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HomeMy WebLinkAboutEnergy Board - Minutes - 09/06/2012Energy Board Meeting Minutes September 6, 2012 1 Fort Collins Utilities Energy Board Minutes Thursday, September 6, 2012 Energy Board Chairperson City Council Liaison Ross Cunniff, 420-7398 Lisa Poppaw, 223-4136 Energy Board Vice Chairperson Staff Liaison Barrett Rothe, 303-881-9683 Brian Janonis, 221-6702 Roll Call Board Present Chairperson Ross Cunniff, Vice Chairperson Barrett Rothe, Board Members Peggy Plate, Greg Behm, Stacey Baumgarn, Britt Kronkosky, Margaret Moore, and Peter O’Neill Board Absent Steve Wolley Staff Present Steve Catanach, John Phelan, Dennis Sumner, Lucinda Smith, Bonnie Pierce, Dan Weinheimer, and Harriet Davis Guests John Shenot, Dale Adamy, and Rick Coen Meeting Convened Chairperson Cunniff called the meeting to order at 5:31 p.m. Public Comment None Approval of August 1, 2012 Minutes Vice Chairperson Rothe moved to approve the minutes of the August 1, 2012 meeting. Board Member Baumgarn seconded the motion. A board member noted Thursday should be changed to Wednesday in the heading. Vote on the motion: Yeas: Baumgarn, Kronkosky, O’Neill, Plate, and Rothe. Nays: None. The motion carried. The minutes will be revised to reflect the change discussed. * Board Member Behm and Chairperson Cunniff abstained from voting due to their absence at the August meeting. Board Member Moore was not present during the voting. Carbon and Energy: Information Tools and Data Sources for Policy Reporting and Program Tracking (Attachments available upon request). Light and Power Operations Manager Steve Catanach introduced the item and introduced Senior Environmental Planner Lucinda Smith, Energy Services Manager John Phelan, and Environmental Data Analyst Bonnie Pierce. They presented the tools used by the City for carbon reporting. Energy Board Meeting Minutes September 6, 2012 2 Mr. Phelan presented the purposes behind the reporting. These include public reporting, policy level planning, program level planning, internal tracking and reporting, and evaluation. Ms. Smith presented information on carbon reporting. This includes an Annual Report during non- Budgeting for Outcomes (BFO) years and a Biennial Review during BFO years. Inventory is measured every year and progress is tracked. She also presented a graph showing Fort Collins community progress. This includes a 14.7 percent reduction below the 2005 baseline. Fort Collins municipal progress is also tracked. This includes a 7 percent reduction below the 2005 baseline. Ms. Smith presented information on the two tracking tools, GEMS and SIMS. Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emissions Mgmt System (GEMS) is a centralized repository for storage, management, and analysis of a wide range of community and city carbon-related data. GEMS objectives include providing a unified and standardized carbon accounting system for GHG inventories and sustainability reporting, information sharing across City departments, centralizing and improving data quality management, and flexible query, analysis, and reporting capabilities. A board member asked about the improvements since 2005. Ms. Pierce stated that a quality management plan was developed for each of the inventories. Mr. Phelan also stated there will be new calculations from the 2005 data. Ms. Smith presented information on the GEMS Data Sources. This includes more than 200 different types of data collected, supports community and municipal sustainability goals, a wide range of data, and emission factor change tracking. She also presented information on the GEMS Carbon Accounting Improvements. This includes historical and current emissions/reductions data, increased user access across departments, improved data quality management and transparency, easily customized databases, and increased rigor and precision of calculations. Mr. Phelan presented information on the annual energy policy reporting, including “top-down” carbon inventory and “bottom-up” programmatic results. He shared examples of these with the board members. Mr. Phelan presented information on the Sustainability Information Management System (SIMS) tracking tool. This is a cloud-based database which combines utility electricity and water data, property records, and weather data. It is designed for program management queries and standardized reporting, and utilizes quarterly utility data updates. Mr. Phelan presented information on Data Analytics. Applications include customer characterization and segmentation, evaluation (automated, weather normalized reporting, and geographic based programs), water irrigation efficiency, and rate analysis, asset management, and grid analytics. New data sources include Automated Metering Infrastructure (AMI) data. Screen shots of the database were presented to the board members. Highlights from the discussion:  The board members discussed what they should do to influence City Council policy on energy usage.  