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Governance

Ava is a public agency based in Oakland with a staff of about 85, governed by a Board of local elected officials and advised by a Community Advisory Committee. Our Board meets once a month and all meetings are open to the public.

Board of Directors

The Ava Board of Directors is made up of an elected official from each of the participating jurisdictions and one representative (non-voting) from the Community Advisory Committee (CAC). The Board sets rates, approves the annual budget, and determines the mix of power sources. You can view a copy of the final Joint Powers Authority agreement here.

Ava’s Board of Directors Subcommittees are:

  • Executive Committee meets monthly. Members of the Executive Committee are: Balch, Hu, Kalb, Márquez, Tiedemann.
  • Marketing, Regulatory and Legislative Subcommittee meets every other month (even months). Members of the Subcommittee are: Barrientos, Jorgens, Patiño, Roche (Chair), and Wright.
  • Financial, Administrative and Procurement Subcommittee meets every other month (even months). Members of the Subcommittee are: Andersen, Bedolla, Cox (Chair), Gonzalez and Kaur.
JurisdictionMemberAlternate
Alameda CountySupervisor Elisa MárquezSupervisor Lena Tam
AlbanyCouncilmember Aaron Tiedemann (Vice Chair)Vice Mayor Robin López
BerkeleyCouncilmember Igor TregubCouncilmember Cecilia Lunaparra
DublinVice Mayor Sherry HuCouncilmember Kashef Qaadri
EmeryvilleCouncilmember Sukhdeep KaurCouncilmember John Bauters
FremontCouncilmember Teresa CoxMayor Lily Mei
HaywardCouncilmember Julie RocheCouncilmember Daniel Goldstein
LathropVice Mayor Minnie Diallo Councilmember Jennifer Torres-O’Callaghan
LivermoreCouncilmember Ben Barrientos Councilmember Evan Branning
NewarkCouncilmember Matthew JorgensMayor Mike Hannon
OaklandCouncilmember Dan KalbVice Mayor Rebecca Kaplan
PiedmontVice Mayor Betsy AndersenCouncilmember Conna McCarthy
PleasantonCouncilmember Jack Balch (Chair)Councilmember Jeff Nibert
San LeandroMayor Juan González IIIVice Mayor Fred Simon
StocktonCouncilmember Dan WrightVice Mayor Kimberly Warmsley
TracyCouncilmember Mateo BedollaCouncilmember Dan Arriola
Union CityCouncilmember Jaime PatiñoCouncilmember Scott Sakakihara
Community Advisory Committee (non-voting)Ed Hernandez, ChairLorraine Souza, Vice Chair

Community Advisory Committee

The Community Advisory Committee (CAC) consists of twelve members (ten appointed by the Board of Directors to represent five service area regions, and two At Large members appointed by the Alameda County Mayors’ Conference) plus five Alternates. The committee acts as a liaison between key stakeholders and our Board, holding regular public committee meetings.

About the Community Advisory Committee

The Community Advisory Committee was formed in 2016 as part of the Ava Community Energy Joint Powers Authority and appointed by the Board of Directors to advise the Board on all subjects related to the operations of the Community Choice Aggregation program. The CAC gives the community a voice in its choice of electricity services, clean energy resource investments, and local energy projects.

Ava strives to ensure a diversity of members and alternates based on location, population, work experience, and community interest.

View the Community Advisory Committee Work Plan.

NameRegionAppointmentCity of Residence
Cynthia LandryNorthMemberOakland
Lisa HuNorthMemberOakland
Indira BalkissoonNorthMemberPiedmont
Peter WeinerNorthAlternate MemberBerkeley
Pete StephensonEastMemberLivermore
Jill GileEastAlternate MemberLivermore
Vijay LakshmanSouthMemberFremont
Shiva SwaminathanSouthMemberFremont
Ernesto PachecoCentralMemberHayward
Lorraine “Mickey” Souza,
Vice Chair
CentralMemberHayward
Rachel DiFrancoCentralAlternate MemberCherryland – Unincorporated Alameda County
Harman RatiaSan Joaquin CountyMemberTracy
Davis HarperSan Joaquin CountyMemberStockton
Jim LutzAt LargeMemberOakland
Ed Hernandez, ChairAt LargeMemberSan Leandro