City Council

26. ADOPTION AND APPROVAL OF THE 2023 POWER INTEGRATED RESOURCE PLAN FOR THE WATER AND POWER DEPARTMENT (Water and Power Dept.) Recommendation: It is recommended that the City Council: (1) Find that the proposed actions are statutorily exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act (“CEQA”) pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Sections 15262, Feasibility and Planning Studies; and 15271, Early Activities Related to Thermal Power Plants; (2) Adopt and approve the 2023 Power Integrated Resource Plan (“IRP”) for filing with the California Energy Commission (“CEC”) for the Water and Power Department (“PWP”); and (3) Support PWP’s continuing decarbonization trajectory while exceeding State regulatory requirements, and simultaneously working towards achieving the policy goal of 100% Carbon-Free electricity by 2030, through the utilization of the Waypoint Framework supported by the 2023 IRP Scenario 2 modeling results. Recommendation of the Environmental Advisory Commission: On September 12, 2023, the Environmental Advisory Commission (“EAC”) was presented an informational update regarding the recommendations in the agenda report. Subsequently, the EAC held a Special Meeting on September 26, 2023, and provided correspondence to the City Council in Attachment B of the agenda report. Recommendation of the Municipal Services Committee: At its December 5, 2023 meeting, the Municipal Services Committee (“MSC”) recommended that the City Council adopt the IRP for filing with the CEC with three additional conditions: 1) Create a dashboard to track progress towards meeting the carbon-free goals of Resolution No. 9977; 2) Conduct an internal review of the IRP in two years and present to the MSC; and 3) Develop an integrated strategic plan that outlines a path to carbon-free energy through 2030, while synergizing key inputs including the Power Delivery Master Plan (“PDMP”), Waypoint Framework, Cost of Serve and Rate Study (“COS”), and others. It was recommended that PWP return to MSC in eight months with a dashboard, and that the integrated strategic plan be prepared in consultation with Energy and Environmental Economics, Inc., (“E3”), and/or other consultants. Additionally, PWP will provide the MSC with periodic informational updates between CEC’s 5- year filing requirement.