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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOUNCIL - AGENDA ITEM - 01/20/2015 - FIRST READING OF ORDINANCE NO. 010, 2015, AMENDINGAgenda Item 7 Item # 7 Page 1 AGENDA ITEM SUMMARY January 20, 2015 City Council STAFF Marsha Hilmes-Robinson, Floodplain Administrator Ken Sampley, Stormwater/Floodplain Program Mgr Norm Weaver, Senior Energy Services Engineer Kraig Bader, Standards Engineering Manager SUBJECT First Reading of Ordinance No. 010, 2015, Amending Chapter 10 of the Code of the City of Fort Collins Relating to Creating a Critical Facilities Floodplain Regulation Exception for Parallel-Connected Solar and Wind Power Generation. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The purpose of this item is to provide an exception to the critical facilities floodplain regulation for “parallel- connected solar and wind power generation.” This would allow solar and wind power generating stations that are also connected to the grid to be located in the floodplain and not prohibited under the critical facilities regulation of Chapter 10 of City Code. STAFF RECOMMENDATION Staff recommends adoption of the Ordinance on First Reading. Both Floodplain Management staff and Light and Power staff recommend adoption of this Ordinance. Staff believes that allowing parallel solar and wind power generation in the floodplain is a wise use of the floodplain. These types of power generation would be required to be connected to the grid in order for the exception to apply, which would result in minimal risk that service to customers would be compromised in a flood. Furthermore, there is minimal public health and safety risk with approval of the exception, as there are no hazardous materials being allowed on these parallel-connected sites. All structures placed in the floodplain will still be required to meet the other flood protection standards within Chapter 10 of City Code. Therefore, the intent of the critical facilities regulation to provide services before during and after a flood and protect public health and safety is maintained with this exception. BACKGROUND / DISCUSSION The purpose of this item is to provide an exception to the critical facilities floodplain regulation for “parallel- connected solar and wind power generation.” This would allow solar and wind power generating stations that are also connected to the grid to be located in the floodplain and not prohibited under the critical facilities regulation of Chapter 10 of City Code. The need for an exception arose when a site was proposed for the Utilities Solar Power Purchase Program that was in the floodplain. The current floodplain regulations (Section 10-16 of City Code) define any power generation facility, other than hydroelectric power generating facilities, as an “essential service (critical) facility”: Essential services facilities shall mean facilities for the provision of services needed before, during and after a flood event in order to protect public health and safety. Essential services facilities shall include, but not be limited to: public safety facilities such as police stations, fire Agenda Item 7 Item # 7 Page 2 and rescue stations, emergency operations centers, storage facilities for emergency vehicles and equipment; emergency medical facilities such as hospitals, ambulance service centers, urgent care centers and non-ambulatory surgical centers; designated emergency shelters; communications facilities, such as main hubs and control centers for telephone service, cable broadcasting, satellite dish broadcasting, cellular systems, television, radio and other emergency warning systems (excluding towers, poles, lines, cables and conduits); public and private utility plant facilities for generation, treatment and distribution, such as transmission and distribution hubs and control centers, water treatment plants, electric substations, and pumping stations for water, power and gas (excluding towers, poles, power lines, buried pipelines, transmission lines, distribution lines and service lines, and excluding hydroelectric power generating plants and related appurtenances); and air transportation lifelines, such as general aviation and commercial airports, helicopter pads and appurtenances serving emergency functions, and associated infrastructure such as aviation control towers, air traffic control centers and emergency equipment aircraft hangars. Because of their importance to providing services before during and after a flood, and protecting public health and safety, Chapter 10 of City Code prohibits essential service facilities from being located in the floodway, or 100-year or 500-year floodplains. Fort Collins Electric Utility recently offered a program to commercial customers to enter into long-term power purchase agreements for locally sited solar installations that contribute to meeting the City obligations under of the Colorado Renewable Energy Standard. The goal of the Solar Power Purchase Program (“SP3”) is to encourage up to 4MW of new locally deployed solar capacity hosted by Utility customers. Several candidate sites for the program have been proposed in floodplain areas. One of the sites currently being considered for the Solar Power Purchase Program is located at 1912 LaPorte Ave and is in the West Vine 100-year floodplain and floodway. Because of the current definition of “essential service (critical) facilities”, the proposed solar facility at 1912 LaPorte Ave. is currently prohibited by City Code. Staff from Floodplain Management and Utilities met to discuss the critical facility and essential service facility definitions and the current prohibition of power generation facilities. Staff from both departments recommends that an exception to the essential service facilities definition be made for specific types of power generating facilities. An important component of designating the types of power generating facilities that would qualify for this exception was to ensure the intent of the critical facilities regulation is generally maintained. Therefore, the following considerations were evaluated: 1. Service to customers before during and after a flood must not be compromised; and 2. There must be minimal risk to public health and safety in the event of a flood if these facilities are permitted to go up. “Parallel-connected” solar and wind power generation facilities meet those requirements. Parallel-connected generation is an electric generation source to be operated in parallel with the municipal distribution system either feeding directly to the grid under prior agreement with Fort Collins Utilities or by or for a customer to supplement or serve the customer’s electric service requirements that would otherwise be served by the City. Under the customary design guidelines, size restrictions and interconnection practice of Fort Collins Utilities, parallel-connected solar and wind generation behaves similar to