AVON CLEAN ENERGY COMMISSION
AVON ROOM BLDG. #1 TOWN HALL
MINUTES
APRIL 3, 2013
I. CALL MEETING TO ORDER
The meeting was called to order at 7:00 PM by Chairman Bernard Zahren in the Avon Room, Building 1 Town Hall. Members present: Chairman Bernard Zahren, Mitch Kennedy, Robert Bullis, Martin Kaplan, Brian Glenn, Richard Kretz and Lisa Levin. Members absent: none. Advisory members present: Jonathan Craig. Also in attendance were Town Manager Brandon Robertson, Assistant Town Manager Steve Bartha and Town Clerk Ann Dearstyne. BOE Assistant Superintendent of Finance & Operations John Spang arrived later.
II. APPROVAL OF THE PRECEDING MEETING MINUTES – February 6th
Mr. Zahren requested that 30% be changed to 15% both on the bottom of page 1 and towards the bottom of page 3. Mr. Robertson requested that the word “not” be inserted into his last sentence on page 2. Ms. Levin felt that the minutes should have reflected more attention to discussion around power purchase agreements, the legal and financial implications and requested inserting “There was considerable discussion regarding the financial and legal implications of funding energy projects through a power purchase agreement” just before her final sentence on the bottom of page 2.
VOTE: Dr. Kennedy motioned, Mr. Kaplan seconded and all agreed to accept the February 6th minutes with the changes. Mr. Kretz abstained as he was absent from the February meeting.
III. COMMUNICATIONS FROM THE AUDIENCE
None.
IV. OLD BUSINESS: a. Action planned by Town for 20% by 2020 and 15% by 2015, b. Function of the ACEC
Mr. Zahren referred to the recent article in Avon Life for discussion. He said that many newspaper articles were inaccurate and noted where it said the town could finance solar panels by a 20 year bond through property taxes for an extra $30/year as such. He felt that the reporter did get the essence of tonight’s meeting with where the Commission was going from here “if at all.” Mr. Zahren distributed a flyer that was handed out at a former Avon Day event highlighting ACEC’s goals. He turned the discussion over to Mr. Bartha and Mr. Robertson.
Mr. Roberston responded that he really didn’t have anything to add other than referring to the agenda for the upcoming Town Council meeting highlighting the section where they would be discussing the charge of the Commission. Ms. Levin asked if he would be reporting what the Commission believes to be its charge or would the Council be taking that up. Mr. Robertson said it would be the Council as they are responsible for establishing the charge and that he further anticipates action in May.
Members discussed the direction they’d like to see the Commission take. Mr. Kaplan noted the importance of the current bill 1138 in the legislature that says Connecticut will draw from Canadian hydropower. He said it’s clean energy at a lower cost. He feels the Commission and town need to get involved. The issue is that the lower cost will defeat DEEP’s energy initiatives to promote solar investment. Mr. Kaplan continued that CL & P is doing it because they need to meet green energy requirements and that it would hurt applications into the clean energy system. Mr. Craig offered that a similar thing had happened in Massachusetts whereby they redid the laws to say that green power had to be sourced in the state. Mr. Zahren referred to Mr. Robertson’s statement from the last meeting where he said he just didn’t
want to buy cheap REC’s from another state to meet the renewable energy standards. Dr. Kennedy noted that we don’t currently have the infrastructure to handle the power coming in from Canada which will necessitate upgrades and that it will be reflected in larger distribution portions of our bills, offsetting the lower generation costs, making the net benefit to the state questionable. Mr. Kaplan reminded that there will be a meeting April 11th sponsored by DEEP and invited members to attend. Mr. Zahren clarified that the goal of tonight’s meeting was to discuss what we’d ask the Town Council as a revised mission statement for the Commission. He also said that it wasn’t under our purview to lobby for this but that we could go as individuals after Mr. Kaplan had asked for representation at the meeting. Mr. Zahren referred to Mr. Robertson to answer to attendance. Mr. Robertson said he was not familiar with the bill Mr. Kaplan was referring to but
suggested writing a letter as an appropriate thing for the Commission to do. Mr. Robertson continued that it goes back to the charge and would getting involved in legislative issues be a part of it. Mr. Zahren noted that we were not set up as a lobbying group but that members could get involved as individuals. Mr. Craig agreed that we cannot take a stand as a group as we have been supporting sources outside the State but can respond as individuals.
