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HomeMy WebLinkAboutElectric Board - Minutes - 03/12/2008Fort Collins Utilities Electric Board Minutes Wednesday, March 12, 2008 Electric Board Chairperson City Council Liaison John Morris, 377-8221 Wade Troxell Electric Board Vice Chairperson Staff Liaison Dan Bihn, 218-1962 Robin Pierce, 221-6702 Roll Call Board Present Chairperson John Morris, Vice Chairperson Dan Bihn, John Harris, Steve Wolley, John Graham, Tom Barnish and Jeff Lebesch City Council Liaison Wade Troxell Staff Present Brian Janonis, Patty Bigner, Terri Bryant, Tom Rock, Ellen Switzer, Dennis Sumner, Lucinda Smith, John Phelan, Jenny Lopez Filkins, DeEtta Carr, Robin Pierce and Olivia Brown Guest Eric Sutherland Meeting Convened Chairperson John Morris called the meeting to order at 5:35 p.m. Utilities Executive Director Brian Janonis introduced Robin Pierce, his new Executive Administrative Assistant. He encouraged the members of the Electric Board to communicate their needs for staff support through Ms. Pierce. Citizen Participation Eric Sutherland of Fort Collins questioned the value of Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) in addressing climate change, renewable energy and reducing resource depletion. He encouraged the Electric Board, Fort Collins Utilities and Colorado State University to continue the discussion of the cost benefit analysis of RECs. Minutes of February 20, 2008 Board Member John Harris motioned to approve the minutes from the February 20, 2008, meeting. Board Member Tom Barnish seconded the motion, and it passed unanimously. Tom Rock, Electric Field Service Manager, presented a proposed change to City Code language regarding other electric providers. The revision was developed with the help of Jenny Lopez Filkins and Carrie Daggett from the City Attorneys office. He asked for the Electric Board to make a recommendation to City Council regarding adoption of the change. Mr. Rock explained that the code revision attempts to clarify the issue of parallel or self - generation. As a municipal utility, the City of Fort Collins Utilities has a right and obligation to serve as a sole provider within a defined service territory. Efforts have recently been made to support customer -owned self -generation through the pilot photovoltaic program and revision of the interconnection standards to support larger commercial cogeneration facilities. It has become apparent that a framework is needed to address possible requests by third -party providers without giving up the Utilities' rights or obligations. Owner -provided parallel generation would be permitted under this code as long as it is made through a qualifying facility that meets requirements of safety and interconnection with the City's system. City Council would authorize a franchise to those generators, if they deem it appropriate. Small residential generation would not need to apply for a franchise. There also is a change in the code that would allow wires to be installed under public places such as streets or sidewalks. City Council could approve a revocable permit for those types of requests. Board Member Bamish asked if any consideration had been made to allow this generation to be dispatchable or made available to the City for purchase. Mr. Rock said that issue has not been addressed in this code revision, but he did not believe it would be precluded either. Board Member Bamish suggested it be considered at a future date. Electric Board members and staff discussed several scenarios that might be affected by this change in code language. One scenario that was of particular concern was parallel generation that was not owner provided. It was unclear if photovoltaic panels leased from a third party would be allowed under the code as it is currently written. Mr. Janonis thanked the Electric Board for providing thoughtful discussion of the wording of this proposed code change. Chairperson Morris said the Electric Board will not offer a motion to support the revision of code at this time. He suggested staff refine the language further to clarify the issues raised in the discussion, and return at a later date. Climate Task Force Recommendations Mr. Janonis introduced Lucinda Smith, Senior Environmental Planner with the City's Natural Resources Department and coordinator of the Climate Task Force (CTF) efforts. Mr. Janonis explained that City Council has requested comments from Electric Board regarding the CTF package of recommendations. While Ms. Smith has visited four other boards to obtain their input to the CTF, the Electric Board is the first board to which she has presented the CTF recommendations in order to obtain feedback for Council. Fort Collins City Council set a goal in 1999 to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 30 percent below predicted 2010 levels by 2010. Progress has been made to reach the goal but biennial progress reports have shown that Fort Collins is not on track to meet the goal within the proposed time frame. A resolution was passed in March 2007 by City Council.to convene a Climate Task Force that would develop an updated plan for meeting the greenhouse gas emission goal by 2010 and to recommend how the City should approach climate protection in the future. Electric Board representatives on the CTF are Jeff Lebesch and Steve Wolley. The CTF have devoted all of their 13 meetings over the course of the past nine months to developing a short term provisional package of strategies. The Brendle Group did a qualitative analysis of the benefits and cost of the measures on behalf of the CTF, which helped them choose measures that would have both short- and long-term benefits and would