SCPPA Year-In-Review FY 2019-2020

Southern California Public Power Authority

Ye a r I n Rev i e w
FY 2019-2020

Anaheim Public Utilities | Azusa Light & Water | Banning Electric Utility | Burbank Water & Power
City of Cerritos | Colton Electric Utility | Glendale Water & Power | Imperial Irrigation District

Los Angeles Department of Water & Power | Pasadena Water & Power | Riverside Public Utilities | Vernon Public Utilities

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Who We Are & What We Do 1
Vision, Mission, Value Statement 2
SCPPA Strategic Priorities 4
Decarbonization 6
Emerging Issues 10
Collaboration & Professionalism 12
Assets 14
Advocacy 20

WHO WE ARE

Southern California Public Power Authority (SCPPA)
is a joint powers authority, created in 1980, for the
purpose of providing joint financing, construction, and
operation of transmission and generation projects.
Comprised of 11 municipal utilities and one irrigation
district, SCPPA’s Members serve more than 5 million
Southern Californians across a combined service area
covering 7,000 square miles.

WHAT WE DO

SCPPA Members are leading the charge for new
energy solutions. Each publicly-owned utility invests
in a portfolio of traditional and renewable energy
generation and efficiency projects to best meet the
unique needs of the diverse communities they serve.
Matching the reliability of traditional energy supplies
with cost-competitive renewable options, public
utilities ensure that even the most disadvantaged
communities receive clean energy supplies at
affordable rates.

1

VISION

THE MEMBERS OF SOUTHERN
CALIFORNIA PUBLIC POWER

AUTHORITY WORK TOGETHER
TO POWER SUSTAINABLE
COMMUNITIES.

MISSION

SCPPA SERVES ITS MEMBERS
BY CREATING OPERATIONAL
EFFICIENCIES AND COST SAVINGS
THROUGH JOINT PROCUREMENT
AND FINANCING OF PROJECTS,
VALUE-ADDED SERVICES, AND
C O L LA B O R AT I V E A D V O C A CY.

2

VALUE STATEMENT

SCPPA will...

Be a credible and respected source of
knowledge for our Members and the
communities they serve.
Act with integrity, honesty, and fairness.
Be nimble and responsive problem-solvers for
our Members.
Practice fiscal responsibility and seek cost-
effective solutions.
Foster an environment of accountability
and transparency, with our community, our
Members, and our employees.
Plan for a sustainable future for public
utilities through innovation and collaboration.

3

FY 2019-2020 STR

D EC A R B O NIZ AT I O N

Champion decarbonization efforts for Member
communities through collective projects, programs, and
services to meet sustainability goals while maintaining
reliability, low costs, and local control.

EMERGING ISSUES

Help Members thrive and excel for the long term by
exploring technological and operational solutions to
emerging industry challenges and opportunities.

CO L L A B O R AT IO N

Foster collaboration and professionalism for SCPPA and
its Working Groups to maximize the value of SCPPA to
its Members and the communities they serve.

4

ATEGIC PRIORITIES

ASSETS

Be trustworthy stewards of public funds through the
responsible administration of financial and physical
assets and obligations.

ADVOCACY

Emphasize the unique needs of Member communities by
facilitating proactive advocacy.

5

D ECARBONIZATION

Champion Decarbonization
Efforts for Member Communities
through Collective Projects,
Programs, and Services to
Meet Sustainbility Goals while
Maintaining Reliability, Low
Costs, and Local Control.

6

SCPPA helped Members in their Decarbonization efforts by
issuing Request For Proposals (RFPs) to procure renewable
energy, resource adequacy, and energy storage projects to meet
their decarbonization efforts. This fiscal year, SCPPA had 15
projects in various stages of project development for its Members
to meet and exceed their decarbonization and RPS goals. These
projects accumulated to 2,472 MWs of capacity over a number of
different energy resources including biomass (11MW), geothermal
(115 MW), solar (1,225 MW), wind (331 MW), and energy storage
(790 MW). Of these 15 projects, Springbok III Solar, Whitegrass
Geothermal, and Steamboat Hills reached their respective
Commercial Operation Dates or Delivery Commencement
Dates in FY 2019-20. Also, during this time, SCPPA executed its
first combined solar plus storage agreements on behalf of its
Members, the Eland Solar and Storage Center, Phases 1 and 2.
Each phase of Eland is 200 MWs of solar photovoltaics with a
150 MW/600 MWh 4-hour battery energy storage system.

