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HomeMy WebLinkAboutElectric Board - Minutes - 01/19/1994Minutes to be Approved by the Board at the February 16, 1994 Meeting. FORT COLLINS ELECTRIC BOARD MEETING MINUTES January 19, 1993, 5:00 - 7:30 P.M. BOARD MEMBERS PRESENT: John Allum, Jeff Eighmy, Barbara Rutstein, Richard Smart, Larry Walsh and Jim Welch. BOARD MEMBERS ABSENT: Mark Fidrych STAFF PRESENT: Delynn Coldiron, John DeHaes, Bob Kost, Bob Nastan, Rich Shannon and Dennis Sumner. OTHERS PRESENT: Rita Knoll -Harris and Alan Apt. BOARD LIAISONS: Council Liaison -- Alan Apt Staff Liaison -- Don Botteron 1. APPROVAL OF MINUTES: A Motion was made by Board Member Eighmy to approve the Minutes. Board Member Rutstein seconded the Motion. The Motion passed unanimously and the Minutes from the December 15, 1993 meeting were approved as submitted. 2. YEAR END REPORT: Board Members briefly reviewed the finalized year end report. They were satisfied with the content of the report and had no suggested changes. A Motion was made by Board Member Allum to approve the Year End Report as submitted. Board Member Eighmy seconded the Motion. The Motion passed unanimously. Staff will forward the report to the City Clerk's office. 3. BUILDING CODE REVISION DISCUSSION: Dennis mentioned that he met with Felix Lee and received feedback from Alan Apt on this issue. The plan at this point is to pull the energy issues from the proposed code revisions that Council will be considering at the February 15, 1994 meeting. Doing this allows additional time so that both residential and commercial aspects of the energy code -1- can be addressed. The intent is to do a more integrated development of the energy code. The Building Review Board and Building Inspection have been very responsive to the interest the Electric Board has expressed, and the suggestions made by Council Member Apt, so the opportunity exists for the Electric Board to provide input on this issue. Dennis next discussed the anticipated time table for this project. Staff plans on taking about three months (2/1/94 - 5/l/94) to sort out essential details in the code and put together a logical package for the users that provides some flexibility. The public review process is anticipated to begin in May, 1994. Staff follow up on the public process which includes responding to questions, as well as incorporating suggested changes, is scheduled to begin in June. Once this is done, the package will be forwarded to the Building Review Board and the Electric Board for review (July, 1994). Staff plans to follow up on the Boards' suggestions during August and will present the proposed code changes to City Council in the September/October time frame. There was discussion on the public review process. There was also discussion on mentioning the possible funding assistance program, etc., as an incentive to get the public interested. There was a question posed on whether or not there was any historical information that could be used from other cities that have taken the initiative to set more stringent standards than current code. Bob Kost reported that Ft. Collins, Longmont and Boulder are the three leading cities in Colorado to have implemented an energy code that surpasses the national standards. A memo will be sent to the Building Review Board expressing the Electric Board's interest in this effort and giving our expectations of the review process. Richard and Dennis were asked to handle this. 4. C&I LIGHTING PROGRESS REPORT: Dennis provided an update on this issue. Ia. New Construction: We are currently involved in making revisions to the Building Code so we are a little bit ahead of schedule on this issue. Analysis and research is scheduled to occur 1/l/94 to 6/30/94. Jon McHugh, the new Energy Services Engineer I, is presently attending a DSM conference. Additionally, staff is doing research on programs offered by other utilities to find out what has or has not worked, costs associated with the programs, etc. The schedule for this program has been slightly accelerated to meet available opportunities. Dennis mentioned that staff is working on energy efficiency lighting issues and broader opportunities in new construction with two new industrial customers who are in very early stages of their projects. One of these projects looks very promising; the other is too early into the process to tell. There was discussion on other new commercial/industrial projects; the new King Soopers was mentioned as -2- an example. It was noted, if the customer takes us up on the offer for front-end integrated design assistance, any one of these projects could become a major undertaking of both staff time and expense. Given the other priorities, it was concluded that staff should not overly commit in the area of target lost opportunities. Focus should be kept on a limited number of opportunities. lb. Existing Construction: Analysis and research for this item is scheduled to occur 1/1/94 to 6/30/94. There is a logical fie between the research and analysis for this issue and the research and analysis that will be done for the code work. A program concept is scheduled to be developed sometime during the third quarter of 1994. Dennis mentioned that the tie between this item and the code revisions looks good but cautioned that timing on one item could affect timing of the other and cause possible delays in pilot testing. Although it is logical to integrate both of these issues, there could be a small amount of risk involved. The Board indicated that this risk of potential delays was reasonable to take. Following discussion on items la and lb, Chairperson Smart presented the idea of bringing in a consultant from EPRI or APPA, who is familiar with what other public power companies are doing and to discuss with staff, the Board and other interested groups the types of programs that we are considering. Due to the high expectations being asked of staff and the short time frame to accomplish these expectations, he thought that such a consultant might have information to help the Board and staff develop realistic expectations of the effort and time needed for pilot testing and program development. Board discussed the different consultants that might be available, additional data sources, and some of the challenges associated with developing programs. Council Member Apt mentioned that Council is very supportive of this effort and will be supportive of making changes to the City Charter or changes in the way the City does business if this is necessary to implement successful programs. Dennis thanked the Board for their support and sensitivities to the challenges presented by the DSM program work plan. He noted that staff is making contact with a variety of utilities who have experience with various programs as well as accessing centralized program data through various resources. This should be an efficient way of collecting program specific data. Dennis