WEBVTT 00:00:00.354 --> 00:00:09.625 - All right. Good evening everybody So I'll call to order this meeting of the Bloomington Commission on 00:00:09.625 --> 00:00:19.259 - sustainability and resilience at 5 30 p.m. And we'll start with the roll call Tara Dunderdale here Justin 00:00:19.259 --> 00:00:28.894 - Vassel. I'm here Rebecca pain here Christopher miles Here Zach Omerman here Dave Rallo Here Quentin Gilly 00:00:29.346 --> 00:00:42.379 - Alex York here Maria Arstad Sheng hua shu Not here Diana ogre dusky here and Ross Carlson And not here 00:00:42.379 --> 00:00:55.285 - and do we have any commissioners in the zoom Okay, okay Well, we have a quorum. So we'll go ahead and 00:00:55.285 --> 00:00:57.310 - get started and 00:00:57.634 --> 00:01:02.994 - Good evening. Good evening everybody. Welcome. Thanks for being here with us for this special meeting 00:01:02.994 --> 00:01:08.618 - of our commission So we're going to do things a little bit differently than we do most of the time tonight 00:01:08.618 --> 00:01:14.136 - We're going to be hearing from a team of students at the IU O'Neill school they spent this past semester 00:01:14.136 --> 00:01:19.496 - working with our Commission as a client on a capstone research project and their charge was to assess 00:01:19.496 --> 00:01:23.070 - the feasibility of a sustainable energy utility here in Bloomington 00:01:23.234 --> 00:01:28.870 - Tonight's presentation is something we've been looking forward to all semester But just a quick word 00:01:28.870 --> 00:01:35.009 - on why this project matters to us as a commission So our commission exists to promote and advance sustainable 00:01:35.009 --> 00:01:40.757 - policies and practices across environmental social and economic dimensions Energy touches on every one 00:01:40.757 --> 00:01:46.449 - of those dimensions Electricity generation in particular is one of the biggest factors in whether the 00:01:46.449 --> 00:01:52.030 - city can meet the goals laid out in our climate action plan So it's not an abstract question for us 00:01:52.610 --> 00:01:57.717 - The students analysis will be foundational for the recommendations that we will then hopefully go on 00:01:57.717 --> 00:02:02.823 - to develop for city leaders here in Bloomington. So just a quick note on format. We have an hour for 00:02:02.823 --> 00:02:08.132 - the presentation and some Q&A hopefully. So we'll need to adjourn by 630. The findings for commissioners 00:02:08.132 --> 00:02:13.340 - here the findings will come back with us and it'll be on a future agenda. So we'll have an opportunity 00:02:13.340 --> 00:02:18.497 - to discuss this in more detail amongst ourselves at a future meeting. So tonight's really going to be 00:02:18.497 --> 00:02:21.278 - focused around questions and answers for the students. 00:02:21.410 --> 00:02:28.211 - So with that I'll hand it over to Commissioner Alex York who served as our point of contact on this 00:02:28.211 --> 00:02:35.284 - project For a few remarks and to introduce our guests Thank You Justin Um, yeah, this is something that 00:02:35.284 --> 00:02:42.425 - I have been very curious about the results on I first thought of it listening to the volts podcast which 00:02:42.425 --> 00:02:49.226 - for any energy nerds out there who don't listen to this I recommend but I heard the podcast I think 00:02:49.226 --> 00:02:51.198 - last year in August and then 00:02:51.330 --> 00:02:58.747 - talking to people, I was given the idea, it's like, what if SPIA could do a capstone on this? And I 00:02:58.747 --> 00:03:06.460 - immediately reached out to a number of professors that I had during my days at SPIA, at O'Neill School, 00:03:06.460 --> 00:03:13.951 - SPIA for me forever. And a special thank you to two of them here, Professor Nikos and John. Nikos, I 00:03:13.951 --> 00:03:20.478 - know this was your first capstone, so thank you for trying that out to experience this. 00:03:20.866 --> 00:03:26.843 - A lot of professors don't like doing that. And John, for coming out of retirement, I think that without 00:03:26.843 --> 00:03:32.705 - your engagement and participation, this wouldn't have happened. I know that we have a time limit, and 00:03:32.705 --> 00:03:38.509 - I'm excited to get going. But a quick extra thank you also to Justin, who helped me with some of the 00:03:38.509 --> 00:03:44.256 - early ideas on this and believing in me and telling me that it was a good idea to try it. And thank 00:03:44.256 --> 00:03:50.003 - you to Jolie, one of our staff liaisons, for helping with some of the logistics that points through 00:03:50.003 --> 00:03:50.750 - the project. 00:03:50.946 --> 00:03:58.681 - And big thank you to the students for the hard work. And now, on to them. All right. Thank you for that 00:03:58.681 --> 00:04:06.342 - introduction. So yeah, like you said, we're a graduate capstone class. My name is Bronwyn Meldrum. I'm 00:04:06.342 --> 00:04:13.854 - the project manager, and I'm joined presenting today by Suso Badrai, Evie Sellers, and Miles Powell. 00:04:14.050 --> 00:04:20.181 - And we were tasked in January with analyzing the feasibility of that sustainable energy utility, which 00:04:20.181 --> 00:04:26.133 - is a community owned model of providing electricity found on energy generation and conservation and 00:04:26.133 --> 00:04:32.204 - the use of renewables. So we've provided a copy of that full report to you. And also we have provided 00:04:32.204 --> 00:04:38.216 - digital copies as well. And there's an accompanying appendix that has valuable information tools and 00:04:38.216 --> 00:04:40.478 - methodology to supplement the report. 00:04:40.930 --> 00:04:47.101 - And each of you also has a copy of the executive summary, which is a shortened version of the report 00:04:47.101 --> 00:04:53.577 - that has the most vital information but is lacking some of the details. So definitely still worth looking 00:04:53.577 --> 00:04:59.808 - through that report. But the presentation will follow the format of the executive summary, so you can 00:04:59.808 --> 00:05:06.040 - follow along if you'd like. So we were asked to examine the feasibility of implementing a sustainable 00:05:06.040 --> 00:05:09.278 - energy utility. Here it is. All righty. Perfect. OK. 00:05:09.378 --> 00:05:16.151 - in Bloomington inspired by the one being piloted in Ann Arbor and similar initiatives in D.C. and Delaware. 