Unknown: It's not really good yet due to the
Unknown: challenge
Unknown: oh
Unknown: All right, everybody be quiet.
SPEAKER_09: We got five seconds here.
Unknown: Good evening.
SPEAKER_09: I will call to order the SMUD Board of Directors meeting of February 19, 2026.
SPEAKER_09: Please stand and join me in a pledge to the flag.
Unknown: I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for
SPEAKER_08: which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
SPEAKER_09: Thank you.
SPEAKER_09: This meeting on the SMUD Board of Directors is recorded with closed captioning.
SPEAKER_09: The recording will be cable cast on Metro Cable Channel 14, the local government affairs
SPEAKER_09: channel on the Comcast and DirecTV U-verse cable systems.
SPEAKER_09: The recording will also be video streamed at Metro14live.sackcounty.gov.
SPEAKER_09: Today's meeting replays Saturday, February 21st at 2 p.m. and Monday, February 23rd at
SPEAKER_09: 9 a.m. on Metro Cable Channel 14.
SPEAKER_09: Once posted, the recording of this meeting can be viewed on demand at YouTube.com slash
SPEAKER_09: Metro Cable 14.
SPEAKER_09: Please remember to unmute your microphone when speaking in order that our virtual attendees
SPEAKER_09: may hear.
SPEAKER_09: The microphone will display a green indicator light when the mic is on.
SPEAKER_09: Please put all electronic devices in the silent mode while in the auditorium.
SPEAKER_09: For members of the public attending in person who wish to speak at this meeting, please
SPEAKER_09: fill out a speaker's request form located on the table outside this room and hand it
SPEAKER_09: to SMUD Security.
SPEAKER_09: Members of the public attending this meeting virtually who wish to provide verbal comments
SPEAKER_09: during the board meeting may do so by using the raise hand feature in Zoom or pressing
SPEAKER_09: star 9 while dialed into the telephone toll-free number at the time public comment is called.
SPEAKER_09: Technical support staff will enable the audio for you when your name is announced during
SPEAKER_09: the public comment period.
SPEAKER_09: You may also submit written comments by emailing them to public comment at SMUD.org.
SPEAKER_09: Written comments will not be read into the record but will be provided to the board electronically
SPEAKER_09: and placed into the record of the meeting if received within two hours after the meeting
SPEAKER_09: ends.
SPEAKER_09: Members may speak to items on the agenda on which the board will take action and may also
SPEAKER_09: address the board on other agenda items and items not on the agenda but within our jurisdiction
SPEAKER_09: during the general comment period.
SPEAKER_09: The auditorium is equipped with a safety alarm.
SPEAKER_09: If the alarm sounds, please leave in an orderly manner via the exits to the lobby or behind
SPEAKER_09: the dais.
SPEAKER_09: Assemble in front of the building and wait to hear the all clear announcement from security
SPEAKER_09: before reentering.
SPEAKER_09: Would the chief legal officer please conduct the roll call?
Unknown: Director Rose?
SPEAKER_09: Here.
SPEAKER_06: Director Buie-Thompson?
SPEAKER_06: Director Fishman?
Unknown: Here.
SPEAKER_00: Director Herber?
SPEAKER_06: Here.
SPEAKER_06: Vice President Kurz?
Unknown: Here.
SPEAKER_06: Director Sanborn?
SPEAKER_06: Here.
SPEAKER_06: President Tamayo?
SPEAKER_06: Here.
Unknown: You have a quorum.
SPEAKER_09: All right.
SPEAKER_09: And for our 2030 Climate Action Tip, we'll turn to Director Sanborn.
SPEAKER_05: Thank you, President Tamayo.
Unknown: SMUD is working towards 100% zero carbon emissions by 2030.
SPEAKER_05: There's lots you can do to help us lead the global Clean Power City movement.
SPEAKER_05: If you're thinking of getting an EV, it's a great time to get prepared to make the switch.
SPEAKER_05: Our EV advisors can help put you in the driver's seat from advice on the right charger to the
SPEAKER_05: best EV to fit your lifestyle.
SPEAKER_05: You can save money and reduce emissions.
SPEAKER_05: Check out smud.org slash drive electric for more information.
SPEAKER_05: I can say I've had my EV for three years.
SPEAKER_05: I absolutely love it.
SPEAKER_05: You can also join the charge with us at cleanpowercity.org.
SPEAKER_09: Thank you.
SPEAKER_09: If there are no corrections, changes, or additions, I'll entertain a motion to approve the agenda.
Unknown: So moved.
SPEAKER_00: Second.
Unknown: Okay.
SPEAKER_09: Moved by Vice President Kurz, seconded by Director Herber.
SPEAKER_09: Directors, please vote.
Unknown: The agenda is approved with Director Billy Thompson absent.
Unknown: Thank you.
SPEAKER_09: And now we'll move to our committee chair reports, starting with Director Sanborn, chair of the Strategic Development Committee, for the report of the February 10, 2026 meeting.
Unknown: Thank you.
SPEAKER_05: We had one informational item in our committee meeting from February 10th.
SPEAKER_05: The informational item was a briefing on large load grid integration and artificial intelligence, or AI, featuring both internal and external presentations on data center growth and its implications for smud.
SPEAKER_05: James Frazier, director of research and development grants and partnerships, noted the rapid evolution of AI technology and emphasized that this represents an opening dialogue on a complex and evolving topic.
SPEAKER_05: The discussion focused on two main types of data centers, training data centers, which are massive facilities using hundreds of megawatts with steady load consumption and processing data with no user interaction, and interference data, or inference data centers, which involve two-way user interaction with variable load shapes.
