HomeMy WebLinkAboutEmail - Read Before Packet - 5/17/2022 - Email From Kendall Minor Re: Agenda Item 6 - First Reading Of Ordinance No. 058, 2022, Appropriating Prior Year Reserves In The Light & Power Fund For Purchase Of Distribution And Substation Transform (5)1
Sarah Kane
From:Kendall Minor
Sent:Monday, May 16, 2022 5:58 PM
To:Shirley Peel
Cc:Sarah Kane; Kelly DiMartino; Jeni Arndt; Susan Gutowsky; Julie Pignataro; Tricia
Canonico; Kelly Ohlson; Emily Francis
Subject:RE: Item #2 on Consent
Council Member Peel,
Please see the attached response to your question as it relates to the Mulberry Annexation and if it is a factor in
the count for new substation/transformers. Thanks and please let me know if you have any additional questions
or concerns.
The new substation will inevitably support the loads that exist in the Mulberry annexation area, once this
area is approved. The new substation proposed to serve loads in northeast Fort Collins is a BFO offer
for 2023/24 budget cycle. Due to extensive lead times for the two (2) transformers needed to energize
that proposed substation, we are requesting appropriation of reserves in advance of the BFO process to
get our order into the manufacturing queue. Anticipated electrical loads in northeast Fort Collins will
eventually cause average system voltages to fall below acceptable levels with existing substation and
mainline circuit infrastructure. The substation, however, is necessary to support other existing and
anticipated loads outside of the area considered as part of the Mulberry annexation. In short, this
substation and associated transformers are needed regardless of how fast we progress with the Mulberry
annexation. In addition, the counts of distribution transformers necessary do NOT include any
transformer replacements as part of the Mulberry annexation; currently, we do not have any conversions
(from Xcel or PVREA to FCU owned) planned for that area until the 2025-26 BFO cycle.
Kendall Minor
Utilities Executive Director
kminor@fcgov.com
970-416-2232 Ofc
970-286-4429 Mobile
www.fcgov.com/utilities
From: Kelly DiMartino <KDIMARTINO@fcgov.com>
Sent: Monday, May 16, 2022 4:04 PM
To: Shirley Peel <speel@fcgov.com>; Kendall Minor <kminor@fcgov.com>
Cc: Sarah Kane <SKane@fcgov.com>
Subject: RE: Item #2 on Consent
Thank you, Shirley. Info will be coming shortly.
K
………………….......
Kelly DiMartino
Response regarding Agenda Item #6----note: The draft May 5 Council Finance Committee minutes are attached.
2
Interim City Manager
City of Fort Collins, CO
970.416.2028 office
970.217.3293 cell
From: Shirley Peel <speel@fcgov.com>
Sent: Monday, May 16, 2022 12:52 PM
To: Kelly DiMartino <KDIMARTINO@fcgov.com>; Kendall Minor <kminor@fcgov.com>
Subject: Item #2 on Consent
Good afternoon,
I have a few questions about #2 on consent for tomorrow.
1.Is the Mulberry Annexation a factor in the count for new substations/transformers?
2.I don't see the minutes for the May 5 finance committee where this was discussed? (may have missed
them somewhere)
Shirley Peel
Councilmember
District 4
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---
Finance Administration
215 N. Mason
2nd Floor
PO Box 580
Fort Collins, CO 80522
970.221.6788
970.221.6782 - fax
fcgov.com
Finance Committee Meeting Minutes
May 5, 2022, 4-6 pm
Zoom
Council Attendees: Julie Pignataro, Kelly Ohlson, Emily Francis, Susan Gutowsky
Staff: Kelly DiMartino, Travis Storin, Kyle Stannert, Tyler Marr, Carrie Daggett,
John Duval, Teresa Roche, Chirs Martinez, Kevin Wilkins, Gerry Paul, Blaine
Dunn, Randy Bailey, Trevor Nash, Amanda Newton, Renee Callas, Jo Cech,
Amanda King, Sarah Meline, Jackie Thiel, Javier Echeverria Diaz,
Claudia Menendez, SeonAh Kendall, Rachel Askeland, Kevin Wilkins Beth Yonce,
Beth Rosen, Brittany Depew, Dave Lenz, Sheena Freve, Zack Mozer,
Molly Reeves, Lawrence Pollack, Rachel Springob, Victoria Shaw,
Caryn Champine, Monica Martinez, Marcy Yoder, JC Ward, Lance Smith,
Adam Bromley, Judy Hueser, Tracy Ochsner, Erik Martin, Brian Hergott,
Ingrid Decker, Patty Netherton, Carolyn Koontz
Others: Kevin Jones, Chamber
______________________________________________________________________________
Meeting called to order at 4:00 pm
Approval of minutes from the April 7, 2022, Council Finance Committee Meeting. Kelly Ohlson moved for approval
of the minutes as presented. Emily Frances seconded the motion. Minutes were approved unanimously via roll call
by; Julie Pignataro, Kelly Ohlson and Emily Francis.