00:05:16.151 --> 00:05:18.910 - So early in our research we determined that 00:05:19.010 --> 00:05:25.349 - That sort of framework is not going to be feasible in Bloomington due to the regulatory frameworks in 00:05:25.349 --> 00:05:31.626 - Indiana So without permission from Duke Energy, we couldn't do that sort of Ann Arbor style But that 00:05:31.626 --> 00:05:37.902 - led us to questions two and three which focus on what else could we do instead to still meet climate 00:05:37.902 --> 00:05:44.179 - action goals? So alternative sets of actions called scenarios were developed and analyzed that could 00:05:44.179 --> 00:05:47.038 - still allow Bloomington to move towards those 00:05:47.234 --> 00:05:53.133 - carbon emissions goals and these scenarios range from low complexity and low additional Investment to 00:05:53.133 --> 00:05:59.032 - more complex and requiring increased capacity and collaboration To see how these scenarios compare we 00:05:59.032 --> 00:06:05.046 - selected the criteria of the five pillars of electric utility service Which are outlined by the Indiana 00:06:05.046 --> 00:06:11.177 - utility regulatory commission. These are reliability affordability resiliency stability and environmental 00:06:11.177 --> 00:06:14.878 - sustainability and we'll explain those in more detail later and 00:06:15.618 --> 00:06:21.039 - The project began with extensive background research, which Miles will be giving a brief overview of, 00:06:21.039 --> 00:06:26.567 - and then moved into three key analyses, evaluating the scenario pillar alignment, risk, and stakeholder 00:06:26.567 --> 00:06:31.882 - impact analysis. So each will be discussed in turn and then integrated to evaluate overall scenario 00:06:31.882 --> 00:06:37.303 - outcomes. And we'll have time for questions at the end, like Alex mentioned. So I'm going to turn the 00:06:37.303 --> 00:06:38.366 - time over to Miles. 00:06:46.594 --> 00:06:54.531 - We'll begin first with a little bit of background and first specifically with the city of Bloomington 00:06:54.531 --> 00:07:02.547 - itself the climate action plan the city has has specific targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions 00:07:02.547 --> 00:07:10.406 - Getting the citywide emissions below 2018 levels by 2030 and reducing achieving carbon neutrality by 00:07:10.406 --> 00:07:14.686 - 2050 and this was kind of the impetus for this project 00:07:15.490 --> 00:07:22.509 - the energy and built environment sector accounts for the largest amount of citywide emissions and Because 00:07:22.509 --> 00:07:29.330 - of that the city has a variety of existing programs to attempt to address that BG hip seal Bloomington 00:07:29.330 --> 00:07:36.019 - energy works and the sustainable neighborhood grants program But progress has been fairly limited on 00:07:36.019 --> 00:07:43.038 - that front because energy is provided and generated by Duke energy Electricity is provided by Duke energy 00:07:45.378 --> 00:07:52.195 - The city has very little control over what and how Duke chooses to produce that energy and in fact Duke's 00:07:52.195 --> 00:07:58.818 - most recent Integrated resource plan actually shows that they are not Intending to switch to renewable 00:07:58.818 --> 00:08:05.635 - energy fast enough for the city to meet its sustainability goals So that leads us to a sustainable energy 00:08:05.635 --> 00:08:11.230 - utility the idea is to provide a hundred percent renewable energy to the customers and 00:08:11.714 --> 00:08:18.177 - No more coal and natural gas all solar panels wind geothermal well possible There are examples as we 00:08:18.177 --> 00:08:24.704 - mentioned in Ann Arbor, Michigan Washington DC and the state of Delaware and Ann Arbor is kind of our 00:08:24.704 --> 00:08:31.231 - primary point of comparison as it's a similar Flag city with the flagship University of the state The 00:08:31.231 --> 00:08:37.758 - idea would be to create a municipally owned and operated electricity utility and this the sustainable 00:08:37.758 --> 00:08:40.894 - energy and the municipally owned aspect of it is 00:08:41.282 --> 00:08:47.467 - Provide different incentives than the traditional investor-owned utilities like Duke IOUs are more concerned 00:08:47.467 --> 00:08:53.142 - about profit and Certainly their public image in the regulatory structure But their primary goal is 00:08:53.142 --> 00:08:58.873 - to produce profits for shareholders a sustainable energy utility certainly has to deal with a public 00:08:58.873 --> 00:09:04.548 - image in the regulatory landscape, but Is not going to be concerned about profits. They're gonna be 00:09:04.548 --> 00:09:09.598 - concerned about producing renewable energy exclusively This leads us to the five pillars 00:09:09.730 --> 00:09:16.889 - Previously mentioned these are codified into Indiana code utilities are regulated at the state level 00:09:16.889 --> 00:09:23.977 - and It's a very big deal nationally that Indiana has these And they provide guidance to the Indiana 00:09:23.977 --> 00:09:31.420 - utility regulatory commission for the decisions in approving or denying certain utility Aspects so first 00:09:31.420 --> 00:09:37.374 - is reliability, which is the ability to meet user demand at all times affordability 00:09:37.602 --> 00:09:44.238 - is the ability to minimize the cost to the consumer and reduce energy burden. Energy burden is the percent 00:09:44.238 --> 00:09:50.502 - of household monthly income that is spent on energy. And above 6% is considered a high energy burden 00:09:50.502 --> 00:09:56.703 - being energy insecure. Resiliency is the ability to adapt to varying conditions and recover