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Flores, Dora From:Christopher Bout <Christopher.Bout@se.com> Sent:Monday, September 28, 2020 6:06 PM To:Gomez, Daisy Subject:City Clerk: For Public Comment at Next Council Meeting Dear Daisy Gomez, So sorry but I just sent this to the City Manager instead of you, so you might get this exact email forwarded to you… I wish to submit this for public comment for the upcoming city council meeting (Tuesday night, correct?). If not, please read it publicly at the next one. Can you confirm please? *** FOR PUBLIC COMMENT *** Good evening Mayor, City Councilmembers, City Manager Kristine Ridge and staff, I wish to submit this public comment tonight not as a resident, but as a guest to the City of Santa Ana. I work for energy contractor Schneider Electric and long-time partner to the League of California League of Cities. It is likely we have crossed paths at any of the past League events. I have a grave concern. This concern is for the integrity of our electrical distribution network and how its failure may affect Santa Ana. California’s grid is in dire need of upgrades and struggles to maintain the current demand for power resulting in an increased risk of fires from sheer overload and what we see happening all over the state this time of the year, rolling blackouts. Critical facilities like city hall campuses, fire departments, police departments libraries, corporate yards and other facilities which serve the public good… these facilities NEED to remain fully operational in the event of a power outage. The current state of commonly used backup diesel generation is severely limited on capacity, plus, the overuse of such equipment results in significant AQMD fines. There IS a solution. This solution deploys on-site power generating equipment, on-site energy storage and the required power management hardware to completely disconnect the facility from the grid and remain fully operational in the event of an extended grid outage of multiple days. Best of all, this solution does NOT require capital expenditure so precious capital dollars are preserved. We fund such projects through private equity and we already have a private equity partner ready to come sit down with us to have a discussion. This new development in resiliency is game-changing. The market has not ever seen this type of disruption. The citizens of Santa Ana need this type of FULL energy security and FULL energy autonomy, because the utility grid is poised for failure – the only question is when. That said, I seek a meeting with Kristine Ridge at the earliest convenience. My contact information follows this letter. Thank you very much for your attention and consideration. Sincerely, Christopher Bout 1