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HomeMy WebLinkAboutENERGY BOARD - MINUTES - 07/11/2024 ENERGY BOARD July 11, 2024 – 5:30 pm 222 Laporte Ave – Colorado Room ROLL CALL Board Members Present: Marge Moore, Alan Braslau (remote), Thomas Loran, Frederick Wegert, Wendell Stainsby, Scott Canonico, Brian Smith Board Members Absent: Jeremy Giovando, Eric Shenk OTHERS PRESENT Staff Members Present: Christie Fredrickson, Michael Authier, Yvette Lewis-Molok, Cyril Vidergar (remote), Katherine Bailey, Travis Walker Members of the Public: Sue McFaddin MEETING CALLED TO ORDER Interim Chairperson Loran called the meeting to order at 5:30 pm. ANNOUNCEMENTS & AGENDA CHANGES None. PUBLIC COMMENT Sue McFaddin, former Energy Board Member, asked the Board to encourage City Council to stop the building of Platte River’s planned natural gas turbine. The cost to build the turbine will increase wholesale costs significantly, and retail rate increase will be unaffordable for many people. She questioned the baseline capacity actually needed in order to join the regional market and wondered why Platte River is unable to use its existing combustion turbines and hydropower from WAPA. This project does not align with any of the goals of the four communities and from a business perspective it does not make sense. APPROVAL OF MINUTES In preparation for the meeting, board members submitted amendments via email for the June 13, 2024, minutes. The minutes were approved as amended. BUILDING PERFORMANCE STANDARDS UPDATE Katherine Bailey, Project Manager Ms. Bailey briefly reviewed what Building Performance Standards (BPS) are for the Board’s new members and noted that they look very different from one jurisdiction to the next. It needs to be implementable and achievable for our local community and existing building stock. At a very high level, staff is looking to recommend covering buildings (both multifamily and commercial) 5,000 square feet and above because buildings in the 5,000-10,000 square foot range have more attainable targets and timelines. They will be targeting an Energy Use Intensity (EUI) target, so essentially how much energy is used per square foot; the target is weather-normalized and compared to other like- buildings (ex. A house of worship will not have the same target as a restaurant). Ms. Bailey said staff also recognizes the critical need for maximum flexibility, resources, and support. ENERGY BOARD REGULAR MEETING There will always be a situation where an exception or flexibility is needed, so there has to be alternate pathways or offramps built into this program. These can include caps (a limit that a building can achieve in reductions), renewables, and waivers. Adjustments are a part of most BPS policies and can include timeline (ex. A supply chain delay), or targets (ex. Historic buildings). Ms. Bailey said much of the feedback from this Board after her last presentation mirrored the feedback received from technical committee, which was essentially a building performance standard is a policy about performance of an existing building and renewables don’t have anything to do with performance. That said, the goal is to lead with efficiency, but provide a role for renewables. The recommendation from staff to council is to allow onsite renewables to count toward compliance by providing an EUI credit that will apply toward the final goal. Vice Chairperson Moore asked how the targets are determined. Ms. Bailey said staff was able to use a lot of local data (because we have a municipal utility) as compared to some other jurisdictions, which was extremely helpful. Additionally, since we don’t have a statutory requirement to meet, staff was able to build it from the ground up, framed around what is achievable and attainable within the local building. Ms. Bailey said where buildings are in their current efficiencies on the public facing benchmarking transparency map. Board member Wegert asked if there are specific things a building must do to meet the target. Ms. Bailey said building owners are flexible to meet the efficiency target however they want to, for example a restaurant owner who was already planning to upgrade their cooking surfaces could switch them out for high efficiency electric cooktops and that can count toward their EUI target. Ms. Bailey displayed a chart of buildings by size and their energy reduction targets along with an estimated upgrade cost (by square foot). In Fort Collins there are 310 buildings in the 5,000-10,000 square foot range, and 200 (65%) of those building owners need to act by 2035. On average, the reduction to reach their individual targets is 9% and that could cost roughly $4-5.00 per square foot (before any rebates or tax incentives, etc.). When considering only energy savings, BPS implementation has a projected benefit of $0.85 for every $1 in cost spent between 2024-2035. When factoring in the avoided social cost of greenhouse gas emissions, such as health effects, property damage from