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HomeMy WebLinkAboutElectric Board - Minutes - 02/21/2001A regular meeting of the Fort Collins Electric Board was held at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, February 21, 2001, in the Utilities Training Room at 700 Wood Street, Fort Collins, Colorado. BOARD PRESENT: Barbara Rutstein, Ginger Purvis, Guy Helme, Richard Smart STAFF PRESENT: Bob Kost, Dennis Sumner, Eric Dahlgren, Gary Schroeder, Heather Hoxeng, Lori Clements -Grote, Mike Smith, Wendy Williams GUEST: Bryan Willson, Research Director - Colorado State University Engines & Energy Conversion Laboratory OBSERVER: Lu Fisk of the League of Women Voters APPROVAL OF MINUTES: Barbara Rutstein motioned to approve the minutes of the November 15, 2000 meeting. Guy Helme seconded the motion, and it passed unanimously. HYDROGEN TASK FORCE UPDATE: Gary Schroeder explained that the Hydrogen Task Force was created to look at how Fort Collins could be a leader in supporting a hydrogen economy. The Electric Board had recommended a task force be formed. City Manger John Fischbach asked the Utilities to take the lead in establishing the task force. The members of the Hydrogen Task Force are: Steve Yeldell - Transportation Board, Nancy York - Air Quality Board, Nate Donovan - Natural Resources Advisory Board, Jim Welch - Electric Board, Gary Schroeder - Utilities Staff, Larry Schneider - Streets, and Lucinda Smith - Natural Resources. The first meeting of the Hydrogen Task Force was held February 14. Dr. Albertson and Mr. Schroeder gave presentations on hydrogen and the Task Force discussed their purpose and deliverables. The Task Force will provide a report to the City Manger by early June. They will research the technology of hydrogen, what types of alternative energy other cities are using (fuel cells, hydrogen, etc.) and outline possible projects for Fort Collins. They will meet again on March 14 from 9-11 a.m. to clarify objectives, outline the report for the City Manager, and assign tasks to members. Three additional meetings are scheduled for April 11, May 16, and May 30 from 9-11 a.m. Mr. Schroeder requested the Electric Board appoint another member to the Hydrogen Task Force since Jim Welch has resigned from the Electric Board. Ginger Purvis and Guy Helme said they would work together in attending the meetings. Engines & Energy Conversion Laboratory: Bryan Willson presented information on the activities of the Colorado State University's Engines & Energy Conversion Laboratory (EECL). He presented information on the stewardship and remodeling of the building, student projects, industrial projects, and industrial partnerships with local companies. The EECL originated from a series of very successful senior design projects. Dr. Willson looked for ambitious projects where the students could excel by applying their engineering education. The first projects originated from a national challenge in which the students engineered energy efficient vehicles. The first year they designed a methanol fueled vehicle, the second year a solar vehicle, and the third year they built a natural gas powered vehicle. Two out of the three years they won top engineering and design awards. CSU's involvement in vehicles powered by hydrogen and natural gas mixtures and pure natural gas caught the attention of the Department of Energy, which gave them a research grant to study hydrogen and natural gas mixtures. The research projects soon resulted in companies donating equipment and CSU needed to find a suitable facility to house the equipment. CSU approached the City of Fort Collins in 1992 with the intention of using the old Fort Collins Municipal Power Plant as a possible site for the EECL. In 1993, City Council approved the plan for a period of 10 years with three five-year extensions. The infrastructure of the building makes it capable of holding heavy equipment. Large engines (14" bore, 14" stroke, 300RPM) were installed within the building making it the only facility in North America that can complete in-house research on large stationary engines. While research originally focused on pollution control, recent increases in gas prices have resulted in heightened interest in engine efficiency. Gas prices have increased because gas compression consumes 5 percent of the natural gas produced. The EECL has designed and created retrofit technologies for engines to reduce pollution and increase engine efficiency. Working with Woodward Governor, they designed technology to replace the low-pressure natural gas injectors with high-pressure natural gas injectors, reducing pollutants by 50 percent while saving 10 percent in fuel costs. The EECL is currently conducting research with lasers to visualize how air and fuel mix inside an engine. One technique is to take a laser beam, reflect it off a mirror, expand the beam into a sheet, and shine it through a cylinder. A "doped" gas glows within a stationary cylinder when the laser comes in contact with it. This advanced technique allows the students to take pictures of how air and fuel mix and compare the experimental results with computer models. These laser experiments will take place in the worlds largest optical