Unknown: The Sacramento was well suited for the inference data centers due to its strategic location for low latency communication, more land availability compared to the Bay Area, and the low cost of energy.
Unknown: Ilya, I hope I can pronounce this correctly, Churing Kofsky, senior researcher at the National Laboratory, provided national contacts on unprecedented electricity demand growth driven largely by data centers.
SPEAKER_05: Key statistics showed data centers represented approximately 4.5% of U.S. electricity demand at the end of 2023, with projections reaching 6.7% to 12% of total consumption by 2030.
SPEAKER_05: Individual training facilities are reaching upwards of 100 megawatts per facility.
Unknown: The challenge is managing this growth within the bounds of affordability and reliability for our customers.
SPEAKER_05: And this concludes my report.
Unknown: Thank you.
Unknown: Now, Director Rose, chair of the Finance and Audit Committee, will give the report of the February 17, 2026 meeting.
Unknown: All right, thank you, President Tomayo.
SPEAKER_03: So the Finance and Audit Committee met on February 17.
SPEAKER_03: There was one discussion item and three informational items.
SPEAKER_03: The first discussion item was to approve a Memorandum of Understanding, or MOU, between SMUD and the Organization of SMUD Employees, also known as OSE.
SPEAKER_03: For the period of January 1, 2026 through December 31, 2029.
SPEAKER_03: The MOU between SMUD and OSE represents a fair and financially responsible outcome for SMUD.
SPEAKER_03: Our customers, OSE employees, while meeting SMUD's financial targets and competitive pay to attract and retain a well-qualified OSE workforce.
SPEAKER_03: This is item number five on tonight's consent calendar.
Unknown: The first informational item was the quarterly procurement report for the fourth quarter of 2025.
SPEAKER_03: In 2025, we awarded $507 million of contracts, in which 85% were competitively bid.
SPEAKER_03: We offered 71 solicitations and had, on average, 5.6 bidders per solicitation, exceeding the target of three or more bidders per solicitation.
SPEAKER_03: Seed participation was at $97.8 million to local vendors, which is 31.6% of the total, and exceeds the target of 20%.
Unknown: The second informational item was a summary of SMUD's current power supply costs.
SPEAKER_03: The kiloprecipitation for the area was 30.4 inches, which is 95.9% of average to date, and 53.4% of the entire water year, average of 56.94 inches.
SPEAKER_03: The SNOPAC is 31.9% of average at selected SNO sensors, and the storage reservoirs are at 65.9% full of capacity.
SPEAKER_03: I think that's gone up in the last couple days.
SPEAKER_03: The third informational item was just providing the board the 2012 Internal Compliance Program assessment.
SPEAKER_03: That concludes the report. Thank you.
SPEAKER_09: Thank you, Director Rose. Now, Director Herber, chair of the Policy Committee, will give the report of the February 17, 2026 meeting.
SPEAKER_00: Thank you, Mr. President. The Policy Committee met on Tuesday, February 17, 2026, and there were two discussion items and one informational item.
SPEAKER_00: The first discussion item was to discuss the monitoring report for Strategic Direction 2, which is about competitive rates.
SPEAKER_00: SMUD continues to have one of the lowest system average rates compared to other neighboring utilities.
SPEAKER_00: SMUD system average rate is 50% below PG&E, which results in an anticipated $1.8 billion in community savings each year.
Unknown: Time of day rates continue to reduce residential peak using more energy during the less expensive time of the day and reducing energy usage during the 5-8 time period.
SPEAKER_00: This is item number six on tonight's consent calendar.
Unknown: The second discussion item was to discuss the monitoring report for Strategic Direction number three, which is access to credit markets.
SPEAKER_00: SMUD was graded AA by Fitch and AA2 by Moody's.
SPEAKER_00: We issued the first green commercial paper notes issued by any U.S. municipal utility.
SPEAKER_00: We also issued $200 million in green bonds and $100 million in refunding bonds.
SPEAKER_00: We continue to have competitive rates, strong cash reserves, and a diverse resource portfolio.
SPEAKER_00: This is item number seven on tonight's consent calendar.
SPEAKER_00: The informational item was a review of the Board work plan with the President.
SPEAKER_00: This concludes my report.
Unknown: Thank you, Director Herber.
SPEAKER_09: And next we'll have Director Fishman, Vice Chair of the Energy Resources and Customer Services Committee, who will give the report of the February 18, 2026 meeting.
SPEAKER_08: Thank you. The ERCS committee met last night, and there was just one discussion item on the adoption of a resolution to declare the following properties as surplus land and exempt from the notice and disposal requirements of the Surplus Land Act.
SPEAKER_08: They are the Alamos plot, decommissioned substation, Amador Power In West, a vacant lot, and the Ice House Highland Day Use Area.
SPEAKER_08: This is item number eight on tonight's consent calendar, and that concludes my report.
Unknown: Thank you, Director Fishman. At this time, we will take comments from the public on the consent calendar.
SPEAKER_09: I don't have any cards. Do we have any requests for comment?
Unknown: I do not see any hands, no.
Unknown: All right. Thank you.
SPEAKER_09: So the consent calendar consists of the following items.
SPEAKER_09: Item number three is to approve board member compensation for service rendered at the request of the board for the period of January 16, 2026 through February 15, 2026.
SPEAKER_09: Item number four is the approval of the minutes of the meeting of January 15, 2026.
SPEAKER_09: Item number five was reviewed at the Finance and Audit Committee of February 17, 2026.
