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HomeMy WebLinkAbout02-28-19 BCP Meeting MinutesBozeman Climate Partners Working Group February 28, 2019, 2:00pm Madison Room, Bozeman City Hall (121 N Rouse Ave.) A. Call Meeting to Order Attendees: Terry Cunningham, Jay Sinnott, Sarah Paulos, Sherry Staub, Kathy Powell, Mel England (Energy Corps), Danielle Vitoff B. Changes to the Agenda C. Public Comment Please state your name and address in an audible tone of voice for the record. This is the time for individuals to comment on matters falling within the purview of the Committee. There will also be an opportunity in conjunction with each action item for comments pertaining to that item. Please limit your comments to three minutes. D. Minutes E. New Business 1. 2019 Montana Legislative Roundup H. Higinbotham provided an update on bills the City is tracking. SB245: C-PACE has a strong coalition of support. The hearing date for the bill is Tuesday, March 12 at 3:00 p.m. before the Senate Energy and Telecommunications Committee. The MT Facilities Finance Authority has agreed to be program administrator. There is a fiscal note attached which puts this bill on an extended timeline. Because the Montana Facility Finance Authority (MFFA), a state agency, is administering the C-PACE program there is a fiscal note to fund a quarter time of an MFFA staffer through the program build out phase. However, rather than coming out of the state general fund, this fiscal note requests funding from MFFA's existing budget to be allocated to fund this position. After the C-PACE program launches, each assessment includes administration fees built in. This fiscal note funds MTFFA through the program build out/ rule making phase. Since there is a fiscal note, that makes SB245 a revenue bill and revenue bills have a much later transmittal date than none revenue bills. While most bills need to have made it through one chamber by the end of this week, SB 245 does not need to make it through until April 1. The new version of the bill requires mortgage lender consent. The bill includes this clause because of strong pushback from the lending industry in the previous session, which ultimately contributed to the bill failing to pass. For a continually updated list of C-PACE supporters, case studies, and frequently asked questions at MTPACE.com N. Meyer is tracking a handful of legislative bills related to electric vehicles and EV infrastructure. The office is also tracking activity on the NorthWestern Energy proposed rate case for revised rules on net metering. The MREA website provides more information on the proposed rate case. J. Sinnott shared information about SB278, a proposed bill to allow NorthWestern Energy to purchase a greater share of Colstrip and transfer costs to ratepayers without question. The group discussed consumer liability of this bill. T. Cunningham shared that Bozeman Representative Tom Woods introduced a bill that would require NorthWestern Energy provide justification for its rates to the PSC. The bill initially failed in committee but the passed on a motion to reconsider. 2. FY20 Budget Proposal N. Meyer is finalizing the FY20 sustainability office budget. It includes proposed upgrades to our ability to track utility information, and to make our systems more automated to provide monthly reports and use data more effectively. It includes a request for advanced metering for high use facilities. T. Cunningham shared the City budget process, in which the City Manager will finalize a recommended budget and present it to the commission for approval. Personnel, operating, and departmental budgets will go to the City Manager and finance departments in March for approval by the commission in June. 3. Vulnerability Assessment & Resiliency Strategy update H. Higinbotham provided an update on the vulnerability assessment and resiliency strategy. The sustainability office and contractor are collecting staff input on the 90% draft of the vulnerability assessment. There will be one more round of meetings to prioritize action items and assign costs/budget numbers. The goal is to present the completed assessment with action items and costs to the City commission in April. 4. Climate Action & Resiliency Plan update H. Higinbotham provided an update on the climate action and resiliency plan update. The sustainability office hopes to release the RFP for the City’s Climate Action & Resiliency Plan update in March. Once the City finalizes the budget, the RFP will be top priority. N. Meyer is in Washington D.C. this week at a renewable energy procurement boot camp/training hosted by USDN, RMI, and the World Resources Institute. This is a deep dive into procurement options available to local governments. This session is focusing on power purchase agreements and green tariffs. 