SCPPA administered 66 energy efficiency and demand reduction
service agreements for Members and procured over $135 million
in goods and services through those agreements to support
Members.

SCPPA achieved a new high of 49%
renewable energy on output of almost 12
million MWhs from SCPPA’s generation
projects.

7

D ECARBONIZATION

SCPPA issued 6 RFPs to assist Members develop and implement
Programs for peak load reduction, demand management, energy
efficiency, market research, and transportation electrification to
improve overall electric system operating efficiencies.

SCPPA entered 10 new, joint action, Service Agreements to
enhance Members’ ability to reduce Greenhouse Gas emissions
(GHG), promote energy efficiency, and improve demand
management capabilities through a wide variety of measures.
Collectively, these services have provided Members with the
tools to improve their program operations and outreach in the
communities that they serve in the following areas:

17% 17% Customer Education
5% Demand Management
6% 5% Energy Audits
11% Energy Efficiency/ Conservation
28% Evaluation, Measurement, &
6% Verification
5% 8 Infrastruture Planning
Online Marketplace
Rebate Processing
Transportation Electrification
Demand Management

SCPPA contracted with three consultants to support Member
Wildfire Mitigation Plans (WMP) efforts in accordance with the SB
901. The mandate required Publicly Owned Utilities (POUs) that
own and operate generation facilities in CalFire Hazard Severity
Zones of California Public Utilities Commission Fire Threat
Zones to prepare WMP by January 2020 and contract with a
qualified independent evaluator to review and assess those WMP.
Seven Members utilized the consultants for the Independent
Evaluations Services and two Member engaged a consultant to
develop their WMP.

SCPPA participated in the statewide RFP development and
review process with California Municipal Utilities Association
(CMUA), Northern California Power Agency (NCPA) and 6 POUs
to secure a contractor to provide Energy Efficiency Potential
Forecasts for all POUs. These forecasts are required for POUs’
compliance with state laws AB2021 and AB2227 to update
efficiency potential forecasts every four years and establish goals
for POU efficiency improvements and associated GHG reductions.

9

E MERGING ISSUES

Help Members thrive and excel

for the long term by exploring

technological and operational

solutions to emerging industry

challenges and opportunities.

SCPPA held workshops and a conference that introduced and
explored technological and operational solutions to help
Members be prepared to meet emerging issues within the electric
utility industry, this included:

• Electric Transportation Technical Workshop - provided more than 80
attendees an introduction and primer on the increasing electrification of the
transportation market and the impacts on the electric utility industry. Workshop
topics included: magnitude and timing of EV adoption, opportunities to adapt
resource planning efforts to meet the growing load, and the rate design
and incentives or rebate options to incent customers to charge off-peak and
minimize the impact of load growth on the electric system

• Program Financial Incentives and Rates Workshop - attended by 42 Member
Staff to focus on how rates can be used to promote Energy Efficiency, Demand
Management, and EV charging to reduce peak demand including three POU case
studies.

• Transmission and Distribution E&O Conference - an
educational platform that provided 216 Member Staff to
learn and collaborate among topics in 3D Virtual Reality
Training for Substation Operations, Wildfire Regulatory
& Operational Development, and others.

10

SCPPA continued to represent Members’ interests in various
proceedings and activities to provide opportunities and platforms
for Members to engage in many developing issues and topics
related to energy efficiency and peak demand management to
improve overall electric system operations, including:

• West Coast Clean Transportation Corridor Initiative - SCPPA participated
in a comprehensive study of the potential electrification of the Interstate
5 corridor from Mexico to Canada to support the movement of goods and
products in Medium- and Heavy-duty Truck sector, in coordination with 19
other, Investor-owned and Publicly-owned electric utilities.

