San Diego Environment Committee Meeting - June 20, 2024
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San Diego Environment Committee Meeting - June 20, 2024
The Environment Committee of the San Diego City Council met on June 20, 2024, chaired by Councilmember Joel Agava. The committee approved consent items, discussed the San Diego Gas & Electric (SDGE) franchise compliance audit, received an update on the Climate Resilient SD plan, and heard a presentation on proposed rate increases from the San Diego County Water Authority (CWA). All votes were 3-0 with Councilmember Campbell absent.
Consent Calendar
- Approved items 1 through 5, including amendments to contracts for laboratory instrumentation, pure water program engineering, and legal services, after public comment. The consent agenda passed 3-0.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Consent Agenda & Non-Agenda Public Comment: Several speakers addressed previous minutes, SDGE franchise, cannabis safety, tobacco waste, border litter, and environmental health. Lori Saldania expressed concerns about transparency of community power and workforce diversity. The original speaker criticized pure water and energy storage projects, calling them harmful. John Stump requested improved web forms and contractor compliance reporting. Other speakers highlighted pesticide contamination in cannabis, e-cigarette waste, and the need for stronger oversight.
- Items 6, 7, 8 (SDGE Franchise Audit): Speakers including Lori Saldania and John Stump criticized the audit scope, called for more transparency, and urged stronger action on SDGE rates. The original speaker questioned the independence of the audit and called for broader scrutiny of SDGE.
- Item 9 (Climate Resilient SD): Public commenters raised concerns about coastal development, tribal inclusion, and the need for community engagement. Mitch Silverstein (Surf Rider) supported the coastal resilience plan but noted it should be more comprehensive on master planning.
- Item 10 (CWA Rates): Speakers expressed opposition to the proposed 18% rate increase, calling for more affordable options and questioning the need for imported water. John Stump noted the link between water and energy costs, while the original speaker advocated for local groundwater drilling.
Discussion Items
- SDGE Franchise Audit (Items 6, 7, 8): Megan Ong (Sustainability & Mobility) presented the first two-year compliance audit by Crow LLP. Eric Nylon (Crow) reported that SDGE met all four audit objectives in significant respects, with four minor findings: inconsistent undergrounding cost estimates, limited collaboration on MSAs, non-compliance with admin MOU portal, and delayed implementation plan. The Franchise Compliance Review Committee (FCRC) presented its report, recommending no renewal decision at this time, but urging annual monitoring, updates to the Energy Cooperation Agreement, and continued funding for a public power feasibility study. The committee approved resolutions to dissolve the current FCRC and reconstitute a new one for the next compliance period (3-0).
- Climate Resilient SD Update (Item 9): Julia Chase (City Planning) reported that 64% of strategies are now in progress, up from 39% last year. Highlights included conserving 183 acres of habitat, planting 1,200 trees, launching a coastal resilience master plan, and developing an online implementation tracker. The plan covers five goals: connected communities, resilient city, cultural resources, natural environments, and critical services. The committee discussed the need for tribal engagement, heat action planning, and integrating lessons from the January 2024 floods.
- CWA Rates and Charges (Item 10): Dan Denham (CWA General Manager) presented the proposed 2025 wholesale rate increase of 18%, driven by 11% external pass-throughs and 7% for debt, reserves, and CIP. He noted a $19 million grant for the Carlsbad desalination plant could lower the increase to 15%. Jordan Moore (IBA) presented analysis showing that CWA's take-or-pay contracts exceed projected sales, leading to rising costs. He recommended improved cost-of-service studies, long-term water sales, and right-sizing infrastructure. Committee members expressed strong reservations about passing the increase to ratepayers, especially without proven cost-saving measures. The city's 10 representatives were urged to oppose the full increase.
Key Outcomes
- Consent Agenda: Approved 3-0.
- Items 6 & 7 (FCRC Dissolution and Reconstitution): Approved 3-0.
- Items 8, 9, 10: Information items; no votes taken. The committee directed staff to continue monitoring SDGE compliance, update the Climate Resilient SD plan by 2025, and work with the CWA to explore mitigation options before the June 27 rate hearing.
Meeting Transcript
All right, good afternoon, and welcome to the environment committee meeting of June 20th, 2024. I'm Joel Agava, Councilmember for District One and Chair of the Committee. Our committee's liaison, Sarah Jordan will go over instructions for today's meeting. Sarah. Thank you, Chair Lakava. While members of the public are able to attend the meeting in person, this meeting is being televised and live streamed on the city's website, and the council administration will continue to make arrangements for the public to comment using the Zoom webinar platform. Members of the public who wish to provide virtual testimony must enter the virtual queue by raising their hand before the virtual virtual queue closes. The queue will close when the last virtual speaker finishes speaking, or five minutes after in-person testimony ends, whichever occurs first. This will allow for better meeting management between the two platforms and ensure the committee is able to manage and conduct city business. Council President Elo Rivera. Members of the public who wish to provide testimony. Sarah, please proceed. Thank you, Chair. We have not received any speaker slips here in chambers, but we have a few hands raised in the virtual queue to comment on the past committee minutes. So I will begin the five-minute timer for all those to indicate if they wish to speak. We will begin testimony with Lori Saldania. Please unmute yourself and provide your comment. You will have one minute to speak to the past committee minutes. Yes. Last month on the information agenda, it was there was an update on San Diego Community Power. And there is still is confusion over people believing that that is somehow a municipal public power alternative to the franchise agreement. So I I really want to make sure that it's it's clear to the public that this is not uh public power, the community power is uh simply a way to procure energy, and it is not uh owned by the city of San Diego. And also, unfortunately, they have had to now start offering a lower cost but dirtier source of energy plan uh for economic reasons. And I I'm wondering if the committee might call them back to discuss that to understand how that fits into uh climate uh action plan and how it might impact climate change, which we're seeing the hottest year on the planet. So um we really do need to get away from these fuels that are fueling climate change and uh the climate emergency we're dealing with now. Thank you. Thank you for your testimony. Our next speaker is the original. Please unmute yourself and provide your testimony. Yeah, um, in the last minutes, it was saying that I gave comments on migrants leaving trash and personal items at the border and the environment and financial ramifications of cleanup and trash collection. What I was talking about are IDs and um clothing items, water bottles. Uh, you know, they are starting fires. Um, and that is an environmental concern, but I didn't talk about financial ramifications because I mean, partially, I guess, when you have to hire other people to come and clean it up, but um, it is it should be an environmental concern to you guys when these people is especially when they're getting all of these perks once they come across and do trash wherever they've been along the border, and in addition, starting fires that you know everybody's so concerned about that could start a brush fire and potentially cause a bunch of homes to go up in flames. So it's um a wide concern when you have uh a lot of people not caring about that. Thank you for your testimony. Our next speaker is Blair Beekman. Hi, Blair Beekman. Uh thanks a lot for the previous public comment or the two previous uh speakers on meeting minutes process. Uh I have similar feelings that uh we'll yeah, I'll talk about it more during the uh meeting today. And um, yeah, I'm just formulating ideas from the good thoughts about public comment at the uh meeting minutes process, and I just wanted to thank yourselves for that. Thank you. Thank you for your testimony. Our next speaker is John Stump. Please unmute yourself and provide your comments on the past committee minutes. Uh, yes, uh, thank you. And uh good afternoon. Uh, before I start, I want to compliment the chair, Mr. Lacava's posting for Father's Day. His family looked very good. He looked good.
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