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HomeMy WebLinkAboutEnergy Board - Minutes - 04/11/2019ENERGY BOARD REGULAR MEETING April 11, 2019 – 5:30 pm 222 Laporte Ave.; Colorado Room ENERGY BOARD MEETING | 04/11//2019 ROLL CALL Board Members Present: Chairperson Nick Michell, Vice Chairperson Amanda Shores, Jeremy Giovando, Alan Braslau, Bill Becker, Dan Gould, Krishna Karnamadakala, John Fassler, Stacey Baumgarn Board Members Absent: OTHERS PRESENT Staff Members Present: John Phelan, Christie Fredrickson, Cyril Vidergar, Brian Tholl, Janet McTague, Adam Bromley, Brad Smith Platte River Power Authority: Paul Davis, Chris Wood, Alyssa Clemsen-Roberts Members of the Public: Rick Coen, Wendell Stainsby MEETING CALLED TO ORDER Chairperson Michell called the meeting to order at 5:30 pm CITIZEN PARTICIPATION Mr. Coen said SB 19-181, a state bill regarding the regulation of oil and gas drilling, was recently passed by Colorado State legislature. He is not sure if this topic fits within the purview of the Energy Board, but he does hope the Board will discuss it and help form some guidance for City Council to consider while forming the regulations. Mr. Coen said he is disappointed that so far it seems as though the City of Fort Collins has been a non-participant in the discussion, but he did recognize it is very early since the bill passed. APPROVAL OF MINUTES In preparation for the meeting, board members submitted amendments via email for the March 14, 2019 minutes. The minutes were approved as amended. ANNOUNCEMENTS & AGENDA CHANGES Platte River’s Integrated Resources Plan was rescheduled for the May 9 meeting. Mr. Phelan added an additional discussion item to review Colorado legislative summary. STAFF REPORTS 2018 ENERGY SERVICES PROGRAM EVALUATIONS Brian Tholl, Energy Services Supervisor Mr. Tholl explained the Energy Services values continuous program improvement, and during the 2017/2018 budget cycle, Energy Services retained a third-party (Research Into Action) through a competitive RFP process to conduct evaluations on the majority of the Utility’s efficiency, renewable, and demand response programs. ENERGY BOARD REGULAR MEETING ENERGY BOARD MEETING | 04/11//2019 Program evaluations generally fall into two categories: Impact Evaluation (How much savings has occurred? How much of those savings are attributable to the program? How do program costs compare to savings? How could the assumptions and methods used to estimate savings be improved?) and Process Evaluation (What value do customers find in the program and how satisfied are they? What motivates customers to participate? What barriers prevent greater participation?). Peak Partners, IDAP (Integrated Design Assistance Program), Residential Solar program were process evaluations, and the Energy Code Compliance study was a process and impact evaluation. Board member Karnamadakala asked what code series the study applied to and Mr. Tholl said the study period covered projects submitted under the IECC 2015. For each program, staff identified a handful of objectives and then worked with the evaluator to develop a list of researchable issues. The Peak Partners evaluation determined participants are generally satisfied with the Peak Partners program, and conservation events do not create hardship. Participants also said the usability challenges with the Peak Partners provided thermostat, more than a demand for smart thermostats, were the cause for program attrition. This heartburn will hopefully be remedied with the upcoming Bring Your Own Thermostat (BYOT) revision to the program. The IDAP evaluation said customers were motivated to participate by the upfront design incentive and facilitation process. Participants also said construction and performance incentive structures were too complex and not strong motivators to participate. Chairperson Michell asked who the target audience is for IDAP. Mr. Tholl said any facility over 5,000 square feet and is largely driven by energy consultants. The Residential Solar Program evaluation had very high satisfaction rates as well. Participants said the contractors were key to the success of the solar program and this strength will be leveraged with the development of a Contractor network. The evaluation also identified there is an opportunity to make Utilities’ website a more comprehensive information source for customers interested in solar, and those revisions have been prioritized. The Code Compliance Study evaluation showed an opportunity to increase the consistency of energy- code compliance by requiring final plans to detail energy code elements more clearly and explicitly. To increase the consistency of energy-code enforcement a checklist will be developed and adopted that explicitly demonstrates the review of each energy code item. Additionally, opportunities exist to increase awareness and understanding of energy codes among the building community. Staff will be working to revise available resources, and there is also a public review of the code amendments and changes on April 24 at the Lincoln Center. Board member Fassler commented that energy code compliance is just as important in building and home remodels as it is in new construction. RAWHIDE GROUNDWATER ISSUE Alyssa Clemsen-Roberts., Platte River Power Authority Chris Wood, Platte River Power Authority Platte River Power Authority staff worked with reporters at the Fort Collins Coloradoan to notify the public that contaminated groundwater was found near the Rawhide Energy Station coal plant. The article was published on March 19. Mr. Wood explained Platte River generates between 70,000 and 80,000 tons of ash each year, which is managed onsite at Rawhide through both wet and dry transportation activities. These processes as well as the landfill are regulated by the State of Colorado. In 2015, The federal Environmental Protection Agency issued new standards and regulations, which required additional protections for things such as ENERGY BOARD REGULAR MEETING ENERGY BOARD MEETING | 04/11//2019 ash landfills. These