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The Livermore City Council is scheduled to hold three public hearings at Monday’s regular meeting and take action on relevant items including a power purchase agreement, updates to the city’s development code and protests related to select properties’ non-payment for Livermore Sanitation services.
The renewable energy and storage PPA up for discussion July 14 is a 25-year agreement with Ava Community Energy, the default electricity provider in Alameda County and the cities of Tracy, Stockton and Lathrop.
Under the proposed agreement, Ava would install solar and storage systems at Livermore’s civic center meeting hall and maintenance service center for no upfront capital costs to the city, according to the staff report prepared by Livermore sustainability program manager Tricia Pontau.
Ava would own, operate and maintain the solar generation and storage equipment. Meanwhile, the city would pay Ava monthly for solar power generated at rates of $0.235/kWh at the meeting hall and $0.210/kWh at the maintenance service center as well as $20/kW of storage for each site, the report states.
“This project will enhance community energy resilience consistent with the city’s climate action and emergency operations goals,” according to Pontau. “Additionally, the technical expertise, streamlined procurement process and operation and maintenance provided by this program reduces costs and risk for the city.”
Previously in February 2025, the council adopted a resolution authorizing the City Manager to enter into a PPA with Ava to install solar and battery storage systems at facilities including civic center meeting hall, maintenance service center as well as city hall, water reclamation plant and the police department, according to Pontau.
Shortly after the council’s authorization, vendor Green Bridge determined that it could not deliver on the project deadlines and rates established in the PPA due to uncertainty around equipment costs and supply chain timelines, amid new federal policies. Green Bridge removed itself from the partnership and the city manager did not execute the PPA with Ava.
Then in May 2025, the Ava Board of Directors authorized its staff to negotiate PPAs with cities under an alternative ownership structure in which Ava, not a third party, would finance and own the solar and storage systems, the report states.
Under the current proposal, contract conditions with Ava would apply to any other subcontractors. Ava’s contractor, unnamed in the staff report, will make electrical upgrades and improvements at a cost included in the city’s monthly payments to Ava.
Following the public hearing, council will consider authorizing the city manager to execute the 25-year PPA with Ava.
Another public hearing Monday is set to cover the comprehensive housing update to the Livermore development code and establishment of mixed-use and multifamily objective design standards.
The comprehensive update would incorporate various state housing laws, establish legally enforceable citywide objective design standards applicable to multifamily residential and mixed-use residential projects as well as increase project review streamlining, according to a report prepared by Livermore planning manager Steve Riley. These changes would also help implement policies in the city’s adopted 2023-31 Housing Element.
The council will also open the floor to hear protests regarding 22 owner-occupied residences that are more than 12 months behind on payment to Livermore Sanitation, Inc. for solid waste, recycling and organics handling services, according to a report prepared by Livermore public works director Carl Brown.
LSI and the city have distributed multiple notifications to these accounts regarding their unpaid debts, accumulated from July 2023 to June 2024 (fiscal year 2023-24).
Per state and city code, LSI may assign to the city all of LSI’s rights to collect these delinquent accounts in order for the city to pursue collections.
Account holders may settle their account until 7 p.m. July 14, which means the amount and number of accounts eligible for assessment may decrease following publication of the staff report. This cutoff date is necessary for this assessment to be included in the fiscal year 2025-26 County Tax Assessor’s billing.
Staff recommends that council adopt a resolution to confirm the 2023-24 fiscal year assessments and direct staff to forward a finalized copy of the assessment report to the County Tax Assessor.
The Livermore City Council is scheduled to meet at 7 p.m. July 14. The full agenda is available here.