quickly 00:09:56.703 --> 00:10:02.905 - in the case of an outage. Stability is the ability to maintain standard voltage flows, AKA avoid an 00:10:02.905 --> 00:10:06.750 - outage to begin with. And environmental sustainability, which 00:10:07.106 --> 00:10:14.819 - Certainly is going to be the most important one for a sustainable energy utility is both about the impacts 00:10:14.819 --> 00:10:22.677 - of regulation on the cost For end users as well as meeting the demand for sustainable energy among customers 00:10:22.677 --> 00:10:30.462 - So as we mentioned we can't exactly do and are in our burst style sustainable energy utility in Bloomington 00:10:30.462 --> 00:10:37.022 - there are certainly financial and technical challenges, but the primary limiting factor is 00:10:37.282 --> 00:10:45.200 - the utility code in Indiana. Indiana utility code gives a single entity the sole right to furnish retail 00:10:45.200 --> 00:10:52.740 - electric service in its territory, which is fairly limiting. In Ann Arbor, the Michigan code allows 00:10:52.740 --> 00:11:00.583 - them to compete with the IOU. They created their sustainable energy utility in parallel to the existing 00:11:00.583 --> 00:11:06.238 - structure, and so customers can choose to sign up for the municipal energy 00:11:06.338 --> 00:11:14.546 - Knowing that it is green energy While also still having their previous utility provider There are however 00:11:14.546 --> 00:11:22.367 - other options that we found in the legal research There was a section of code that allows explicitly 00:11:22.367 --> 00:11:30.343 - for the creation of a municipal electric utility but it does require that the municipality buy out all 00:11:30.343 --> 00:11:33.982 - of the infrastructure of the incumbent IOU and 00:11:34.082 --> 00:11:40.774 - Which we determined was prohibitively expensive for the city to actually implement Instead there were 00:11:40.774 --> 00:11:47.533 - two other sections that we did pursue more One that allows behind the meter generation meaning you can 00:11:47.533 --> 00:11:54.225 - generate energy for yourself this includes a municipal entity generating energy and sharing it across 00:11:54.225 --> 00:12:00.852 - multiple buildings for municipal purposes and a statute that allows for alternative regulatory plans 00:12:00.852 --> 00:12:03.870 - this one has a lot of potential essentially a 00:12:04.034 --> 00:12:10.368 - utility company can approach the IURC with a alternative plan to what is currently in place and as long 00:12:10.368 --> 00:12:16.641 - as that plan actually Improves some aspect of the five pillars. It generally gets approved There's not 00:12:16.641 --> 00:12:22.792 - usually a lot of pushback from the IURC as long as it meets one of those pillars This means that the 00:12:22.792 --> 00:12:29.126 - city would be able to do just about anything they could get Duke to agree with this does involve though 00:12:29.126 --> 00:12:33.694 - negotiations with the party that has different interests than the city and 00:12:33.794 --> 00:12:37.918 - And those last two in particular inform a lot of our scenarios. 00:12:43.426 --> 00:12:48.807 - All right, hi everybody. So because we determined that the establishment of an SEU is unfortunately 00:12:48.807 --> 00:12:54.350 - not feasible in the current legal and regulatory landscape, we developed and analyzed four alternative 00:12:54.350 --> 00:13:00.000 - scenarios through which the city could make progress towards their climate action plan goals and support 00:13:00.000 --> 00:13:05.596 - the ongoing deployment of renewable energy for both its own municipal operations as well as the benefit 00:13:05.596 --> 00:13:11.031 - of the larger Bloomington community. So these four scenarios, which I will go into in more detail in 00:13:11.031 --> 00:13:11.838 - just a moment, 00:13:11.906 --> 00:13:17.816 - are business as usual, enhanced programming, a municipal microgrid, and community solar. Hello, 00:13:17.816 --> 00:13:24.589 - there we go. All right, so scenario one, business as usual, is business as usual. It assumes the continuation 00:13:24.589 --> 00:13:31.361 - of current programs such as BGHIP and SEAL at a consistent rate, and it serves as the baseline and comparison 00:13:31.361 --> 00:13:35.486 - standard for the other scenarios and our analysis of their impact. 00:13:36.098 --> 00:13:42.459 - Scenario 2 would involve expanding current city programming, but would not create dramatic change to 00:13:42.459 --> 00:13:49.261 - the way the energy is generated and delivered in Bloomington. Under the scenario, we analyzed the potential 00:13:49.261 --> 00:13:55.559 - impact of 50%, 100%, and 200% increase in projects funded under existing programs, such as SEAL and 00:13:55.559 --> 00:14:02.046 - BGHIP. We also considered some new program and policy offerings, such as a peak demand response model. 00:14:04.962 --> 00:14:11.229 - scenario 3 our municipal microgrid is established under that idea that miles spoke to that state law 00:14:11.229 --> 00:14:17.497 - allows municipalities with the approval of the legislative body to furnish power to the municipality 00:14:17.497 --> 00:14:23.454 - for municipal purposes so long as it doesn't disrupt sales relating to an existing contract and 00:14:23.810 --> 00:14:29.825 - With this scenario using ArcGIS, our team identified 10 viable municipal microgrid nodes, which can 00:14:29.825 --> 00:14:35.959 - be seen in the map on this slide, by applying a 1,000 foot campus scale buffer radius around existing 00:14:35.959 --> 00:14:42.034 - facilities and solar sites. This specific 1,000 foot distance was chosen as a strict technical limit 00:14:42.034 --> 00:14:48.470 - to prevent severe voltage drop issues across the distribution lines while ensuring that multiple buildings 00:14:48.470 --> 00:14:50.334 - could efficiently share power. 