HomeMy WebLinkAboutEnergy Board - Minutes - 11/08/2018Energy Board Minutes
November 8, 2018
Energy Board Minutes
November 8, 2018
Fort Collins Utilities Energy Board Minutes
Thursday, November 8, 2018
Energy Board Chairperson
Nick Michell, 970-215-9235
City Council Liaison
Ross Cunniff, 970-420-7398
Energy Board Vice Chairperson
Amanda Shores, 408-391-0062
Staff Liaison
Tim McCollough, 970-305-1069
Roll Call
Board Present: Chairperson Nick Michell, Vice Chairperson Amanda Shores, Alan Braslau, Bill Becker,
Jeremy Giovando, Greg Behm, John Fassler
Late Arrivals: Stacey Baumgarn, Krishna Karnamadakala
Board Absent:
Others Present
Staff: Tim McCollough, Christie Fredrickson, John Phelan, Adam Bromley, Kirk Longstein, Pablo
Bauleo, Jason Graham, Rhonda Gatzke, Cyril Vidergar, Daylan Figgs
Platte River Power Authority: Paul Davis, Brad Decker, Joel Danforth, Alyssa Clemson Roberts
Members of the Public: Rich Maroncelli, Rick Coen
Meeting Convened
Chairperson Michell called the meeting to order at 5:30 p.m.
Public Comment
Rich Maroncelli originally wanted to speak to the Board about advocating to increase solar array limits
from 120% to 200%; however, after some research Mr. Maroncelli would like to encourage the City of
Fort Collins to emulate the city of Georgetown, TX and have 100% Renewable Energy within 24 months.
Approval of October 11, 2018 Board Meeting Minutes
In preparation for the meeting, board members submitted amendments via email for the October 11, 2018
minutes. The minutes were approved as amended.
Announcements and Agenda Changes
Mr. Phelan would like to add two brief staff reports; Chairperson Michell approved this change.
Staff Reports
Bloomberg Mayor’s Challenge Update
City of Fort Collins was one of nine winners in the Bloomberg Mayor’s Challenge. They were awarded
$1 million, along with eight other municipalities (including Georgetown, TX). The program decided to
award $1 million to nine winners instead of one $5 million grand prize and four $1 million prizes. Mr.
Phelan said he would bring more detailed presentation to the Energy Board in the future.
Futures Council Committee
The Council Futures Committee looks at issues affecting the community 20 or more years in the future.
The December 10 committee meeting will discuss Energy and the distribution system in particular. There
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will be two guest speakers: Lorenzo Kristov, an expert in Electric System Policy, Structure, and Market
Design for Principal, as well as John Di Stasio, President at Large Public Power Council.
Mr. Phelan said the Energy Board and city staff are invited, but it is currently not a public event.
Peak Partners and Demand Response Pilot
Joel Danforth, Platte River Power Authority
Pablo Bauleo, Mechanical Engineer III, Energy Services
(attachments available upon request)
Peak Partners is a program the City set up to reduce demand at a peak hour, and now the Utility uses it at
other times to bring value to the customer and the Utility. The main equipment Peak Partners uses are Wi-
Fi thermostats, piloted electric water heaters, and Open-ADR (Automated Demand Response) for
commercial and industrial. Commercial and Industrial Open-ADR within the program currently has the
capacity to control up to 1MW of load, but so far that has not been realized.
Residential Time of Day went live recently, and the Peak Partners program was updated to reflect the new
rates. Within the thermostat program, there is now a preloaded schedule available on the app, but no
communication on this has been pushed out yet. The water heater program now has 3 shifting options
(aggressive, default, basic) replacing the previous $4 monthly credit ($48 per year) and communication
regarding this change has been pushed out to participating customers. So far, somewhat surprisingly the
aggressive option has been the most popular choice among customers (yielding savings of about $65 per
year). Chairperson Michell asked which thermostats are available on this program. Mr. Bauleo said the
only thermostat available right now is the Peak Partners thermostat provided by Utilities but are hoping to
incorporate a “Bring Your Own Thermostat” option soon, to include both Honeywell and Nest
thermostats. Mr. Michell noted that the presently rebated thermostats through Efficiency Works are not
compatible with the Peak Partners programs, which could be perceived as conflicting programs. Mr.
