Report to Mayor and City Council
Tuesday, July 16, 2019
Discussion
SUBJECT:
Title
CONSIDER APPROVAL OF A MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING FOR THE EPIC CHALLENGE PHASE 2 PROPOSAL DEVELOPMENT AND PROJECT IMPLEMENTATION BETWEEN THE CITY, CHARGE BLISS, INC. AND 127 ENERGY, LLC. (CITY COUNCIL)
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I. SUMMARY
In 2016, the California Energy Commission (CEC) launched a two phased grant application, titled, GFO-15-312 - The EPIC Challenge: Accelerating the Deployment of Advanced Energy Communities (AEC). The purpose of the solicitation was to fund a competition that would challenge project teams to develop innovative and replicable approaches for accelerating the deployment of AEC in Investor-Owned Utility (IOU) service territories.
Phase One focused on the planning and permitting of an AEC. Phase Two would fund the build out of the AEC that was planned in Phase One.
Under Phase One, the CEC awarded $1.5 million to Charge Bliss to develop an AEC in the City of Carson. The AEC project in Carson was part of Group 4, Advanced Energy Community located in a disadvantaged area of Southern California.
At the conclusion of Phase One, the CEC amended the solicitation to provide additional details on how to apply for Phase Two. During the initial Phase Two application window, the City and Charge Bliss were not able to reach agreement and therefore did not submit an application.
Earlier this year, the CEC reopened the Phase Two application window because no projects within Group 4 were awarded (Exhibit No. 1). The grant application is due to the CEC on July 25, 2019 and Carson would be competing against three projects that are also located in a disadvantaged area of Southern California. Staff has been working with Charge Bliss to restructure a project that works for both parties and meets the CEC Phase Two guidelines.
A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the City, Charge Bliss and 127 Energy (the investor) memorializes the major project deal points (Exhibit No. 2)....
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