A.Recovery Plan - 2022 Mid-Cycle Appropriation
Blaine Dunn, Accounting Director
Jo Cech, Fiscal Recovery Manager
Sarah Meline, Recovery Policy & Engagement Specialist
SUBJECT FOR DISCUSSION
Review of 2022 Mid-Cycle ARPA Appropriation for Recovery Efforts
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
City staff are seeking a mid-cycle appropriation of $4.1M of the Organization’s remaining $19.9M of American
Rescue Plan (ARPA) Funds to support pandemic recovery efforts. These projects were reviewed and selected by
the Recovery Executive Lead Team because they address immediate needs for both community and enterprise
recovery.
GENERAL DIRECTION SOUGHT AND SPECIFIC QUESTIONS TO BE ANSWERED
Does Finance Committee support bringing forward the proposed 2022 Mid-Cycle ARPA Appropriation for first
reading on May 17, 2022.
BACKGROUND/DISCUSSION
The federal American Rescue Plan Act established $1.9 trillion in COVID-19 relief funding, including $350 billion
State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds (SLFRF) to aid state and local fiscal recovery. $28.1M of SLFRF has been
allocated to the City of Fort Collins. These funds are designed to provide flexibility so that each recipient can
meet unique local needs, including support for the communities and businesses hardest hit by the pandemic.
In May of 2021, City Council allocated approximately $4.2M of the $28.1M SLFRF funds to be spent over the
following 12-18 months for short-term response efforts. City Council also approved an additional $4.0M of ARPA
fund allocations in the 2022 Budget. A summary of ARPA projects funded to date can be found in Attachment 1.
The remaining $19.9M of funds are expected to be used to achieve priorities laid out in the City’s Adopted
Recovery Plan through 2022 mid-cycle and 2023-2024 budget appropriations. At the request of Council, staff
have brought forward project proposals to be considered for 2022 mid-cycle ARPA funding to address
immediate recovery needs. Eighteen specific projects were submitted to the Recovery Executive Lead Team to
review. The Team reviewed and ranked all eligible projects (those eligible to be funded with SLFRF funds per
Treasury rules).
Ranking was based on immediate need, rather than the value of the project for achieving recovery. All offers
were deemed appropriate for achieving recovery.
Ten high-ranked projects were selected to move forward for Finance Committee review, and lower ranked
projects encouraged to be submitted as offers for the 23/24 Budgeting for Outcomes (BFO) process.
The ten high-ranked projects are listed below, and a full breakdown of the projects, including brief descriptions,
can be found in Attachment 2.
Project Name Cost FTE Requested
Crisis Communication Plan $130,000 0
Heartside Hill $1,100,000 0
Indigenous Community Relations Specialist $313,217 1
Rapid Rehousing $201,000 0
Neighborhood Resilience Projects $40,000 0
Capital Project Business Liaison $275,000 1
Recovery Administration Funding $250,000 3*
HR Staff Support $268,000 3
COVID-Related Workspace and Workload
Adjustments
$1,300,000 0
Cybersecurity Upgrade Planning $275,000 0
*FTEs already approved, not counted in total
FTEs $4,152,217 5
Some of the proposed projects include requests for contractual FTEs. The need for the FTEs is due to:
•Ongoing impacts of the City’s hiring freeze in 2020-2021 and a high turnover rate,
•additional administrative needs for the implementation of recovery programing,
•and increased need for engagement and relationship building with the community to provide support
and build resilience.
