Energy Advisory Committee

Montpelier Energy Advisory Committee AGENDA 7/18/17 7:00 PM City Hall, Montpelier VT Members Present: Kate Stephenson, Jared Duval, Karl Johnson, Dan Costin, Geoff Fitzgerald, Paul Markowitz, Dan Jones, Brent Erlich, Barry McPhee, Ken Jones Attendees: Amy Gamble, Phillip Peacot, Tim Terway 1. Introductions 2. Jared moves to approve minutes, Kate seconds. All in favor. Approve agenda and minutes from prior meeting 3. Opportunity for public comment 4. Updates from Working Groups Municipal Energy Audits RFP: Sent out RFP for energy audit services (Level 2 audit for 6 buildings) to a dozen different companies and received 2 proposals one from Nnew Frameworks and Cx Associates/ Zero by Degrees o The request was not within $20,000 budget (more like $40,000-$60,000). CX offered a reduced scope for $20,000. New Frameworks offered a modified scope for $36,000. o MEAC recommended to the City to go with Cx proposal and staff is moving forward with it. The new Facilities Project Manager (Steve Twombley) is also the city assessor; and the position is 1 day a week. He can help with project implementation but does not have any control over the budget. o Timeline: we will sign contracts ASAP and audits and reports done will be done by the end of the calendar year. ESG/ Organics to Energy Project: Action Step: ESG wants committee endorsement for project. In order for the next step, the city has to sign a contract for a Project Development Agreement. o Organics to Energy will bring in additional FOGs and dairy/ microbrewery waste. o We will bring 2 digesters online and double the amount of organics we can take. Benefits o We already budgeted for aging infrastructure and upgrade that costs $6.6 million. This project incorporates improvements into cost.  o Revenues will be generated from reduced tipping fees, reduced transportation of sludge, increased gas amounts (potentially generating 500 kW of electricity, but that would be Phase 2) o The gas doesn’t have to be used for power generation o ESG will than get contracts for material (by March) and their commitment is for 5 years. Risks: o If after feasibility study we pull out, the city is on the hook for $300,000 (only if the project is feasible!) o $11-13 million for entire project o Will it impact water quality? Motion: When analyzing the energy impacts, both long and short term, MEAC strongly endorses the Organics to Energy Project being proposed by ESG. Ken Jones seconds. All in favor. Residential o Can we improve service delivered? o We want to provide a record of what has happened and demonstrated how concrete, realistic energy projects are. For instance by providing homeowners contacts and contractors. In the future we hope to consolidate home visits, written stories, building buzz. o There is potential to hire home energy expert for “hand holding”. o We hope to expand our relationship with GMP for demand management. o We are developing a planning guide. Transportation o We supported Guertin Pocket Park to be approved by city council. o Dan Costin attended an electric school bus conference organized by VEIC, Vermont will get money to replace diesel vehicles with electric vehicles (mostly state and municipal). Diesel vehicles must be operational. o Trial in MA with 3 electric buses from lion bus company in Quebec and it was successful (75 miles range). o Dan recently learned about a Vermont Clean Cities Coalition project with police cars in Burlington using the Havis IdleRight fuel saving system. Auto turns car off when vehicle is idling and monitors battery voltage. There was a 6 month pay back time on fuel savings. 5. Other business Sustainable Montpelier Coalition (Dan Jones) Figuring out how to move programs forward to implement changes seen in design competition. There is a focus on three areas: 1. Low cost demonstrations of pedestrian friendly downtown. 2. Changing the transportation patterns within town. o 900 Montpelier residents commute downtown by car. We have an idea to provide a ride share app subsidized by state or smart jitney app. 3. Change the housing profile downtown. We are currently looking for people to join the coalition, we also have a Facebook page. MEAC can help by raising money (capital campaign). Minutes Action Step: For future minutes Geoff proposes making a schedule of who takes the minutes each month. 6. Kate moves to adjourn, Geoff seconds. All in favor. Meeting adjourned at 8:30