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HomeMy WebLinkAbout02/27/2025 - ENERGY BOARD - AGENDA - Work Session ENERGY BOARD WORK SESSION February 27, 2025 – 5:30 pm 222 Laporte Ave – Colorado Room 1. [5:30] CALL MEETING TO ORDER 2. [5:30] COMMUNITY SOLAR STRATEGIES & CHALLENGES (90 Min., Discussion) Leland Keller, Mechanical Engineer III 3. [7:00] FUTURE AGENDA REVIEW 4. [7:05] ADJOURNMENT Participation for this Energy Board Meeting will be in person at 222 Laporte Ave. Participation is also available online via Teams. Click or copy/paste this link into your browser: fcgov.com/energy-board-work-session Online Public Participation: The meeting will be available to join beginning at 5:15 pm, February 24, 2025. Participants should try to sign in prior to the 5:15 pm meeting start time, if possible. For public comments, the Chair will ask participants to click the “Raise Hand” button to indicate you would like to speak at that time. Staff will moderate the Teams Meeting to ensure all participants have an opportunity to address the Board or Commission. To participate: • Please note: You do not need a Microsoft account or the Teams App to join or participate in the meeting. • Use a laptop, computer, or internet-enabled smartphone. (Using earphones with a microphone will greatly improve your audio). • You need to have access to the internet. • Keep yourself on muted status. Mechanical Engineer III Leland Keller 02-27-2025 Energy Board Work Session: Contemplating the Future of Community Solar in Fort Collins Work Session Introduction 2 Offer context on Community Solar What are we doing? What can we do? What is the need / demand? What are the challenges / problems associated with different options? What options align with OCF and core principles? What options should be considered? Definitions established in Code 3 Defined in Fort Collins City Code Sec. 26-391: Community solar project: •Qualifying renewable generation such as solar, fuel cell, wind, geothermal, combined heat and power or biomass technology •Operated by PRPA or City of Fort Collins, or a 3rd party Community-based project: •Net-metering based renewable installation benefitting the individual electric customers of a defined development community Riverside Community Solar 2015 - 2040 Fort Collins Distributed Generation Goal 4 Additional Energy Supply 2025 - 2050 5 Intermittency challenges (PRPA IRP) 6 Business Models Community Solar Ownership Models •Utility-Owned •Third-Party Owned •Third-Party Ownership Flip •Community Owned Riverside is a hybrid ownership model, offering monthly payments based on net energy delivered to the grid. Image credit: NREL, Sharing the Sun: Understanding Community Solar Deployment and Subscriptions, 4/28/2020 7 Distribution of Program Payment Methods Financial Considerations 8 * Blended wholesale cost of electricity $0.067 / kWh (2024) Resource Description Blended Retail Cost $ / kWh Resource capacity and notes Riverside Community $0.07 / kWh 0.5 MW, participant investment $4/W Commercial Solar $0.057 / kWh 7.5 MW, commercial investment Residential Solar (NM) $0.085 / kWh 25.2 MW, $200 / kW incentive, residential investment Solar Power Purchase (SP3) $0.146 / kWh 4.9 MW, third party owned systems Risks for Future Developments 9 Development: •Federal grants being frozen, tax credits threatened •Proposals and projects cancelled ‘force majeure’ (import tariffs) Programmatic: •Enrollment, operation with under-enrollment •Stabilize cost for value exceeding participation charges •Secure subsidies for low-income Operational: •Technical, financial, business continuity •Increasing weather variability, market value Headline Copy Goes HereTrends in Fort Collins 10 •Land cost rising •Solar Power Purchase Program feed-in tariff submissions •Recent solar developments proposed east of I-25 straddling service territory •Declining need for local renewable generation •Increasing share of renewable and non-carbon energy supply •Increasing concerns about solar over-production •Need for pairing storage to renewable generation •Projections for value of solar beyond 2030 [#hrs at <= 0 $/MWh] •Concerns about participant value vs. participation cost •Development of VertexOne CIS constrains any new billing requirements •Resiliency planning for critical facilities, community services Headline Copy Goes HereStaff Position 11 Considering all the factors discussed: •Utility-scale generation is most affordable to meet fundamental commitments to reliability, environmentally friendly, affordable power •PRPA will acquire & develop renewable generation •Customer interest can be met in some regard through Shared Energy Systems •Generation not paired with storage may be curtailed in negative price hours Invitations for Consideration 12 •What do you think about shared or community battery options to address our needs for storage and load flexibility? •How might future community energy developments deliver multiple value streams, such as resiliency, reliability, flexibility? •What creative ideas or combinations merit further investigation?