SPEAKER_09: Items number six and number seven were reviewed at the Policy Committee of February 17, 2026.
SPEAKER_09: Item number eight was reviewed at the ERCS Committee of February 18, 2026.
SPEAKER_09: If there are no corrections, changes, or additions, I will entertain a motion to approve the consent calendar.
Unknown: So moved.
SPEAKER_08: Second with a quick comment.
SPEAKER_08: Okay.
SPEAKER_08: It's on the consent calendar. It kind of is just going to slide right through.
SPEAKER_08: But item number five, approving the MOU with the OSCE, it's a real milestone.
SPEAKER_08: A lot of hard work went into that on both SMUD's management staff part and on OSCE staff.
SPEAKER_08: This is an important agreement between the board and management and our employees, and I didn't want to just let it kind of slide under the radar screen without noting that.
SPEAKER_08: It's a big deal.
SPEAKER_09: All right. And I will second that. I want to thank staff and the OSCE team for going through the negotiation process.
SPEAKER_09: I know those are never easy, but thank you for all the effort behind that.
SPEAKER_09: All right. I think that was moved by Director Sanborn and seconded by Director Fishman.
SPEAKER_09: So, directors, please vote.
Unknown: The consent calendar is approved with Director Bowie-Thompson absent.
Unknown: All right. So now we move to public comment for items not on the agenda, but within our jurisdiction.
SPEAKER_09: Do we have any requests for comment?
Unknown: No, I don't see any hands.
SPEAKER_06: All right. Thank you very much. And we'll move now to directors' reports.
SPEAKER_09: At this point on the agenda, we provide the directors an opportunity to report on SMUD activity.
SPEAKER_09: We will begin with a report from Director Rose in Ward 1 and continue in Ward order with the President's report as the final item.
Unknown: Director Rose.
SPEAKER_03: Thank you, President Fishman. I have a fairly lengthy, it's unusual for me, so I'll run through them.
SPEAKER_03: But the first thing we may have mentioned this last moment, we had the Martin Luther King 365, the March for the Dream, which was a month ago, which is always tremendously proud to get out there with our staff and do the fairly long march in the inclement weather.
SPEAKER_03: I think it's incredibly meaningful to me and everyone there. There's a great celebration at the end.
SPEAKER_03: I attended the Sacramento Metro Chamber annual dinner in Gala, which I'll let some of the other of you talk about.
SPEAKER_03: My CAP2CAP team on energy and innovation, we're gearing up. And so I reviewed some papers. We had our first virtual meeting.
SPEAKER_03: Based on what I'm saying, we have some really excellent talking points in development that we're going to bring to DC in another couple of months for CAP2CAP as well.
SPEAKER_03: I was able to get out to the Roosevelt Chamber of Commerce installation dinner, which is represented by Laura Angway of our staff.
SPEAKER_03: And it's really great to see our plaster connections. I often only see them at CAP2CAP, so it was good to stop by and sort of had that check in with them and just maintain those relationships.
SPEAKER_03: We're doing a lot of work with Country Acres and some of the other projects. And it's also part of my ward as well, is our small sort of territory and plaster that we always keep an eye on as well.
SPEAKER_03: So that was really excellent. I also had the opportunity to stop by the Clean Air Partnership luncheon, which meets several times a year.
SPEAKER_03: And the focus was talking about the AB 617 Community Air Protection local community in Sacramento.
SPEAKER_03: They did a programic review from the last seven years or so of their work and recapping what their monitoring has shown and the process they've done to develop their own local community plan that's going to be funded in conjunction with the state and the local air district.
SPEAKER_03: So that was a really great summary to see that.
SPEAKER_03: A few more things. The stop by the North State Building Industry Association, the installation of their officers, which is always great to keep connections to our commercial development side of the house, which is so important to us.
SPEAKER_03: And also the Planning and Conservation League, the Environmental Assembly, was all day long on Saturday the 31st.
SPEAKER_03: And for me, one of the highlights was hearing a little bit about some of the legislative results, some of the bills that came through with the budget in the middle of the night that had some unexpected changes in there as well.
SPEAKER_03: And so always a super useful long weekend day.
SPEAKER_03: And I'll just wrap up. Got out to Distribute Tech with many of the fellow board members.
SPEAKER_03: Had some really great discussions with both our vendors and our staff.
SPEAKER_03: And I want to thank the staff for really helping organize all the events that we were able to attend.
SPEAKER_03: And it's always a highlight of the year for me and one of the best learning opportunities as well.
SPEAKER_03: And so I'm glad to see it's raining out. It will be great for the budget. Later this year it's cold rain. And I will turn it back over to you. Thank you.
Unknown: All right. Director Fisher. Thank you. I had an opportunity to speak and attend a number of different events. I'll try to get through them quickly.
SPEAKER_08: I spoke to the Arden Arcade Rotary Club. My friend Matt Ross is president there this year.
SPEAKER_08: I also spoke to the Renaissance Society class. It's kind of a continuing education program at Sac State and in both cases talked about some on zero carbon plan and our goals for the future.
SPEAKER_08: I attended the Sacramento County Farm Bureau annual dinner last week. That was fun. I emceed the project Ride Crab Feed, one of my favorite organizations in the region.
SPEAKER_08: They do great work providing horseback therapy for kids with disabilities. I also went to the MLK March for a Dream.
SPEAKER_08: I attended the SACOG, the Sacramento Area Council of Government's blueprint adoption event. The blueprint is an agreement among six different counties in our region about how we're going to meet some aggressive carbon goals through transportation and land use initiatives.
