Committee presses staff on equity outreach as solar + battery workshop vendor remains unselected

A committee member asked for more detail on how San Diego Community Power will increase participation from disadvantaged communities in its Solar + Battery Savings outreach, and staff said they will return with a fuller outreach plan once contracting is complete.

At the start of the pulled consent item 4 discussion, Committee member Emerson asked for an update on the vendor for community workshops tied to the solar + battery savings program. Staff answered, "We're still in contracting. So we haven't selected a vendor formally yet. We haven't signed a contract yet," and said there was nothing to report on a vendor award at this time (staff response attributed to Will Wisman, associate director of finance/capital investment planning).

Emerson pressed for more breakdowns showing which communities are applying, which are not, and how staff intends to raise participation among community-of-concern neighborhoods. Staff acknowledged those concerns and committed to return with a fuller presentation at the next CAC meeting that will include Emily Fischer, the program lead, to explain outreach plans and community engagement strategies.

Staff said the procurement scope for the vendor is focused on community engagement events and that engaging elected officials one-on-one was not originally in the vendor scope, though staff noted they could adapt if needed. Staff also said the public affairs and community engagement teams are working on the outreach strategy and that staff will bring detailed plans to a future meeting (staff indicated a fuller item would come to the June meeting).

What's next: staff committed to provide a detailed presentation of program outreach metrics, community breakdowns and the vendor role when they return to the committee; the April update was received and filed with no formal action.