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Council Member Fahey introduced the following, which was approved: Resolution Number 9.21.20R As Amended RESOLUTION ADOPTING COMMUNITY CHOICE AGGREGATION PROGRAM EDUCATION AND OUTREACH PLAN AND CUSTOMER OPT-OUT LETTER WHEREAS, the City of Albany has established a Community Choice Aggregation (“CCA”) Program to aggregate the energy supply needs of residents and small commercial businesses, and to negotiate and enter into energy supply contracts with Energy Service Companies (“ESCOs”) on behalf of these citizens to obtain competitively priced energy, often at a fixed or predictable cost, as well as environmental benefits and opportunities to pursue community-based energy initiatives; and WHEREAS, the fundamental goal of the CCA education and outreach is to enable eligible customers to make an informed choice about their energy supply option. The City of Albany is required to adopt a community-specific plan for engaging in public education and outreach to be completed in the first 60 days regarding the CCA Program in the City of Albany, and includes discussion of the process to allow any eligible customer the opportunity to opt-out of the CCA Program. Also required is the adoption of an opt-out letter on the City of Albany’s letterhead informing members of the public of their right to opt-out of the CCA Program, and providing a clear procedure for so doing; and WHEREAS, these community-specific documents, once adopted, will be incorporated into the CCA Program Implementation Plan, to be administered by the CCA Administrator, as approved by the New York State Public Service Commission to ensure compliance with rules and regulations governing CCAs; and NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the City of Albany hereby adopts a public education and outreach plan for the first 60 days and CCA opt-out letter; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT, the plan and letter will be provided to the CCA Administrator and New York State Department of Public Service staff charged with reviewing on behalf of the for incorporation into the CCA Program Implementation Plan. ---PAGE BREAK--- Albany Common Council Memorandum in Support of Legislation Resolution Number 9.21.20R As Amended Sponsor(s): Council Member Fahey Title: RESOLUTION ADOPTING COMMUNITY CHOICE AGGREGATION PROGRAM EDUCATION AND OUTREACH PLAN AND CUSTOMER OPT-OUT LETTER Purpose: To approve the opt-out letter that must be approved by the State and submitted to the State with Local Law B of 2020 upon its passage; to prove to the State that the City fulfilled the 60-day minimum period of education and used multiple methods to reach constituents. Summary: Enables the aggregation of energy supply needs of both the City of Albany and other Capital Region residents and small commercial businesses, and negotiating energy supply contracts with Energy Service Companies (“ESCOs”) to obtain stable, lower-cost energy prices, as well as environmental benefits and/or a community-based solution to meeting our collective energy needs. Justification: New York State Public Service Commission on April 21, 2016, adopted an Order authorizing cities, towns and villages within the State to create Community Choice Aggregation Programs, by themselves or in concert with other municipalities (hereinafter Order Authorizing CCAs”), and/or to retain a CCA Administrator to implement the program and negotiate ESAs. Fiscal Impact(s): To be determined. ---PAGE BREAK--- Passed by the following vote of all the Council Members elected voting in favor thereof: Affirmative – Anane, Conti, Fahey, Farrell, Frederick, Hoey, Igoe, Kimbrough, and O’Brien Affirmative 9 Negative 0 Abstain 0 Clerk of the Common Council President of the Common Council Mayor Date I, Danielle Gillespie, City Clerk and Clerk of the Common Council, do hereby certify that Resolution number 9.21.20R As Amended was passed at a meeting of the Albany Common Council on March 2, 2020. In Affirmation thereof, I hereto set my hand and affix The Seal of the City of Albany this day of March 2020. Danielle Gillespie, Clerk of the Common Council ---PAGE BREAK--- DETAILS OF THE CITY OF ALBANY EDUCATION AND OUTREACH PLAN The goal of the initial CCA Education and Outreach is to ensure that residents in the City of Albany understand both the CCA process and benefits of the CCA Program, as well as the process to opt-out of the CCA Program if they so choose.. In consideration of the different constituencies within the community (e.g. seniors, young families) we plan to undertake the following actions, with the support of MEGA, over a minimum of sixty (60) days, to raise awareness and educate on CCA: □ Informational Community Meeting (Public Hearing REQUIRED) Date/Time of Meeting Meeting Location Attendance Meeting One January 30th 2020 6:30-8pm First Unitarian Universalist Society of Albany 9 Meeting Two February 6th 2020 5:30pm Albany Sustainability Advisory