HomeMy WebLinkAbout2020-04-16; Clean Energy Alliance JPA; ; Authorization to Enter into an Agreement for Energy Transactions Attorney ServicesClean Energy Alliance
JOINT POWERS AUTHORITY
Staff Report
DATE: April 16, 2020
TO: Clean Energy Alliance Board of Directors
FROM: Barbara Boswell, Interim Chief Executive Officer
ITEM 3: Authorization to Enter into an Agreement for Energy Transactions Attorney Services
RECOMMENDATION:
Authorize the Interim Chief Executive Officer to enter into an agreement for energy
transactions attorney services to Hall Energy Law PC for an amount not to exceed $100,000,
through June 30, 2021, subject to General Counsel approval.
BACKGROUND AND DISCUSSION:
Clean Energy Alliance (CEA), in its role as community choice aggregator providing electricity to
its customers is required to procure resource adequacy, renewable energy and conventional
energy. The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) and California Energy Commission
(CEC) each have established requirements and timelines related to these energy products.
The initial requirements of CEA are related to the procurement of resource adequacy (RA). RA
is not electricity, rather, it is the procurement of generation capacity, to ensure overall grid
reliability. It can be thought of as an insurance policy.
CCAs (as well as all other load serving entities (LSE) such as the Investor Owned Utilities) are
required to procure three types of RA: multi-year local (CEA will need to procure for 2021, 2022
and 2023), annual system and flex. The multi-year local RA requirements for the upcoming year
are set based on the LSE's annual peak demand in September.
The timeline related to RA compliance is:
April 16, 2020
April 20, 2020 -Submit initial Year-Ahead Forecast (for 2021)
May 15, 2020 -Final date to make revisions to Year-Ahead Forecast
July 2020-CEC reviews forecasts; CPUC issues initial year-ahead requirements
August 17, 2020-Final load forecast for 2021
September 2020-CEC reviews final forecasts; CPUC issues final year-ahead
requirements
October 2020 -Submit year-ahead filing reflecting contracts meeting
requirements
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Agreement for Energy Transactions
Attorney Services
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Local RA is the only RA type that has a multi-year contractual obligation. For CEA that
obligation involves meeting the requirements for 2021, 2022 and 2023. Local RA is defined as
meeting the needs of the locally constrained area. Historically, San Diego Gas & Electric
(SDG&E) has primarily been responsible for meeting the local RA requirements of the San Diego
local area. Effective with the implementations of CEA and San Diego Community Power (SDCP),
it is anticipated the SDG&E will find itself with excess local RA. In a call with SDG&E on March
27, 2020, it was shared that SDG&E plans to "cast a wide net for RA" in a Request for Offer
(RFO) in April 2020. CEA will need to participate in this RFO process in order to have an
opportunity to acquire local RA from SDG&E. Without participating in this process, CEA
increases its probability of not procuring the local RA as allocated by CPUC.
To be enabled to participate in SDG&E's RFO process, CEA needs to execute an agreement with
SDG&E known as the Edison Electric Institute (EEi) agreement with a subsequent agreement
known as a confirmation. These agreements require the assistance of an attorney with
specialized expertise in handling these types of highly technical agreements. It was originally
anticipated that these services would not be required until next fiscal year. however, the
upcoming SDG&E RFO process has accelerated the need for this legal expertise.
Three law firms were contacted to provide proposals to provide the services needed for the
upcoming SDG&E solicitations as well as for the upcoming CEA energy procurements.
The chart below summarizes the proposals:
NOT TO EXCEED
FIRM CCA EXPERIENCE THROUGH 6/30/21 NOTES
Lead attorney
experience with CCA's
has been primarily
through another firm
whose work with CCA's
Cameron -Daniel Limited $82,000 is mostly regulatory.
Extensive experience
with energy contracts
for CCA's, including
working with River City
Bank and PEA. Also
Extensive -10 has negotiated 5 EEi
similar CCA Master Agreements
Hall Energy Law PC engagements $100,000 with SDG&E.
Not provided -bid at
flat rate per No experience with
transaction except for start-up CCA; work to
Wilson Sonsini Limited and recent long-term PPA's which be done primarily by
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I
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Agreement for Energy Transactions
Attorney Services
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would be billed at
hourly rates.
associates overseen by
lead partner.
Proposals were reviewed by Greg Stepanicich, CEA General Counsel and Barbara Boswell,
Interim CEO. Both Mr. Stepanicich and Ms. Boswell have had positive experiences working with
Steve Hall of Hall Energy Law and recommend this firm as having the most relevant experience
providing the specialized energy law services needed by CEA.
FISCAL IMPACT
The adopted FY 19/20 budget allocated $130,000 for legal services. It is estimated that $75,000
will be spent through fiscal year end for the existing General Counsel and Specialized Legal
Counsel services leaving $55,000 available for Energy Transactions Attorney, which is
anticipated to be sufficient to cover the costs related to the services needed through June 30,
2020.
ATTACHMENTS:
None.
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