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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes 2005. 7r EVANSTON ENERGY COMMISSION Minutes January 11, 2005 Room 2404 — 7:15 a.m. CIVIC CENTER MEMBERS PRESENT: Joel Freeman, Arlene Haas, Del Leppke, Paul Morse, Rudy Wolfson MEMBERS ABSENT: Mereu STAFF PRESENT: Dennis Marino PRESIDING OFFICIAL: Rudy Wolfson OTHERS PRESENT: CALL TO ORDER. - 'The meeting was convened at 7:19 a.m. The minutes of December 2004 were not acted upon due to the absence of a quorum. ENERGY SUPPLY, CONSERVATION & ALTERNATIVE ENERGY SOURCES A Highlights article is being drafted by Joel Freeman for inclusion in the Spring issue to inform Evanston residents about energy conservation and the role of the Energy Commission. Members encouraged this activity. Other issues to be addressed in the future include natural gas pricing and renewable power. Members also discussed the possibility of state grants and Clean Energy Foundation grants for new LED traffic signals which would save energy. Dennis Marino agreed to discuss this issue with David Jennings. GOVERNMENTAL POLICY AND LEGISLATIVE REGULATORY ACTIONS Arlene Haas indicated that the new legislative session will start soon and there is an ongoing need to monitor potential legislative action within the Senate Environment and Energy Committee. It was reported that Illinois Power was ordered by the ICC to do time of day pricing as a condition of Commission approval of the development of a site. There was discussion of the appointment of a new Illinois Commerce Commissioner from the staff of the Center for Neighborhood Technology (Bob Lieberman) and the desire to encourage him to speak to the Energy Commission in the future. Evanston Energy Commission Minutes — January 11, 2005 Palze Two OVERSIGHT, MONITORING AND INSPECTION ACTIONS Rudy Wolfson reported that the Technical Review Group will meet with Com Ed once the quarterly report of performance and the six month outage report have been received. This is expected to happen during February. DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM FRANCHISE AGREEMENTS Members agreed to focus on this issue in the summer of 2005 to begin planning for the expiration of the franchise with Cam Ed in July 2007 which is also the time of planned deregulation in Illinois. Members discussed the need to brief the new City Council. CHAIRMAN'S REPORT Rudy Wolfson discussed the upcoming Greening the Heartland Symposium. Several members were interested in sharing a registration to attend. Funding of the registration was requested and Dennis Marino indicated that funding was available. Members next discussed relations between the Energy Commission and the Environment Board. It was agreed that a discussion about common interests would occur between the Chairs of these two Commissions and the Chair of the Plan Commission. Del Leppke also requested that the two bodies exchange minutes. Arlene Haas asked when the Commission should issue a report of activities and future priorities. Del Leppke indicated that this could be done at any time, but it may be most strategic to do with A & PW in May or June. Members next discussed priority interests for the next year. These included: the franchise (new franchise or continual multiple year extensions, e.g. three years), energy conservation, expansion of time of day pricing (modifying peak loads and peak demand), renewable energy and renewable energy certificates, communication about energy conservation and work of the Commission, investigation of residential amendment to the energy code and assessment of natural gas franchise and reliability issues. MEMBERSHIP Members discussed the vacant positions on the Commission and the need for them to encourage colleagues and residents to apply for nomination to the Commission. The Commission until today has been able to maintain a quorum for the past several months. Paul Morse agreed to make contacts at Northwestern University for possible applicants. RECENT OUTAGES Dennis Marino reported on a recent outage in the Oak Street Corridor which led to Com Ed replacing a transformer. The cause of the problem was the conversion of an apartment building from gas to electric heat. Members discussed the need for the TRG to review this case study to determine how the outage could have b een averted. Dennis Marino reported that he, Corn Ed and the City's electrical inspectors worked together to address this situation and have discussed how permit data, especially loading analysis, could be shared. Evanston Energy Commission Minutes — January 11. 2005 Page Three COMN"ICATIONS An article from Public Power Magazine was included which debated the benefits of electric deregulation, especially the achievement of the goal of generating more retail competition in electric markets. The Meeting was adjourned at 8:48 a.m. % a zL Dennis Marino Assistant Director for Planning Director — Planning Division EVANSTON ENERGY COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES Friday, February 11, 2005 Civic Center, Roam 2404 at 7:15A.M. MEMBERS PRESENT: Joel Freeman, Arlene Haas, Del Leppke, Stefano Mereu, Paul Morse, William Siegfriedt, Rudy Wolfson STAFF PRESENT: Dennis Marino, James Wolinski, Mary Baaske, PRESIDING OFFICIAL: Rudy Wolfson OTHER PRESENT: Dave Grumman, Developers of 1800 Ridge Avenue 1. CALL TO ORDER Rudy Wolfson called the meeting to order at 7:16 a.m., a quorurn being present. IL CONSIDERATION OF MINUTES OF JANUARY 11, 2005* Del Leppke moved approval of the December 10, 2004 minutes. Motion seconded by Stefano Mereu. Motion passed unanimously Del Leppke moved approval of the January 11, 2005 minutes. Motion seconded by Joel Freeman. After a minor correction from Paul Morse, the motion passed unanimously. III. COMMITTEE REPORTS A. Energy Supply, Conservation & Alternative Energy Sources Joel Freeman drew the Commission's attention to the ProLiance article he had distributed earlier. He said that, partly because of the milder winter weather and partly because of the ample storage, gas prices did not spike as expected and remained relatively high and stable. Mr. Freeman pointed out the ICC Final Report to the Governor about the progress of deregulation that was also included in the members' packet. This report was initiated by the Legislature in 1997 and implemented by the ICC. The transition phase of the deregulation process terminates in 2006. Highlights of the ICUs self evaluation of progress in Illinois since 1997 include improvements in service reliability, lower electric rates, increased competition for non residential customers, and increased generation capacity. The report also acknowledges that competition for residential customers has not increased and needs to be addressed. Evanston Energy Commission Minutes — February 11.2005 Paste Two In addition, future renewable power supply portfolios to be offered by utilities are recommended. The report is available on the ICC Web Site "Final Report of the ICC's Post-2006 initiative." B. Governmental Policy and LegislativelRegulatory Actions Arlene Haas reported that Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan is appointing a special committee to address the setting of new power rates and determine if the legislature should be more involved. She said that previously Del Leppke mentioned that Illinois Power would be rewired to have real time pricing for its customers. Ms. Haas stated that as part of the purchase of Illinois Power by AMERON in September 2004, the ICC required a real time pricing structure. The Community Energy Cooperative became heavily involved and offered the need for real time pricing, so that became part of the settlement as well. Community Energy Cooperative is involved in helping AMERON structure the real time pricing and one of the benefits of this is that even though it's not documented in the settlement, AMERON wants to oiler it to all of downstate. AMERON owns several other utilities in southern Illinois and they want to offer real time pricing in 2007. Details are still being worked out. Community Energy Cooperative is also trying to get ComEd to offer Real Time Pricing more extensively. Ms. Haas said that it would be helpful to have Anthony Star attend an Energy Commission meeting in a few months. Until now, the utilities have been required to pay a program share up to $3 million into a fund that is used to promote energy efficiency programs throughout the state; a new legislative bill proposes that this be raised to up to $45 million. C. Oversight, Monitoring & Inspection Actions Dennis Marino reported that the next meeting of the Technical Review Group (TRG) is tentatively set for March 10 or 11. He explained that usually the TRG meets on the same day as the Energy Commission meeting. After discussion the Commission members voted to change the Energy Commission meeting to March 10 with the TRG to start after the Energy Commission meeting. D. Distribution Systems Franchise Agreements No report. E. Chairman's Report Rudy Wolfson reported that an early morning meeting where the chairs of the three commissions would get together (Plan Commission, Energy Board and the Energy Commission) is tentatively scheduled for February 18, 2005. He asked for input on the goals to be discussed. Evanston Energy Commission Minutes — February 11.2005 Page Three Dennis Marino stated that there are funds for one joint registration for the Greening the Heartland Symposium. Mr. Wolfson said that members would decide at the May meeting who would attend the seminar in June, with a different member attending each of the three days. IV. QUARTERLY REPORT FROM COMED JANUARY 31, 2005 Members deferred discussion of this report to the March 10I' meeting of the Commission and the Technical Review Group. The six month outage report from ComEd is due February 15`s and will be discussed at the March meeting. V. NEW DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS/LEED CERTIFICATION POSSIBILITIES The developers of 1800 Ridge Avenue presented their proposal for LEED Certification of their project. They stressed the many ways in which their development project emphasizes green, environmentally benign building materials and construction processes. They also stressed the ability of the development to conserve energy and enhance the quality of resident life. LEED Certification is a program of the U.S. Green Building Council. VI. SCHEDULE FOR BUILDING CODE UPDATES — 2005 James Wolinski, Community Development Director, reported that the State mandated Energy Code has been adopted by the Legislature. Guidelines from the State should be available in late spring or in early summer. From everything that has been heard so far, it is assumed that it is going to mirror a lot of the same type of requirements as the Internal Code Energy Code. While it applies to all commercial and industrial, it does not apply to single family or multi -family under four stories. Any residential properties over four stories will have to follow the Energy Code. He added that enforcement of this Code will probably start in the fall of 2005. Mr. Wolinski said that he hopes to go to Council with the building codes, NEC, mechanical and electrical, etc., on February 28, 2005. Mr. Wolinski said that he has asked for an additional S 10,000 in his budget for a consultant to help with the Energy Code. The consultant will help with plan review and inspections. As soon as the guidelines are received they will be given to the building and architectural community. He asked for the Commission's support for the State Energy Code. VII. RECENT OUTAGES No outages that have tripped feeders have been reported. VIII. COMMUNICATIONS Dennis Marino commented on the communications included in the energy packets. "n,4'19.q? .Wr e�7r. i/k';Y. ."e. ••7�,•p �,�. , Evanston Energy Commission Minutes — February 11. 