00:14:52.162 --> 00:14:59.089 - And finally, our scenario four is the community solar model modeled after the pending Doug Otto United 00:14:59.089 --> 00:15:05.815 - Way project in Columbus, Indiana. This scenario involves the city of Bloomington financing building 00:15:05.815 --> 00:15:10.590 - and managing a community solar grid with cooperation from Duke Energy. 00:15:10.754 --> 00:15:16.487 - The electricity produced from this array would be split 50-50 with Duke. So 50% would be sold to the 00:15:16.487 --> 00:15:21.822 - grid, after which the proceeds would be deposited into a municipally owned escrow account and 00:15:21.822 --> 00:15:24.830 - be redistributed to local consumers as bill credits. 00:15:25.154 --> 00:15:31.274 - The other 50 percent would be retained for municipal use. This scenario would target low and moderate 00:15:31.274 --> 00:15:37.634 - income households who face disproportionate energy burden for energy credits and is broken into community 00:15:37.634 --> 00:15:43.934 - solar array sizes of one one point two and two megawatts for the purpose of our analysis and comparison. 00:15:50.434 --> 00:15:58.031 - Hello, everyone. So, before I jump into the result, I want to highlight how we build this analysis. 00:15:58.031 --> 00:16:06.009 - So, to start with, our analysis is morally inclined with both quantitative and qualitative measurements. 00:16:06.009 --> 00:16:14.366 - So, we started with using the capacity and determining the capacity factors through the Android app tools for 00:16:14.466 --> 00:16:22.410 - of Bloomington in terms of solar energy. And then for the three of the five pillars, reliability, stability, 00:16:22.410 --> 00:16:29.771 - and resilience pillars, we developed an Excel-based model called B-SIT, which stands for Bloomington 00:16:29.771 --> 00:16:37.351 - Energy Impact Scenario Assessment. So it generally evaluates the peak load reductions, outage survival, 00:16:37.351 --> 00:16:42.526 - and hour-to-hour grid stability. So in terms of affordability pillars, 00:16:42.658 --> 00:16:51.446 - we try to look upon the energy burden, particularly for the low income household and the low to moderate 00:16:51.446 --> 00:16:57.054 - income household, and calculate the levelized cost of electricity. 00:16:58.018 --> 00:17:05.396 - look for the net present value for each of the proposed scenarios. Similarly, for the environmental 00:17:05.396 --> 00:17:12.774 - sustainability pillars, we used several of the tools like EPA Cobra, EPA eGrid in order to evaluate 00:17:12.774 --> 00:17:20.300 - the emission factors for the city of Bloomington. So in terms of the data where the numbers could not 00:17:20.300 --> 00:17:22.366 - present so well, we did the 00:17:23.362 --> 00:17:31.485 - qualitative analysis, like to get the data, like to get the information on historical language impacts 00:17:31.485 --> 00:17:39.528 - and ecological system. So to continue with, firstly, I would like to briefly explain how our analysis 00:17:39.528 --> 00:17:43.550 - table works on by using one of the examples. Those 00:17:43.650 --> 00:17:52.123 - So this is for the Scenarios 3. So on this, across the columns, it represents a scaling pathway scenarios 00:17:52.123 --> 00:18:00.676 - on the basis of different scale and system size. Similarly, the each roads correspond to the five pillars, 00:18:00.676 --> 00:18:08.670 - Indiana's pillars, reliability, affordability, resilience, stability, and environmental resilience. 00:18:08.994 --> 00:18:16.299 - I will start, I'm gonna start, I'll briefly go through the every of the scenarios. So some of the scenarios 00:18:16.299 --> 00:18:20.222 - signs in some certain aspects and sort falls out in some. 00:18:20.322 --> 00:18:28.391 - certain way. So to start with our baseline scenarios. So this is basically, it assumes the Bloomington 00:18:28.391 --> 00:18:36.381 - continues its current programs at the current pace with the rollover out over the projected times. So 00:18:36.381 --> 00:18:44.606 - at the initial conditions, the performance is certainly limited across the pillars. So in overall, these 00:18:44.606 --> 00:18:49.150 - scenarios has the lowest risk and also the lowest impact. 00:18:50.882 --> 00:19:00.457 - So moving on, on the second scenario we have enhanced programming where we scale the existing program 00:19:00.457 --> 00:19:09.374 - like busy heaps sales by 50, 100 and 200 percentage. So to start with in terms of reliability, 00:19:10.498 --> 00:19:19.301 - In terms of reliability, peak load reduction is quite reduced around 100 kilowatts, which is relatively 00:19:19.301 --> 00:19:27.850 - small to the system demands. Similarly, in terms of resilience, it do have an outer survival time of 00:19:27.850 --> 00:19:35.806 - around 36 hours, but they are mostly disintegrated to the individual household, so it doesn't 00:19:35.906 --> 00:19:44.168 - contributes for the community resilience. So we recorded as a low impact over here. So talking about 00:19:44.168 --> 00:19:52.347 - the stability too, since it's like disconnected from the grid itself, so it doesn't have impacts on 00:19:52.347 --> 00:20:00.772 - the stability and also with the increments of the programs, there is a certainly gap between the solar 00:20:00.772 --> 00:20:03.390 - generation and grid resilience. 00:20:06.562 --> 00:20:15.099 - So for affordability, these programs continue to provide a strong benefit for the participants, reducing 00:20:15.099 --> 00:20:23.718 - the energy burden from the range of 14% to 32% of that group to 0% to 8%. But even at the full expansion, 00:20:23.718 --> 00:20:32.092 - the program only reaches to 30 households per year, so it is very small compared to the total eligible 00:20:32.092 --> 00:20:34.206 - population on that group. 00:20:36.866 --> 00:20:45.978 - So basically, in terms of environmental sustainability, the carbon emission rate is quite minimal, which 00:20:45.978 --> 00:20:55.178 - doesn't impact mostly with the city's climate action goal. And it's the same case for the monetary health 00:20:55.178 --> 00:20:58.302 - impacts through the COBRA analysis. 