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HomeMy WebLinkAboutElectric Board - Minutes - 11/17/1993Minutes to be Approved by the Board at the December 15, 1993 Meeting. FORT COLLINS ELECTRIC BOARD MEETING MINUTES November 17, 1993, 5:00 - 6:30 P.M. BOARD MEMBERS PRESENT: John Allum, Jeff Eighmy, Mark Fidrych, Barbara Rutstein, Richard Smart, and Jim Welch. BOARD MEMBERS ABSENT: Larry Walsh STAFF PRESENT: Don Botteron, Delynn Coldiron, John DeHaes, Bob Kost, Bob Nastan, Rich Shannon and Dennis Sumner. OTHERS PRESENT: Alan Apt BOARD LIAISONS: Council Liaison -- Alan Apt Staff Liaison -- Don Botteron 1. APPROVAL OF MINUTES: The following changes were suggested to the October 20, 1993 Minutes: On page 2, Section 2, Hot Short Program should be changed to Hot Shot program. Board Member Welch had some concern that nothing was included in the Minutes on discussion regarding developing a project plan for the $500,000 that has been allocated for Demand Side Management. There was some presumption that this would be addressed in the Work Plan. Board Member Welch did not want to get bogged down with this and asked that this issue be readdressed at a more appropriate time during the meeting. There was some concern that the third sentence on page 5, second paragraph, was restricting commercial/industrial lighting efforts to code modifications and that was not the Board's intent. Board Member Eighmy had some recollection that some sort of loan program had also been discussed as a commercial/industrial lighting effort and did not feel comfortable restricting these efforts to code modifications. It was suggested that the reference to code modifications be deleted. The sentence was changed to read: -1- "Rather than wasting time in developing a variety of conceptual alternatives for commercial/industrial lighting for the next meeting, staff will proceed based on the Board's direction to start commercial/industrial lighting efforts." Board Member Eighmy made a motion to approve the Minutes as corrected. Board Member Rutstein seconded the Motion. The Motion carried unanimously and the Minutes from the October 17, 1993 meeting were approved as corrected. 2. 1994 WORK PLAN: Don reviewed the changes that were incorporated into the draft 1994 Work Plan suggested by the Board at the October meeting. After discussion, Board Members suggested slight changes to the paragraph under Integrated Resource Planning (IRP). This paragraph now reads: * Assist staff in the development of strategies to comply with Department of Energy and Western Area Power Administration integrated resource planning requirements. There was also some discussion on Board limitations. Council Member Apt mentioned that there is a push from Council for increased integration and cooperation among departments. He encouraged the Board not to limit themselves to just electrical energy issues. Don Botteron alerted the Board to the fact that Utility staff does not have the knowledge to be able to provide the same level of staff support for issues other than electric. Board Members agreed that item 5 of the Work Plan, promoting interboard relationships, addresses this issue. Board Member Allum made a motion that the 1994 Work Plan be approved as modified. Board Member Fidrych seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously and the modified 1994 Work Plan was approved. 3. UPDATE ON PRPA IRP PROCESS: Dennis reviewed a Platte River Power Authority draft IRP time table with the Board. He mentioned that the two requirements that were imposed on the Utility under the National Energy Policy Act, considering the IRP standard (definition of Integrated Resource Planning) and deciding whether Fort Collins would or would not use the standard, have been approved by City Council and are finished. Dennis, as a representative of the Utility, is a member of an IRP Advisory Committee that is working with Platte River to develop their IRP. Western IRP requirements were supposed to have been developed by October of 1993, but this has not yet been done. Best guess is that these requirements will not be available until January or February of next year or later. Board Member Allum added that he heard that Western will be starting a public process in January of 1994, that there will be some draft requirements out sometime in the spring, that formal proposals will be available in late spring or early summer, and that final requirements will be available in October, 1994. Western's timeline has been delayed approximately a year. A preliminary draft of Platte River's IRP is to be submitted to the Platte River Board in December. Platte River staff will incorporate any changes suggested by the Platte River Board in January. The following six months will -2- be used for public process. Goal is to submit the final IRP report to Western by October, 1994. There was some discussion on public process. Dennis mentioned that Platte River is envisioning holding an open house at their facility, holding a special board meeting that deals specifically with this issue, and accommodating whatever public outreach each city would like to have in their individual communities. Using a collaborative was briefly discussed. Dennis mentioned that Platte River does not want to limit its options and would be receptive to any suggestions the Board has. Dennis will forward any input Board Members have to Platte River. An opportunity exists for the Board, once a draft is available to the public, to review the content of the draft and the proposed public process. Don Botteron mentioned that Jay Hopper from Platte River Power Authority has volunteered to come to a Board Meeting to discuss the draft IRP. Board members are interested in doing this in early 1994 when the timing would be appropriate. DSM PLANNING STATUS: Dennis reviewed results of a DS Manager run done by John Bleem. Board Members discussed these results and the methodology used. There was some concern that programs should not be rejected simply because they don't pass the RIM test. It is important to look at other benefits that the program may provide, i.e., better environment, increased jobs, etc. Board Members were pleased with the amount of progress that has been made since the NEOS report. They appreciated getting real numbers and more useful information. Next Dennis talked about milestones/timelines for DSM. He emphasized that this timeline is simply a draft. It can be changed as priorities change, if activities take more or less time than assumed, etc. He encouraged the Board to view the timeline as a conceptual overview. 