2005 Page Four X. OTHER BUSINESS Rudy Wolfson said that he would like "Organizing Goals for 2005 on the March agenda. XI. ADJOURNMENT There being no funther business before the Commission, it adjourned at 9:05 a.m. Respectfully submitted, Mary Baaske Planning Division EVANSTON EYERGY COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES Thursday, March 10, 2005 Civic Curter, Room 2404 at 7a5 A.M. MEMBERS PRESENT: Joel Freernan, Arlene Haas, Del Leppke, Stefano Menu, Paul Morse, Rudy Wolfson MEMBERS ABSENT: William Siegfriedt STAFF PRESENT: Dennis Marino, Mary Baaske PRESIDING OFFICIAL: Rudy Wolfson OTHER PRESENT: Dave Metz, Consultant 1. CALL TO ORDER Rudy Wolfson called the meeting to order at 7:16 a.m., a quorum being present. 11. CONSIDERATION OF MINUTES OF FEBRUARY 11, 2005 Paul Morse moved approval of the minutes of February 11, 2005. Motion seconded by Del Leppke. Mr. Morse stated that the term "Internal Energy Code" in the first paragraph of page three should read "International Energy Conservation Code." Motion passed unanimously. III. COMMITTEE REPORTS A. Energy Supply, Conservation & Alternative Energy Sources Rudy Wolfson mentioned that an article submitted by the Energy Commission was put in the City's Spring Highlights magazine. Joel Freeman said that Donna Stuckert (Community Information Coordinator) suggested also placing these articles on the City's website. At the end of February, the Natural Gas Storage Report was that the amount of gas in storage is nearly 30% greater than the five year average. In the past, the price of gas would have gone down; however the prices are staying the same. Mr. Freeman mentioned that Governor Blagojevich is requiring that at least 75% of renewable energy was to be generated by wind resources. Evanston Energy Commission Minutes — March 10.2005 Page Two On March 30, 2005, members of the Environment Board will make a presentation to the Civic Center Committee about green building practices and green building rating systems. Mr. Freeman reported that people who are involved with the network for Evanston's future are doing another Earth Month. The Earth Month theme is food and there will be two events — Sunday at I p.m., April 3, 2005 and Tuesday, April 12, 2005 in the evening. The Environment Board is asking whether the Energy Commission could be listed as one of the sponsors these events. After some discussion, the Commission tabled this item. B. Governmental Policy and Legislative/Regulatory Actions Arlene Haas reported that as part of Governor Blagojevich's State of the State speech in February he announced that he has a plan to require Illinois utilities to provide 2% of renewable energy as part of their overall power by 2006. By 2012 that figure increases to 8%. Included in the packet is a letter to the Illinois Congress Commission (ICC) discussing this plan. Ms. Haas stated that State Senate 1198 bill was recently proposed that has some provisions that would require the ICC to set standards for repairing certain electric generation facilities, electric transmission or distribution facilities and also require safety standards and reliability standards for some electric generation facilities as well as transmission and distribution facilities. In the same bill are standards that would require non emergency vegetation management on four year cycles. C. Oversight, Monitoring & Inspection Actions (Addressed as Items VI and Vll.) D. Distribution Systems Franchise Agreements Del Leppke said that there are 13 municipalities whose franchise will expire between 2007 and 2017. He asked if the Northwest Municipal Conference had given any thought to the fact that another group of municipalities are coming up to expiration of franchises and is it time to get some feed back as to how the municipalities that are operating under the current franchise feel about it. Dennis Marino replied that he was not aware of any initiative on the part of the NWMC to address that issue, but he will check on that. He said he would be surprised if they are because the majority of their membership adopted the 35 year Northwest Model Franchise Agreement which Evanston elected not to adopt in the early 90's. Evanston Energy Commission Minutes — March 10, 2005 Pane Three E. Chairman's Report Rudy Wolfson said that Quarterly reports from ComEd would be discussed later. He said that there was a meeting with the Chairmen of the Plan Commission and the Environmental Board. The priorities of all three Commissions were discussed. Dennis Marino reported that the other chairs were Derek Supple of the Environment Board and Larry Widmeyer of the Plan Commission. The Plan Commission focus was on planned developments with I7 night meetings in the past year dealing with 11 planned developments with 8 more in process at this point. What emerged from the meeting for the Plan Commission was they felt that they should ask more questions as part of their review as it relates to electric service issues and other utility issues. In addition to that they felt that issues such as feeder loading are something they would like to give more attention. Mr. Widmeyer commented that there are issues embedded in those design review guidelines discussions that might be related to energy. Rudy Wolfson added that Mr. Widmeyer was very interested in demand side controls and distributed generation. Mr. Marino said that Mr. Supple spoke of past work in terms of the incinerator at Evanston Hospital, work on the Dutch Elm Disease, proposed marina, and working with the Energy Commission to promote the International Energy Code. In addition, the Environment Board stated its concern about hazardous waste collection, a clean school bus program - a gas fuel program, improved utilization of the upper North Shore channel, postal zone management issues. Upcoming work for the Environment Board was described as green buildings, LEED certification, promoting the use of LEED traffic signals. They are also interested in the City's Building Department forming a green team to review green buildings and offer incentives for green buildings. Waste removal in terms of how condominiums pay double for waste removal. IV. 2005 PRIORITIES Rudy Wolfson asked the Commission to discuss their priorities. The last time the Commission discussed priorities, it discussed reliability, franchise input and agreement, conservation, support for alternative energy sources and distributed generation, and possibly developing a liaison with Nicor. He said that if these issues were set out in broad terms the Commission could add detail to them later. Paul Morse suggested that both franchises (electric and gas) should be discussed. He added that there would have to be some research regarding the gas franchise. Evanston Energy Commission Minutes -- March 10, 2005 Page Four Stefano Mereu suggested that besides putting an article in the City's Highlights magazine, articles could be put in the Roundtable, etc. Also, the Commission could put together some material to be given out with City permits. Mr. Marino said there were brochures at the permit desk and that additional educational material could be displayed at the permit desk. Mr. Mereu asked about Real Time Pricing. Mr. Wolfson said that permanent time of day pricing was listed as a sub item under franchise negotiations and conservation. Mr. Wolfson summarized the Energy Commission goals as follows: 1, Improved reliability for both ComEd and Nicor 2. Develop a new franchise agreement with ComEd and analyze the existing franchise with N1COR 3. Conservation, publicizing in both the Highlights and other newspapers and possibly material to be put at the permit desk, and green building initiatives. 4. Support for alternative energy sources and distributed generation. Del Leppke moved to adopt the Energy Commission goals as listed. Motion seconded by Joel Freeman. Motion passed unanimously. V. SCHEDULE FOR BUILDING CODE UPDATES — 2005 Dennis Marino reported that the date the Building Code Updates is scheduled to be heard at the Planning and Development Committee is March 28, 2005. Material for the meeting will available the Thursday before the meeting. VI. QUARTERLY REPORT FROM COMED JANUARY 319 2005 (SIX MONTH) Rudy Wolfson stated that this report will be discussed at the TRG meeting and asked for input from the Commission. Del Leppke said that both the tree and weather causes of outages have not changed in the last three years in spite of good weather. Joel Freeman mentioned that malfunction and underground failure have gone down in the last 3 years. Mr. Leppke mentioned that the substation DCC61 has 99% load on the substation that serving the Orrington Hotel. He said that that this substation is getting very heavily loaded and that it warrants discussion by the Commission. Dave Metz said that he has reviewed the report and has some questions regarding animal interruption for ComEd. In the Year 2000 ComEd stated that they would install animal guards throughout the entire area and interruptions have not gone down. VII. OUTAGE REPORT (8/1/94 THRU 1/21/05) Dennis Marino reported this report was delivered to members of the Technical Review Group and would be given to the other member after the meeting. Evanston Energy Commission Minutes — March 10.2005 Paae Five VIII. RECENT OUTAGES Dennis Marino reported that there were I or 2 minor outages that occurred downtown. He suggested that they be discussed with Mike Radziewicz at the TRG meeting. IX, MEMBERSHIP Dennis Marino reported that he has shared that there are still four openings on the Energy Commission with the Mayor. Paul Morse said he has contacted some people at Northwestern and received a positive response. Dennis Marino said that they could get the form online. X COMMUNICATIONS Communications were accepted into the record XI. OTHER BUSINESS MI. ADJOURNMENT There being no fiuther business before the Commission, it adjourned at 8:31 am. Respectfully submitted, A e eel Mary ke Plannf ig Division /Date: ;, // 7/ fs EVANSTON ENERGY COMMISSION MEETING Friday, April 1, 2005 Civic Center, Room 2404 at 7:15 A.M. MINUTES MEMBERS PRESENT: Joel Freeman, Arlene Haas, Rudy Wolfson MEMBERS ABSENT: Del Leppke, Stefano Mereu, Paul Morse, William Siegfriedt STAFF PRESENT: Dennis Marino, Mary Baaske PRESIDING OFFICIAL: Rudy Wolfson I. CALL TO ORDER The meeting started at 7:24, no quorum was present. II. CONSIDERATION OF MINUTES OF MARCH 10, 2005" Due to the lack of a quorum at today's meeting, the minutes of March 10, 2005 will be considered at the May 3, 2005 meeting. III. COMMITTEE REPORTS A. Energy Supply, Conservation & Alternative Energy Sources Joel Freeman reported that he had attended a session given by ProLiance Energy which happens to be the gas supplier for the City of Evanston. The company presented numerous factors which will be affecting natural gas supply prices in the future. Until new supplies are brought into the market place, which is not anticipated for another five or ten years, the forecast for natural gas demand is going to