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HomeMy WebLinkAboutSustainability Commission - 10/13/2020APPROVED MINUTES EDEN PRAIRIE SUSTAINABILITY COMMISSION MEETING TUESDAY, OCTOBER 13, 2020 7:00 P.M., Virtual Meeting 8080 Mitchell Road COMMISSION MEMBERS: Cindy Hoffman (Chair), Aaron Poock (Vice Chair), Jeanne DeSanctis, Debjyoti Dwivedy, Daniel Katzenberger, JoAnn McGuire, Bruce Schaepe, Priya Senthilkumar CITY STAFF: Jennifer Hassebroek, Sustainability Coordinator, Kristin Harley, Recording Secretary STUDENT MEMBERS: Ellianne Retzlaff, Amanda Schlampp Anisha Singhatwadia, Pranav Vadhul I. CALL TO ORDER/ROLL CALL Chair Hoffman called the meeting to order at 7:01 p.m. Absent were Commissioners Poock, Senthilkumar and DeSanctis, and student representative Singhatwadia. Nikki Caicedo of Xcel Energy joined the meeting. II. APPROVAL OF AGENDA MOTION: Schaepe moved, seconded by Katzenberger to approve the agenda. MOTION CARRIED 5-0. III. APPROVAL OF MINUTES FROM JUNE 10 MEETING MOTION: Dwivedy moved, seconded by Katzenberger to approve the minutes of September 8, 2020 Conservation Commission. MOTION CARRIED 5-0. IV. REPORTS A. REPORTS FROM STAFF 1. XCEL ENERGY FLEXIBLE PRICING PILOT UPDATE – NIKKI CAICEDO, XCEL ENERGY Hassebroek introduced Caicedo of Xcel Energy. Caicedo reviewed Xcel’s flexible pricing pilot. If residents use energy outside of the peak periods, it Sustainability Commission Minutes October 13, 2020 Page 2 lowers stress on the grid and saves residents money. The pilot was meant to start in April, 2020, but was delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic, to give residents more time to adjust to the “new normal.” The pilot would be restarted on November 1, 2020. Hoffman asked for confirmation Xcel was sending notifications to enrollees as to the new live date. Caicedo replied Xcel initially sent out a welcome packet and started to inform enrollees the end of September with another packet, stickers, messages on bills, and emails. Hassebroek asked for the breakdown of participants. Caicedo reported 17,500 people received meters, 7,500 of which were in the control group that would stay on the same rate schedule. 10,000 people would be in the pilot rates, with 5,000 in Minneapolis and 5,000 mostly in Eden Prairie with some Minnetonka and Chanhassen residents. Hoffman asked how much savings residents could expect. Caicedo replied on average people’s bills would stay the same but some could go down if residents took further action. If their bills went up more than 10 percent, they would receive a bill credit and there were other controls to ensure bill protection. Katzenberger asked if this would affect enrollees also on renewal energy programs. Caicedo replied the only restriction was enrollees could not be a solar customer but could be a Wind Source customer. 2. XCEL ENERGY INTEGRATED RESOURCE PLAN OVERVIEW Hassebroek displayed a PowerPoint and explained the plan. It was a comprehensive plan for the utility to communicate to the public how they will deliver the electricity supply over a long range of time (10-15 years). This would affect the building and decommissioning of power plants and the environment. Decisions on generation can impact rates, the communities where electricity was generated, and the environment. Due to long term nature, it was generally non-binding. Cities provide comments to ensure potential outcomes of IRP aligned with city goals and priorities, such as the Climate Action Plan. Every utility does this process but this was specifically about Xcel Energy’s 15 year plan. Xcel also reported this to the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) which would review the plan once it was submitted. Hoffman clarified that comments should be submitted in January 2021. She also asked what other cities were considering commenting. Hassebroek replied St. Louis Park, Edina, Minneapolis, St. Paul, Bloomington among others were at least considering it. There is technical Sustainability Commission Minutes October 13, 2020 Page 3 support from the Great Plains Institute and the Rocky Mountain Institute as well as other environmental nonprofit support. Schaepe stated there were several items from the Climate Action Plan that would connect with this. Hassebroek agreed. She said she sensed most comments may lean toward support with potentially some exceptions. 