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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes 2003+.i t • i ^. EVANSTON ENERGY CONOUSSION Minutes Friday, January 10, 2003 Room 2404 — 7:15 a.m. CIVIC CENTER MEMBERS PRESENT: Jackie Brown, Joel Freeman, Arlene Haas, Theo Gantos, Alan Kistler, Del Leppke, Paul Morse, Rudy Wolfson MEMBERS ABSENT: Tim Flannery, Kerry McKenna, Hans Detweiler STAFF PRESENT: Dennis Marino, Max Rubin, Mary Baaske PRESIDING OFFICIAL Del Leppke, Chair OTHERS PRESENT: Dave Grumman, CALL TO ORDER Del Leppke called the meeting to order at 7:17 a.m. Mr. Leppke acknowledged David Grumman, former Energy Commission Chair. WELCOME NEW MEMBER Del Leppke welcomed Joel Freeman to the Energy Commission. He asked Mr. Freeman to give the Commission a brief summary of his professional background. Mr. Freeman said he has lived in Evanston since 1991 and been employed at Grumman/Butkus since 1983. He said he is a licensed engineer and has been able to gain a lot of exposure to the energy world. CONSIDERATION OF MINUTES OF DECEMBER 6, 2002 Jackie Brown moved approval of the December 6, 2002 minutes. Motion seconded by Rudy Wolfson. Motion passed 6 ayes and 1 abstention. ENERGY POLICY Del Leppke said that he understood that the Environment Board has taken issue with the Energy Commission's desire to submit a revised draft Energy Policy statement to A&PW. He said that the Environment Board feels that the Energy Commission and the Environment Board should go into the meeting with A&PW without presenting the draft, but have a draft availablF: if needed. After much discussion by the Commission, it was decided that the joint subcommittee consisting of Arlene Haas, Rudy Wolfson, Joel Freeman, Irwin Levinson and Len Sciarra should Evanston Energy Commission Minutes - January 11.2003 Paee Two have a meeting. It was mentioned that Mr. Levinson never attended a past meeting. Del Leppke said he would be in contact with the new chair of the Environment Board and get the names of those Environment Board members that would be on the joint subcommittee. Rudy Wolfson said it was his understanding that the Commission was staying with the draft already prepared and approved by the subcommittee and that the purpose of the meeting is about how the Commission will present our discussion to A&PW. C01 VdITTEE REPORTS A. Energy Supply & Transmission Contracts, Liaison Activities and Innovative and Emerging Energy Options Theo Gantos said he submitted an article for the packet regarding fuel cells. Dennis Marino mentioned that the City does have a fueling center that is a regional fueling station for other municipalities. The City is considering buying some of these vehicles. Mr. Marino said that Alden Hathaway of Environmental Resources Trust has been invited to attend the Tuesday, February 11, 2003 meeting. B. Governmental Policy and Legislative/Regulstory Actions Arlene Haas said that there is an Electricity Infrastructure Maintenance Fee Law that is part of the Public Utility Act that gives the municipality the right to charge the utility a fee in exchange for the utility's use of the public right of way. The statute sets limits on the fee that can be charged depending on the kilowatt-hours used and it also states that the utility can turn around and charge that fee to the purchasers of the electricity within the community. There is no statement if a municipality wanted to do something in lieu of that such as free power. Del Leppke said that in the Chicago Franchise, there is a 4% infrastructure maintenance fee and wondered how they arrived at 4% and asked if there are any restrictions on how those funds can be used. Ms. Haas said there are limits on what a city can ask of the utility depending on kilowatt-hours. Joel Freeman said that on the printouts he received from Max Rubin on the free buildings (the libraries, the portion of the Civic Center, the Animal Shelter, everything related to the Fire Department, and Police Outpost), he was able to total the data and between September 2000 and August 2002, and including the Police Headquarters, it amounted to approximately $350,000 worth of free electricity for the City. In terms of the franchise equation, ComEd charges ratepayers and the City of Evanston gets free power for these buildings and that is the extent of the Umnsaction. Commission members discussed free power versus franchise fees at length. Evanston Energy Commission Minutes - January 11. 2003 Paee Three Arlene Haas stated that Hans Detweiler has asked the Energy Commission to support the Illinois Energy Efficiency Building Act. Del Leppke said there is a modification to the BOCA Code that is energy efficiency focused. He added that he believed that Chicago has enacted this modification. The Environmental Board is attempting to get that code included into the City Ordinance. It is the Board's understanding that this bill incorporates that code into the state code, and if this is true, then it is not necessary for the City to incorporate it into the City Code. Dennis Marino suggested asking James Wolinski, Director of the Community Development Department or Carolyn Brzezinski, Assistant Director of the Building Division who are responsible for enforcing the BOCA Code to come to the next meeting of the Energy Commission. The Commission agreed to invite Mr. Wolinski to the February 11, 2003 meeting. C. Oversight, Monitoring and Inspection Actions Rudy Wolfson said that he anticipates a meeting of the Technical Review Group in early February. D. Distribution Systems Franchise and Provider Agreements and Liaison Activities Del Leppke said that there has been one meeting and felt that the approach to the franchise discussion should first deal with goals rather than specifics of how to modify or put a franchise together. He said that Hans Detweiler had put together a memo on a goal of alternate energy sources and energy efficiency. Mr. Leppke said that he has put together some major issue statements as to the franchise negotiation and handed copies out to the Commission. ENERGY OUTAGES Max Rubin said that on January 9 there was one outage and that was to connect a new customer. On December 11 on Circuit C202 there was an outage due to underground failure that lasted 22 minutes. Jackie Brown said she remembered an issue about water in two vaults in the downtown Orrington alley. Mr. Rubin said that major work was done on the vault behind the Orrington Hotel. ComEd is asking for help by the Radio Shack to do some streetwork that would pitch water away from that vault. Dennis Marino remarked that Public Works was also looking at this issue, there is some consideration as to possibly doing away with restrictors at those sites. AGGREGATION STUDY Dennis Marino stated that there was not a report at this point. Arlene Haas stated that she had spoken with Anthony Star of the Center for Neighborhood Technology and he said it would probably be a few more weeks before a report would be ready. Evanston Energy Commission Minutes - January 11, 2003 MEMBERSHIP No report at this time. Paize Four COMMUNICATIONS Dennis Marino drew the Commission's attention to the perspective on energy issues facing the I08'h Congress and an interview with Pat Wood, chairman, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in the January/Febmary 2003 Public Power magazine. OTHER BUSINESS Del Leppke stated that there are two forums being conducted by Evanston Energy Future and cosponsored by the list of organizations listed on the flyer. The first forum will be held on January 23, and the subject is Evanston's Energy Future: Toward Conservation and Renewables. The second forum will be held Thursday, February 27 and the subject is Evanston's Transportation Future: Toward Innovative Solutions. Both meetings will be meld from 7:30 - 9:30 at the Lake Street Church, 607 Lake Street, Evanston. Mr. Leppke said that there would be a community meeting on Saturday, January 18 at 10:00 a.m. on a proposal to replace the wind generator and tower at Evanston's Ecology Center. Commission members discussed changing the date and time of the Energy Commission meetings. It was decided to keep the meetings as they are - rotating different days of the month and starting at 7:15 a.m. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business before the Commission, it adjourned at 9:14 a.m. Respectfully submitted, M"7ke Planning Division EVANSTON ENERGY COMMISSION Minutes Tuesday, February H. 2003 Room 2404 — 7:1 S a.m. CIVIC CENTER MEMBERS PRESENT: Jackie Brown, Hans Detweiler, Joel Freeman, Alan Kistler, Paul Morse, Rudy Wolfson MEMBERS ABSENT: Tim Flannery, Theo Gantos, Del Leppke, Arlene Haas, Kerry McKenna STAFF PRESENT: Dennis Marino, James Wolinski, Max Rubin, Mary Baaske PRESIDING OFFICIAL Rudy Wolfson, Vice -Chair CALL TO ORDER Rudy Wolfson called the meeting to order at 7:1 S am., a quorum being present. PRESENTATION BY ALDEN HATHAWAY, ENVIRONMENTAL RESOURCES TRUST Rudy Wolfson welcomed Alden Hathaway, Director of Green Power Programs for Environmental Resources Trust, Inc., to the meeting. Mr. Hathaway distributed packets to the Commission. He said that he has been involved in green power organizations, municipalities and counties in different parts of the country, particularly in areas that are severely affected by ground level ozone. Mr. Hathaway explained that Environmental Resources Trust, Inc. (ERT) is a Washington DC based not -far -profit organization that was founded in 1996 with the assistance of the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF). In the early 1990s in the Clean Air Act negotiations, EDF put forth a credible plan that became a well -utilized sulfur dioxide credit -trading program. It became a policy issue in the George Bush administration and was adopted as part of the Clean Air Act to help reduce acid rain in this country. What happened is that utilities were put under cap and trade programs for sulfur dioxide. Utilities that were under the sulfur dioxide cap could trade their good efforts at getting under their cap to those utilities that weren't able to get under the cap. It has worked very effectively, and has helped find sulfur dioxide credits at much lower cost. ERT has been promoting three areas, Green Power, Green House Gas Registration for carbon dioxide offset trading and an Eco lands program where they work with farmers and landowners. ERT received a grant from the Joyce Foundation and the Great Lakes Protection Foundation to help identify the environmental impact of Green power in an emerging market. For the last two years, Mr. Hathaway has been working with the City of Chicago and Commonwealth Edison as well as a number of other energy companies and energy users to promote the use of Eco power. The idea is to identify how buying green power impacts the environmental air shed in the local region and to what degree those benefits accrue to those Evanston Energy Commission Minutes - February 11. 2003 Paee Two municipalities. Prior to ERT, the way that environmental impact was calculated has been the way that the EPA has always done it, by taking an average system mix of all the utility plants in the area (generating power, including nuclear, coal, oil, gas, etc) and that is what is called the system mix, then the emissions of what is being bought is compared to the average system mix and that has been labeled the environmental impact. ERT's experience has shown that is inaccurate. Mr. Hathaway drew the Commission's attention to the slides, draft report and Sample Annual EcoPower in the packet. He said that Chicago is one of the seven metropolitan areas in the country that is listed as severe. Ozone is one of the major symptoms of an air pollution problem. In 1999, ERT signed an agreement with ComEd to help promote the concept of the EcoPower product. Mr. Hathaway explained that EcoPower is a product that is made up of 100% renewable energy (made up of bio gas, energy generation - landfill methane, biomas, wind, solar, geo thermal, small hydro as well as tidal and wave energy). In 2001, ERT signed a contract with the City of Chicago to sell EcoPower on behalf of ComEd. At the present time, Chicago is purchasing approximately 10% of their energy from Green Power; last year it was 100% landfill gas to electricity. This year they are expanding it to include wind and solar. He said that at the end of this year he was hoping to add 10% wind energy into the City's mix. In reply to a question from Jackie Brown, Mr. Hathaway said that the State of Illinois has committed to buy 11,000 MWh hours and the City of Chicago bought 65,000 MWh hours. He added that Lake County is buying Green Power. He said that ERT's environmental report is going to prove the linkage to fossil fuel generation or the reduction thereof by the use of EcoPower. ComEd has given ERT a list of the power plants they are dispatching as the grid lowers its demand for energy. Under the Public Utility Regulatory Power Act (PURPA) of 1973, renewable energy, once it's built, has to have access to the electric grid. In ERT's contract with ComEd it specifies that ComEd has to share certain pieces of information in order for ERT to help them market their EcoPower product. ERT has a whole computer base that has all the emissions data per hour for carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxide and sulfur dioxide along with other information. The plants that ComEd