GENERAL DIRECTION SOUGHT AND SPECIFIC QUESTIONS TO BE ANSWERED
Does Finance Committee support bringing forward the proposed 2022 Mid-Cycle ARPA Appropriation for first
reading on May 17, 2022?
DISCUSSION / NEXT STEPS:
Kelly Ohlson; regarding slide #9 (see below)
Recovery Administrative Funding – are the 3 FTEs listed contractual and are they permanent or temporary
resources and why do we need 3 FTEs in administration?
Jo Cech; all Recovery Administrative positions are contractual and will end in 2024. This funding requires an
enormous amount of bureaucracy due to the federal requirements including the audit and compliance
reporting, connections of vetting programs, the work that must be done to vet every single person who gets
funding from us and well as sub recipients who are receiving funding and acting in our stead. The 3 positions
include; a Data Analyst to help with the recovery reporting, a Policy Engagement Specialist as well as Jo’s
position.
Kelly Ohlson; are these a continuation of existing positions?
Jo Cech; yes
Kelly Ohlson; are the HR staff support FTEs contractual as well?
Jo Cech; yes
Blaine Dunn; a point of clarification, any positions associated with ARPA funding will be contractual positions
and will end in 2024 when the ARPA spend is finished. If we were to continue any resources after that time,
they would need to be through a different funding source and that would need to go through the full BFO
process.
Kelly Ohlson; I am more concerned about marginalized communities and lower income households
I saw 8 FTEs for the bureaucracy and not much going to the people who need the recovery – but you have
addressed most of my concerns. What is COVID Related Workspace and Workload Adjustments which is a
$1.3M item listed on slide 9?
Tyler Marr; we know that is a large dollar item and the title might be a little wonky and not clear.
This is largely around physical space and our ability to handle our covid work environment.
The first piece is to retrofit several of our conference rooms in City Hall to accommodate hybrid meetings.
We currently have a very limited number of conference rooms that can accommodate hybrid meetings.
The second piece is to retrofit our workplace environment. We have teams deciding that certain people will be
primarily remote, and they need hybrid workspaces to come into. There is a pilot project in there to retrofit part
of the HR office area to accommodate hoteling and hot desking (capital improvement)
There are also a number of WIFI upgrades both at the Lincoln Center and across some recreation locations. We
need some pretty significant upgrades there - public facing spaces. We recognize that this is a high dollar item,
but we are trying to chip away at some real needs as we move into this permanent hybrid environment.
Kelly Ohlson; I am good with what was presented.
Emily Francis; I have some of the same concerns at Kelly about some of the budget offers - I also saw the large
dollar amount going to community support for Covid Recovery - I understand that we need help getting this off
the ground – I don’t like seeing $4M going to Administration not direct support. I understand although I am not
excited about some of these
It would be helpful in the materials to have more information about what the projects are and what they are
getting us to and the different buckets where we are allocating dollars and how they are advancing the items in
our ARPA Strategic Plan and also keeping in mind what is coming down the line.
Blaine Dunn; we have that information and can add it to the full Council packet.
Emily Francis; In Ordinance 79, we funded the ForFortCollins.com website. Is that funded with these dollars or
what is happening with that?
SeonAh Kendall; the ForFortCollins.com site is going through a website re-evaluation – we will be adding items
such as the multi-cultural business and entrepreneurial center resources and scheduling - those are things that
were funded, and we are in the process of utilizing in the 2022 budget. They were funded through 2022 with
the first appropriation and we will be putting in a budget offer for 2023 -2024 to continue that site as well as the
multi-cultural and entrepreneurial center. There were other websites that our partners funded.
Emily Francis; there is a comment about the Parklane Mobile Home Park – we don’t know if the purchase has
gone through yet because the request for support was more for infrastructure updates – so that is not a time
sensitive item right now.
