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HomeMy WebLinkAbout11/13/2025 - ENERGY BOARD - AGENDA - Regular Meeting ENERGY BOARD REGULAR MEETING November 13, 2025 – 5:30 pm 222 Laporte Ave – Colorado Room Teams – See Link Below 1. [5:30] CALL MEETING TO ORDER 2. [5:30] PUBLIC COMMENT 3. [5:35] APPROVAL OF OCTOBER 9, 2025 MINUTES 4. [5:45] STAFF REPORTS (45 Min, Decision) • Our Climate Future Council Debrief Brian Tholl, Director, Energy Services • Building Performance Standards Council Debrief Katherine Bailey, Project Manager 5. [6:30] DISCUSS DRAFTING MEMO RE: NATURAL GAS FRANCHISE FEE (30 Min, Decision) 6. [7:00] LARGE-SCALE BATTERY STORAGE UPDATE (45 Min, Discussion) Zach Borton, Platte River Power Authority Neal May, Electrical Engineer IV 7. [7:30] APPROVE 2026 WORK PLAN (15 Min, Discussion) 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-regular-meeting Online Public Participation: The meeting will be available to join beginning at 5:15 pm, November 13, 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. ENERGY BOARD REGULAR MEETING 8. [7:45] BOARD MEMBER REPORTS (5 Min.) 9. [7:50] FUTURE AGENDA REVIEW (5 Min.) 10. [7:55] ADJOURNMENT HOW TO JOIN A TEAMS MEETING WITHOUT A MICROSOFT ACCOUNT: You can join a Teams meeting anytime, from any device, whether or not you have a Teams account. If you don't have an account, follow these steps to join. 1. Select or copy/paste the following link: fcgov.com/energy-board-regular-meeting 2. That'll open a web page, where you'll see two choices: “Continue on this browser” and “Join on the Teams app”. You do not need to install the Teams app to join the meeting. 3. If you join the meeting on your browser, Microsoft Edge or Google Chrome will both work. Your browser may ask if it's okay for Teams to use your mic and camera. When you select Allow, you should always turn off your mic and/or video once you join the meeting. 4. When you're ready, select Join now. ENERGY BOARD REGULAR MEETING 5. Tip: Join the meeting up to 15 minutes before the meeting start time to test your setup, troubleshoot, or see how Teams works. Meeting organizers and participants won't be notified that you've joined the meeting until 15 minutes before the scheduled start time. ENERGY BOARD October 9, 2025 – 5:30 pm 222 Laporte Ave – Colorado Room ROLL CALL Board Members Present: Marge Moore, Aleksander Thorstensen, Scott Canonico, Brian Smith, Jeremy Giovando, Jason Hevelone, Board Members Absent: Wendell Stainsby, Frederick Wegert, Nataline Montecino OTHERS PRESENT Staff Members Present: Christie Fredrickson, Brian Tholl, Michael Authier, Yvette Lewis-Molok (remote), Katherine Bailey, Randy Reuscher, Joe Wimmer, Coy Althoff Members of the Public: MEETING CALLED TO ORDER Chairperson Smith 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 9, 2025, minutes. The minutes were approved as amended. BUILDING PERFORMANCE STANDARDS PREVIEW Katherine Bailey, Project Manager Ms. Bailey explained that staff is going to City Council on October 28th with Building Performance Standards (BPS) on what will be their fourth work session. Staff has also been presenting to several boards & commissions, similarly to Energy Board. Board members wondered if staff could share other Boards memos to Council about BPS just to get a sense of their feedback as well. Ms. Bailey reminded the Board that Staff had presented some options to Council around Policy Levers to reduce economic impact but noted the caveat that any potential change or relaxation in the policy will have a corresponding reduction to the greenhouse gas impact associated with it as well. Mr. Tholl added it will be important for Staff to provide some guidance on how to use the levers and navigate the perception of conflicting priorities. Board members wondered if there was a specific lever Council seemed to be leaning into, and Ms. Bailey said when the lever options were originally brought to Council last January, there wasn’t a lot of feedback expressed for one option over another. Housing affordability is always a key concern in the community, it is apart of almost every conversation staff has about almost any topic with Council, so Ms. Bailey said she knows they will have to speak to that, but its also a much different time than it was in January—there’s ENERGY BOARD REGULAR MEETING much more economic uncertainty, and that does impact small business health, it does impact equity, so staff needs to be prepared for a variety of different questions reflecting the different situation that the community is in now. Board member Giovando expressed concern about relaxing timelines due to economic uncertainties, because then in logically the inverse would be true as well—when the economy is thriving, the timeline should accelerate, and we know that’s not what the intent is. He added that he doesn’t want to discount the concerns that people have, but maybe there's short term mitigation to do while still maintaining a more rigorous policy for the overall goal of things. Mr. Tholl reiterated the importance being clear on the short term economic upfront benefits of potentially dialing any part of the policy back because the policy is set up to have long term benefits. Ms. Bailey suggested another alternative would be to push back the entire timeline, because it’s better to get the greenhouse gas savings late than never, while riding out some of the economic uncertainty. 