HomeMy WebLinkAboutEnergy Board - Minutes - 10/06/2016Fort Collins Utilities Energy Board Minutes
Thursday, October 6th, 2016
Energy Board Chairperson City Council Liaison
Pete O’Neill, 970-223-8703 Ross Cunniff, 970-420-7398
Energy Board Vice Chairperson Staff Liaison
Nick Michell, 970-215-9235 Tim McCollough, 970-305-1069
Roll Call
Board Present: Chairperson Pete O’Neill, Vice Chairperson Nick Michell, Board Members Alan Braslau,
Greg Behm, Stacey Baumgarn and Councilman Ross Cunniff.
Staff Present: Cyril Vidergar, John Phelan, Lance Smith, Tim McCollough, Christie Fredrickson, Randy
Reuscher
PRPA: Paul Davis
Members of the Public: Rick Coen
Meeting Convened
Chairperson Pete O’Neill called the meeting to order at 5:30 p.m.
Announcements and Agenda Changes
Agenda was changed at 7:10 p.m. to allow Councilman Cunniff to share his input on the Energy Board’s
proposed 2017 Work Plan. Work Plan Discussion was moved up before BFO Process Offers Review &
Memo.
Public Comment
None
Approval of September 1, 2016 Board Meeting Minutes
Amendments to the September 1, 2016 minutes were made by the Board Members and the minutes were
accepted as amended.
Staff Reports
• Light and Power Dashboard
Tim McCollough, Light & Power Operations Manager
(attachments available upon request)
Mr. McCollough presented some of Light & Power’s primary metrics, including SAIDI (System Average
Interruption Duration Index) and SAIFI (System Average Interruption Frequency Index).
SAIDI measures the average outage duration for each customer served. Recently, the City’s SAIDI
metric shows an average outage time of 15 minutes, which is a positive trend comparing to past quarters.
Industry outage average is 90 minutes. Utilities has been tracking Avoided Outage Minutes by
performing maintenance on pending failures in advance of an outage; often times the repair still requires
an outage, but Utilities can schedule the outage with a customer or notify a residential area in advance.
Utilities has shaved roughly 30% off of the SAIDI metric with the work completed in the last year.
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SAIFI measures the average number of interruptions that a customer would experience (of any length).
Annually, one in every two customers will experience an outage in Fort Collins. Utilities is seeing a
positive trend in the frequency of outages.
Mr. McCollough also mentioned CAIDI (Customer Average Interruption Index), which measures average
restoration time. Currently, average time for restoration in Fort Collins is 45 minutes; benchmarked
against the National average of 90 minutes.
Board member Braslau asked if the new smart meters sent real time reports regarding outages to a central
location. Mr. McCollough said that the smart meters do report to a central data location, and in many
cases Utilities can have a crew heading out before the first phone call from a customer. The system is still
undergoing testing for accuracy and reliability.
• Energy Policy Dashboard with Programs
John Phelan, Energy Services Manager
(attachments available upon request)
Mr. Phelan stated there isn’t currently a formal Dashboard available for the Energy Policy and Utilities
Staff is currently working on a model that will need to be approved by Council before the first of the year.
Mr. Phelan asked the Board to consider what metrics they would like to see on the Dashboard and how in-
depth the metrics should be presented. He hopes to present a beta Dashboard to the Energy Board and the
end of the first quarter in 2017.
Vice Chairperson Michell asked about tracking page views on the City website – if the City is presenting
data, should the City be tracking if anyone is actually accessing it? Mr. Phelan said he would follow up
with the City’s web team, but that it’s important to mindful of government transparency while also
presenting data in a readable fashion.
Mr. McCollough also urged the Board to make suggestions for the Energy Policy Dashboard. Board
Member Baumgarn said based on his attendance at the last Climate Action Plan meeting (aka Road to
2020) that he would like to see what progress Utilities is making toward the Road to 2020 goals. He
would like to see any metric that might help normalize a behavior, such as city rebate participation. He
also suggested anything that crosses a number of buckets, including Energy Policy, Road to 2020, etc., to
engage a larger audience.
Other Board members inquired about customer participation in efficiency programs as well as the
documentation of goal achievement.
• City of Loveland Utilities Commission/Energy Board Joint Meeting
Tim McCollough, Light & Power Operations Manager
(attachments available upon request)
Mr. McCollough presented a preview of the Joint Board Meeting agenda. Chairperson O’Neill advised
this meeting is a chance to encourage our neighboring communities to focus on solar, but also a positive
way to get ideas and insights from their other successes. The meeting is a constructive way to share ideas
in friendly setting.