SPEAKER_08: And then finally, but certainly last but not least, along with President Tomayo, I attended the El Dorado County Chamber of Commerce annual awards and installation dinner.
SPEAKER_08: And that's important for a couple of reasons. One, because our hydroelectric system is up in El Dorado County. They're great partners of ours.
SPEAKER_08: And we try to make sure that they understand how much we appreciate that partnership.
SPEAKER_08: But also SMUD employee Jason McAllister, who lives up there, was installed as one of the officers for the El Dorado County Chamber.
SPEAKER_08: And so it was great to be there with President Tomayo and honor Jason and his work representing SMUD in that region.
Unknown: Thank you. Director Herber, award for.
Unknown: Okay, well, this was a really, really busy month, and I'm going to tell you all about it.
SPEAKER_00: I was able to give the seventh annual board volunteer award at the Elk Grove Chamber of Commerce. One of my soroptimist sisters won that, which was cool.
SPEAKER_00: I also was able to represent SMUD at the Sacramento Kings, celebrating Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Night, which they had some really great speakers.
SPEAKER_00: One of the best events I went to was my sister's house.
SPEAKER_00: Every year they raise quite a bit of money for my sister's house, and they have all kinds of auction items and cakes that they ruffle off.
SPEAKER_00: And I tell you, I am a sucker. I can't get out of that place without spending quite a bit of money.
SPEAKER_00: But I thank them for a job well done.
SPEAKER_00: I also attended the CMUA Capital Day, and what I really loved, several of the speakers, senators, assemblymen.
SPEAKER_00: I remember Senator Becker in particular talked about SMUD, talked about how low our rates are, talked about how SMUD is a model for other communities.
SPEAKER_00: They want to municipalize, but they haven't found an easy way to make that happen.
SPEAKER_00: But it was great to get that kind of recognition and also to hear about the latest stuff that's going on in the utility industry.
SPEAKER_00: And I also got a chance to hear David Mogavero. Many of you know David, but he and his firm actually designed one of our buildings.
SPEAKER_00: And he gave a really great talk about how it's not time right now to back off, that there needs to be so much more done with building efficiently and zero carbon.
Unknown: Had a chance to meet the class that is going through the NCCT workforce training.
SPEAKER_00: A friend of mine, Michelle Stoffel, teaches that class, and she is a firecracker.
SPEAKER_00: And it was neat seeing these individuals getting their electric certificates so that they can begin to do small jobs in the community.
SPEAKER_00: Really a good program.
SPEAKER_00: And then, oh, one other thing I want to tell you about is I got a call, well actually I got an email out of the blue, and this young student from a high school in my ward asked if he could meet with me and talk with me about the fact that he and another gentleman had won a contest for developing an app that can tell you whether or not something is recyclable.
SPEAKER_00: So I met with him and his teacher, and I tell you, we have nothing to worry about for the future. These young people are on it.
SPEAKER_00: And so I made a donation and gave him some ideas of some other place that they could raise money. They want to go to Washington DC to show off their app to the Congress folks.
SPEAKER_00: And so I wish them well.
SPEAKER_00: And let's see. And then last but not least, oh man, I'm sure Heidi's going to talk about this so I won't go into much detail.
SPEAKER_00: But the Distribute Tech Conference is one of those conferences that shows you what is coming in the future.
SPEAKER_00: And sometimes the future is now. But one thing that I learned is that they're predicting that we'll have robots in our homes within five years, not 20, five years.
SPEAKER_00: And also they've made this little robot that can go into substations and see whether or not there's any problems with the equipment.
SPEAKER_00: And I mean it. It's just I got to see the little robot go around and I was blown away. So there are many, many innovations coming to the future.
SPEAKER_00: And I was really glad to be able to be part of that. And with that, I'll turn it back over.
Unknown: All right. So next is Vice President Kurth from Ward 5.
SPEAKER_09: Well, thank you very much. I had the great honor of giving an award to Simian Gantt, Dr. Simian Gantt, who started Green Tech here in the Sacramento area.
SPEAKER_04: He was honored by the Kings on Martin Luther King Celebration Night there.
SPEAKER_04: And I think all of us have always been a fan of Simian. He does some great work and it was nice to see him honored in that way.
Unknown: He attended the MLK March, although the northern branch of it started at Grant High School and marched through Del Paso Heights on the MLK.
SPEAKER_04: And I have to say the sense of optimism, the energy, all the young people assembled there.
Unknown: I remember a time when most of the folks doing the marching were kind of my age. And there were very few of us left there.
SPEAKER_04: It's all young people who were out doing the marching. It was very exciting.
SPEAKER_04: Came back to a job fair and a cook-off and food trucks and all kinds of interesting things that the high school kids put together.
Unknown: Next up was, attended the Sacramento Business Journal, a 2026 economic forecast.
SPEAKER_04: It too was encouraging, although not as encouraging as I wish it was.
SPEAKER_04: But it was good to see that there are indeed still companies exploring Sacramento trying to move here and continue to hear that
SPEAKER_04: SMUD is one of the big attractors, that the reliability of our power, the affordability of our power, is a big economic advantage to the Sacramento area.
Unknown: Attended with Council Member Roger Dickinson had his first small business roundtable. It was a listening session.
SPEAKER_04: It was also in Del Paso Heights at the Urban League Center there.
Unknown: And came away with several things that small businesses are continuing to hope for from SMUD.
SPEAKER_04: Particularly electrification and being able to say that they are providing carbon-free power in their products was a big deal to them.
SPEAKER_04: And they also are very appreciative of the work that we do to make sure the lights stay on and it's affordable for them.