regulations were motivated by larger disasters with coal plants on the east coast (large facilities with dams that broke), and Mr. Wood stressed the Rawhide facility is nothing like those plants, there are no dams to break, but the regulations are applicable to them regardless. Platte River has been monitoring the groundwater around the landfill since the beginning of Rawhide, but the new EPA standards required additional wells to be installed, and some of the wells are much closer. In that process, Platte River has received a lot more data about the groundwater impact around the landfill, and with that data they found statistically significant levels above background in the immediate vicinity of the landfill. Platte River is in a process now where staff is working to identify the immediate impact and then will immediately impose corrective actions. Vice Chairperson Shores asked if there is an immediate remediation plan right now? Mr. Wood said the plans Platte River has right now are informal, proactive, and not imposed by an agency. Platte River will have additional, more formalized plans going forward before the regulations are implemented. Board member Gould asked if the landfill is lined and Mr. Wood said it is not lined with a geosynthetic layer, but the landfill is on top of a layer of pure shale, so Platte River is confident the groundwater does not migrate offsite. Chairperson Michell said the article in the Coloradoan said the aquafer impacted by the groundwater issue is not presently impacting any other aquafers in the area, and asked if that was accurate? Mr. Wood said that is one way to explain it, though it would be very difficult to follow every molecule. Ms. Clemsen- Roberts noted Platte River has 12 wells and only two wells are showing statistically significant signs of contamination; the other 10 wells are not showing any increased levels right now, which does not indicate a spread. Mr. Woods said in the 35 years of groundwater monitoring prior to the installation of the new wells, there were no concerning data points, but the two new wells are very close to the waste boundary of the landfill. Ms. Clemsen-Roberts also reiterated Platte River has been very transparent with their findings and self-reporting of the groundwater monitoring. it is always posted to their website. Platte River fully cooperated with all media requests regarding the data and provided links to other scientific data on the EPA’s website. Mr. Phelan asked when it might be appropriate to ask what the Platte River staff has learned, recognizing that they may not know the answer yet. Mr. Woods said they will be installing additional wells within the next year which will provide more data. SPRING CODE UPDATE Adam Bromley, Senior Manager, Electrical Engineering John Phelan, John Phelan, Energy Services Senior Manager Janet McTague, Manager, Technical Project Management (attachments available upon request) Ms. McTague explained that Light & Power staff have been working together to update the code within the Electric Service Standards (ESS); they are not looking for a recommendation at this time but wanted to give the Board a preview of what they’re working on. Several years ago, staff went to Council to change the responsibility for installation and maintenance of secondary service to multifamily buildings to the contractor or owner, which was in response to how construction has changed. City Code and ESS still reflects fourplexes and eightplexes, which are not seen very frequently in Fort Collins, but the code change limits what the City can install to 200 amps, which only gives each side of a duplex 100 amps before becoming a commercial service. This is ENERGY BOARD REGULAR MEETING ENERGY BOARD MEETING | 04/11//2019 problematic because most duplexes need a minimum of 150 amps per side, so effectively the City is not installing service to duplexes and the ESS needs to reflect that and move the change into code. Staff also wants the ESS to clarify that the owner of secondary service cables to meter pedestals in mobile home parks is the owner of the park. The owners should then be able to effectively budget for that change as they maintain the services. This process is consistent with how the Utility handles non- residential services, like downtown buildings, since mobile home parks are businesses. The City no longer allows master metering, except by variance through the Executive Director, so staff wanted to bring this standard into its own section within the ESS. Board member Baumgarn asked if the standard mostly applies to commercial condo situations, or multifamily. Ms. McTague said typically more in multifamily situations, and variances are rarely requested on commercial properties. Board member Gould asked how existing mobile home parks would be impacted by the code change. Ms. McTague said it depends on the annexation because they are all operated and maintained differently, but it should not negatively affect them, other than giving them clarity and control over when and how they maintain their system. Mr. Phelan said Energy Services staff has two proposed code changes, to add a definition of the Average Annual Electricity Consumption and revise the definition for Qualifying Renewable Technology. Mr. Phelan said these are interim steps in recognizing that there is some ambiguity in the current wording. Within net-metering, adding a definition of average annual electricity consumption clarifies the meaning of the phrase as it relates to calculations such as those related to the sizing of behind the meter solar electric systems. Average annual electricity consumption shall mean the average monthly consumption of the previous 24 months of electricity use times twelve. Chairperson Michell asked what the solution is if there is not 24 months of data available. Mr. Phelan said there are internal practices available; they have used as little as 12 months for new service, or square footage averages based on comparable homes. The definition of qualifying renewable technology will be revised