00:20:58.466 --> 00:21:06.179 - Going down to the another scenario, Scenarios 3, the municipal microgrid. So these scenarios increases 00:21:06.179 --> 00:21:13.892 - the municipal solar capacity and connect the facilities through a shared micro system with the battery 00:21:13.892 --> 00:21:21.605 - storage and power setting for the municipal facilities during the time of a peak hour demand to supply 00:21:21.605 --> 00:21:26.398 - the energy during a peak hour demand. So here we can see a good 00:21:26.530 --> 00:21:36.256 - number of progress in terms of reliability like the peak load is reduced almost like a 40% when we have 00:21:36.256 --> 00:21:42.334 - a coverage of 200% of current to the baseline scenarios and also 00:21:43.234 --> 00:21:50.723 - In terms of resilience, it increases from like 0.3 hours, which is the current baseline, to nearly 30 00:21:50.723 --> 00:21:58.138 - hours at the highest capacity. That shows that the system ability for sustaining during the critical 00:21:58.138 --> 00:22:01.662 - loads and powering up during the backup period. 00:22:06.946 --> 00:22:14.459 - However, in terms of stability, it shows the different pattern. Like I said before, it initially improved 00:22:14.459 --> 00:22:21.972 - the stability with the hourly variability, but then worsened at the highest capacity because the volatile 00:22:21.972 --> 00:22:29.344 - load behavior from the solar synchronized battery discharge and the sharp transitions between the solar 00:22:29.344 --> 00:22:31.966 - generations and the grid resilience. 00:22:35.682 --> 00:22:43.869 - So like for this municipal microgrid, it's kind of a high upfront investment. But when we try to assist 00:22:43.869 --> 00:22:49.694 - through the affordability models, we could find a good result over there. 00:22:50.562 --> 00:22:59.627 - of affordability, like the scenarios requires around 4.5 million for a baseline, up to 26.9 million 00:22:59.627 --> 00:23:08.783 - in terms of a high capacity. But when we try to assess it with the annual savings, it could generate 00:23:08.783 --> 00:23:17.758 - up to 1.5 million per year and then achieve a net positive present value by the 50% coverage only. 00:23:20.866 --> 00:23:28.633 - So over here, too, at the highest capacity, do show some of the good reduction in carbon emissions, 00:23:28.633 --> 00:23:36.943 - like it would contribute around 10 percent of the city's, reduce the 10 percent of the city's goal targets 00:23:36.943 --> 00:23:44.710 - on emissions. And same with the monetary value. It can save around 55,000 in annual monetary health 00:23:44.710 --> 00:23:50.302 - service, saving through the analysis we did through the COBRA analysis. 00:23:50.530 --> 00:23:58.841 - So the fourth, so in overall, it has the highest performance, but it too comes with the higher initial 00:23:58.841 --> 00:24:07.313 - cost. So we find this solution as one of the optimal solutions in terms of three of the other scenarios. 00:24:07.313 --> 00:24:12.638 - Finally, the scenario four. Scenario four is the community solar. 00:24:13.186 --> 00:24:20.266 - So it focuses on improving the affordability and access rather than the system control itself. So in 00:24:20.266 --> 00:24:27.697 - this scenario, the solar energy is generated and exported directly to the grid. So the local reliability, 00:24:27.697 --> 00:24:34.917 - resilience, and stability are not significantly affected. However, this scenario shows strong benefits 00:24:34.917 --> 00:24:38.142 - in terms of affordability, like we can see at 00:24:38.242 --> 00:24:47.368 - 2 megawatt scale, it reduces the energy burden for the low-income household from about 21 percent to 00:24:47.368 --> 00:24:56.493 - 6 percent, while it also, like, we try to assist it with a household of around 350 households, where 00:24:56.493 --> 00:25:05.799 - we can find that it can generate $1,000 annual bill credits. It's at 2,000 kilowatts of monthly energy 00:25:05.799 --> 00:25:06.974 - consumption. 00:25:08.514 --> 00:25:17.287 - So environmentally, this scenario has a minimal impact since it does come with land use impact. So the 00:25:17.287 --> 00:25:25.974 - environmental impact emission is quite not significant in this scenario. So in overall, this scenario 00:25:25.974 --> 00:25:35.002 - is mostly beneficial for low income household, but need the coordinated approach with the utility company 00:25:35.002 --> 00:25:38.494 - for the grid synchronization. Thank you. 00:25:55.170 --> 00:26:07.945 - technical difficulties. Yes, thank you. Yes. All right, so now that we're back. So we undertook a risk 00:26:07.945 --> 00:26:14.270 - analysis and a stakeholder analysis in addition to 00:26:14.498 --> 00:26:21.074 - Identify other potential areas of impact for each scenario So the risk analysis was undertaken to identify 00:26:21.074 --> 00:26:27.281 - the main barriers that could limit the feasibility of each scenario The risks were identified by the 00:26:27.281 --> 00:26:33.550 - capstone team based on the information We gathered during our background phase and then were analyzed 00:26:33.550 --> 00:26:37.790 - by the scenario leads and our risk analysis lead Let's see All right 00:26:38.370 --> 00:26:44.230 - So this summary figure models the risk analysis results, which perhaps unsurprisingly suggests that 00:26:44.230 --> 00:26:50.558 - the more ambitious the scenario, the riskier it is, technically, financially, legally, and environmentally. 00:26:50.626 --> 00:26:56.744 - To understand this figure and break it down a bit, the top right red zone in each quadrant indicates 00:26:56.744 --> 00:27:02.801 - the highest risk, and the bottom left blue zone in each indicates the lowest risk in terms of their 00:27:02.801 --> 00:27:08.798 - combined magnitude of impact and likelihood of occurrence, which are the two axes for each figure. 