outrun the supplies that are available. Gas, supplies in Canada and Alaska seem to be the way to match supply and demand. The United States produces 85% of what it uses with the remaining 15% being bought from Canada Mr. Freeman said he received an email about a proposed rule for the energy conservation code that the Capital Development Board (CDB) has crafted and is now out for public comment. He said he has heard that there are some groups that are opposing it. It has already been enacted and Mr. Freeman said he didn't know what these groups were opposing. Evanston Energy Commission Minutes — April 10, 2005 Pap-e Two B. Governmental Policy and Legislative/Regulatory Actions Arlene Haas recalled that the Energy Commission, at a previous meeting, had spoken about the letter Governor Blagojevich had sent to the ICC concerting energy conservation. She said she has been trying to find out what action the ICC had taken in response House Bill 3744 was proposed which included some of the Sustainable Energy plan; she believed it was the part that requires having a certain percentage of supplies come from renewable sources, 2% in 2006 increasing to 10% by 2014. Ms. Haas stated that she had called Representative Scully's office and they spoke about the fact that Speaker Madigan was making electricity pricing his priority and had set up a special committee. So far there has not been any legislation that has come out of that committee. In reply to a question from Joel Freeman, Ms. Haas said that Representative Art Turner was sponsoring House Bill 3744. Joel Freeman asked if the Renewable Energy Bill requires only the utilities or any and all suppliers. Ms. Haas said that it required any and all suppliers (the bill states each electric utility or alternate electric supplier.) C. Oversight, Monitoring & Inspection Actions Postponed until the May meeting. IV. TECHNICAL REVIEW GROUP REPORT Rudy Wolfson reported that there was a Technical Review Group meeting and that Paul Morse had sent him notes on that meeting. Mr. Morse was going to make the report at the meeting today; however, he was not able to attend. The report was postponed until the next Energy Commission meeting in May. Mr. Wolfson said that they discussed reliability goals and outages, repeated that we wanted to work toward an average duration of less than 60 minutes — the ComEd goal was 100 minutes. He said that Dave Metz has always indicated that when it comes to adverse effects of outages, storms should be excluded so that we really get indices of real failures instead of storm failures which really are part of the norm. Dennis Marino mentioned that ComEd always includes storm data. Mr. Wolfson added that the reliability indices for 2002, 2003, and 2004 were discussed. It was noted that underground failure in equipment malfunctions was going down, but tree interruptions remain high. The tree cycle trimming was discussed as was wild life protectors. It was mentioned that since the numbers of wildlife interruptions have not changed, ComEd must not be installing sufficiently wildlife protectors. Evanston Energy Commission Minutes —April 10, 2005 Page Three Dennis Marino said that as a result of the outage on Oak Street in December 2004, there is now improved information about feeder loading which is shared between the City's Building Division and Com Ed. The other issue discussed by the TRG was major new city developments, most of which were already familiar to ComEd staff that was present. They were given a two page document of projects that were in the pipeline or concept at this point and attention was called to the proposed TIF district on the west side which is not likely to generate high density development but hopefully will generate low density development on currently vacant land near the old railroad right of way. Laura lee Wittington, planner for ComEd shared information about what ComEd is doing now and brought in a map of the entire transmission system of the north shore (which will be brought to the next meeting). She discussed her methodology in planning for load growth over a five year period. V. 2005 PRIORITIES Rudy Wolfson stated he wanted more members in attendance before the 2005 priorities were discussed. VL NICOR FRANCHISE Dennis Marino reported that there is an internal City team that is meeting with Nicor to discuss a variety of issues. Those issues revolve around digging problems as contractors have been piercing gas lines — not often, but occasionally. Related to that is more accurate mapping of where the lines are and response time when digging occurs. He said that this is being worked on actively by the Committee composed of the Office of the City Manager, Public Works, Fire Department, Facilities Management and he has also been invited to be part of the process now. Mr. Marino said he would keep the Energy Commission informed on the issues as they emerge — particular those issues that could use the expertise of the Energy Commission. He added that the City does receive cash equivalency instead of free gas from Nicor. Vlll. RECENT OUTAGES Dennis Marino reported that he had checked with Max Rubin's office to see if any faxes had come in from ComEd and there had not. The last outages reported were on February 15 and February 28, 2005. Outages can be viewed on the City's website. VEIL MEMBERSHIP No new report. IX COMMUNICATIONS Communications were commented on and accepted into the record. Evanston Energy Commission Minutes —April 10. 2005 1. OTHER BUSINESS Pace Four 3U. ADJOURNMENT Them being no further business before the Commission, it adjoumed at 8:30 a.m. Respectfully submitted, Mary Mary B e Plannin 'vision 4119105 K EVANSTON ENERGY COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES Tuesday, May 3, 2005 Civic Center, Room 1404 at 7.15 A.M. MEMBERS PRESENT: Joel Freeman, Arlene Haas, Stefano Mereu, Paul Morse, William Siegfriedt, Rudy Wolfson MEMBERS ABSENT: Del Leppke STAFF PRESENT: Dennis Marino, Mary Baaske PRESIDING OFFICIAL: Rudy Wolfson OTHERS PRESENT: Irwin Levinson, Andy Dickerson, Ronald Robert i. CALL TO ORDER Chair Rudy Wolfson called the meeting to order at 7:13 a quorum being present. II. CONSIDERATION OF MINUTES OF MARCH 10, 2005 & APRIL 1, 2005 Paul Morse moved to approve the minutes of March 10, 2005, seconded by Joel Freeman. After some minor editorial changes, motion passed unanimously. Joel Freeman moved to approve the minutes of April 1, 2005, seconded by Arlene Haas. Motion approved — 3 ayes 3 abstentions. III. COMMITTEE REPORTS A. Energy Supply, Conservation & Alternative Energy Sources Joel Freeman stated that the Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC) issued its report on deregulation and he had a copy for anyone wanting to see it. He drew attention to several points of interest including the existing bundled rate freeze will expire and bundled rates will Iikely begin to reflect wholesale prices; but probably will be higher. In the transition the ICC is trying to develop competition so that there is somewhat of a competitive market place. Mr. Freeman stated that in the report it states that there is not any competition for serving residential customers. It is hoped that there will be additional suppliers entering the market place so there will be a broader mix. Evanston Energy Commission Minutes -- Mav 3, 2005 Paec Two There was a brief discussion of the natural gas franchise concluding with a request for more information. Mr. Freeman next discussed the proposed regulations for implementing the new State Energy Conservation Code. All commercial facilities that require a building permit must comply and the minimum level of compliance (although determined by the local authority having jurisdiction) shall be demonstrated by forms published under ASHRAE 90.1 or compliance certificates generated as part of software assimilation program by the Department of Energy. Bill Siegfriedt moved to indicate to the City that the Energy Commission is ready to participate in review of the proposed regulations if requested. Paul Morse seconded the motion. Motion passed unanimously. B. Governmental Policy and Legislative/Regulatory Actions Arlene Haas reported that she had spoken to several people regarding the Governor's stable energy plan and why that went to the Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC), what the ICC's authority is in implementing. The ICC held several workshops to get comments from the general public. Those workshops have ended and the utilities as well as public interest groups have been submitting comments on the specific plan and also there are some legal issues. The major legal issue is not whether the ICC does oversee the public utilities but whether they really have the authority to regulate the alternative retail suppliers. Somewhere near the end of May or the beginning of June the ICC will submit an order discussing their authority and how they will implement a sustainable energy plan. The major issues for ComEd are that they be on an equal playing field with the alternative retail suppliers and also whether they will be able to recoup the cost of using renewable energy sources. Another issue is whether there are renewable energy sources right now in the State; they will have to increase the quality of the wind energy that is generated. She said it was questionable that they will reach a 2% reduction for renewable resources by 2006. Ms. Haas stated that Bill 1998 deals with requiring the utilities to create a vegetation management schedule as well as requiring the ICC to set safety and reliability standards is still in the Senate. Ms. Haas mentioned that she had read that the CTA wants to remove the express to Evanston, and it seemed to her that it was an Environmental/Energy issue at a time when more public transportation is being promoted. She asked Mr. Marino to speak to the Mayor and inform her of the Committee's concerns. Evanston Energy Commission Minutes — May 3, 2005 Page Three C. Oversight, Monitoring & Inspection Actions Rudy Wolfson said he gave an overview of Paul Morse's report at the last Energy Commission meeting and asked Mr. Morse to give further details on the March 10, 2005 TRG meeting. Mr. Morse highlighted the following points: 1. Regarding Sherman Plaza, ComEd is going to use an existing feeder and completely unload it of its existing load and run anew feeder to Evanston Hospital. 