says they are backing down are compared with the energy generation and emissions of those plants to make sure that ComEd is truthful about the plants that are being backed down with the emissions of the power that is being bought. ERT then develops an emissions profile and the difference is the environmental impact. The finding is that ComEd does not back down any nuclear power, they back down their gas peakers, oil peakers and in some cases some of the coal plants first before they begin backing down any nuclear power. The actual environmental impact power of EcoPower is much more significant, on an order of 3 to 1 versus the environmental impact calculated based on the EPA admissions system mix. Hans Detweiler asked what percentage of the power of EcoPower is new. Mr. Hathaway said that in Chicago, anything that was built alter January 1, 1999 is considered new power. Of the Evanston Energy Commission Minutes - February 11.2003 Page Three 100% of existing landfill power, 40% came into commission after 1999. This is the landfill power that the City of Chicago is buying. He said that the percentage of power that is new that the City of Chicago is buying will continually increase. ERT will bring 10% wind energy, adding in I % solar that will bump new power to 51 %. Mr. Hathaway said that ERT has created a reinvestment fund that takes 75% of the revenue after expenses of the EcoPower sale and puts it into a fund that is used to invest in new or renewable energy technologies in the Illinois metropolitan area. ERT is working to get a housing project off the ground. It wants to take the money and invest in 100 low-income solar energy homes. The solar will be used to supply power to the City of Chicago and the homes will be used to provide low-income housing. ERT is working with the Catholic Charities, the Lutheran Church and the Episcopal Church who form the United Power for Action to put together this program. He urged the Commission to make a commitment to buy EcoPower, at least 101/6 wind 1% solar, because as you begin putting wind and solar into your buy you are putting signals out there that you want solar and wind energy. Paul Monts asked if 1% solar and 10% wind is a percentage of the EcoPower block or a percentage of their total. Mr. Hathaway responded that it was a percentage of the EcoPower block only. CONSIDERATION OF MINUTES OF JANUARY 11, 2002 Hans Detweiler moved approval of the January 11, 2002 minutes. Motion seconded by Jackie Brown. Motion passed unanimously. SCHEDULING OF NEXT TRG MEETING Dennis Marino said the TRG is working to schedule a meeting either the last of February or the first week of March. COMMITTEE REPORTS A. Energy Supply, Transmission Contracts, Liaison Activities and Innovative and Emerging Energy Options No report. B. Governmental Policy and Legislative/Regulatory Actions No report C. Oversight, Monitoring & inspection Actions No report D. Distribution Systems Franchise & Provider Agreements and Liaison Activities No report E. Chairman's Report Evanston Energy Commission Minutes - February 11.2003 Pace Four Dennis Marino reported that Del Leppke had met with Mayor Morton to discuss position vacancies and positions where members have not been attending Energy Commission meetings. Joel Freeman reported that approximately 100 people attended the Energy Forum. ICC AGGREGATION STUDY Rudy Wolfson explained that Arlene Haas has had some discussion with Julie Hamos and offered to help with grants to apply for costs associated with aggregation. He said that Ms. Haas felt it better to work together with some of the north shore groups i.e., Northwest Municipal Conference. Mr. Wolfson drew the Commission's attention to the statement of the Environmental Law on Policy included in the Energy Commission packet. COMMUNITY ENERGY COOPERATIVE Rudy Wolfson said he had joined the Community Energy Cooperative and recommended other Commission members join. He thought that the Commission should get regular reports on how the Cooperative is progressing. Joel Freeman reported that it is possible to access ComEd's real time energy pricing on the Internet. He said it is set up for the hourly Energy commercial pricing, but is also being used by the Energy Cooperative for its pilot program for residential. MEMBERSHIP Rudy Wolfson said that there were three non -active members. Dennis Marino said that he would be contacting them. ENERGY COMMISSION MEETING DATES Dennis Marino said that the Energy Commission Meeting Dates have been filed with the City Clerk. He explained that the dates rotate Tuesdays through Fridays and are scheduled for the first week of the month except when a holiday occurs. COMMUNICATIONS Dennis Marino drew the Commission's attention to the communications included in their packet. Communications were accepted into the record. DISCUSSION OF CITY OF EVANSTON BUILDING CODES James Wolinski, Community Development Director, said that last night the Planning and Development Committee met with the Environment Board to discuss the possibility of adopting the 2003 International Energy Code. He explained that the BOCA Code has been the standard building code for the Midwest since 1950's. Currently, the City of Evanston uses the 1996 BOCA Building Code. This year the 2003 International Code will be published and after Evanston Energy Commission Minutes - February 11.2003 Parse Five receiving the copies, the Community Development Department will be reviewing the Code and possibly recommending adoption to the City Council in the fall of 2003. In the past the BOCA Code has only addressed energy conservation in an indirect way. There are code restrictions as far as protecting all of the pipes, but exact amount of insulation is not specified. Mr. Wolinski said that he understood that the new Code will have specific standards for a variety of topics, including insulation, building material, reflective roofing material, etc. He said that as a City staff person, he is concerned that he will need an energy expert on his staff to do the code reviews, plans and inspections. Mr. Wolinski said that the Environment Board has asked to have a representative on the City's Site Plan and Appearance Review Committee and has asked to incorporate some language on site plan standards that would address environmental issues. RECENT OUTAGES Max Rubin reported that there was one outage in January 2003. He said that on January 22 there was a problem with an underground vault that lasted approximately 30 minutes. OTHER BUSINESS Rudy Wolfson said that Jackie Brown has been named to the subcommittee on Energy Policy. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business before the Commission, it adjourned at 9:15 am. Respectfully Mary E. Wke Plann1 ivision MSi EVANSTON ENERGY COMMISSION Minutes Thursday, March 6, 2003 Room 2404 — 7:15 a.m. CIVIC CENTER MEMBERS PRESENT: Jackie Brown, Joel Freeman, Alan Kistler, Paul Morse, Rudy Wolfson MEMBERS ABSENT: Hans Detweiler, Tim Flannery, Theo Gantos, Del Leppke, Arlene Haas, Kerry McKenna STAFF PRESENT: Dennis Marino, Mary Baaske PRESIDING OFFICIAL Rudy Wolfson, Vice -Chair OTHERS PRESENT: David Grumman, Irwin Levinson CALL TO ORDER Rudy Wolfson noted that a quorum was not present and called the meeting to order at 7:15 a.m. He stated that the Energy Commission meeting would be short so that the Technical Review Group could meet at 8:15 a.m. Joel Freeman expanded on the report "Facilities Receiving Electricity at No Charge Preliminary Summary of Annual Electric Usage and Estimated Value." included in the members' packet. He said that the City receives approximately S325,000 to $350,000 in free electricity from ComEd for city buildings. Alan Kistler asked if the City's free electricity was more or less than ComEd was charging the citizens. Mr. Freeman said there could be three scenarios: the city is being overly compensated for what they were receiving, it could balance pretty close, or ComEd could be collecting more. COMMITTEE REPORTS Regarding the Governmental Policy and Legislative/Regulatory Actions subcommittee, Dennis Marino stated that Arlene Haas and Hans Detweiler are tracking a house bill related to a statewide energy efficiency code. He added that he has asked for a copy of that bill and should be receiving it soon. Mr. Marino said that the Oversight, Monitoring & Inspection Actions subcommittee would be meeting later this morning as the Technical Review Group (TRG). One of TRG's most important toles is to deal with reliability issues and will be reviewing quarterly reports and outage reports in it's discussions with ComEd. Regarding the Distribution Systems Franchise & Provider Agreements and Liaison Activities subcommittee, Mr. Marino stated that Del Leppke had indicated via email that he would like to have a discussion with the negotiating team and City Council as soon as possible, preferably in late March or early April. He said that the current franchise extension of one year expires in July and that the City still has a possible one-year option. Joel Freeman distributed a time line for the next few years that he created. He said he identified the milestones for the recurring activities. 1CC AGGREGATION STUDY Dennis Marino said that at the end of February, the Center for Neighborhood Technology completed a study/paper on the ICC Aggregation Study and submitted that to the Illinois Commerce Commission. He said he and Arlene were hoping to continent on a draft and share it with the Evanston Energy Commission Minutes - February 11. 2003 Parse Two Commission, but it was sent direct to the Illinois Commerce Commission by the Illinois Commerce Commission without City re%iew. Mr. Marino said that a copy of this study would be in the next Commission packet and the Commission would discuss it at length at the next meeting. ENERGY CO.'i11IISSION **IEETING DATES After some discussion, the next meeting of the Energy Commission was moved to Friday, April 4, 2003. OUTAGES Dennis Marino reported that there were no outages for the month of February. MEMBERSHIP Dennis Marino stated that there continues to be an issue of several inactive members. COMMUNICATIONS Dennis Marino drew the Commission's attention to the communications included in their packet. OTHER BUSINESS Transvortation Form Meeting Joel Freeman said he attended one of the three breakout sessions. He said that there was a good turnout. Among the attendees were Mayor Morton, Mary Morris, City Clerk, and David Jennings, Director of Public Works. He said that the thrust is that there is not a coordinated effort between PACE, CTA, METRA and the various public transportation entities. Mr. Freeman said that there was also a program on Evanston City buses and bus routes and innovative solutions that dealt with car sharing, ride sharing, and location efficient mortgages. In response to a question from Jackie Brown, Dennis Marino explained that in a location efficient mortgage you get underwriting credits from a lender if the property you buy is close to public transit. Dennis Marino mentioned that the City of Evanston and the Chicago Transit Authority will hold a public meeting on Wednesday, March 12 to enlist community input on potential bus service improvements throughout Evanston. The meeting, which will include a brief presentation by the CTA and opportunity for public comment, will be held in the Council Chambers at the Evanston Civic Center, 2100 Ridge Avenue at 7 p.m. The CTA is exploring ways to improve bus service throughout Evanston and the surrounding communities to coincide with growth and development of the last several decades. The marry improvements under consideration include additional access to downtown Evanston, Old Orchard Shopping Center, the Cook County Courthouse, and local hospitals, as well as increased access for customers with disabilities and service across municipal borders. Rudy Wolfson announced that there would be a Technical Review Group meeting with ComEd immediately following the Energy Commission meeting. ADJOURNMENT There being no ftuiher business before the Commission, it adjourned at 8:04 a.m. Respectfully submitted, Mary E/95aske, Planning Division EVANSTON ENERGY COMMISSION Minutes Friday, April 4, 2003 Room 2404 — 7:15 am. CIVIC CENTER MEMBERS PRESENT: Jackie Brown, Joel Freeman, Arlene Haas, Alan Kistler, Del Leppke, Paul Morse MEMBERS ABSENT: Hans Detweiler, Tim Flannery, Theo Gantos, Kerry McKenna, Rudy Wolfson STAFF PRESENT: Dennis Marino, Max Rubin, Mary Baaske PRESIDING OFFICIAL Del Leppke, Chair OTHERS PRESENT: Irwin Levinson CALL TO ORDER: Del Leppke called the meeting to order at 7:20 a.m., a quorum being present. TECHNICAL REVIEW GROUP MEETING REPORT Paul Morse said the emphasis of the meeting was on reviewing ComEd's quarterly reports about project accomplishments and service reliability. There was also discussion of what has occurred downtown with the vaults, flooding, etc. Del Leppke asked if there was discussion on their inspection program. Dennis Marino said that there was brief discussion on the inspection program tied to feeders. He said that the TRG always highlighted feeders that have historically been problematic. There was some reference to the inspection program, but did not involve the specific protocol for inspections. Mr. Marino said that one of the outcomes of the meeting was a decision to have ComEd's Planning and Engineering staff involved in a May Technical Review Group meeting