00:27:08.962 --> 00:27:14.631 - The black dots are labeled with each of the identified risks for each scenario, the codes for which 00:27:14.631 --> 00:27:20.469 - are defined both in the full report and in the appendix. As an example of what these risks entail, RF4 00:27:20.469 --> 00:27:26.195 - represents local budget constraints, which is a very important risk for every scenario, which is why 00:27:26.195 --> 00:27:31.920 - it applies to all of them. As we can see in this figure, some risks apply across multiple scenarios, 00:27:31.920 --> 00:27:35.038 - and it's important to consider that compounded impact. 00:27:36.194 --> 00:27:41.507 - Based on this analysis alone, the business as usual scenario is unsurprisingly the safest. It's very 00:27:41.507 --> 00:27:46.452 - low risk to keep doing what you're already doing. But we note that it offers limited progress 00:27:46.452 --> 00:27:52.133 - to Bloomington's goals. So the enhanced programming scenario is the most balanced in terms of the potential 00:27:52.133 --> 00:27:54.974 - risks compared to the potential benefits it provides. 00:27:56.994 --> 00:28:03.226 - All right, we also conducted a stakeholder analysis since many relevant stakeholders exist across the 00:28:03.226 --> 00:28:09.335 - public, private, and nonprofit sectors who could serve as allies or obstacles within our identified 00:28:09.335 --> 00:28:15.445 - scenario options. So this is quite a figure, and I promise I will break it down. So the stakeholder 00:28:15.445 --> 00:28:21.798 - key shows the full list of stakeholders compiled by our stakeholder analysis team, and it was basically 00:28:21.798 --> 00:28:26.014 - everyone we could think of who might have a vested interest in this. 00:28:26.114 --> 00:28:31.666 - All of these stakeholders were analyzed individually to determine their levels of interest and influence 00:28:31.666 --> 00:28:37.165 - in each scenario, which are the two axes on each quadrant in the figure. These analyses are accompanied 00:28:37.165 --> 00:28:42.665 - by written descriptions in the full report that provide the evidence and reasoning behind the positions 00:28:42.665 --> 00:28:45.150 - and levels that we assign to each stakeholder. 00:28:45.986 --> 00:28:52.218 - That analysis was then mapped on this pretty figure to determine the key stakeholders, those with the 00:28:52.218 --> 00:28:58.511 - highest influence and highest interest, whether that be in support or opposition. So to go one by one, 00:28:58.511 --> 00:29:04.742 - the key stakeholders in the business as usual scenario in that beautiful blue number one up there are 00:29:04.742 --> 00:29:07.614 - the city of Bloomington and Electrify Indiana. 00:29:07.778 --> 00:29:12.875 - The city supports its own current programs and policies and it is city bodies both legislative 00:29:12.875 --> 00:29:18.241 - and administrative that formulate and implement them. So it's no surprise that they ended up pretty 00:29:18.241 --> 00:29:23.929 - high up on this list. Electrify Indiana was isolated with stronger influence and interest than its fellow 00:29:23.929 --> 00:29:29.455 - nonprofits due to its current status as a partner of the city's Department of Economic and Sustainable 00:29:29.455 --> 00:29:33.694 - Development through their partnership in the Bloomington Energy Works program. 00:29:35.106 --> 00:29:41.413 - To move on to the enhanced programming scenario, which is our lovely green over there, are again the 00:29:41.413 --> 00:29:48.157 - Citi Electrify Indiana and SIREN. Stakeholders who may be of greater importance, depending on the specifics 00:29:48.157 --> 00:29:54.651 - of this programming, include Centerpoint Energy and the Indiana Energy Association or the IEA. The Citi 00:29:54.651 --> 00:30:00.958 - and Electrify Indiana largely hold the same positions and reasoning as they do in business as usual. 00:30:01.122 --> 00:30:07.569 - to break down a little bit more why Centerpoint and the IEA were isolated in this scenario. They may 00:30:07.569 --> 00:30:14.144 - stand in opposition to the enhanced programming depending on the specific programming that is pursued. 00:30:14.144 --> 00:30:20.591 - So Centerpoint provides natural gas, which is used for HVAC heating and cooling and not electricity. 00:30:20.591 --> 00:30:26.910 - However, if adoption of heat pump HVAC technology is further incentivized in enhanced programming, 00:30:27.010 --> 00:30:33.573 - They may stand in opposition due to the potential threat posed to their services. To continue moving 00:30:33.573 --> 00:30:40.395 - down this path, the key stakeholders in the municipal microgrid scenario, our red one down in the bottom 00:30:40.395 --> 00:30:46.958 - left to me, I think left to everyone, I digress, are the city, Duke Energy, the IEA, and the Indiana 00:30:46.958 --> 00:30:53.585 - Utility Regulatory Commission, or the IURC, who I will be referring to by the acronym so I don't mess 00:30:53.585 --> 00:30:54.430 - it up again. 00:30:54.914 --> 00:31:00.236 - Bloomington's municipal government, who is strongly in support of energy and climate action, as you 00:31:00.236 --> 00:31:05.770 - can see in what we're already doing, woohoo, would have the single largest influence over this project, 00:31:05.770 --> 00:31:11.304 - given that it involves the connection of municipal buildings. Duke could try and challenge this project 00:31:11.304 --> 00:31:16.945 - either legally or through lobbying with the General Assembly, and as the legally recognized sole provider 00:31:16.945 --> 00:31:20.830 - of electricity service in Bloomington, they would have a right to do so. 00:31:21.122 --> 00:31:27.184 - The IEA as a trade association of which Duke is a part would be expected to support Duke's positions 00:31:27.184 --> 00:31:33.606 - and the IURC would be involved in any potential legal challenges, though they are mandated to be a neutral 00:31:33.606 --> 00:31:40.088 - party in their application of state law. All right, I promise you're almost done hearing my voice. Finally, 00:31:40.088 --> 00:31:46.390 - the key stakeholders in the community solar scenario, our final pink, are Duke, the city of Bloomington, 00:31:46.390 --> 00:31:47.230 - and the IURC. 00:31:47.810 --> 00:31:53.640 - Duke and the city are the stakeholders of the utmost importance for the scenario, as they are the two 00:31:53.640 --> 00:31:59.585 - parties who would need to negotiate an agreement under which Duke would allow construction of community 00:31:59.585 --> 00:32:05.415 - solar under the aforementioned negotiated management and financial plan. This plan would then need to 00:32:05.415 --> 00:32:11.646 - be presented before the IURC, who hold the final say on whether to approve or deny the project. There we go. 00:32:16.706 --> 00:32:22.670 - So bringing it all together there are complexities and limitations inherent in all of the analyses. 