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HomeMy WebLinkAboutEnergy Board - Minutes - 03/11/2021 ENERGY BOARD REGULAR MEETING March 11, 2021 – 5:30 pm Remote – Zoom Meeting ROLL CALL Board Members Present: Jeremy Giovando, Bill Becker, Alan Braslau, Marge Moore, Steve Tenbrink, John Fassler, Sue McFaddin Board Members Absent: Dan Gould OTHERS PRESENT Staff Members Present: Adam Bromley, Christie Fredrickson, Tim McCollough, Cyril Vidergar, John Phelan, Molly Saylor, Leland Keller, Kraig Bader, Lisa Rosintoski, Lance Smith Platte River Power Authority: Trista Fugate Members of the Public: Tim (last name not provided), Rick Coen MEETING CALLED TO ORDER Chairperson Becker called the meeting to order at 5:30 pm PUBLIC COMMENT None. APPROVAL OF MINUTES In preparation for the meeting, board members submitted amendments via email for the February 11, 2021 minutes. The minutes were approved as amended. ANNOUNCEMENTS & AGENDA CHANGES The Energy Board will continue to meet remotely, pursuant to Ordinance No. 79, 2020. STAFF REPORTS COVID-19’s Impact on Utility Delinquencies and Uncollected Revenue Lisa Rosintoski, Deputy Director, Utilities Customer Connections (attachments available upon request) Staff will be recommending to Council to resume service disconnects beginning May 3, cycling through individual customers’ billing cycles (there are currently nine different billing cycles in a month). Staff notified customers that if they do receive a disconnect notice to contact Utilities because financial assistance and payment arrangements are available. Utilities suspended service disconnects and notices for non-payment in March of 2020, per the Governor’s moratorium. By mid-summer, the Governor’s disconnects moratorium was lifted but maintained in place for late fees and reconnection fees. Utilities maintained their own moratorium on service disconnects, but staff began sending letters to eligible accounts offering resources for assistance. In September, City Council approved the distribution of CARES Act funding for customers to use toward their utility payments. In October, Utilities sent a postcard notifying customers of the CARES Act funding ENERGY BOARD REGULAR MEETING (because it did have a deadline to use by the end of the year), as well as a letter informing customers of payment assistance options and that disconnects would be resuming in the future. In November, staff had additional communications with customers around these notices and options, including phone calls. Ms. Rosintoski said many of the customers she spoke with were so appreciative of the call, and that someone took the time to explain the options and answer any questions they had. By December, Staff heard there was additional funding on the way, so they felt it would be disingenuous to resume disconnects at that time. As of today, service disconnects, late fees, or reconnection fees, have not yet resumed. Staff continues to reach out to customers with past-due balances to inform them of their options ahead of the May 3 date. Potential financial assistance options within the community also include Energy Outreach Colorado, Neighbor to Neighbor, and the American Rescue Plan. City Council will also be considering an appropriation of the $468,941 gift from Platte River. Staff has learned many neighboring utilities have already resumed disconnects including Xcel, Black Hills Energy, the City of Loveland, Colorado Springs Utilities, the City of Fountain, and the Town of Estes Park. Like us, the City of Longmont has not resumed disconnections in hopes of more funding to provide financial assistance. Board member Tenbrink wondered if the City of Longmont will resume disconnects. Ms. Rosintoski said they have not yet set a date. He also wondered if, after talking to the delinquent customers on the phone, Ms. Rosintoski had any sense of why most customers were behind on their bills, such as lost jobs, illness? Ms. Rosintoski said staff called over 300 customers, and they really saw the whole gamete of issues. Chairperson Becker asked at what point in delinquency are disconnect notices sent. Ms. Rosintoski said usually around 50 days past-due, but they will have received several notices about their past-due status ahead of the disconnect notice. Board member Giovando asked what the impact on the Utility is if the bills remain uncollected. Mr. Smith said the unpaid debt wouldn’t threaten the financial sovereignty of the Utility, but it’s more debt than the Utility has ever seen in the past—it shows how much help these customers need. Utility Winter Storm Preparation Tim McCollough, Deputy Director, Utilities Light & Power The City doesn’t generally do a lot of plowing on residential streets, and not all the Utility’s trucks are set up to navigate this depth of snow (24”-36”), so there are people on call who can clear the way ahead of the work trucks if needed. Plant and Operations staff also have plans in