JC Ward; the offer was accepted from the non-profit group, and they still have some significant infrastructure
asks which we knew was going to be a heavy lift especially with some of the asphalt pavement and concrete
curbs that they need installed – so there was some information about that sent through as a memo with those
general buckets and the price ranges they were looking at. In doing a quick review, those items do look like they
would be ARPA eligible and the timeline of this was a little long to try to get them into this process, but Jo did a
great job to keep flagging this as potentially ARPA funding eligible. They were not put into a BFO offer because
this was after the submission deadline, but I would defer to Jo and Blaine to talk about what that might look like
if we wanted to put that into a request.
Blaine Dunn; it will depend on timing of when they would need that money for infrastructure improvements and
what that looks like - so if they need that upstream of the BFO process – we likely would be coming back to this
committee and to Council for an additional supplemental appropriation but if they are able to wait until the
beginning of next year we could work on putting a BFO offer ready to put that into the cycle.
Emily Francis; I just don’t want to lost sight of this or for it to get lost because it doesn’t fit into our regular city
process -please keep an eye on this and bring it back as needed.
Julie Pignataro; how do the FTEs translate into a salary - it showed an equivalent of 2 ½ years.
How did those translate into salaries?
Jo Cech; they come in an offer, and we go back to the offer owner and ask them to break out how much is salary
and benefits – I have a separate spreadsheet that covers all of the FTE expense for salary and benefits. The
Indigenous Community Relations Specialist is the only FTE other than the Recovery Admin FTES that runs
through 2024.
Travis Storin; to summarize, there is a desire for added detail for the 10 projects (Attachment #2 is too brief)
More commentary similar to what we put forth with BFO offers in the fall - We have that detail and will provide
it for the packet for May 17th.
Julie Pignataro; somewhere closer to a paragraph
Emily Francis; and include how it ties into our adopted plan for ARPA dollars and advancing that
Travis Storin; one point of clarification as a follow on to Blaine’s comments around contractual versus classified
positions - there is one notable exception around hiring with ARPA dollars where we did do it on a classified
basis and that is the mental health response team within police. Those are not contractual employees and we
wanted to be very transparent about that last Fall when Council approved that because when ARPA funding runs
out, we would be looking for most likely General Fund ongoing in order to ensure the continuity of that program
within Police Services.
B.Municipal Court Supplemental Appropriation
Judge Jill Hueser
Brian Hergott, Lead Sr. Facilities Project Manager
Ingrid Decker, Sr. Assistant City Attorney
Tracy Ochsner, Interim Ops Services Director
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
Municipal Court and the City Attorney’s Office are jointly requesting $700,000.00 in appropriations from General
Fund Reserves to address urgent needs at 215 N Mason.
GENERAL DIRECTION SOUGHT AND SPECIFIC QUESTIONS TO BE ANSWERED
Does Council Finance support the appropriations of funds to address the urgent needs for Municipal Court and
the City Attorney’s Office?
BACKGROUND/DISCUSSION
Municipal Court was moved into its current location at 215 N Mason in 2007 when the Justice Center became
over-crowded and required the court to vacate the space. This location was available at the time, was empty
and could provide a temporary court space with minimal renovations. There have been minimal space changes
since 2007 to address safety and security needs, but little to address growth needs. The City has spent a total of
$637,350 over the last 15 years (including initial move-in costs), but court caseloads have continued to grow and
expand programming, and the Court and the City Attorney’s Office (which is responsible for the prosecution
function and needs office/workspace at Municipal Court) have hired more staff to handle these caseloads.
Municipal Court has put in BFO offers in the past to address these issues, but no funding has been awarded.
Staff again plans to submit two new offers this year requesting funding for a plan that would address projected
needs for a 15- or 30-year time horizon. Both of these options would require more than doubling the current
space and will be multimillion dollar projects. While we work through the long-term plan, we need to address
some urgent needs so that we can provide a higher standard of public access and service, meet current hearing
schedules, and provide appropriate space for the increased staff. As it stands, both the Court and the City
Attorney’s Office have staff funded and ready to onboard who do have a workspace, and we do not have
adequate space for defendants to discuss their cases with prosecutors without their conversations being
overheard. We continue to address the safety and security needs for employees and the public.
In 2021 Clark Enersen completed a thorough study of the Court’s current space and future space needs. They
identified the current space size and its limitations and developed both 15 year and 30-year plans addressing
standard space requirements for courts.
