Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - Energy Committee - 12/04/2014South  Burlington  Energy  Committee     Thursday,  December  4,  2014   Draft  Minutes     SBEC  members  present:  Don  Cummings  (Chair),  Keith  Epstein,  Karen  McKenny,  Marcy  Murray   (scribe),  Sam  Swanson,  Paul  Wagonhofer     SBEC  members  absent:  Fred  Kosnitsky,  Linda  McGinnis   Staff  present:    None   Public  present:  Carson  Casey  (Suncommon),  Roseanne  Greco,  Jake  Jurmain  (VEIC),  Steve  Roy,   Patty  Tashiro,  Grant  Taylor       Approval  of  Minutes   Because  of  “last-­‐minute”  revisions  to  our  November  minutes,  we  will  vote  to  approve  them  at  our   next  meeting.     SBEC  Photo     Carson  snapped  some  shots  for  potential  use  in  our  VECAN  Award  &  SBEP  publicity.    Keith  shared   the  draft  of  the  press  release  for  the  VECAN  Award.     City  Updates   • Status  of  plans  for  Energy  Efficiency  improvements  in  municipal  buildings  (PPESCO):  No   update     • Renewable  Energy  Project  (landfill  solar):    The  City  Council  authorized  the  city  to  negotiate  a   contract  with  Encore  Redevelopment,  and  the  South  Burlington  School  Board  authorized   David  Young  to  negotiate  with  Encore.  An  estimated  55%  of  the  energy  produced  by  the   landfill  would  cover  municipal  electric  needs,  and  an  estimated  45%  would  cover  school   district  electric  needs.    On  the  municipal  side,  solar  electric  production  would  first  be  applied   to  the  sewage  treatment  facility  near  the  airport,  then  to  the  sewage  facility  near  the  lake   and,  finally,  to  the  school  district  meters.    Assuming  that  the  city  and  school  district’s  legal   departments  approve  contracts;  a  Certificate  of  Public  Good,  the  ordering  of  materials,  and   construction  would  result  in  an  installation  date  of  late  2015  at  the  earliest.     Project  Updates     • Fundraising:    Patty  reported  that  fundraising  is  not  progressing  as  quickly  as  she’d  hoped.     She  is  working  with  Don  on  grant  writing  and  trying  to  avoid  exclusivity-­‐related  agreements.     Their  current  challenge  is  overcoming  grant  restrictions  prohibiting  fund  use  for  prizes.    Patty   is  looking  for  volunteers  to  help  with  grant  writing.    Ace  Hardware  has  verbally  committed   $2,500,  and  Don  will  follow  up  with  them  on  additional  previous  requests.    In  general,  they   are  approaching  energy-­‐industry  businesses  and  small,  local  non-­‐energy  businesses  to  help   with  prizes  (donated  coupons  would  attract  customers  to  their  businesses).    SBEC  volunteers   are  encouraged  to  request  prizes  in  places  we  frequent.    The  fundraising  call  log  is  now   accessible  on  our  Google  Drive.    There  are  SBEP  Kick-­‐off  Party  announcements  on  our  Google   Drive—we  are  each  encouraged  to  print  out  and  distribute  10  copies.    There  is  some  interest   in  putting  SBEP  logo  stickers  on  coupons.     • Marketing/Outreach  –  Overall  Project:    Don  has  met  with  several  marketing  organizations   and  recently  received  a  bid  from  Marketing  Partners.     • Marketing/Outreach  &  Volunteers–Public  events:    Karen  reported  172  Facebook  Likes  and  20   to  500  views  through  the  sharing  of  individual  SBEP  posts.  She  has  recruited  more  tabling   volunteers  (6  total),  gave  a  list  of  upcoming  events,  is  in  the  process  of  creating  volunteer  job   descriptions  for  the  meatier  jobs,  and  would  love  to  have  someone  coordinate  school   volunteers  (to  get  students  more  involved).   • Residential  Natural  Gas  –  Overall  Project:    Don  reported  that  work  continues  on  the  social-­‐ norming  project.    Vermont  Gas  plans  to  generate  a  report  identifying  the  top  30%  of   residential  natural  gas  consumers.  VGS  will  then  mail  usage-­‐reduction  suggestions  to  that   group  on  a  monthly  basis  starting  at  the  end  of  February  and  ending  in  April.    Other  projects   include  better  sales  training  for  auditing  staff  so  all  audited  accounts  receive  guidance.     • Residential  Electric  –  Overall  Project:  Jake  gave  a  presentation  on  the  energy  mapping   project  using  fictional  monthly  usage  data  for  the  Front  Porch  Forum  “neighborhoods.”    SBEC   is  working  closely  with  VEIC  on  this  effort.    The  goals  are:  [1]  to  learn  more  about  and   graphically  convey  neighborhood-­‐level  behavior  and  [2]  to  address  the  latter  with  activities.     Jake  and  his  colleague  are  normalizing  the  actual  data,  tracking  seasonal  patterns  to  help   accurately  portray  usage  over  time,  and  awaiting  smart-­‐meter  data  from  Efficiency  Vermont.     They  hope  to  include  distribution  plots  by  neighborhood  to  show  where  each  household  falls   usage-­‐wise.  Once  completed,  perhaps  FPF  will  promote  this  tool.  