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HomeMy WebLinkAboutNatural Resources Advisory Board - Minutes - 03/21/2007MINUTES CITY OF FORT COLLINS NATURAL RESOURCES ADVISORY BOARD Regular Meeting 200 W. Mountain, Suite A March 21, 2007 For Reference: Ryan Staychock, NRAB Chair - 481-1801 Ben Manvel, Council Liaison - 217-1932 John Stokes, Staff Liaison - 221-6263 Board Members Present Alan Apt, Glen Colton, Amy Dean, Linda Knowlton, Rob Petterson, Joseph Piesman, Liz Pruessner, Clint Skutchan, Ryan Staychock Board Members Absent Staff Present Natural Resources Deot: Lucinda Smith, John Stokes, Judi Vos Utilities: John Phelan, Patty Bigner Guests Brian Anderson, URS Corp The meeting was called to order at 6:03 Staychock introduced the Board's new member, Amy Dean. Amy said she went to school in Natural Resources Management at CSU. She works with wetlands mitigation and environmental assessments at Tetratech. She said most of her work has been in the Colorado Springs but she wanted to bring it home. Agenda Review Stokes said he would like to present the Soapstone video at the end of the meeting for those interested. Public Comments There were no public comments. Pruessner moved to approve the February 21, 2007 minutes. The motion was seconded by Apt and passed unanimously. Mercury Regulation in Colorado — Lucinda Smith Smith began explaining that the Clean Air Mercury Rule (CAMR) is a federal rule published in 2005 which established a nationwide Hg cap in two phases. The rule sets HG emission limits for utility units constructed after 1/30/04. The federal rule allows states to distribute budget however they would like by 2010. Platte River and Pawnee Public Service have already committed to significant early reduction. She commented that the Health Department said mercury controls would become more predictable and cost effective over time. They support Natural Resources Advisory Board March 21, 2007 Page 2 of 10 market based trading which enables sources to achieve cost-effective reductions. The Colorado Utilities Coalition, Environmental Defense and Local Government coalition including Fort Collins reached a positive consensus. • Early reductions at largest emitters (Rawhide & Pawnee — 80% by 2012) • Others achieve 80% reduction by 2014 • 90% reduction at all facilities by 2018 • Maintains permit conditions for new Comanche & Lamar • No selling of credits, only purchase for compliance • Retire a portion of unused credits The Allocation Methodology — Existing: actual emissions as measured in 2009, up to CMAR. Smith said the actual emissions are likely to be under. A portion of the state budget will be held out for new units. There is still a safety valve. If emissions are higher than CMAR they can request available allowances. If Colorado doesn't have enough allowances, they can go out and purchase credits up to their emissions amount. Smith said if sources are unable to meet the emissions reductions standard by 2014 they can go to the health department and request a weaker standard by unit but they must have an analysis plan. Platte River has agreed to install early CEMS and have committed to early reduction while unsure if it is an achievable goal. Some eastern states have fairly aggressive goals but they are using different coal types that work better. Oregon has set a state mercury regulation for 90% by 2012 with alt std till 2015. There is still an issue of some uncertainty having to do with new or modified units. They have ended up with a mismatch where a current state rule for new sources is less stringent than existing. A brief discussion followed: • Apt commented that he thinks this is great news. He asked if we are partners with Haden. • Smith said she couldn't answer that. • Knowlton asked about the fish in Horsetooth. • Smith said Horsetooth was measured in January and has been added to the mercury advisory list. She thinks it is the first time it's been measured. • Knowlton asked if they know where the mercury is coming from. • Smith said she didn't think sampling can show that. They reach different conclusions. It's is interesting that a lot of water bodies are in proximity to power plants. • Piesman asked if Rawhide is the worst emitter. • Smith said she thinks they would say that they don't have a lot of confidence in those estimates. It is true as an individual mercury emitter, Rawhide and Pawnee are among the highest. • Staychock referred to the handout — Phase I Early Mercury Reduction Program in 2012 which says that beginning on January 1, 2012, Pawnee and PRPA shall achieve either an 80% capture of Hg or an output -based emission limit of 0.0174 per gigawatt hour. Where did they get that number? Would they need a measurement device to come up with that number? Natural Resources Advisory Board March 21, 2007 Page 3 of 10 Smith said there has been discussion. It is a function of type of coal and the EPA probably had data that was provided. She didn't know if that number