2. Mr. Morse said that animal related interruptions were also discussed including if wild life protectors are being installed and the state of their application and whether they were used as a matter of policy. Mr. Marino said that ComEd's response was that they are used when they were changing out an existing part of the distribution system. We are waiting to hear whether or not it is installed more universally than that. 3. Mr. Morse said that additional information had been requested concerning outage discrepancies that specifically outage underground failures show up in 2004 bar graph but there are none in the outage list. 4. Mr. Morse asked if ComEd had submitted additional information concerning overlays of the Evanston Northbrook reliability index graphs are not possible. Cables were requested with side by side numbers with different me and outage categories. D. Distribution Systems Franchise Agreements It was suggested that the subcommittee get together with Del Leppke. E. Chairman's Report The Solarbration at Haven School was discussed, including the fact that the solar photovoltaic system was funded by three different grants. The schools paid for the labor to install the system. Joel Freeman gave the Commission an overview of the events at the Solarbration. W. PRESENTATION BY ANDY DICKERSON OF CONSTELLATION NEWENERGY Andy Dickerson, with Constellation NewEnergy stated that Constellation NewEnergy is a large utility based in Baltimore, and added that it is very similar to Exelon. As a result of deregulation in Illinois, customers - mostly large industrial and commercial customers - have a choice of providers. ComEd will always be the transmission and distribution of power into the grid for those customers, but large end users have the choice of the power supplier. Mr. Dickerson said that his company works with large end users and structures Evanston Energy Commission Minutes -- Mav 3.2005 Page Four products and supplies power. He said that his company competes against ComEd's rates — for the most part they compete against the bundled tariff rate. Mr. Dickerson said that Illinois deregulated in 1997 for a ten year period and with that agreement that ComEd would deregulate, there were a couple other stipulations that ComEd negotiated. One of the major components of that ten year period is that ComEd was able to fix transmission distribution rates for ten years and open up its energy portion to the competition. ComEd's argument was as customers leave ComEd it would lose revenue so they were allowed to charge departing end users for stranded costs when they left the systems. Starting January 1, 2007 that stranded cost ends. Each year ComEd sets a new rate — a bundled tariff rate and creates a bundled rate for large end users and that is Constellation's rate to go into the market and try to beat this PPO purchase option. Mr. Dickerson said that the Energy Commission's side of energy is really the demand side of energy, while his side is more the trading and purchasing side and scheduling it into the grid. He said that Evanston Township High School participates in third party supply. Mr. Wolfson asked if Northwestern University was a customer of Constellation NewEnergy. Mr. Dickerson replied that they were not; they have a long term agreement with Exelon. Arlene Haas asked if Constellation offers real time pricing as an option to their customers. Mr. Dickerson said that they do and real time pricing is not just a time of day thing, it's also market price. He pointed out on a map of Constellation's service area he had provided that all the blue dots were existing offices, and all those states are deregulated — plus Toronto, and Calgary. Louisville and Tulsa are the gas hubs for the company. The most vibrant markets today are the Illinois Market, Texas, New York, California. He drew the Commission's attention to the last page of his handout which was a wholesale cost of power price chart. Mr. Dickerson said that Evanston High School was one of his customers. He said that were a pretty sophisticated end user of power, that they have on site generation. Last year at this time they did a one year fixed price deal spending about $30,000 per month. He said that his company saved ETHS about $200,000 last year. With the cost of power being higher their savings would be a lot less. Mr. Dickerson explained that as a sales guide for Constellation, he puts together the data to see what a customer would have paid and then goes into the market - whether it be short term or long term scenarios - and see if it is worthwhile for a customer to move from ComEd to a third party supplier. He said that they do offer terms as long as ten years but the average term is two years. Dennis Marino asked for the price formula on the 3 year or 5 year contracts and is it fixed price, or variable. Mr. Dickerson replied that pre 2007 the tariff rates are frozen, the M Evanston Energy Commission Minutes — May 3, 2005 Page Five transmission distribution components are all frozen, the only two moving components are the CTC component, the stranded cost and the cost of power. In a long term deal, the piece that Constellation would impact would be the commodity piece for 1, 2, or 3 years. The other components are known costs because they are fixed by the Illinois Commerce Commission. Paul Morse asked the break point for the bundled rate for residential in the size of the customer. Mr. Dickerson said he thought that would be approximately 100 kW. Dennis Marino asked if Constellation had the capacity to meet the requirements of those kinds of municipal utilities such as Naperville and Winnetka. Mr. Dickerson said his company did not compete against municipal utilities. Mr. Marino said that those two municipalities did not provide their power, they had to buy power from a wholesaler. Mr. Morse asked if Mr. Dickerson was a possible seller of that power to them. Mr. Dickerson said that Constellation Supply could, however he is on the retail side and it is not something he would do. Bill Siegfriedt asked how many competitors his company had in Illinois. Mr. Dickerson said that the primary competitors are Exelon and Meridian. Mr. Dickerson said that he could not compete with franchise agreements but there are a Iot of buildings that could benefit from third party supply. Rudy Wolfson thanked Mr. Dickerson for his enlightening presentation. V. 2005 PRIORITIES 1. Improved reliability for both ComEd and Nicor Rudy Wolfson said that there is a continuing priority through the Technical Review Group. 2. Develop a new franchise agreement with ComEd and analyze the existing franchise with NICOR. Mr. Wolfson said he would like the Franchise Committee consisting of Paul Morse, Arlene Haas and Del Leppke to get together and get an outline of where we might come up with some ideas for the Committee of the whole. He invited anyone interested to attend that meeting. Conservation, publicizing in both the Highlights and other newspapers and possibly material to be put at the permit desk, and green building initiatives. Mr. Wolfson asked for input. Stefano Mereu said he had to leave at this point but would provide something in writing for the Committee. 4. Support for alternative energy sources and distributed generation. Paul Morse said that it was his opinion that this topic will not go anywhere unless there is a demonstration project. Joel Freeman said that if there is a new Civic Evanston Energy Commission Minutes — May 3, 2005 Paste Six Center that is going to be constructed it would be an opportunity to integrate more along those lines. The possibility of a new Crown Center was discussed. V1. RECENT OUTAGES Dennis Marino said that at the last meeting he reported there had not been any recent outages the previous 30 days. Since the April meeting there have been two outages, one was a three hour outage on April 17 Circuit C4718 in the evening caused by tree contact, the areas affected were Payne to Church and Asbury to Lamar. The other outage was a one minute outage on April 28. The Circuit affected was C475 caused by underground failure — first section. VII. MEMBERSHIP Rudy Wolfson said he was going to meet with the Mayor regarding membership. IX COMMUNICATIONS Dennis Marino drew the Commission's attention to the communications included in their packet. X. OTHER BUSINESS No other business. M. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business before the Commission it adjourned at 9:05 a.m. Respectfully submitted M aaske Planning Division EVANSTON ENERGY COA' MSSION MEETING MINUTES MEMBERS PRESENT: MEMBERS ABSENT: STAFF PRESENT: PRESIDING OFFICIAL: I. CALL TO ORDER Wednesda3•, June 8, 2005 Civic Center, Room 2404 at 7. I5 A.M. Joel Freeman, Del Leppke, Stefano Mereu, Paul Morse, William Siegfriedt, Rudy Wolfson Arlene Haas Dennis Marino Rudy Wolfson H. CONSIDERATION OF MINUTES OF MAY 3, 2005 A motion was made and seconded to approve the minutes of May 3, 2005. After minor corrections, minutes were approved 5 ayes I abstention. III. COMMITTEE REPORTS A. Energy Supply, Conservation & Alternative Energy Sources Joel Freeman provided an overview of a short term energy outlook report for the group. B. Governmental Policy and Legislative/Regulatory Actions No report. C. Oversight, Monitoring & Inspection Actions Dennis Marino reported that there will be a meeting of the Technical Review Group on July 1, 2005 at 8:30 a.m. following the regular scheduled Energy Commission meeting. D. Distribution Systems Franchise Agreements No report. E. Chairman's Report Rudy Wolfson reported that he, Stefano Mereu and Joel Freeman each attended one day of the Greening of the Heartland Conference. They gave overviews of each of the days they attended the conference. IV. COM ED MAY 31' REPORT PER FRANCHISE AGREEMENT Dennis Marino mentioned that the purpose today is to give the Commission a quick exposure to these documents leading to a more detailed discussion of the Energy Commission meeting of July 1, followed by the TRG Meeting V. COM ED ANNUAL REPORT DATA Dennis Marino drew the Commission attention to the Corn Ed Annual Report Data He said that last year during Franchise Negotiations, Corn Ed provided a template of what an Annual Report would look like which we encouraged. However, we indicated that we also needed periodic reports as well as the Annual Report. Also included in this report is the list of circuits and boundaries, and a map of the distribution system. The 2004 Franchise Interruption Report provides an inventory of outages and this should be the cumulative of everything that is in the periodic reports. It also provides a report of Evanston Capacity Improvement projects, Vegetation Management, New Businesses, Public Relocation and a cumulative summary of what happened in 2004 and also what is planned for 2005. The Report also includes a listing of all City facilities receiving free electricity. VI. RECENT OUTAGES Max Rubin reported on recent outages including one on June 7, 2005 at 2:04 p.m. to 5:04 p.m.caused by an underground failure cable fault on Circuit C202. He added that an Alderman had called and informed him that Lincoln School was out of power all day yesterday, June 7, 2005 Detailed information on outages can be found on the City's web page. VII. MEMBERSHIP Rudy Wolfson said he would call or email Paul Morse regarding someone from Northwestern University applying for membership. Bill Siegfriedt volunteered to speak to a friend who is a former employee of ComEd for membership to the Energy Commission. Mr. Wolfson mentioned that application forms are on the website. VIII. COMMUNICATIONS Dennis Marino said that everything had been discussed previously during this meeting. IX. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business before the Commission it adjourned at 8:45 a.m. Respectfully submitted, Mary B ke/Planning Division EVANSTON ENERGY COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES Friday, July 1, 2005 Civic Center, Room 2404 at 7:1 S A.M. MEMBERS PRESENT: Joel Freeman. Del Leppke, Stefano Mereu, Paul Morse, William Siegfriedt, Rudy Wolfson MEMBERS ABSENT: Arlene Haas STAFF PRESENT: Dennis Marino CONSULTANT PRESENT: Dave Metz, Stanley Associates PRESIDING OFFICIAL: Rudy Wolfson OTHERS PRESENT: Irwin Levinson I. CALL TO ORDER Chair Wolfson called the meeting to order at 7:17 a.m. II. CONSIDERATION OF MINUTES OF JUNE 8, 2005 Del Leppke made a motion to approve the minutes of June 8, 2005, seconded by Joel Freeman. Rudy Wolfson asked that the June 8 minutes be changed to reflect that Paul Morse was in attendance at that meeting. Motion passed unanimously. III. COMMITTEE REPORTS A. Energy Supply, Conservation & Alternative Energy Sources Joel Freeman reported that there was not much new to report since the Commission meeting three weeks ago. He mentioned that people that had signed up for Real Time Pricing, which is now about 12 cents an hour, have noticed that the price of electricity which used to go down on the weekends with the exception of the wee hours of the morning are %irtually the same as the week day. B. Governmental Policy and Legislative/Regulatory Actions Del Leppke reported that there is a United States Energy Policy bill that the House and Senate are working on. Dennis Marino mentioned that there is information regarding this in the members' packet communications. Dennis Marino reported that there will be 9 P&D members. The schedule is set that at every Council meeting night all aldermen can attend all meetings. Evanston Energy Commission Minutes — July 1, 2005 Page Two C. Oversight, Monitoring & Inspection Actions Rudy Wolfson stated that there is a Technical and Review Group meeting at 8:30 a.m today. D. Distribution Systems Franchise Agreements No report. E. Chairman's Report Rudy Wolfson said that he would like the priorities that were listed in the May minutes to be discussed at every meeting to see what is being accomplished. Improved reliability will be discussed with regard to the TRG. He asked Stefano Mereu his opinions regarding conservation. Mr. Mereu mentioned looking at where the loads are higher and lower and seeing what can be done in that area to reduce the energy consumption on some commercial buildings, if possible through a grant. He mentioned giving information on basic energy consumption to people when permits were given out. Joel Freeman said that if the proposal is crafted in the right way there is a possibility of getting a grant from the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity. Before Mr. Mereu and Mr. Freeman continue with this idea, Mr. Wolfson asked them to put together a report and run it though the staff process before submitting it to the Commission. Various options of programs were discussed. In response to a question, Dennis Marino mentioned that the Zoning Ordinance has a Planned Development section and any development that needs zoning relief that elects to go though our Planned Development process through the Plan Commission has to indicate, in addition to number of units, tax revenue, etc what are the other public benefits that this development will bring to the City. There is an example list of benefits listed in the ordinance that suggests the kinds of things the City is looking for. At the last Economic Development Committee meeting a reference was made that the Commission take a look at that public benefit list specifically to look at whether or not green buildings should be added to that list. Mr. Wolfson said that he felt there was a need to clarify the criteria for green buildings here and thought that it needed more discussion than the Commission had time for today. Discussion occurred about the economic feasibility of green buildings. Mr. Wolfson suggested holding some meetings to discuss this further. Del Leppke added that the Commission should not overlook the possibility of using City buildings as a model. Mr. Wolfson asked Mr. Freeman and Mr. Mereu to research the possibility of grants for homeowners. IV. OTHER BUSINESS Dennis Marino mentioned that there will be two members absent at the August meeting. Paul Morse made a motion to cancel the August meeting. Motion seconded by Joel Freeman. Motion passed unanimously �I r Evanston Energy Commission Minutes — July 1, 2005 Pace Three V. RECENT OUTAGES Dennis Marino reported on an outage June 25, 2005 starting at 4:49 and restored at 5:30. The reported cause was vandalism — young people dropping fireworks into a manhole cover. An outage reported on June 7 at 2:04 p.m. was restored at 5:09 p.m. 724 customers affected in Evanston 43 in Wilmette, cause camas underground failure. Detailed information on outages can be found on the City's web page. VI. COMMUNICATIONS Dennis Marino drew the Commission's attention to the communications included in their July Packet. Mr. Marino listed the issues — Technical Review Group - Review the most recent periodic and annual report from ComEd which was distributed last time. - Go over the most recent outage reports and the overall hot weather performance of ComEd. - The overall adequacy of power supply this summer. - Discussion of major outage in Chicago last weekend -- a fire in a fairly large transformer and implications, if any, for the ComEd system. - Substation loading and capacity - Targeted feeders - Renewed discussion of Sherman Plaza feeder loading - Construction planning and construction projects schedule - Updating new major city development projects VIL ADJOURNMENT There being no further business before the Commission it adjourned at 8:25 am. Respectfully submitted, Mary Baas a ing Division ;�; +. .' •"� � .. �... °- �. i,.V �'�:', 4' -. i 't°. ..�14 s�`f. iJli6is.'t'WE.,r. �N 11, ..4' f'1� July 17, 2006 TO: Civia Dunn City Clerk's Office FROM: ary Baaske arming Division SUBJECT: 2005 Energy Commission August Minutes The August 2005 meeting of the Evanston Energy Commission was canceled. If you require any further information, please feel free to contact me. DRAFT EVANSTON ENERGY COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES Tuesday, September 13, 2005 Civic Center, Roam 2404 at 7:1S a.m. MEMBERS PRESENT: Joe! Freeman, Arlene Haas, Del Lep*e, Paul Morse, Rudy Wolfson MEMBERS ABSENT: Stefano Mereu, William Siegfdedt STAFF PRESENT: Dennis Marino PRESIDING OFFICIAL: Rudy Wolfson I. CALL TO ORDER Chair Wolfson called the meeting to order at 7: I5 a.m. II. CONSIDERATION OF MINUTES OF JULY 1, 2005 Approval of the minutes was deferred due to lack of quorum. III. COMMTEE REPORTS A. Energy Supply, Conservation & Alternative Energy Sources Mr. Freeman brought up that the new Fire Station is going to be a LEER certified building. Mr. Freeman suggested that if there is any way for the Energy Commission to participate in facilitating any grants that this may be a worthwhile endeavor. Mr. Wolfson pointed out that the Commission has received several reports from Tracy NorEleet via email on the issue of the RFP's for the Fire Station being LEED certified. He discussed the other reports from Ms. Nortleet regarding the overlays of the businesses on the 10% worst performing circuits that the Commission discussed previously. He hoped that Com.Ed will be able to present information about which large users are located on these circuits. He asked Mr. Marino if it would be possible to discuss or meet with those businesses regarding this issue and grant availahilities. Evanston Energy Commission Minutes — Sevtember 13.2005 Page 2 Mr. Marino reported that he has not yet had a chance to speak with Mr. Len Sciarra on attending a Energy Commission meeting but he will discuss this with Ms. Linda Lutz. Mr. Freeman noted that Mr. Sciarra indicated that he would be available for the October meeting. Mr. Wolfson gave credit to Mr. Freeman for trying tie put together both reliability and conservation. This report will be discussed further at the upcoming TRG meeting that is anticipated to be scheduled in October. He brought to attention the report dated July 12, 2005 on energy conservation, which covered such topics as reducing load on the distribution system to help alleviate stress on components, options for other municipal compensation approaches in kilowatt usage for ComEd, etc, promote compliance with energy conservation code activities and assist the City with reducing energy operations, etc. Mr. Freeman referred to the New York Times article that he passed out earlier which highlights a debate about the oil supply and natural gas cost. He talked about natural gas being at an all time. He noted that there is the. potential for gas prices to go down but currently the market is driven by investors. Mr. Freeman gave an update on the ICC report on ComEd's application for new rates. He commented on several of the articles submitted in the Commission's packet, specifically pointed out the topics regarding the Exelon News Releases. The Commissioners found the article interesting from the Crain Chicago Business regarding the "Rate dispute may trigger ComEd sale" and discussed in fiuther detail. Mr. Leppke asked for a. report about how the City collects municipal utility tax. Is it collected on the basis of kilowatt hour sales or gross receipts? Mr. Leppke said that if the City had switched over to kilowatt hour sales it would be helpful and an indirect way of finding out whether the electricity use in Evanston is going up or down by looking at tax collections; this is not possible with gross receipts. He would also like to see the amount spent by ComEd to improve and maintain the system and how much is applied to Evanston. This issue should be pushed in TRG. A member of the audience brought attention to other factors not mentioned by Mr. Freeman in the article from the New York Times. D. Governmental Policy and Legislative/Regulatory Actions. Ms. Arlcae Haas reported that there has been an ongoing saga between the ICC and ComEd which started back in July when the ICC adopted the Governor's Sustainable Energy Plan. She explained that there are two parts to it: one part is the renewable portfolio standard which recommends (not requires) that 2% of the electricity will come from renewable sources by 2006 and increase by 1 % every year until 8% is obtained in 2012. The Evanston Energy Commission Minutes — September 13.2005 Page 3 second component is the energy efficiency portfolio standard where utility companies will create programs which will hopefully reduce by 10% the rising demand of electricity by 2007 and the goal is to not only obtain 25% reduction by 2015. Ms. Haas went over the pros and cons of this plan. She noted that this is a recommendation and is not enforceable by the ICC. The utilities would enter into an agreement to meet these requirements. If they enter into this agreement it is being argued that the ICC can then enforce it but have no authority to actually require the utilities to meet these goals. She said that ComEd entered into two proceedings, one was in order to increase in 2007 they want to enter into an auction process. The Attorney General's Office and Cook County filed suits or proceedings under the ICC to oppose this because they say the auction process doesn't really work where you don't have a competitive market. Since there is no competitive market for residential and small businesses then ComEd should not be allowed to enter into this auction process. Ms. Haas said the other component which Mr. Freeman mentioned, is that ComEd is also in proceedings to increase the distribution rate Ms. Haas informed that she recently spoke with Anthony Starr who predicted that this was going to be a big issue. She said that he would be happy to come in and discuss this matter with the Energy Commission about the whole auction process. Mr. Leppke said that he would also be interested in more information on the reverse auction process as well. Mr. Freeman pointed out that there are two market places — the wholesale maricet and retail market. As homeowners