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HomeMy WebLinkAboutEnergy Board - Minutes - 01/14/2021 ENERGY BOARD REGULAR MEETING January 14, 2021 – 5:30 pm Remote – Zoom Meeting ROLL CALL Board Members Present: Jeremy Giovando, Bill Becker, Dan Gould, Alan Braslau, Marge Moore, Steve Tenbrink, John Fassler Board Members Absent: Amanda Shores, Sue McFaddin OTHERS PRESENT Staff Members Present: Adam Bromley, Christie Fredrickson, Tim McCollough, Brian Tholl, Pablo Bauleo, Cyril Vidergar, Rhonda Gatzke Platte River Power Authority: Trista Fugate Members of the Public: Nick Michell, Rich Stave MEETING CALLED TO ORDER Chairperson Becker called the meeting to order at 5:30 pm PUBLIC COMMENT None. APPROVAL OF MINUTES In preparation for the meeting, board members submitted amendments via email for the December 10, 2020 minutes. The minutes were approved as amended. ANNOUNCEMENTS & AGENDA CHANGES The Energy Board will continue to meet remotely, pursuant to Ordinance No. 79, 2020. STAFF REPORTS Grid Interactive Water Heater Pilot Pablo Bauleo, Senior Energy Services Engineer An electric water heater functions similar to a gas unit, but the electric unit has both an upper and a lower heating element. The upper element heats the upper portion of the tank, and once the water reaches the set temperature, the power switches to the bottom heating element. As water is used and replaced in the tank, the temperature will lower, and the heating cycle will start over as needed. Grid Interactive Water Heaters (GIWH) can: turn on within the dead band (charge up), turn off outside the dead band (curtail), and can turn on if the home is about to run out of hot water (unless there are emergency conditions on the grid). Through the Peak Partners program, staff can send signals to turn enrolled electric units on and off. There are currently 10 enrolled units online, and a limited number of current electric water heater owners (no natural gas conversions at this time) can enroll in the Smart Water Heater Program now. Participants receive a state-of-the-art water heater and installation for free (valued at $1,300) and can expect to save up to $75 a year in utility costs. ENERGY BOARD REGULAR MEETING Board member Tenbrink asked how many electric water heaters are in Fort Collins right now? Mr. Bauleo said they estimate around 4,000-5,000 in the City right now. Board Member Braslau asked if the storage capacity of the units could be increased if the water heaters were installed to operate at their top temperature (with a mixing valve for safety). Mr. Bauleo said it is possible to do it, but the system architecture would have to be completely modified to do so. The goal of this pilot is to bring grid flexibility (i.e. increase or decrease consumption on Utilities command) not to maximize the storage capabilities of a water heater). OUR CLIMATE FUTURE UPDATE Brian Tholl, Energy Services Supervisor Tim McCollough, Deputy Director, Utilities Light & Power Mr. Tholl asked the Board for initial feedback or thematic conversation around the content presented at the Super Board meeting on January 11. Chairperson Becker said he had hoped to leave the meeting with something more tangible; Board member Giovando agreed. Vice Chairperson Moore wondered what the Board’s role is through this process—many of the big moves are cross-disciplinary and wondered how the Boards will be able to participate or contribute. At City Council’s February 9 work session, staff will be presenting a proposed structure for the final plan and a set of prioritized next moves, inclusive of options for both voluntary and requirements-based strategies which reflect our strategic priority of intensifying community climate efforts. There will be technical strategies; those which focus on how we partner with everyone in Fort Collins to achieve these outcomes. After Council and Board feedback, staff will bring this item back to Council for Consideration on March 16. Our Climate Future (OCF) is comprised of three phases: Phase one was all about understanding our community and brought engagement to where people were. The second phase was the strategic planning phase, and was all about brainstorming ideas, drafting strategies. The final phase, where staff is now, is focused on writing the plan, release, and adoption. Staff has identified 13 Big Moves, two of which are focused on Energy: 100% Renewable Electricity, and Efficient & Emissions free buildings. The 2020 Strategic Plan as well as the Council adopted goal of 100% Renewable Electricity by 2030 helped shape the goals section of the OCF Plan. The three overarching goals are to: Achieve 100 percent renewable electricity by 2030 with grid and local sources; achieve a 20 percent reduction in forecast electricity use between 2021 and 2030 through efficiency and conservation initiatives in all building types and industrial processes; achieve five percent of community electricity from local distributed renewable sources by 2030. These high-level goals align with the City’s budgeting process, and are written to be adaptive rather than fixed, so as the City grows community partnerships, staff expects the solutions will evolve over time. Mr. McCollough asked how the 100% Renewable Electricity goal aligns with beneficial electrification, some strategies would be about fuel switching which will inherently add load. He wondered if this goal is misaligned with the beneficial electrification strategy. Mr. Tholl said staff agrees there is ambiguity and there are key assumptions needed, but staff is hopeful that the two-year reevaluation cycle will help with that as things settle into focus. Board member Gould commented that it would be