to deal with current capacity and planning to serve future needs. Other issues to be discussed would include standards, loading backup feeders, and optimal feeder loading. He said there was also a discussion of the current and future development downtown and ComEd's ability to service that development. ComEd did make some reference to their ongoing plan to add a new feeder in 2005 to serve the downtown. Paul Morse added that ComEd indicated they do not have plans to expand their network downtown. Evanston Energy Commission Minutes - April 4.2003 Pane Two Mr. Marino drew the Commission's attention to the January 31, 2003 ComEd quarterly report included in their packet. He said that there is a list of projects that ComEd committed to as part of the one-year extension of the franchise agreement in July. He also called the Commission's attention to the last page of the report which is an appendix that includes the 1 % worst performing feeders in the system, the device frequent interruption program and the current worst performing 2% Feeder Program. Del Leppke noted that the number of interruptions for 2002 is lower than for 2001, which were lower than 2000 interruptions. He added that the curve is going in the right direction. Ms. Brown added that Dave Metz; the Energy Commission's consultant was at the meeting. � , Irwin Levinson said that he had information concerning a company called Smart Signals that had equipment that could anticipate breakdowns by measuring the variations in the system. He said he would give the information to Dennis Marino. Dennis Marino stated that as part of the meeting with ComEd, he reported on proposed development projects to ComEd. One such project is the proposed 348 new condominium units on the old Wieboldt's parking lot. Mr. Marino said he also mentioned the Sherman Plaza development being in the pipeline. He said the Klutznick Development Corporation is proposing 240 Condominium units, a new parking structure with about 1,600 parking spaces and about 200,000 + square feet of retail on Sherman Avenue. There is also continuing development on Chicago Avenue including a proposal for a seven story building containing 80 condominium units, parking for those condominiums and about 6,000 square feet of ground floor retail. In reply to a question from Del Leppke, Mr. Marino replied that there was minor discussion about substations. He said he would put it on the agenda for the May meeting. Paul Morse asked how ComEd is informed about new development in Evanston. Mr. Marino said that it is done in several different ways. When the development is city assisted, Max Rubin, director of Facilities Management takes the responsibility of informing ComEd. There is an inventory published twice a year of projects in the pipeline. Twice a year there are meetings between ComEd and the City where there is discussion of proposed new developments. Other meetings about specific development projects also occur. CONSIDERATION OF MINUTES OF FEBRUARY 11, 2003 A motion was made and seconded to approve the minutes of February 11, 2003. Paul Morse said he would abstain from voting because he had questions regarding some of the minutes. Minutes were passed with further clarification required (5 ayes, 1 abstention) Evanston Energy Commission Minutes - AtiriI 4, 2003 Paee Three CONSIDERATION OF MINUTES OF MARCH 6, 2003 Jackie Brown moved to approve the minutes of March 6, 2003. Motion seconded by Arlene Haas. With minor clarification the motion passed unanimously. COMMITTEE REPORTS A. Energy Supply, Transmission Contracts, Liaison Activities and Innovative and Emerging Energy Options Joel Freeman reported that last week ComEd and the ICC and the Coalition of Retail Electric Suppliers (REZ) came to an agreement that in the next year retail delivery service rates will be increased. ComEd was lobbying that their investment and infrastructure needed to be reimbursed through the delivery services rate. There was a compromise agreed to and the rate will go up. It will apply to everyone who is going to non -bundle service. He said he looked at some of the rate sheets that were filed with the ICC and rather than dealing with the upcoming year, as previous filings had, there is a schedule through 2006. There will be items that change slightly from year to year, but it is basically identified through the end of the deregulation transition period. Each year ComEd publishes their market value energy charges, which are based on current market activity for a certain designated period of time. They will be published at the end of this month. It tells people who are taking unbundled electric service specifically under ComEd's power purchase option what their energy charges will be for the next year. Customer Transition Charges, (CTC) are calculated in part on those market value energy charges and that is what ComEd receives as reimbursement for stranded costs during the transition period. They get updated annually. There is a new feature, that if you go with a retail electric supplier for your electric power you can lock in your customer transition charges for an extended period. If you elected that option the annual update would no longer apply to you. Paul Morse asked when retail delivery would go up. Mr. Freeman said it would start with the June 2003 billing. Del Leppke asked if Mr. Freeman had the impression that more retail suppliers would enter the market and if they would be residential. Mr. Freeman said that the small user aspect and account administration totally overwhelms any revenue that can be generated from the electricity supply, so the business is not worth it to retail suppliers yet, Mr. Leppke asked if there were currently any suppliers in the commercial or industrial group. Mr. Freeman replied that there were between 10 and 15 in Illinois that were certified. In the ComEd territory there were about 7 or S. He mentioned that the three largest players in the ComEd territory are Exelon Energy, Constellation New Energy who recently acquired Nicor's retail electric business, and Mid -American Energy. r .'Aj4� 1! -4 Evanston Energy Commission Minutes - April 4.2003 Pane Four Mr. Freeman mentioned that that ComEd is going to be part of the PGM Transmission Organization. On the transmission side some or maybe all will remain owned by ComEd, but PJM Interconnect will control them. B. Governmental Policy and Legislative/Regulatory Actions Arlene Haas said there are a number of bills that have been introduced in Springfield, one of which is the Energy Efficiency Building Act, which is proposing to establish an energy efficiency building code. This bill was rejected in the house. Ms. Haas said that the House Bill 2779 is an outcome of the study that authorizes both municipalities and counties to aggregate the purchase of electricity and create as an option for them to opt -out as opposed to the opt -in. This would make it less expensive for an aggregator to come in because they wouldn't have to contact each individual resident. It also reduces the cost of creating the program because they wouldn't have to meet the alternative retail requirement. She added that the bill has passed the house. Del Leppke asked Ms. Haas for her opinion on a portion of the report prepared by the Center for Neighborhood Technology for the Illinois Commerce Commission. He summarized it by saying "after the year 2006 when the transition period is over, that ComEd, which is now a distribution company, will be buying in the same market that the aggregate unit is buying. ComEd will probably get abetter deal than the municipal aggregate buyer." He added that therefore, there is probably no strong economic incentive for aggregation. Ms. Haas agreed but added that there is very Iittle data to support that position. Mr. Leppke said that this study is based upon a 10% reduction in the peak load during the summer months. Ms. Haas said that they are assuming that pretty much everyone will be doing real-time pricing. Dennis Marino stated that the executive summary of the report lays out the positive issues as well as the risk factors of aggregation. He added that Anthony Star of Community Energy Cooperative will be at the May Energy Commission meeting. Ms. Haas mentioned there was an independent audit done by the ICC to look at ComEd costs, and as part of the settlement it looks like ComEd will be contributing $40.000,000 to fund programs that would boost energy efficiency even with residential customers and government buildings. Del Leppke asked if Ms. Haas had any further information on how the municipal tax and franchise fee is determined. Dennis Marino said he and Ms. Haas would pursue this information. Evanston Energy Commission Minutes - April 4, 2003 Pate Five C. Oversight, Monitoring & Inspection Actions Dennis Marino informed the TRG members, that he is targeting the first two weeks of May as a meeting time with ComEd. D. Distribution Systems Franchise & Provider Agreements and Liaison Activities Dennis Marino reported that he was targeting the week of April 14 for the first meeting of the negotiating team. Del Leppke asked if the Commission should go for a one-year extension or anew franchise, recognizing that the end of the transition period is 2006-2007, and should that be taken into account as we start the thought process for the franchise term? Joel Freeman said that how you consider the transition determines whether you're considering just the distribution system or whether the power supply enters into it as well. If the distribution system is talked about without the power supply, then where you fall in the deregulation aspect has less effect. He said he felt that the options of separating the power supply from the distributions system in these considerations would be the preferable solution. This would give the City a lot more flexibility. In terms of duration, it seems like something a little on the shorter duration also gives the City a little more flexibility because then they could make another course correction in just a few years as opposed to twenty-five or thirty years. Dennis Marino explained that on July 12, 2003, the one-year extension would expire. Initially, there was a franchise that had a three-year term with two one-year options, which would be solely at the City's discretion, On July 12, 2003 the first one-year option will expire. The consideration is the second one-year option or something else. Paul Morse asked if there was any indication that ComEd would or would not address energy supply issues in the negotiations. Del Leppke said that ComEd has indicated they are interested in green power. Arlene Haas mentioned that in light of the fact that it is fairly likely that State legislation will be passed requiring utilities to provide a certain percentage of electricity from renewable resources, how much we would want to focus above and beyond that? OUTAGES Max Rubin reported on the minimal number of outages that occurred in the Month of March. Details of these outages can be found on the City of Evanston website. MEMBERSHIP Del Leppke expressed concern about meeting attendance. He added that he had spoken with Mayor Morton and she advised him that it was possible for a member who cannot attend meetings to remove himself from the Commission, but to advise the Commission on specialized Evanston Energy Commission Minutes - Anril 4. 2003 Page Six technical issues. She suggested that the Commission might want to do that with some of the people that are technically capable, but have not been able to make it to the monthly meetings. This would open up a slot on the Commission where the Mayor would be able to appoint another person to the Commission. COMMUNICATIONS Dennis Marino drew the Commission's attention to the communications included in their packet. He also pointed out the communications distributed at the meeting. Communications were accepted into the record. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business before the Commission, it adjourned at 9:12 a.m. Respectfully submitted, Mary aaske Planning Division EVANSTON ENERGY COMMISSION Ntioutes Tuesday, May 6, 2003 Room 2404 — 7:15 am. CIVIC CENTER MEMBERS PRESENT: Jackie Brown, Joel Freeman, Arlene Haas, Alan Kistler, Del Leppke, Rudy Wolfson MEMBERS ABSENT: Hans Detweiler, Tim Flannery, Theo Gantos, Kerry McKenna, Paul Morse STAFF PRESENT: Dennis Marino, Max Rubin, Mary Baaske PRESIDING OFFICIAL Del Leppke, Chair OTHERS PRESENT: Irwin Levinson; Dave Grumman; Stefano Mereu; Anthony Starr, Community Energy Cooperative CALL TO ORDER: Del Leppke noted that a quorum was not present and called the meeting to order at 7:20 a.m. Mr. Leppke acknowledged David Grumman, former Energy Commission Chair, and Irwin Levinson, Environment Board member. TECHNICAL REVIEW GROUP REPORT Dennis Marino stated that the next Technical Review Group meeting will be Thursday, May 15, 2003 in the Aldermanic library. He added that Dave Metz would be attending the meeting starting at 7:45 a.m. and ComEd would be joining later in the morning. Mr. Marino mentioned that among the issues being discussed would be the quarterly report and outage data. He said that it was hoped that discussions would include greater detail about issues related to planning, capacity, backup feeders, and the inspectional process. Mr. Marino added that if anyone had any continents or concerns that they would like asked of ComEd at the meeting to inform the TRG Committee. Mr. Marino mentioned that there is a listing of the feeders loaded over 90% in the quarterly report from ComEd. Del Leppke noted that in the first three months of 2003 there is a higher level of equipment material failure, and a significant increase in the number of feeders loaded over 90%. Jackie Brown arrived at tiffs time. Evanston Energy Commission Minutes - Mav 6. 