Suggestions:    [1]  show  the   number  of  electric  accounts  per  FPF  neighborhood,  [2]  reorganize  the  neighborhood  list  on   an  ongoing  basis  by  average  electric  usage—starting  with  the  lowest  usage,  and  [3]  conduct   a  focus  group  on  the  mapping  tool  with  non-­‐energy  folks.    Keith  encouraged  attendees  to   forward  any  input  directly  to  him.     The  Opower  project  has  begun  with  selected  community  members  receiving  letters   comparing  their  usage  to  100  nearby  accounts.    Work  has  begun  on  a  plan  to  promote  the   evt.opower.com  portal  that  displays  detailed  usage  information.  All  SB  residents  can  log  into   the  portal  (whether  or  not  they  received  the  opower  letters).     Over  the  next  two  years,  perhaps  we  can  aggregate  homes  with  lighting  inefficiencies  and,   then,  leverage  private  capital  to  implement  a  Commons-­‐Energy-­‐type  model.     Keith,  Grant,  and  Patty  are  working  on  the  Instant  Energy  Savings  “first-­‐step”  audit  project.     • Schools  –  Overall  Project:  Don  reported  that  he  and  Linda  had  met  with  the  high  school’s   Matt  Dransfield.    SBHS  is  ramping  up  its  yearlong  contest  effort,  but  the  window  for  action  is   very  short.    Not  much  is  happening  on  the  elementary  school  level—Carol  McQuillan   communicated  that  teachers  and  students  need  more  structure  and  guidance  than  we  are   offering.    Carson  suggested  that  we  revisit  UVM’s  Natural  Resources  206  students  to  re-­‐ invite  involvement  for  their  Capstone  Project.  (Lessons  learned  from  past  efforts  at  UVM  and   Champlain  College:    we  need  to  [1]  offer  more  specifics  during  our  invitation  pitch,  and               [2]  remain  involved  and  attend  the  final  class  presentations.     • Marketing/Outreach  –  Group  Outreach:  Sam  had  a  positive  meeting  with  the  Community   Land  Trust,  has  met  with  all  city  committees,  and  will  now  identify  his  next  outreach  focus.   The  Community  Mini  Energy  Fair  was  a  success  with  60  folks  attending  and  enough  money   raised  to  buy  and  donate,  via  the  Joint  Urban  Ministry  Project,  100  LED  bulbs  to  people  with   lower  incomes.    Attendees  liked  being  able  to  talk  with  the  experts  present—that  helped   many  to  turn  a  corner  toward  action.    Other  congregations  are  working  to  motivate   members  to  make  energy  efficiency  changes.     • Municipal  Natural  Gas  &  Electric:    Sam  reported  that  Commons  Energy  has  created  a   spreadsheet  showing  what  energy  efficiency  work  remains  to  be  done  for  the  city.    Next,  CE   will  create  a  report  with  recommended  actions.       • Municipal  Planning  General  Discussion:    Rosanne  is  preparing  for  next  week’s  Planning   Commission  meeting  regarding  the  Comprehensive  Plan.   • Residential  Solar:    Steve  reported  that  Green  Mountain  Power  has  shared  the  locations  of  all   current  residential  (&  commercial  )  net-­‐metered  solar  installations.  There  are  over  50,  and   our  goal  is  200  CSA-­‐type  installations.    Steve  and  Linda  continue  to  contact  potential  partner   installers.  Steve  shared  promotion  ideas.    Real  Goods  Solar  is  interested  in  cooperation   among  competitors  as  an  alternative  to  our  selecting  just  one  installer.  AllEarth  Renewables   will  donate  5  cents  per  installed  watt  to  an  escrow  fund  for  additional  solar  panels  for  the   school  district,  and  Suncommon  will  donate  $200  per  installed  system  to  the  fund.    Carson   shared  that  Suncommon  is  offering  energy  from  Community  Solar  Arrays  (CSAs)  at  a  10%   discount  off  one’s  electric  power  bill  over  the  next  20  years.    She  will  give  a  detailed   presentation  on  December  18th  at  the  SB  Community  Library  from  5  to  7  p.m.       Formal  expression  of  support  for  VEIC   Motion:  Sam  made  a  motion  for  our  new  Chair  to  express  SBEC’s  support  of  Efficiency  Vermont   either  in  writing  or  in  person  at  one  of  EVT’s  upcoming  Community  Forums  (December  10th  in   Richmond  or  December  11th  in  Brandon).    Don  seconded  the  motion.  Approval  was  unanimous.     Future  agenda  topic   Sam  emphasized  the  importance  of  discussing—at  our  next  meeting—the  loss  of  the  informal  Park   &  Ride  located  at  the  Shelburne  Road  Shaw’s.     Georgetown  University  Energy  Prize  semifinalist  determination   On  December  15th,  GUEP  will  tell  participants  whether  they  have  been  chosen  to  be  semifinalists.     Election  of  Chair  &  Vice  Chair     Motion:    to  extend  the  terms  of  Chair  &  Vice  Chair  from  four  to  six  months  because  of  the  SBEP   focus.    Made  by:    Karen.    Seconded  by:    Paul.    Approved  unanimously.   Motion:    to  elect  Keith  as  Chair.  Made  by:    Karen.    Seconded  by:    Sam.  Approved  unanimously.   Motion:    to  elect  Karen  as  Vice  Chair.  Made  by:    Keith.  Seconded  by:    Sam.  Approved  unanimously.         Motion  to  Adjourn.    Made  by:    Keith.    Seconded  by:    Sam.  Approved  unanimously.