The plan we bring before you today will address our urgent needs and get us by for an interim period while
phasing and final plans are approved and can move forward. The planned renovations to be completed with
these funds are aligned with the plans from Clark Enersen so that they will be incorporated into the final plan.
However, they do not address any renovations to the courtroom.
Staff is requesting the $700,000.00 in appropriation from General Fund Reserves to address these urgent needs
which will allow us to properly serve the community and begin work towards a plan that will fully meet the
Court’s needs in the near future.
GENERAL DIRECTION SOUGHT AND SPECIFIC QUESTIONS TO BE ANSWERED
Does Council Finance support the appropriations of funds to address the urgent needs for Municipal Court and
the City Attorney’s Office?
DISCUSSION / NEXT STEPS:
Emily Francis; I am a yes – Can you share why we were asked to leave the Justice Center?
Jill Heuser; In 2007 we were kicked out of the justice center as they were running out of space. We had a
courtroom there but they decided they needed it for state court.
Emily Francis; have we revisited conversations with them about space recently?
Jill Heuser; we have – they have had bond measures fail a couple of times for expansion - they actually kicked
out their probation department recently and added 2 new judges in the legislative session last year so they are
looking to add another courtroom.
Emily Francis; the AIS mentions a 15 year and a 300-year plan – is the long term intention for you to stay in the
space you are currently using?
Jill Hueser: the 30 year plan requires building an extension on the building – after Ops Services assessment, we
have been told we should plan on staying in our current building long term
Emily Francis; previous BFO offer wasn’t moved forward? We have needed updates to this building for a long
time - wondering what held up the BFO offers
Jill Hueser; The BFO lead team asked up to come back with a detailed plan that would meet our needs for a
longer period of time - I don’t know what the result was prior to me becoming judge.
Kelly Ohlson; I am fine with what is presented
Staff was right to say give us your long-term plan – we are not tearing out in four years what we just put in.
I prefer the 30-year plan – 15 is still a short time frame
Julie Pignataro; I am supportive as well – confirming that the Civic Center Master plan does not include a justice
center?
Brian Hergott; we are still working through the space planning exercise for the new municipal building -
We have come up with a plan where they can stay at 215 Mason
Julie Pignataro; I have heard overwhelming support from Council to do what we can to modernize and
make the justice center more user friendly.
Jill Hueser; I agreed with the BLT Lead Team in let’s do this right the first time. If this is approved, you won’t see
us coming back in a few years - I am very confident that if we go forward with one of the plans it will last for the
amount of time that we are asking for.
C.Light & Power Supplemental Appropriation
Adam Bromley, Interim Deputy Director, Utilities
Lance Smith, Director, FP&A
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Based on information from vendors of distribution transformers, it is necessary to either scale back the number
of transformers the City will purchase this year or request an additional appropriation to maintain the expected
transformer demand for both growth as well as prudent asset replacements. A reduction in the number of
transformers purchased could negatively impact new development and system reliability. Staff is recommended
a supplemental appropriation of $1,432,000 which would allow for more transformers to be ordered in 2022 to
be delivered as soon as they are available, likely in late 2023 at the earliest.
Looking toward future growth a new substation will be necessary to adequately serve the northeast areas of the
City as those areas are developed. A supplemental appropriation is also being requested to order the two
substation transformers that will be needed to serve this load growth. Again, this supplemental appropriation
rather than waiting for additional funds to become available in early 2023 will allow these transformers to be
delivered within the next 3 years. Staff is proposing to bring forth an appropriation ordinance which also
includes $2,234,000 for two substation transformers.
The total supplemental appropriation being proposed for your consideration is for $3,666,000.00.
GENERAL DIRECTION SOUGHT AND SPECIFIC QUESTIONS TO BE ANSWERED
Does Council Finance Committee support an off-cycle appropriation of L&P reserves to procure enough
distribution transformers so that L&P can support new construction and necessary replacements through 2024?
In addition, does Council Finance Committee support an off-cycle appropriation of L&P reserves to begin the
procurement process for two (2) substation transformers that will be used to complete the construction of a
new substation that serves Northeast Fort Collins?