2003 COMMITTEE REPORTS Paee Two A. Energy Supply, Transmission Contracts, Liaison Activities and Innovative and Emerging Energy Options Joel Freeman stated that there was no new report. He elaborated on the communications he included in the Energy Commission packet. Dave Grumman brought pictures of a wind farm and showed them to the Commission. He related his experience of his tour of the wind farm to the Commission. Del Leppke asked Anthony Starr to speak about CNT's Real Time Pricing project. Mr. Starr said the program started in January 2003 and there were 50' Evanston residents participating in the program. Due to market circumstances, the price of power for the first part of 2003 was very high for the first bill received by the participants of thL program. Since then, the price of power has dropped. Overall, the program was doing very well. Irvin Levinson said that there have been two design breakthroughs in diesel power. One is called instant Start where diesel engines, that in the past had to run all night, can now be shut off and started in the morning with Instant Start. He added that the government has a program that will convert all diesel engines to operate with Instant Start and a catalyst that will reduce emissions to 10% of what a diesel engineer currently emits. Dave Grumman said he has heard of a company called Plastic Energy and that this company takes all kinds of plastic and has a process that convects this plastic to diesel fuel. This diesel fuel meets all EPA requirements and the fuel is sold back to the recyclers to operate their trucks. He said there is a plant in Poland that does this and a plant planned in California. B. Governmental Policy and Legislative/Regulatory Actions Arlene Haas said that at the previous Energy Commission meeting she mentioned the litigation against ComEd. The result of that litigation is that ComEd will be paying 40 million dollars to fiend programs to boost energy efficiency for residential customers. She said she spoke to Marty Cohen, executive director of the utility board that will be receiving the money. He said that the money would be divided among the participants of the litigation. The Citizens Utility Board (CUB) is getting approximately $16,000,000 and they will be creating various programs such as energy efficient light bulbs. Ms. Haas said she thought that the Energy Commission should be aware of what CUB was doing as we negotiate with ComEd. She said that Mr. Cohen suggested that for retrofitting City buildings, the Commission should look into the Illinois Clean Energy Foundation. Evanston Energy Commission Minutes - Mav 6.2003 Paee Three Dennis Marino drew the Commission's attention to the copy of the Illinois Compiled Statues Revenue Chapter - Electricity Infrastructure Maintenance Fee Law he distributed earlier in the morning. He said that the question has been raised at previous meetings as to how the Electricity Infrastructure Maintenance Fee works. The structure is an inhastrvcture maintenance fee with one formula for cities with over 500,000 customers and a different formula for those cities with less than 500,000 customers. The City of Evanston has not adopted an Infrastructure Maintenance Fee (IMF), but it does have a utility tax. He then explained the utility tax, which is based on kilowatt-hours and is distinct from the IMF. Del Leppke asked if there was a limit as to how the Infrastructure Maintenance Fee can be used. Mr. Marino said he was not aware of any restrictions. He said he understood that if the City were to decide on the Infrastructure Maintenance Fee process, it is in lieu of other benefits that the City would get from a franchise. C. Oversight, Monitoring & Inspection Actions Covered earlier by the Technical Review Committee D. Distribution Systems Franchise & Provider Agreements and Liaison Activities Dennis Marino said that the next meeting of the Negotiating Team Committee would be Friday, May lb at 7:30 a.m. E. Chairman's Report No Report AGGREGATION STUDY Anthony Starr of Community Energy Cooperative gave an overview of Municipal Aggregation In Illinois, a Report To The Illinois General Assembly, prepared by the Center for Neighborhood Technology for the Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC). This report was mandated by the Illinois legislature and included in the Commission's April packet. He said the report examines not only the energy data, but at the different methods of applying aggregation. All of the methods require a public decision for the municipality to become an aggregator such as a general vote, a referendum, or a city council decision. He said the most cost-effective method is opt -out aggregation. Under the opt -out method, a resident or business that does not choose to participate must express (presumably in writing) an intent not to participate. Mr. Starr elaborated on the attachments to the Report including Total Cost Comparisons and Savings 1999 - 2002 and a Snapshot of Community Electricity Consumption by Hour. Evanston. Evanston Energy Commission Minutes - Mav b. 2003 Paee Four He said the ICC submitted this report to the General Assembly on February 28, 2003. A week before the report was submitted, Representative Novak introduced a bill to authorize opt - out of municipal aggregation in Illinois. The bill has passed the house with one member voting present and the remainder of the House voting in favor. It is under consideration in the Senate where it has been put on hold until the fall. The original bill gave the ICC a role in overseeing how aggregation would work. The ICC's view was that if the voters of a town were to pass a referendum to authorize that town to aggregate their electricity purchases, the position of ICC was that the primary oversight of aggregation should be at the local level. Mr. Starr said that the ICC would have a role in setting up some rates and initial structures that the utilities would use to provide billing or distribution services, but once aggregation goes into effect, the ICC does not want any role in the daily operations. MEMBERSHIP Dennis Marino reported that he had been in contact with Hans Detweiler and that Mr. Detweiler was still involved in Springfield, but that he was hopeful he would be back in town and able to attend Energy Commission meetings shortly. CONSIDERATION OF MINUTES OF APRIL 4, 2003 Arlene Haas moved approval of the minutes of April 4, 2003. Motion seconded by Jackie Brown. Motion passed unanimously. RECENT OUTAGES Max Rubin distributed outage information for January - March 2003. Commission members discussed the various outages. Del Leppke asked Mr. Rubin to do a report sorted by cause. Details of these outages can be found on the City of Evanston website COMMUNICATIONS Dennis Marino drew the Commission's attention to the communications included in their packet. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business before the Commission, it adjourned at 9:04. 3 Respectfully submitted, Mary ke Planning Division A EVANSTON ENERGY COMMISSION Minutes Thursday, June 5 2003 Room 2404 — 7:15 a.m. CIVIC CENTER MEMBERS PRESENT: Jackie Brown, Hans Detweiler, Tim Flannery, Joel Freeman, Arlene Haas, Alan Kistler, Del Leppke, Paul Morse, Rudy Wolfson MEMBERS ABSENT: STAFF PRESENT: PRESIDING OFFICIAL OTHERS PRESENT: Theo Gantos Dennis Marino, Mary Baaake Del Leppke, Chair Dave Grumman; Ross Vagnieres CALL TO ORDER: . Del Leppke noted that a quorum was present and called the meeting to order at 7:15 a.m. Mr. Leppke acknowledged Ross Vagnieres, and David Grumman, former Energy Commission Chair. CONSIDERATION OF MINUTES OF MAY 6, 2003 Hans Detweiler moved approval of the May 6, 2003 Energy Commission minutes".; Motion seconded by Joel Freeman. Motion passed 7 ayes with. I abstention. TECHNICAL REVIEW GROUP REPORT Rudy Wolfson reported that the TRG discussions with ComEd focused on the definition of capacity and reasonable feeder loading. ComEd explained its feeder rating system and how it backs up feeders. When one feeder goes down they are going into the emergency load capabilities of the other feeders and there are up to five feeders which can supplement and divide the additional Ioad of the lost-fceder. 4ke-big problem is that if ComEd loads the aggregate feeder up to the emergency loading, further deterioration of the feeder can be caused. Rudy Wolfson reported that the TRG also reviewed specific feeders that were causing outages and discussed the over 90% loaded feeders. He felt that there has been tremendous improvement of the ComEd system over the years, but said that the Energy Commission needs to keep monitoring ComEd. Paul Morse thought that the highlight of the meeting was the discussion of circuit loading. He said that the Commission was given a list of certain circuits in Evanston and in one case it showed loading up to 102%. ComEd allows up to 105% loading and gave a separate description of the kinds of ratings they apply. Mr. Morse said that Dave Metz was not familiar with this approach. Mr. Morse said that ComEd did make a point that not all circuits would be Evanston Energy Commission Minutes - June 5.2003 Pace Two allowed to be simultaneously 105%. It's the sharing of load among some circuits that they analyze in allowing some circuits to go that high. Discussion ensued among Commission members regarding ComEd's load sharing of circuits. Dennis Marino reported that Dave Metz had been in touch with him and that Mr. Metz felt that there was good definitional progress made within the last 30 minutes of the meeting and then the 30 minutes he spent with ComEd after the meeting. COMMITTEE REPORTS Energy Supply, Transmission Contracts, Liaison Activities and Innovative and Emerging Energy Options Joel Freeman stated that the State of Illinois has a number of energy grant programs, one of which is called the Community Energy Grant Program. He had spoken with the program administrator and was informed that a number of RFPs have been sent out to all the communities in the state. The next RFP will be sent out in the fall. He said that when he finds out the types of projects that have been funded in the past he would pass that on to the Commission. Governmental Policy and Legislative/Regulatory Actions Arlene Haas said the aggregation bill is still in the Senate. As of now, there is nothing new to report. Hans Detweiler said that renewable energy legislative negotiations were not passed, even though there were 30 negotiating sessions. There will be continuing work on the bill over the summer. The initial bill was for I5% renewables by 2020, by the end of the negotiations they were arguing about 2% and 3% by 2007. What ComEd meant by 2% was either they would do 2% by 2007 or they would do marketing efforts. He said that the clean energy foundation was under pressure from the State to use its resources to fund state activity. In response to a question from Jackie Brown, Mr. Detweiler replied that the legislative meetings were between the Senate Committee Chairman, the Energy ruimament Association (ComEd, Illinois Power, Mid America, Ameron) the environmental advocates, Citizens Utility Board, and American Wind Association. They were trying to get together and work out something that everyone could live with. Ultimately, the two camps ended up being apart, so there will be no deal for some period of time. Arlene Haas asked if Mr. Detweiler had any information on the Energy Efficiency Building Code. Mr. Detweiler replied that it was placed into a summer study committee. Joel Freeman asked if the utilities seemed to speak with one voice. Mr. Detweiler said that ultimately the utilities were one block. Evanston Energy Commission Minutes - June 5, 2003 Page Three Del Leppke asked if the intent was for the utilities to be required to have a certain portion of their generating capabilities as renewable energy in their regular rate. Mr. Detweiler answered that it was, Mr. Leppke asked if it was without the certificates now being sold. Mr. Detweiler said that basically they were saying that if you find a market to sell green power certificates, you can do that. The problem from the customers perspective is if there is a requirement that you generate 3% of your power at some point, why should you as a customer pay more if your taking the 3%. There is potential to do that, but what the utilities wanted to do was repackage the same power and sell it to other people, Other big questions were the definition of renewable energy. ComEd wanted geothermal credits from Colorado to be counted. Landfill gas was to be allowed in the definition of renewable to a certain percentage. Mr. Leppke asked if there are grants currently being given by the Clean Energy Community Foundation (CECF). Mr. Detweiler said that there are, they have been giving grants in the amount of six or ten million dollars a year. If the legislature can come in and take the money, then the whole prewise of CECF only spending the interest on the $225,000,000 is out of the question. Oversight, Monitoring & Inspection Actions Discussed previously in the meeting. Distribution Systems Franchise & Provider Agreements and Liaison Activities No report at this time. NEGOTIATING TEAM MEETING Dennis Marino reported that the Negotiating Team met with ComEd last week and began to start the negotiating process. They will meet again next week and continue that process. He explained that the Negotiating Team consisted of Ald. Rainey, Ald. Bernstein, Ald Moran, Del Leppke and Rudy Wolfson. Aid. Moran is the Chair of the Committee. He said that the focus is looking at what progress had occurred since I YYY and how the City should proceed. Del Leppke said that the Negotiating Team has been focusing on the one-year extension. He added that when this is in place, the Negotiating Team will start discussing their next move. In July 2004 there will have to be a new franchise written. Hans Detweiler asked if there is anything in terms of energy efficiency or renewable energy that the Negotiating Team has included in the things they would like to see done. Del Leppke said that energy efficiency for Ci`.y buildings was under consideration, but that renewable energy has not. Evanston Energy Commission Minutes - June 5.2003 LIBERTY REPORT Pagc Four Dennis Marino pointed out that in the Commission's packet were the October 10, 2002 press release by ComEd reacting to the Liberty Report and a copy of a contract obtained from the ICC website that indicates that the Liberty Group will be auditing certain aspects ofComEd's rate request. Also included is a summary from the last phase of the Liberty Report before this new contract was issued. While he was at the website he found an Electrical Reliability Report February 18, 2003 staff report to the commission, plus a statistical table called Direct Access Service Request and Customer Switching Activity by ComEd. MEMBERSHIP Hans Detweiler said he had been offered a position as the Deputy Director of Commerce for the State of Illinois responsible for the Bureau of Energy and Recycling, and he has accepted. Unfortunately, he said he had to resign from the Energy Commission. Del Leppke thanked Mr. Detweiler for his contributions, wished him well and encouraged him to stay involved in Evanston issues. Del Leppke mentioned that he had spoken to the Mayor and she has indicated that the Commission can appoint people in an advisory position. Rudy Wolfson made a motion to thank Hans Detweiler for his service to the Commission. Jackie Brown seconded the motion. Motion passed unanimously. RECENT OUTAGES Dennis Marino reported that there were a few outages last month, but none were feeder lockouts. He said that one of the issues to be addressed with ComEd is if there is a different threshold whether the City will get more notification on outages, evert though the outage does not trigger a feeder lockout. COMMUNICATIONS Dennis Marino pointed out the communications to the Commission. Communications were accepted into the record. Mr. Marino said that he would include the Executive Summary of the Liberty Report in the next Energy Commission Packet. OTHER BUSINESS Del Leppke asked if the City developed a Comprehensive General Plan (COP) every five years. Mr. Marino replied that there is no set schedule for changes. The COP is reviewed every two to three years and amendments may be made at that time. He said that most government agencies renew their COP every five to ten years for major rewrites. Evanston's Comprehensive General Plan was rewritten completed and adopted in 2000. Mr. Leppke said that he looked at Evanston Energy Commission Minutes - June 5, 2003 Pace Five the statement in the CGP on energy and it seemed limited. He asked how the Commission could make revisions to that part of the Plan. Mr. Marina replied that the Commission could make a recommendation to the Plan Commission. Mr. Leppke asked that a copy of that part of the Plan that deals with utilities be put in the next packet. Mr. Leppke said that there is a rate setting hearing going on with respect to delivery services charge. He said there was talk about a 193 Cents per Kilowatt Hour average delivery services charge. He asked Arlene Haas to investigate. Joel Freeman mentioned that the Center for Neighborhood Technology is finishing a renovation to their building on North Avenue and the Commission is invited to take a tour. He said that if anyone is interested to email and he would set up a time. Dave Grumman reported that he has just finished the final draft on an ASHRAE Green Guide that is directed toward HVAC and is now going to the ASHRAE Technical Committee for approval. After its approval it will be published, hopefully by the end of the year. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business before the Commission, it adjourned at 8:36 a.m. Respectfully submitted, Mary ke Planning Division EVANSTON ENERGY COMMISSION Minutes Thursday, July 9, 2003 Room 2404 — 7:15 a.m. CIVIC CENTER MEMBERS PRESENT: Jackie Brown, Joel Freeman, Arlene Haas, Del Leppke, Paul Morse, Rudy Wolfson MEMBERS ABSENT: Tim Flannery, Alan Kistler STAFF PRESENT: Dennis Marino, Mary Baaske PRESIDING OFFICIAL Del Leppke, Chair CALL TO ORDER: Del Leppke noted that a quorum was present and called the meeting to order at 7:21 am. ELECTRIC FRANCHISE EXTENSION REPORT Dennis Marino distributed copies of Exhibits A & B of the proposed extension to the franchise. He summarized the cover Ietter from ComEd by saying that it was from a ComEd Vice -President that commits to follow the terms, including the reporting and all the other requirements that have been in the two previous franchise extensions. The only change in terms of reporting is instead of quarterly reports, the reports will occur three times a year followed by required meetings. Mr. Marino said that the Negotiating Team recommends directly to the City Council and at the next City Council meeting of July 14, 2003 the Ordinance that creates a one-year extension is under consideration for introduction and adoption in the same night. The current Franchise expires on July 14, 2003. Rudy Wolfson said that Del Leppke submitted major changes to the language of Exhibit A which was incorporated into the Negotiating Team recommendation. After reviewing copies of Exhibits A and B, he explained the additions. He said that planning for a long-term franchise extension will begin by the Commission almost immediately. Mr. Marino stated that in 1999 there was a three year base agreement established between the City and ComEd. The City had the exclusive right on two one-year options. This is the second of the two one-year options. Del Leppke pointed out that on Project 2, one of the concepts discussed was the concept of reinspection. If a circuit doesn't perform in accordance with certain criteria in the year after it was inspected there would be a reinspection. Evanston Energy Commission Minutes - July 9.2003 Paee Two Mr. Leppke drew the Commission's attention to Project 7 that involves capacity and what capacity means. He said that ComEd has agreed to submit a sample of their analysis for each of the years (2003 and 2004) for a selected circuit. Paul Morse asked if there isn't a specific completion date in Project 3 and Project 7, and is it understood that it falls within the one-year limit and the year of extension. Del Leppke said that was correct. Joel Freeman inquired if these projects and schedules would transition well into the next franchise stage. Mr. Leppke said that in setting the right tone, it would be used to develop into another franchise. In reply to a question from Jackie Brown, Mr. Leppke said that there is no conservation language in this extension. It was talked about, but an agreement could not be reached and it was decided to defer it until a new franchise is discussed. Paul Morse made a motion that the Evanston Energy Commission support the proposed extension recommended by the Negotiating Committee. Motion seconded by Arlene Haas. . Motion passed unanimously. Del Leppke said that he would represent the Negotiating Team and offer comment as part of citizen comment at City Council July 14, 2003. Mr. Marino said that it would be on the City Council Consent Agenda for action. CONSIDERATION OF MINUTES OF JUNE 5, 2003 Rudy Wolfson moved approval of the Minutes of June 5, 2003. Arlene Haas seconded the motion. Motion passed unanimously. COMMITTEE REPORTS A. Energy Supply, Transmission Contracts, Liaison Activities and Innovative and Emerging Energy Options Joel Freeman said he has been keeping track of the natural gas situation and that future prices have started to ease off, however winter prices could still be fairly steep. Del Leppke said he was impressed with some of the communications included in the packet regarding educational programs for energy conservation. He thought that the Commission could have a role in making the young people more conscious of the whole concept of energy supply. He asked if the Commission should be promoting something like that and what should be its role? Mr. Freeman said that there was a Junior/Senior High School Intern program. He thought that the several of the businesses in Evanston could offer these internships to the students. In reply to a question from Rudy Wolfson, Mr. Freeman said that an RFP is expected from the State of Illinois this fall. Mr. Freeman said that the Commission Evanston Energy Commission Minutes - July 9.2003 Paee Three should contact the people from the cities that have received a grant to see what was included in their application grant. He explained that this was not a grant for anyone who applies. It is judged and those judged worthy receive grants. Mr. Leppke asked Mr. Freeman to keep track of this grant and report at the next Energy meeting. B. Goveramental Policy and Legislative/Regulatory Actions Arlene Haas said that every two years an assessment is done on the Deregulation law on the ICC web site. One came out this January, and while she said she has not read the entire report, the executive summary gives a negative overview. There is concern that even though some things could change in 2007, the absence of involvement of alternative suppliers to date may continue. Ms. Haas said that the Legislature has increased fines for violations of the Public Utilities Act, where they used to be $2,000 per violation, but they can now be up to $30,000 per violation. The ICC has also been given the authority to fine up to $500,000 per violation for any time the utility lies in testimony before the Commission. At the June 5 Energy Commission Meeting, Mr. Leppke had mentioned that there is a rate setting hearing going on with respect to delivery services charge. He said there was talk about a 1.93 Cents per Kilowatt Hour average delivery services charge. Ms. Haas said that she had been unable to find out any information regarding the rate making proposal for distribution costs. She said she would continue to investigate. C. Oversight, Monitoring & Inspection Actions Covered earlier in the meeting. D. Distribution Systems Franchise & Provider Agreements and Liaison Activities Covered earlier in the meeting. E. Chairman's Report EVANSTON COMPREHENSIVE GENERAL PLAN -UTILITIES CHAPTER Dennis Marino explained that the purpose of the Comprehensive General Plan (CGP) is to give an overall vision of the community with a special emphasis on strategic goals and objectives over a wide-ranging set of areas. Much of it deals with land use, but public facilities and community utilities are also important components of any comprehensive plan. He explained that the CGP was rewritten in 1999 and adopted by the Council in May of 2000. Mr. Marino pointed out that the last group of objectives deal with energy and telecommunications services. He summarized that part of the CGP dealing with energy. Evanston Energy Commission Minutes - July 9.2003 Page Four Mr. Marino said that the CGP is used in a number of ways. Any time a developer comes before one of the City's land use regulatory bodies, they make reference to the CGP. It is also used as a policy document when the City or the staff on committee level are looking at some new initiative or looking at some outside entity such as the CTA, or the Water Reclamation District is proposing something in Evanston. He added that there is no time line on changing a comprehensive plan. If people feel there is something that is no longer in touch with what is happening in the community, that there is a policy issue that needs to be changed, they can make recommendations to the Plan Commission to make such changes. MEMBERSHIP Del Leppke said he has received a copy of a letter sent to Mayor Morton from Theo Gantos stating he was resigning from the Plan Commission. He added that currently there are three vacancies on the Energy Commission. Mr. Leppke said that because of the recent resignations of Commissioners, the subcommittee membership will have to be revised. RECENT OUTAGES Dennis Marino said that there were a few limited outages last month. Max Rubin was not available for this report. Details of these outages can be found on the City of Evanston website. COMMUNICATIONS Dennis Marino pointed out the communications to the Commission. Communications were accepted into the record. OTHER BUSINESS Joel Freeman encouraged Commissioner's to attend the open house at the Center for Neighborhood Technology main office in Chicago. . ADJOURNMENT There being