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HomeMy WebLinkAboutElectric Board - Minutes - 10/21/1998• • Q-D-z-�_'�-z� A regular meeting of the Fort Collins Electric Board was held at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, October 21, 1998 in the Utilities Training Room at 700 Wood Street, Fort Collins, Colorado. BOARD PRESENT: Jeff Eighmy, Mark Fidrych, Len Loomans, Barbara Rutstein, Richard Smart and Jim Welch Bill Brayden RECEIVED NOV 2 4 1998 STAFF PRESENT: 1 "ry A#ANAGE Dave Agee, Ellen Alward, Eric Dahlgren, Bob Kest, Mike Smith, Dennis Sumner, DougLnz Shannon Turner, Kevin Westhuis and Wendy Williams GUESTS: John Fooks and Mike Dahl of Platte River Power Authority AGENDA: APPROVAL OF MINUTES: Changes to the September 16, 1998 minutes were proposed. Board Member Rutstein made a motion to approve the minutes as amended. Board Member Fidrych seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously, and the minutes from the September 16, 1998 meeting were approved. 2. ELECTRO MAGNETIC FIELDS: John Fooks, of Platte River Power Authority (PRPA), gave Board members a presentation on Electro magnetic fields (EMF). Handouts were given to staff and Board Members, they included an overview of John's presentation, PRPA's position statement on EMF, a nocturnal melatonin study conducted at Colorado State University (CSU) and a phone list of the individuals involved with EMF in Northern Colorado. John explained magnetic fields are generated from electric current moving through power lines. The smaller the transmission of the electrical line, the greater the magnetic field is around it. It is based on the amount of load the line carries. Magnetic fields occur everywhere. Most people are concerned with magnetic fields of things with high visibility such as overhead transmission and distribution lines. The magnetic fields of underground service are similar to those of above ground. Often magnetic fields inside the home are much higher than those around transmission lines. John discussed the EMF program, which was developed in conjunction with the City of Fort Collins, Longmont, Estes Park and Loveland. A work group, comprised of members of these organizations, developed the program and the policy statement. One of the program's goals is to meet with the customer within 24 hours of their first inquiry. The focus of the program is on EMF in the home, underground and overhead transmission and distribution lines. The group generally deals with realtors, residents and businesses. Realtors introduce the subject of EMF to their potential buyers and the customer contacts the EMF group directly. Investors are concerned with the future value of the property they are interested in. Most residential calls are in regard to an overhead transmission line close to the home. Calls from residential areas are often related to health concerns such as childhood leukemia. When the group is called by a business it is usually because an employee has a concern about magnetic fields in the work place. Often the employee is concerned about magnetic fields from their video display terminal. Customers interested in EMF are typically met at the site they are interested in. They are provided with background information and education on magnetic fields. After providing the customer with information the decision whether EMF is a threat is left up to the customer. A lot of money has been spent regarding at the EMF debate. Five years ago research was consolidated under the EMF Research and Public Information Dissemination (RAPID) Program sponsored by the Department of Energy and operated by the National Institutes of Environmental Health Sciences. The program was created to make the information available world-wide. The EMF RAPID Program will come to closure in November. Locally there are three distinguished scientists, Dr. James Burch, Dr. John Reif and Dr. Michael Yost who research EMF. PRPA funds EMF research annually through CSU and provides a yearly deed scholarship of $2,500 to study EMF. There are three variations of studies involving EMF. One is the In Vivo studies which are studies generally performed on animals. Dr. John Reif, with the Department of Environmental Health Sciences at the Veterinary Teaching Hospital, is involved in In Vivo studies using dogs. He does melatonin studies on dogs because they rarely leave the home and therefore have a continuous exposure to the home's EMF. -2- In Vitro studies are laboratory studies at the cellular level. Scientists look for chemical communication, which takes place between different portions of the cell. Epidemiology looks at large groups of people for common occurrences such as leukemia, brain cancer, prostate cancer and/or breast cancer. Scientists look for the common occurrences in these groups of people, then relate those occurrences to a common factor in their exposures. Scientists look for groups of people, such as electric lineworkers, who have high levels of exposure and groups that have standard levels of exposure, then look for common diseases. Dr. Reif and Dr. Burch are conducting melatonin studies. They are looking at how the melatonin metabolates in urine by studying electrical lineworkers in Northern Colorado. PRPA currently has sixty volunteers participating in this study. One area of EMF study has to do with transient spikes. Transient spikes occur in a millisecond dose of a magnetic field in excess of ten thousand