allow for local control. References for the data that went into developing the measures are found on the Web site www.fcgov.conVcif. Ms. Smith mentioned that when the CTF voted on the package it was not supported unanimously. A majority of the CTF supported it, but two members did not. The reason seems to be that they did not have sufficient time to prioritize or consider the cost effectiveness of every strategy completely because there was a rush to present the package. Almost half of the measures in the package are existing or pending within the City. Ms. Smith spoke in some depth about the proposed new measures related to energy. Natural gas and electricity use in existing buildings are responsible for 60 percent of communitywide emissions. Installation of smart meters would provide real-time displays that would aid occupants in reducing energy use. Low-cost energy assessments would aid homeowners in increasing efficiency of their homes, both with electricity and natural gas. Time -of -sale energy conservation upgrades would bring residential and commercial buildings' energy efficiency up to a minimum threshold. The CTF estimated 80 percent of properties would need some type of remediation, but proposed that the cost should be capped at 1 percent of the value of the property. Changes to the residential electric rate structure, either with a tired rate or flat rate increase, could promote conservation and generate revenue for Demand Side Management (DSM) programs. The CTF recommended that the utility -scale renewable energy be increased to 15 percent by 2010, starting with a high percentage of RECs but moving to 100 percent delivered energy over time. The Climate Task Force package was presented to City Council at a work session on February 26. While the Council members present indicated support for the reduction of greenhouse gasses, they recognized the cost and considerable challenge in meeting the goal by 2010. They asked the CTF to consider economic opportunities and impacts and to ensure periodic reporting, regional collaboration and synchronizing with other City efforts such as the Energy Policy update. Council asked the CTF to step back and revisit the goal, especially the cost associated with reaching the goal in the original time period proposed. On March 5, a majority of the CTF recommended adoption of the state goals for Fort Collins, which are to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 20 percent below 2005 levels by 2020 and 80 percent below 2005 levels by 2050. Council will discuss the direction of the greenhouse gas emissions goal at the work session on March 25, and there will likely be another work session before Council takes any action on this issue. The CTF will continue to refine the short-term provisional package and develop recommendations on the long-term direction for climate protection measures in the City. The Electric Board was impressed by the amount of effort the Climate Task Force invested in assembling their recommendations. Lucinda Smith was complimented on her capable coordination of the effort. The Electric Board recognizes the need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and expects the Climate Task Force recommendations will provide benefits to Fort Collins Utilities consumers. While the Electric Board supports the general concepts and ideas presented, some refinement is needed. Funding mechanisms and feasibility need to be determined. Because the process is not yet completed, the Board felt it was premature to vote on support of the measures. The following comments were offered to the Climate Task Force to be conveyed to City Council: 1. Be clear about the time frames addressed by the Climate Task Force. There was some combination of analysis for 2010 and 2020 that needs to be clarified. 2. The tiered rate structure is preferred to the two percent flat rate increase as a method to get additional funding for these measures. This will encourage conservation and mitigate impacts on low-income households. 3. The time -of -sale energy upgrade should not be mandated. An energy usage rating for a home or building that is up for sale was suggested as a market -based alternative. 4. The Climate Task Force needs to investigate if accelerating purchases of Renewable Energy Certificates is feasible, cost effective or necessary, especially if a new time frame for emissions reduction is adopted. The cost and availability of RECs must be weighed against the potential benefits. 5. The idea of smart metering is generally supported, but it's necessary to go beyond smart metering to smart grid technology. 6. There needs to be a focus on marketing. People must to be educated on the value of investing in these measures and their benefits and savings over time. Routine Updates PRPA — Dan Bihn No report Climate Task Force — Jeff Lebesch Provided by Lucinda Smith Energy Supply Sub -Committee Update — Dan Bihn and Jeff Lebesch Jeff Lebesch said this subcommittee has proposed to change its name to Energy Policy Sub -committee because they are looking at more than just energy supply. At the last meeting there was discussion about shifting the focus from an energy framework to a carbon framework. Capital News — Steve Wolley No report Other Business Chairperson Morris reminded all Electric Board members of the Boards and Commissions Training which is required at the start of every new term. All those who received a letter regarding the training are required to attend. Future Aeenda Items Send suggested agenda items to Chairperson Morris. Adjournment The meeting was adjourned at 7:50 p.m., following a motion to adjourn by Vice Chairperson Bihn. Olivia Brown, Electric Board Secretary