current Policy Board
Member and the Alternate. Although MBCP is not an advisory body, and although the
potential pool of CAC applicants includes registered voters living in Morro Bay and San Luis
Obispo, the selection of the CAC member will mirror established City advisory body
protocol including staff requesting and reviewing applications. The process will conclude
with the election of the CAC member by the current Policy Board Director and Alternate.
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The MOU requires that in all cases, the elected officials, staff, or public representing the joint
interests of the two cities shall consider the program purposes outlined in the Central Coast
Community Energy Joint Exercise of Powers Agreement including reducing greenhouse gas
emissions, providing electric power to customers at a competitive cost, carrying the programs to
increase energy efficiency, stimulating and sustaining the local economy by developing local
jobs in renewable energy and energy efficiency, and promoting long-term rate stability and
energy security and reliability for residents through local control of electric generation resources.
The MOU also includes a provision that if a party fails to attend or otherwise comply with the
Monterey Bay Community Power JPA and bylaws, and if the seat becomes vacated because of
such conduct, the other party shall serve in that seat. Should the CAC member fail to regularly
attend or otherwise comply with the JPA and bylaws, a new member will be selected through the
established process.
Consistent with the subcommittee and liaison assignments identified at the January 8, 2019, City
Council Meeting, the following roles are assigned for calendar years 2019 and 2020:
Board Director Alternate
Policy Board Mayor Harmon Vice Mayor Pease
Operations Board Derek Johnson, City
Manager
Bob Hill, Interim Deputy Directory, Office
of Sustainability
The Community Advisory Council (CAC) Member will be identified following Council action
on this item.
POLICY CONTEXT
At Council’s direction, the City has been pursuing participation in a CCE program since 2013.
The MOU considered in this staff report is directly responsive to the most recent Council
direction, in November of 2018, to join MBCP and develop a process for sharing Board seats
with the City of Morro Bay.
PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT
Council and staff received public and written testimony in support of joining MBCP and sharing
Board seats with the City of Morro Bay at the November 13, 2018, City Council meeting.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
The California Environmental Quality Act does not apply to the recommended action in this
report, because the action does not constitute a “Project” under CEQA Guidelines Sec. 15278.
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FISCAL IMPACT
Budgeted: Yes Budget Year: 2018-19
Funding Identified: Yes
Fiscal Analysis:
Funding Sources Current FY Cost
Annualized
On-going Cost
Total Project
Cost
General Fund $20,000
State
Federal
Fees
Other:
Total
The only fiscal impact to participating on MBCP’s Boards come from staff time and occasional
travel to Monterey County. These impacts are accounted for in City Administration’s current
standard operational budget.
ALTERNATIVES
1. The City Council could request amendments to the MOU. Should Council request
amendments, they would be provided to the City of Morro Bay for consideration and brought
back to Council at a future date.
2. The City Council could propose an alternative Director and Alternate. Council direction to
propose alternative representation could be accommodated at this meeting.
Attachments:
a - Draft_Memorandum of Understanding - MBCP Shared Seats
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MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING
BEETWEEN
CITY OF SAN LUIS OBISPO
AND
CITY OF MORRO BAY
This MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING (MOU) is hereby made and entered into by and between
the City of San Luis Obispo, hereinafter referred to as SAN LUIS OBISPO, and the City of Morro Bay,
hereinafter referred to as MORRO BAY.
A. INTRODUCTION
In November 2018, SAN LUIS OBISPO and MORRO BAY jointly pursued community choice energy
program for the purpose of providing choice in the electricity market, reducing greenhouse gas emissions,
proving potential rate savings, supporting energy efficiency, promoting regional collaboration, and
contributing to economic development. The two cities pursued participating in a community choice energy
program by joining Monterey Bay Community Power (MBCP). On December 5, 2018, SAN LUIS OBISPO
and MORRO BAY became official members of MBCP
As outlined in the MBCP Joint Powers Agreement, the agency is governed by two decision making bodies
and one advisory body:
• The Policy Board is comprised of elected officials and meets quarterly to decide high level policy
decisions.
• The Operations Board is comprised of City Managers or their designees and meets approximately
eight times per year to decide finer detailed operational decisions.
• The Community Advisory Council is comprised of community members and serves in an
advisory role to the Policy Board and Operations Board.
MBCP is a large agency and to ensure manageable meetings, smaller jurisdictions share seats on the Policy
Board and Operations Board. Jurisdictions with 50,000 or more residents have permanent seats, while
smaller jurisdictions share seats based on geographic proximity. Since SAN LUIS OBISPO and MORRO
BAY are smaller than 50,000 each, the two cities will share a Policy Board and Operations Board seat.
Additionally, MBCP has communicated that the two cities may select one Community Advisory Council
member.
On November 13, 2018, both City Councils voted unanimously to direct staff to negotiate a Memorandum
of Understanding between SAN LUIS OBISPO and MORRO BAY to provide a collaborative and fair
strategy for MBCP representation and to return to their respective Councils for final approval.