Bauleo noted that this is one explanation for the slight attrition in the Peak Partners program that has been
observed.
Mr. Bauleo explained that running the Utility’s Time of Day program in conjunction with Platte River’s
Demand Response Pilot had its own challenges. For example, there is a chance that Platte River could call
an event in the last hour of TOD off-peak hours, which would adversely affect Fort Collins Utilities
customers, shifting their load from off-peak to on-peak. Platte River and Fort Collins Utilities thus
implemented a black-out hour, one hour before the on-peak hours, to address this potential issue.
Similarly, a blackout period was implemented for water heaters on the program to allow them to recharge
after being turned off, one hour before and one hour after the on-peak hours.
Mr. Danforth recapped Platte River’s Demand Response Pilot program for the Board. The goal of the
Demand Response pilot is to integrate participating owner communities’ demand response into Platte
River operations to provide wholesale system benefits. The Pilot was rolled out in two phases: Phase 1
ran October 2015 through June 2017 and was a planning time and “view only” access by Platte River.
Phase 2 began in July 2017 and will run through June 2019; Platte River now has control access and grid
operators can dispatch events. Besides energy benefits, other future system benefits of the pilot to
investigate include capacity benefits, ancillary service benefits, and distribution benefits. The Demand
Response resources that were included Platte River’s pilot are the Peak Partners program with the City of
Fort Collins Utilities, and the City of Longmont’s distribution voltage reduction program.
During the pilot period, the City of Fort Collins had 15 Demand Response events; 12 summer events with
an average reduction of 1.30 MW, and three non-summer events with an average reduction 0.63 MW. Mr.
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Becker asked if, rather than simply reducing load, it is possible for the units to pick up additional load if
there is excess wind or solar for example and Mr. Bauleo said no, it cannot be absorbed. Board member
Becker added that this pilot is wonderful and is excited about the future of programs like this and how
they interact with the Climate Action Plan and the future of Fort Collins. He asked if City or Platte River
staff had considered a hypothetical scenario where they may have conflicting goals, and Mr. Bauleo said
it could happen and they have started to address issues like that (such as through the blackout hours).
The strategy is to manage operational complexity through increased automation. They want to be
conscientious of customer comfort, so it is also important to determine the limits of demand response.
Platte River also wants to be mindful of cyber security risks and frequently works with IT teams to
minimize that risk. The long-term strategy is to continue to collaborate and interface with the owner
communities and their retail customers, as well as maximize the wholesale and distribution benefits. Mr.
Danforth said he and Mr. Bauleo have been discussing how to integrate renewable energy as the
communities work toward more aggressive renewable energy plans in the future. The pilot will complete
in June of 2019, and staff will work to develop a model to use going forward. Electric vehicle distributed
charging study, evaluate other DR tech, operating models and programs.
Board member Braslau asked if Fort Collins staff should be considering the Longmont voltage reduction
study as well, and Mr. Bauleo said it’s ultimately a different strategy for different use cases.
Resource Planning Update
Brad Decker, Platte River Power Authority
(attachments available upon request)
An Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) is an immediate and long-term action plan to meet future energy
goals; it assists with preparing for industry changes including technological progress, consumer
preferences and regulatory mandates. An IRP is required by Western Area Power Administration
(WAPA) every 5 years, and Platte River last submitted and IRP in 2016. A lot has changed since the last
submission, including business and industry changes, technology advancements, additional renewable
assets, community interest has increased, and the goals of the owner communities have reflected that. The
objectives of Platte River’s IRP are to evaluate a full range of resource paths, from the current resource
mix up to 100% renewable energy, and model the impact of additional renewable resources, distributed
energy, conservation, energy storage and demand response potential. The IRP should consider ways to
reduce reliance on coal and/or defer the need for natural gas resources. Platte River staff should conduct
extensive outreach to gain community perspectives to help shape this plan.
Platte River began coordinating with WAPA in the summer of 2018 for the next IRP submission. Platte
River has started holding community listening sessions and will begin gathering outside inputs for the
2020 IRP modeling over the winter months of 2018. In 2019 all the inputs should be collected and they
will begin modeling in the spring, and by winter the finance team will do a rate impact analysis. In the
spring of 2020, Platte River will hold board and internal review sessions, and finally, Platte River plans to
file the IRP in the summer of 2020, one year in advance of regulatory requirements.