would have been based on the continuous emissions monitors by type of coal. She said there is documentation about how it was developed. She commented that it seems that all parties were comfortable with it. Staychock spoke briefly about the issue with mercury in Horsetooth. He said Randy Fischer in the State House has called for a committee hearing about the mercury issues in Horsetooth. He has been in contact with Fischer and will send an email the date for the committee hearing. Mayor's Agreement on Climate Change — Lucinda Smith Smith gave a brief history stating that the Seattle Mayor's agreement was initiated by Seattle Mayor Greg Nickols recognizing that if action was not being taken on the national level that local governments can and should take action. Six mayors signed this agreement. The three key components are: • Will strive to meet or beat the Kyoto protocol • Will urge state and federal governments to enact programs and policies to reduce emissions • Encourage a congressional law legislation to establish an emissions trading system. Smith continued stating when she last checked, 418 mayors in the United States had already signed on — ten of those in Colorado. Fort Collins has established a different goal which is 30% below 2010 levels. Smith referred to a web link for the Institute for Self Reliance — "Lessons from the Pioneers — Tackling Global Warming at the Local Level". A summary of the report is some of the issues had to do with inconsistencies in the way cities are doing their inventories, the assumptions aren't the same. There is no standardized system for emissions reductions. More importantly, local community's emissions are greatly impacted by the type of power they have. All 12 of the cities they have looked at have had increasing net emissions. Most other communities are between 6 and 27 percent above 1990. According to a Colorado inventory net emissions went up 35%. Fort Collins emissions net have gone up 100% from 1990 to 2005. She said the City will be double checking it's methodology. Smith said the significant piece of the assessment is that many of these cities that plan to meet the Kyoto rely on state or federal action. She went on to say the report points out that cities are not investing significant amounts of their own money to reduce greenhouse gas emissions with two significant exceptions. Boulder recently passed a climate tax to help them meet Kyoto and Seattle has a proposed two year budget that contains a $37,000,000 investment to reduce emissions. Smith said the Colorado cities that have signed are Boulder, Denver and Aspen. Even though cities have signed the agreement, it is still a challenge to actually meet it. Knowlton asked if these Colorado cities have mandatory vehicle emissions testing. She said this seems like a huge step backwards to go from testing emissions to not testing them at all. Smith said Denver and Boulder do. She explained that the emissions test is not a huge impact on CO2 emissions. It deals with other pollutants. The only way a CO2 improvement will happen is if fuel efficiency is improved through repairs. Fuel efficiency is not typically affected by a poor oxygen sensor it is generally a major repair. Fuel efficiency standards would have a bigger effect. Natural Resources Advisory Board March 21, 2007 Page 4 of 10 • Apt commented that Aspen is saying that 45 % of electricity will be by renewable resources by 2012. • Piesman asked about the task force adopted by council on March 6 and how that process will work. Will board members be asked to nominate a member and does that effect whether or not we should write a letter to council suggesting the City join the Mayor's initiative? • Smith said the ultimate decision will be with the City Manager. He may appoint or ask the boards to appoint someone. That has not been established. She feels the task force objective is to come up with a plan to help the City meet its existing goal of 30% below 2010 levels. Personal opinion is it would be an accomplishment if an updated plan could lead the City to achieving its existing goal. That goal is the same as keeping emissions at the 2004 level and that would be the initial objective of the task force. • Staychock asked how the City's current goal for 2004 levels compares with the level of current cities that have signed the Mayor's Agreement. • Stokes said that would be a comparison to Kyoto. • Smith said the City's goal is twice 1990 levels. • Staychock said he understood Smith to say that none of the participating cities are meeting the goals and asked how Fort Collins compares now. He asked if the Board if it would be better to have a motion supporting the task force outcome rather than supporting the Mayor's Agreement • Smith said most cities are not reporting their progress. Many cities have just signed on and are beginning to do an inventory. We are way beyond that. We have inventory and have been implementing and tracking progress. Portland