no further business before the Commission, it adjourned at 8:56 a.m. Respectfully Submitted, MaryB e Planning Division EVANSTON ENERGY COMMISSION Minutes Friday, August 1, 2003 Room 2404 — 7:15 a.m. CIVIC CENTER MEMBERS PRESENT: Jackie Brown, Joel Freeman, Alan Kistler, Rudy Wolfson MEMBERS ABSENT: Tim Flannery, Arlene Haas, Del Leppke, Paul Morse STAFF PRESENT: Dennis Marino, Mary Baaske PRESIDING OFFICIAL: Rudy Wolfson OTHERS PRESENT: Irwin Levinson CALL TO ORDER: Rudy Wolfson noted that a quorum was not present and called the meeting to order at 7:20 a.m. He welcomed Lavin Levinson. REPORT OF ONE YEAR FRANCHISE EXTENSION Dennis Marino said that this is basically a continuation of how the Franchise Extension has been handled the Iast four years. He said that this is the last one-year extension that is part of the 1999 agreement. Rudy Wolfson said that between now and July 14, 2004 the new Franchise will be one of the Commission's most important tasks. He felt that rather than having the ideas of just himself and Del Leppke of the Negotiating Team be the final ideas, and rather than turning over responsibility for input to a subcommittee, he suggested making the Energy Commission a Committee of the Whole in regard to the Franchise. Joel Freeman said it was a good idea. He added that one initial step is to identify things in the existing franchise that should be left alone, the things that clearly need to be changed or deleted, the things that are nebulous and need further thought and then things that are above and beyond what has been considered in the past. COMMITTEE REPORTS A. Energy Supply, Transmission Contracts, Liaison Activities and Innovative and Emerging Energy Options Joel Freeman distributed an article related to the Real Time Pricing Pilot Program, but is a review of another program in Puget Sound. He also distributed the Kiplinger letter that gave a synopsis of their review of the energy world. it stated is that conservation is the key ingredient in malting headway in the energy world rather than concentrating on supply, both from the ability to make an impact as well as being cheaper. c Evanston Energy Commission Minutes - August 1.2003 Paee 2 Dennis Marino called the Committee's attention to two articles included in their packet entitled "Windmills Split Environmentalists", and "Energy Grows". An issue that has been brought to his attention in the last couple of weeks is the marketing of curtail agreements with municipalities. If ComEd needs to cut back in the region, there will be a device attached to your service. B. Governments! Policy and Legislative/Regulatory Actions Dennis Marino said that there were three documents included in the Commission's packet that are Commerce Commission Documents. The first two documents are executive summaries of the Liberty Consulting Group First Report and the Liberty Consulting Group Second Report. The third document is the 2003 Illinois Commerce Commission: Assessment Of Competition In'fie Illinois Electric Industry: Findings And Recommendations. Rudy Wolfson stated that from this document that real competition in still in the offing. C. Oversight, Monitoring & Inspection Acdons Dennis Marino said that there would be a meeting of the Technical Review Getup in early October. D. Distribution Systems Franchise & Provider Agreements and Liaison Activities Discussed earlier in the meeting. MEMBERSHIP Dennis Marino stated that there was not any new information regarding membership. He added that there will be only one City Council meeting in August and it would probably be September or October before new members would be considered RECENT OUTAGES Dennis Marino reported that there were no significant outages last month. Outages are available on the City website. COMMUNICATIONS Dennis Marino drew the Commission's attention to the communications included in their packet. Regarding the Commerce and Economic Opportunity Agency, Mr. Marino inquired if any Commission member had heard about the issue of an RFP that municipalities would be able to respond to in terms of energy planning or alternative energy approaches. Joel Freeman responded that he has heard of a Community Energy Grant, and that the RFP would be coming out either in August or September. Mr. Freeman said that he had looked into a grant program regarding high school interns for energy positions. This would be for the summer of 2004 and would be for juniors or seniors that would have an opportunity to work for organizations in energy and environmentally related fields. ADJOURNMENT n Evanston Energy Commission Minutes - Aumt 1. 2003 Pag§1 There being no further business before the Commission, they adjourned at 8:09 am. Respectfully submitted, M aaskc PI g Division EVANSTON ENERGY C01SIMISSION Minutes Thursday, September 11, 2003 Room 2404 — 7:15 a.m. MEMBERS PRESENT: MEMBERS ABSENT: STAFF PRESENT: PRESIDING OFFICIAL: OTHERS PRESENT: CIVIC CENTER Jackie Brown, Joel Freeman, Alan Kistler, Rudy Wolfson, Arlene Haas, Del Leppke, Paul Morse Tim Flannery Dennis Marino, Mary Baaske Del Leppke Dave Grumman, Lavin Levinson CALL TO ORDER: Del Leppke noted that a quorum was present and called the meeting to order at 7:16 am. He welcomed Dave Grumman and Lavin Levinson to the meeting. He reminded everyone that today was the second anniversary of September 11. Many communities have called for a moment of silence at 7:46 a.m. which is the time that the first plane hit the World Trade Center. He asked that the Energy Commission also have a moment of silence. CONSIDERATION OF THE MINUTES OF JULY 9, 2003. Paul Morse moved approval of the minutes of July 9, 2003. Motion seconded by Rudy Wolfson. Motion passed 6-0. CONSIDERATION OF THE MINUTES OF AUGUST 3, 2003. Rudy Wolfson moved approval of the minutes of August 3, 2003. Motion seconded by Alan Kistler. Motion was approved 5 ayes, 0 nays, and 1 abstention. COMMITTEE REPORTS Energy Supply, Transmission Contracts, Liaison Activities and Innovative and Emerging Energy Options Joel Freeman drew the Commission's attention to the handouts distributed before the meeting. On the handout from Nicor he explained that the gas cost from 1997 to the present was listed. On the handout from nymex.com website he explained that this was a snapshot of the moment and probably was updated every 15 minutes. This printout gives the futures prices for gas. Del Leppke said that in a previous meeting there was discussion about the possibility of high school internships. Mr. Freeman replied that there has been a change of staff Evanston Energy Commission Minutes - Semember 11. 2003 Paee 2 responsible for the program and he will contact them to get an update. Also, the program director for the State of Illinois community energy grant is out of town, and Mr. Freeman said he would be in touch with him when he returns. Governmental Policy and Legislative/Regulatory Actions Arlene Haas said that there are no new developments in the state bills she has been following. She reported that there have been hearings in the spring regarding alternate suppliers complaining that ComEd's rates are not competitive and were asking for hearings on ComEd's rates. She said she has not seen any testimony as of yet. Del Leppke asked if the hearings were on the bundled rate? Ms. Haas replied that she assumed it to be the generation charge. The suppliers were complaining that ComEd's rates were too low to be competitive and wanted the ICC to raise their rate. Oversight, Monitoring & Inspection Actions Dennis Marino said the intention was to schedule a TRG meeting for one of the first two weeks of October. He said he would be speaking with ComEd shortly in terms of the exact dates that would work for both teams. This keeps them on schedule for the three meetings a year originally agreed upon. 7:46 a.m. At this time Del Leppke asked the Commission to take a moment to remember what happened at the World Trade Center two years ago and how it has affected our country and what the future will hold because of it. Distribution Systems Franchise & Provider Agreements and Liaison Activities Rudy Wolfson proposed that for the coming year one of the most important tasks that the Energy Commission and the Franchise Negotiating Team Committee has before them is developing a longer term franchise agreement with ComEd. The blackouts in the east adds factors to how we might address that negotiation and he thought that they needed the help of the commission as a whole in preparing themselves. He added that the aldermen on the negotiating committee would welcome as much input as possible to the negotiations. He proposed that the commission act as a committee of the whole and at the next meeting make a major item on our agenda to generate and discuss ideas to the negotiations. Paul Morse asked if Mr. Wolfson proposed.to conduct this business in the regular meetings. Mr. Wolfson said that he did. He thought that in the coming year this should be a major item on all of the agendas. Del Leppke said that the idea of subcommittees was primarily that the work would go on between Commission meetings. He suggested that if they work as a Committee of the Whole the emphasis could be divided among the members. Evanston Energy Commission Minutes - September It. 2003 Paee 3 After discussion, it was the consensus of the Commission that it act as a Committee of the Whole. Del Leppke said he had spoken with Ald. Moran, the Chair of the Negotiating Team, and asked him when he though we should get started. Should we have an early session to explore philosophy? We should make sure the Commission understands the philosophy of the Negotiating Team and lay out some broad principles. Ald. Moran was very receptive to these ideas and thought that the Negotiating Team needs to have an initial meeting in October or early November and then after January 1, 2004 have a meeting with ComEd. The issue of having a specialized attorney retained for the upcoming negotiations with ComEd was also discussed. Mr. Leppke asked for Commission members to volunteer for the following areas technical requirements, strategic requirements, general ancillary items (i.e., energy efficiency, renewable energy, etc.) Jackie Brown and Paul Morse said they would participate in the technical requirements group. Rudy Wolfson volunteered for the energy efficiency/renewable group. Joel Freeman volunteered for that group also. Arlene Haas said she would be happy to help with the strategic requirements, but felt that the Commission really needed an attorney familiar with this subject. Paul Morse said he would be on the Strategic Committee also. Mr. Leppke said that in the Northwest Municipal Model Franchise (which is the franchise used by most suburbs) is a Favored Nations clause. This means that if ComEd inserts a more favorable commitment to any suburban franchise then what they have committed to in the Northwest Franchise, it must be also granted to communities that signed the Northwest Franchise. Excluded from this requirement is anything that deals specifically with a local distribution system. Mr. Freeman asked that the information generated by the three groups be included in'the communications packet for the next meeting. Dennis Marino stated that the deadline for materials to be received and put in the October 2 meeting packet would be Friday, September 26 or early the morning of Monday, September 29. There was discussion about whether to meet as a Committee of the Whole as a first item of business with a limited period of time or should the Commission follow the general agenda and then meet as a Committee of the Whole. The Commission decided that the meetings would start with the approval of the minutes and then discuss the franchise issues in open or Executive Session as appropriate. Dennis Marino reminded the Commission that the criteria for executive session included leasing or sale of real estate, including rights of way. Evanston Energy Commission Minutes - September 11. 