common intermittent loads on the system. Therefore, the ability to serve the customer would not be compromised by the loss of parallel connected power if it were to be damaged or destroyed in a flood. The main electric system would be expected to continue functioning and compensate for the loss of the parallel connected facility. Unlike many traditional power generation facilities, solar and wind energy facilities do not involve hazardous materials that could be a threat to public health and safety if damaged during a flood. The flood protection standards of Chapter 10 (anchoring, elevating, floodproofing, etc.) will still be required in order to minimize damage to the installations themselves. Therefore, because damage to a parallel-connected solar and wind power generator would not compromise service to customers before, during or after a flood and there is minimal risk to public health and safety if these facilities are damaged during a flood, this type of facility should not be considered a critical facility. Agenda Item 7 Item # 7 Page 3 FINANCIAL / ECONOMIC IMPACTS There are no negative financial impacts expected from this change. A positive financial impact will be a valuable use of floodplain property that minimizes life safety concerns and property damage during a flood. ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS There are no negative environmental impacts expected from this change and it expands the possibility for utilizing local renewable resources and is a wise use of the floodplain. BOARD / COMMISSION RECOMMENDATION At its December 18, 2014 meeting, the Water Board unanimously voted to recommend adoption of the proposed Code change. (Attachment 1) PUBLIC OUTREACH No public outreach was conducted for this minor Code change. ATTACHMENTS 1. Water Board minutes, December 18, 2014 (draft) (PDF) ATTACHMENT 1 - 1 - ORDINANCE NO. 010, 2015 OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FORT COLLINS AMENDING CHAPTER 10 OF THE CODE OF THE CITY OF FORT COLLINS RELATING TO CREATING A CRITICAL FACILITIES FLOODPLAIN REGULATION EXCEPTION FOR PARALLEL-CONNECTED SOLAR AND WIND GENERATION WHEREAS, due to the importance of providing critical services before, during, and after a flood, while protecting public health and safety, Chapter 10 of City Code prohibits siting “essential service facilities” in the floodway, or in a 100-year or 500-year floodplain; and WHEREAS, “essential service facilities” under the City Code include “public and private utility plant facilities for generation…”, which has been interpreted to include all power generation facilities; and WHEREAS, Fort Collins Utilities recently began a program through which commercial customers host and operate solar generation facilities in parallel to City power generation and the City acquires the power toward meeting the Colorado Renewable Energy Standard: the Solar Power Purchase Program (“SP3”); and WHEREAS, SP3 candidate projects have been proposed in floodplain areas, but due to the current definition of “essential service facilities” in the City Code, the projects are currently prohibited; and WHEREAS, under customary design guidelines, size restrictions and Fort Collins Utility interconnection standards, parallel-connected solar and wind generation behaves similar to common intermittent loads on the City’s electric system; and WHEREAS, the Utility’s ability to serve SP3 customers would not be compromised by the loss or damage of parallel-connected power facilities in a flood; and WHEREAS, staff has determined the municipal electric system would continue functioning and compensate for the loss of parallel-connected facilities due to flood without risk to the electric system; and WHEREAS, permitting siting of parallel-connected power facilities in flood-prone areas will facilitate participation in SP3 and the City’s ability to meet the Colorado Renewable Energy Standard, without creating greater risk to the electric system or participating customers; and WHEREAS, staff has recommended that Council adopt an exception in the definition of “essential service facilities” for parallel-connected generation facilities to avoid the current City Code prohibition on siting critical facilities in flood-prone areas, as the risks due to loss of parallel-connected facilities does not warrant their prohibition in such areas. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FORT COLLINS as follows: - 2 - Section 1. That the City Council finds that modifying the definition of “essential service facilities” in Chapter 10 of the City Code to exempt parallel-connected solar and wind power generation facilities is in the best interest of Utility ratepayers and the City. Section 2. That the definition of “essential service facilities” contained in Section 10- 16 of the Code of the City of Fort Collins is hereby amended to read as follows: Sec. 10-16. Definitions. . . . Essential services facilities shall mean facilities for the provision of services needed before, during and after a flood event in order to protect public health and safety. Essential services facilities shall include, but not be limited to: public safety facilities such as police stations, fire and rescue stations, emergency operations centers, storage facilities for emergency vehicles and equipment; emergency medical facilities such as hospitals, ambulance service centers, urgent care centers and non-ambulatory surgical centers; designated emergency shelters; communications facilities, such as main hubs and control centers for telephone service, cable broadcasting, satellite dish broadcasting, cellular systems, television, radio and other emergency warning systems (excluding towers, poles, lines, cables and conduits); public and private utility plant facilities for generation, treatment and distribution, such as transmission and distribution hubs and control centers, water treatment plants, electric substations, and pumping stations for water, power and gas (excluding towers, poles, power lines, buried pipelines, transmission lines, distribution lines and service lines, and excluding hydroelectric power generating plants and related appurtenances, and excluding parallel-connected solar and wind power generation); and air transportation lifelines, such as general aviation and commercial airports, helicopter pads and appurtenances serving emergency functions, and associated infrastructure such as aviation control towers, air traffic control centers and emergency equipment aircraft hangars. Introduced, considered favorably on first reading, and ordered published this 20th day of January, A.D. 2015, and to be presented for final passage on the 3rd day of February, A.D. 2015. __________________________________ Mayor ATTEST: _______________________________ City Clerk - 3 - Passed and adopted on final reading on the 3rd day of February, A.D. 2015. __________________________________ Mayor ATTEST: _______________________________ City Clerk