to include technology which stores electric or thermal energy. This revision will allow other provisions of the code, such as net metering, to apply to storage technologies. Qualifying renewable technology shall mean a qualifying facility that generates electricity using renewable resources such as solar, fuel cell, wind, geothermal, combined heat and power or biomass technology, or that stores electric or thermal energy. Board member Becker commented that the reason to install a battery is so the user does not have to push out onto the grid, so a customer could feasibly arbitrage the system during Time of Day peak hours. Mr. Phelan said the Finance team was also concerned about that, so Energy Services staff ran that analysis and because Time of Day is designed to capture the wholesale rate structure of Platte River, it actually showed a slight benefit to the Utility on an annual basis. Mr. Phelan reiterated that this is one step of a larger process and said it’s important to remove a barrier now while working toward the next. Mr. Phelan asked the board for a recommendation since these changes will be proposed to City Council. Chairperson Michell asked if it makes sense to call a customer’s standalone battery “qualifying renewable technology” without any other renewable system, such as solar. Board member Braslau said that it does considering Platte River Power Authority’s investments in solar and wind, and they only way that can be handled is with progressive and proactive demand management. Mr. Michell agreed with Mr. Braslau’s comment but said he still does not think a standalone battery qualifies as renewable technology. Mr. Phelan said he would be shocked if City staff does not complete a comprehensive rework of code language within the next several years, but they are not ready to do that today. ENERGY BOARD REGULAR MEETING ENERGY BOARD MEETING | 04/11//2019 Board member Becker moved to support the code definition language update as presented by staff. Chairperson Michell seconded the motion. Vote on the Motion: It passed unanimously, 9-0 COLORADO LEGISLATIVE SUMMARY John Phelan, Energy Services Senior Manager Mr. Phelan became the Utilities liaison for the Council Legislative Review Committee this year. The Utility also relies heavily on representation with CAMU (Colorado Association of Municipal Utilities), they employ a lobbyist who reviews bills from a municipal utility perspective. Mr. Phelan displayed a list of bills that the City is considering taking a position on and highlighted five bills that are of interest to the Energy Board. HB19-1231, New Appliance Energy and Water Efficiency Standards, applies efficiency requirements on products sold in Colorado. Generally, this would not fall under the City’s purview in terms of regulatory requirements, but it would raise the minimum standards on a wide range of products sold at retailers in Colorado. HB19-1260, Building Energy Codes, requires jurisdictions that are adopting any part of code to adopt any of the last three available energy codes. HB19-1261, Colorado Climate Action Plan, revises and establishes new climate goals for the state of Colorado from all sources: 26% carbon reduction by 2025, 50% by 2030, and 90% by 2050. It essentially sets rule-making authority with the Colorado Department of Health & Environment and the Air Quality regulatory bodies. There is also an electric utility goal of 80% reduction by 2030, but that language is somewhat vague. This bill is paired with HB19-1313, Electric Utility Carbon Reduction, which says a utility with 500,000 or more customers can submit an approved clean energy plan which would exempt the utility from the rule-making portion of the Climate Action Plan under HB 1261. Board member Braslau said the Climate Action Plan under HB 1261 is less aggressive than the Fort Collins adopted CAP, and Mr. Phelan said that is correct; however, it could help the City have a stronger influence in areas it would otherwise not have now, such as natural gas vehicles. Mr. Coen added that he’s heard HB 1313 has weak support right now since it is basically a bill for Xcel Energy. Board member Braslau said he just looked it up, and HB 1260 did pass the House without amendments. He also said Mr. Phelan didn’t list SB 181, which would be of interest to the Energy Board. Mr. Phelan said after Mr. Coen’s comment earlier, he sent a note to the team in Environmental Services who are engaged in that. BOARD MEMBER REPORTS Chairperson Michell, Vice Chairperson Shores, and board members Baumgarn and Braslau all attended the Energy Transitions Symposium last month. Chairperson Michell said there is a website with several videos from the conference, and he plans to send a few links to the Board. Board member Braslau said he was discouraged by the discussion of Regional Energy Markets. Mr. Davis also attended along with a few others from Platte River, and he said he believes Xcel is in favor of an Energy Balanced Market. Vice Chairperson Shores said she attended a discussion about transportation issues, which she found very ENERGY BOARD REGULAR MEETING ENERGY BOARD MEETING | 04/11//2019 interesting. The City of Denver is piloting a program for a low-income electric car share, similar to Car2Go. A recent NCRES (Northern Colorado Renewable Energy Society) meeting discussed getting to 100% renewable energy, and Chairperson Michell said there was a lot of interesting discussion about how to reach the goal. Chairperson Michell also attended a neighborhood meeting for the Hughes Stadium redevelopment; they are proposing 600-700 homes on the land. It is early in the process, so there wasn’t a ton of specific information available yet. Board member Giovando asked when the next public meeting will be, and Chairperson Michell said he will send the Board a link to their website. FUTURE AGENDA REVIEW Mr. Phelan said the May agenda is somewhat in flux as he tries to accommodate the rescheduled IRP presentations. There is a work session scheduled for April 25. ADJOURNMENT The Energy Board adjourned at 8:23 pm