5. Stretch Code update H. Higinbotham provided an update on stretch code work. The sustainability office has not received any directives from City Management regarding a stretch code, but the implementation of a stretch code is included/referenced in the FY20 budget. The City Strategic Plan includes a stretch code under Climate Action in section 6.3.a. There is a possibility that stretch code implementation could move forward concurrent with the climate action plan update in 2019. The Montana Codes Collaborative continues to work to increase efficiency standards in adopted codes and advance a statewide stretch code. There are efforts underway to get an energy representative on the state codes council. In 2018, the Pacific Northwest National Lab, as part of a Montana research project, conducted a Montana Residential Energy Code Field study. The study collected data on 125 homes at various stages of completion to understand energy features present in typical homes and current levels of code compliance. The research plan is statistically valid for the state as a whole. The information presented in the supplemental report differentiates between homes located in cities and outside of the cities. The sample size is too small for the supplemental report results to be statistically valid. Following data collection, PNNL conducted three stages of analysis on the resulting data set. The first stage identified compliance trends within the state based on the distributions observed in the field for each key item. The second stage modeled energy consumption of the homes observed in the field relative to expected results if sampled homes only met minimum code requirements. The third stage then calculated the potential energy savings, consumer cost savings, and avoided carbon emissions associated with increased code compliance. Together, these findings provide valuable insight on challenges facing energy code implementation and enforcement, and can inform future energy code education, training, and outreach activities. On our most recent code collaborative call, Neil Grigsby with the Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance introduced the group to the Commercial Code Enhancement (CCE) Initiative. This initiative applies market transformation principles to the code change process to create better alignment between the market, utility programs, and code by identifying, assessing and demonstrating feasibility and affordability of next-generation technologies and practices. By queuing up a pipeline of emerging technologies and demonstrating market support for new code measures, the CCE initiative paves the way for each state to adopt progressively effective, market-supported technologies and practices. CCE helps utilities and the states prepare for future code cycles. The Integrated Design Lab (IDL) in Bozeman has prepared a draft scanning report that identifies high performance buildings and the technologies that allow those buildings to exceed the current energy code. The purpose of the study is to identify the technologies and design strategies that will appear in future codes. This group is also working on development of a Montana Commercial Energy Code Roadmap to help NEEA prioritize their efforts. Stakeholders will design the roadmap and ensure alignment of technologies and strategies with utility programs. D. Litoff shared that in her experience with incentives, expedited permitting was more valued than monetary benefits. She encouraged the City to engage the realtor network to help educate and remind consumers of the financial and comfort benefits of better building envelopes. T. Cunningham suggested the City consider creating some sort of designation on the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) to demonstrate real value to the builders and move the market toward appraised value differentiation. D. Vitoff said she has not experienced that but often mortgage lenders recognize the value of efficiency because it increases a buyer’s ability to pay. She shared about a NZE mobile home replacement (after flooding) program in Vermont where the lender is considering total cost of ownership, including operational costs. K. Powell suggested creating training for appraisers. The group discussed buyer awareness/education and energy use disclosure. K. Powell stated that real estate moves quickly in Bozeman and energy efficiency might not be a primary factor due to the competitive market, or that sellers might not be willing to provide historical energy use or provide it in a timely enough manner. D. Vitoff shared about a commercial benchmarking program through the Rocky Mountain Institute where just the process of requiring benchmarking led to a 2% decrease in energy use. D. Litoff shared work she is doing with the New Buildings Institute on orientation and location for alternative energy, and stated that it is important for the City to consider everything at the site level as the policies are developed to ensure the policy isn’t forcing things in areas they are not ideal or with skewed penetration. She talked about challenges, beyond feasibility and cost, of leaving choices in builders’ hands vs. approaching from a system level. T. Cunningham asked if something as simple as a checklist would achieve the desired results. The group agreed it would not. D. Litoff asked if there are minimum size requirements in HOAs. The group assumed there is no way to know, as the City does not track HOAs. K. Powell said there were requirements in the UDO/UDC. T. Cunningham shared that unfortunately many HOAs simply copy and paste with no thought given to the necessity or impact of covenants. He also shared that builders are allowed to go below the minimum requirements for affordable housing and that the City offers incentives. T. Cunningham provided an update on affordable housing efforts through the City. Affordable housing is listed in the strategic plan. Two weeks ago, the City completed a needs assessment and is in the process of developing a comprehensive action plan. There is a working group comprised of builders, non-profits, and lenders to inform the action plan. D. Litoff commented that it would be interesting to intersect with the update of the climate action and resiliency plan. J. Sinnott brought up the challenge of high-density housing as a solution for affordability and the community aversion to density. T. Cunningham shared that though Bozeman home prices are escalating, they are not escalating as fast as Belgrade and that the most sought after housing is townhomes in Belgrade due to relative affordability. T. Cunningham shared that the City should consider offering incentives to employers with land to build affordable housing onsite for their employees. D. Litoff commented that this would also help with GHG emissions reduction. 