Alameda Public Utilities Board Meeting - March 16, 2026
Alameda Public Utilities Board Meeting - March 16, 2026
The Alameda Public Utilities Board (PUB) held its regular meeting on March 16, 2026 at 6:00 PM. The meeting included public comments, discussion and approval of a low-income program definition, a presentation of customer survey results for the strategic plan, a review of the 10-year financial pro forma, and approval of a new commercial heat pump pool heater rebate pilot program. The board also received updates on staffing vacancies and general manager communications.
Consent Calendar
- Approved the balance of the consent calendar (routine items) with one item removed.
- Item 4E removed by Commissioner Hunter: "Approve Alameda Municipal Power’s Definition of Low Income for Programs Funded through Low Carbon Fuel Standard Credit Proceeds" – discussed separately and then approved.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Yung Chen (Alameda resident, solar/battery owner): Spoke on behalf of 11 residents who support reviewing AMP’s policy that prevents residential batteries from being charged from the grid. She requested the board evaluate a pilot program allowing limited grid charging with safeguards, citing potential peak demand reduction benefits (e.g., 0.8–1 MWh of peak reduction across 100 homes). She acknowledged concerns about rate equity and reliability. Not on the agenda, so board could not discuss.
- Kevin Good (Sun’s Free Solar): Representing a local solar contractor, he urged AMP to allow UL-listed meter collars (automatic transfer switches) which most other California utilities permit. He noted that AMP’s 2022 review is outdated and that meter collars reduce installation costs by $4,500+ (part and labor). He submitted documentation. Not on agenda, no board discussion.
Discussion Items
4E – Definition of Low Income for LCFS Programs
- Staff (Jared Wanitas, Customer Resources Supervisor) presented a new localized low-income definition for equity programs funded by Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) credits, based on Alameda-specific demographics.
- Commissioner Hunter asked clarifying questions: the definition applies to new EV charger rebates and multifamily technical assistance, but not the existing Energy Assistance Program (EAP). Staff explained that EAP uses public benefits funds with stricter eligibility. Hunter also inquired about including community gathering places and suggested consulting the CPUC’s Disadvantaged Communities Advisory Group for future refinement.
- Motion to approve item 4E passed unanimously.
5A – Strategic Plan Revisit: Community Outreach Survey Results
- Catherine from Great Blue Research presented qualitative and quantitative survey results from ~700 customers and three focus groups.
- Key findings:
- Reliability and affordability are AMP’s top strengths (95% positive for reliability).
- Customer priorities: #1 keeping rates affordable (41.8% as top priority), #2 upgrading aging infrastructure (18.2%), #3 maintaining reliability (12.4%).
- 75% of customers support infrastructure investments even if rates increase; 39.2% prefer expanding clean energy over keeping costs low (nearly a tie).
- Underrepresented groups (lower-income, renters) were included via focus groups; affordability was even more critical for them.
- Opportunities: improve digital platforms (website/app), better communicate rate increase justifications, and educate on clean energy portfolio.
- Commissioners DeVries and Hunter questioned the framing of a trade-off between affordability and clean energy, noting AMP already delivers both. They praised the outreach and suggested future focus on commercial customers.
- No action required; information only. Staff will conduct additional stakeholder outreach before the strategic plan workshop in April.
5B – Summary of 10-Year Financial Pro Forma Analysis
- Acting AGM Harbottle presented the financial forecast for FY27–FY36.
- Key assumptions: 3% rate increases per year, drawing down operating reserves to the 145-day target, and capital spending of $22.7M in FY27 (half for system reliability/asset replacement, including substation transformer upgrades, undergrounding, and PGE fiber project).
- Public comment from Javier Gonzalez (retired resident) asked about capital drivers. Assistant GM Lee responded in detail, noting system reliability, undergrounding, and long-lead procurement.
- Commissioners commented:
- Hunter: Pleased with 3% increases but suggested reviewing reserve targets (e.g., whether 145 days is appropriate).
- DeVries: Appreciated the 10-year outlook and capital reserve. Advised buying a spare transformer and sequential replacement.
- Chair McKenna: Raised concerns about snowpack (48% of normal) potentially increasing power costs; staff acknowledged but noted NCPA hydro is somewhat resilient.
- No action; information only.
5C – Approval of Commercial Heat Pump Pool Heater Rebate Program
- Staff (Jared Wanitas) proposed a pilot program offering rebates for commercial/multifamily (4+ units) electric heat pump pool heaters, replacing natural gas or in new construction.
