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HomeMy WebLinkAboutEnergy Board - Minutes - 05/03/2012Energy Board Meeting Minutes May 3, 2012 1 Fort Collins Utilities Energy Board Minutes Thursday, May 3, 2012 Energy Board Chairperson City Council Liaison Ross Cunniff, 420-7398 Lisa Poppaw, 223-4136 Energy Board Vice Chairperson Staff Liaison Barrett Rothe, 303-881-9683 Brian Janonis, 221-6702 Roll Call Board Present Chairperson Ross Cunniff, Vice Chairperson Barrett Rothe, Board Members Britt Kronkosky, Greg Behm, Stacey Baumgarn, Peggy Plate, Peter O’Neill, Margaret Moore, and Steve Wolley Staff Present Steve Catanach, Brian Janonis, Kathy Collier, Claire Thomas, John Phelan, Norm Weaver, Lance Smith, Pete Wray, and Harriet Davis Meeting Convened Chairperson Cunniff called the meeting to order at 5:31 p.m. Public Comment None Approval of April 5, 2012 Minutes Vice Chairperson Rothe moved to approve the minutes of the April 5, 2012 meeting. Board Member Behm seconded the motion. The board members discussed minor editorial changes to the minutes. Vote on the motion: Yeas: Baumgarn, Behm, Cunniff, Kronkosky, Moore, O’Neill, Plate, and Rothe. Nays: none. The motion carried. The minutes will be revised to reflect the changes discussed. * Board Member Wolley abstained from voting due to his absence on April 5, 2012. ClimateWise 2011 Annual Report (Attachments available upon request). Light and Power Operations Manager Steve Catanach introduced the item and introduced Senior Environmental Planner Kathy Collier. ClimateWise is a voluntary greenhouse gas reduction program across many departments. The program includes more than 300 business partners and provides customized recommendations for waste reduction, energy savings, transportation, water conservation, and employee education. More than 1,400 projects were reported for 2011. The program is designed for easy entry with customized programs. Ms. Collier shared a graph showing the program partners and projects implemented, and shared information about the ClimateWise database where businesses can manage their contact information, view charts and graphs, etc. Business owners can view customized metrics. She also Energy Board Meeting Minutes May 3, 2012 2 shared information regarding 2011 partner project examples. A diverse amount of projects were reported in 2011. ClimateWise partners have exceeded their goal three times in the past four years. Business partners saved $13 million in 2011, with a cumulative savings of $59 million since 2000. Ms. Collier shared a video on the ClimateWise Program. More information is available at www.fcgov.com/climatewise. In response to a board member question concerning if the program includes adaption to climate change, Ms. Collier stated this is being discussed by other departments within the City. A board member asked about the growth of the program over the next year or two. Ms. Collier stated the goal for the end of 2013 is a reduction of 150,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) compared to the business as usual scenario. This is 70 percent of the Climate Action Plan goal. A board member feels there are other benefits that have not been quantified. The program can have residual effects since individuals will learn new habits and share these both at home and in the workplace. Energy Policy 2011 Annual Report (Attachments available upon request). Mr. Catanach introduced the item and introduced Energy Services Manager John Phelan. The Energy Policy 2011 Annual Update will be presented to Council. The presentation focuses on three components: Reliability, Carbon, and Local Economy. Reliability Mr. Phelan presented information on metrics, advanced metering, peak demand, and demand response. The Energy Policy references goals that include specific objectives and metrics in various categories and features a scorecard with tables summarizing status, progress, and accomplishments in 2011 related to each goal and supporting objectives. Mr. Phelan presented a graph showing an example of Utilities load during a summer control period. Carbon The policy has an inventory goal for carbon emissions, not a reduction goal. There was a 17 percent reduction in electricity carbon inventory from 2005 to 2011. Mr. Phelan presented a graph showing electrical carbon emissions inventory from 2005 to 2011, and presented a detailed graph showing efficiency and conservation, renewable energy, Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs), the reduction in fossil fuel emissions rates, and hydro power. Efficiency and Conservation includes a comprehensive portfolio approach, including residential, commercial, and industrial customers. The framework includes different program activities. Mr. Phelan presented a graph depicting customer savings for efficiency programs (2011). Both gross and net savings were calculated. Approximately 55 percent of the savings derived from commercial/industrial accounts. These projects include commercial efficiency projects other than lighting. A board member questioned how the projects are accounted for. Mr. Phelan stated Utilities claims credit for the project if they pay for the project. Projects are counted in both Utility rebate programs and as part of the ClimateWise program. Energy Board Meeting Minutes May 3, 2012 3 Mr. Phelan presented a graph showing electric utility energy efficiency portfolios in the U.S. This report is based on 2009 data and shows Fort Collins as compared to other utilities. Local Economy Mr. Phelan outlined the 2011 electric rate increases for the various rate classes. He also presented a graph depicting the Colorado Association of Municipal Utilities Residential Rate Survey (January 2012). In response to a board member’s concern that the Cities of Longmont and Loveland have