milligaus. Transient spikes happen so quickly they are impossible to record. Scientists believe these spikes may cause cellular changes. Other issues in the study of EMF are the amount of time of exposure, strength of exposure and high/low scenarios. Dr. Burch's studies look at the relationship of high and low EMF exposures. (For example a person spends one-half of their day at work and the other half at home.) The study of EMF also look at the following: Prostate Cancer Breast Cancer Miscarriage Alzheimer's Disease Heart Attack Risk Brain Cancer Leukemia (Adult) Leukemia (Childhood) The risk of these is prevalent in our society. They have odds or risk ratios. Many studies are showing a doubling of the increased risk. A study done by Nancy Wortheimer at the University of Colorado (CU) has shown an association with increased risk ratios due to wire codes. The size of the electrical line around or near the subjects have shown a doubling in the risk of the above listing. Wortheimer could only measure EMF in neighborhoods with had exposed distribution lines. Her studies also included neighborhoods with high lead paint exposure and high volumes of traffic. Another issue of studying the effects of EMF is identifying what is an indicator versus confounder. When looking at EMF scientists must pull out all the confounders such as the number of smokers in the house, a led paint exposure, pollution etc. There is no risk relationship when measuring EMF and no increase in odds ratio for any of the above listing. Whether EMF poses a risk is personal interpretation. Science cannot prove EMF pose a risk. Risk is not tied to measurements of EMF, the only risk relationship that exists is the size of the wires. In every -3- study done where magnetic fields have been measured there has been no increase in odds ratio for any of the above listing. John discussed legal issues in regard to EMF. All law suits have been related to trespass, because the utilities are forcing EMF on to people's property, and wrongful death. To date all law suits have been dismissed under motions for summary judgement, dismissal or ruling in favor of the defendant. The health standards associated with EMF are measured in milligauss. The most common question is how much milligauss is okay. The official standards recommend EMF exposure for the general public at 830 milligauss. What citizens can do about EMF is find resources, educate themselves, and practice prudent avoidance. Individuals can control their own risk. DEMAND SIDE MANAGEMENT MEMORANDUM: Doug Swartz responded to questions from Board Members regarding the Demand Side Management (DSM) Report. Board Members were interested in what DSM opportunities Staff planned to work on in 1999. Discussion centered on the recent steep growth of residential air conditioning in the Fort Collins market. Over the last several years Fort Collins has moved from a city with little expectation for central air conditioning to one in which market penetration of central air conditioning may be as high as 40 percent. The use of air conditioners appears to be a significant contributor to the Utilities peak summer electrical load. A pronounced bump in load occurs at about 4:30 p.m. as residents return home from work and turn on the air conditioning. Utilities experienced numerous transformer failures during last summer's heat waves due to electrical loads which exceeded design capacity. It is likely current rates are not adequately recovering the cost of serving customers with central air conditioning systems. In preliminary work on DSM issues for new Fort Collins homes staff has found numerous problems which suggest many opportunities for reducing the air conditioning load. Based on a small number of homes staff s observations include no attention paid to cooling load when homes are designed and sited, very little use of high performance glass (which could cut solar heat gains significantly) or other features to reduce cooling needs, contractors install substantially oversized air conditioning units and poor installation results in poor performance -- both from comfort and energy standpoints. Energy code does not address air conditioning in any meaningful way. The whole house fan is a substitute for an air conditioner that uses far less energy. Utilities will learn more about the problems by piggybacking air conditioning research on the upcoming residential energy code evaluation project. This project entails market research, in - home performance testing and utility bill analysis. The research will expand the sample considerably and help us get a better handle on the frequency and severity of air conditioning 0 related problems. The research may be followed by a load survey next summer to better quantify air conditioning impacts on the community electric system. What staff learns will help in targeting resources in the future to address the problems. The outcome may be more education, incentives, rate changes and policy changes. Staff is addressing some of the analogous problems with the commercial air conditioning load through the design assistance program. Board Members asked for clarification regarding the startup problems at the Harmony Library. Doug explained there were several startup problems, including time clocks on the heating, ventilation and air conditioning system which were never programmed when the building was turned over to the owner. This resulted in large fans running