prudent to have the DER strategy in hand before going into that goal with much detail. Mr. McCollough said he generally agrees; however, he is comfortable with a 50-megawatt renewable goal in Fort Collins’ distribution system if it is spread equally. The DER strategy ENERGY BOARD REGULAR MEETING is still necessary because it serves as the roadmap and guidance to decide what DERs will be needed in addition to solar, but from where the Utility is today and what the system can host, 50 megawatts is entirely achievable. Chairperson Becker wondered if the general public will even respond or relate to the goal of 5% community electricity and understand why it matters or how it can help our overall goals. Mr. Tholl said at the highest level, the Big Moves can be oversimplified, but staff has worked to include goal posts around where and how to include technical language within the report. There are targets and goals to achieve within each of the OCF Big Moves. The100% Renewable Electricity Big Move includes the two primary goals to achieve 100% Renewable Electricity by 2030, and to achieve 5% of community electricity from local distributed renewable sources by 2030, but it is also important to demonstrate reliability of the grid through general metrics which have been used in previous Energy Policy Reports. Mr. McCollough noted that the Utility talks about reliability metrics every month, and they are used as a tool to benchmark against the industry. SAIDI (System Average Interruption Duration Index), is an average measure of how long a customer is without power within the last year. The target is less than 30 minutes and is based on the Utility’s Capital Improvement Plan level of service. CAIDI (Customer Average Interruption Index), is an average measure of how long it takes to restore power to a customer experiencing an outage. The target is less than 45 minutes and is a practical limit of how quickly the Utility can restore power based on common outage types. SAIFI (System Average Interruption Frequency Index) is a measure of how many times per year the average customer experiences and outage. The target is less than .66 annually and can be calculated by dividing by CAIDI. The utility can invest in cable to reduce outages and therefore bring down SAIDI, as well as invest in technology (DERs and automation) to reduce outage lengths (CAIDI). In the Efficiency and Emissions Free Build Big Move section of the OCF Plan, the City will strive to advance efficiency, indoor environmental quality, installed performance and readiness of DERs through adoption and enforcement of updated energy codes on a three-year cycle. Additionally, the City will adopt current International Energy Conservation Codes (IECC) with local amendments within one year of issuance. There are two targets under this Big Move: Achieve a 20 percent reduction in forecast electricity use between 2021 and 2030 through efficiency and conservation programs in all building types and industrial processes and achieve a 10 percent reduction in forecast natural gas use between 2021 and 2030 through efficiency, conservation and electrification programs in all building types and industrial processes. Mr. Tholl said the City has never had a stated policy goal around natural gas reduction, so this is new territory. Some Board members agreed that the City needs to set the bar much higher than the IECC for code adoption. Board member Braslau wondered if the fact that natural gas is distributed in Fort Collins by another company (Xcel Energy) would be limiting in any way. Mr. Tholl said one limitation is that the City does not have access to any data at the premise level, but they do have access at the community level. Mr. Braslau wondered why the City doesn’t have access to that data, or if it can be requested. Mr. Tholl said that is up to Xcel to provide and would likely have to be negotiated in their franchise agreement in the City (though the city has always found Xcel to be cooperative). Mr. Vidergar added the most recent franchise amendment was signed in 2018, and the franchise expires in January 2038. Mr. Tholl reiterated that the new implementation approach will be an adaptive ongoing process designed to align with the City’s two-year budgeting cycle. The City will start with work to increase community partnerships and engagement over time, changing and updating solutions as the community changes. ENERGY BOARD REGULAR MEETING Staff is open to and encouraging feedback; Board members can provide additional feedback after tonight’s meeting to Ms. Fredrickson, who can consolidate and provide back to Staff. REVIEW 2021 PLANNING CALENDAR Ahead of tonight’s meeting, Chairperson Becker asked all Board members to be prepared to share a few topics they would like to hear, discuss, or accomplish in 2021. Mr. Vidergar prefaced the conversation by reminding the Board that City Code frames the purpose of the Energy Board. The Energy Board must stay within their roles and activities as a City Council and staff advisory board, particularly around the Energy Policy and now Our Climate Future. The Board’s role is not to draft policy or to direct how its plans are deployed, but to support those efforts by Staff and City Council. He encouraged the Board to review the Energy Board’s charter in municipal code (2-231 through 2-235) and apply those roles as subject matter experts. Board members each took a few minutes to share what motivates them as members of the Energy Board, and what they would like to accomplish in 2021: Board member Tenbrink said that as an Electrical Engineer, technology and sustainability really drives him; he wants the best future for his grandkids. He would like