case the weather is too inclement to get to or from their work sites. OUR CLIMATE FUTURE PLAN John Phelan, Energy Services Senior Manager Molly Saylor, Senior Specialist Environmental Sustainability (attachments available upon request) The City has over 20 years of experience working on climate action, energy, and waste reduction; the Our Climate Future (OCF) plan is reflective of that effort as it has evolved to carry the community’s ambitious goals through the next decade. Climate action is and always has been an exercise in integration and alignment, and Our Climate Future is composed of joint updates to the Climate Action Plan, the Energy ENERGY BOARD REGULAR MEETING Policy, and the Road to Zero Waste plan. It also provides the City and the community an opportunity to strengthen collaboration while breaking down silos. On Tuesday, March 16 staff will be asking Council to adopt the Our Climate Future Plan, which includes the implementation structure and process (Big Moves and a portfolio of Next Moves, and an evergreen two-year calibrate and review cycle), as well as updated waste and energy goals. The materials presented to Council will also include the 2021-22 Two-Year Tactical Plan and an action guide. The two- year calibrate and review cycle allows the plan to be agile with respect to market conditions, the City’s budget cycles, changes in technology, as well as community response and feedback. Staff received constructive feedback on OCF from both Council and community, and they were able to address all key themes within the final version of the OCF plan. These themes included concern over the waste diversion goal, maintaining an equity driven focus in implementation, reducing jargon, clarity on how the community can act, and interest in things such as regionalism, carbon mitigation and metrics. OCF has a clear commitment to the City’s 2030 goals: 100 percent renewable electricity, 100 percent waste diversion, and 80 percent reduction in carbon emissions. These goals will help carry the community onward to a carbon neutral future. The plan’s primary Energy Goals are to provide 100 percent renewable electricity by 2030 with grid and local sources, to provide five percent of community electricity from local distributed renewable sources by 203, and to achieve a 20 percent reduction in forecast electricity use between 2021 and 2030 through efficiency and conservation programs in all building types and industrial processes. OCF also outlines additional goals around reliability metrics, natural gas efficiency (10 percent reduction in forecast usage), energy code adoption (both adoption and enforcement of updated codes on a three-year cycle), grid flexibility (bidirectional demand flexibly capacity of five percent of peak loads), and pricing principles. OCF identifies three Critical Path strategies, as well as a flexible portfolio approach of strategies to reach the goals. The Critical Path requires ongoing and consistent efforts through 2030 to reach the City’s 2030 goal of an 80 percent reduction from the 2005 levels of carbon inventory emissions. The Critical Path includes the following strategies: 100 percent renewable electricity, expansion of the local and regional transit network, and community-wide organic waste diversion. The flexible portfolio will be reviewed and calibrated with the community every two years, and is responsive to changes in technology and markets, other levels of government (state and federal), as well as the community’s priorities and partnership. The two-year tactical plan includes detailed descriptions of the initial Next Moves (who is leading, supporting partners, near term investments, and case studies), and clear expectations of OCF actions in 2021 and 2022. The Tactical Plan will be updated next year to get on the same cycle as the City’s Budgeting for Outcomes process. Staff selected the tactical plan strategies with the continuation of existing initiatives and applying an equity lens (how do these programs perform and support the outcomes the City is seeking from its equity goals). Board member Tenbrink wondered how population growth is factored into the goal of 20 percent reduction in forecast electricity use. Mr. Phelan noted this goal is not a per-capita metric, so staff looks at efficiency program savings for the program year, as well as how that savings carries forward year to year. For example, installing an LED lamp in a streetlight has an accumulated savings over time. Board member Braslau noted that other fuels, such as biomass (plant or animal material used as fuel to produce electricity or heat) or hydrogen, can help to reduce natural gas usage and they are not mentioned. Mr. Phelan agreed that was a good point, there are no Next Moves specifically pointing to ENERGY BOARD REGULAR MEETING biomass at this time, and he will take note of that for future review and calibration cycles. There are multiple ways to reduce