BACKGROUND/DISCUSSION
Distribution Transformers
In the last six weeks or so, L&P staff has engaged with the distribution transformer manufacturer industry to
better understand the significant price increases to the transformers that we typically purchase. The main
drivers of the price increases are related to supply chain issues mainly related to shortages and/or significant
inflationary pressures for almost all raw materials used to construct a distribution transformer including
transformer core steel and aluminum secondary winding supplies. While some manufacturers are better off
than others, simply due to their buying power and existing contracts in these markets, these supply chain issues
have far-reaching impacts to prices, lead times, labor and transportation costs, and production capacity. What
we’re hearing from the industry related to supply chain issues suggests that these price increases and extended
lead times will definitely endure the short term (i.e., through 2023) and will likely continue into a longer term, if
not permanent, scenario.
L&P typically purchases a year’s worth of transformers in advance; L&P uses the economic order quantity
estimating methodology using historical usage data for each stock number along with known future work order
needs to arrive at the quantity for purchase for each year. This methodology works really well when lead times
are reasonable (i.e., 10-20 weeks) or if lead time increases changed very gradually. Depending on the specific
needs of the transformer design, lead times can be 3-5 times longer than what we saw at this time last year,
which does not provide enough time to react adequately. There are quite a few new developments and capital
projects on the horizon so we can assume that new construction needs will not go away in the near future. L&P
projects that current stock levels could last until next summer or fall (2023) if we are very intentional with how
we use units that we have. However, because lead times for the transformers we use the most often are greater
than 1.5 years, we need to order as many as we can now to make sure that they arrive close to when we’re
projecting the existing stock to run out.
Based on historical usage and projected needs, L&P staff has identified three transformer models (specific size
and type) with the highest likelihood of use prior to the end of 2023. Staff intends to utilize existing budget
appropriated for one order of the single most used transformer type and size (single phase submersible). The
requested supplemental appropriation will fund an additional quantity of that same transformer type and size as
well as necessary quantities of the other two transformer models with the highest usage (three phase pad
mounted, 75 kVA and 150 kVA). Because we are relying on existing stock in the other transformer models and
we will need to stay ahead of the long lead times moving into the future, orders for all transformer models will
need to be placed at the beginning of 2023 and 2024 in order to receive those transformers in 2024 and 2025.
This will change the estimated budget for transformers that was originally planned in the Capital Improvement
Plan (CIP) and 2023/24 BFO offer. All of these changes are shown in the table below.
2022
2022 Transformer Order Total Cost $2.225 M
2022 Transformer Budget $0.793 M
Supplemental Appropriation Request to fulfill Total Cost $1.432 M
2023 2024
Transformer Budget Planned in CIP $1.132 M $1.260 M
Updated BFO Offer for Transformer Budget $4.123 M $3.749 M
Staff has done enough research to feel confident that these orders along with a supplemental appropriation for
additional orders will supplement existing stock levels so that L&P can continue to serve existing and new
development. Staff also has contingency plans in place to ensure delivery of electric service to new and existing
customers.
Substation Transformers
Anticipated annexations and growth in NE Fort Collins will require a new to supply electric capacity to new
customer loads so as to not overburden existing substations in the surrounding areas. A new substation will
allow for Light & Power to continue to operate the system at our current substation and feeder design standards
which guarantee high reliability and stability. Typically, each substation comprises two substation power
transformers and substation switchgear. This new substation is a planned project in the Capital Improvement
Plan (CIP) that was scheduled for the 2023/24 budget cycle.
Due to price increases and lead times for distribution transformers, staff was concerned that power
transformers would have similar supply chain issues. Upon reaching out to the manufacturer that provided
power transformers to L&P in the recent past, we found that there are similar supply chain issues affecting
power transformer manufacturers. Lead times for these power transformers are longer than 3 years at this
point; however, prices didn’t increase in the same manner. In order to avoid even longer delays for these
transformers, a supplemental appropriation to begin the procurement process immediately is prudent.