00:32:22.670 --> 00:32:28.633 - So they are further discussed in the report and they should be taken into account when interpreting 00:32:28.633 --> 00:32:34.597 - the results and when making decisions. But the business as usual served primarily as a baseline for 00:32:34.597 --> 00:32:36.446 - comparison and as we discussed 00:32:36.610 --> 00:32:41.868 - performs fairly poorly across the pillars. It has the lowest risk but also the lowest reward and is 00:32:41.868 --> 00:32:47.284 - not aggressive enough to make meaningful progress towards Bloomington's sustainable sustainability and 00:32:47.284 --> 00:32:52.647 - city climate action goals. That being said these programs have positive impacts. So we're focusing on 00:32:52.647 --> 00:32:56.222 - an expansion and certainly not on removing any beneficial programs. 00:32:57.186 --> 00:33:04.245 - So analysis suggested the enhanced programming pathway would yield some greenhouse gas emissions emissions 00:33:04.245 --> 00:33:11.173 - reductions But only modest improvements in electric service focusing only on expanding existing programs 00:33:11.173 --> 00:33:17.968 - has drawbacks because Funding is uncertain and this approach does not provide benefits from aggregated 00:33:17.968 --> 00:33:24.830 - renewable generation or storage only increasing separated solar generation or electrics and electricity 00:33:24.962 --> 00:33:31.623 - Sorry efficiency Programming so as such enhanced programming would serve best as a complement to other 00:33:31.623 --> 00:33:38.155 - initiatives while the city should also consider Ways to expand resident and business facing programs 00:33:38.155 --> 00:33:44.622 - to new areas like peak demand response For the municipal microgrid scenario at the highest capacity 00:33:44.622 --> 00:33:51.477 - it results in substantial progress towards city climate goals in renewable energy expansion and emissions 00:33:51.477 --> 00:33:52.382 - reduction and 00:33:53.090 --> 00:33:58.327 - It requires a large initial investment. But if implemented incrementally, this cost can be spread out 00:33:58.327 --> 00:34:03.256 - over time while still obtaining benefits until economies of scale improve return on investment. 00:34:03.256 --> 00:34:08.596 - Unfortunately, since this scenario focuses only on city owned buildings, it falls short of distributing 00:34:08.596 --> 00:34:13.731 - the benefits directly to Bloomington residents. While future financial savings could potentially be 00:34:13.731 --> 00:34:18.865 - redistributed throughout the local economy using programming expansions, it is crucial to recognize 00:34:18.865 --> 00:34:21.022 - the inherent trade offs in this scenario. 00:34:22.178 --> 00:34:27.755 - For number four community solar it has a greater direct impact on house income low-income households 00:34:27.755 --> 00:34:33.609 - But it does have a significant obstacle for this scenario to be an option Duke must agree to be a partner 00:34:33.609 --> 00:34:39.351 - While this is a challenge the precedent set in Columbus has made it much more of a possibility the city 00:34:39.351 --> 00:34:45.094 - should start to develop a relationship with Duke to warm them up to the idea of a partnership and begin 00:34:45.094 --> 00:34:50.782 - engaging with community nonprofits to find a third party that could facilitate a community solar array 00:34:53.474 --> 00:34:59.493 - Glaringly our recommendations are optimistic about city funding and staff capacity, which we know are 00:34:59.493 --> 00:35:05.512 - strained These recommendations should be taken as a set of options that can be ready for when federal 00:35:05.512 --> 00:35:11.472 - funding opens up or when other grant opportunities Arise as well as making efforts to implement them 00:35:11.472 --> 00:35:17.550 - as possible in the present so because of these constraints incremental implementation is suggested for 00:35:17.550 --> 00:35:18.494 - all actions and 00:35:18.626 --> 00:35:24.450 - To take what steps are possible at the time and still make progress towards full scenario project goals. 00:35:24.450 --> 00:35:29.996 - That being said, recommendations are organized into short-term and long-term processes depending on 00:35:29.996 --> 00:35:35.653 - whether Bloomington could begin implementation soon or whether they require more external planning or 00:35:35.653 --> 00:35:41.310 - collaboration that would require more time. Within these timeframes, recommendations are rank ordered 00:35:41.310 --> 00:35:43.806 - based on highest to lowest potential impact. 