6. Bozeman Public Safety Center update H. Higinbotham provided an update on the new public safety center project. The planning team held an initial meeting with the architects from Anderson, Mason, Dale and Think One on February 21. They discussed use of space and configurations. They are advancing the conversation for implementing stormwater best management practices. The City of Bozeman is exploring energy storage opportunities. City employees and PSC design team/architects are touring the Norm Asbjornsen Center next month. The City is using budgeted funds from other line items to move forward with design/planning, as the outstanding lawsuit is resolved. T. Cunningham shared that because of the lawsuit, all design work is being cannibalized from other department budgets. He shared that the commissioner of public practices and the ethics board both dismissed the lawsuit, and all three Gallatin County judges recused themselves when it was refiled with the County. The county is bringing in a judge from Park County in mid-March to preside over the hearing. The lawsuit is impacting the ability to move forward with critical design/efficiency aspects such as hiring a commissioning agent. 7. VW Settlement Funding update H. Higinbotham provided an update on the VW settlement funding. The MT DEQ released the RFP for settlement funds and the application deadline is the end of March. The RFP requires a higher match than expected (50%). Streamline is in the process of identifying additional match funds. Local governments can apply for funding to purchase a maximum of two electric buses. N. Meyer believes that Bridger Bowl and MSU are still committed as partners for the application. There was a question about whether the MT Dept. of Transportation would still contribute a share, and it is unclear why that is a question because they traditionally do. If they do not, Streamline will have to identify an additional $150,000 beyond what they have already raised as match. T. Cunningham shared that he understands Bridger Bowl is almost to the point of just purchasing a bus outright. 8. Cleanup Day – April 20, 2019 Cleanup Day is April 20, 2019, with registration/packet pickup at the Bozeman Public Library from 8:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m. The City will host the annual cleanup event as it has in the past. There is another group organizing an Earth Day event from 12:00-5:00 at the library. D. Vitoff suggested adding a question at Cleanup Day on HOA membership to begin collecting information about HOAs to develop a database. G. Remarks for the Good of the Order D. Vitoff asked about City stormwater department and maintenance of HOA detention ponds. She shared that in her neighborhood of Cattail Creek, the City instructed the HOA to pull all natural plants and dredge the detention pond every two years. She commented about the expense and the destruction of natural bird habitat and shared that this seemed counter to goals of sustainability and resiliency and adaptation. H. Higinbotham will follow up with Kyle Mehrens in the City Stormwater department. T. Cunningham commented that often developers lose control of HOAs and homeowners do not understand the responsibility of maintenance of detention ponds. There was a problem with stormwater last year and the city passed an emergency declaration. T. Cunningham shared that there is a bill in the current legislature to remove or limit the City’s authority to pass emergency declarations. S. Staub shared an opportunity for citizen science engagement with a joint project through Yellowstone Forever and Yellowstone National Park. It is part of a larger climate change study called Neon and encompasses seven sites in YNP to measure temperatures, windspeed, lights, etc. There are 10 pitfall sites and transects for identifying flora and fauna. Each transect has insect collectors and the project is seeking volunteers to visit sites one weekend each month to collect samples and empty pitfall traps. Volunteers are housed for free at the overlook campus. She shared that it is a well run program and there is a training on Monday for interested volunteers. The volunteer work runs from April through September and volunteers can identify and label samples throughout the winter. H. Next Meeting – Rescheduled to April 4, 2019 D. Vitoff offered to share information from the Climate Leadership Conference in Baltimore, MD. I. ADJOURNMENT – 3:30 p.m. For more information please contact Staff Liaison, Natalie Meyer at nmeyer@bozeman.net This working group generally meets the fourth Thursday of the month from 2:00 pm to 3:30 pm Committee meetings are open to all members of the public. If you have a disability and require assistance, please contact our ADA coordinator, Mike Gray at 582-3232.