3. EDUCATION BOOTH OPPORTUNITY – PUMPKIN ROLL DOWN EVENT Hassebroek stated the Recreation Department was holding this event on November 7, 2020 from 9:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. for residents to dispose of their carved pumpkins in a fun way. Families could sign up for time slots. The City would gather the smashed pumpkins for organic recycling. She spoke with Hennepin County for resources if the commission interacted with this event. There was an interactive event regarding recycling sorting that she did not think would work with social distancing, but the Hennepin County had guides to hand out and organics labels. Hoffman solicited opinions from the commission members on participating. Discussion followed on the possibilities. Not all commission members could commit, and most agreed during the pandemic this was likely not workable. Katzenberger suggested the staff at the event, not necessarily commission members, hand out materials. Hoffmann agreed most events the commission members found valuable involved conversations with residents, and not just handing out pamphlets. The commission members decided not to participate this year. B. REPORTS FROM CHAIR Hoffmann announced Poock and Senthilkumar had enrolled in the Master Recycler program and would not be attending the next few meetings but would report on their training. Hoffmann, Poock, Schaepe and Hassebroek participated in the September 19 Round Lake Park clean up. Hoffman attended the October 10 Zero Waste Workshop. She stated it was a very good presentation. Schaepe added he attended remotely and found the program quite rigorous for the average person. Discussion followed on whether or not to promote a workshop like this. Hassebroek agreed to look into potentially hosting a similar workshop in Eden Prairie. Sustainability Commission Minutes October 13, 2020 Page 4 C. REPORTS FROM COMMISSION 1. WATER UPDATE 2. WASTE UPDATE 3. LANDSCAPE/POLLINATOR UPDATE 4. ENERGY UPDATE Katzenberger stated the effort to put together a Minnetonka Sustainability Commission was continuing with over twenty members meeting monthly. D. REPORTS FROM STUDENTS Retzlaff announced there was a bill introduced by Betty McCollum. She offered to send a link. V. OTHER BUSINESS Schaepe commented now that he had gone through the Sustainable Eden Prairie nomination and award process, he was not sure of the purpose of the award. He saw the description on the website but wondered if there was a reason why the commission could not have many more awards. Dwivedy stated the award guidelines started to encourage new habits by residents and businesses and as an incentive to others. There was no hard and fast process but the intention was to create a framework. Hoffmann added the commission could clarify in the future the awards could recognize multiple recipients in the same categories, as it was not so much a contest as an acknowledgement. Schaepe stated hypothetically if there were 25 nominees doing great things, he would want to recognize all 25. He inquired into program background. Hassebroek replied this latest round was the fourth year as the Sustainability Awards; before it was called the “Spirit of Eden Prairie Award” which included a sustainable element but had had a broader scope (neighborhood beautification). She suggested the commission members think about Schaepe’s comments for next year and perhaps have a discussion about what this commission and the City Council would like to see happen. Katzenberger stated the idea was to award one recipient per category, and any departure from that had to have input from the City Manager. However, in 2019 there were such strong candidates the commission awarded more than one award per category. He added the real challenge was to get more residents to nominate and/or participate; 25 participants would be a positive response. VI. UPCOMING EVENTS Hassebroek described the upcoming events: Sustainability Commission Minutes October 13, 2020 Page 5 Electronics Recycling Drop Off Day: October 17, 2020, 9:30 AM, Yard Waste Site Sustainable Eden Prairie Awards: October 20, 2020, 7:00 PM, Council Chambers Yard Waste Site Opening: October 22, 2020 VII. NEXT MEETING The next Sustainability Commission meeting will be held Tuesday, November 10, 2020, virtually. VIII. ADJOURNMENT MOTION: McGuire moved, seconded by Katzenberg to adjourn the meeting. MOTION CARRIED 5-0. The meeting was adjourned at 8:16 p.m.