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HomeMy WebLinkAboutEnergy Board - Minutes - 07/08/2021 ENERGY BOARD REGULAR MEETING July 8, 2021 – 5:30 pm 222 Laporte Ave. – Colorado Room ROLL CALL Board Members Present: Jeremy Giovando, Bill Becker, Alan Braslau, Marge Moore, Steve Tenbrink, Dan Gould, John Fassler, Councilmember Tricia Canonico Board Members Absent: Sue McFaddin OTHERS PRESENT Staff Members Present: Adam Bromley, Christie Fredrickson, John Phelan, Cyril Vidergar (remote), Leland Keller Members of the Public: Rick Coen, Kevin Krause (remote) MEETING CALLED TO ORDER Chairperson Becker called the meeting to order at 5:32 pm PUBLIC COMMENT Mr. Krause sent a message to Mr. Phelan. He is a residential electric customer with PV installations and said he would like to participate in the Green Energy Program for only the amount of energy his PV system did not produce, to offset electric usage for the remainder of the month. Currently customers are required to purchase the full amount of energy through the program as opposed to an offset value. APPROVAL OF MINUTES In preparation for the meeting, board members submitted amendments via email for the June 10, 2021, minutes. The minutes were approved as amended. ANNOUNCEMENTS & AGENDA CHANGES None STAFF REPORTS (attachments available upon request) Platte River Attendance at Energy Board, Review of July 29 Platte River Board Meeting Agenda Adam Bromley, Director, Operations & Technology, Light & Power Mr. Bromley explained that Jason Frisbee, General Manager and CEO of Platte River Power Authority, made a decision that staff from Platte River will no longer be regularly attending Energy Board meetings. Platte River staff do not attend the other partner cities’ board & commission meetings and they would like to standardize that practice across all their partner communities. This change will affect how the Energy Board obtains information from Platte River, but there are still many pathways to interact with them. ENERGY BOARD REGULAR MEETING Mr. Bromley suggested the Board keep a regular agenda item to discuss upcoming Platte River agenda items and communicate the Energy Board’s formalized feedback through the City of Fort Collins Platte River Power Authority board members, Mayor Jeni Arndt and Councilmember Julie Pignataro. Chairperson Becker asked if Platte River would still be willing to come to present on relevant topics or projects. Mr. Bromley said he is unsure how topics like that will work going forward but plans to seek clarification since this information is still new to City staff. Mr. Vidergar added that the decision was largely based on the need to provide the same level of support and input to all member cities. His impression is Platte River will attend meetings at our request though they will only address matters we specifically ask about in advance, as they would like to avoid ad hoc questions of staff who attend. Board member Braslau asked how Councilmember Canonico sees her role in these discussions as the Energy Board’s liaison. Ms. Canonico said she would like to assist the Board however they need and will participate as much or as little as the Board likes. She said if the Board communicates with the Platte River board representatives it may be helpful to keep her copied on communications, so she is aware. Board members commented it would be nice if the Platte River board members from Fort Collins would be willing to come to speak to Energy Board about the current directives of the Platte River board. Board member Braslau added in the past when he has attended Platte River board meetings, he has spoken during public comment (as a citizen), and it was an effective communication path. Mr. Vidergar recommended Energy Board members wait for specific approval and direction from City Council before engaging the Platte River board of directors. The Board will add a standing agenda item (Staff Reports) to review Platte River Board meeting agendas as they are posted. COUNCILMEMBER CANONICO INTRODUCTION (attachments available upon request) Councilmember Canonico introduced herself to the Board. She represents District 3, which covers much of the Southeast portion of Fort Collins. A brief biography of Ms. Canonico can be found on the City’s website: https://www.fcgov.com/council/members/?district=3 Chairperson Becker said he understands City Council is often being pulled in several directions but invited Ms. Canonico to attend the Energy Board’s meetings as often as she is able. Board member Braslau asked how Councilmember Canonico chose to be the liaison for the Energy Board. Ms. Canonico said she is passionate about renewables and has been incorporating them into her home and lifestyle as she can, even though she doesn’t have a technical background, she is excited to learn. Vice Chairperson Moore explained that she was part of the