2026 RATES & FEES Randy Reuscher, Manager, Utility Rates Joe Wimmer, Director, Utilities Finance Staff will be bringing 2026 Utility Rates and Fees before City Council later this month, with formal adoption planned in November (effective as of January 2026). A high-level overview of the Light & Power expense budget shows purchase power from Platte River is the highest expense, at 66% of the $183.5 million budget in 2026. Other large influences on the budget include capital & asset management (10%), L&P operations (7%), PILOTs (Payments in Lieu of Taxes, 5%), and Customer Service & Admin and Energy Services (4% each). As Platte River moves forward toward their renewable energy goals (and the goals of their owner communities), we should continue to expect to see wholesale rate increases as they invest in new technology and renewable energy resources. Inflation has also impacted overall cost increases as it pertains to capital investments and infrastructure replacements. As budgeted, Electric rates will increase by 6% in 2026. The Water Utility has several large capital investments coming up, including the Halligan Water Supply Project, Water Main Replacement Project Program, Drake Water Reclamation Facility Projects, and the OneWater Laboratory Design, all of which are having a direct influence on rate increases (9% for water, 8% for wastewater, and 6% for stormwater). In November, staff will host an in-person commercial accounts meeting to review the rate increases for that rate class, but there has already been a lot of communication happening between our key accounts team and customers, as well as website publications. Mr. Reuscher said Utilities staff expects the average residential monthly bill (with all four utilities services) to increase roughly 7%, or $13.00, in 2026. Though Fort Collins Utilities may not have the least expensive individual services, Utilities has the least expensive combined utility rates on the front range and of the four partner communities (of Platte River). Small commercial customers can also expect roughly a 7% monthly increase if they have all four services, totaling about $85.00 more per month, but this amount will vary greatly depending on consumption levels for each service. Fort Collins Utilities offers several affordability programs, including a one-time payment assistance program, a retrofit program, IQAP (Income Qualified Assistance Program), and other outreach programs. ENERGY BOARD REGULAR MEETING These are designed to help customers with emergency assistance for past-due bills or equipment failures, long-term, seasonal and monthly bill payment assistance, and home efficiency upgrades with installation. Mr. Wimmer explained that Utilities is currently going through some significant capital planning and have many capital projects coming up. This creates several major decision points ahead of the next budget cycle (2027-2028), and he envisions coming back to the Energy Board with plans for how future rate increases will help inform those decisions and projects. Board member Giovando asked how IQAP enrollment is performing and if there is any new enrollment data compared to eligibility. Mr. Tholl said having access to auto enrollment via LEAP has absolutely increased enrollment. Mr. Giovando said it will be especially important to continue to public outreach around affordability programs as rates continue to increase, as there may be customers who miss LEAP enrollment windows, or may not have heard about the program, or not understood that they were eligible to apply. Board member Canonico asked how the Time-of-Day rate structure plays into the overall rates. Mr. Reuscher said Time of Day rates help a lot with load factor, and Fort Collins actually has lower rate increases than the other three cities (that are in partnership with Platte River). While it may not be the only driving factor, staff believes Time-of-Day rates to be a key component since it helps reduce the overall peak and saves demand costs. There have been discussions