HomeMy WebLinkAboutElectric Board - Minutes - 11/15/2010Fort Collins Utilities Electric Board Minutes
Monday, November 15, 2010
Electric Board Chairperson City Council Liaison
John Morris, 377-8221 Lisa Poppaw, 223-4136
Electric Board Vice Chairperson Staff Liaison
Steve Yurash, 226-4248 Brian Janonis, 221-6702
Roll Call
Board Present Chairperson John Morris, Vice Chairperson SteveYurash, Board Members
Dan Bihn, John Graham, John Harris, and Tom Barnish
Board Absent Board Member Steve Wolley
StaffPresent Steve Catanach, Tom Rock, Robin Pierce, John Phelan, Kraig Bader
Guests
Meeting Convened
Chairperson Morris called the meeting to order at 5:34 p.m.
Public Comment
None
Approval of October 6, 2010, Minutes
Approval of the October 6, 2010, minutes passed unanimously with no corrections.
Recognition of Dan Bihn’s Service to the Board
On behalf of Fort Collins Utilities staff, Light and Power Operations Manager Steve
Catanach thanked Dan Bihn for his seven years of committed service to the Electric
Board. He voiced appreciation for Dan’s probing questions in an effort to move the
conversation forward. His insights were invaluable in the development of the first
Energy Policy and its first revision. Board Member Bihn thanked everyone and noted it’s
been great to work with this group of board members and Utilities staff.
Smart Meter Fort Collins Project
(Presentation available upon request)
Mr. Catanach provided an update to the Board on the smart grid project, now referred to
as Smart Meter Fort Collins. A cyber security oversight committee has been established
to identify those elements critical to the hid and the Meter Data Management System
(MDMS) implementation. Also, subject matter teams of 3-4 people will be formed to do
in-depth reviews of the Request For Proposals (RFPs). Staff anticipates receiving a very
large proposal document from 10-20 respondents.
Electric Board Meeting Minutes
November 15, 2010
Board discussion:
IfMDMS goes off4ine, will customers still have electricity? Yes. Meters will store up to
45 days’ worth of data. In a worst case scenario, a workforce would be pulled together to
read meters.
Board Member Graham recoinmendedannouncing the date business will he awarded.
Then a week in advance, staffshouldsend e-mnails to vendors identif’ing their specific
areas of weakness. He anticipates most vendors will adjust their bid based on this
information.
A question was raised about the timing of negotiating with equipment installation
vendors be/bre the self -installation of the 4,000 electric and 2,000 water meters. Board
Member Yurash recommends doing the negotiation after the self4nstallation if it fit.c in
the overall time frame so staffhas the opportunity to work with the vendor on any issues
uncovered during selfinstallation. Mr. Catanach will discuss this change with our
technical consultants, Enspiria Solutions. Board JVlemnber Graham fbllowed this thought
by recommending staff install only 50 of each meter as a test prior to the negotiation. A
field proof and lab proof of test are not reflected in this schedule.
Standards Engineering Manager Kraig Bader added that a decision is needed soon
whether to install devices such as ZigBee chips in every meter or choose a smaller
population to drop chips into for home area networks.
Mr. Catanach noted it can be expensive to install them in every meter ($10 per meter). In
comparison, a potential cost of $600,000 may be involved to reinstall meters, so it seems
most cost effective to put them in every meter at time of installation. The American
National Standards Institute (ANSI) must certify the type of chip in meters. If any
electronic component is changed, the meter must be recertified.
Board Member Grahanz noted some chips can be very unreliable, therefore staff should
insist on a very good warranty on the chips and a 20 year warranty on the electronic
components. He is happy to consult with staff and our consultants.
Financial services consultants were interviewed today to help prepare several different
rate options, including tiered rates, to take to Council for consideration in March, 2011.
Impetus is coIning from both citizens and Council to explore tiered rates.
Board Member Bihn added the importance of accounting for more demand integration
that may become an issue later, such as widespread use of electric vehicles. It’s
important to ask the vendors how thei’ see providing fbr this flexibility down the road.
Infrastructure is needed to support such a changing picture and should be considered
when making this initial investment in our future system. More solar, wind, and
emerging technologies will eventually be on our system. Customers are drii’in these
changes tbr us.
Board Member Bam-nish called fbr transparency up front as to true costs. ihe more
(-omnplex the system becomes, ii takes more people to make it all run, and this imiust be
considered.
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November 15, 2010
2011 Annual Work Plan
Conservation fees and additional opportunities for revenue generation were discussed.
2010 Annual Report Draft
Chairperson John Morris will leave the Board with an annual report draft to finalize and
submit by the January 3 1 deadline.
Routine Updates
PRPA (Vice Chairperson Yurash): Vice Chairperson Yurash went on a tour of the
Rawhide Power Plant recently. The lack of coal dust and the containment measures were
both impressive. He also attended a portion of the PRPA Board meeting; the budget was
discussed at length. The high variability of contributions to the pension fund year to year
is an issue, and they are exploring a defined contribution plan. Revenue from excess
electricity sales is down.
Capitol News (Board Member Wollev): No report was given.
Green Building Prograin (GBP) (Board Member Graham): Board Member Graham
attends the next GBPAC meeting on Wednesday. Referring to the GBP quarterly report
provided in the packet, the new plan is to amend the existing code which is more
palatable for stakeholders. Energy Services Manager John Phelan noted a proposed
package of measures, both for residential and commercial code amendments, is being
introduced at the Green BLlilding Program Open House on Wednesday. Staff will go
back to Council work session on December 14. The program places emphasis on how
things get done and how equipment is installed, e.g., commissioning testing, and is not
based on prescriptive measures as its main focus. However, some prescriptive
improvements were addressed in the recent update of the International Building Codes.
Staff Reports
None
Other Business
2011 Board Meeting Schedule: Board members approved the proposed meeting schedule
for first Wednesdays from 5:30-7:30 p.m. with the exception of the November meeting,
which conflicts with the annual boards and commissions appreciation event. The Board
will meet on November 9, the second Wednesday.
Centre Avenue student housing proiect: Concern was expressed about the all-electric
resistive baseboard heating planned for the project. Some board members are not
familiar enough with the project to register concern officially with Council. The City has
spent a lot of time and money developing the Energy Policy, it seems counterproductive
to miss executable steps and opportunities to create alignment. Staff noted the absence of
specific code language to redirect this developer’s choice and recommended Project
Engineering Supervisor Doug Martine attend the next meeting to provide an overview of
this project.
Future Agenda Items
The full draft of Plan Fort Collins with strategic action items (90% draft of about 350
pages) will be released on Friday. The Board has the option to review the draft Plan
through the month of December and make comments by the end of December or at the
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November 15, 2010
January 5 meeting for the January’ 11 work session. Council begins adoption hearings on
February 15.
A two year pilot of a solar wholesale application process was proposed in the budget. It
was initially not funded, hut staff anticipates Council will ask to bring it hack in 2011.
City and Utilities staff have had the opportunity to work with Craig Lewis, Founding
Principal of RightCycle and FIT Coalition, to develop a reasonable economic cost
scenario and anticipate a draft from Mr. Lewis by the end of December, ft)llowed by a
“go/no go” decision point.
Adjournment
The meeting was adjourned at 8: 14 p.m.
Submitted by Robin Pierce, Utilities Administrative Services Supervisor (Board
Secretary), Fort Collins Utilities
Approved by the Board on I , 2010
Signed
P&n
Board Secretary Date
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November 15, 2010