natural gas and it could certainly be more inclusive. Board member McFaddin asked where she can view the tactical plan in its entirety, she would like to view the details and specifics that were not covered in tonight’s meeting. Mr. Phelan said the entire OCF Plan and companion documents (including the Tactical Plan) are available on the City’s website in advance of the City Council meeting on March 16. Chairperson Becker wondered if the electricity reduction goal is netted with the potential of electrification in the community since they are competing against each other within the community. Mr. Phelan said the goal is a 20 percent reduction in what the usage would have been with all the other activities (growth, weather, electrification, etc.), and in the way this goal is structured, the target for efficiency would go up as well. Mr. Becker also noted that a five percent reduction in peak load does not feel all that ambitious, but he wondered what the context of that goal might be. Mr. Phelan said five percent today would equate to roughly 15 megawatts of capacity, and he anticipates this goal will evolve over time. Board member Fassler wondered how confident staff is in forecasted energy usage. Mr. Phelan said not everything is captured in the included chart, and the forecast is not a year-by-year forecast, and staff has much work to do in integrating their forecasts at the local level, as well as integrating that with Platte River at the macro level. It is possible carbon emissions will go up in the interim until Platte River makes a change in their resource mix (in the coming years). Chairperson Becker wondered how budget can influence the plan’s objectives, is it possible to earmark certain items as priority to ensure that there will always be funding. Mr. Phelan said staff is presuming, in the near term at least, that funding for the programs that Energy Services provides will remain, it equates to about 4.5 percent of Utility revenues. How that money is invested will need to shift in the future, toward electrification and grid flexibility. Additionally, the Utility cannot incentivize their way to these goals, the community’s buy-in and investment is necessary. He added that some of the barriers may be outside the Utility’s space, such as in the build out of the transit network. Board member McFaddin said she recognizes how hard it is to implement some of these ambitious ideas and goals, but she believes the community, echoed by Mayor Troxell, are eager to get these goals and projects moving. Board member Tenbrink moved to recommend City Council to adopt the Our Climate Future Plan on March 16, 2021. Vice Chairperson Moore seconded the motion. Discussion: Board members commented on how the Energy Board has always been supportive of energy and climate policy planning, that they are excited to see this plan come to fruition. The Board will encourage staff and Council to continue to be ambitious with implementation. Vote on the motion: It passed unanimously 7-0, with one absent. Mr. Phelan noted this item is on the consent agenda on Tuesday night, so if anyone would like to make public comment, they’ll need to be present for the beginning of the meeting. CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PLAN PROCESS AND EARLY DRAFT Adam Bromley, Director, Light & Power Operations and Technology ENERGY BOARD REGULAR MEETING Kraig Bader, Director, Light & Power Electrical Engineering (attachments available upon request) The Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) identifies the Utility’s needed capital expenditures for the next ten years and informs the next year’s biennial budgeting process. Staff completes a CIP to maintain high reliability and affordability of the distribution system. The Utility faces several challenges in the next decade: 100% renewable electricity goals, increase in electrification, aging assets and infrastructure, customer expectations, housing capacity for Distributed Energy Resources (DER), and population growth. While creating the plan, staff gathers and refers to inputs both up and down the City organization as well as along the entities and stakeholders tied to the electrical infrastructure. Using that information, they assess risks and develop appropriate measures to move forward. Staff will then update the corresponding plans, some of which are updated regularly, and some are more static, offering a framework for staff to work within. These plans include: Load Study & 10 Year Capacity Plan, Operational Technology Roadmap, Substation Asset Management Plans, Distribution System Asset Management Plans, Annexation and System Conversion Plans, and System Relocation Plans. Next, staff will update cost index numbers and projects to current year dollars, which helps staff prioritize projects. The prioritization is also influenced by levels of service, risk registers, and resource capacity. The 2021 CIP’s focus areas include