SPEAKER_04: Joined the North State Building Industry along with Director Rose for their installation of officers.
SPEAKER_04: Also an exciting time for the housing industry when we realized that there's this tremendous housing shortage to see this group of people figuring out how to deliver in the current environment that we have now.
SPEAKER_04: Still continue to deliver housing and make it possible for people to have a home of their own.
SPEAKER_04: Lastly, let me just say I also attended Distribute Tech and my thanks to the staff for all the great presentations that we had there and all the really just unbelievable progress that's being made in the electric utility industry at this time.
SPEAKER_04: It wasn't that many years ago when we thought about carbon but nobody else said much about it.
SPEAKER_04: And we've been trying to reduce it and then the industry was suddenly confronted with this nationwide worldwide problem to how do we get carbon out of our electric system.
SPEAKER_04: And to see now just a very few years later the tremendous innovation, all the different products, all the new players and folks who are entering the industry and coming up with robot dogs that will automatically inspect our substation for us.
Unknown: In fact we have one of those under trial now and it's already paid for itself by finding a loose connection that could have jeopardized an entire transformer at a substation.
SPEAKER_04: So just to see that and so many other things coming it continues to be a wonderful time to be in the electric utility industry.
SPEAKER_04: And with that, thank you. Back to you.
Unknown: And next we have Director Sanborn of Ward 7.
Unknown: Well we have been very busy this month.
SPEAKER_05: So I'll go back to January when I spoke to the Emerging Leaders Energy Summit where children at the Aerospace Museum were presenting their projects and again these young people were in good hands with them coming up.
SPEAKER_05: I can tell you the projects they came up with, the sequester carbon in the soil through natural ways and growing crops under solar panels and showing how this radish grew so much bigger because it wasn't heat stressed because the panel actually provided some shade and it was just really incredible, the science that they're already learning.
SPEAKER_05: So I was thrilled to do that and again SMUD was a big sponsor of that event, I think the sponsor.
SPEAKER_05: Then I also spoke to the Children's Receiving Home. I'm also on the Board of the Children's Receiving Home. It's the one on Auburn Boulevard and they had a day of service and I want to thank our friends at Kaiser Permanente who showed up with 70 staff who volunteered their day to go out and help us maintain the property.
SPEAKER_05: Everybody knows that foster homes and group homes are way underfunded and we really needed the help and Kaiser really stepped up for us and we want to thank all of our friends at Kaiser for that.
Unknown: We had put solar panels on and are producing 40% of the energy for the Children's Receiving Home which is fantastic.
Unknown: I also went to my sister's house event. That was the first time I had gone and I learned so much and I thought the most powerful thing was the personal stories of people who have been served by my sister's house where they remove women and children are able to flee an abusive home situation and just the amazing turn arounds in their lives and just thrilled to be there and support that effort.
Unknown: I also attended the Arts Center What's What Cooking at the American River College.
SPEAKER_05: SMUD sponsored an event where we brought high schoolers in and gave them basically a day to learn all about everything about their culinary program and how to cook with induction cooking.
SPEAKER_05: We had our own SMUD staff and contractors showing them how to cook with induction cooking and they loved it. They got demos. They learned a lot.
SPEAKER_05: When I had lunch with two young gals before I left, one of them told me I thought I was going to try and afford to go to a very expensive culinary school but I did not know this very affordable culinary school was right here in my backyard.
SPEAKER_05: I think this is where I'm going to go to school. That's the kind of power that we have when we support those kinds of programs.
SPEAKER_05: Then I also went to the California Municipal Utility Association annual capital day. That was very interesting to hear some of the senators and what's going on with the lots of bills on electricity coming again.
SPEAKER_05: We'll have a lot for our legislative team to work on.
Unknown: El Dorado County, I went to their Chamber of Commerce awards dinner as well and saw Jason be inducted into being on the executive committee.
SPEAKER_05: I had a friend from that area that joined us and it was just a wonderful evening. We're so grateful to our friends in El Dorado County for hosting us because we have so much utility operations, facilities up there.
SPEAKER_05: Jason actually lives up there. He's very part of the community.
SPEAKER_05: I did go to the home and garden show and saw our staff. We had a booth and again we were showing off induction cooking. They did a fantastic job. They got approval. They were very proud that they got approval by the Department of Health so that they could actually cook on site and be sanitary.
Unknown: They were cooking fritters and giving out information about the rebates for the induction cookers. That was awesome. Lots of people were there, thousands and thousands.
SPEAKER_05: Distribute Tech is always amazing. That conference for people who don't know is really a conference for people all around the country to come.
Unknown: It was in San Diego this year and we were able to... It was nice and close. A few of us went, but boy seeing that new technology.
SPEAKER_05: One of the things that I know, Director Herber and I looked at closely were the new smart panels where we can avoid having to put in a whole new line for electricity to increase their power.
SPEAKER_05: The panel is so smart, you can program it to say I want it to run my heating and air over my car. It will decide based on how much power is coming through which one gets turned off or back on based on your priorities.
SPEAKER_05: That will save us a lot of money for customers and for us. We're excited about that. Astro the dog is amazing. We're very excited about Astro the robot to help us identify problems.
SPEAKER_05: The human eye and some of our human inspectors can't see or detect. They actually have a bunch of different equipment and tests on them.
SPEAKER_05: I did a tour of the community outreach academy. It's a big school up by McClellan. Very impressed with what they're doing there and thank them for that tour.
SPEAKER_05: I did present the award on behalf of... I mentioned that you were out of town, Director Rose. But the Chamber of Commerce of Orangevale had their best of Orangevale awards and it was a really fun event.
