Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutSustainability Commission - 01/12/2021APPROVED MINUTES EDEN PRAIRIE SUSTAINABILITY COMMISSION MEETING TUESDAY, JANUARY 12, 2021 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 Vice Chair Poock called the meeting to order at 7:06 p.m. Absent were Commissioner Hoffman and student representatives Retzlaff, Singhatwadia and Vadhul. Representatives from Xcel Energy joined the meeting. II. APPROVAL OF AGENDA MOTION: McGuire moved, seconded by Katzenberg to approve the agenda. MOTION CARRIED 7-0. III. APPROVAL OF MINUTES FROM JUNE 10 MEETING MOTION: Schaepe moved, seconded by Katzenberger to approve the minutes of December 8, 2020 Sustainability Commission. MOTION CARRIED 7-0. IV. REPORTS A. REPORTS FROM STAFF 1. XCEL ENERGY PRESENTATION – INTEGRATED RESOURCE PLAN Hassebroek pulled up a PowerPoint and introduced members of Xcel Energy who would present the Upper Midwest Integrated Resource Plan Sustainability Commission Minutes January 12, 2021 Page 2 (IRP): Michelle Swanson, Community Relations Manager, Farah Mandich, of the Resource Planning Department, and Nick Martin, Policy and Outreach Manager. Swanson gave an overview of the vision set in 2019 to make Xcel Energy 80 percent carbon free by 2030, which she considered reachable, and 100 percent carbon free by 2050, which was a more ambitious goal requiring great leaps in technology. The Integrated Resources Plan proposed by Xcel Energy involves closing coal plants ten years earlier than initially planned, adding renewables such as solar and wind, continuing carbon-free nuclear energy, and enabling a carbon-free future. The life of the Monticello nuclear plan would be extended ten years and natural gas would be used as a transition fuel. Mandich presented an overview of the IRP. This was a 15-year plan (2020-2034) for the full Upper Midwest service area (Minnesota, Wisconsin, South and North Dakotas). The plan had four key objectives: environmental impact, costs, reliability, and risk management. She displayed the timeline from initial plan filing to approved action plan implementation. Comments would be taken February through April 2021. McGuire asked what role the Pollution Control Agency had in this. Mandich replied it was not involved in this process, and she could not say if that was typical, but the Department of Commerce engaged in the analysis and the Office of the Attorney General submitted comments. Mandich briefly explained the data collection and modeling was done by other staff at Xcel. Martin added the MPCA was the state’s custodian of Minnesota’s Greenhouse Gas Inventory and monitored progress on the state’s greenhouse gas goals and it would track how electrification and other efforts would meet or exceed the IRP’s goals Other functions were permitting power plants and funding EV programs, electrification and resource plants. Mandich explained the 2020 Supplemental Modeling used a new tool to evaluated future system on an hourly basis. The legacy tool, Strategist, was replaced by the new tool, EnCompass to help them better assess how renewables interacted with the system. Hassebroek asked where else this model was used. Mandich replied most or all Minnesota utilities were moving to EnCompass. There were a few similar alternative software models, such as Aurora, that accomplished similar tasks. Mandich explained the supplement preferred plan key components were: renewables, firm peaking resource, nuclear, coal units retirement, using gas judiciously as a bridge energy, and demand-side management. Sustainability Commission Minutes January 12, 2021 Page 3 Singhatwadia asked what capacity there was for the model’s predictions of outages. Mandich replied that was a parallel but separate technology from what was used in this plan. Some outages would be planned for maintenances; meteorological tools to handle unplanned outages were improving. A day-long outage showing a renewable drop-off would be captured by the model. McGuire what amount of energy could be generated by renewables, and Mandich replied there is currently 1,000 to 1,200 MW worth of solar on the system, out of a total electrical need of !5,000 MW. Martin added capacity was a different metric than megawatt hours. The Monticello nuclear plant’s license would be extended ten years. The Prairie Island nuclear plant would run out its license but extending the life of that plant would be a possibility if necessary. Affordability was a priority in the plan, and these goals would be reached by maintaining costs, which were below the national average. Resource diversity was key to ensuring reliability and mitigating risks. Mandich explained the generation mix building blocks: solar, wind, run or river hydro energy, solar thermal with storage, geothermal, nuclear, gas or coal with CCs, energy storage, demand response (price responsive curtailment) and new technologies. Resource diversity would help ensure energy providers maintain reliability through periods of low renewables (such as wind changes). Schaepe asked how the seasons would be managed. Mandich replied less solar would be generated in winter. The system was planned around summer peaks when demand was highest, which meant the rest of the year was covered, but Schaepe’s point was well-taken. The model would account for lower assumed output in winter to ensure demands were met. Schaepe asked her to speak on batteries. Mandich replied they would be a part of the system in the relatively near future, though they were not in the modeling outputs in the plan at present. Batteries were well suited for short-term drop-offs, such as four hours. This was a balancing act. Martin added batteries were a good supplement for energy storage shifting supply, but they could not cover large gaps and other long-term storage systems needed to be developed. Discussion followed on how these batteries would work on a winter-shifted plan. Martin stated there was no perfect energy solution without issues. Part of the argument was not to overbuild the system to rely on batteries. All energy sources had advantages and disadvantages. Swanson suggested the commission members submit any more questions to Hassebroek. Hassebroek suggested the commission members look at the Sustainability Commission Minutes January 12, 2021 Page 4 draft letter by the next meeting and submit comments. The process was to be completed in February. 2. UPDATE ON BETTER BUILDINGS MINNESOTA LEGISLATION Hassebroek stated this step Code improvement legislation was being accelerated on a statewide basis instead of city by city. The new deadline to be carbon-neutral was the year 2036 instead of 2048. The change was spurred by a report released by the Legislature and requested by the Governor and worked on by the Departments of Labor and Commerce and the Stakeholder Work Group as well as industry representatives. This new bill created a unified approach and an even playing field for all communities and cities. The process for support of the bill would remain the same: a Resolution of Support from the Eden Prairie City Council and a joint letter supporting the bill as it came out. She hoped the have the joint letter by the next meeting. B. REPORTS FROM CHAIR Poock thanked Priya for completing last month’s presentation when he had technical difficulties. C. REPORTS FROM COMMISSION 1. WATER UPDATE 2. WASTE UPDATE 3. LANDSCAPE/POLLINATOR UPDATE 4. ENERGY UPDATE Hassebroek stated the Energy Squad visit numbers had not yet been updated. D. REPORTS FROM STUDENTS V. OTHER BUSINESS VI. UPCOMING EVENTS  City Council Workshop – 2020 Accomplishments and 2021 Work Plan Presentation: February 2, 2021 - 5:30 PM via Webex  Zero Waste Online Educational Event: March 18, 2021 Sustainability Commission Minutes January 12, 2021 Page 5 VII. NEXT MEETING The next Sustainability Commission meeting will be held Tuesday, February 9, 2021, virtually. VIII. ADJOURNMENT MOTION: Katzenberger moved, seconded by Senthilkumar to adjourn the meeting. MOTION CARRIED 7-0. The meeting was adjourned at 8:16 p.m.