and small business owners in the retail market place, they actually don't have a choice of who to buy from and this creates an absence of competition. Ms. Haas recalled that earlier in the year she mentioned the Senate Bill 1998 that she was personally excited about because it described creating reliability standards for both the transmission and generation facilities. This requires the utilities to come up with their own vegetative management plan. She noted that there was an amendment to this Bill which basically took out all the substance of that bill which she found very disappointing. However there is a similar bill in the House but it has not moved anywhere at this time. C. Qver sight, Monitoring & Inspection Actions Mr. Morse gave a report on the last Technical dt Review Group meeting held on July 1�, 2005. His overall read on the TRG meeting was basically non -controversial. Many compliments were given to ComEd about the data reporting and how it has improved over the years. With regard to the report the Commission reviewed, one of the items he noted was that all of the 2005 projects were substantially done. Mr. Morse reminded that the focus of the TRG and these meetings with ComEd is reliability. He noted that the 2006 planning by ComEd is underway but projects have not yet Evanston Energy Commission Minutes — Sentember 13.2005 Pace 4 been identified and may not be until January. He would like to see this accelerated if possible and is hopeful that this information will be provided by the next meeting. Mr. Morse said there are a number of specific questions that were presented to ComEd regarding recurring problems with certain feeders causing outages, which ComEd's response was that they would look into it and report back to the group. He said that TRG is attempting to add substations to its discussions on usage and circuits. Mr. Morse reported on the Sherman Plaza development regarding off -sight work by ComEd to install a new feeder next summer, which had no controversial discussion. He said the situation of the outage at the main public library in June was brought up for discussion and was resolved as a network problem that ComEd is still investigating the actual cause. Mr. Morse reiterated that the TRG meeting was overall non -controversial and stated that ComEd needs to respond to the audience questions and concerns raised that require follow-up report. D. Distribution Systems Franchise Agreements This matter is covered under Item V. Mr. Marino informed the Energy Commission members of the new schedule for Council where Administration & Public Works Committee meets before Planning & Development Committee since all 9 Council are members. In response to a question, he indicated that the Energy Commission would make a report to the A&PW Committee on this issue and the performance of ComEd during the first year of the franchise extension. E. Chairman's Report No Report IV. REYJEW OF SIX MONTH OUTAGE REPORT (FEBRUARY 1, - JULY 319 2005) Mr. Leppke raised several concerns he observed in the 6-month outage report from ComEd. Specifically he pointed out that there are too many equipment failures noted. Mr. Morse noted that he also has raised this issue to ComEd at the TRG meeting. Others noted that the extreme heat did not appear to generate significant outage. Ms. Haas raised a concern with resolving many outages with temporary switching. She questioned what action is actually taken beyond this point to rectify the temporary status and would like to see this information added from ComEd. Mr. Leppke suggested meeting with the maintenance personnel of ComEd for more detailed information. Evanston Energy Commission Minutes — Seotember 13.2005 Paize 5 V. EVALUATION OF FIRST YEAR OF THREE YEAR FRANCHISE EXTENSION Mr. Leppke gave his overview of the relationship with ComEd on this first year evaluation and that he feels there has been a good relationship thus far with the on -going dialogue and response from them. He noted that ComEd's response has not been as comprehensive on specific projects as desired but in all they have provided some good insights. He agrees with Mr. Morse on directing more information on the substation operations versus circuit information. Mr. Leppke stated that the idea to provide a one year performance report to A&PW is a good idea suggested by staff, along with a plan for developing the fixture franchise agreement after July 2007. The report should be presented to the A&PW Committee before the end of the year. Mr. Marino suggested that one of the two meetings in November should be considered since there is only one meeting in December. Mr. Freeman asked Mr. Marino if there is any way for the Energy Commission to get involved and contribute to the Strategic Planning review that is currently underway. Mr. Marino described the process and encouraged Commission members to participate. He added that he would share information with the Commission on the subject and report on opportunities to participate. VI. METHOD FOR REPORTING PERFORMANCE & PRIORITIES TO A&PW This topic was covered under Item V regarding the Energy Commission reporting to A&PW on the evaluation of the First Year of the 3-Year Franchise Extension. VEL RECENT OUTAGES REPORT Mr. Rubin gave an overview of recent outages going back to the beginning of June. He listed 8 outages in the Evanston area. VIII. MEMBERSHIP Mr. Wolfson suggested that Mr. Dave Grumman be considered and Mr. Morse said that he is considering asking one of the director's at Northwestern that he thought would be a good addition to the Energy Commission Mr. Leppke reminded the Chair that his term has been up for some time now and he is anxious to retire his membership. DL COMMUNICATIONS Mr. Marino briefly went through all the articles that were not covered in earlier discussion. He also noted throe additional reports included from Mr. Rubin. X. ADJOURNMENT With no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 9:05 am. Evanston Energy Commission Minutes — Seatember 13.2405 Respectfully submitted, 1 'I'KBrownlee Pace 6 i [I: +f f r•.-•-1 Iff1 1 f'i, r.'i , -r•ki ��I . 1 ' i • ..i EVANSTON ENERGY COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES Wednesday, October 5, 2005 Civic Center, Room 2404 at 7.15 am. MEMBERS PRESENT: MEMBERS ABSENT: STAFF PRESENT: PRESIDING OFFICIAL: 1. CALL TO ORDER Joel Freeman, Arlene Haas, Paul Morse, William Siegfriedt, Rudy Wolfson Del Leppke, Stefano Mereu, Dennis Marino Rudy Wolfson Chair Wolfson called the meeting to order at 7:16 am. U. CONSIDERATION OF MINUTES OF SEPTEMBER 13, 2005 Approval of the minutes was deferred due to lack of quorum. III. PRESENTATION BY LEN SCIARRA, ENVIRONMENT BOARD, "GREEN BUILDINGS" Mr. Sciarra informed the Commission that this is the same presentation that he presented with Mr. Derek Supple for the Civic Center Committee several months ago. He noted staff that was present at that meeting included Julia Carroll, City Manager, James Wolinski, Director of Community Development, and Dave Cook, Asst. Director of Facilities Management.. He gave a detailed slide -by -slide presentation. In summary, Mr. Sciarra covered the global perspective for Green Buildings, What is integrated and sustainable design, Setting standards regarding the LEED" Rating System, Cost and Benefit Analysis for obtaining Green Buildings, What other Communities are doing, Grants available for Green Building, and in conclusion, Potential steps Evanston can take to obtain Green Building status for new construction a major rehabilitation to existing buildings. (A copy of this slide presentation is obtainable from the City of Evanston Planning Division Office.) In Mr. Sciarra's presentation, he noted that LEED is the abbreviation for "Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design." He explained the ANCI Accreditation & Certification levels under the setting standards for qualification to be considered: certified, Silver, Gold, or Platinum Status. He pointed out in Evanston Energy Commission Minutes — October 5. 2005 Pane 2 detail the cost and benefits over a buildings lifespan noting the most important being improved productivity and health for employees, utility savings, operation and maintenance savings and increased property values. However, he also noted the realization of the estimated increase in initial cost to construct a LEED compliant building. He specified that making a green building is not difficult to qualify for LEED certification with the proper inclusion in the initial design of the building. However to obtain platinum level is more difficult to achieve. Mr. Sciarra presented a list of other Cities and Counties that have adopted LEED- based standards for new public building construction and showed several slides of examples; specifically buildings throughout Illinois. He gave a list of four agencies that can provide grants available for funding Green buildings in Illinois: Illinois Clean Energy Community Foundation, The Kresge Foundation, Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, and the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency. Mr. Sciarra's conclusion to his presentation covered the potential next steps fnr-- the Cit of Evanston. Mainly to incorporate Omen Design Strategies into upcoming municipal new construction projects such as the Central Street Fine Station, Civic Center (if the City so chooses) and the Robert Crown Center renovation. He stressed the importance of developing a City Building Policy based on the LEED Rating System for new construction and major renovation projects. He also pointed out the realization that the incorporation of this policy should be included at the Site Plan Review Process and included in the design criteria considered by the Plan Commission. He also recommends inclusion of using the Environment Board and Energy Commission as a resource in developing requests for qualifications or grant applications. Discussion and questions between the Energy Commission members, Mr. Sciarra, and staff followed the conclusion of the presentation. In review of the slides regarding incorporation of the "Green Design" in the project review process, Ms. Haas noted that there is no inclusion of an interior designer on the design team. She recommended that this position should be added to the design team, Mr. Sciarra agreed. He stressed that the key to integration of this green building design is essential at the early building planning process. Lengthy discussion followed regarding the integration of new residential construction but it was noted that LEED projects are mainly geared on new high -mid -rise residential buildings with office and commercial inclusion versus single-family new construction being very scarce at this time. Mr. Sciarra, Mr. Marino, and the Energy Commission members were in consensus that a joint meeting should be scheduled between the Plan Commission, Energy Commission, and members of the Environment Board possibly before the end of the calendar year. Mr. Marino said that he would attempt to coordinate this meeting. Evanston Energy Commission Minutes - October 5.2005 iVJJ 91116r1 a1 N- 02,IA lei" Page 3 A. Energy Supply, Conservation do Alternative Energy Sources Mr. Freeman reported on the upcoming proposals for the renovation of the Fire House design and his discussion with Dave Cook and Bob Rumble on possible grants for the inclusion of green house design. He brought attention to the