Mr. Decker said Platte River is doing a thorough job with the 2020 IRP, and they are conducting several
supporting studies and reviews. He said some of them are atypical approaches in the IRP planning
process, and that’s because they are charting a lot of new territory with many ambitious community goals.
Platte River is doing a market analysis with PACE Global, and it will provide the primary inputs for
resource modeling. Pace Global will also conduct a Generation and Technology review. Burns &
McDonell, an Engineering consultant, will assist with a Coal Cycling study as well as a Resource
Adequacy Study. HDR Consulting will be helping Platte River with several studies: Efficiency and
demand side management potential, Energy Storage analysis, and a Thermal Resources cost study.
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Colorado State University will help with a Regional Economic analysis and Generation Technology life
cycle study.
Mr. Decker reiterated the IRP process is long and complex and community engagement is an important
component. There will be surveys at the community events and those are crucial input in the overall
process. Chairperson Michell said that he and a few other board members attended the Fort Collins
community listening session and commended Mr. Decker and Platte River, saying that the event was very
well run and well managed, especially considering the complexity of the information presented. He asked
if the IRP will contain anything regarding resiliency. Mr. Decker said resiliency is part of the reliability
component of the IRP and part of the diversification process—not only in resources but also
geographically.
Board member Braslau said Pace Global had been criticized for not being broad enough during the Zero
Net Carbon study, and Mr. Decker said Pace Global’s ZNC study was meant to be a single-case
feasibility study and was not intended to be an action plan.
Board member Becker asked who or what is building the nine IRP studies together. Mr. Decker said it’s a
statistical model and Platte River uses a software package called AURORA to collect the information
from the studies and put it directly into the model. The supporting studies are supposed to help solidify
the overall results. Mr. Becker said there are communities and regions who are farther ahead of the Platte
River communities, such as Hawaii or California, and he asked if their findings are considered. Mr.
Decker said Hawaii had a great corollary case study for a 100% renewable system and what Fort Collins
Utilities could be in the future.
Chairperson Michell asked if the other communities are expressing similar concerns and asking similar
questions at their listening sessions. Ms. Clemson-Roberts said the comments and questions in each of the
cities have been very alike, which shows the goals of the communities are very aligned. There will be one
last listening session in Loveland on November 15.
Roundhouse Renewable Energy Project Update
Jason Graham, Director, Plant Operations
Daylan Figgs, Planning and Special Projects Program Manager, Natural Areas
(attachments available upon request)
The Energy Board is familiar with this project, but Mr. Graham said he would provide an update and
make time for the Board to ask any questions they may have. Mr. Graham said staff is not asking the
board for any action or recommendation, but if the board would like to act, the City Council work session
deadline is Wednesday, November 14.
The Roundhouse Renewable Energy Project is a wind farm in Wyoming to generate power, and the
power will be delivered by transmission line to Platte River Power Authority’s Rawhide Facility. The
planned project includes 75 wind turbines with 150 MW of energy capacity. The transmission line will be
self-supporting steel monopole structures with a height in range of 80 feet to 130 feet. The transmission
line will go across 9.7 miles of Meadow Springs Ranch (MSR), a City-owned property.
City Staff partnered with NextEra Energy, Logan Simpson, and Platte River to determine the “preferred”
route on MSR using Energy by Design criteria and a Siting Study. Staff has received feedback from
various stakeholders such as City Boards and Commissions, workshops, and public open houses. There
were three total proposed routes, and the Siting Study ranked each route by criteria in the following
categories: vegetation and surface water, wildlife, raptor (birds), non-raptor, visual resources, land use,
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cultural resources, engineering, and linear infrastructure. The highest score route on the Siting Study was
selected as the preferred route, because it had the least environmental impact.
Vice Chairperson Shores said there is one area on the map (colored in dark purple) that goes through a
densely populated area for birds, and regardless of the route it does not seem to be mitigated well. Mr.
