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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAIR QUALITY ADVISORY BOARD - MINUTES - 02/24/20251 2/24/2025 - Minutes Air Quality Advisory Board REGULAR MEETING Monday, February 24, 2025 – 5:30 PM 222 Laporte Avenue, Colorado River Room 1. CALL TO ORDER: 5:33 PM 2. ROLL CALL ● Board Members Present – • Dan Welsh (Chair) • Mark Houdashelt (Vice Chair) • Adam Schmidt • Michael Cheeseman • Michael Johnson • Matt Ayres ● Board Members Absent – • Jeremiah Gorske • Maria Moore ● Staff Members Present – • Selina Lujan de Albers, Staff Liaison • Micah Warners, Environmental Services Education & Outreach Senior Specialist ● Guest(s) – • Ed Behan, Larimer Alliance for Health, Safety, and Environment • Doug Henderson, Sierra Club • Matt Tribby, PRPA 3. AGENDA REVIEW No changes. 4. PUBLIC PARTICIPATION Two CSU students introduced themselves and stated they were there to observe. Ed Behan , Larimer Alliance for Health, Safety, and Environment, spoke in support of a large methane user fee and encouraged the Board to make a recommendation to City Council to set up a study of such a fee. He stated more efforts will need to be taken at the local level given the current federal administration. (**Secretary’s Note: The following Public Participation took place following Previous Business.) Doug Henderson, Sierra Club, commented on the growing air quality livability challenges faced by the Northern Colorado Front Range, including Fort Collins. He noted the area has long failed to meet air quality standards. He stated PRPA’s 2 2/24/2025 - Minutes Rawhide Facility is the largest single-source polluter contributing to ozone in the area; however, they are excluded from the air quality monitoring area and the EPA mandated attainment area. He commented on PRPA’s proposal for a new gas turbine plant and suggested PRPA will continue to operate that plant in order to sell excess power despite the environmental impacts. He urged the Board to ask detailed questions of PRPA regarding their plan. 5. APPROVAL OF MINUTES – JANUARY 2025 Members discussed changes to the minutes. Cheeseman made a motion, seconded by Johnson, to approve the minutes of the January 2025 meeting as amended. The motion was adopted unanimously. 6. PREVIOUS BUSINESS Chair Welsh stated he had a conversation with Matthew Snyder, a risk reduction specialist for Poudre Fire Authority, regarding a potential presentation about the Community Wildfire Protection Plan and its application to air quality, though the bulk of the presentation would be related to fire mitigation and risk reduction. Members discussed ways in which the Board’s purview would overlap with such a presentation. 7. NEW BUSINESS a. Platte River Power Authority Gas Turbine Project Presentation – Matt Tribby, PRPA Senior Air Quality Engineer Matt Tribby, PRPA Senior Air Quality Engineer, stated PRPA is attempting to be as transparent as possible and noted there is no perfect answer. He provided some background information on Platte River Power Authority and the Rawhide facility. He noted PRPA creates the energy and transfers the responsibility of getting the power to end users to the owner community utilities. He discussed the Rawhide facility’s components, including the main coal-fired unit and framed turbines that burn natural gas. He discussed PRPA’s wind-generated power facility, which is one of the best renewable projects in the country. Tribby stated one of the largest moments in Platte River’s history was the development of its resource diversification policy. He stated PRPA’s Board, made up of two representatives from each municipal entity, requested PRPA pursue a 100% non-carbon energy mix by 2030, and he noted PRPA is attempting to strive toward that goal while maintaining the foundational pillars of the company: being able to provide reliable, environmentally responsible, and financially sustainable energy and services to its owner communities. Tribby discussed the importance of the development of a battery or storage system that will provide energy during dark, non-windy times. He stated PRPA is not confident reliability or financial sustainability would be protected as needed in order to provide a 100% non-carbon energy mix by 2030. Tribby outlined PRPA’s Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) and commented on the fact that PRPA has to forecast how much load is required every second 3 2/24/2025 - Minutes and then be able to ensure the assets are available to provide that load. Additionally, Tribby noted Rawhide’s main coal-fired unit is mandated to be retired at the end of the decade. A Board Member asked if there are any new wind projects being planned. Tribby replied in the affirmative and stated that the proposed project, despite adding natural gas units, will help compliment additional renewable growth and investment. Chair Welsh asked if hydro projects are potential options. Tribby replied PRPA does not see any major hydro projects that would be financially viable happening in the area. A Board Member asked if there are any additional regulations at the County level for fugitive emissions for the proposed project. Tribby replied there are State requirements for a fugitive dust plan for all operations. Tribby stated the IRP process is very transparent and included many opportunities to share information with the public. Brian Tholl, Fort Collins Utilities, introduced himself and provided some links related to the IRP studies and information. He also commented on the internal engagement that has occurred with each of the four owner communities. Tribby provided additional detail regarding what was considered for the IRP: essentially anything that has been realistically proven to make energy at the commercial level. He outlined the grid needs of energy, capacity, and flexibility and noted the bulk of sources from 2030 and beyond will be intermittent; therefore, gaps need to be filled, and natural gas was determined to be the most feasible option for filling those gaps. Tribby noted the natural gas units will not be replacing base load needs that are now being filled by the main unit at Rawhide and will not be on 24/7, but will operate as a safety net that allows reliability to be protected while still having drastic de-carbonization given the retirement of the main unit at Rawhide. Tribby provided additional