is making good progress and is closer to meeting Kyoto than anyone else. • Apt asked if the City's current goal is doable. • Smith said she would like to say yes. It might take some action by council to implement a mandatory action. It may be possible to achieve it by a different approach. Local carbon reduction project that citizens and businesses could purchase offsets from. We would need to be helped by the state. If they have good activity, it would filter down to the local level. • Skutchan asked what kind of costs would be involved. • Smith said costs would have to mirror costs of other carbon offsets which are about $10- $12/ton. Smith said it would be a big mistake to purchase offsets to meet the goal. • Apt commented that is would be silly to recommend signing up for mayor's program. Would rather look at making recommendation to the task force. • Smith commented that the task force also is charged with making a recommendation how the city can establish a future goal. She feels that would be a more meaningful next step. • Clint said he thinks there will be more buy in from the public if the goals are realistic, achievable goals. He asked what is wrong with setting an attainable goal and working to surpass it. He doesn't think of it as lowering the standard and it gives people the idea that we are making progress. Should we use an alternative goal and then revamp it to 2015, • Smith responded that it would be kind of like a contingency plan. • Pruessner said that is a lot to ask when you think about each person and each household doing a 30% reduction. It is going to require changes in behavior, education and an understanding. Making better choices with automobiles, not driving so much, using compact fluorescents, using solar, etc. The city needs the help of the population. She hopes the task force comes up with ideas to educate and see help people see how important it is and that one person can make a difference. Natural Resources Advisory Board March 21, 2007 Page 5 of 10 • Clint said more needs to be done at the state level. 40% is outside the City's purview when some places are up to 75%. Seems like poor planning. • Staychock asked what staff is planning the task force. • Smith said the resolution says the City manager will convene the task force with other City staff involved. The funding will come from our department so we will be involved too. • Staychock commented that if there is an interest from the Board, they could vote on action items deemed important for the task force before its convened and send a memo to City Council indicating there is interest. • Knowlton said she agreed with Piesman. That the Board will participate on the task force if asked or directed and should advise council when the task force is finished. • Peterson said maybe the Board can get updates along the away and comment as appropriate if the Board feels they are getting off track. • Skutchan said if the Board is going to send a memo to council that they strongly suggest someone from the board is involved. Colton made the following motion: I move that we recommend that a member of the Board be included on the task force. Skutchan seconded the motion which passed unanimously. • Skutchan mentioned that of the 418 that have signed the Mayor's agreement, two actually have a funding mechanism. He really hopes that you speak in real terms — be honest about what it's going to cost, who is going to pay for this. Is the City looking at a tax like Boulder? Are there other funding mechanisms, can you leverage federal funding? Any conversation about attainable goals has to be followed by funding mechanisms. I have concerns about task force itself and how much it is going to cost. • Smith didn't mean to imply only two have a funding mechanism. She really doesn't have that information. She said most of them are just beginning so that having addressed the funding issue yet. • Skutchan said he is definitely not in favor of recommending the City sign the Mayor's Agreement. • Staychock said he will draft the memo to Council. Demand Side Management — John Phelan Phelan began with the background on the Energy Supply Policy. He said council asked for the development of a parallel policy similar to the water supply and water demand policy. The charge for the electric board was to develop a long term policy that addressed rates, reliability and the environment. That was adopted in 2003. In 2002 when the policy was made it went back 10 years. At that point they had 45% more people using 70% more energy and 100% higher peak demand. Now they have 57% more using 70% more energy and a 105% higher peak. Following Piesman's question about high peak, Phelan explained it is the highest hour over the year. He said in 2005 it was the third 100 degree day in a row. Up until 1990 the City was a Natural Resources Advisory Board March 21, 2007 Page 6 of 10 winter peaking utility. He said they have tremendously high reliability statistics. Rates