• California Technical Forum - SCPPA maintains a position on the Policy
Advisory Committee for CalTF in its ongoing development of a statewide
database of the ex-ante savings from energy efficiency measures that are
transparent, available to all stakeholders, and developed with unbiased,
technical rigor.

• Clean Fuel Rewards Program - SCPPA secured a position on the Planning
and Development Team with six other representatives of electric utilities
and the California Air Resources Board (CARB) to create a new point-of-sale
rebate for the purchase or lease of new electric vehicles for all Californians
that will be funded by utilities participating in CARB’s Low Carbon Fuel
Standard Program.

11

c OLLABORATION

Foster collaboration and
professionalism for SCPPA and its
Working Groups to maximize the
value of SCPPA to its Members
and the communities they serve.

12

(Collaboration Highlights)

SCPPA facilitates 17 working groups and four committees that
focus on Member collaboration, information exchange, and
strategic planning to develop best practices and prepare for the
transformation of the utility business. In FY 19-20, SCPPA hosted
over 100 meetings participated by over 1,200 Member Staff.

SCPPA worked with the Mutual Assistance working group to
implement the Mutual Aid playbook to allow standardizing
communication among Members in requesting and provisioning
mutual assistance between SCPPA, American Public Power
Association (APPA), and the California Utilities Emergency
Association (CUEA).

One of SCPPA’s core competencies is to create a platform for
Members to help each other in times of need. This strength
added value many times during the last year, including
throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, wildfires, and rolling
blackouts, when Members supported each other and shared best
practices.

(Professionalism Highlights)

SCPPA organized 29 professional development training
programs, drawing attendance from over 614 Member attendees,
resulted in enhancing Members’ skillsets and knowledge to
better operate, construct, and maintain services related to
generation or transmission of Electrical
Energy. Highlighted training programs
and workshops included: Utility Wildfires
Preventions & Protection, Battery Storage,
Electric Utility Fundamentals & Insights,
Disaster Planning & Mutual Aid.

13

A ssets

Be trustworthy stewards of
public funds through the
responsible administration of
financial and physical assets
and obligations.

14

(Financial Assets)

Successfully refinanced project bonds lowering risks and
generated savings for Member participants:

• Milford Wind Corridor Phase I Project bond refunding saved $32.3 million.
• Magnolia Power Project A bond refunding reduced risks by fixing out

unhedged variable bonds and terminating a portion of swap.
• Linden Wind Energy Project bond refunding saved $12.8 million.
• Windy Point/Windy Flats Project bond refunding saved $77.3 million.
• Tieton Hydropower Project bond refunding saved $11.7 million.

(Operational Projects)

Managed 42 operating projects with budgets totaling $931
million. The projects delivered almost 12 million MWhs of
electricity, enough to power 1.25 million homes. SCPPA also
delivered over 6.4 million MMBtus of natural gas to generate
projects during this fiscal year.

Issued 7 RFPs and negotiated contracts for gas consulting and
scheduling, schedule coordinator services, energy exchange,
Operation and Maintenance (O&M) services, transmission design
and compliance services to support the operations of several
SCPPA projects.

15

A ssets

(Operational Projects)

Resolved numerous project disputes to ensure the ongoing
compliant operations of the facilities. Examples included
disputes over generation limits, curtailment allowances, and
repudiation of an O&M contract by vendor.

Achieved a favorable court ruling in litigation against Ultra
Resources regarding the method of allocating the cost of royalty
payments in the Pinedale Natural Gas Project, potentially saving
the SCPPA Member participants millions of dollars over the next
10 to 20 years.

Engaged with struggling biomass asset up to and through
bankruptcy to support utility and state wildfire prevention goals.

