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HomeMy WebLinkAboutElectric Board - Minutes - 04/18/2007Fort Collins Utilities Electric Board Minutes Wednesday, April 18, 2007 Electric Board Chair John Morris 377-8221 Electric Board Vice Chair Dan Bihn 218-1962 City Council Liaison Kurt Kastein Staff Liaison DeEtta Carr 221-6702 Roll Call: Board Present Chairperson John Morris, Vice Chair Dan Bihn, Tom Barnish, John Graham, Jeff Lebesch and Steve Wooley Board Absent: John Harris Staff Present: Darin Atteberry, Patty Bigner, Bill Bray, DeEtta Can•, Eric Dahlgren, Joyce Grenz, Bob Hover, Jenny Lopez Filkins, Bob Micek, John Phelan, Tom Rock, Lucinda Smith, Mike Smith and Dennis Sumner Meeting Convened Chairperson John Morris called the meeting to order at 5:30 p.m. Executive Director Update City Manager Darin Atteberry thanked the Board for letting him talk regarding the search for Executive Director of Utilities. Mr. Atteberry explained the changes in the organization. Last year, he requested a study of the organization to see if there was a way to be more efficient in the delivery of the services the City provides to the community. A consultant group, Management Partners, evaluated and recommended ways to improve the organization. Management Partners recommended changes to organization structure and Mr. Atteberry's direct reports. One of the recommendations Mr. Atteberry did not choose to change was the reporting structure of the new Executive Director of Utilities. He felt the Utilities Department was so significant in this community that he needed the Executive Director to report to him. Another suggestion was to divide the already overloaded General Manager position. This has brought changing roles for some in the organization due to their strengths in certain areas. The revisions that have been made are being done to better serve the community of Fort Collins and help the City run more efficiently. Mr. Atteberry sees that Utility Services is now at a critical point with the Utilities moving from a more outward -growing utilities to an infill mode. We are running out of land to stretch out and Mr. Atteberry sees, for the next 3-5-20 years, that the Utilities will be moving to a more infill Electric Board Meeting Minutes Wednesday, April 18, 2007 Page 2 development mode. There are many other opportunities for utilities in the area of regional approaches, and he sees a need to collaborate while maintaining the uniqueness of Fort Collins. Mr. Atteberry is looking for an Executive Director who is experienced in this transition area that the Utilities will be experiencing, as well as with regional collaborations. The Executive Director will need to be a good fit for the future of Utilities and for Fort Collins. This person will need to believe in best practices and someone who is a very strong executive leader. Mr. Atteberry believes that past leadership in Utilities has done extremely well in exhibiting these characteristics for many decades. Mike Smith's skill set and interest is in operations and that is why he will be the new Operations Manager. Mr. Atteberry's perspective is to match skill sets with needs. For the future, he's looking for someone who believes this is a world class organization and wants to help in making it better. A question was asked regarding whether the City or recruiter approached certain individuals and asked them to apply for the position. Mr. Atteberry's answer is that the recruiter has done that. Board Member Tom Bamish commented that he has been around several utilities and believes that Fort Collins Utilities is very unique and on the cutting edge. There are several methods of operation that Fort Collins Utilities does that you should not change. The risk is that if you bring someone in from the outside, they might want to change everything. Mr. Bamish used the mapping system as an example of practices to keep because it is far superior than most and less expensive to operate. Mr. Atteberry welcomed calls or a -mails from the Board with concerns they have. Mr. Atteberry shared the timeline for interviews and would like to have at least one member of the Electirc Board on one of the interview panels. He is hoping to have the position filled by the mid to late summer. Citizen Participation Eric Sutherland talked to the Board about the environmental movement regarding wind power, which is now being labeled as green power. He left a letter and some information for the Board Members to review. Minutes of February 21, 2007, Meeting Board Member Steve Wooley made a motion, seconded by Board Member Dan Bihn to approve the minutes of the February 21, 2007, meeting. The motion passed unanimously. Climate Protection Plan Lucinda Smith, Senior Environmental Planner at Natural Resources works on air quality and climate protection issues. This agenda item is an opportunity for the Electric Board to select a representative for the newly formed task force. Ten years ago the City of Fort Collins joined the Cities for Climate Protection Campaign. We looked at our communitywide greenhouse gas -2- f Electric Board Meeting Minutes Wednesday, April 18, 2007 Page 3 emissions and assessed a variety of different measures. The City adopted a greenhouse gas reduction goal and a plan to meet it. Our goal is to reduce emissions 30 percent below worst case 2010 levels by 2010. Beginning in the year 2000, they began implementing this plan and have had several successes. Successful areas include the voluntary wind program, Electric Energy Supply Policy, solid waste reduction and others. Recently, the City Council held a study session on this issue and decided to support convening a new task force. The objective of their task force would be to update the plan, identify new measures to help the City come into compliance with its goal and suggest a process in which the city would establish a future goal since 2010 is almost upon us. Meeting this goal is not easy, but it is not impossible. They are trying to come up with a plan to keep emissions the same in 2010 as they were in 2004. The City Manager is convening the task force, and they should start meeting in May through December with the goal of coming back to City Council with a recommendation on the plan by the end of this year. Board Member Jeff Lebesch volunteered to be on the new task force with Member John Graham as his backup. PURPA Standards Electric Planning and Engineering Manager Bill Bray provided a presentation on PURPA Standards. Adopted as part of the National Energy Act of 1978, PURPA stands for Public Utilities Regulatory Policy Act. The congressional purpose of PURPA is conservation of energy, optimization of efficient use of electric utility resources and equitable rates to electric consumers. In 2005, there were substantial changes and additions to the provisions of the PURPA. How does this affect the Fort Collins Utilities? PURPA's "Retail Regulatory Policies for Electric Utilities" apply to an electric utility if it sells more than 500 million kilowatt-hours (kWh) during the year for purposes other than resale. Fort Collins Utilities sells more than 1.4 billion kWh per year, requiring the City to consider the new standards. The Utilities is considered a non -regulated utility since we are regulated by City Council rather than the PUC. The five new additions to the PURPA standards are: • Net Metering, [Section 1251 (a) (11)]; ■ Fuel Sources Standard, [Section 1251 (a) (12)]; ■ Fossil Fuel Generation Efficiency Standard, [Section 1251 (a) (13)1; • Smart Metering (with time -based schedules), [Section 1252 (a) (14)]; and • Interconnection, [(Section 1254 (a) (15)]. The EPAct does not require adoption of any of the standards; however, it does necessitate consideration of them. The required action is to: Initiate proceedings within one/two years upon public notice and by conducting hearings; -3- Electric Board Meeting Minutes Wednesday, April 18, 2007 Page 4 • Complete the consideration within two/three years and make determination o In writing; o Based upon findings included in determination and evidence at hearings; and o Make them available to public. Fort Collins Utilities initiated its consideration of these standards by way of a Memorandum to City Council in April 2006. The Utilities found it is doing some of these, and in some areas they are ahead of the new standards. Staff at Fort Collins Utilities has reviewed each of the PURPA standards and purposes required by the Energy Policy Act of 2005 and considered how each standard related to the City's current practices. The Staff at Fort Collins Utilities also recommends the adoption of a resolution stating that the City will continue its existing policies and practices that largely conform to the proposed federal standards. Other Business None Adiournment The meeting was adjourned at 7:45 p.m. a�U PJU2�� Joy a rep , Electric Boar ecretary lE