Figgs said the problem there is mostly related to the timing of construction; staff is addressing the issue
by a seasonal construction closure, so construction is only allowed to happen outside the time when the
birds are present on the property. Chairperson Michell asked which of the three routes are most cost
effective, or if there is a significant difference in construction cost. Mr. Graham said the preferred route
does have the least amount of infrastructure impact and a lower construction cost because of that. Vice
Chairperson Shores asked what feedback Staff has received from other boards, and Mr. Graham said the
feedback staff has received so far has generally been supportive. Mr. Figgs added that most boards are
concerned with the environmental impact and are pleased with the mitigation plans so far.
Mr. Graham said over the course of a year, this project will generate the equivalent energy needs for
70,500 homes annually and completion of the project will be a significant step in achieving Platte River’s
and community energy goals, including the City’s CAP goals. The project is also estimated to decrease
Fort Collins emissions by about 10%. City Council has a request to approve the easement on MSR in
January 2019, and construction is slated to complete in 2020.
Board member Baumgarn moved the Energy Board Chair to write a memo in support of the
Roundhouse Renewable Energy proposed transmission line route and required easement by
November 14, 2018.
Board member Braslau seconded the motion.
Vote on the motion: It passed unanimously, 9-0
Fall Municipal Code Updates
John Phelan, Energy Services Manager
Adam Bromley, Senior Manager, Electrical Engineering
(attachments available upon request)
Mr. Bromley and Mr. Phelan reviewed City Code updates slated for this fall, which mostly consisted of
“clean up items,” such as updates to language for clarity.
Mr. Phelan said in Section 26-26 (3), the update’s purpose is to clarify the definitions of aggregated and
anonymized, as they relate to data privacy. Board members asked for additional clarification on how the
data might be shared, and Mr. Phelan said it could apply to Building Energy Scoring, or if a building
owner with multiple units and tenants wanted to look at the utility bills of less than four aggregated utility
accounts, rendering the data no longer private or confidential. Board members were concerned that
anonymity could be compromised under the new definitions and Mr. Phelan said in general the City
cannot provide information to anyone other than the account holder, but the definition provides context
under which aggregated data may be provided.
A language revision removes conflicting interest rate language and refers to the Financial Officer’s Rules
and Regulations will apply to sections 26-289, 26-712, 26-129, 26-467, 26-466, 26-465, and 26-464.
In sections 26-464, 465, 466, 467, 468, and 469 language related to parallel generation was removed
because it no longer applies. These subsections in the Rate Sections have been effectively replaced by
more specific subsections, and removal of the “parallel generation” will clarify interpretation and
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application of the rates and bill-credits associated with net metering, community solar projects, and
renewable resources.
Mr. Bromley said that all current manually read electric meters are not capable of recording or storing
data needed in order to calculate billing determinants for a TOD rate as implemented in October. As such,
all manually read electric meters needed to be exchanged with meters capable of recording energy
interval data needed to bill correctly. The purpose of the code changes he will be reviewing is to codify
solutions staff is implementing with manually read meters, as well as to codify a cost or fee with a meter
exchange under certain scenarios, and finally to ensure consistency between electric and water code
language.
An amendment to section 26-2 says a customer will be transitioned to an AMI meter if there are
meter/touchpad access issues, if there are repeated service terminations for non-pay, or if a customer
obstructs utility work. The customer may be required to pay the meter exchange fee under these scenarios.
Chairperson Michell asked for clarification regarding the meter swap for service termination, and Mr.
Bromley explained that customers with manually read meters require the service to be terminated on-site,
so a driver and a truck must be dispatched to turn off the service, as well as to turn it back on. With an
AMI meter, this can be done remotely.
The amendment to section 26-98, a water-related item, says all new construction will be fitted with an
AMI meter or module unless the customer specifies otherwise. Similarly, in section 26-396, new
construction will be fitted with an electric AMI meter or module and prohibits the tampering of any part
of the City-owned electric system (including meters). Another water-related amendment, section 26-219,
says utility access must be provided, or the Utility Director has the right to terminate water or wastewater
service. The amendment to section 26-399 mimics the language in the corresponding water item for
consistency.
Section 26-712 codifies the meter exchange fee as $38.00. Board members inquired what happens to the
codified fee when the cost of the meter increases. Mr. Bromley said this does not include the cost of the
actual meter because that is included in the fixed charge on the utility bill. The meter exchange fee is for
labor recovery. Mr. Phelan said there are many rates and fees that are codified, which is why staff needs
to pay close attention.