Mr. Kaplan mentioned Canton’s participation in Solarize CT whereby residents are offered solar upgrades on a sliding scale. Mr. Zahren remarked that Avon missed the application saying it needed too quick of a response without proper investigation. Mr. Zahren clarified that the Commission was set up to help advise the Town and BOE, not the residents or commercial. Mr. Kaplan countered that one of the goals in the plan was to educate the public. Mr. Zahren responded that we had no resources to do so unless the Town Council endorses efforts to do so. Mr. Zahren reminded that the Town rejected free services from a consultant. Mr. Robertson said that there was a good reason and that it had been awhile. Mr. Zahren remembered that he was rejected because we didn’t know who was backing him or it would require staff time of which we did
not have to give. Mr. Kaplan concluded that there were three items mentioned in a recent taxpayer’s meeting that the BOE is seeking funding for: 1) LED lighting, 2) anti-idling equipment and 3) monies for education.
Mr. Kretz continued that he was reading the minutes from the financial perspective and wondered what we were doing. He added that the plan was good but felt the Town Council would put it on a shelf along with everything else and that the Commission was being dismembered a little at a time. Mr. Kretz thinks there is money out there through grants, given the lack of a budget. He sees other towns doing these kinds of improvements and the town is missing the boat, things that wouldn’t cost the town anything besides time and energy. Mr. Bartha countered that the town has been aggressive in pursuing grants (lighting, garage doors), taking advantage of all the CL & P rebates and on bill financing programs. When there is grant money available and it’s a reasonable process the town has pursued those aggressively. Mr. Zahren agreed but
said the town was not embracing privately funded power purchase agreements. Ms. Levin noted that it was being embraced by other communities. She posed the question how Avon is stacking up to other communities and it being useful to compare what we’re doing. She sees other communities putting solar panels on the schools and is reminded that approaching Gary resulted in a “no, we don’t want to do it” response. She continued that if it’s not in the budget then we would have to look at other options to finance these things in order to meet the 20% by 2020 goal of reducing our carbon footprint. Recognizing the constraints of the municipality, we’d need some kind of framework to evaluate these opportunities to develop a wish list she said. She continued that it would be very difficult to move forward without the how and financing vehicle.
Mr. Glenn questioned if there were free monies out there that we are not acting upon or are we pretty much up on those. Mr. Bartha answered that we receive grant information from the various consortiums the town belongs to. Grants are evaluated by time needed to go through all of the details; considerations for operational costs incurred or long term program commitments. He noted that when grants come through that absolutely make sense, the town pursues them. Mr. Kaplan recalled that grants were available that the town wasn’t even aware of. Mr. Zahren asked if anyone from the town attended any of the energy related workshops that were going on today. Mr. Robertson asked if anyone from the Commission attended any of those. Ms. Levin asked if power purchase agreements were discussed at those seminars. Mr. Robertson reminded that
discussion of power purchase agreements served for exactly the kind of due diligence that the town would have to do to see if they were worthwhile for the town’s interests. Mr. Robertson continued that at the end of the day of getting into a power purchase agreement the town ends up owning some kind of asset and that could be considered debt. When presenting a project to the Town Council, Mr. Robertson needs to look at long term costs. He added that it was not a bar to power purchase agreements but due diligence needs to be exercised. Mr. Glenn remarked that members or residents look to other communities and see them inching forward and ask why we aren’t.