The lead times of these transformers does change the trajectory of the substation construction schedule and
associated purchases of other high dollar materials (i.e., switchgear). The same amount of capital dollars is
proposed to complete construction of the new substation; however, it will be allocated different than what was
planned for in the CIP. The table below shows what was planned for in the CIP and what changes to that plan are
if supplemental appropriation and BFO offer are approved.
2022 2023 2024
2021 Capital Improvement Plan $6.649 M $3.761 M
Supplemental Appropriation/Updated BFO offer $2.234 M $0.300 M $7.876 M
The following table shows where L&P reserves are and will be after these supplemental appropriations:
DESCRIPTION TOTAL
Year-End 2020 Total Reserves $48.7 M
Minimum Required ($8.0 M)
Appropriated ($17.1 M)
Year-End 2020 Reserves Available $23.4 M
2021 Preliminary Additions ~ $19 M
Year-End 2021 Reserves Available ~$42 M
Connexion Funding ($20 M)
Transformers ($3.6 M)
Remaining Reserves ~$18.4 M
GENERAL DIRECTION SOUGHT AND SPECIFIC QUESTIONS TO BE ANSWERED
Does Council Finance Committee support an off-cycle appropriation of L&P reserves to procure enough
distribution transformers so that L&P can support new construction and necessary replacements through 2024?
In addition, does Council Finance Committee support an off-cycle appropriation of L&P reserves to begin the
procurement process for two (2) substation transformers that will be used to complete the construction of a
new substation that serves Northeast Fort Collins?
DISCUSSION / NEXT STEPS:
On April 14th, we received unanimous support from the Energy Board to move forward with both supplemental
appropriations from reserves.
Julie Pignataro; I am a yes to both – my main concern was the health of the reserves, but I understand why we
need to do this.
Adam Bromley confirmed that the minimum required fund balance is $8M and the remaining available balance
after these appropriations would be $18M
Julie Pignataro; do transformers wear out? Are we replacing them or are these new?
Adam Bromley; they do have useful life and depending on several different factors we do proactively replace
Substation transformers are built, and they have mechanisms in place that help extend their life
They are a high dollar item and are critical
Julie Pignataro; are transformers recyclable?
Adam Bromley; we send them to the company we contract with, and they do all of the necessary recycling and
scraping.
Julie Pignataro; and the cost is fixed when you buy them no matter how long it takes to get here?
Adam Bromley; this is unprecedented in the industry – this specific scenario - once we make that purchase and
we are under contract with the manufacturer the cost is fixed however we could see that shift a bit – they may
come back with some T&Cs saying they might need to change the prices because of the long lead times but we
haven’t seen that play out yet.
Lead times were still relatively short at the end of 2021.
Lead times went from 10-20 weeks turnaround to 80-90 weeks (3-4 times longer lead time)
Trying to buy more upfront to make sure we have what we need going forward.
Emily Francis; I am a yes to both - this makes sense due to lead times etc.
Have you talked about projecting the use of transformers – our projected use for electrification of homes and
businesses and EV charging
Adam Bromley; we are just starting to understand how that is going to affect our planning and design processes
The transformers will be adequate and we do have the ability to upsize a transformer if we need to - if there is
too much load on a certain area – with electrification we are also looking at trying to shift some of the loads to
different times to even things out so you are not always hitting that transformer with tons of load all at the
same time – spread out throughout the day which will take some planning and technology to do that well.
The transformers we are putting out there are going to be able to handle the electrification, but we are going to
need to update some of our processes.
Emily Francis; what is the life span of a transformer?
Adam Bromley; it can be 40 years, but some are shorter, and some are longer – a lot depends on what happens
in the vault environment – water, loading and other factors impact life span as well. In general, 40 years is
where we are seeing that cut off.
We are trying to integrate what we are seeing with electrification into our planning processes There are some
unknowns as part of that – load factor involved with the new heat pumps – what will EVs look like on the system
–there is some work to do in order to understand what the future looks like and trying to incorporate that into
our planning and designing processes.
Kelly Ohlson; yes and yes – a very thorough presentation
OTHER BUSINESS:
Travis Storin; I did want to highlight following up on the discussion at Council Tuesday evening that the Grocery
Tax Rebate Program is scheduled to come back to this committee in July.
Meeting Adjourned at 5:25 pm