Unknown: Yeah, happy to be there. And then Civic Well Policy Bridge. I attended that. I'm also on the Civic Well Board. It's where we bring policy makers together.
Unknown: We had a policy bridge meeting where we had a lot of legislators there and very interesting panels. I know Director Fission was there as well.
Unknown: They had panels on energy, panels on circular economy and just a lot of people talking about what's coming this year and what can we do in this environment right now to make progress.
Unknown: With that, I think I will wrap it up and again another busy month.
Unknown: Thank you very much. Busy month for everybody. Excuse me. Got a little frog in my throat.
SPEAKER_09: I had actually a very busy month. This is the first time that I've ever had more than one full page for just half of a month and then I've got a whole other... So that was in January.
SPEAKER_09: So the first thing I'll mention is I was really inspired by the event, the Emerging Leaders Energy Summit poster that Director Sanborn mentioned.
SPEAKER_09: Some really great projects by a number of young people who put a lot of work into their projects.
SPEAKER_09: I was very pleased to go to the Telugu Association of Greater Sacramento Sankranti Celebration, which is like a New Year's harvest celebration.
SPEAKER_09: Our Chief Information Officer, Suresh, is a Telugu speaker. It's one of the two states in southern India. So it was very nice to go to that.
Unknown: If you get a chance to go to that next year, they have amazing performances by people who put years and years into maintaining the Telugu culture and a lot of the stories that are told through dance.
SPEAKER_09: Absolutely amazing. So keep on the lookout for that next January.
SPEAKER_09: I was very honored to be at the Martin Luther King 44th annual March for the Dream, starting at City College, and had an opportunity to speak there about and really mention how we are not, as an organization,
SPEAKER_09: SMUD is not backing off of our commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging, that we're fully on board with that, and we're not going backwards.
Unknown: I had a meeting with Manuel Guillote, who is the new, relatively new Executive Director of United Latinos.
Unknown: They're very active in South Sacramento, as many of you probably know. There's a very large Latino community in South Sacramento.
SPEAKER_09: They do environmental stuff, they've done air quality monitoring, lots of tree planning, and then community engagement.
SPEAKER_09: One of the things that we talked about, and SMUD is actually a sponsor of this, is a Latino community leader forum that's coming up on February 28th.
SPEAKER_09: They anticipate about 150 people who are active in the Latino community, just to talk about issues that they think should be priorities to be addressed.
SPEAKER_09: Not sure how they're going to manage all the input, but it sounds like a great opportunity.
SPEAKER_09: I was very pleased to be at my sister's house, 25th anniversary, Gala. That's always inspiring, and I'm really glad to support that.
SPEAKER_09: I met with Angela Laws of the Xerces Society. The Xerces Society is an organization that focuses on invertebrate conservation.
SPEAKER_09: Things like pollinators, monarch butterflies, freshwater mussels even.
SPEAKER_09: We talked about some of the things that SMUD is doing to enhance pollinator habitat in a lot of different ways.
SPEAKER_09: That was just a really good opportunity to let her know. She was already very involved in some of the things we're doing down in Rancho Seco.
SPEAKER_09: We talked about other opportunities to look for ways to help invertebrate conservation.
SPEAKER_09: I'm actually one of their ambassadors in this area, so I do tabling and presentations in the Sacramento area.
Unknown: I went to the Indian Association of Sacramento, which is an umbrella group of organizations that generally represent either a specific language group or a state in India.
SPEAKER_09: Many of the states in India are organized around a primary language. There's probably at least a dozen major languages in India.
SPEAKER_09: It was really interesting to meet a lot of people from a lot of different Indian states at that, and they also had some great performances and really good food.
SPEAKER_09: I attended the El Dorado County Chamber of Commerce, and Director Fishman already mentioned that.
SPEAKER_09: Congratulations to James McAllister on being an officer on their board.
SPEAKER_09: Once again, at one of these El Dorado County events, I made another rafting connection.
SPEAKER_09: People up there know that our license provides for recreation flows, which is a really important economic driver in El Dorado County.
SPEAKER_09: As a rafter myself, it's really nice to meet people who are involved in that industry.
SPEAKER_09: I got to speak to a very enthusiastic crowd at the Rancho Cordova Chamber of Commerce Business Outlook, and they had some great presentations on what's coming down the pike for our region economically.
SPEAKER_09: I was just really struck by how enthusiastic people were at that.
SPEAKER_09: I got to learn a little bit more of the things, how the city and the chamber worked together to support economic development and businesses in Rancho Cordova.
SPEAKER_09: It was just a really fun event, and a number of our staff were there, and I know that our staff called them out by name because I know that they're very connected to the business community there.
SPEAKER_09: I think that the business community really knows our staff because we do a lot in there to help them achieve their goals.
SPEAKER_09: I went to the Suvita International Foundation, which is another, primarily, run by Indian Americans, but they work in the Folsom Cordova School District.
SPEAKER_09: They worked with two different groups, one that developed an app for navigating Rancho Cordova's city services, and the other was an app that helped people.
SPEAKER_09: This is one that we specifically supported as SMUD.
SPEAKER_09: They developed an app to learn about energy conservation measures, so that was really cool to see what they came up with.
SPEAKER_09: I did a lot of things last month.
SPEAKER_09: I had another very interesting interview with Farsi.
SPEAKER_09: It's a Farsi radio, Farsi language radio. It's called BombDod.
SPEAKER_09: They reach out, primarily, in the Farsi language and got to talk about some of the types of things that we do to support the community.