all night (identified by detailed load profiles collected with the GS50 coincident peak rate). Another problem was the boiler was left on 24-hours per day during the summer. Once these problems were corrected the utility bills were substantially reduced. None of the problems seem to be related to the Utilities' design assistance program, and the other new buildings at Front Range Community College had similar problems. There was some discussion regarding how to reduce electrical use by wind power customers who are paying a higher electrical rate. Chairperson Loomans mentioned improved refrigerator efficiency as one potential opportunity. Board members inquired whether the Utility is sponsoring any programs to help customers purchase efficient refrigerators. Staff related there is currently not a program in place for this, but customers are being educated about many opportunities to increase appliance efficiency when they contact us for information on energy savings. Appliance meters are also loaned, free of charge, to customers to measure energy use of their own refrigerator. Staff then can help residents make informed decisions on whether it makes sense to repair or replace their refrigerator. Board Members were interested in including refrigerator purchasing assistance through the ZILCH program. Staff replied they could investigated potential programs. Staff also explained the ZILCH program has, in the past, been restricted to improvements which stayed with the home. Refrigerator loans would be a change in this philosophy. Board members commended Doug Swartz on the excellent presentation he recently gave to the Colorado Renewable Energy Society annual conference. Doug related the City of Fort Collins has always been the front runner in DSM in Colorado and we plan to continue pursuing new areas. Board Members extended their support to the study of residential air conditioning issues in Fort Collins. -5- 4. STAFF REPORTS: GAS AGGREGATION: Kevin Westhuis provided Board Members with a status report on the progress of the gas aggregation business plan. The four cities who are working in conjunction with Fort Collins are Lakewood, Arvada, Commerce City and Platte River Solutions. This group is working on a business plan concerning natural gas restructuring and determining if there is a potential role for a municipality. Board Members received a draft of a section of the business plan which is scheduled to be completed by the end of next month. The group will decide goals and objectives, assess the environment of the natural gas area and complete a strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats analysis. Each of the scenarios will be put into a matrix, and staff will perform cost benefit analysis and risk analysis. The gas aggregation staff will be meeting in Fort Collins on November 4 and November 18 at the Utilities site. Kevin related Public Service Company (PSCo) intends on reintroducing legislation in January for natural gas unbundling to small commercial and residential customers. PSCo introduced the legislation last year but it failed. TELECOMMUNICATIONS UPDATE: An update on the telecommunications program was provided by Eric Dahlgren. Eric introduced guest Mike Dahl of PRPA, who also provided telecommunications information to Board Members. Eric briefly reviewed a history of the telecommunications project. The Utility asked PRPA to negotiate on our behalf with vendors and to maintain ownership of the fiber. PRPA has changed their organic contract to allow them to become involved in businesses other than wholesale energy. Currently there are two legal issues to be dealt with. The first is the need for PRPA Board Members to authorize PRPA to become involved in telecommunications. The second legal issue is for the City to give PRPA a franchise to engage in telecommunications activities in the City of Fort Collins. The franchise would allow PRPA to provide the fiber infrastructure and services. Any revenues received by PRPA will be passed directly back to the cities. PRPA will retain ownership of the fiber infrastructure, and any entity who uses the infrastructure and builds on to it will turn the fiber ownership over to PRPA. PRPA will then give that entity a right to use this fiber. The entities who wish to build on to the system will fund their own buildout, then turn the ownership over to PRPA. PRPA will provide a franchise for that entity to serve their customers. Any monies that PRPA negotiates for the use of the infrastructure will be returned to the City. Mike Dahl explained how revenue will be generated from this project. PRPA will negotiate with other businesses to lease the fibers, and they will charge the company per fiber, per mile and per month. The revenue generated from the lease of the fibers will be returned to the City. PRPA has reserved 12 fibers out of the loops in each of the four cities for electric operations. Each city will reserve 12 fibers for their own use. The balance of the fibers is available for commercial 0 leasing to other governmental agencies and the private local exchange carriers. There will be a base level of uniformity in pricing the lease of the fibers. PRPA will use a market driven approach to pricing. Upon completion of the project the fiber loop will be worth between $6 - $7 million. There has been $1 million spent to expand the amount of fiber in the cable from 24 to 144 fibers in each of the four cities. Much