Board member Behm moved to support the proposed revisions to City Code related to Light &
Power topics.
Chairperson Michell seconded the motion.
Vote on the Motion: It passed unanimously 9-0
Building Energy Scoring
Kirk Longstein, Project Manager, Energy Services
(attachments available upon request)
Mr. Longstein said their outreach campaign turned out some valuable responses and feedback, and staff
has made some updates to the project and ordinance. Council is seeking feedback on the following items
prior to adopting an ordinance: Building owners to benchmark and report energy and water data to the
City, energy and water usage data made available to the public, and compliance mechanisms for
enforcement. As a reminder, the three components that are required are Benchmarking, Reporting, and
Transparency.
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Nationwide, 22 cities (including several municipal utilities like Austin, TX) and three states have adopted
benchmarking ordinances; 13 of those cities have included water. Denver and Boulder are the closest
examples, and the ordinance Fort Collins staff is recommending is similar to the Denver ordinance—
emphasizing the free flow and transparency of information, allowing the market to decide the value of
efficiency. The Energy Star Portfolio Manager tool rates 1-100, 100 being the best. Staff likes this tool
because it is free, and the Energy Star label is known and recognized in the market.
After 12 months of utility data reporting, the Portfolio Manager tool will generate a score, which sets the
baseline for annual reporting and comparisons. Buildings with a score of 75 or higher to receive the
Energy Star label. Mr. McCollough asked if the reporting tool considers the industrial sector the building
is being used for, such as heavy machining. Mr. Phelan said the tool does take that into consideration.
Mr. Michell asked if the reporting numbers are available on a public domain, and Mr. Longstein
confirmed they are. Denver’s numbers, for example, are available by searching “Energize Denver Map.”
Board member Baumgarn added that different cities also share the data differently, and suggested the
board look up how some of the other communities are displaying this data.
The model proposed for building owners or managers is a simple three phase process. A notification will
go out notifying them they are covered under the ordinance, and then they will begin entering the utility
data (with the support of City staff if needed). Next, building owners will be required to submit the report
to the City/Utility, and the City reviews the data for data assurance and quality and then be made
transparently available. The community feedback said a phased approach would be the smoothest
transition, and so they are rolling out the program by square footage, building use type (Commercial/Non-
Industrial, and Multifamily), and year; with full implementation by 2022. Mr. Michell asked how the
aggregation limit of four plays into this, and Mr. Longstein said there are typically no 5,000 square foot
multifamily units with less than four units.
Board member Baumgarn asked if there is an additional report building managers are expected to create
and send at the end of the year, and Mr. Phelan said it’s an additional step within the portfolio manager to
share the data, but not an additional report. Chairperson Michell asked if the building manager must enter
the data, or if the Utility just pulls the utility data. Mr. Longstein clarified that the City has the electric and
water data, but they do not have natural gas data since it is not supplied by a municipal utility.
Mr. Longstein said exemptions will be available for certain segments of activity, such as industrial and
agricultural. Fines will be imposed for those under the ordinance who don’t comply or participate.
Board member Braslau moved that the Energy Board support City Council’s adoption of a
Building Energy and Water Scoring Ordinance that requires building owners to benchmark and
report energy and water data to the city, energy and water usage data made available to the public,
and compliance mechanisms for enforcement.
Vice Chairperson Shores seconded the motion.
Discussion:
Board member Baumgarn asked when water was added to the ordinance language, and Mr. Longstein
said water was a community member recommendation after the Council work session. Mr. McCollough
asked if Water Board will be considering this ordinance as well and Mr. Longstein confirmed they would
be visiting the Water Board later in November.
Vote on the motion: It passed unanimously, 9-0.
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Board Member Reports
None
Future Agenda Review
Mr. McCollough said the December agenda is loosely planned right now, and the future agenda items still
listed on the 2018 Planning Calendar will be dispersed amongst the 2019 meetings.
Adjournment
The Energy Board meeting adjourned at 8:53 p.m.
Approved by the Energy Board on December 13, 2018
________________________________ ______________
Board Secretary, Christie Fredrickson Date
12/13/2018