Staff suggested these tools can be utilized by the board members in discussing items for the 2013 work plan. Energy Board Meeting Minutes September 6, 2012 3  The board members discussed how to use the reports to target consumers with effective energy programs. Oil and Gas Extraction Regulations (Attachments available upon request). Mr. Catanach introduced the item and introduced Policy and Project Manager Dan Weinheimer. Chairperson Cunniff stated the City has formed a task force to help staff understand what residents want relating to oil and gas extraction regulations within the City. Mr. Weinheimer stated he is presenting this item to the board as an update and to gather option ideas to present to City Council. He presented an overview of the project goals. These include expeditious project completion, effective regulations (protecting public health, preserving the environment, and listening to the community), and a comprehensive approach. Mr. Weinheimer presented an overview of the non-regulatory options available:  Aggressive Local Government Designee (LGD)  Pursue Designated Outside Activity Areas  Secure local well site inspection authority o Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) with Oil and Gas Conservation Commission  Negotiate Surface Use/Operator Agreement  Partner with others (CSU, Air Quality Control Commission, Other cities) Mr. Weinheimer presented information on the various Land Use Code options:  Create special use section of the Land Use Code entitled “Oil and Gas Development”  Increase residential buffer from existing well sites in Northeast Fort Collins  Utilize Project Development Plan (PDP) process  Ensure oil and gas operations are held to highest regulatory standards Mr. Weinheimer presented information on the various Municipal Code options as well as additional options:  Create local permit process (permit individual wells, assess fees to inspect, planning review, permit approval, use LGD and local inspection power, state finds a violation, empowers suspension of permit with violation)  Dual track permitting (administrative permit versus Planning and Zoning Board Hearing, expeditious permit, require industry concessions). This is an untested option. Mr. Weinheimer presented the proposed completion timeline. The timeline includes a Planning and Zoning Board hearing on October 18, and First Reading at City Council on November 20. Highlights from the discussion:  The board members discussed how to force the drillers to adhere to capping wells in regards to greenhouse gas emissions. Mr. Weinheimer stated there are processes that operators can use.  A board member asked how many possibilities exist for more wells within the City of Fort Collins. Mr. Weinheimer stated there are no active state permits. There are 32 plugged and abandoned wells within the City.  A board member questioned if there has been any input from the property owners regarding their mineral rights. Mr. Weinheimer stated it would be an expensive option to research the title certification for all the landowners. Energy Board Meeting Minutes September 6, 2012 4  A board member questioned if the City is making a distinction for the oil setbacks versus the natural gas setbacks. Mr. Weinheimer stated the setbacks are not set based on the resource sought. The City is looking at the strictest interpretation.  A board member questioned the resource percentages for oil and gas. Mr. Weinheimer stated the field in Fort Collins is an oil field.  A board member asked for the City’s point of view regarding the issue. Mr. Weinheimer stated this is a question for Council. FortZED/Renewable and Distributed Systems Integration (RDSI) Closing Report (Attachments available upon request). Mr. Catanach introduced the topic and introduced Project Manager Dennis Sumner. Mr. Sumner is a Senior Electrical Engineer with Light and Power. He presented background information on the project, which is a framework of overlapping interests. The framework consists of objectives for the City and Utilities, FortZED, and the Department of Energy (DOE). In 2008, the DOE awarded $55 million to nine RDSI projects across the US. The project goals include encouraging the use of distributed resources to provide power during peak load periods, and a minimum 15 percent reduction in peak load on the distribution feeder or substation. Mr. Sumner presented information on the Fort Collins RDSI Cooperative Study. The DOE awarded $6.3 million and locale entities contributed $5.1 million. The project goals include demonstrating a coordinated system of mixed Distributed Energy Resources, reducing peak load, and supporting FortZED. The project participants and demo sites were presented to the board. The City of Fort Collins and Fort Collins Utilities were the project leads. Demo sites included the City of Fort Collins, New Belgium Brewing Company, CSU, Larimer County, and Integrid. Technology partners included companies such as Advanced Energy, Woodward Governor, and VanDyne Super Turbo. Mr. Sumner also presented a schematic showing the interactions and collaborations for the project. Mr. Sumner presented information on resources for load shedding. These include turning off fountain pumps, reducing fan speed in HVAC systems, increasing thermostat set-points during cooling season, and lock out for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles. He also presented information on resources for local energy generation, including solar photovoltaic (PV) projects and local backup generators. Mr. Sumner presented information on resources for the CSU Solar PV Array, the Larimer County Justice Center Fountain Control, New Belgium Brewing Company, and Integrid. The project timeline is as follows:  2009 - Specifications and Design  2010 - Installation and Operational Tests  2011 - Demonstration and Data Collection Mr. Sumner presented information on the technical approach for the project, an asset overview, and graphs showing RDSI impact on feeder load for a two-day period during July 2011. The 2011 Demonstration Survey showed a 14 percent reduction across 2 feeders and a 25 percent reduction across 1 feeder. Mr. Sumner presented a graph showing the estimated RDSI demonstration year emissions impact. Energy Board Meeting Minutes September 6, 2012 5 Mr. Sumner outlined the lessons learned from the project:  PLM software was successful at maintaining a flat load.  