to see the Energy Board appoint liaisons to attend other City Board meetings, so they have a better idea of the discussions happening outside their own sphere. Board member Gould said his interest is the overarching goal is to work toward a sustainable economy and planet. Specifically, he wonders what the distribution of distributed solar will look like and what are the major relationships in terms of build out. He also would like to learn more about the history of community solar. However, his main concern is electric transportation, specifically how medium and heavy-duty trucks will fit into that picture. There is so much opportunity in fleet management to integrate electric vehicle technology. Vice Chairperson Moore is curious about science and technology, but she has a stronger background in valuation of buildings and properties. She hopes the Board can look at land use policies and metro districts and find out how the City and the Energy Board can contribute to that. She wants to see the City create valuations and cost-benefit analysis to propose to building owners, homeowners, and developers. Board member Braslau said the Board should be focused on not wasting energy, rather than technological solutions to provide more energy. Practical solutions could be viewed now through the lenses of land use and transportation. Board member Shores, who was unable to attend the meeting tonight sent in her feedback to Chairperson Becker. Her hope is to see the transportation sector transform into something sustainable, as well as the equity challenges around renewable energy in Fort Collins. Renewable energy should not burden lower income brackets. Board member Fassler said the complexity of the Energy Board is fascinating. His expertise is in the residential building sector and agreed with all the feedback from Board members ahead of him tonight. He said it is important to keep pushing to use less whenever possible. Commercial vehicles and buildings are a huge opportunity in energy usage and reduction. Board member Giovando has two middle school aged children and wants to focus what can be done now ENERGY BOARD REGULAR MEETING so they aren’t still dealing with today’s problems in the future. Built infrastructure is a huge opportunity for improvement, as well as the 120-year paradigm of the independent motor coach. He wondered how to shift the perspective without having to upend the paradigm completely. Chairperson Becker said the City’s carbon impact matters and needs to be dealt with now but notes that he wants to keep his lifestyle for the most part. He hopes the Board can look at the systemic way that we address with renewable energy and how it is delivered, there needs to be an integrated approach to help guide energy users’ decisions on how they consume energy, so the carbon impact is reduced efficiently and meaningfully. Board members debated the degree of lifestyle change necessary, and generally agreed it doesn’t have to be an insufferable change, especially by using technology to our advantage. The United States will have to reconcile with its usage of resources in general. Board member Giovando pointed out that each resource has people behind it with different (and often competing) perspectives on how it should be preserved. For example, a light rail to ski areas would be convenient and alleviate some of issues associated with transportation, it would destroy parts of the landscape and viewshed along the way. Recurring themes from this conversation included Transportation, Land Use, Built Infrastructure and Equity. The Board will use these themes to shape the content they seek to participate with in 2021, as well as how it aligns with the new City Council’s priorities (which will likely inform next year’s work plan). APPROVE 2020 ENERGY BOARD ANNUAL REPORT Board member Braslau moved to approve the Energy Board’s 2020 Annual Report as presented. Board member Moore seconded the motion. Discussion: None Vote on the motion: It passed unanimously 7-0, with 2 absent. BOARD MEMBER REPORTS Board members discussed the Super Issues Meeting, held on January 1, which included a presentation about OCF as well as and the reimagining Boards & Commissions project. Board members had concerns about the potential change to term length, specifically with the one-year term option, because they believe it takes a full year to feel fully integrated due to the technical nature of the Energy Board (and likely other Boards). The understand they are trying to appeal to volunteers who don’t want to commit to a long term, but Board members wondered why they wouldn’t just resign if the commitment wasn’t working out. Board members also expressed concerns around the potential change to the attendance policy. Some Board members wondered if staff would consider three absences as a warning or review period, and four absences as dismissal. They were optimistic about the possibility of their meeting room having upgrades to support better hybrid meetings (both in-person and remote participation for Board members), which would give Board members additional flexibility. FUTURE AGENDA REVIEW ENERGY BOARD REGULAR MEETING The February meeting will host two hot topics for the Energy Board, an update from the Our Climate Future team, as well as an update to the Metro District evaluation process. Staff will be seeking a recommendation from the Board on both items, so the Board hopes to receive the meeting materials well ahead of time in order to review them thoroughly. Mr. McCollough will also come to the Board in February, seeking a recommendation on supplemental funding for Utilities Locating resources. ADJOURNMENT The Energy Board adjourned at 8:18.