about eliminating the tier charge (additional fee above 700kWh of total usage in a month), since it competes with the City’s goal to move toward electrification and could be viewed as a disincentive. Board member Moore moved the Energy Board to support the proposed changes to the 2026 electric utility rates slated to go into effect January 1, 2026. Board member Thorstensen seconded the motion. Discussion: Board members seemed to agree the rate increases felt reasonable, since neighboring municipalities are seeing similar increases, and especially in comparison to other municipalities nationwide which, in some cases, are experiencing double-digit rate increases. Vote on the motion: It passed 6-0, with three absent. REVIEW RENEWABLE ENERGY GOAL MEMO Board members reviewed their drafted memo regarding the City’s current method for accounting and tracking toward its renewable energy goals. Mr. Authier also showed the Board some draft materials he is preparing to show Council next later this month that provides a high-level overview of the difference between a consumption-based goal and the generation- based goal that we've been talking about. He’s interested in the Board’s feedback since it pairs well with the memo they are working on. Many cities with climate goals have adopted 100% renewable electricity goals, which are consumption- based goals for distribution utility (such as Fort Collins), as opposed to a generation-based goal for a generation authority (such as Platte River). These are two distinct but complementary goals, which have different roles within the community. While a distribution Utility can focus on conservation, efficiency, and ENERGY BOARD REGULAR MEETING local solar, a generation authority focuses on grid flexibility and virtual power plant efforts in the community. In Fort Collins, the Utility is forecasting 100% consumed renewable electricity by 2030, while Platte River is forecasting 88% generating renewable electricity by 2030. Platte River’s owner-communities are using different reporting structures because they are doing their own renewable planning. For example, Loveland and Estes Park are only reporting out the same renewable electricity numbers as Platte River because they are not doing any additional accounting within their communities the way Fort Collins and Longmont are, which may be causing some additional confusion. Board member Moore commented that she did not realize Fort Collins ownership percentage of Platte River was based on our load share. She wondered if it is possible to reduce our ownership share by increasing our local generation. Mr. Authier said it is definitely possible, but it would take a pretty dramatic shift in the load share, not only in our load but as well in the other three communities’ shares. Board members spent some time discussing the content of the memo, making sure they agreed on content, and fact checking some of their statements with staff to ensure accuracy. They made some collaborative edits to the document Board member Hevolone moved the Board Member Canonico complete the memo with the approved edits as discussed, and the Energy Board send the final copy to Mayor Arndt and City Council. Board member Moore seconded the motion. Discussion: Vote on the motion: It passed 6-0, with three absent. DRAFT 2026 WORK PLAN The work plan is a document each City Board and Commission completes annually to help outline a plan for the work they hope to accomplish in the calendar year to follow. It is intended to be broad enough to allow the Board a wide range of topics to discuss but narrow enough to help begin defining a plan for the year. Ms. Fredrickson explained they can use the Board’s codified duties and functions to help shape their work plan, as well as staff’s insight for plans and projects happening in 2026. Board members will spend time reviewing and making edits to the document between now and their October 23 Work session, where they can make additional collaborative edits. They will approve the work plan at their November 13 Meeting. BOARD MEMBER REPORTS Ms. Fredrickson advised the Board that members who are reaching the end of their terms this year will need to reapply in December if they would like to be reseated in 2026. This includes Board Members Canonico, Stainsby, and Wegert. Board member Giovando will be term limited, so his term will expire at ENERGY BOARD REGULAR MEETING the end of March 2026. FUTURE AGENDA REVIEW The Board’s Work Session will include a discussion about the natural gas franchise fee, as well as time to work on their 2026 Work Plan. In November, the Board will hear post-Council updates from staff about Our Climate Future and Building Performance Standards. They