• IQR (Income Qualified Rate) Program Postponement
Tim McCollough, Light & Power Operations Manager
(attachments available upon request)
Mr. McCollough shared a thank you letter from Peter Iengo to the Energy Board. He also stated
that Council has indefinitely postponed the program. Councilman Cunniff added that Council is looking
for something that has a stronger conservation message.
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As a final staff report, Mr. Phelan stated that the building at 222 Laporte is Gold LEED certified and on
the cusp of a Platinum certification. A LEED Platinum application will be submitted.
2017 Utility Rates
Lance Smith, Utilities Strategic Financial Director
Randy Reuscher, Utility Rate Analyst
(attachments available upon request)
Mr. Reuscher asked if the Board supports a retail electric rate increase of 3.45% (included two options to
achieve the increase). Mr. Reuscher also asked the Board to vote on the following motion: “Motion to
support the 2017 electric increase of 3.45% overall, with variation by rate class based on the recent cost of
service model update, and to support increasing the fixed charge based on option (1 or 2), as presented.”
Current Option #1 - Cost of
Service
Option #2 – Fixed
Charge
Fixed Charge $5.07 $5.79 $6.94
Distribution kWh $0.0238 $0.0256 $0.0238
Board members inquired which option might encourage the most conservation, and Mr. Phelan said the
proposed rate increases are so small in both plans that there would be very little impact from a
conservation perspective. Mr. Smith said a rate increase is necessary to cover the City’s Platte River
Power Authority bill, operating costs, reliability and redundancy. He added that the $14M currently in
reserves will be used to help cover increased expenses and Utilities will still have enough in reserves to
meet minimum requirements.
Chairperson O’Neill moved to support the 2017 electric increase of 3.45% overall, with variations by rate
class based on the recent cost of service model update and to support increasing the fixed charge based on
Option 2, as presented.
Vice Chairperson Michell seconded the motion
Motion passed unanimously 5-0
Draft 2017 Work Plan
(attachments available upon request)
Mr. McCollough urged the Board to complete and approve the 2017 Work Plan tonight (October 6, 2016)
to ensure that it is presented to Council in time for their upcoming retreat.
Chairperson O’Neill read a statement from the Work Plan that encourages educational outreach to and
with the public. Councilman Cunniff suggested confirming if an outreach mission precedent has already
been set by other boards or commissions before adding an outreach mission statement to the final version
of the Work Plan. Mr. McCollough confirmed the Human Rights Commission has set that precedent.
Many Board members commented that they would like to keep the Work Plan very concise and high-
level. Councilman Cunniff agreed and said that too many details could prove to be restrictive.
Councilman Cunniff also said Council would like to see all Boards’ and Commissions’ Work Plans align
with the Road to 2020.
After discussing and editing the Draft 2017 Work Plan, Mr. Braslau moved to adopt the 2017 Work Plan
as outlined by Chairperson O’Neill and amended by the Board.
Vice Chairperson Michell seconded the motion
The motion passed unanimously 5-0
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2017 – 2018 Budget for Outcome Process Offers Review & Memo
Tim McCollough, Light & Power Operations Manager
(attachments available upon request)
Mr. McCollough summarized Light & Power’s core offers, as well as unfunded projects and
enhancements. He provided the Board with a packet outlining the offers that specifically affect Utilities,
as well as a chart of where various offers were in Council’s review process. He asked the Board to write
a memo to City Council endorsing offers they’re in support of, as well as addressing any offers that fell
below the line that they feel are significant for continued success and attainment of Utility goals.
After discussion, Vice Chairperson Michell moved for Chairperson O’Neill to draft a memo to City
Council proposing to move offer 7.19 above the line, and to defund offer 5.26. The Board would like the
funding from offer 5.26 to partially help fund offer 7.19. He also proposed that Chairperson O’Neill be
given authority to endorse other offers at his discretion.
Board Member Behm seconded the motion
The motion unanimously passed 5-0
Board Member Reports
None
Future Agenda Review
Mr. McCollough reviewed the remainder of the 2016 Planning Calendar with the Board and made minor
changes. He also reminded the Board of the upcoming Work Session on October 27, 2016, with the City
of Loveland Utilities Commission.
Adjournment
The meeting adjourned at 8:56 p.m.
Submitted by Tamara O’Dell, Temporary Administrative Clerk, Fort Collins Utilities
________________________________ ______________
Christie Fredrickson for Tamara ODell Date
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11/4/2016