detail about the proposed project which would include five simple-cycle natural gas fired turbines, which are fast-start, nimble, flexible units that can complement the intermittency better than the bigger, bulkier frame turbines that exist now. He stated that the units, when on, will be the most efficient, lowest-emitting carbon units at Rawhide. Chair Welsh noted there is a dichotomy between PRPA’s responsibility and accountability and that of the natural gas provider. Tribby discussed the project’s estimated emissions reductions and commented on benzene being a hazardous air pollutant that is tracked; however, he noted it is a small portion of emissions. He went on to detail the benefits of aeroderivative turbines and provided a map of the Rawhide property. Tribby outlined the project’s outcomes, including supporting the expansion of 4 2/24/2025 - Minutes wind and solar, maintaining the commitment to continuing to pursue a non- carbon future for owner communities, meeting the state goal of 80% carbon reduction by 2030, reinforcing the foundational pillars, and retiring a coal unit that is fully debt-free sixteen years early. Tribby stated there is no path in this transition that does not have a cost; therefore, PRPA is proposing a 6.3% annual rate increase for all owner communities up until 2030. Tribby noted project construction cannot begin until an air permit is granted by the State and noted the permit application required complex air quality modeling of the entire facility with the main unit operating, the new aeroderivative turbines operating, and the frame units operating. He noted there will be a public comment period prior to the permit being issued. A Board Member asked if there will be monitoring on site to determine whether the emissions projections are accurate. Tribby replied there is no plan to do any on- site monitoring at this time, and PRPA is confident that the air quality modeling has done a good job of evaluating the potential impact. However, he noted there will be continuous emission monitoring systems on all units. Vice Chair Houdashelt stated he has heard some criticism of the IRP related to the cost, whether these units are needed, given the existing natural gas units, changing numbers in the analysis, and concerns about scare tactics being used to justify the project. He noted there has been a push for an outside independent review, perhaps by NREL, of the IRP, which PRPA has opposed. Tribby stated there was a robust process to develop the IRP and noted he does not have the authority to request an outside review. He stated things have not been rushed, though there is a need to get the units permitted, built, tested, and proven prior to the main unit being retired in 2030. Chair Welsh asked about the costs associated with a review by National Renewable Energy Lab (NREL). Neither Houdashelt nor Tribby was sure of this cost. Tholl stated the IRP includes a number of local renewable resources, the virtual power plant concept, and distributed batteries. He stated the energy transition plan has aided in the collaboration with PRPA and he reiterated the importance of reliable, affordable, and environmentally friendly power. Vice Chair Houdashelt commented on the issue of natural gas leakage being outside of PRPA’s purview and stated he believes that is something that should be accounted for in the City’s greenhouse gas inventory. Tholl replied that is not currently part of the inventory but stated he would follow up with additional information. Tribby stated PRPA never wants to feel unapproachable and will always attempt to answer any questions and respond to feedback, both positive and negative. He reiterated that reliability cannot be compromised. He outlined the timeline for the project noting the units should be operational in the first quarter of 2028. 5 2/24/2025 - Minutes b. Air Quality Education Collaboration Review – Micah Warners, Education and Outreach Senior Specialist Micah Warners, Education and Outreach Senior Specialist, provided a summary of the previous meeting’s discussion around public outreach and education. He proposed forming a subcommittee of the Board to choose one campaign in the air quality space for more effective education twice a year, potentially beginning in April. Additionally, he proposed reaching out to the Board as opportunities arise to request support in things like participating in community events, reviewing outreach materials, and providing expert consultation. Vice Chair Houdashelt noted a subcommittee could have more than two members as long as meeting notice and agendas are provided. Chair Welsh expressed support for Warners’ suggestions and stated he would like to create a subcommittee of the Board in support of education and outreach to work with Warners as proposed, but suggested that not be formed until new Board members are present. Lujan de Albers stated she would investigate the rules around formal subcommittees. Members and Lujan de Albers discussed the ways in which members can share information as individuals and Board members without violating open meetings laws. 8. OTHER BUSINESS a. Board Member Reports Chair Welsh noted Air Quality Awareness Week is the first week in May and noted CDPHE is still considering what that will include, but there is a possibility of an in-person public engagement opportunity, likely at City Park in Denver. He stated the City of Fort Collins could participate if desired. Chair Welsh also noted Kim Abeles’ Community Smog art exhibition is open at the Gregory Allicar Museum of Art at CSU. Vice Chair Houdashelt noted the City’s Transportation Projects Fair is March 6th at the Lincoln Center. Matt Ayres reported on being on the CSU Student Fee Review Board and stated the Board just approved the new fee increase for support of Transfort as well as funding for bike locks for students. b. Six Month Calendar Review Lujan de Albers reported on upcoming Council items, including the EV Readiness and Electrification Roadmap staff report and the Council priority number five Zero Waste work session. 6 2/24/2025 - Minutes c. Revisit Action Items from Previous Meetings and Preview of Next Meeting Lujan de Albers and members commented on possible topics for upcoming meetings and noted Chair Welsh has been reappointed to the Board. 9. ADJOURNMENT ● 8:04 pm Minutes approved by a vote of the Board on 3/17/2025