noted a challenge he sees facing staff is keeping a responsible balance on various aspects of the DSM program development. One example is the balance between piggy -backing of opportunities as they arise versus being distracted from our focus by them. Supporting the Building Inspection office in code revisions is an example of this. While most aspects of this work are consistent with the current schedule, the residential efficiency aspect is not. The conclusion is to be flexible and pursue this opportunity. Dennis noted this flexibility, while desirable, has the potential to impact our short term work plan. He thanked the Board for their input and flexibility in helping staff with these kinds of trade-offs. -3- 5. BOARD RELATIONS: Bob Kost introduced Rita Knoll -Harris who is the Boards and Commissions Coordinator for the City. Rita mentioned that multiple Boards taking an integrated approach to projects is a relatively new idea and that based on her experience with other Boards that have this type of relationship, board member to board member contact through joint meetings have proven very effective, followed by written communication to keep board members abreast of new developments. The Board's goal is to obtain the support of and to support other Boards on issues that are important to the Electric Board. Bob Nastan facilitated discussion on this issue. Board Members brainstormed ways to establish inter - board relationships. Ideas included: - Using Council Liaisons - Board Chair to Board Chair contact - Exchanging minutes - Holding joint meetings - Board Members adopting another Board - Staff to staff follow up - Educating other Boards through infor- - Inviting other board members to attend mative memos, presentations, etc. meetings. Board Members thought using the Building Review Board as a model to develop a method for establishing an inter -board relationship was appropriate. It was suggested that as a first step the Board might want to send the Building Review Board a substantive and process oriented letter which includes some background information, some idea of what the Board hopes to accomplish by making changes to the code and explaining that more time is needed to do this, clarifying roles and responsibilities of each of the Boards pertaining to this issue, and ideas on obtaining closure on this issue, i.e., sending a recommendation to Council setting out agreements and disagreements of the Boards involved so Council has the necessary information to make an informed decision. Board Members agreed that a letter from the Electric Board Chair to the Building Review Board Chair was the place to start. Board Members asked that staff check with Felix Lee to make sure that the Building Review Board is aware that the Electric Board has an interest in this issue so that the letter is not a surprise to them. Staff will prepare a letter for Chairperson Smart's review and approval. Board will continue discussion on this issue at next month's meeting. Thank you Rita for coming to the meeting and sharing your insight with Board Members and staff. 6. DRAFT CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS PROJECT MANUAL: Bob reviewed the draft information that went out in meeting packets. He explained that the Utility is not in control of the project manual so it is possible for the information submitted to be changed by the reviewing committee prior to incorporation into the manual. -4- 7. 7 Board discussed the draft information. Discussion included requiring an energy analysis for all major projects, defining the types of analysis required, determining payback parameters, the role of the Facilities Department pertaining to these projects, the possibility of using Energy Score type ratings for commercial projects, disadvantages to making the language too prescriptive, trade-off decisions required to be made due to budget constraints, and funding assistance possibilities. After discussion, Board Member Eighmy made a Motion to endorse the suggested changes to the Capital Projects Procedure Manual as sent out in draft form in meeting packets. Board Member Rutstein seconded the Motion. The Motion passed unanimously and the suggested changes to the Capital Projects Procedure Manual as submitted were endorsed by the Board. Staff will finalize this document and forward it on to Jack Gianola in the Facilities Department. STAFF REPORTS: 1. Update on Energy Services Hiring: Dennis mentioned that the two new Energy Services staff members had been hired Jon McHugh was hired as the Energy Services Engineer I and Ginger Uthmann was hired as the Energy Services Advisor. He added that the two new employees are extremely capable and are great additions to staff. 2. Smart House: Dennis mentioned that Don Richmond, a local architect and one of our Energy Score raters, is building a Smart House. He plans on incorporating lots of energy efficiency items. A typical Energy Score rating on a new home in Ft. Collins is 75. Don expects this house to set a new benchmark for energy efficiency. A score in the 90s is being targeted. This house is located in the 300 block of Sherwood Street. If Board Members are interested in touring this house, Dennis will make arrangements. 3. Amendment to the Boards and Commissions Manual: Delynn reported that at its January 18 meeting, Council adopted a Resolution amending the Boards and Commissions Manual to provide that the chairpersons of boards and commissions are permitted to participate in the debate of matters and to vote on all motions made by members to the same extent and with the same effect as other members. INFORMATIONAL REQUESTS: Chairperson Smart asked if staff would contact APPA and find out what the cost would be to hire one of their consultants for three days. Board Member Welch is interested in receiving a copy of the energy efficiency report Prepared by the Office of Technology Assessment. -5- Board Member Welch is interested in receiving updated information on the growth of the Utility for the past six months. He would like information on both demand and energy. Council Member Apt is interested in receiving the compilation of case studies mentioned in the APPA report. 7. OTHER BUSINESS: Board Member Welch mentioned that Doug Swartz' report on the results of the Senior Center was very good. He thought that a lot of useful information was gained through this process. Board Member Welch recognized Dennis' participation in the review of the Office of Technology Assessment's report: Energy Efficiency -Challenges and Opportunities for Electric Utilities. Dennis was the only municipal representative who was asked to participate in this national study. CRITIQUE MEETING/NEXT MEETING'S AGENDA: - PRPA Presentation on Draft IRP - Commercial Funding Program Discussion - Board Relations Discussion (Continued) - Building Code Revisions Update ADJOURNMENT: Meeting adjourned at 7:30 p.m. Delyn R. Coldiron, Board Secretary 10