Mr. Robertson asked the Commission to define what the other communities are doing. Ms. Levin responded solar panels and the micro grid. Dr. Kennedy added that other towns are getting into power purchase agreements as a way to finance large capital improvement projects such as boilers, lights or insulation. Mr. Zahren agreed that the town had done a good job in energy efficiency but felt that they were given a plan with no plans for implementation. Ms. Levin agreed that it was something the Town Council should note that we had just about met the 15% by 2015 goal set in the plan and the next step would be to work towards the 20% by 2020 which is why she is “harping on” looking at other communities and financing opportunities and would like to see the goal met in a genuine way as expressed by Mr. Robertson at the last
meeting.
Mr. Bullis noted that there is a communication problem between the Town, BOE and the Commission. He reminded that he asked for a wish list. Mr. Robertson included a list of all requested capital projects. Mr. Bullis continued that the Commission was charged to start and make recommendations but how do we get to the next step. Mr. Bullis said that technology is moving at such a fast pace that there’s no hope in getting people up to speed without good communications. He noted that he sees willingness on all sides to see this thing go through as we decide what is worth pursuing. Mr. Bullis suggested asking Glastonbury what convinced them to go to natural gas for the vehicles they’re putting on line as well as the investment for a second station and see if it makes sense for Avon. He continued that somewhere along the line we’d
have to make a change. He told Mr. Robertson that he was disappointed that the wish list did not include prose such as “we’d like this or that or like to get rid of this problem.” The Commission could come back with here’s what we could do and clearly we need someone who could muck around in the finances on the Town side that says here’s what we can do and here are the steps. Mr. Robertson noted that the Assistant Director of Public Works was the former fleet manager for the city of Hartford so the town does have someone who mucks around in all the information on vehicles and fuels with the accompanying cost analysis. Mr. Bullis said the last thing you’d want is to be blamed for making individuals or staff do things because of being mandated to do so.
Mr. Robertson assured that the plan was indeed being implemented and not just sitting on a shelf. Mr. Zahren commended him and the town for gains already made and added that the real “elephant in the room” was global warming. He felt that there were people in the town who are non believers that reducing carbon could impact that. He mentioned an article that said there were 30% of people polled who did not believe that climate change was real, that it was a hoax and not really happening. Mr. Zahren continued that some members of the BOE don’t believe we need to do solar panels because they weren’t necessary to do whether they’re free or not. He said a lot of what we want to do is saving carbon, whether that means saving money or not – two different missions. Mr. Zahren continued that if they didn’t
care about saving the planet then the Commission was one that just saves money.
Mr. Craig discussed the importance of education. He commented that technology has existed for twenty to thirty years and questioned why people were just finding out about it now. This information could be used in town buildings and building homes just through education. He offered to use his time as an educator to teach about r factors and insulation, photovoltaic systems, or basic principles about glazing. He reminded about charettes and putting the information out there. Mr. Craig surmised that the BOE’s fear could be based on not understanding any of it at all. He added that he’s made the personal investment because he feels it is part of our future. Education could be done passively, not as lobbyists or anything, but just by telling people how things work.
Mr. Zahren asked if the plan extended to residents as well. Mr. Bartha clarified that the energy plan was written for town and BOE facilities but also made recommendations for education. Mr. Craig questioned if the town’s building inspectors were aware of energy efficiencies in buildings. Mr. Robertson noted that indeed the inspectors were required to attend continuing education in codes and building materials. He mentioned a recent low density project that utilized natural features of the landscape to handle drainage issues that were normally handled by public works methods. Natural methods like these have been adopted into codes as well. Mr. Zahren said the value would come as time went on in energy savings, continuing that low income housing could be built with energy costs savings realized down the road. He added that this is an
example of the farsightedness the Commission has and the Town doesn’t.