climate-related natural disasters, and the disruption of energy systems, the benefit increases to $3.18 for every $1 in cost. City Council will be reviewing staff’s final recommendations through a memo, and staff is hoping for program adoption later this summer. The earlier it is adopted will create a longer runway for building owners. Resources that are developed ahead of implementation will be shared widely with impacted groups, both to inform and educate, and to seek feedback on the resources offered. Ongoing feedback will be sought to understand impacts on the community throughout implementation. Board member Stainsby asked why buildings under 5,000 square feet aren’t included, and asked how much commercial energy use falls below the 5,000 square foot threshold. Ms. Bailey explained that some of it has to do with the value for time and energy spent; there are roughly 900 buildings under 5,000 square feet, but their energy use is a fraction of what it is for the larger buildings. The buildings that are included under BPS (roughly 1,400 total) account for 40% of community wide electricity use and 80% of commercial and multi-family use. Vice Chairperson Moore asked how a multi-owner building is treated, such as a condominium building ENERGY BOARD REGULAR MEETING that has individual owners by unit rather than a sole building owner. Ms. Bailey said it is measured on the building footprint, rather than parcel, so in that case it would be the condo association who would be responsible for ensuring the targets are met. Board member Wegert inquired about incentives. Ms. Bailey said incentives will be provided, but there are also a number of funding sources, such as state or Inflation Reduction Act funding, to support increased building efficiency. Ideally, a staff member will be provided to help building owners find available money funding (provided through a budget offer). Ms. Bailey asked the Board if they have suggestions about messaging. Board members suggested leading with ROI and not social engineering costs. Board members wondered if there are any case studies, and if so, providing those along with ROI. In the Spring, the Board drafted a memo in support of BPS, they will refine that draft and bring it current after tonight’s presentation. Ms. Fredrickson will help them get it signed and sent to City Council before Monday, July 15. HOW DOES PLATTE RIVER’S INTEGRATED RESOURCES PLAN AFFECT THE CITY’S CLIMATE GOALS Michael Authier, Mechanical Engineer III Mr. Authier briefly covered some historical highlights around climate, including initial carbon emissions plans dating back as far as 1999. The current guiding policy, Our Climate Future (OCF), was adopted in 2021 and encompasses previous plans, including the Climate Action Plan, the Energy Policy, and the Road to Zero Waste Plan. OCF focuses on mitigation, equity, and resilience and aligns with the City’s Strategic Plan under objective 4.1 (Intensify efforts to meet 2030 climate, energy and 100% renewable electricity goals that are centered in equity and improve community resilience). OCF includes 13 community-created outcomes, known as Big Moves. The work of Energy Services connects to several Big Moves within the OCF plan but is primarily focused on Big Move 6 (Efficient, Emissions Free Buildings: Everyone lives and works in healthy energy and water efficient buildings which transition to become emissions free) and Big Move 12 (100% Renewable Electricity: Everyone in the community receives affordable and reliable 100% renewable electricity, including from local sources). Within each Big Move there are Next Moves (strategies and tactics), which all ties together to the overarching goal of creating the carbon neutral, zero waste and 100% renewable electricity future we desire while improving our community equity and resilience. With OCF, there are six core energy-related goals: Reduce the Community’s greenhouse gas emissions inventory to 50% below 2005 by 2026, 80% below 2005 by 2030, and carbon neutral by 2050; between 2021 and 2030, reduce the Community's forecasted electricity use by 20% and natural gas use by 10%; advance energy code through regular three-year updates, and adoption within one year of new IECC issuance; maintain existing Utilities distribution reliability metrics; provide the Community 100% renewable electricity by 2030, with 5% from local sources; support deployment of distributed energy resources to achieve a bidirectional demand flexibility capacity of 5% of peak loads by 2030. Other notable and relevant policies are Platte River Power Authority’s 2018 Resource Diversification Policy (generate 100% noncarbon electricity by 2030, while maintaining existing reliability, financial sustainability, and environmental responsibility) and the State of Colorado’s 2021 Clean Energy Plan ENERGY BOARD REGULAR MEETING (reduce electricity generation greenhouse gas emissions to 80% below 2005 by 2030). Mr. Authier explained greenhouse gasses are measured in metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (MTCO₂e). This can be inclusive of carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, hydrofluorocarbons, perfluorocarbons, sulfur hexafluoride, and nitrogen trifluoride. There are also several protocols (three primary: Global Protocol for Community-scale GHG Emissions, U.S. Community Protocol, Local Government Operations Protocol) which provide best practices and comparisons. The reporting for these protocols is annualized. There are generally two types of inventories, Sector-Based Inventories (SBI) (aka territorial-based) and Consumption-Based (CBI). SBI is the most common and is mostly based on local data and geared toward decision making insights for leadership. Within SBI, Scope 1 is mostly consumption within the city, for example agriculture and other land use, stationary fuel combustion, waste generated and disposed of within the city, industrial process and product use, and in-boundary transportation). Scope 2 is electricity generated outside the city but consumed within the city. Scope 3 is outside the city boundary, such as transmission distribution, out of boundary transportation, and waste generated inside the city but disposed of outside the boundary. CBI includes some of the same things as SBI, but it is labor intensive and more expensive to perform, so they are not done as frequently. While CBI is not necessarily new, it is an emerging approach based mostly on national data, providing consumer-focused insights. Fort Collins has looked into this approach but has not done a CBI; however, Larimer County has completed both an SBI and a CBI. Fort Collins completes an SBI annually (every year since 2000), following Global Protocols within the Growth Management Area. This has provided consistent sources and methodologies from 2005 onwards. There are six resource areas within the community inventory: Industrial Processes and Product Use (IPPU), Water, Solid Waste, Ground Travel, Natural Gas, and Electricity. Previously this data was accessible by springtime every year, but there are increasing delays in obtaining certain data sets, so the 2022 Community Inventory is still considered preliminary. In electricity accounting, individual electrons are not identifiable or traceable; however, energy can be measured, both at generation and consumption and in between (ex. At substations) by metering. Accounting heavily relies on metering, financial transactions, and contracts/agreements (PPAs, etc.). Conceptually, electric grids are somewhat like a water system, in that generators provide power “pressure” into the system, consumers access power by turning a switch on (“opening a tap”), and balancing authorities maintain the system “pressure” of 120 volts. Today in Fort Collins, Platte River serves as the generator role, and the balancing authority is Public Service Company of Colorado. Platte River was formed in 1973 by the four owner communities (Fort Collins, Loveland, Estes Park, and Longmont) to provide wholesale electric generation and transmission to the owner communities. They are governed by an eight-person Board of Directors, composed of two representatives from each community. Platte River has three distinct, but interconnected relationships with the City of Fort Collins: the City as a co-owner of the generation authority, the Utility as a partner in operations and planning, and the Community as a consumer of purchased electricity. Platte River will buy and sell excess generation regionally. 20% of Platte River’s annual generation is sold regionally, and roughly 8% of Fort Collins’ annual consumption is from regional purchases. These regional purchases can’t be traced as renewable- or fossil-based, so to be conservative, the City ENERGY BOARD REGULAR MEETING accounts for them as fossil derived energy. In 2026, Platte River will be joining the Southwest Power Pool (SPP) West, which is an expansion of an existing Regional Transmission Organization (RTO). The expansion membership is expected to include Basin Electric Power Cooperative, Colorado Springs Utilities, Deseret Power Electric Cooperative, Municipal Energy Agency of Nebraska, Platte River Power Authority, Tri-State Generation & Transmission Association, and Western Area Power Administration. SPP provides its members with marketplace administration, real-time and day ahead resource scheduling, electric supply and demand balancing, real-time congestion and outage management, and transmission expansion planning. SPP requires its members maintain credit rating and minimum capitalization requirements, resource adequacy requirements (be able to provide as much generation as its local community would need), NERC reliability standards, annual risk management certification, an energy management system, energy trading risk management system, market operations system, and automatic dispatch systems, and inter-control center communications protocol (ICCP) compatibility. Board member Canonico commented that it seems like