SPEAKER_09: That organization actually really does a lot.
SPEAKER_09: They help people understand all the programs that we have.
SPEAKER_09: I had a really nice visit with NCCT, Northern California Construction Training, the same organization that Director Herber mentioned.
SPEAKER_09: I went to an actual exercise where I think there were about 15 or 20 young people who had just wired up some circuits in a house.
SPEAKER_09: They mocked up a house framing and they ran the wires and hooked them all up.
SPEAKER_09: Then they fired them up and tested them.
SPEAKER_09: Michelle Stoffel is absolutely amazing.
SPEAKER_09: I know that we support the work of NCCT.
SPEAKER_09: She's an incredible ambassador, really helps these young people advance in their careers.
SPEAKER_09: She really knows how to give them really good training, really good advice.
SPEAKER_09: It was great. I had the chance to talk to several of the young people there.
SPEAKER_09: They're really thankful that they had that opportunity.
SPEAKER_09: They're all looking forward to working in some sort of trade.
SPEAKER_09: Two of them were really interested in working for SMUD.
SPEAKER_09: Hopefully, best wishes to them. I wish them all the luck in the world.
SPEAKER_09: Another really great thing that I got to participate in was the celebration of the Meadowview Neighborhood Electrification Project.
SPEAKER_09: I didn't know that we had almost 100 people within the SMUD organization who worked on that project.
SPEAKER_09: It's a great project. It's the one where we obtained money from the federal government.
SPEAKER_09: I think we matched it dollar for dollar, didn't we?
SPEAKER_09: We had $6 million to electrify several hundred homes in Meadowview.
SPEAKER_09: There was a workforce component and people in a disadvantaged neighborhood getting the advantage of electrifying their homes.
SPEAKER_09: I was just so thankful that we have such a great team that really leans into the work that we do in the community.
SPEAKER_09: Without their enthusiasm and without their genuine heart and all the energy that they put into it and talent that they put into it, we wouldn't be successful.
SPEAKER_09: This was just a great example of a very successful program.
SPEAKER_09: I know we have lots of other programs that we do, but it was really nice to see all the people there.
SPEAKER_09: I also got to speak at the SMUD CARES Appreciation Luncheon.
SPEAKER_09: There were over 100 people there and those are just the larger donors who donated a lot of money to the funds that we collect and then donate.
SPEAKER_09: We recognized a lot of different categories of volunteers, teams that volunteered.
SPEAKER_09: It's just really a heartwarming thing of what a great group of people that we have working and how much people contribute of their own time and their own money to the community.
SPEAKER_09: I was really glad to be part of that.
Unknown: I've been meeting with members of a group called Save Coyote Creek, but we're talking now about moving what we're doing now to, as we're developing the program.
SPEAKER_09: We're talking about getting renewable energy, whether it's in-house or third party.
SPEAKER_09: We've been talking and it's sort of in preparation for a presentation that's going to occur both for our staff and that group on March 11th.
SPEAKER_09: I really appreciate the positive feedback I've gotten from them.
SPEAKER_09: I really appreciate what Paul and your staff has been doing to help move this along and making sure that the community understands
Unknown: very robust processes in place now.
SPEAKER_09: We'll do a full presentation on March 11th and a discussion about that.
SPEAKER_09: I just want to make sure people understand that we're already doing a lot.
SPEAKER_09: A big part of the discussions is to make sure that that part of the community understands what we're doing.
SPEAKER_09: Of course, we're open to tweaking things to make it better as it's appropriate for our goals as a utility.
SPEAKER_09: Finally, I'm going to mention I had the incredible honor and opportunity to go to, along with the Mayor of Sacramento and two Councilmembers, Guerra and Talamantes,
SPEAKER_09: to the Sacramento-Muralia Sister City signing of the agreement between the two cities.
SPEAKER_09: We met with the Mayor and their Secretaries and their City Council, and then Secretaries and other officials from the state government,
SPEAKER_09: talking about the very organic, very deep connections that our region has with Muralia and the state that it's the capital of.
SPEAKER_09: We have a lot of commonalities with that, and we're following that up with a meeting.
SPEAKER_09: They're coming here in two or three months, and we're looking at what can we do to have a similar sort of...
SPEAKER_09: to match their hospitality, or at least attempt to match their hospitality, because their hospitality was amazing as is their food, and it's a really beautiful city.
SPEAKER_09: There's a lot of great things going on there.
SPEAKER_09: I had discussions with the City Secretary of the Environment, along with Alberto Ayala, who's the Sacramento's Executive Director of their Quality District,
SPEAKER_09: talking about those things and talking to some economic development folks there, as well as people who, from Muralia and Michua Khan,
SPEAKER_09: who assist people who are from their area, but are currently living in Sacramento in the environment, and there's a very large contingent of people here.
SPEAKER_09: I want to make sure that we're connected with those folks here, with all the programs that we have to support all of our citizens,
SPEAKER_09: so that we can continue to improve how inclusive we are, make sure that folks who are from another country that may not understand how things are done here,
SPEAKER_09: or may even be reluctant to call their electric utility, we want to make sure that they know that we're here to help.
SPEAKER_09: So I'm looking forward to the further development of that sister city, talk to Paul about, hey, how else can we participate in this?
SPEAKER_09: So I'm looking forward to their visit, and hope that other folks from SMUD can have the opportunity to meet with some of those folks.
SPEAKER_09: Sorry, that was a long report, but I was actually really busy.
SPEAKER_09: Anyway, so we will conclude our Director's Reports, and now we will move to our CEO's report.
