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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - Energy Committee - 04/11/2019 South Burlington Energy Commiee 575 Dorset Street South Burlington, VT 05403 (802) 846-4106 www.SouthBurlingtonVT.gov facebook.com/SouthBurlington Meeng Minutes & Notes April 11, 2019 Committee members present: Andrew Chalnick, Don Cummings, Keith Epstein, Karen Mckenny, Tim Perrin, Sam Swanson and Marcy Murray (by phone) Committee members absent: Fred Kosnitsky, Linda McGinnis, Patty Tashiro No community members were present. Meeting was called to order by Chair Keith Epstein at 6:35pm. Meeting agenda was modified to include discussion of House Bill 423 regarding Net Metering There was a general announcement about GMP’s Earth Day Event to be held at Veterans Park on April 13th at 11:00pm. Meeting minutes Don Cummings agreed to scribe. Karen Mckenny moved that we accept the March 14 meeting minutes, Andrew Chalnick seconded. Motion passed unanimously. Project Updates: Committee members reviewed for the committee their input to the Project Tracking Document. For those specifics see the document on Google Docs. Additional points from the meeting follow: Residential Solar & Commercial Solar Ready LDRs. After a detailed review and discussion of Andrew Chalnick’s proposed Residential Solar & Commercial Solar Ready LDRs it was recommended that the proposed Commercial LDR require solar as well. This will begin the conversation with the Planning Commission even though there are very few other communities/states that require this. The Residential Solar Regulations that Andrew has referenced in the development of his proposal allow for the use of “community” solar to meet the individual homeowner’s requirements and he has included similar language. This raised the question about whether current rate incentives/disincentives would make this even financially viable in South Burlington. If the land has not been declared a “Preferred” site it seems that it wouldn’t be. Perhaps the new PUD process would allow a developer to set aside part of the development for solar and ask the city to declare it “Preferred”. This should be addressed in the discussions with the Planning Commission. Keith Epstein moved that we ask Andrew to present the revised LDRs to the Planning Commission, Marcy seconded, Motion passed unanimously. Excellent job Andrew! EVSE Charging Station Applications: Keith Epstein moved that we ask the City Council to resubmit the grant application for the City Center EV Charging Station for the 2nd round of grant making. Don Cummings moved that we approve Keith’s letter of support to the Division of Community Planning and Revitalization from the EC for inclusion in the municipal and school district grant application packages. Andrew Chalnick seconded for this ask. Motion passed unanimously. House Bill 423 – Regarding removing of the 500kW Net Metering Cap for municipalities. Keith Epstein explained there was an effort underway by VECAN to send a letter to all Energy Committees for them to sign a letter supporting the lifting of this cap. Keith had prepared a letter of our support for this effort. Don Cummings moved that we ask Keith to send that letter of support. Tim Perrin seconded. Motion passed as revised unanimously. Discussion of Municipal Energy Projects. Although Lou Bresee was unable to attend the meeting there was a brief discussion of what the committee members knew about the progress of project selection and implementation. Don discussed a recent meeting with Lou where they began to map out the additional projects necessary to complete the LED upgrades to the remaining Municipal and GMP owned streetlights. Additional discussion centered on how the committee might play a role in assisting Lou in the selection and prioritization of the Municipal Energy Projects. Next Meeting. May 9th, 6:30 pm, South Burlington Police Station’s 2nd floor conference room at 19 Gregory Drive (middle entrance). Adjournment. The meeting adjourned at approximately 8:40 p.m.