articles he included in the packet from the Chicago Tribune's Real Estate section regarding urban development near Bloomington, IL on the Arrowsmith Wind Farm. Mr. Freeman pointed out the huge offering for as much as 400 megawatts of affordable, pollution free energy generating capacity; enough to cover approximately 20,000 acres and 120,000 homes with a projected cost of $500,000,000. Mr. Freeman pointed out the recent NICOR Gas cost history column of numbers for the commodity cost He noted the October gas costs is $1.17 per therm compared to 2004, the increase has approximately doubled He also brought attention to the pro -license web page regarding the future price estimation that January 2006 gas prices to be around $1.50 per therm. He said that these cost ultimately will affect the electrical prices . and cost as well. Ms. Haas read a press release from the Governor's Office pertaining similarly pertaining to the same matter. Mr. Wolfson pointed out a column in the Round Table of the September 21"issue. it has been referenced that Lutheran General Hospital is going "green" with their future renovation plans. B. Governmental Policy and Legislative/Regulatory Actions Ms. Haas brought attention to an article regarding the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission proposing rules to make reliability standards mandatory. Mr. Freeman informed the Commission that he will be attending a meeting with Dave Cook and will give a report back. C. Oversight, Monitoring & Inspection Actions TRG meeting will be later in the month. Mr. Marino gave a list of others from ComEd who will be involved- D. Distribution Systems Franchise Agreements There was discussion regarding meeting with the Franchise Team in the near future. Date to be decided. E. Chairman's Report Mr. Wolfson talked about his concerns with energy supply conservation. V. REVIEW OF SEPTEMBER 30, 2005 COMED PERFORMANCE REPORT The Commission members pointed out the number of continual repeat number of outages in the same locations. This matter will be brought up at the next TRG Evanston Energy Commission Minutes — October 5.2005 Page 4 - meeting. Mr. Morse stated that he has never found this ComEd report very satisfactory and made several points of concern. He also would like to talk about this report itself at the next TRG meeting. The Commission would also like to see next years report or some type of summarized report at the next meeting. VI. ADDITIONAL REVIEW OF OUTAGE REPORT (FEB.1— JULY 31, 2005) Mr.Wolfson pointed out two feeders that seem to have the most outages in Southeast Evanston. He would like to see fiffthcr information on the results of these outages. VU. RECENT OUTAGES REPORT The Commission is still waiting for information that staff - is looking into regarding the recent outage at the Library. W. Rubin should be able to give them information in the near future. VM. MIEMBERSEEIP IX COMMUNICATIONS X. OTHER BUSINESS XI. ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 9:20 a.m. Respectfully Submitted, Jacquelin E. Hlrownlee EVANSTON ENERGY COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES Thursday, November 3, 2005 Civic Curter, Room 2404 at 7.15 a. nz MEMBERS PRESENT: Joel Freeman, Stefano Mereu, William Siegfriedt, Rudy Wolfson MEMBERS ABSENT: STAFF PRESENT: PRES1lDING OFFICIAL: I. CALL TO ORDER Arlene Haas, Del Leppke, Paul Morse Dennis Marino, Jackie Brownlee Rudy Wolfson Chair Wolfson called the meeting to order at 7:19 a.m. Members of the audience were recognized: Ms. Jennifer Sudick journalism student from Medill School of Journalism and Mr. Ciaran McEvoy, writer covering City Government. IL CONSIDERATION OF MINUTES OF OCTOBER 5, 2005 Approval of the minutes was deferred due to lack of quorum. 111. COMMITTEE REPORTS A. Energy Supply, Conservation & Alternative Energy Sources Mr. Freeman reported that the metro gas prices are still high as a result of the aftermath of the hurricane, which will assuredly effect the cost for heat this winter. He noted the continuing turmoil down in Springfield for concluding the electricity deregulation transition. In relation to this, he brought attention to Mr. Marino's inclusion in the Commission's packet, the Exelon News Room Announcement with the recent earnings that Exelon is reporting. He noted that this report hardly encourages much sympathy for ComEd's claim of need for rate increase for their delivery services. Mr. Freeman stated that the reported net earnings are substantially up from last year. Mr. Siegfreidt commented that Exelon's earnings are not relevant but ComEd's earnings are. Mr. Wolfson stated that the overall energy conservation is receiving more publicity and attention. He recalled a program that was aired on WTrW last night that really set out a tremendously well documented case for Energy Commission Mtg. Minutes of 11-2-05 Pave 2 environmental concerns and global warning. Mr. Wolfson also recognized another program aired in Chicago regarding sales made in China, economics being questionable, that are really catching on all over the United States. His opinion is that they really need to put a little more effort into examining the cost effectiveness of the use and solutions for reducing our use of energy. He noted that it was indicated that the majority of our power could be performed by wind -power; however he questions this as a solution. Mr. Siegfreidt agreed and noted that the U.S. is doing a remarkable job in trying several different solutions to conserve energy. He noted that using more energy equates to a better way of life and standard of living. In particular, you see now with Chinese affluence there has been a huge growth in energy use. The Chinese already have many green buildings and are moving faster towards incorporating these buildings. Mr. Stefano stated that this situation will remain a priority topic of discussion as long as the price of fuel is so high. Mr. Freeman reported that he had a recent discussion with the Purchasing Agent at ETHS is going to give a presentation to his Board outlining the budgets that he has had for the last couple of }ears and how much of a difference natural gas expense is going to be. He continued that the School Board needs to be more interested in the energy use for the high school because the cost are going to be such that it could start to cut into educational programs. Mr. Freeman informed that the high school as a building has an annual budget for electricity and gas of approximately $1.2 million this year compared to 2-years ago with an approximate budget of S900,000. Mr. Siegfreidt noted that there was discussion at the last meeting regarding what to do about gas consumption in Evanston and he noticed over the last month the City of Chicago has energy saving kits available for qualified consumers. He stressed that Evanston needs to proceed with something similar to offer our residents to help people reduce consumption of energy use and aid in the cost. He noted that society is now much more aware of the energy crisis resulting in being more conscientious of usage. Therefore, timing is critical in brining forth any program or plans for energy conservation. Further discussion followed. Mr. Marino asked the Commission if they should invite representatives of NICOR in to give an overview of what their doing this winter and explain their position on consumer bill payments, expectations and presumable penalties. The consensus of the Committee supported this idea and for staff to go forward with setting up that meeting. B. Governmental Policy and Legislative/Regulatory Actions No report. C. Oversight, Monitoring & Inspection Actions Chair Wolfson stated that issues under this topic can be considered under Item VI. Regarding scheduling of the TRG Meeting. He explained his Energy Commission Mtg. Minutes of 11-2-05 Pa e�3 reasoning because he has a few ideas about substations that he would like to include in discussion with the TRG Meeting. D. Distribution Systems Franchise Agreements Chair Wolfson asked Mr. Marino for an update on the status of the Franchise Agreement. He recalled discussion at the last meeting regarding the need to meet with ComEd through the Technical Review Group process to then do an assessment of the initial 1.5 years. Upon this review, then to follow up with a report to the A&PW Committee about that performance. He said that performance would then transition to a process that address preparation for the new franchise. Mr. Marino informed that the current franchise expires in July 2007. E. Chairman's Report No report. IV. SCHEDULING OF THE TECHNICAL REVIEW GROUP MILETINGASSUES FOR DISCUSSION. Chair Wolfson reported that from discussion with representatives of the TRG, that tentative scheduling for this meeting has been set for this coming Tuesday, November 8, 2005 at 8:30 a.m. Mr. Marino said that he would follow-up with confirmation of all members being able to make this date before final confirmation of the meeting. Chair Wolfson stated that he would like to cover some of his concern at this meeting regarding the 10% feeders and to bring up Mr. Freeman's idea that maybe if they could find out from ComEd how much loading they would need to reduce on each of those feeders and then proceed with what the sub -committee has discussed previously on mapping out the large users on those feeders and discussing with ComEd possible ways that they might reduce their load. Chair Wolfson also expressed his concern regarding the importance of redundancy with substations. The Commission's consensus agreed with this concern. Mr. Marino suggested that a follow-up meeting with ComEd would be helpful within the next three weeks with Laura Lee's group included. He said at that point they will have rounded out what our need is to engage in due diligence and receive sufficient data to do an appropriate evaluation of the first year. V. RECENT OUTAGES REPORT The Energy Commission reviewed the report. Mr. Marino informed the Commission that they have not received any report from Max Rubin's office on recent outages of any significance. VI. ADDITIONAL DISCUSSION OF LEN S. SCIARRA'S PRESENTATION ABOUT GREEN BUILDINGS Mr. Freeman stated that he was fortunate to get Dave Cook from Facilities Management and Bob Romo, Program Officer for the Clean Energy Energy Commission Mtg. Minutes of 11-2-05 Pace 4 Foundation, together regarding the New Fire House construction. This Foundation is interested in providing grants for clean electric energy that covers quite a spectrum and they are very interested in funding green building design. He said the Foundation will provide grant money to have the Fire House building designed with additional green features to become LEED Certified. Mr. Cook was interested with what the Clean Energy Foundation had to offer and said that he would talk with City staff who expertise in grant writing. Mr. Marino informed the Commission of an excellent website by the Green Buildings Council that he and Tracy Norfleet found while researching for LEED Certification. He said that they were searching for examples of residential new construction properties that had been certified. However, they found that most of the certified buildings are institutional and some office buildings, but very few residential. Ms. Norfleet contacted the Green Building Council directly and they forwarded a list of currently registered residential properties that are seeking to be certified and