Electric Board when it was converted to the Energy Board, and (the now former Councilmember) Ross Cunniff was the first Chairperson of the Energy Board. The Energy Board was part of the beginning stages of what is now Our Climate Future. The first iteration of the Energy Board worked hard to define what their role was, and what they wanted to accomplish within the space of Energy usage, production, distribution, and conservation. Chairperson Becker asked the Board to consider what they would like to learn from City Council. Board ENERGY BOARD REGULAR MEETING members commented on the published list of City Council’s priorities, and Councilmember Canonico noted that Energy is at the heart of many of those priorities. She is excited to learn what the Energy Board’s priorities are in their scheduled discussion for later this evening. Board member Braslau said he hopes City Council will consider appointing a female to the Energy Board when they fill the current vacancy. Chairperson Becker noted that any addition of diversity would be beneficial to the Board. He also expressed concerns about the term limits, which they have previously communicated to Councilmember Canonico. Board member Tenbrink hopes Board participation and engagement will be a priority in the hiring of the new Utilities Executive Director. Chairperson Becker said it is nice to feel like the Board has a connection to City Council and looks forward to continuing this communication. GREEN ENERGY PROGRAM John Phelan, Energy Services Senior Manager (attachments available upon request) The purpose of the Green Energy Program is to allow customers to subscribe to purchase additional renewable electricity above and beyond that provided in the resource mix provided to all customers. The Fort Collins Green Energy Pilot Program launched in 1996. Two 600 kW wind turbines came online April of 1998, and there were site expansions in both 1999 (five 660 kW turbines) and 2000 (two 660 kW turbines). Tariff 7 started in 1998 with Platte River, with individual prices per renewable resource, and in 2006 a single price for a blended portfolio of renewables was initiated. Tariff 7 was phased out 2021. There are still some Renewable Energy Credits in the mix, but those will be phased out over the next few years. Currently, the Green Energy Program is priced with 1.6¢ per kilowatt-hour premium on top of the customer’s normal rate (with PILOTS – payment in lieu of tax), and for the first time ever it includes solar, both local solar along with utility-scale wind and solar. The expected resource mix is approximately ¼ solar and ¾ wind, but the final mix won’t be known until the end of the year. The pricing accounts for a base non-fossil resource mix to account for incremental subscription. Board member Braslau noted that a customer could then forecast and estimate the amount of excess renewable energy needed to offset their usage and purchase a block of kilowatt hours, as suggested in this evening’s public comment. Mr. Phelan said yes, a customer could estimate an annual amount, but the kilowatt hours cannot be purchased in varying quantities month to month. Chairperson Becker pointed out that there is no cap on subscriptions. Mr. Phelan said there is an administrative cap based on MWh and resource mix, but currently we are not remotely close to that cap. Board member Tenbrink wondered who owns Solar Power Purchase Program (SP3) sites. Mr. Phelan said the City has a PPA with the sites, which are all owned by third parties, and the price per kWh varies by site and the time it was installed. Mr. Phelan said staff is working to reestablish the marketing and outreach for the program, targeting by segment and working to understand commercial interest and needs. Staff will also finalize the annual reporting on resource mix, which is distributed to subscribers. ENERGY BOARD REGULAR MEETING Chairperson Becker asked if the price premium reflects the price at installation and contract inception. Mr. Phelan said it’s a combination of the SP3 (which is more expensive), and Platte River’s dispatchable and intermittent components. The Roundhouse project dramatically changed the pricing when it came online, and the new Black Hollow solar project will also drive down the blended cost. Board member Braslau said it would be great to achieve 100 renewable electricity faster than the 2030 goal and wondered if marketing the Green Energy Program as a pathway to get the community there faster would be effective. Mr. Phelan said it would be wise to do more engineering modeling before we start marketing anything aggressive; it’s important to get the system to a place that can sustain that before we market the Green Energy Program as a pathway. Board member Braslau asked what is limiting the City from putting solar arrays in more places, such as City building rooftops. Mr. Phelan said the