investments in new subdivision construction ($5 million +), Service Center investments (such as backup generation and dual feed and disaster recovery site for supervisory operations), updated Long Range Plan (no new Substations 2023-2032), continued investments in Operational Technology, shifting solution for advanced meter infrastructure backhaul to utilize Connexion fiber, continue targeted investment in system replacements and enhance targeted investment in transformers, higher level of data driven decisions, and increased focus on streetlight replacements. Streetlight replacements are expected to be completed by 2027 under an attrition-based approach. Light and Power staff have been actively replacing older HID (high intensity discharge) technologies, such as high pressure sodium (HPS), mercury vapor, or metal halide, with LED lights as they fail since 2015. Conversion of the roughly 12,000 lights is 37% complete, with completion expected by 2027 under this attrition-based approach. Cable replacements are a data-driven investment, areas are prioritized based on failures within boundaries and high-risk cables to be removed. Cable Replacement priority areas 1-8 were replaced in 2020, and 9-25 are scheduled for design and construction in 2022 and 2023. Directed transformer replacement is also a data-driven investment. Using an aging analysis and a loading data analysis staff identifies transformers that need replacement. Additional environmental factors may also play a role in the replacement schedule, such as electric vehicles or DERs. Staff will be looking for transformers that meet the criteria within the planned cable replacement projects because it makes sense to do these replacement projects in conjunction with each other. Preventative and regulatory maintenance at the Utility’s substation happens regularly, but the Utility is at the forefront of a significant replacement of the substation relays. The project will begin in 2021 and take place for the next several years to get them up to the current standard. Light and Power has new mapping and outage management systems and working to upgrade the eSCADA system. Staff will also begin investigating what utility-scale energy storage would look like for the City of Fort Collins in the coming years. Staff provided a rough draft of the CIP to Finance in mid-February to help prioritize budget offers. Projects ENERGY BOARD REGULAR MEETING need to be prioritized for 2022 and submitted as budget offers by the end of April. This summer, staff will refine the CIP project descriptions, scope, and cost. In September, the City Manager’s Recommended Budget will inform the final draft of the CIP depending on what offers were funded. Staff will submit the final CIP to Finance by October 1. Board member Tenbrink asked what determines if a new substation is needed or not. Mr. Bader said substations are influenced by load centers, existing substations, and feeder capacities. Mr. McCollough added the amount and trajectory of growth in community projected in the next 10-year period also factors into the decision to not add new substations within the current CIP period. Board member Braslau asked how development and electric capacity fees fund or impact CIP projects. Mr. McCollough said the goal is to always have growth pay for growth, so the ECF model should fund all expansion activities; however, the model is constantly changing and evolving so it is evaluated annually. Chairperson Becker wondered if there is a large cliff approaching some of the replacement projects, or does staff expect it to be linear. Mr. Bader said it is not linear, and that’s a good thing. Failures are more on a probability distribution, and though there is some acceleration towards end-of-life, if the maintenance is kept in front of it (such as with the priority replacement areas), it keeps the failure acceleration from getting ahead of us. APRIL WORKSESSION BRAINSTORM The Board would like to discuss Electrification. Chairperson Becker encouraged the Board to consider what they want to get out of it and how to prepare. Mr. Phelan said he and his staff would be happy to come in and give an update on what staff is working on and what they have planned in the short-term. Board members expressed broad interest in beneficial electrification, heat pumps, as well as a hybrid option with supplemental gas for cold snaps. BOARD MEMBER REPORTS The vacancy is posted on the Boards and Commissions page, but recruitment is currently on hold as staff is working on presenting the Reimagining Boards and Commissions Project to City Council. FUTURE AGENDA REVIEW Several operational updates will be presented in April, as well as a review of the 2020 Utilities Customer Satisfaction Survey. Cameron Gloss will also be back to present the Metro Districts evaluation system after there were significant changes made to the point system. ADJOURNMENT The Energy Board adjourned at 8:17 pm.