SPEAKER_09: Got anything to say, Paul?
Unknown: Well, thank you so much, President Tamayo.
SPEAKER_01: So February and SMUD include some great celebrations for Black History Month and Lunar New Year.
Unknown: Now, first, in honor of Black History Month, next week our Black Employees Resource Group, BERCC, will host a celebration exploring the impact of the Black Church on culture, community, and social change.
SPEAKER_01: Now, during the event commemorating the 100-year anniversary of the Black History Month, local pastors will share just how much the church has shaped faith, social justice, and community building.
SPEAKER_01: Now, early this week, our group reaching out across International Network, or GRAAAN, Employee Resource Group, teamed up with the Allies and Diverse Ability Partnering Together, ADAPT group, and the Military Employee Resource Group to host a delicious dim sum lunch in honor of the year of the fire horse.
SPEAKER_01: Now, this event was backed by popular demand, making it the second time the ERGs had now hosted dim sum to celebrate Lunar New Year.
SPEAKER_01: And this was also a special presentation from the Military Employee Resource Group on the fall of Saigon.
SPEAKER_01: Now, thank you, everyone, including Director Herbert was there celebrating with our employees, involving putting together this really impactful event for our employees.
SPEAKER_01: And it was really, really heartwarming to hear some of the stories, how employees, families, really, as refugees left Vietnam during the fall of Saigon, how they actually took a long journey to Hong Kong.
SPEAKER_01: And then how really, really interesting how someone got the journey to Sacramento through all different places in the U.S. and how they ended up here.
SPEAKER_01: So it was really, really, really heartwarming story.
SPEAKER_01: So I want to give a special thanks for those employees who actually went up there, shared family photos, and shared their family histories, and the struggle they had actually coming over here.
SPEAKER_01: So it was really heartfelt.
Unknown: Now, we also held our annual SMUD Care Appreciation Luncheon honoring 2025 top volunteers and donors.
SPEAKER_01: Thank you, President Tamayo, for being there and honoring the employees and the employee groups that actually won the awards.
SPEAKER_01: Now, last year, SMUD employees pledged more than 500,000 of their personal funds to support the nonprofit organization they're passionate about.
SPEAKER_01: Whatever I actually mentioned is to the community, people are actually shocked that employees would donate 500,000 of their money to help those in need.
SPEAKER_01: It's really heartwarming.
SPEAKER_01: And then also, our dedicated employees also volunteer over 4,000 hours through SMUD Care events.
SPEAKER_01: Now, of course, I was known that employees are the best at giving back to the community, but what really impressed me the most is how we come together each year to keep taking charitable giving to new heights.
SPEAKER_01: It will break the record every single year.
SPEAKER_01: Now, thank you to all our generous donors and volunteers, and again, President Tamayo, for attending and sharing a few words about employees.
SPEAKER_01: A special thanks to our zero carbon officer, Laura Angway, for serving as last year's SMUD Care Executive Sponsor.
SPEAKER_01: And lastly, thank you to our 2026 SMUD Care Executive Co-Chair, Jose Mujito-Mamba, and also Brandy Bolton.
SPEAKER_01: So they've got great events coming, and I hope we'll beat the new record every single year as we do.
Unknown: Now, our Regional Workforce Development Community Education team also hosted the emerging Leaders Energy Summit, where students across the region competed for the $2,000 scholarships.
SPEAKER_01: Students shared how they're going to make an impact in the community around climate change through community service projects, focused on this year's theme, feeling the future, where food meets energy.
Unknown: Now, the event wrapped up a journey that started last September when students spent three days learning the links between food energy and climate change.
SPEAKER_01: And thank you, President Tamayo and Board Members Heidi Samborn, for being part of that special day.
SPEAKER_01: Now, for the next video, in a series of videos intended for social media, we're giving customers a high-level overview of the many things we prioritize as SMUD.
SPEAKER_01: This short video was created to showcase how we're prioritizing going electric within our fleet vehicles and equipment. Now, let's take a good video.
Unknown: At SMUD, we're powering a cleaner future, including electrifying our own fleet.
SPEAKER_02: By adding more electric vehicles and electrification measures, we're reducing emissions and protecting our environment.
SPEAKER_02: Switching from gas to electric in our vehicles and other equipment means cleaner air, quieter neighborhoods, and a healthier planet for generations to come.
Unknown: Through our 2030 Zero Carbon Plan, we're committed to sustainability, innovation, and leading the way in clean energy. Join us as we electrify today for a brighter tomorrow.
SPEAKER_02: Learn more about how you can be part of a clean energy future at smud.org.
SPEAKER_02: SMUD. Powering forward together.
SPEAKER_01: And back to you, President Tamayo.
SPEAKER_09: Thank you. Before I ask for a summary of board direction, I actually don't think we really have any.
SPEAKER_09: I forgot to mention, because I knew that I had been talking a really long time, so I can put the mic down.
SPEAKER_09: When I was in Morelia, one of the groups, Casa Morelia, provided us with this nice plaque that shows Morelos, who is one of the revolutionary war heroes, revolution heroes, 1910 revolution in Mexico.
SPEAKER_09: And that's the city that Morelia is named after.
SPEAKER_09: And so this was presented to us as a recognition of our friendship with the city of Morelia.
SPEAKER_09: And it's a really nice plaque, so hopefully we can find a place of honor for this, because I'm really looking forward to developing that relationship.
Unknown: Thank you.
SPEAKER_09: And I'm correct that we had no summary of board direction, so having completed the agenda and seeing no further business, this meeting is adjourned.