engine, which will consist of working parts of a cylinder within a quartz cylinder covering so they can shine lasers into it. The EECL has had an impact on the economy through the following business ventures. -2- ♦ Woodward Governor - Partners with EECL on research and many students become employees. ♦ Enginuity - Fort Collins based company created from high-pressure natural gas project at EECL. Partners with Woodward -Governor, Elliot Turbocharger Group Inc, Exline, Advanced Engine Technologies Corp to manufacture components for use in pipeline systems. They employ approximately 40 people. ♦ Encorp - Windsor based company that manufactures equipment for distributive power generation through the use of software. They are currently expanding and plan to employ 120 people. ♦ CBW Automation - Fort Collins based company that manufactures the worlds fastest robots. They employ approximately 100 people and many of them are graduates from EECL. ♦ Sturman Industries - Woodland Park based company that manufactures camless engines resulting in low pollution and high power operation. ♦ 6' Dimension - Fort Collins based company that manages distributive power generation assets over the Intranet. They employ 35-40 people. ♦ Celerity Energy - A virtual based company with employees in Fort Collins. The company buys the rights to run standby generators sets in an area and, when peaking power is needed, the company uses software from companies like 6`h Dimension and Encorp to activate the generators. In the future the EECL will be looking at combined computer and engine technology, continued developments with engine manufacturers on ultra clean vehicles, establishing a distributive generation testbed to allow testing of new control concepts and hardware and a new focus on international applications of current projects. PRIORITIES FOR 2001 WORK PLAN: Mr. Smart said he would like to prioritize the items the Board will work on for the duration of the year. He added that he was interested in another RW Beck update and a telecommunications update on ICG. He said the Board would need to elect a new Chairperson when the new Board Members are appointed. Mrs. Rutstein said she was interested in communications and how the Utilities could take advantage of the situation in California by letting our customers know how good things are with public power. She inquired about Pennsylvania's power situation stating that deregulation is supposed to be working very well there. Mike Smith reminded the Board that in June or July the Board will have to review the budget. INFORMATION SHARING: Bob Kost gave an update on the California power situation that Barbara Rutstein had inquired about at the November meeting. He said the issues at hand are not just affecting California; Greenspan has stated that there is a national energy crisis. Mr. Kost said California wanted the energy, but did not want to pay for generation or "have it in their backyards." Mrs. Rutstein said she read that California wanted power plants but the power companies declined to build them. She stated that she feels the situation is being manipulated and wondered if the Utilities receives information beyond what is printed in the papers or televised. She wanted to know what conserving could accomplish for California. Mr. Kost said the problem is real and not a fabrication. To get the 5,000MGW California requires, six nuclear power plants would have to be built. Mr. Smart asked if we are at risk in Fort Collins of power outages. Mr. Kost said California would be the one dropping the load because the problem lies within their system. Guy Helme asked what the demand/supply ratio is for Fort Collins. Mr. Kost said we are close to the "break even point" and Dennis Sumner agreed. Mr. Sumner said that at the last Colorado Association of Municipal Utilities (CAMU) -3- meeting they talked about demand and supply along the Front Range. The concern is that Excel has not added resources in at least three years resulting in summer outages in Denver. Generation equipment is a huge capital investment. Excel has been intentionally not investing in power plants, contracting for power instead. Mr. Kost said there were a number of problems with the way California deregulated. California regulations forced PGE and Southern Cal -Edison to sell their generation and buy power on the spot market with regulated price caps. Buying on the spot market made companies purchase at higher prices, and without generation they added load without adding to infrastructure. Mr. Smart requested that this discussion be continued at a later meeting. He also asked Mike Smith if someone from Platte River could attend to help answer questions. Heather Hoxeng stated that the 2000 Work Plan and Annual Report have been reviewed by City Council and no changes were made to either. She also stated that the Boards and Commissions Recognition Ceremony is planned for Saturday, December 2 at 2:30p.m. Lori Clements -Grote invited the Board to attend the event recognizing the Wind Power Pilot customers, to be held Thursday, April 5 from 6:30 - 9 p.m. at the Lincoln Center. Mrs. Clements -Grote will be presenting more information at the March Electric Board meeting. 0