economics of solar on commercial buildings is not great, the solar doesn’t coincide well with the demand charge. SOLAR & BATTERY INTERCONNECTION & PERMITTING PROCESS John Phelan, Energy Services Senior Manager Leland Keller, Energy Services Engineer (attachments available upon request) The solar application process is parallel through Fort Collins Utilities and Building Services. Utilities requires the application to be submitted with the following: plan set, solar fact sheet, pricing disclosure, contract or invoice, equipment spec sheets, and a solar performance estimate. There are no charges assessed through the Utilities application process. Fort Collins Building Services requires the application to be submitted with the following: two sets of plans and a structural engineering verification. Building services will assess the following fees: permit fee, plan check fee, City tax, and County tax. Customers can estimate their fees online at https://www.fcgov.com/building/permit-fees-and-taxes Chairperson Moore asked if the permit fee based on the complexity of project. Mr. Keller said there is an interconnection between the parallel processes, in that Utilities staff signs off in the building permit. The permit fee is largely based on the cost of the project, and a contractor can start on either side of the application process but cannot get to the end of the process without approval from both Utilities and Building Services staff. The average solar system at 6.4kW, costs approximately $24,470.00. The fees assessed with a subcontractor would come out to $1,172.93, and $1,067.23 without subcontractors. Mr. Keller noted that Building Services plans to shift to a Cost-of-Service valuation in 2022, and he is expecting that the fee assessments may decrease slightly but hasn’t seen any estimates yet to confirm. The basic residential solar project process overview can be found online at https://www.fcgov.com/utilities/residential/renewables/solar-rebates. The residential process covers a lot of dos and don’ts, but ultimately the contractor is typically the entity submitting application to Utilities to make sure it meets the current interconnection standards. Board member Braslau wondered why the home energy audit requirement is currently suspended. Mr. Phelan said during the pandemic Utilities was not requiring staff to enter anyone’s home, but additionally the results of completing the audit have largely been ineffective because it doesn’t require a customer to complete any of the recommended work, so it has become a check box for this process. Board member Fassler argued even if it isn’t turning recommendations into improvements, having information is never a ENERGY BOARD REGULAR MEETING bad thing for a homeowner. Mr. Keller noted that the customer’s selected contractor is required to be a part of the City’s network of active participating solar contractors to be eligible to receive the rebate, but the customer is not required to use an in-network contractor. Mr. Phelan said though many of the same principles from the residential process will apply to commercial applications, it’s important to note that essentially all commercial projects are custom projects. A rooftop installation is typically much simpler than a ground-mount installation, especially if it is located on an undeveloped site (which would require the developer to go through all the same processes that a new development would). On the Utilities side, there is a potential for many more steps; the solar hosting capacity will determine if a System Impact Study (SIS) is warranted and then staff would estimate the SIS fees, execute a Non-Disclosure Agreement, and conduct the study in-house. The interconnection agreement is typically custom as well. Mr. Keller displayed a graphic showing annual growth in solar applications. Residential applications are doubling every four years, equating to about 20-30% increases per year, and staff anticipates Utilities will receive approximately 600 applications in 2021. Colorado has become a Top 10 market yet remains amongst the highest average system cost per kW in the United States. MyData is an online portal that allows customers to share their electricity consumption records with a solar contractor. Once the project is complete, the customer is also able to retract their data share. MyData improves system sizing accuracy (reducing the likelihood of forced reduction and customer complaints), utilities records of data releases, the timeliness of contractor receipt of system design, and it does not require the customer to reveal authentication information to contractor. Board member Giovando had solar commissioned on his home last spring. There was a lag between utility team and the inspection team. When the Building Services inspector arrived, he didn’t have a copy of the plans, which he asked Mr. Giovando for. It