HomeMy WebLinkAboutElectric Board - Minutes - 06/18/2003Citv Council Liaison
Ray Martinez
Staff Liaison
DeEtta Carr 221-6702
Roll Call:
Board Present
Electric Board Chairman Electric Board Vice Chairman
Alison Mason 493-1295 Jeff Lebesch 221-0543
Secretary
Leslie Mooney 416-2703
Chairperson Alison Mason, Vice Chairperson Jeff Lebesch, Dan Bihn, Lisa Skolds, and Linda
Stewart
Board Absent
Tracy Babst-Wiedenbrug, Barbara Rutstein
Staff Present
Patty Bigner, Bill Bray, DeEtta Carr, Lou Cordova, Eric Dahlgren, Leslie Mooney, John Phelan,
Suzanne Jarboe -Simpson, Mike Smith and Wendy Williams
Meeting Opened
Chairperson Alison Mason called the meeting to order at 5:15 p.m.
Approval of Minutes
Chairperson Alison Mason stated that there was an error in the minutes of May 21 under "Other
Items" regarding a suggestion about having a retreat and asked that the sentence be stricken.
Board member Dan Bihn made a motion, seconded by Board member Lisa Skolds to approve the
minutes of May 21, 2003 as amended. The motion passed unanimously.
Strategic Plan Update for Electric Energy Supply Policy — John Phelan
John Phelan, Energy Services Engineer, updated the Board on refinements to the Strategic Plan
for the Energy Supply Policy since they discussed it at the last meeting.
John described two specific programs that could result in a significant savings. The first targets
the commercial sector and would reimburse customers a portion of the cost to replace their light
bulbs with more efficient lighting. The second program focuses on assisting residential
customers with replacing refrigerators with more energy efficient models.
1�.
Electric Board Meeting Minutes
June 18, 2003
Page 2
The Board discussed the pros and cons of spending money on programs to help defray the costs
of energy efficient devices, versus the cost of educating the public on how much they could save
on their electric bills by replacing these items in their homes or businesses.
Mike Smith, Utilities General Manager, summarized that the City Council will be expecting the
Board's pros and cons of implementing this program as well as the impact on the budget and
future rates. This item will be on the August 121h City Council Study Session.
Green Tag Discussion — Michael Smith
Mike Smith, Utilities General Manager, explained that green tags are created when a renewable
energy facility generates electricity. What you pay for when you buy renewable energy
certificates is the benefit of displacing other non-renewable sources from the regional or electric
grid.
He asked the Board about what they want to say about renewable sources in the City's policy. If
you want to say the goal is to have 'Y' percent of our energy produced by renewable sources,
what does that mean? Do you want it to be actually produced and delivered? These are issues
that the Board needs to consider and that John Bleem will come and talk to us about next month
in greater detail.
The Board discussed the feasibility of selling green tags to customers who may not see a benefit
in the local area. Board member Lisa Skolds stated that she looked at it a different way; that any
reduction in air pollutants has a global benefit.
Chairperson Alison Mason asked what the timeline is on this decision. Mike responded that this
is a decision that will have an impact on the budget and that it should be made soon because the
City Council will be considering the City's biannual budget within the next few months. He
added that John Bleem, from Platte River will attend the meeting in July to answer any questions
and present different options.
Other Items
• ICE storage (new thermal storage presence in Fort Collins) — John Phelan
John Phelan, explained that this is a company that was formed for the purpose of
developing roof top units to reduce loads.
Wendy Williams, stated that they had talked to the Utility but at this point they don't have
any product to sell.
-2-
.0.
Electric Board Meeting Minutes
June 18, 2003
Page 3
• FERC/Standard Market Design — John Phelan
John Phelan updated the Board on Federal Regulatory Commission Standard Market Design. He
said they had come up with a standard market design plan that was rated by most of the southern
and western states utilities as being unfair to them because it would raise costs while the midwest
and northeast utilities generally supported it.
Bill Bray, Electric Planning & Engineering Manager, defined a standard market design as
providing a mechanism for equitable transmission access. Chairperson Alison Mason asked
about the impact when it is implemented. Bill responded that it would cost Platte River Power
Authority more because they would have to pay for a portion of the operating costs of another
entity.
Board member Jeff Lebesch asked what are the conditions of the City's net metering policy. Bill
Bray responded that is extremely unlikely that over the course of a month, any single small (1-
3kw) PV unit would deliver more electric energy than a customer would consume. Small
customer owned distributed generation projects are considered `de minimis' by Platte River and
therefore would not violate the power supply contract between Platte River and the City.
Adjournment
Board member Dan Bihn made a motion, seconded by Board member Jeff Lebesch to adjourn.
The motion passed unanimously and the meeting adjourned at 7:25 p.m.
�� 4J�I o-otic e�i
Leslie Mooney, Secretary
-3-