HomeMy WebLinkAboutElectric Board - Minutes - 04/21/2004Fort Collins Utilities Electric Board Minutes
Wednesday, April 21, 2004
City Council Liaison Electric Board Chairman Electric Board Vice Chairman
Ray Martinez Alison Mason 493-1295 Jeff Lebesch 221-0543
Staff Liaison
Leslie Mooney 416-2703
Roll Call:
Board Present
Chairperson Alison Mason, Vice Chairperson Jeff Lebesch, Board members Tracy Babst-
Wiedenbrug, Dan Bihn and John Harris
Absent:
Board members Jassen Bowman and Lisa Skolds
Visitor:
Rick Cowen, Scott Glick and Jaime Sabin
Staff Present:
Patty Bigner, Bill Bray, DeEtta Carr, Bob Micek, Leslie Mooney, Tom Rock, Mike Smith,
Dennis Sumner, Doug Swartz and Wendy Williams
Meeting Convened
Chairperson Alison Mason called the meeting to order at 5:45 p.m.
Approval of Minutes
Board member Tracy Babst-Wiedenbrug made a motion, seconded by Board member Dan Bihn
to approve the minutes of the March 24, 2004 meeting. The motion passed unanimously.
Electric Board Meeting Minutes
April 21, 2004
Page 2
Net Meterine Presentation — Scott Glick
Chairperson Alison Mason introduced Scott Glick, a Colorado State University student in
construction management, who has been gathering information from northern Colorado utilities
on net metering.
Scott reviewed a summary of his research on net metering policies from other cities and utilities
within the northern Colorado region. Following is a table of his research:
Summary of Policies and Rates
For Grid -Inter -tied parallel generation systems
System
Size
Fort Collins 3kW
R
RD
Loveland
3kW
Longmont
3kW
Estes Park
3kW
PRPA Above 3kW
PVREA 25kW
Tri-State Above 25kW
Rate
Type
RD, or R
N/A
RGEN
N/A
Res
Xcel Energy Pilot program expired
Monthly
Service
$3.69+6%
$6.08+6 %
$3.72+6%
N/A
$10.00
N/A
$7.00
Buy Back Retail Remarks
Sales
net meter
.0276+6%
.04226
Negotiated
Avg. whsl.
Negotiated
RD unless waiver
.0575+6%
.0276+6 %
This is a per kW of
demand chg, no refund
for excess power
.04226 excess purchased at
retail on anniversary
.0622 first 600kWh
.0591 over 600 kWh
He stated that approximately 30 states have laws on net metering but Colorado is not currently
one of them. One of the common policies of these utilities is that they will not reimburse
monthly but will normally wait a 12 month period and reimburse then if there was an excess of
power produced.
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Electric Board Meeting Minutes
April 21, 2004
Page 3
Draft Parallel Generation Pilot Proeram — Bill Bray & Dou¢ Swartz
Bill Bray, Electric Planning & Engineering Services Manager, stated that the Utilities is getting
more inquiries about net metering so they have developed a draft five year pilot program which
gives some general guidelines to follow. The pilot program will allow a maximum of 25
customers to participate for a five year term and it will be limited to residential users with 10 kW
or smaller. Customers will be billed for net monthly energy consumption and net excess
generation would be credited to the customer's account on a monthly basis. The credits will be
carried over from month to month and then any unused credits would be granted to Fort Collins
Utilities (without compensation to the customer) at the end of each 12 month billing cycle.
Doug Swartz, Energy Services Engineer, stated that the Platte River Power Authority size
increase from 3 kW to 50 kW is proposed at this time and probably won't formally make that
change until the end of the year but are willing to consider requests on a case by case basis. He
added that the Fort Collins Utilities does not currently have an appropriate rate for parallel
generation and does not have enough experience or data to establish that rate. The "R" rate is
probably the most generous rate but after some experience with the program it will probably be
changed. The pilot program will generate more experience with this type of service so that an
equitable rate can be developed.
Jamie Sabin of Aspen Homes, asked if the 12 month billing cycle would end in December. Bill
Bray replied that he didn't think it would have to begin in January and end in December but
could be on a 12 month cycle. Doug replied that Jamie's proposal for the Aspen Homes project
will be different than the normal residential customer who might want to add a photovoltaic (PV)
system to reduce their usage.
Jamie stated his goal with the project with Aspen Homes is to build an affordable home with net
zero energy usage technology built into the 30 year loan. His goal is to provide an instant value
to the homeowner or at least a five year payoff for the technology. He would like to have some
assurance from the Utility that this is a viable option before initiating a project in Fort Collins.
Mike Smith, Utilities General Manager, stated he could provide a letter to that effect.
Other Business
Dennis Sumner, Key Accounts Manager, asked the Board if they would be interested in
going on a Rawhide Power Plant tour. The consensus of the Board was that they would
be interested in asked Dennis to set it up for sometime this summer. Board member John
Harris offered to give a tour of a combined cycle plant near Hudson. The Board agreed
that they would be interested in seeing that plant also.
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Electric Board Meeting Minutes
April 21, 2004
Page 4
Chairperson Alison Mason suggested that the next meeting's agenda, the Board should
focus on planning on this year's work plan. The next meeting will be on May 19'h at 5:30
p.m.
Adjournment
The meeting adjourned at 7:23 p.m.
9 y n �c�rae.e
Leslie Mooney, Electric Board ^f Liaison
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