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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - Energy Committee - 06/08/2022South Burlington Energy Committee Meeting Minutes June 8, 2022 Approved 7/13 Committee members present: Ethan Goldman, Keith Epstein, Marcy Murray, Sam Swanson, Steve Crowley, Tim Perrin (Chair) Committee members absent: Ken Pulido, MJ Reale City staff present: Ilona Blanchard, Lou Bresee City Council’s charge: The charge of the South Burlington Energy Committee is to promote energy conservation, energy efficiency, and the use of renewable energy resources among the city's residents, businesses, and in municipal affairs. The committee assists the city in addressing the goals to promote energy efficiency and affordable energy, and to lessen reliance (per capita) on non-renewable energy resources. Tim called the hybrid meeting to order from City Hall and via GoToMeeting (which had occasionally unintelligible audio) shortly after 6:30 p.m. Minutes Ethan moved and Sam seconded a motion to approve the May 11 draft minutes with one change; passed unanimously. Then, Keith moved and Ethan seconded a motion to approve the May 25 draft Special Meeting minutes; passed unanimously. FY23 Work Plan Regarding the future project focused on improving weatherization-related outreach to community members with low incomes, Tim shared Efficiency Vermont’s related efforts and results, and members discussed the workforce barrier (i.e., too few weatherization workers, and unaffordable $50/hour rates for in-demand carpenters) and potential solutions for improving the latter (e.g., exploring related white papers, improving employee-benefits- focused messaging to attract people to join the weatherization workforce, and providing training opportunities to attract people to start small weatherization businesses). Website, Facebook & other outreach MJ had sent a message that she welcomed help with the website but was willing to move forward on her own. Steve emphasized the usefulness of creating a comprehensive list of outreach contacts across all community sectors, mentioned VECAN’s outreach resources, suggested exploring the Secretary of State’s related listings, and encouraged members to forward all potential outreach contacts (individuals, groups, and perhaps the groups they belong to) to him. Climate Action Plan Task Force (CAPTF) update and potential SBEC support Members discussed implementation-related issues of two of the task force’s key goals. 1. One goal is to follow Burlington’s lead by creating new ordinances and building codes related to limiting natural gas hook-ups on new and existing buildings (assuming the city attorney’s pending input is supportive). Given that heat pumps have often required a fossil fuel back-up in cold climates, discussion touched on exploring neighborhood-scale (horizontal or 100- to 150-feet deep) geothermal energy as an alternative to heat pumps, especially for new neighborhoods. (City Hall’s geothermal system has a fossil fuel backup system and zones to handle pump failures that are expected to occur in 15 to 20 years.) 2. A second goal is to follow Burlington’s lead by creating meaningful enforcement of strict energy codes. Sam mentioned the committee’s years-long concern regarding the lack of code enforcement and emphasized the importance of continuing to improve the energy code regardless of when enforcement will be in place. His experience in New York suggests that a significant amount of beneficial voluntary compliance likely occurs in South Burlington. Discussion touched on pursuing a collaborative regional inspection/enforcement approach, on conducting a time-limited study comparing previously submitted energy-code-related paperwork to actual construction, and on the benefits that future legislation for testing- verified licensing renewal could have on energy code implementation by contractors. Because the task force continues to seek strong equity-related ideas, Steve recommended surveying all community sectors for input. POWER-D.CITY The city has signed the Power-D.City contract. Next steps include planning the kickoff with well- articulated goals and parameters, the identification of stakeholders, the timeline, and a clear definition of the types of data needed and the tracking measures that will be used for the pilot. The Air Guard will be included, but the airport won’t. ARPA funding opportunities Tim will draft a recommendation to the City Council for how best to use South Burlington’s unearmarked American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA) funding to invest in energy-related solutions to help address the climate crisis. In addition to the spreadsheet of ideas, discussion included: - Use $1 million to extend the multi-use path on Williston Road to Kennedy Drive thus addressing equity and transportation-related emissions. - Given infrastructure limitations and a key CAPTF focus on electrifying buildings (in addition to electrifying vehicles and reducing Vehicle Miles Traveled), fund a 6- to 12- month $50,000 pilot to determine whether heat pumps can be installed in some homes without upgrading electrical panels. - Use incentives to convince commercial and residential users to replace lawnmowers, weed whackers and leaf blowers with electric alternatives (in addition to regulations phasing out gas versions and blowers of more than 65 decibels). - Use $50,000 for a Public Works Department electric lawn equipment city demonstration project (in hopes staff could then convince commercial users to switch). - Invest in a study of creating a statewide energy-code-compliance system. - Fund a pilot to explore a “last mile” on-demand, app-based micro-transit van or Uber service that ties into the bus system. - Offer $2,000 incentives for new heat pumps to residents with low incomes. - Fund the one-for-one replacement of residential gas weed whackers with electric versions (and decommission the former). - Build bus shelters (reminder: phone apps give real-time bus locations). Other According to Lou, the school district received its first electric school bus last week, and Vermont Gas held a walkthrough at the Wheeler House with plans to replace the fuel oil system with natural gas. Following committee concerns about the latter, Tim will add the topic to next month’s agenda in hopes of finding a more climate-crisis-friendly alternative to natural gas. Expressing her deep appreciation for each committee member and their important work, Marcy shared her decision not to apply for an additional term (after having joined the committee’s work in 2009). Tim thanked her for her service. Next meeting The meeting adjourned well after 8:30 p.m., and the next meeting is tentatively scheduled for Wednesday, July 13th, with soon-to-be-appointed members present.