seems like there could be some customers who may not have those readily available and that the plans should be available digitally. The Building Inspector also didn’t know that Utilities had already been out to commission the project with a certificate to operate. Mr. Giovando said it seems like there may be a breakdown of communication between the two departments. Mr. Phelan and Mr. Keller said it is unusual that things happened in that order. Chairperson Becker asked if the building permit process adds intrinsic value? Mr. Keller said yes, they must make sure the project meets the current electric code. Mr. Becker said it seems like the process is faster and cheaper and seems less bureaucratic in other locations. Mr. Phelan said the permitting costs lie entirely within the Building Services department. Mr. Coen, a local solar professional, noted that Building Services only cares that the system is installed safely and that everything meets code, it’s the Utility who ensures that the system functions. The State of California in particular is working on improvements to the permitting process to try and improve expediency, such as developing and utilizing mobile apps to submit applications and track processes online. Board member Tenbrink wondered if the 120% rule applies to commercial solar installations. Mr. Phelan said it does (for net metering), but commercial buildings rarely have enough roof space to generate enough to meet or exceed that limit. He also added that the 120% rule was state statute until a few weeks ago, but the change doesn’t apply to the City because municipal government sizing of solar and usage of residential house is a financial consideration. Net metering was designed to offset customers’ utility bills with a little cushion. Correcting and making sure the Utility has a sustainable financial model for solar as the community grows is now at the forefront (related to the 120% rule). There are still sizing limitations ENERGY BOARD REGULAR MEETING related to code (transformers and wiring, etc.), but staff is preparing to go before City Council in the future with revised recommendations. Board member Braslau said it’s important to be careful that electric rate payers don’t end up paying for solar customers’ grid usage. Mr. Phelan said there is already a differential rate between consumption kWh and the export rate. The Utility has been gradually growing that differential over time and will continue to do so. Board member Moore wondered what the rough breakeven cost analysis is. Mr. Keller said for system bought and installed today, the payback is probably 8-13 years. TOP TEN ENERGY ITEMS REVIEW & NEXT STEPS Board members participated in activity of identifying and ranking their energy-related priorities. Ultimately, the Board landed on the following priorities: 1. Energy Efficiency 2. Electrification 3. Our Climate Future 4. Income Qualified Assistance Program 5. Distributed Energy Resources 6. Rates 7. Transportation/Transit Each Board member selected a priority, and will work independently to define the item, identify why it is important to the Board, and identify actions (within their purview) that the Board can take to improve or impact the item. BOARD MEMBER REPORTS Mr. Bromley let the Board know that “Monitor My Use” will be phased out, and a replacement site, Franklin Energy will be coming online soon. Board member Fassler commented that the Franklin Energy Site’s portal doesn’t sync with his billing cycle (it runs on the calendar month instead), and it would be helpful to have them line up. He also noted that every time he logs in, he receives a pop up advising him to replace his electric dryer with gas dryer and that it will save him thousands of dollars per year. The Income Qualified Assistance Program was renewed for one more year, including adding auto- enrollment to the program. Board member Braslau attended a recent Air Quality Advisory Board meeting, and they seemed very interested in electric vehicles considering the City’s current air quality. Further discussion was on how the City may be making fleet electrification a priority. Board member Braslau suggested that we, the Energy Board, should be more organized in participating in other boards’ meetings. FUTURE AGENDA REVIEW The Board wondered if they could hear an update, if there is one, on the Billing System Project. In August, Mr. Phelan and Mr. McCollough will present on the Distributed Energy Resource Strategic Plan, the Board will also follow up on the priorities they identified in tonight’s workshop, as well as a ENERGY BOARD REGULAR MEETING presentation on the City’s Energy Services Programs. They would also like to discuss a plan for their August work session on Community Solar, as well as discuss engaging with other City Boards & Commissions (if time allows). ADJOURNMENT The Energy Board adjourned at 8:56 pm.