To achieve 5 MW of load reduction, need to enable approximately 10 MW of distributed assets.  Real world constraints prove to be the greatest challenge. These include communications, genset issues, staffing, schedules, emissions, noise, and comfort. The Fort Collins RDSI project has given more definition of the challenges of coordinating a system of mixed distributed energy resources. Fort Collins will be the model community for a leading and replicable net Zero Energy District. The mission of FortZED is to transform the downtown area and the main campus of CSU into a net Zero Energy District through conservation, efficiency, renewable sources, and smart technologies. Highlights from the discussion:  The board members discussed how the project is attracting local, national, and international attention.  A board member questioned the lessons learned in the role of standards, inoperability, and data exchange since this is a complex system. Will DOE leadership address these? Mr. Catanach stated there are multiple standard groups developing communication, data, and security protocols surrounding the Smart Grid technology.  The board members discussed other RDSI projects in the U.S.  The board members discussed utilizing home automation systems to anticipate temperature changes within a building. ** Vice Chairperson Rothe departed the meeting at 8:00 p.m. Energy Efficiency of Customer Premises Telecommunications Equipment (Attachments available upon request). Board Member Peter O’Neill presented information on this topic and presented a list of Customer Premises Telecom Equipment (CPE). This is defined as equipment that a customer must install to use a telecommunications service, and includes such items as cable and satellite TV set-top boxes, DSL and cable data modems, Ethernet routers, and cordless telephones. Mr. O’Neill outlined the concerns with CPE (much of it is new, they are large, growing, and not nearly as efficient as current technology permits). Collectively, CPE can consume more energy than major “white goods” appliances. These devices are usually always on, magnifying power throughout the day. Many CPE, especially cable set-top boxes, do not use well-established electronic power saving methods. He presented a spreadsheet showing his personal household energy consumption. Mr. O’Neill presented information on the Energy Star Program. Compliance is entirely voluntary on parts of equipment manufacturers and network operators. He also presented information on customer choices. These include the open market option, where a customer can purchase any CPE complying with the network’s technical standards (for example, the DSL modem on Century Link), and the closed market option, where the system operator rents or sells specific models of CPE to the customer (cable and satellite TV). Mr. O’Neill offered some suggestions on what the City can do, including education, incentives, and regulations. Highlights from the discussion: • The board members discussed how to communicate the issue to the public since they may not understand the impact of the equipment. • The board members discussed the costs involved and potential savings with replacing CPE. • The board i-nernbers discussed writing a memo to Council requesting they consider the options during the next franchise discussion. Chairperson Cunniff stated he would draft a memo for the board to discuss at a future meeting. Staff Reports Mr. Catanach stated advanced meter mass deployment will start September 17. Board Member Reports Land Conservation and Stewardship Board, Air Quality Board, Natural Resources Advisory Board (Board Member Baumgarn,: Board Member Baurngarn attended the August meetings. The boards discussed oil and gas regulations. Other Business A board member stated he would like to provide feedback on the Budgeting for Outcomes (BFO) process. The board members discussed some of the Environmental Health and High Performing Government offers that were approved and not approved for the 2013 — 2014 Budget. A more detailed budget update will be presented at the October meeting. The board members were encouraged to attend the City Council Work Sessions and the Budget Public Hearings. Future Agenda Review Chairperson Cunniff encouraged the board members to think about ideas for the 2013 Work Plan. This item will be discussed at the October meeting. Adjournment The meeting was adjourned at 9:07 p.m. Submitted by Harriet Davis, Administrative Assistant, Fort Collins Utilities Approved by the Board on OcI. , 2012 Signed I O I Board Secretary Date Energy Board Meeting Minutes 6 September 6, 2012