2003 Paee 4 TRANSMISSION RELIABILITY This item was placed on the agenda because of the blackout out east to see if there were issues of concern or knowledge as it relates to transmission reliability in the ComEd system in the Midwest. Jackie Brown said she had heard that the reason Illinois will not experience what occurred in the east is because of the things the Mayor of Chicago put in place a few years back. Joel Freeman said that what the Mayor of Chicago did had to do with Chicago distribution not transmission. Del Leppke asked if ComEd was a major importer of electricity or a major exporter of electricity. He thought that there was quite a bit of generating capacity within the ComEd system. A system that is primarily an exporter of generation doesn't get influenced by a transmission down, because it can take care of its own requirements. He felt that Evanston was in good shape as long as ComEd has an excess of generation and is a major exporter of electricity. Dennis Marino reported that Mr. Hurly, the Chair of the ICC is quoted in an article in the September 8, 2003 Crains Chicago Business magazine as saying that he is going to ask the ICC to do an audit of ComEd's transmission system to determine whether or not it is adequate for meeting Illinois power needs. In addition, the Lieutenant Governor has created a task force to look at reliability transmission and distribution. Staff received and fulfilled an information request from his office for a franchise agreement and anything related to that. Del Leppke commented that the north shore was in very good shape as long as Zion was operating. Without Zion operating, the only major supply for this area is Waukegan. He felt that there was a very limited generation capacity for the north region so we have to rely on importing electricity from plants in the northwest part of Illinois. Is the transmission from those plants strong enough to come in here if Waukegan drops? DISCUSSION OF POTENTIAL METHODS TO INCREASE ENERGY CONSERVATION: POSSIBLE ENERGY CONSERVATION CODE Joel Freeman said that there is a petition effort that has been focused primarily at the Farmers Market. This petition is essentially to inform Evanston residents that there is a desire to get an Energy Conservation Code adopted. He thought there were approximately 500 signatures collected as of this date. Del Leppke said that the Energy Commission has been asked by the Environment Board whether the Energy Commission wants to endorse this, support it, whether we want to take any action with regard to their interest in a petition drive to bring to the attention of the Evanston residents and to the City Council that other suburban areas and other cities have adopted this code and that there is a desire to have it adopted within the City of Evanston. Dennis Marino mentioned that Chicago has adopted an energy code. There was a discussion about six months ago at P&D regarding this subject and the intention was to come back to the Committee for Evanston Energy Commission Minutes - September 11, 2003 Paee S another discussion in the fall. The P&D's agenda is very full right now, so he did not think they would get to it in October or November. Mr. Leppke said he has asked for a copy of these various codes. Mr. Marino suggested that James Wolinski be asked back to the Energy Commission. Mr. Leppke asked Commission members and Iry Levinson to ask the Environmental Board to send someone over here to make a presentation at the next Energy Commission meeting. MEMBERSHIP Joel Freeman said that he knew some names have been submitted to the Mayor's office. RECENT OUTAGES Max Rubin said that a wire was down on Sherman and CIark on September 10, he complimented ComEd on fixing the outage in 50 minutes. There were several outages in August. Detailed information on outages can be found on the City's web page. COMMUNICATIONS Dennis Marino drew the Committee's attention to the communications included in their packet. Communications were accepted into the record. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business before the Commission, it adjourned at 9.01 am. Respectfully submitted, MaryEB e Plannin 'vision EV'ANSTON ENERGY COMMISSION Minutes Thursday, October 2, 2003 Roam 2404 — 7:15 a.m. CIVIC CENTER MEMBERS PRESENT: Jackie Brown, Joel Freeman, Alan Kistler, Rudy Wolfson, Arlene Haas, Del Leppke, Paul Morse MEMBERS ABSENT: Tim Flannery STAFF PRESENT: Dennis Marino, Max Rubin, Mary Baaske ' , PRESIDING OFFICIAL: Del Leppke OTHERS PRESENT: Dave Gn mtnan, Irwin Levinson CALL TO ORDER: Del Leppke noted that a quorum was present and called the meeting to order at 7:16 a.m. He welcomed Dave Grumman and Irwin Levinson to the meeting. CONSIDERATION OF THE MINUTES OF SEPTEMBER 11, 2003. Paul Morse moved approval of the minutes of September 11, 2003. Rudy Wolfson seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously. COMMITTEE REPORTS Energy Supply, Transmission Contracts, Liaison Activities and Innovative and Emerging Energy Options Joel Freeman expounded on the handouts he gave the Commission earlier. One update was that gas prices would be up this fall, but not as high as originally predicted by the experts. He referred to the communication entitled "Exxon Is Looking To Purchase Illinois Power" and said that the article he included this morning referred to that. He said he included another article about what would happen and how the grid would be affected if the transaction were to occur. "Edison Calls Time Out" is not about ComEd. It is Edison International who is a parent company of Midwest Generation who owns a fossil plant in ComEd territory that ComEd once owned. There is some concern about how the grid tie-in needs to be considered more carefully in light of some other utilities in other states and their tie-in criteria. He also brought the Commission's attention to the articles regarding Midwest Generation's potential bankruptcy. He said that Midwest Generation owns about as much generation Evanston Energy Commission Minutes - November 3.2003 Paee Two capacity in coal, oil and gas plants that ComEd has in nuclear plants. Midwest Generation doesn't produce as much, but it is a big player in ComEd territory. Governmental Policy and Legislative/Regulatory Actions Arlene Haas said that there was a bill before the State Legislature that would require utilities to have 5% of their energy from renewables by 2010 and 15% by 2020. This has passed the House and is sitting in the Rules Committee. She though that this bill would apply to all electric utilities in the State. Oversight, Monitoring & Inspection Actions Rudy Wolfson said that there was a planned TRG meeting later this month and he intended to raise two questions in addition to the report issues. One is that the article in September 8, 2003 Crains Chicago Business points out that there is talk of reorganization and layoffs in the transmission and distribution section of Edison Company. He would like to pose the question to the representatives from ComEd as to how that is liable to affect our reliability. The article stated that most of the layoffs will be in the management area, but he would like to know more. Another article concerns a vice- president who had reorganized the nuclear power plants and made them more efficient, who was now being transferred to examine the transmission and distribution system. He said that we weren't affected by the eastern blackout, but he wanted to know more about the correlation between generation and the ComEd system to make sure that we have a reliable system. Dennis Marino said that there was no date certain, but they were hoping to have the TRG meeting the third week of October. ENERGY CONSERVATION CODES Irwin Levinson stated that he had indicated to the Environment Board that the Energy Commission requested to have a representative from the Environment Board at this meeting. He had hoped that the chairperson would have contacted the Commission. He promised to have a representative at the next Energy Commission meeting. Alan Kistler asked what the Energy Conservation Code was. Del Leppke said that as he understood it there are two Consensus Codes that have been prepared nationally, one of which is for the Boca Code; it is a question of whether we should advise the City of Evanston to adopt them. Mr. Levinson stated that southern Illinois has adopted this code and that there are petitions being circulated in Evanston to have the City adopt it also. Joel Freeman said that at last count there were 500 signatures on the petition at the Evanston Farmers Market. Alan Kistler asked if the City reviews building plans for energy efficiency. Dennis Marino stated that there have been discussions at Site Plan and Appearance Review (where many Evanston Energy Commission Minutes - November 3. 2003 Paee Three building permits pass through), and in those discussions there is sometimes consideration of certain energy conservation issues. In terms of formal code review done by the building department, he stated that was not part of their specific review for compliance. There has been a representative from the Environment Board at the Review Committee from time to time and she has raised issues of energy star appliances and issues regarding solar power. The Commission decided to ask James Wolinski, Director of the Evanston Community Development Department and also Len Sciarra, member of the Evanston Environment Board, to be at the November 7, 2003 Energy Commission Mreting. COM ED QUARTERLY REPORT Dennis Marino said his purpose in including this in today's packet was to have the Commission make comments and raise questions that the Technical Review Group can use to engage in discussion with ComEd. Del Leppke drew the Commission's attention to page 4 of the report where it shows a significant increase in the duration of outages. Commission members discussed the report. Mr. Leppke said that on page fourteen there is a large number of circuits that are loaded over 90%, there are a few over 100%. While ComEd feels this is acceptable, the Commission's consultant does not agree with ComEd's approach and thinks the Commission should look at this more closely. COMED OUTAGE REPORT µRELIABILITY REPORT (APRIL 1, 2003 - July 31, 2003)" Del Leppke said that the report is showing some of the same circuits and customers affected repeatedly showing upon the reliability index. Paul Morse asked if there was a map that showed what areas were served by what feeders. Dennis Marino said that there is such a map and he would put it in the next month's packet. POTENTIAL FRANCHISE DISCUSSION Dennis Marino said that included in today's packet were copies of documents regarding franchise agreements, and franchise ordinances. Commission members discussed the Favored Nations Clause. Del Leppke explained that a Favored Nations clause means that if ComEd inserts a more favorable commitment to any suburban franchise then what they have committed to in the Northwest Franchise, it must be also granted to communities that signed the Northwest Franchise. Excluded from this requirement is anything that deals specifically with a local distribution system. Mr. Leppke referred to the General Goal Statements that were included in the 1993 Franchise Negotiations. He asked that the Commission be given a copy of the statement. If, when the Committee sits down to negotiate, they can agree on some broad statements, then they can work on the details. Mr. Leppke wanted the Commission to be ready with a goal statement for the November Energy Commission meeting. Evanston Energy Commission Minutes - November 3.2003 Paee Four Joel Freeman distributed a goals and objectives list that he and Rudy Wolfson had put together to the Commission members. The Goals listed were: Improve Energy Efficiency in Evanston, Improve Evanston Distribution System Reliability, Use Renewable Sources for Electric Energy Supplied to Evanston, Improve Energy Monitoring, and Foster Evanston Energy Awareness, These were followed by the Objectives and Possible Compensation for each goal. Mr. Freeman told the Commission that ComEd had a website where they could listen to a free webcast. Mr. Leppke said that he was thinking of separating management and strategy. There are certain clauses that need to be written into the franchise as to the management of the franchise, i.e., annual meeting, arbitration, etc. He asked Arlene Haas and Paul Morse to start thinking about how to get to that point. Mr. Morse felt that this was a large and complicated undertaking. He said that the Energy Commission could only go so Car without some professional assistance. After much discussion regarding, it was agreed that the public would be invited to attend the January Energy Commission meeting. MEMBERSHIP There was no new report. RECENT OUTAGES r Max Rubin drew the Commission's attention to the outage reports included in their packet. He also spoke about the outages that occurred in the previous month. Detailed information on outages can be found on the City's web page. COMMUNICATIONS Communications covered previously in the meeting. