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HomeMy WebLinkAboutENERGY BOARD - MINUTES - 11/14/2024 ENERGY BOARD November 14, 2024 – 5:30 pm 222 Laporte Ave – Colorado Room ROLL CALL Board Members Present: Thomas Loran, Alan Braslau, Frederick Wegert, Wendell Stainsby, Scott Canonico, Brian Smith (remote), Jeremy Giovando Board Members Absent: Marge Moore OTHERS PRESENT Staff Members Present: Christie Fredrickson, Brian Tholl (remote), Cody Snowdon, Glenn Pease, Michael Authier, Katie Miller (remote), Yvette Lewis-Molok (remote) Members of the Public: George Weston, Alexander (LNU) MEETING CALLED TO ORDER Chairperson Loran called the meeting to order at 5:30 pm. ANNOUNCEMENTS & AGENDA CHANGES None. PUBLIC COMMENT None. APPROVAL OF MINUTES In preparation for the meeting, board members submitted amendments via email for the October 24, 2024, minutes. The minutes were approved as amended. MOBILE HOME EFFICIENCY DEMO SUMMARY Glenn Pease, Senior Supervisor, Mechanical Engineer Mr. Pease explained he will be presenting on a mobile Home Park initiative for efficiency upgrades and electrification in mobile homes through income qualified programming. Energy Services partners with a lot of organizations including Platte River Power Authority, who partners with Energy Outreach Colorado, which administers a statewide income qualified program for weatherization and electrification. Fort Collins Utilities partnered with Platte River and Energy Outreach Colorado to deliver and implement the services that Mr. Pease will talk about tonight. This discussion is centered on the equity part of our climate future, which often doesn't get as much attention as the climate initiatives, mitigation strategies, and renewables metrics in the plan. The first sentence of the Our Climate Future (OCF) plan addresses “Our future,” and Mr. Pease said it is important to recognize and be inclusive of all community members’ futures with the plan. This helps to underscore the importance of a focus working in equity and climate resilience. While addressing climate change might be a motivating factor for many contributors, the equitable impacts of healthier, more resilient buildings are more far reaching to all community members. Energy use intensity (EUI) in mobile homes is much higher than a stick-built home; the energy use per ENERGY BOARD REGULAR MEETING square foot is significantly higher, and if we fail to address all home types, it will prevent the community from reaching its climate goals. The Utility is working with the Neighborhood Services department to collaborate in sharing resources to help achieve climate equity and resilience goals, as well as utilizing their community connections for outreach efforts. A budget offer was submitted funding a position (Mobile Home Specialist) to help fund this initiative and build partnerships. Staff agreed that working with weatherization of mobile homes is important due to the higher EUI and higher potential for climate resiliency with significant gains through weatherization. They also worked to identify resources that already exist so they could utilize those partnerships. The organizations that align most directly with the City’s goals were Platte River Power Authority and Energy Outreach Colorado. Investments from both organizations, as well as staffing resources, and contractor networks who work in mobile homes, are all major components to the success. Board member Stainsby wondered how many mobile homes there are in the community. Mr. Tholl said there are about 4,000 mobile homes in the community; however, roughly half of those are in the growth management area and not necessarily currently being served by Fort Collins Utilities. That is a little bit of a barrier in serving this community. These programs are funded by Utilities ratepayers and one of the key qualifications to participate in Utilities programs is to be a utilities customer. That works out to somewhere around 1,400-1,800 mobile homes within the Utilities service area. Board member Braslau wondered if City Staff has tried to work with Xcel Energy and other utility service providers in the area to complete this work, especially in the Xcel electricity service area. Mr. Pease explained Energy Outreach Colorado’s CARE program (Colorado's Affordable Residential Energy) funds many of the upgrades the City has helped facilitate, and they also leverage Xcel Energy’s resources for gas customers. Mr. Pease noted it’s a good question and worth staff looking into further. Part of the success of this initiative is in the Our Climate Future community consultant program, where staff worked with a member of the mobile home park community to help give advice on how to best engage with their park. This is part of the OCF strategy; the community consultant falls under the umbrella of a shared leadership where there are both City-led initiatives and community-led initiatives. The community consultants are individual community members, and not necessarily a company. Their role is to represent the community as a resident. and the intent of this strategy was to hear from identities and groups who've historically been underrepresented or excluded from programming. Having a community member who can help staff build trust within the mobile home communities is really important because it helps the Utility better design its programs. Mr. Pease noted that solutions designed by and with the most impacted groups will be more effective solutions. The program had two community consultants, one from a 55+ aged community, as well as another person who identifies as Latino. Both community consultants brought great insights and suggestions to drive engagement and participation. In the 55+ community, the suggestion was to hold an event with hosted coffee, food, and giveaways. It was a very well attended event and boosted participation within that community significantly. The other community consultant said word of mouth travels quickly in his community, and so there likely isn’t a need to put a lot of effort into a hosted event because it may not be well attended. Both consultants noted that one event or communication push would not be enough and there will be a need to provide additional support, so in addition to those events, staff also held office hours with coffee to provide support for program applicants. ENERGY BOARD