will also approve their work plan and possibly hear an update on large scale battery storage. ADJOURNMENT The Energy Board adjourned at 7:26 pm. Distributed energy storage project update Progress & vision Zach Borton, distributed energy resources service manager Neal May, senior electrical engineer Reliability Environmental responsibility Financial sustainability Why energy storage matters: balancing supply/demand, enabling renewables, enhancing reliability, etc. Shared resources, shared savings: collaborative efforts reduce costs and maximize benefits Platte River’s storage strategy: long-duration, utility-scale, distributed, and customer-sited Optimized energy storage: Collective planning ensures scalability and flexibility for the future Project vision: a sandbox for future DERs and VPP integration Quick recap from last update Reliability Environmental responsibility Financial sustainability Off to the races! •Milestone achieved: land lease finalized and signed, enabling detailed site analysis •Next step: engineering phase kickoff to support procurement, interconnection design and define operational parameters •Progress summary: vendor selected, use cases defined, site planning actively underway Where are we now? Reliability Environmental responsibility Financial sustainability Q3 2025 Land lease signed Initiates essential site evaluation and project development activities Q4 2025 Site studies and permitting Ensures the project meets environmental, technical and regulatory requirements Q4 2025-Q2 2026 Community engagement Keeps the community informed and involved throughout the project Q4 2025 Design and engineering Develops detailed plans to ensure safe, efficient, and reliable system performance 2026-2027 Construction and commissioning Builds the system and conducts testing to ensure it operates safely and effectively Interconnection and engineering Planning and review Distributed battery storage project timelines Reliability Environmental responsibility Financial sustainability Battery dispatch use cases: •Distribution benefits: peak shaving to prevent equipment overloading and support a resilient grid as building and transportation electrification grows •Generation, transmission and market benefits: match load and generation to integrate more renewables while avoiding peak demand cost structures and providing a hedge against market volatility •Stacking value: combine multiple use cases for maximum system benefit What we want to explore Reliability Environmental responsibility Financial sustainability Stacking value for maximum system benefit Reliability Environmental responsibility Financial sustainability Stacking value for maximum system benefit Reliability Environmental responsibility Financial sustainability Fort Collins System Analysis and Considerations Local Circuit Performance to Inform Battery Dispatch: •Distribution Circuit Profiles: Reducing peaks to avoid overloading distribution circuit equipment. Generate to circuits that require the most relief while making full use of energy output. •One feeder has nearly reached its planning load limits (Load relief) •One feeder is the primary source to the Fort Collins Water Treatment Facility (Resiliency) •One feeder requires voltage support in certain circumstances (Reliability) •Carbon Neutral Goals: Match charging and generation to integrate more renewables helping to meet Our Climate Future 2030 goals Stacking value: Expecting these considerations to align with PRPA’s market-based benefits Reliability Environmental responsibility Financial sustainability Fort Collins System Analysis and Considerations Circuit Performance Evaluation Charge Discharge Reliability Environmental responsibility Financial sustainability Fort Collins System Analysis and Considerations Circuit Performance Evaluation Winter Charge Winter Discharge Summer Charge Summer Discharge Reliability Environmental responsibility Financial sustainability Fort Collins System Analysis and Considerations Distribution System Needs for Optimal BESS Utility: •Variations in daily loading: Full utility of the BESS may not always be possible with basic, scheduled operation. What will help? •Advanced monitoring and dispatch systems to aid in optimization •Grid DERMS, ADMS, network model (GIS), weather forecast, market forecast, etc. •Allowing excess BESS export to back feed through substation bus •Upgrade to substation relaying/monitoring equipment •Sharing data across organizations and platforms •Managing telemetric data flows and integrity •System Impact Study: Modeling the circuits and connected substation along with various BESS operating scenarios. Reliability Environmental responsibility Financial sustainability Questions