- Program details:
- Budget: $400,000 per year for three years (total $1.2M).
- Rebate calculation: Sum of three components: 15¢ per pound of CO2 displaced, 10¢ per gallon of pool water, plus 20% of incremental cost to electrify. Maximum rebate: $400,000 or 30% of project cost (whichever lower).
- 48 existing commercial pools identified as potential participants.
- Cannot stack with other AMP rebates for the same measure, but can combine with state/federal funding (subject to other program rules).
- Commissioner DeVries asked about payback period (estimated 10–12 years).
- Commissioner Hunter questioned rebate stacking and new construction vs retrofit equity; staff confirmed the three-component formula aims for fairness. She recommended adding a net-of-other-grants clause to prevent exceeding project costs.
- Motion to approve passed unanimously.
Key Outcomes
- Approved item 4E (Low-Income Definition) – unanimous vote (4 yes).
- Approved item 5C (Commercial Heat Pump Pool Heater Rebate Program) – unanimous vote.
- No votes on items 5A and 5B (information only).
- Staff will present the draft Strategic Plan at the April board meeting, along with the FY27 budget and rate proposal.
Meeting Transcript
Called order the march sixteenth, twenty twenty six regular meeting of the Public Utilities Board at six PM. Members of the public can attend in person or follow the meeting via web teleconference. They can address the public utilities board during the meeting in person over web teleconference or by email. May I have a roll call vote, please? Or roll call, please. Members of the public are invited to address the board on any subject related to the activities of Alameda Municipal Power, not otherwise appearing on the agenda. Comments are limited to in-person. Only remote public comment is not available for this section. Do we have any members of the public who would like to speak? Okay. Welcome. Hello. Hello. Hello, everyone. All right, I gotta bring up my notes. Good evening. My name is Yung Chen. I'm an Alameda resident. And let's see, I am a solar and battery owner, and I'm speaking along with uh 10 other Alamedon who uh signed up uh for a survey and who support reviewing APM current policy that prevents residential battery from being charged from the grid. I want to thank Nick and Alan for actually sharing their insights to sort of educate me before the um today's meeting. Um so I understand that APM's concern with regard to rate equity and uh grid reliability. These are really valid and important concerns as a you know alumeter resident. So I'm not asking for an immediate policy change. Uh what I'm asking for is the board to um look at evaluating a pilot program that would allow us limited grade charging with appropriate safeguard. Um so just to sort of uh talk about um you know, Alameda's current policy allows solar to be exported to the grid, uh, but prevents battery from charging from the grid or discharging um into the grid. Um that means APM AMP is not able to use customer owned battery as a flexible resources to help manage the peak low. Um even though AMP provides clean energy, the cost of serving peak demand is still significantly higher than off peak. Um so I understand, again, through education that you know um AMP participate in regional power procurement uh through organization like NCPA and peak demand drives capacity costs, resource adequacy requirement, and also long-term infrastructure planning. So reducing the peak demand even modestly can reduce dose system cost over time. Um so for example, um a typical home battery like my store 13.8 kilowatt hour, and assuming that customer reserve 20 to 40 percent of the stored power for backup purpose, that net out to be about eight to ten kilowatt hour per home that can be available for peak shaving. Um so across a hundred home that's about 0.8 to one megawatt hour of uh peak reduction. Um and this is meaningful as a distributed scalable resources that would grow as you know adoption increases. Um in terms of equity, I totally understand that there's a concern about customer using that to essentially avoid paying for peak power and shift the cost on to others. Um, but there are other utilities to address this through rate design and program rules. Um so for example, utility can use fixed charges to recover infrastructure cost. Well, lower compensation, should I be. Sorry, Ms. Chen. Go ahead and finish your sentence. It's fine. It's automatic here. Okay, okay. So yeah, this allows utility to make cost of service equality while still enabling batteries to provide a system benefits. So just to quickly summarize what I'm asking for is I know that the utility is already starting a program to look at rate design, so a pilot program that looks into to specifically provide a data that's needed to help evaluate the benefits and the customer behavior and you know how do you design a race structure. Thank you very much. As you know, we can't discuss this any further, but thank you very much for taking time out of your schedule to come speak with us. We do appreciate that. All right, thank you. Thank you. You'd like to go check in here, please.
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