B. PURPOSE
The purpose of this Memorandum of Understanding is to identify a clear framework between SAN LUIS
OBISPO and MORRO BAY to share governance seats on Monterey Bay Community Power’s Policy
Board, Operations Board, and Community Advisory Council.
It should also be noted that community collaboration and regionalism was a key value of the effort to create
a local community choice energy program. This Memorandum of Understanding seeks to encourage further
regional collaboration.
C. SHARED SEATS
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1. Policy Board - The Policy Board representative shall serve for a term of two years and shall alternate
between cities. SAN LUIS OBISPO shall provide the initial representative and will serve from
December 2018 to December 2020 and thereafter shall rotate every two years between the City of
Morro Bay and San Luis Obispo.
a. The City with the currently serving Policy Board representative shall distribute via email to
both City Councils and City Managers the meeting minutes and any additional narrative
deemed necessary after each Policy Board meeting to stay informed of policy, business or other
related matters.
b. The Policy Board Director alternative shall be identified by the City currently holding the seat.
2. Operations Board - The Operations Board representative shall serve for a term of two-years and may
be one of two options:
a. The City Manager for the City of the Policy Board representative; or
b. A director or deputy-director level staff member as determined by the City Manager of the
Policy Board representative.
3. Community Advisory Council – There shall be one Community Advisory Council member that shall
serve a two-year term and be selected by the current Policy Board Member and their alternative. The
pool of Community Advisory Committee applicants shall include all registered voters residing in
MORRO BAY and SAN LUIS OBISPO. The city currently providing the Policy Board representative
shall conduct the Community Advisory Council selection process.
4. In all cases, the elected officials, staff, or public representing the joint interests of SAN LUIS OBISPO
and MORRO BAY shall consider the program purposes outlined in the Central Coast Community
Energy Joint Exercise of Powers Agreement:
a. Reducing greenhouse gas emissions;
b. Providing electric power to customers at a competitive cost;
c. Carrying our programs to increase energy efficiency;
d. Stimulating and sustaining the local economy by developing local jobs in renewable energy
and energy efficiency; and
e. Promoting long-term rate stability and energy security and reliability for residents through local
control of electric generation resources.
5. If a party fails to attend or otherwise comply with the Monterey Bay Community Power JPA and
bylaws, and if the seat becomes vacated because of such conduct, the other party shall serve in that
seat.
D. PROCESS
SAN LUIS OBISPO City Council will appoint its respective Board Members for the two-year term by
February 2019. Terms shall run for two-years starting in December and concluding in November of even-
numbered years.
Future term appointees shall be made by alternating City Councils in November of the year that the term
concludes (e.g., MORRO BAY in 2020, SAN LUIS OBISPO in 2022, MORRO BAY in 2024, etc.).
E. PRINCIPAL CONTACTS
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The principal contacts for this MOU are:
SAN LUIS OBISPO:
Name Role:
Derek Johnson, City Manager
Bob Hill, City Lead
Chris Read, City Lead
MORRO BAY
Name Role:
Scott Collins, City Manager, City Lead
F. COST OBLIGATION
Each party to this Memorandum of Understanding shall be financially responsible for absorbing costs
incurred for their own participation on the Policy Board, Operations Board, and Community Advisory
Council.
G. COMMENCEMENT/EXPIRATION DATE
This Memorandum of Understanding is executed as of the date of last signature and is effective until an
additional San Luis Obispo County jurisdiction joins MBCP, or SAN LUIS OBISPO or MORRO BAY
withdraw from MBCP, at which time it will be renegotiated.
H. LIABILITIES
It is understood that neither party to this Memorandum of Understanding is the agent of the other
and neither is liable for the wrongful acts, omissions or negligence of the other. Each party shall
be responsible for its wrongful or negligent acts or omissions and those of its officials, officers,
employees, and agents, howsoever caused, to the extent allowed by law, and shall be responsible
for their own Commercial General Liability, Auto, Worker’s Compensation and Errors and
Omissions insurance and adherence to their respective City’s policies. Each party to this
Memorandum of Understanding agrees to indemnify, defend and hold the other, and their officials,
officers, employees, and agents, against any liability, claim, personal injury, including death, or
property damage caused by that party’s negligence or willful misconduct in their performance
under this Memorandum of Understanding.
I. NO ASSIGNMENT
The rights and obligations of the parties to this Memorandum of Understanding may not be
assigned or delegated.
J. AMENDMENT
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This Memorandum of Understanding may not be amended or modified in any manner whatsoever
except by written agreement between the parties hereto.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the parties hereto have executed this agreement as of the last written date below.
FOR SAN LUIS OBISPO:
Date:
Derek Johnson, City Manger
FOR MORRO BAY
Date:
Scott Collins, City Manager
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