actually certified properties. He said there were 5 properties that they thought were independently private sector oriented developments. Staff is working with the Green Building Council to do a profile on each of the 5 properties. Mr. Marino explained the reason they are doing this is because staff has been looking at whether Evanston should have some type of requirement or public benefit type clause in the Planned Development Ordinance for LEED certified green buildings VEL MEMBERSHIP Chair Wolfson noted that membership status is becoming critical at this point. He asked if there has been any discussion about reducing the mandated number of members for the Commission. Mr. Marino reported that the Rules Committee has not reached that level of discussion yet. He will follow up with the Mayor's Office regarding applicants for membership. Chair Wolfson urged the other members of the Commission for recommendations that might be interested in applying for membership. VIII. COMMUNICATIONS Mr. Marino went over the communications, noting the Exelon News Room Announcement mentioned by Mr. Freeman earlier. He pointed out two other articles of interest from Public Power Weekly. IIX. OTHER BUSINESS Mr. Marino gave an update on Mary Bawke's retirement so far and that she was doing very well. He thanked Ms. Brownlee for temporarily helping out at the meeting since Mary's departure. He acknowledged Ms. Bushe Jones who is temporarily working as Mary's replacement in the office. Energy Commission Mtg. Minutes of 11-2-05 Page 5 Mr. Marino recalled discussion at the last meeting about pursuing the former ICC Chair to come and talk with the Energy Commission about his emergency plan for the gas issue. He asked the Commission members about inviting a representative from NICOR to be present at the same meeting, which was agreed to. There was discussion regarding the planning for the 2006 meeting schedule. Tbc Commission members and staff agreed with having no problem with meeting on Friday mornings if needed X. ADJOURNMENT The meeting was Aoiuned at 8:26 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Jacq Tine ft. Brownlee EVANSTON ENERGY COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES Friday, December 2, 2005 Civic Carter, Room 2404 at 7.15 &xL MEMBERS PRESENT: Joel Freeman, Arlene Haas, Del Leppke, Stefano Mereu, Paul Morse, William Siegfriedt, Rudy Wolfson STAFF PRESENT: PRESIDING OFFICIAL: I. CALL TO ORDER Dennis Marino, Jackie Brownlee Rudy Wolfson Chair Wolfson called the meeting to order at 7:15 a.m. II. CONSIDERATION OF MINUTES OF JULY 1, SEPTEMBER 13, OCTOBER 5, AND NOVEMBER 3, 2005 MINUTES Mr. Morse moved approval of all four sets of minutes subject to clarification or editorial changes by members. Mr. Lepke seconded the motion and the vote was 7-0 in favor of the motion. III. COMMITTEE REPORTS A. Energy Supply, Conservation & Alternative Energy Sources Mr. Freeman B. Governmental Policy and Legislative/Regulatory Actions Ms. Haas C. Oversight, Monitoring & Inspections Actions D. Distribution Systems Franchise Agreements Mr. Marino reported that no action has been taken since the last meeting. E. Chairman's Report No report. Energy Conn isslon Mtg. Minutes of 12-2-05 Pare 2 IV. DISCUSSION OF THE NOVEMBER TECHNICAL REVIEW GROUP MEETING Mr. Morse gave a synopsis of the November meeting discussion. Mr. Morse believes the focus of this last year in the TGR meetings was to get some information about the substations in Evanston. However, before they moved forward discussing this item, they talked about conservation as a means to improve liability. It seems that they are in a catch-22 situation here. The idea is to relieve heavily loaded circuits by conservation, thereby improve reliability. He said that CotnEd was quite frank in pointing out that they invest where the loads are large to increase revenue. He said the group wanted to know where and who are the large users in particular on heavily loaded circuits and this exact information, according to ComEd, is not available. ComEd did, however, offer that they can give us a list of customers with demands greater than 1,000 kw. Mr. Morse said they might be able to use that list to attempt to match it with circuits that are underperforming. He said they discussed what ComEd would do with this and see what else they might be able to come up with. Mr. Wolfson recalled that they did set a deadline for some answers to several questions that were raised and they are arranging a special meeting of the Technical Review Group to get those answers. Mr. Marino said at this point, they are targeting reconvening the TRG within the next two weeks; date specific pending on Ms. Laura Let's schedule. At this meeting the group will have follow-up discussion on the items discussed in November regarding the feeder issues and finding out where the customers with the largest usage are locate Mr. Morse said that the ComEd representative present was the Head of their maintenance for substations for the north region, Mr. Calvin Owens. He gave an overview of how they maintain the substations. He noted that there are 10 substations in Evanston, but according to staffs map, there are 12 Iocations. Mr. Marino said that the map was done by the City's GIS Department directed to highlight all properties that show ComEd ownership, therefore the additional two locations may be have some other use. He said that Mr. Owens stated there is a regular maintenance program for substations, which is a 3 to 5 years cycle. There is very frequent diagnostic testing and his understanding is that ComEd takes oil samples every 4 weeks. He assumed this was a high number for such a test, agreed also by Mr. Lepke. Mr. Morse said they are looking for evidence of what they call "events" and they can relate certain properties of the oil to the kinds of events that may have occurred and then act accordingly. He said there is another group other than Mr. Owens, that conducts hotspot detections and faults are detected by the systems in place. He said there is just one substation that is loaded over 90% in Evanston and that one is DCC61 Garnett. This substation's serves the downtown area, but the irony is that it consists of only one transformer and one circuit, which is circuit C16. He said the reoccurring problems are with Energy Commission Mtg. Minutes of 12-2-05 Pace 3 wildlife and security are a couple of the issues that they are constantly dealing with. He said ComEd stated as a matter of policy that they apply control measures for wildlife control. As far as security, all the substations are fenced, locked, barb wired, however people still get into the property and it appears the motive is usually theft. Mr. Morse has notice that ComEd does store materials and items that appear tempting that they may be worth some value. Mr. Morse said there was discussion about substation #DCC54 located at Church and Brown, which is a small substation that there is interest in either removing or relocating. Mr. Marino informed the Commission that this substation is located within the Tax Increment Financing District that was recently created this year, which is designed to be an economical development tool to stimulate new development or rehab in the district. He said that this substation is located at the western edge of that district so there is interest on the part of an adjoining property owner and potential developers for that land to be included. This substation has also been a problem for the neighboring properties because of its visibility and close proximity particularly to the properties on Brown Avenue. Mr. Morse noted that ComEd threw out a price range of $500,000 to $1 million for the property either to eliminate the substation entirely or to relocate it. Mr. Morse said the group discussed arranging to have Ms. Laura Lee Wittington to give a presentation on the distribution planning in our area. She is scheduled to appear at their neat meeting and will talk about ComEd's long term planning and other planning issue aspects. V. RECENT OUTAGES REPORT There were no significant outages reported. VI. NATURAL GAS CONSERVATION STRATEGY 1. State of Illinois Mr. Marino gave an update on the State of Illinois representation for NICOR. He announced that Jan Schakowsky's office and the City of Evanston will be hosting an Energy Savings Workshop here in Evanston. The workshop will provide in- depth information regarding access to financial assistance for gas payments and how to conserve energy in numerous ways and methods. He listed some of the options that will be highlighted in the workshop. 2. NICOR Mr. Freeman pointed out that it is interesting that NICOR offers ways to pay for utility service with financial assistance but offer no solutions for conserving energy. The Committee reviewed a press release dated October 21, 2005 from Energy Commission Mtg. Minutes of 12-2-05 Paae 4 Governor Blagojevich's Office regarding energy conservation plans and federally -funded energy assistance programs (LIHEAP). This article also lists several ways and ideals on saving energy. Mr. Marino mentioned that there are also available some City sponsored programs for low income homeowners in the Housing Rehab Division. VII. MEMBERSHIP The Commission membership capacity is for 11 and they currently have 6 full time members. Mr. Lepke reiterated his desire to finally retire from the Energy Commission after serving two full terms. Mr. Morse made a recommendation for a Mr. Mike Smith and that he would forward contact information to staff. VIII. COMMUNICATIONS Mr. Marino called attention to the "Keep Warm Illinois" article that gives information on their website that is available. They list four Energy Assistance Programs for Families and Individuals: Low -Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), Illinois Home Weatherization Assistance Program (IHWAP), Homelessness Prevention, and Illinois Department on Aging. Other Business Ms. Hass suggested to her fellow Commissioners to try and visit the Children's Museum that is now located in "The Glen" out in Glenview. She noted that it is a beautiful example of a Green Building and that she was very impressed with the design. Mr. Marino also suggested that the members try and visit the Ford Building on Northwestern's campus which is also a green building. Mr. Wolfson asked Mr. Marino if he could set it up with the University to give a tour of the Ford Building for the Energy Commission members. Mr. Lepke noted that there is always emphasis on low-income households to conserve energy due to limited financial ability to afford the monthly bill payments. He said on the contrary that there should be some incentives for the wealthy households and businesses who can afford to pay and even use energy in access to help aid in energy conservation. He suggested that this be a topic of discussion at the next TRG meeting. The Commissioner's all agreed to this. 13L SCHEDULING OF 2006 MEETINGS. There was a proposal for moving all meeting to the first Friday of each month except for January and April, when the meetings would occur on the second Friday. After discussion, there was a consensus by the Commission in acceptance of this proposal. First meeting in 2006 will be on Thursday, January 12u'. XI. ADOURNMENT Mr. Lepke moved to adjourn, seconded by Mr. Mereu. The vote was unanimous. Energy Cornan Sslon Mtg. Minutes of 12-2-05 Pace 5 Respectfully submitted, Jacqueline E. Brownlee