are very low and have been for a very long time. They are only slightly higher than 1983. Phelan spoke about a number of the demand side management programs including incentive programs and educational outreach. He said the programs offered on the commercial side are in collaboration with PRPA. PRPA has their own demand side management goals and funding available so often times the City applies their programs as they fit for our customers. He said they do a lot of coordination and collaboration with the ClimateWise program and a lot of ClimateWise partners end up taking advantage of their programs and expertise. They do a lot of technical and energy assessments. He pointed out the steady growth as they have added additional programs. • Skutchan asked about the 2005-2006 numbers. He commented on the differences in the electrical and efficiency program — that seemed to grow while some of the others seemed to condense. He asked if that was due to marketing. • Phelan said 2005 was the first year of the residential lighting program. In fall of 05 we had very high gas prices and gasoline prices. There was a lot of awareness on that and compact fluorescent bulbs. He said they could not keep them on the shelves. Probably would have been higher had they been able to get more on the shelves. In 2006 — it was more of a sustainable number. • Skutchan asked if there is something to be learned about that. There is always timing in the marketing and news cycle. • Phelan said electric rates didn't change at all. The electric rate is flat. It was other factors that made a difference. He said they need to continue to get more customer and contractor awareness. When PRPA started the electric efficiency program, there was no one that could provide service in Fort Collins. They had to work to build up contractor skills and knowledge so they could provide the service. There was a brief discussion regarding the light bulb program, life of the bulbs and the problem of availability during the program. Phelan said the first year Walmart participated nationally. GE provided the bulbs to Walmart. GE didn't provide enough bulbs. He said this year 60,000 bulbs were sold in Fort Collins area. Xcel's goal statewide was 100,000. • Dean asked if they have split it out between commercial and residential. • Phelan said you can't really track who is buying cfl bulbs. He said the Electrical Efficiency Program is all commercial where the refrigerator recycling program is almost completely residential. • Skutchan said it would be interesting to track that through outreach. • Phelan said in a few weeks the City is participating with PRPA in phone survey to do just that. • Colton asked what percentage in the community is residential vs. commercial. • Phelan said it is roughly 1/3 residential, 1/3 commercial and 1/3 big industrial. He commented that residential and small commercial have a higher percentage on peak demand because industrials don't vary that much with temperature. • Bigner pointed out that there is a price signal that goes to large customers that incents them to avoid that peak. She said they have not considered residential incentives at this time. Natural Resources Advisory Board March 21, 2007 Page 7of10 • Apt commented that the rates are about the lowest rate in the country. • Phelan said rates are an issue but we need to look at what can be accomplished in cost effective changes on the customer side and the City is doing a lot more than other places. • Knowlton commented that tiered water rates have worked well to reduce water consumption. She was shocked to see how little her electric bill went up for air conditioning. • Phelan said we still have a mild cooling climate so it doesn't cost a lot to have air conditioning. There is a dynamic where it has a bigger impact on us. It may not use a lot more energy but they are all using it at the same time. The City's costs are based on the peak demand we put on PRPA. • Skutchan asked if there can a step by step education program on cooling your home like a gentle reminders about closing curtains, etc. • Phelan said they do add tips included with utility bills. They are working on a program called "Summer Comfort" right now that targets residential air conditioning use. A brief discussion followed. • Stokes asked if the City will provide energy audit on homes. • Phelan said they don't offer energy audits on individual homes but they do offer them for business. They are actually updating the New Home Study right now. • Colton asked if they have an analysis of the cost to retrofit homes more specifically vs. what the city is paying for that peak. • Phelan said he did one in 2003 following strategic plan for demand side management. Part of his work plan for the coming months is to update using data from the last few years. There is a lot that can be done cost effectively. On the home side there are benefits people get excited about — it will save some energy on their bill but