Committee (City Hall) 12 Meeting Three February 6th 2020 6:30-7:30pm Albany Public Library (Washington Ave, Auditorium) 7 Meeting Four February 13th 2020 7pm Delaware Area Neighborhood Association Meeting, 331 Delaware Ave 30 Meeting Five February 19th 2020 7pm Hudson/Park Neighborhood Association, 381 Hamilton St. 14 Meeting Six February 20th 2020 7pm Pine Hills Neighborhood Association Meeting, LaSalle School 16 Meeting Seven February 20th 2020 5:30pm Arbor Hill Neighborhood Association Meeting, 42 N. Swan Street 14 Meeting Eight February 26th 2020 7pm Upper Washington Ave Neighborhood Association, Montessori School Local Law Vote March 2nd 2020 City Hall Meeting Nine March 18th 2020 7pm Helderberg Neighborhood Association, 405 Quail Street Meeting Ten March 24th 2020 6:30pm Eagle Hill Neighborhood Association, 916 Western Ave Meeting Eleven March 24th 2020 6:30pm Normanskill Neighborhood Association Meeting Twelve March 25th 2020 7pm Park South Neighborhood Association, 139 Knox Street ---PAGE BREAK--- □ Printed Materials Date Item Type Notes Item One Jan/Feb 2020 CCA posters displayed at all Albany Public Library branches Arbor Hill/West Hill Branch Bach Branch Delaware Branch Howe Branch North Albany Branch Pine Hills Branch Washington Avenue Branch 16”x16” posters placed on display. Some branches chose to use an 8.5”x11” flier on their information board. Item Two February 2020 “How CCA Works” document provided at all Neighborhood Association Meetings Item Three January 2020 CCA FAQ documents provided to City Hall Item Four February 2020 Community Choice Aggregation in the Capital Region postcard distributed at meetings and left behind for distribution in community spaces □ Web-based Education □ Materials Posted on Municipal and/or Community Websites Date Item Website URL Notes Site One 1/27/20 CCA info on municipal website overnment/Departments/Plan ningandDevelopment/Comm unityChoiceAggregation.aspx Includes CCA Intro YouTube Video Site Two Advertise CCA Sessions on community calendars unity-calendar; http://events.timesunion.com/ home; ts/ WAMC Community Calendar; Times Union Community Calendar, and Albany.com Site Three 1/20/2020 Facebook Event for 1/30/2020 education session + paid promotion vents/2576367095977301/ Site Four 1/29/2020 Facebook Event for 2/6/2020 education session + paid promotion vents/1568920256579031/ Site Five 2/6/2020 Facebook Event for 2/13/2020 education vents/3055221417823815/ ---PAGE BREAK--- session Site Six 2/6/2020 Facebook Event for 2/19/2020 education session + paid promotion vents/185756096195158/ Site Seven Ongoing Sessions posted on MEGA CCA education calendar http://megacca.org/events/ Site Eight Sessions posted on MEGA’s Twitter feed gyNY/status/1225458167485 784074 gyNY/status/1224701824764 170240 gyNY/status/1222889705106 288644 gyNY/status/1221889055199 309825 gyNY/status/1226865581258 944513 □ Press □ Local Newspaper Articles/Press Coverage Date Press Name Topic Notes One Press Conference Considering tri-city Two Times Union Sent press release, have followed up with 4 city desk reporters Three The Collaborative Sent press release Four CivMix (blog) Reached out 2x Five Albany Business Review Sent press release Six CBS/WRGB Sent press release Seven NBC/WNYT Sent press release Eight ABC/WTEN Sent press release Nine Spectrum Sent press release Ten 2/13/2020 WAMC CCA in Albany, including interview with Council member Fahey lbany-common-council- caucus-community-choice- aggregation Eleven 2/10/2020 Public Power Association Three N.Y. cities explore community choice aggregation periodical/article/three-ny- cities-explore-community- choice-aggregation ---PAGE BREAK--- Twelve 1/22/2020 Hudson Mohawk Magazine (radio program) Katy Vescio interview on CCA in the Capital Region asanctuary/mega-energy-cca- program-012221 Thirteen 2/20/2020 WTEN Energy purchase agreement between municipalities, residents and small businesses being explored by local governments in the Capital Region ws/energy-purchase- agreement-between- municipalities-residents-and- small-businesses-being- explored-by-local- governments-in-the-capital- region/ □ Other Date Description One 1/20-2/14/2020 & 10/30-11/26/2019 Radio advertisements on PYX 106.5 and WRVE 99.5 daily during 6am-10am morning drive for 4 weeks Two 2/7/2020 Channel Albany; Education Session recorded at Public Library on 2/6/2020, aired on Spectrum 1301, 1302 and 1303 Three 11/16/2020 ½ page ad in Renewable Energy & Sustainability Fair Program at Sage College Four January – February 2020 YouTube videos – informational videos on CCA basics, renewables, how CCA and community solar work together – shared via Facebook and Twitter Review of all materials will be the responsibility of our municipal CCA Liaison: Chris Spencer Chief Building Official [PHONE REDACTED] [EMAIL REDACTED] All questions and concerns should be addressed to our CCA Laision and CCA Administrator MEGA (Municipal Electric & Gas Alliance) P.O. Box 88, Ithaca, NY 