FY 19-20 Generation FY 19-20 Renewable Generation

49% 51% 29% 31%
Renewable Natural Gas/ Wind Geothermal

Nuclear 34% 1% Small Hydro
Solar 5% Biomass

16

SCPPA PROJECT LIST

BIOMASS SOLAR

• B1 - Loyalton • S1 - Antelope Big Sky Ranch

• S1 - Antelope DSR I

NATURAL GAS / NUCLEAR • S1 - Antelope DSR II

• F1 - Apex Natural Gas CC • S1 - Astoria 2

• F2 - Canyon Natural Gas CT • S1 - Columbia Two

• F3 - Magnolia Natural Gas CC • S2 - Copper Mountain Solar 3

• F4 - Palo Verde Nuclear Station • S1 - Kingbird B

• S1 - Springbok I

GEOTHERMAL • S1 - Springbok II

• G1 - Don A. Campbell I • S1 - Springbok III

• G1 - Don A. Campbell II • S1 - Summer Solar

• G2 - Heber South/Gould 2

• G2 - Heber 1

• G2 - Ormesa Geothermal Complex

• G1 - Northern Nevada Geothermal Portfolio (NNGP)

• G3 - Whitegrass TRANSMISSION

HYDROPOWER • Mead-Adelanto
• H1 - MWD Small Hydro • Mead-Phoenix
• H2 - Tieton • Southern Transmission System

LANDFILL GAS WIND
• L1 - Chiquita Canyon • W1 - Linden
• L2 - Puente Hills • W2 - Milford I
• W2 - Milford II
NATURAL GAS • W3 - Pebble Springs
• N1 - Barnett Shale Gas Reserves • W4 - Windy Flats
• N2 - Pinedale Gas Reserves
• (Not on Map) Prepaid Natural Gas (see map on next page)

17

WASHINGTON

H2
W4 W1

W3

OREGON

N

B1 SOUTHERN TRTAENMSMISSION SYS-UTAH

G3 NEVADA W2
G1

CALIFORNIA F1
S2
MEAD-ADELANTO
MEAD-PHOENIX
S1
L1

F3 H1 L2 ARIZONA
F2
F4
G2

18

SCPPA PROJECT MAP

N2

WYOMING

NEW MEXICO

N1

TEXAS

19

A DVOCACY

Emphasize the Unique Needs
of Member Communities
by Facilitating Proactive
Advocacy.

20

(State Highlights)

• Achieved a 100% success rate on state bills SCPPA was tasked
to engage on, including forced procurement mandates and
wildfire bills.

• Organized a successful legislative and regulatory staff tour
and carried a theme of “reliability” throughout all tour stops.

• Organized a successful SCPPA “lobby day” to thwart efforts by
special interest groups to force the procurement of expensive
long-duration pumped storage projects and followed-up with
multiple OpEds.

• Successfully led statewide efforts to reduce reporting
burdens under the Advanced Clean Truck rule and secured
favorable outcomes on RPS penalties before the California Air
Resources Board (CARB).

(Federal Highlights)

• SCPPA continued advocacy work to both protect tax-exempt
municipal bonds and continues working with a coalition of
stakeholders to restore advance refunding bonds.

• Following multiple years of work to get the Electric Reliability
and Forest Protection Act signed into law, SCPPA is working
with Congress and federal agencies on implementing
vegetation management provisions.

• In response to a problematic FCC rulemaking, SCPPA worked
with California’s delegation to draft legislation to overturn
the FCC ruling and restore the ability of local utilities to
control how their grid infrastructure is used for wireless
deployment.

• SCPPA has also worked with our
delegation to raise awareness over
another problematic FCC rulemaking
to allow unlicensed spectrum sharing
in the 6 GHz band, which may cause
harmful interference for mission-critical
communications.

21

“The Members of Southern
California Public Power
Authority work together
to power sustainable
communities.”

Contact Us

Glendora Office Sacramento Office
1160 Nicole Court 915 L Street, Suite 1410
Glendora, CA 91740 Sacramento, CA 95814

(626) 793-9364 (916) 440-0870

http: //scppa.org