lower rates, Mr. Catanach stated the City of Fort Collins is the only city within the Platte River system subject to the renewable energy standard. Also, the community ethic is focused on carbon reduction programs. Mr. Phelan presented data on the affordability of Utilities electric service as a percentage of a customer’s average median income. This is based on 2011 data. He also presented a graph depicting electricity use per capita. There was an 8 percent reduction from 2005 to 2011. The board members discussed the options of showing the breakdown of residential versus commercial accounts. He also presented a graph depicting the increase in energy demand as it relates to population growth in Fort Collins from 1992 to 2010. He also presented a list of community partnerships. In response to a board member’s question concerning if the funds are allocated for energy efficiency programs each year, Mr. Phelan stated all the funds have not been allocated. Additional programs will be added with this budget cycle since the participation rate grows over time. Plan Fort Collins (Attachments available upon request). Mr. Catanach introduced the item and introduced Senior City Planner Pete Wray. Plan Fort Collins has been recognized as a very innovative planning document for the City. Several Utility staff members were part of the planning team. Plan Fort Collins was the mechanism to update the City Plan and the Transportation Master Plan. This presentation will focus more on the City Plan. Mr. Wray noted the concept of sustainability has been integrated into Plan Fort Collins. Also, greater emphasis has been placed on utilities and energy, sustainability and metrics, arts and culture, health and wellness, and stormwater low impact development. Mr. Wray presented the new definition for sustainability and gave an overview of the draft City Plan Update. This document is available at www.fcgov.com/planfortcollins/. A key aspect of the update was to align vision and policy directions with the budgeting process. Mr. Wray outlined the new directions for the plan and shared the City Plan vision by topic areas, including energy policy direction. He also outlined the priority actions and strategies. Three catalyst projects were identified with the plan (Fort ZED, Lincoln Triangle area, and Mason/Midtown Corridor). City Plan will be monitored on a regular basis. Mr. Wray shared City Plan indicator examples and performance measurement examples. This update will be presented to Council via memo format. Mason Corridor Project Update (Attachments available upon request). Mr. Catanach introduced the item and introduced Publicity Marketing Specialist Claire Thomas. Ms. Thomas shared the Mason Corridor vision which includes an economic initiative to take advantage of the five mile corridor with existing activity centers and businesses. In 2004, City Council passed a policy on Transit Oriented Development (TOD). This focuses on high density living and activity centers. She presented an overview on the MAX Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) System. This is a rubber tired light rail. The system will consist of 5 compressed natural gas buses. She presented a map showing the proposed MAX route. Mason Street will be converted to two-way operations this summer. She gave an overview of the South Transit Center and the MAX BRT Line. Ms. Thomas gave an overview of the MAX Timeline. Funding from the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) is arriving in mid-May. This will trigger the construction contracts. The guide way and South Transit Center will be constructed beginning in 2012. Construction impacts on Mason Street will begin in July 2012. Once it is operational, 4,000 riders are projected to use the service each day. Currently, it is scheduled to run Monday though Saturday from 5 a.m. till midnight. A proposal to expand the service beyond these hours will be presented to Council for the 2013 budget cycle. The anticipated ride time from the South Transit Center to downtown will be approximately 20 minutes. More information is available at www. fc gov. corn/mason. Staff Reports Mr. Catanach gave an update on the Platte River Power Authority (PRPA) Annual Report. This report is available at http://www.prpa.org/. He also gave a legislative update. A bill was introduced to eliminate the references to Colorado in the Renewable Energy Standard (RES) and to eliminate the 1 .25 multiplier for Colorado based projects. Mr. Phelan stated Council adopted the Medical Discount Program and On-Bill Utility Financing Program at the May 1 meeting. Board Member Reports Water Board (‘Board Member Kronkosky): Board Member Kronkosky attended the meeting on April 19. He will continue to attend the meetings as an alternate to Board Member Plate. Legislative Update (T’7ce Chaiiperson Roihe,): Vice Chairperson Rothe gave an update on the proposed bill related to fracking rights. Air Qua/i/3’ Board (‘Board Member Baumgarn): Board Member Baurngarn visited the meeting on April 16. The board is receptive to interacting with the Energy Board. Land Conservation and Stewardship Board (Board Member Baumgarn): Board Member Baumgarn visited the April 11 meeting. The meeting focused on land conservation: however, the topic of natural gas was also discussed. Other Business A board member would like to see the Energy Board focus more on policy objectives, rather than serving in a passive role. Chairperson Cunniff would like the remaining topics to be prioritized for the last half of 2012. This item will be added to the June agenda. Adjournment The meeting was adjourned at 8:17 p.m. Submitted by Harriet Davis, Administrative Assistant, Fort Collins Utilities Approved by the Board on I . 2012 Signed Board Secretary Date Energy Board Meeting Minutes 4 May 3,2012