14851 [PHONE REDACTED] [EMAIL REDACTED] Supplemental Outreach There will be additional outreach and education plan that will be developed after PSC approval and ESCO selection and before mailing of the opt-out letter is sent out to all eligible customers. ---PAGE BREAK--- Sample Opt-Out Letter (on municipality letterhead and envelope) [MONTH XX], 2020 Dear Residential or Small Business Customer: As a New York State Climate Smart Community, the City of Albany has pledged to take action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to address climate change. Our City is proud to fulfill that pledge through participation in the State authorized Community Choice Aggregation (CCA) Program. This program allows you and your neighbors to increase your individual buying power through a group purchase of electricity. The City of Albany is able to offer residents and small businesses [100% renewable] electricity at competitive and stable rates. As an eligible participant, you can easily take advantage of this opportunity. Your electric account will be automatically transitioned to the CCA Program unless you opt-out by [MONTH XX], 2020. (See How to Opt Out below.) There are no enrollment or switching fees and your new electricity fixed rate will be $0.0XXX/kWh through [MONTH 202X]. National Grid, your local utility, will still be responsible for your electricity delivery, general maintenance and response to power outages. You will still receive one bill and pay National Grid, you can still take advantage of budget billing, and you can participate in the CCA if you have rooftop or community solar. With the support of MEGA, the Municipal Electric and Gas Alliance, our community has joined a CCA with [XX] municipalities in our region. Through the power of aggregation (pooling of electricity) and a competitive bidding process, [ESCO], was selected to replace National Grid as your default supplier of electricity. [ESCO] is able to offer customers in our community [100% renewable] electric supply at a fixed rate of $0.0XXX/kWh for a period of XX months. With a fixed rate, you will pay the same price per kilowatt hour each month through [MONTH 202X]. Here is how this rate compares to the National Grid average price and to a CCA Traditional Grid mix rate that you may opt into. (See option to opt-down on the next page): National Grid Average Price* CCA 100% Renewable Fixed-Rate Price CCA Grid Mix Fixed- Rate Price (Opt-down) Residential $0.0XXX/kWh $0.0XXX/kWh $0.0XXX/kWh Small Commercial $0.0XXX/kWh $0.0XXX/kWh $0.0XXX/kWh *National Grid’s price is the average supply cost for the past XX months [MONTH 201X through MONTH 202X] When you participate in the City of Albany’s CCA there are: No Rate Increases for the Term of Contract through [MONTH 202X] No Changes in Billing or Service Delivery No Fee to Leave the CCA Program at Any Time More information on back ---PAGE BREAK--- CCA Enrollment Information After your enrollment is finalized, you will receive a notification from National Grid confirming your enrollment with [ESCO] as your new electric supplier. National Grid is required by law to inform you of your option to rescind your enrollment (not participate in the CCA) with adequate notice prior to the scheduled switch. However, if you want to participate, no action on your part is required. How to Opt-Out If you do not wish to participate in the City of Albany’s CCA Program, you must opt-out by [MONTH XX, 202X]. If you wish to opt-out, choose 1 of 3 easy ways: 1. Mail: return the enclosed opt out card with pre-paid envelope 2. Phone: call [ESCO] at XXX-XXX-XXXX 3. Web: visit No Penalties or Fees No penalties or fees will be charged to you for opting out of the Program. No penalties or fees will be charged if you move before the contract expires. No penalties or fees will be charged if you leave the Program after the opt-out period ends. Opt-down/Opt-up Options If you wish to purchase traditional grid mix electricity (fossil fuels and renewable energy) you can opt-down into a fixed rate of $0.0xxx/kWh for a period of XX months. With a fixed rate, you will pay the same price per kilowatt hour each month through [MONTH 202X]. You can opt-down at any time by calling [ESCO] at XXX-XXX-XXXX or visit megacca.org OR If you wish to purchase 100% renewable electricity you can opt-up into a fixed rate of $0.0xxx/kWh for a period of XX months. With a fixed rate, you will pay the same price per kilowatt hour each month through [MONTH 202X]. You can opt-up at any time by calling [ESCO] at XXX-XXX-XXXX or visit megacca.org If you wish to access the benefits of budget billing please contact [ESCO] at XXX-XXX-XXXX. If you have any questions, please refer to the enclosed Frequently Asked Questions document, contact [ESCO] toll-free at XXX-XXX-XXXX or visit megacca.org. Representatives are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to answer any questions you may have. Sincerely, Mayor Kathy Sheehan City of Albany, NY