they are reclaiming their house. He said they are starting a pilot on air conditioning load control program. It essentially cycles air conditioners with a radio frequency signal which will help determine the savings on purchase power costs. • Dean asked how a homeowner could get an energy audit. • Phelan said to check their website. There is one home performance Energy Star contractor listed on Comfort by Design that is really good. He can barely keep up with the demand. It is a good example of training. They recognize that the need is there. One of their next steps is to train another set of contractors to provide the service. • Apt asked about heat pump technology and if over time is its more efficient. • Phelan said that actually involves a fuel source switch. They can be extremely efficient but it does increase electric use. An air to air heat pump is no more efficient in the summer unless it is a ground coupled source. It is cost driven right now. Has a payback in 10-15 years. • Stokes said they are doing one at Bobcat — it was about $7,000 for a conventional system and about $17,000 for heat pump. Found it would be cheaper overall than having propane hauled to the site. • Phelan said their goals are based on per capita numbers. Energy use has dropped 2.8% per capita in 2006. Demand side has been more challenging and was 4% higher in 2006 and the goal is 15% lower. • Piesman asked if one of the risks of demand side going up is that PRPA has to take that into account and the need for more facilities for just a few days out of year. • Phelan said yes. Last fall because of the area's growth PRPA decided to install another peaking power natural gas powered turbine at Rawhide just to meet peak load. Natural Resources Advisory Board March 21, 2007 Page 8of10 • Colton said he is concerned about the retrofit of all houses rather than the cost of a new plant. That would be important for council to know. What would it cost to get to the peak pricing? He said in the mountains they have peak pricing so people use heat storage units. • Phelan said they normally compare based on a cost per kw hour basis. Platte River looked at a combustion turbine at around 700 per kw as a supply side solution. A coal plant is in the order of 2,000 to 2500 per kw. Phelan said their pilot this summer will help quantify the cost. It should show what it costs and what kind of savings is involved. They are doing a lot but not enough to change the forecast. • Colton suggested another idea for the program is pointing out the difference for using ceiling fans vs. air conditioning. • Phelan said they have been thinking along the lines of giving people alternatives to air conditioning. About 60% of customers have poor air conditioning units that are oversized, poorly insulated and don't have programmable thermostats. That is a large area for us to focus on that would be very cost effective. • Colton continued saying people's behavior won't change until you make them start paying for peak energy. • Phelan said rates are a touchy issue. For the City would be faced with a real battle to propose hirer rates as most people don't have a good understanding. Education is an ongoing process. Phelan said the policy also addressed renewable energy and set a goal. Total renewable energy purchases through 2003 only had voluntary wind powered customers. With energy policy goal kicking in, it is now rate based. He said the Utilities do an annual report to Council on the energy policy that has information on rates, reliability numbers etc. When the policy was adopted they said right up front that this costs money. The goals are great so we proposed raising electric rates 2% - 1 % for efficiency and 1 % for renewable energy started in 2004. As a wind subscriber you pay 1 cent per kw hour but everyone pays 2% more as a base rate. • Liz asked if cfl bulbs just go to the land fill even though they have mercury in them are they recycled. • Phelan said they created an info sheet to respond to customers for options. The only option right now is the hazardous waste at the land fill. Many retailers are realizing it would be to their advantage to participate as a drop off site. Power plants emit mercury too so the energy saved save by using the cfl is a lot more mercury than the cfl has in it. • Staychock asked what a zilch loan can be used for. • Phelan said it can be used for energy upgrades, adding insulation, sometimes windows if packaged with other things like insulation, gas inserts or wood stove conversions, high efficiency clothes washer. The program is under utilized right now. • Staychock asked if a zilch loan can be used to install photovoltaic systems on residential houses. • Phelan said no. There are some modeling requirements in terms of payback. Originally set by a council directive. • Apt mentioned again that tiered water rates have worked well. Why can't the City look into tiered electric rates to get at those that use excessive amounts? • Phelan