1) Commercial/Industrial Lighting: A. New construction (code changes): Board has already started work on this issue by initiating discussion with the Building Review Board and Planning. Some analysis and research has been done. Once new staff is hired, additional analysis and research will be done. Once analysis is done, the next steps will be to develop a program concept, go through a consensus process with the building community, and then program implementation. If these steps proceed as assumed, and the program is viable, then this program could be implemented in the first part of 1995. -3- Council Member Apt mentioned that on December 21 Council will be looking at the new building code. He will mention the activities the Board anticipates being involved in during the next 6-9 months and will stress the fact that the code they are reviewing will be changing over the next few years. B. Existing Construction: Some analysis and research has been done on this issue, but the plan is to pick up the pace after the first of the year. Once analysis is done, a program concept will be developed, pilot testing will be implemented (allowing approximately one year for field testing, including monitoring program operation and making program adjustments prior to a decision on implementation), and the program could then be implemented in the 1st part of 1996. 2) Commercial/Industrial Lost Opportunities: A. Targeted New Construction Projects: This program involves pursuing new projects on a case by case basis. Plan is to pick and choose projects for additional analysis and research. If this program looks viable in pilot testing, it could be implemented in the 4th quarter of 1995. There was some discussion on exploring ways to assure that Light and Power is notified in the early stages of a project. Some suggestions were better communication between Planning, Economic Development and possibly other City departments. B. Integrated Design for New Construction: This program will focus on a long term view and will deal with systemic issues to try to make the system work right. Plan is to continue with analysis and research, develop a program concept, and work with the building community to develop a program that makes sense for them. Scheduled implementation is first quarter of 1997. There was some concern that the implementation date of 1997 was too far away. Dennis clarified that this program involves the building community, architectural community, and engineering community, and how they go about designing and developing facilities, not City departments. The goal here is to implement a program that works whether the City is involved in early design/development discussions or not. It is expected that this will be a lengthy process. -4- It was proposed that the Board and staff start thinking about ways to simplify the processes discussed to save time. There was a suggestion that Facilities and Purchasing be invited to a future meeting to discuss construction issues. Suggestions which come from the meeting could possibly be pilot tested while work continues on other DSM programs. There was also a suggestion to go through a public process and get feedback from customers. There was a question from the Board about the Senior Center project. Dennis explained that there is a concern over the possible variations in lighting levels that may occur with the daylighting that is being proposed. Facilities staff feels that a lighting analysis needs to be done in order for them to make a responsible decision on this issue. They have asked if the Utility would be willing to provide funding and arrange to have the lighting analysis done. Board Member Fidrych mentioned that this might be a type of project that can be funded through Western Area Power Administration. After discussion, Board Members felt that funding the lighting analysis was a good investment. The analysis may be a good way for the Utility to obtain data that can be used in the future. Board Member Allum made a motion to support the expenditure of up to $5,000 of 1994 Utility funds for the purpose of obtaining a lighting analysis for the Senior Center. Board Member Welch seconded the motion. After discussion on the Motion, the Motion passed 5-1. 3) C/I Funding Assistance: Dennis mentioned that as part of the 1994 budget discussion, the Board discussed using some of the 1994 funds for a commercial/industrial ZILCH program (a loan - type program for commercial/industrial customers). Dennis asked for clarification on whether or not this is the direction the Board is intending. Council Member Apt mentioned that Council is looking at what types of things can be done in the short term that have an impact. He mentioned that it makes sense to utilize programs we already know work, and thought that a commercial/industrial ZILCH program is a positive way to proceed. Don Botteron explained his concern of not being able to guarantee the loan with commercial customers since the average life of a new commercial account is less than one year. He mentioned that this is an example of why the current residential ZILCH program is not directly transferrable. Although staff is eager to move forward with the implementation of this type of DSM program, some time needs to be spent thinking through some of the hurdles that exist, developing priorities, new guidelines, procedures, safeguards, etc. Dennis noted that he has developed an action plan for this program. He would like to share this with the Board and also get some preliminary ideas from the Board on how this program would be structured. Board Member Allum mentioned that it is important that the Board and staff take the time necessary to gain a thorough understanding of the DSM programs prior to implementation as opposed to taking shortcuts and getting into trouble. He would like to see things move expeditiously but carefully. Other Board Members echoed Board Member Allum's comments. Board Member Welch pointed out that we shouldn't overlook opportunities to use resources for things like obtaining the lighting analysis in the interim. -5- Due to time, the Large Commercial Peak Clipping, Residential Electric Heat to Gas and Commercial/Industrial loan programs will be addressed at next month's meeting. Board Members were appreciative of staff for putting together the draft information, numbers, etc., the Board reviewed. Board requested that Dennis provide a sense of priorities of the DSM programs during next month's presentation. Board also requested a summary of what the structure of the DSM programs might look like and an estimate of the dollars associated with the programs. Dennis anticipates this happening through a brainstorming session between staff and the Board at next month's meeting. Staff would like Board input prior to conceptualizing programs. 4. STAFF REPORTS: Don briefly mentioned the memo which was received from Felix Lee. There was some disappointment that most of the code changes have already been made and we may not have much of an opportunity to provide feedback this time around. However, Council Member Apt offered some encouragement that code review may no longer be limited to a three year cycle. There is a possibility that the code can be readdressed next year. Dennis provided Board Members with a monthly report and the position announcements for the new Energy Services positions. INFORMATIONAL REQUESTS: Update from Dennis on the lighting consultant for the Senior Center. 6. OTHER BUSINESS: None. CRITIQUE MEETING/NEXT MEETING'S AGENDA: Agenda: - DSM Planning Status - Draft Year End Report ADJOURNMENT: Meeting adjourned at 7:45 p.m. Delynd R. Coldiron, Board Secretary SR