HomeMy WebLinkAboutMemo - Mail Packet - 10/16/2018 - Memorandum From Tim Mccollough Re: Request From October 1, 2018 Council Meeting - Energy Ventures Analysis Study ReviewEnvironmental Services
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MEMORANDUM
Date: October 3, 2018
To: Mayor and City Council
Thru: Darin Atteberry, City Manager
CAP Executive Team1
From: Tim McCollough, Deputy Director, Utilities Light and Power
Re: Energy Ventures Analysis Study Review
During the 100% Renewable Electricity (100RE) Resolution discussion at the October 1, 2018
regular Council meeting, Councilmember Martinez requested staff review the Energy Ventures
Analysis Study.
The study in question was commissioned by the Independence Institute and provides a
comparative analysis of two hypothetical scenarios in which Colorado could meet a 100%
renewable portfolio standard. The two compliance scenarios presented are (1) purchasing out of
state Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) for all electric energy needs and (2) retiring all fossil-
fuel based generation in Colorado and building renewable electricity power plants in Colorado for
compliance.
The study has limited application to the cost and impact of the recently adopted 100RE goal for Fort
Collins due the assumptions made, including:
There is no business-as-usual (non-100RE) base case presented in the study. The
financial conclusions drawn in the study are only relative to the scenarios presented. Since a
base case is not presented, no conclusions can be made relative to a non-100RE scenario.
In scenario 2, the study draws electric boundaries around the state of Colorado. This
does not allow the scenario to study a likely future organized regional energy market or the
current bilateral market which often transacts energy across state borders. In the direct case
of Fort Collins and Platte River Power Authority (Platte River), a significant portion of our
anticipated renewable portfolio exists or is being developed in Wyoming across a state
border.
Platte River has committed to study a 100% renewable electricity portfolio scenario in their
Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) that is currently underway. The Platte River IRP will have directly
applicable answers the question of costs and impacts of a 100RE outcome. The IRP will also
produce a variety of resource scenarios outlining costs and impacts to reduce Platte River’s carbon
footprint.
1 Includes Deputy City Manager Jeff Mihelich; Utilities Executive Director Kevin Gertig; Chief Financial Officer
Mike Beckstead; Director of Planning, Development, and Transportation Laurie Kadrich; Chief Sustainability
Officer Jackie Kozak Thiel; and Environmental Services Director Lucinda Smith
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