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business before the Commission, it adjourned at 9:02 am. Respectfully submitted, Mary E e Planni ivision EVANSTON ENERGY COMMISSION Minutes Friday, November 7, 2003 Room 2404 — 7:15 a.m. CIVIC CENTER MEMBERS PRESENT: Jackie Brown, Joel Freeman, Rudy Wolfson, Arlene Haas, Del Leppke MEMBERS ABSENT: Tim Flannery, Paul Morse, Alan Kistler STAFF PRESENT: James Wolinski, Dennis Marino, Mary Banske PRESIDING OFFICIAL: Del Leppke OTHERS PRESENT: Irwin Levinson, William Siegfriedt, P.E., Jacob Dagger, and Melissa Hall CALL TO ORDER: Del Leppke noted that a quorum was not present and called the meeting to order at 7:15 a.m. He acknowledged the presence of James Wolinski, Director for Community Development; Irwin Levinson, member of the Environment Board; Jacob Dagger, a graduate student in journalism; Melissa Hall, City Manager's office intern; and William Siegfriedt, P.E., who has applied to be a member of the Energy Commission. Mr. Siegfriedt said he has been an Evanston resident since 1975, and a homeowner since 1978. He started his career by starting in power generation and would like to offer his technical background to the Commission. COMMITTEE REPORTS A. Energy Supply, Transmission Contracts, Liaison Activities and Innovative and Emerging Energy Options Joel Freeman pointed out that the information handed out this morning was the latest doe short-term energy outlook. He said that it recounted the fact that natural gas storage was higher than normal and that was casing the pricing pinch on natural gas although it is still higher than in the past. Included in the handout was a Chicago Tribune Article with the headline "ComEd Seeks Rate Hike" and an email he received regarding the Exelon-111inois Power Deal. B. Governmental Police and Legislative/Regulatory Actions Arlene Haas reported that the Senate Bill SV25 had passed the House, but it looked like it would not be passed the Senate. She said that ComEd is unwilling to support that legislation unless it supports a new rate increase, so ComEd told the legislature that unless they support what ComEd is requesting, they won't support this bill. C. Oversight, Monitoring & Inspection Actions Rudy Wolfson said this Committee was meeting today. Del Leppke stated that the Energy Commission meeting would have to end at 8:30 a.m. today because of the TRG meeting starting time of8:30 a.m. Dennis Marino mentioned that Dave Metz (Commission's consultant on oversight monitoring and inspection) issues will not be with the Commission at the meeting today with ComEd. He will be at the next TRG meeting. D. Distribution Systems Franebise & Provider Agreements and Liaison Activities Del Leppke stated that there is a confidential packet that Arlene Haas and Paul Morse had composed included in the Energy Packet today; however, he decided to defer that discussion to another time. ENERGY CONSERVATION CODES Irwin Levinson stated that the Environment Board had urged that the Energy Commission sign on as supporters of the proposed change to the energy code for the City of Evanston. The Environment Board has an active subcommittee that has been circulating a petition in the City of Evanston; as of last month there are more than 600 signatures. Basically the Environment Board is asking the City to change its codes to what is called "Green Codes." The "Green Codes" were sent to the Planning & Development Committee (P&D) over a year ago for review and discussion. Recently, the Chair of the Environment Board asked what future actions P&D is taking. They were told that P&D had done nothing; they have not even reviewed the new codes. The petition calls for adoption of a state wide energy code, which has been adopted in many southern communities in Illinois. wnvv.c%roctitions.com. Mr. Levinson said he would be sending Energy Commission members copies of the Energy Code. Joel Freeman mentioned that Lincolnshire, Glenview and a few other Chicago suburbs have adopted the Energy Conservation Code. Del Leppke asked who does the training to certify an architect that has been qualified to stamp drawings or indicate that the design conforms. Joel Freeman explained that in order to be certified in the City of Chicago, you have to be a registered architect or professional engineer. Periodically, the City puts on training seminars about the Energy Conservation Code. James Wolinski, Director of the Community Development Department, stated that every three or four years BOCA comes out with a new set of codes for building, mechanical, plumbing, etc., and energy is one of those. In the past, the City has chosen not to adopt the energy code, probably because of the cost factor. Mr. Wolinski said that the City's last adopted codes were in 1996. When the 1999 codes came out, the City knew that BOCA was eventually going to phase into the International Code which is a combination of BOCA, the Southern Building Code, and the International Building Code (IBC). He said there were not many changes in the 1999 codes to warrant the City adopting them. Staff decided to wait until the 2003 codes came out to make any recommendations to Council. Because of the cost implications connected with the Energy Code, including hiring more inspectors to make sure that the Energy Code is being followed, he felt that Council would take a harder look at it. He said that the question is "How much more will enforcing the Energy Code add to the up front construction." There are savings to the homeowner in the long run, but how long is the pay back period. Mr. Levinson urged the Energy Commission to make a positive statement and recommend that the Energy Code be adopted. Del Leppke said that it was worth looking into in more detail before it goes to the Council. POTENTIAL FRANCHISE DIISCUSSION Dennis Marino pointed out that the three different documents included in their packet regarding the Chicago Franchise with ComEd and the amended agreements. He said that one document is from the City Council of Chicago journal and includes amended sections settling an agreement between the City and ComEd. The second is a City Clerk's Office official authorization for execution called the Second Amendment to the Federal Agreement, and the actual ordinance that settled the agreement. If the Commission would want to get into the nuances of both the process and substance it may want to invite Steve Walters from Chicago to come and spend some time at one of the Energy meetings. Joel Freeman added that one of the things Mr. Walters does is administer money set aside for energy conservation products with the City of Chicago. Mr. Lcppke stated that Alan Kistler has found that a Western Massachusetts Electric Company has developed a service quality plan that is available on the web. It is an approach to setting specific criteria to gauge whether or not the service provided meets the requirements set forth in the franchise. MEMBERSHIP Dennis Marino said that there was nothing to report regarding Energy Commission membership. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business before the Commission, it adjourned at 8.30 am. Respectfully submitted, Mary Baaske Planning EVANSTON ENERGY COMMISSION Minutes Tuesday, December 2, 2003 Room 2404 — 7:15 a.m. CIVIC CENTER MEMBERS PRESENT: Jackie Brown, Joel Freeman, Arlene Haas, Del Leppke, Paul Morse, Rudy Wolfson MEMBERS ABSENT: Tim Flannery, Alan Kistler STAFF PRESENT: Dennis Marino, Mary Baaske PRESIDING OFFICIAL: Del Leppke OTHERS PRESENT: Irwin Levinson, Leonard Sciarra, William Siegfriedt, P.E., Ross Vagnieres 1. CALL TO ORDER: Del L.eppke noted that a quorum was present and called the meeting to order at 7:15 a.m. He acknowledged the presence of Irwin Levinson, Leonard Sciarra, William Siegfriedt, P.E., and Ross Vagnieres. 11. COMMITTEE REPORTS A. Energy Supply, Transmission Contracts, Liaison Activities and Innovative and Emerging Energy Options Joel Freeman drew the Commission's attention to the email he had sent to Planning that was distributed this morning. He said that this was an article summarizing the end of the discussion about Exelon wanting special consideration for rate increases for their deal with Dynegy Inc., Illinois Power's Houston -based parent. B. Governmental Policy and Legislative/Regulatory Actions Dennis Marino said that the two documents distributed this morning included an overview of the 2003 Federal Energy Bill. The other document regarded an article that is a critical perspective of the Energy Bill from the Economist. C. Oversight, Monitoring & Inspection Actions Rudy Wolfson reported that there was a Technical Review Group meeting last month after the Energy Commission meeting. Mike Radziewicz from ComEd attended the meeting. He said that ComEd had gone through a reorganization that Evanston Energy Commission Minutes - December 2. 2003 Paste Two produced the following changes in the Northeast Region: Dan Brea will be in charge of operating, Engineering -gill report directly to a vice president, construction will be under Tony Broglio, transmission and distribution will be under Nuclear, and Mr. Preston is in charge of engineering. Dennis Marino said that while ComEd has gone through a reorganization, the people that Evanston interacts with have mostly remained the same. Some Commission members were concerned about the reorganization at ComEd and how it would effect negotiations. Paul Morris asked if percent loading would be discussed at the next meeting with ComEd. Dennis Marino said that it would and that he had spoken to Dave Metz (the City's Energy consultant) and that Mr. Metz will join the Commission at the January or February TRG meeting. Mr. Metz would like to see more evidence of a three to four year capital plan on the part of ComEd. D. Distribution Systems Franchise & Provider Agreements and Liaison Activities E. Chairman's Report III. CONSIDERATION OF MINUTES OF OCPOBER 29 AND NOVEMBER 7, 2003* Jackie Brown moved approval of the October 2, 2004 minutes. Motion seconded by Rudy Wolfson. Motion passed unanimously. Jackie Brown moved approval of the November 7, 2003 minutes. Motion seconded by Joel Freeman. Motion passed unanimously with one abstention. IV, ENERGY CONSERVATION CODES Leonard Sciarra, member of the Evanston Environmental Board stated that the Environmental Board was proposing that the City adopt the Environmental Code when it adopted the other building codes. He distributed a copy of the material sent to the Planning and Development Committee and the Human Services Commission. Mr. Sciarra added that the Environment Board would like the Energy Commission to recommend the Environmental Code as well. When asked what the reaction of the general public in Evanston was to the Environmental Code, Mr. Sciarra said that it was mostly surprise that there has not been one in effect already. Paul Morse asked Mr. Sciarra what arguments he had heard from the City regarding enforcing the Energy Code. Mr. Sciarra said that the best way to enforce the Environmental Code is inspection by City inspectors and it is his understanding that the City is not financially able to hire any more inspectors at this point. Evanston Energy Commission Minutes - December 2, 2003 Paee Three Mr. Sciarra said that what Chicago did and what Evanston can do is to hold a series of training seminars for architects that practice and work in Evanston so that they can understand what it means to self certify. He said that they have a program where architects have to pass a test and added that he doesn't know where the money comes from for this program. Joel Freeman said that Chicago is funded in part by the Clean Energy Foundation. Irwin Levinson added that with an Energy Code in effect, when someone remodels his or her home, this code would cover remodeling also. Having an Energy Code for commercial and/or residential was discussed. Del Leppke said that the City was in the process of studying the Energy Code and would have a recommendation sometime in 2004. Mr. Sciarra said the Environmental Board would like the Energy Commission to encourage the City Council to adopt the Energy Code and to work out the details of the implementation with the Building Department to get a workable solution. Dennis Marino expressed the concern that if the code would be adopted and there was no process for enforcing and inspecting it, what would the city's liability be if the people that were certified or trained didn't do what they were supposed to do regarding the code. Mr. Sciarra said that most liability for compliance with the building code falls on the owner not the municipality in terms of enforcing it. Rudy Wolfson said that adopting this code would cost the City money, but it would be money well spent. He wondered if there was a way to make a recommendation that the Energy Code be adopted with modifications which wouldn't encourage excessive costs to the City but would achieve a great deal of what the Environment Board and Energy Commission would like done. The Commission discussed if and how an energy code would effect low-income housing and what steps could be taken to help. Mr. Freeman added that it was inherent in the code adoption process to review the contents and see if there are any items in the code that does not apply or something that cannot be complied with and then amendments can be made. Mr. Marino said that it would be a good idea to have all parties at a future Energy Commission meeting to discuss this once more before a recommendation is made. Paul Morse moved to request that the Community Development Department/Building Division to include the International Energy Code most recent version for consideration among all the building codes being reviewed. Motion seconded by Joel Freeman. Del Leppke said it is his understanding that if the Energy Commission passed this resolution that it would still want to continue discussion with respect to some future resolution that would give strength to the Energy Commission's support. Arlene Haas moved to amend the motion by aeding that it is the Energy Commission's intention to get feedback from James Wolinski, Director of the Community Development Department. Paul Morse accepted the amendment to his original motion. Joel Freeman also accepted it. Motion passed unanimously. . .- ',vim.• � � ..-. ,'rt.. ,. Evanston Energy Commission Minutes - December 2.2003 V. MEMBERSHIP No new report. Page Four VI. RECENT OUTAGES Dennis Marino reported that Max Rubin had informed him of one outage over this last weekend. VII. COMMUNICATIONS Dennis Marino pointed out several communications contained in the Commission's energy packet. Communications were accepted into the record. At 8:52 a.m. the Commission went into Executive Session for the purpose of the potential leasing of the City right-of-way and the related negotiation strategy. Paul Morse moved to go into executive session. Rudy Wolfson seconded the Motion. Roll call: Voting aye - Haas, Brown, Wolfson, Leppke, Freeman, Morse. Voting nay - none. Motion carried (6-0). VII. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business before the Commission, it adjourned at 9:35 am. Respectfully submitted, Mary aaske Planning Division