Dr. Kennedy noted that the town could earn $500 immediately by signing up for the State’s Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy Program (PACE). He described that if a commercial establishment does energy efficiency or a renewable energy project through the program then that town can collect points towards solar panels through the Clean Energy’s Community Program. There are ongoing deadlines for the ZREC program and will be offering them for the next 15 years. The town can negotiate with whoever they join with to install solar panels or wind projects to either keep the ZREC’s for themselves as an income stream or roll that into the amortized cost of the energy that is purchased by the town. Mr. Zahren explained that the town can bid on renewable energy credits but only when you have a project. Dr. Kennedy noted that
there is a schedule so that we can plan. Dr. Kennedy offered that there were several members of the Commission who know private investors who would be willing to fund a micro grid project. He was aware of the owning aspect but wanted to show that there is funding available. Mr. Zahren described that a micro grid could be best used on a new facility because the heat generated could also be utilized, as opposed to retrofitting, and this is why the new town green project would be ideal for this type of technology. Dr. Kennedy continued that the State’s plan includes initiatives for natural gas and improving infrastructure here and it would benefit Avon to prepare for this. He concluded that he’d love to live in the greenest town in the state but that we’re not there yet.
Mr. Bullis noted that countries are contributing to increased carbon particles through industrializing, with pollution levels closing airports in China for instance. Mr. Zahren’s business partner travels with the message of not trying to badger people into saving the planet because it’s a hard sale. The value is the new energy economy is the greatest wealth generation opportunity of this century, exceeding what the internet and high tech businesses did, presenting many opportunities for private capital to enter and fix these problems. Mr. Kretz suggested that the town should not be reluctant about joining with private capital; getting the sense the town would rather do it by itself. Mr. Kaplan likened Farmington Woods’ timidity in learning about clean energy to a gradual embrace and adoption. He continued that communication
and education is vitally important to the town adding that a residential audit costs $75 with $700 worth of credits towards energy efficiencies to homeowners.
Mr. Glenn asked how we could keep the momentum going, getting the new kids interested, mirroring our own enthusiasm.
Ms. Levin summed that the members had spoken very passionately about saving the planet. She feels there are process and communication problems. The game has changed with the plan made and now we need to redefine our mission of why we are here. She continued that we were charged to finish the plan and now we’re in a state of limbo. Great ideas were given and a plan needs to be put in place to create a process to evaluate things so there’s a comfort on management’s part, Town Council and excitement on the Commission’s part to continue doing what we’re doing.
Mr. Spang arrived late and updated the Commission. He began that time had recently been taken up by school security which is gradually subsiding and getting back to normal. He continued that things have been done in the last few months: 1) Synergystics came in and recommended to turn down compressors and operate them manually at certain times of the year, 2) a night tour looked for efficiencies and found sensor lights were staying on too long and 3) in conjunction with CL & P replace lighting in two gyms thus qualifying for cash rebates. He hoped to continue the momentum now that school security has been addressed.
Mr. Robertson feels that ACEC has a very important function and is not going away and sees three important themes that he would like to summarize for the Commission’s approval: 1) educate – either with staff, invite CL & P for programs, etc., 2) monitor the implementation of the plan (comparable to how the former Administrative Services Study worked), and use the tool to administer it with a spreadsheet with columns that list goals and progress made, and 3) examine public and private sector financing alternatives. Mr. Robertson asked if that was an accurate reflection of the Commission’s thinking. Mr. Zahren indicated that these topics were worthy of consideration to amend the charge. Mr. Roberston said that Mr. Bartha will amend the Commission’s charge to reflect that consensus. The amended charge will be
provided to Mr. Zahren well in advance of the next Town Council meeting for review. Mr. Robertson will have the amended charge on the next Town Council meeting agenda for discussion.
V. NEW BUSINESS: None
VI. COMMUNICATIONS FROM THE COMMISSION
VII. DO ANY BUSINESS TO COME BEFORE THIS MEETING
VIII. ADJOURN
VOTE: Ms. Levin motioned, Mr. Glenn seconded and all agreed to adjourn the meeting at 8:41 PM. None opposed.
Respectfully submitted:
Chairman Bernard Zahren
Attest: Susan Gatcomb, Clerk
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