of the cost includes the 28 sites of fiber electronics being installed in the substations in each city. There are some extensions off the loop to various substations. There was some question by Board Members regarding non-profit entities. PRPA is actively working with six governmental agencies, including Poudre Valley Hospital, Poudre School District, Colorado State University, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Larimer County and the City of Fort Collins. They are developing a separate rate for governmental agencies, in which the pricing is at cost (time and materials). There will be one governmental rate and one commercial rate. Eric showed Board Members a map of the fiber, which has already been installed, and future plans for installation. The City's goal is to have this done by the end of 1998. We are putting spare conduit to every new residential and commercial building site for future telecommunications needs. The telecommunications link to the Longmont Civic Center was completed last year. The digital microwave system to Estes park has been completed. The loop around Estes park is scheduled to be completed by November 16. PRPA will trade 24 overhead fibers to ICG and will receive 24 underground fibers. PRPA will save $800,000 by trading fibers with ICG. PRPA will lease the dark fiber to telecommunications companies rather than getting into the regulated telecommunications business. There are currently six or seven possible agreements with telecommunications companies for its lease. ICG is interested in leasing 24 fibers in Fort Collins, 12 fibers in Loveland and some in Estes Park. PRPA will keep the revenues from leasing space on the microwave system to Estes Park. ICG is currently serving part of CSU's modem traffic. TCI was recently required by ordinance to use fiber optic facilities to provide cable TV service in Fort Collins. TCI has expressed an interest in leasing 24 fibers in the City of Fort Collins. Poudre Valley Hospital is interested in connecting their new south campus with the existing hospital and wants to lease two fibers to make their own private network. Larimer County is interested in leasing bandwith on the telecommunications system for communicating between the new justice center in Fort Collins, the new justice center in Loveland, Estes Park and local hospitals. Poudre School District has received a draft contract for leasing fiber. Currently there is not a provider interested in residential telecommunications. There is a possibility that in the future AT&T and TCI will be able to use hybrid fiber coax (HFC) for residential telecommunications. HFC is a mixture of coax cable into the home and fiber optics lines in the backbone. 5. CITIES FOR CLIMATE PROTECTION UPDATE: -7- Board Member Eighmy provided Board members with an update on the Cities For Climate Protection. The committee consists of many local municipalities who are interested in reducing CO2 emissions. There was a audit performed on various ways to reduce CO2 emissions. The utilities were identified as an opportunity to add a percentage to reaching their goal. The committee is trying to find ways to reduce the vehicle miles traveled, they will look at options and make a series of recommendations of what it would take for the City of Fort Collins to meet their goal. ,� L•lll � �iyy;7Si1:Zi7 \ ;7 �1rdL�] N ;� � 4_\ ► A Board Members requested the following changes to the 1999 Electric Board Work Plan: Add co -generation under Section B. - Customer Choice Change item number 7 from "Review Utilities Strategic Plan" to "Monitor, comment and review the process of the Utilities Strategic Plan" Board Member Eighmy made a motion to adopt the 1999 Electric Board Work Plan. Chairperson Loomans seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously, and the 1999 Electric Board Work Plan was adopted. 7. OTHER BUSINESS: There was some discussion regarding the undergrounding program. Staff explained the Utility has had some major projects come up and were not able to work on the project this year. We plan to keep our deadline of 2004 to have all the power lines undergrounded. Board Members briefly discussed the resignation of Thaine Michie from PRPA. The Board reviewed the minutes of the January 28, 1998 Special Meeting, in which they made recommendations regarding the qualities they wanted in the Light and Power General Manager. Staff noted any Board involvement would be through Mike Smith and Mayor Ann Azari. Board Members requested Mike Smith provide the PRPA Board with the recommendations in the minutes of the January 28, 1998 Special Meeting. Mike provided information on the current status of the PRPA General Manager Position. The PRPA Board has recently hired a search firm of Mikehoff (check spelling with Mike) and Associates. The search will take six to ten weeks. PRPA Board is putting together criteria for the General Manager position. Mike will share the Electric Board recommendations with the PRPA Board at the October 22 meeting. Board members requested an update on the process of hiring the consultant for the Utilities' Strategic Plan. Mike related the Utility has selected the consultant R.W. Beck, and we are negotiating on the scope of work. The final scope of work will be provided to Board Members. Dennis Sumner will be the project manager. In FUTURE AGENDA TEEMS: Budget presentation Fuel Cells Annual Report Adjourned: 9:50 p.m. annon L. Turner, Board Liaison M