Fort Collins would have much less influence over SPP, so how will be certain that our climate goals have be met? Mr. Authier said the way the accounting will work is actually not that different from what we are doing today. Chairperson Loran added that the crux of the Board’s question is are the credits operational or electricity accounting that are being used to reach the 100% goal. To the Board, they mean different things. Mr. Authier said everything is recorded operationally on the City’s side; however, the goals in the Resource Diversification Policy, the State’s goals, and the Community’s goals are all different parts of it. While the steps may be slightly different, the end result is the same from a community inventory perspective. In the current structure, Platte River generates electricity selling all to its owner communities and regionally through contracts, with any excess also sold regionally as surplus. Platte River purchases electricity from regional utilities when needed or financially prudent, and Renewable Energy Credits or certificates (RECs) are created for all renewable generation; these can be bought or sold, with or separate from the generation. Fort Collins Utilities’ customers consume electricity from both Platte River and local sources. Vice Chairperson Moore asked if Platte River has excess wind generation and they sell it back regionally or to the market, does that mean they may have to replace that energy later on with coal or another fossil- based generation. Mr. Authier explained that while working through the resource accounting, he would pull out all contract sales first, then what is available to the community, what the community is consumed, and anything beyond that is what is sold. Board members wondered why Platte River would do that when they also have climate goals, and Mr. Authier agreed that is a good question to review with Platte River staff next month. Once in the market, Platte River will generate electricity, selling all generation to SPP and regionally through contracts. Platte River will set their resource prices and SPP will prioritize which regional resources run. Platte River purchases electricity from the SPP market for its owner communities (assumed as fossil), and at least as of today SPP does not track RECs, so they’re unbundled and retained (for owner communities). If SPP cannot use a renewable resource, it's either stored for later if possible, or curtailed with no REC created. For 100% renewable electricity, the OCF goal is based on the community's consumption, while Platte River’s RDP goal is based on its total generation. Efficiency and local renewables reduce regional purchases, which also reduces reliance on RECs. Grid flexibility aligns the City’s consumption with local and Platte River renewable generation, going beyond annual accounting, while minimizing renewable curtailment. ENERGY BOARD REGULAR MEETING Mr. Authier pointed out, while the concerns are still valid, as long as Platte River generates more renewables than electricity the community consumes, Fort Collins could be looking at more RECs than actual consumption, reaching its own 100% renewable electricity goal, even if Platte River does not. Efficiency and local renewables reduce regional purchases, which reduces the City’s reliance on RECs, and grid flexibility allows the community to align consumption with renewable generation and that is what goes beyond the accounting. It will help minimize curtailment, because if it’s curtailed there are no RECs. Mr. Walker noted that, while he doesn’t know much about it at this time, he is aware that the natural gas turbines may have the possibility to convert to hydrogen power in the future. Board member Braslau said he does not believe the turbines will ever be converted and that it is a marketing justification to soften the blow of a natural gas turbine, it is not wise to bet on future technology. Board members thanked Mr. Authier for his time and presentation and expressed how invaluable the information is for them heading into the discussion with Platte River about their Integrated Resources Plan (IRP). REFINE QUESTIONS ABOUT PLATTE RIVER’S IRP The Board previously drafted a list of questions for Platte River to help them better understand the IRP. After Mr. Authier’s presentation the Board felt some of the original questions are clearer and would like to update and refine their questions. The Board will work on the list of questions online over the next two weeks and the Board Chair will give them a final review before passing them back to staff to provide to Platte River ahead of the IRP presentation. BOARD MEMBER REPORTS None. FUTURE AGENDA REVIEW At the Board’s August regular meeting, The Board will hear a presentation from Platte River about their Integrated Resources Plan. They will also use their Work Session to debrief from the regular meeting, and possibly draft a positional memo to send to City Council. ADJOURNMENT The Energy Board adjourned at 8:40 pm.