said they have suggested seasonal tiered rate but it wouldn't be cost effective. It would take a great amount of education to build awareness. Natural Resources Advisory Board March 21, 2007 Page 9of10 Committees The Board agreed to keep the Environmental Economics and Solid Waste committees rotating meeting dates every other month. Staychock asked if there were other committees of interest. He suggested that Board watch for upcoming task forces. Piesman suggested that the Board watch for anything related to Glade Reservoir. New Business Stokes said on April 18'h there will be an event the Northern Colorado Business Report is hosting. It will be an all day series of seminars about business and the environment at the Hilton. Also, ClimateWise will be having annual celebration event at the end of that day. The Board is welcome to attend. There will be panels on water, green building, renewable energy and wind energy. Staychock said he went to a presentation on the Rocky Mountain Corridor. They want to link Yellowstone to Albuquerque using existing rail. The web site is www.rangepWress.com. Skutchan gave an update on the RTA Steering Committee. They have subcommittees with a focus of transit. He said they are working toward April 14th for a full day session to go through projects list. They are trying to outreach to various groups. If you would like a presentation for any of your organizations, they are trying to get it out there. Feels they have a good representation of folks. They are still targeting November 2007 for ballot. Following Pruessner's question as to where Weld County stands, Skutchan said speaking personally rather than as a member of the committee — they say they are still listening. Most have acknowledged they are doing their own thing. He feels that it could become a two County RTA and the group to watch will be the City of Greeley since they have two options and two offers on the table. Greeley wants to know by mid April what the benefit to them will be. Skutchan also gave an update on UniverCity. The sustainable energy committee is pushing zero net ideas for the UniverCity area. Committee Meetings Skutchan thanked Staychock for getting someone in. He said they will have Brian Wilson who is working with the Renewable Energy Lab do a presentation in June. He recapped Patty Bigner's presentation about economic impacts of the energy policy. They want to pull some of the direct policies and bring back to the full board. It would be an action item that we can make a recommendation to council on these types of policies. Staychock said the main point he got out of the presentation was that generally speaking 40% of money gained from rate increase or wind power volunteers, approximately 40% of that in 2006 purchased renewable energy. A lot of those are not local. Of that surplus in 2006 — 60% is going to get us to the 6% that Phelan was talking about. My recommendation would be keep that money in the Colorado region. The Energy Policy states that the renewable energy that is Natural Resources Advisory Board March 21, 2007 Page 10 of 10 purchased must be the most cost efficient. Staychock said there may be an opportunity to recommend to council a policy change in the future. Piesman said that the policy pushes big wind being the cheapest but it is also the furthest source from Fort Collins. They are doing a few small pilot projects. Six Month Planning Calendar Budgeting for Outcomes — Stokes said the City Manager will send a message to all Boards and Commissions asking for input and describing how the input should be received. After the election, Council will quickly establish results. Internal results teams will be formed and begin creating offers. Those offers won't be ready until late May or June. April 18 — • Climate Wise — Kathy Collier • Cooper Slough — Boxelder Stormwater update — Bob Smith • Council Goal Recommendations. June 20 / July 18 • Bicycle Plan Update (July) Skutchan mentioned that he would like to see the board invite guests from Bicycle Fort Collins (Rick Price) in addition to the City's program (David Kemp) • Environmental Impact Statement — Glade Reservoir Piesman asked when the Army Core of Engineers would be coming out with their report on Glade Reservoir. • Stokes said the Environmental impact statement is supposed to come out in June. He has spoken with Nichole Seltzer from the district about returning to the Board in June or July after the Environmental Impact statement comes out. Future • Piesman suggesting hearing from Professor Leroy Poff from CSU who has examined 75,000 dams across the country. • Skutchan said because of the Board's interest in the Open Lands Program he would like to hear about revenue projections, where we are with the purchases, etc. • Staychock asked if there would be an interest in the status of the Cache La Poudre River Corridor National Heritage Area.. Meeting adjourned at 8:54 p.m. Submitted by Judi Vos Admin Support Supervisor