REGULAR MEETING Mr. Pease highlighted some of the lessons learned through this process. Overall, staff were really happy with program participation, word traveled quickly about how the program and provided an opportunity to take advantage of all the benefits of free upgrades; however, as many of us know, sometimes working with contractors and subcontractors brings its own set of challenges, so when just a few people had unpleasant experiences in that stage of the process, that word traveled quickly as well. Staff identified that there was a gap in that feedback loop. As a result, staff quickly addressed that gap. Now, after a CARE assessment, participants receive a folder containing contact information, as well as information explaining what the upgrades were and who to contact should there be any concerns. Additionally, participants receive a phone call after checking in and get their direct feedback, in the event they prefer to share their feedback that way. Mr. Pease explained staff’s approach to rebuilding trust within these communities, noting that intentional efforts to build trust in historically excluded communities takes time and can be easily eroded with even small issues. Chairperson Loran commented that needing to rebuild trust implies that the trust was broken at some point, and he wondered what happened or what factors need to be worked on. Mr. Pease said there is sometimes a generalized distrust of the government and/or utilities, particularly by populations who have not historically been served well by the government. Mr. Tholl added that some of the mistrust in government has deep roots related to longstanding government structures and systemic racism. Through implementation of Our Climate future, we've shown a commitment to dismantle racial disparities and increase equitable access to programs and services. Equity work is about people and listening to the community and facilitating for people from the most underserved groups to get the services they say they need. Board member Giovando said he appreciates staff’s willingness to build trust and keep the lines of communication open within the communities. He wondered if there is any follow up on how participants’ usage changes after the upgrades are complete and wondered if a program like this is actually effective in this particular residential environment. If so, it would be a great program to scale up, but there needs to be data to support it. Mr. Pease said he couldn’t speak to the actual numbers tonight, but some studies found that after weatherization, people can now afford a level of comfort that they couldn't before, so it may not amount to a usage savings on paper, nevertheless is a real gain. The thermostat may go up in the winter and down in the summer because now their utility bills are lower and they're able to afford that level of comfort that was previously unattainable. He added efficacy testing is part of the measurement and verification process through utilities to select, measure, and verify that savings were completed, so there is a process in place for that. Mr. Pease also provided a short voice recording from one of the community consultants who provided a brief testimony about her experience with the program, noting being a part of the program has been extremely rewarding. It not only helped her connect to people in her community, but also reminded her that she has valuable things to offer and valuable experience. MEMO: 2026-2031 RATE INCREASE FORECAST Board members discussed and edited some of the memo’s language about why the rates are increasing, as well as whether or not they believe they should be recommending a third-party audit. The Board decided to refocus some of the content to reiterate their concerns about carbon reduction and electric rates going forward and to encourage continued research into all available technologies to lower rates in the future. ENERGY BOARD REGULAR MEETING Chairperson Loran moved the Energy Board approve their drafted memo about future electric rate increases and to send the memo to City Council on behalf of the Energy Board. Board member Wegert seconded the motion. Discussion: None. Vote on the motion: It passed unanimously, 7-0, with one absent. APPROVE 2025 WORK PLAN Board members made a few small changes to the draft of their 2025 Work Plan. Board member Canonico moved to approve the Energy Board’s 2025 Work Plan. Board member Giovando seconded the motion. Discussion: None. Vote on the motion: It passed unanimously, 7-0, with one absent. BOARD MEMBER REPORTS Chairperson Loran said the Board’s Council Liaison, Mayor Arndt, is meeting with her assigned Board Chairs monthly to help ease any communication barriers between Boards & Commissions and City Council. Other Council Liaisons are doing the same with their assigned boards. Board member Braslau also recently had a meeting with Mayor Arndt, Councilmember Francis, and the head of the Fort Collins Sustainability Group, Kevin Cross. Travis Walker and Brian Tholl were also in attendance to provide additional staff support. Mr. Braslau said in this meeting he reiterated that the discussions with the Energy Board are and have been independent of what Fort Collins Sustainability group does, even if members of the FCSG have come to speak to the Board and even if some Board members agree with many of their positions. He also shared that the Energy Board possesses a lot of technical expertise, and no one on the Energy Board appreciates being spoken down to by anyone, especially when seeking clarifications or transparency on policy issues. Ms. Fredrickson said she recently attended the Boards and Commissions Open House, hosted by the Clerk’s Office and organized by Davina Lau. The event is designed to provide information on all the Boards and Commissions the City has to offer, as well as provide an opportunity for interested applicants to ask questions of support staff. There was a great turnout, and staff hopes to see a solid set of applications when recruitment opens in December. FUTURE AGENDA REVIEW The Board’s December meeting will have a presentation about the residential battery storage program, as well as an update on the Building Performance Standards initiative. The Board will also begin drafting their 2024 Annual Report. ADJOURNMENT ENERGY BOARD REGULAR MEETING The Energy Board adjourned at 8:08 pm.