00:35:45.122 --> 00:35:50.710 - So for our short-term recommendations, these are possible. They could be started within three years 00:35:50.710 --> 00:35:56.858 - First we recommend expansion of the municipal solar and battery capacity to prepare for future implementation 00:35:56.858 --> 00:36:02.558 - of a microgrid and reduce city emissions in the meantime The second and third are also in preparation 00:36:02.558 --> 00:36:08.314 - of a microgrid and involve further evaluating the feasibility of a municipal microgrid through refined 00:36:08.314 --> 00:36:10.046 - cost and benefit estimates and 00:36:10.210 --> 00:36:15.831 - Paired with bar certified legal review because while our research team team did a very thorough job 00:36:15.831 --> 00:36:21.451 - We don't have the training or certification to ensure legality for you So our fourth recommendation 00:36:21.451 --> 00:36:27.184 - is to expand support for residents solar and energy efficiency initiatives through increased resource 00:36:27.184 --> 00:36:31.006 - allocation to BG hip seal and other relevant energy programming and 00:36:32.002 --> 00:36:38.048 - Number five, Bloomington should seek additional grants and external funding from governments, nonprofits, 00:36:38.048 --> 00:36:43.866 - philanthropic organizations, and community institutions like Indiana University to increase financial 00:36:43.866 --> 00:36:49.570 - capacity for energy related programs. Our sixth recommendation is to evaluate the potential impacts 00:36:49.570 --> 00:36:55.330 - of a city administered peak demand response program to reduce grid strain and high wholesale prices, 00:36:55.330 --> 00:36:57.726 - which could curry favor with Duke Energy. 00:36:58.434 --> 00:37:04.204 - Since they are the ones paying those higher wholesale prices during times of peak demand Along that 00:37:04.204 --> 00:37:10.031 - vein the last two short-term Recommendations comprise developing positive interactions with Duke and 00:37:10.031 --> 00:37:15.916 - finding a trusted community partner to facilitate community solar which can ease the way for a longer 00:37:15.916 --> 00:37:22.494 - term action So along that sense our first long-term recommendation is to partner with Duke on community solar and 00:37:22.882 --> 00:37:28.818 - And then to so to develop a proposal to do so and then actually implement it. It would be high-impact 00:37:28.818 --> 00:37:34.637 - and a long-term action plan for Bloomington to work towards Duke may reject attempts at partnership 00:37:34.637 --> 00:37:40.457 - and the iurc will likely side with the utility in the case of a dispute the iurc tends to side with 00:37:40.457 --> 00:37:45.054 - the utility in anything so if Bloomington or if Duke wants to go along with it 00:37:45.122 --> 00:37:50.787 - The IORC should approve it. But if they fight back, the IORC will likely side with them on that as well. 00:37:50.787 --> 00:37:56.398 - So in this case, it may be necessary to develop a plan for formal legal action to challenge the current 00:37:56.398 --> 00:38:01.901 - monopoly utility regulations in conjunction with other Indiana entities like municipalities, industry 00:38:01.901 --> 00:38:07.998 - consumers, and nonprofits like the Citizens Action Coalition, which recently filed a complaint against the IORC. 00:38:09.666 --> 00:38:15.355 - So our second long-term recommendation is to develop a municipal microgrid distribution infrastructure, 00:38:15.355 --> 00:38:20.935 - and that would involve piloting a microgrid framework in one of the identified nodes, connecting only 00:38:20.935 --> 00:38:26.679 - a handful of buildings at a time to sort of trial a microgrid. This would significantly decrease upfront 00:38:26.679 --> 00:38:32.368 - capital required, minimize risk, and allow Bloomington to learn from any potential growing pains before 00:38:32.368 --> 00:38:33.790 - implementing it citywide. 00:38:34.690 --> 00:38:40.376 - If the city does see net benefits with this initiative microgrids could then be expanded to other identified 00:38:40.376 --> 00:38:45.957 - nodes. This phased implementation allows for significant flexibility in the timeline limiting the severity 00:38:45.957 --> 00:38:51.173 - of financial uncertainty. Savings from this program could then be put towards other actions such as 00:38:51.173 --> 00:38:56.702 - increasing funding for energy programming or just towards increasing and expanding the microgrid further. 00:38:57.954 --> 00:39:04.000 - As these processes take shape, Bloomington can develop best practices that can be used as an inspiration 00:39:04.000 --> 00:39:09.643 - or template for other cities or energy users with large facilities like IU, Nova Nordic, Nordisk, 00:39:09.643 --> 00:39:15.573 - or Cook, much like how the inspiration for a local SEU came from Ann Arbor and how the community solar 00:39:15.573 --> 00:39:21.331 - installation in Columbus has potentially opened a pathway for the same in Bloomington. Success here 00:39:21.331 --> 00:39:27.550 - could open, could serve to create impacts much larger than could be advanced or achieved by one city alone. 00:39:29.666 --> 00:39:35.533 - So we have some ongoing recommendations as well. We recommend that Bloomington follow future Indiana 00:39:35.533 --> 00:39:41.400 - General Counsel legislative sessions to be aware of changes that are proposed or passed and that the 00:39:41.400 --> 00:39:47.731 - city advocate for policies that allow community solar installations and other sustainable energy development 00:39:47.731 --> 00:39:53.598 - independent of the incumbent utilities discretion. All of the scenarios and recommended actions also 00:39:53.598 --> 00:39:58.942 - require some level of external support. So the city should continue to be working to engage 00:39:59.042 --> 00:40:04.975 - with stakeholders to increase support, mitigate risks, and create opportunities for future collaboration. 00:40:04.975 --> 00:40:10.797 - This includes public campaigns for residents to raise awareness about programs, communication with Duke 00:40:10.797 --> 00:40:16.450 - to soften them for partnership, and outreach to community nonprofits and philanthropic organizations 00:40:16.450 --> 00:40:22.048 - for funding or collaborative opportunities. So we appreciate your time and attention and would like 00:40:22.048 --> 00:40:25.406 - to acknowledge those who have helped us create this report. 00:40:26.274 --> 00:40:32.099 - We'd like first to thank you, the commission, for providing this project. It's been an excellent opportunity 00:40:32.099 --> 00:40:37.443 - to dive into sustainable energy and to develop new skills and analytical techniques. We'd also like 00:40:37.443 --> 00:40:42.894 - to thank our advisors, Professors John Rupp and Nico Seragiannis, as well as the many consultants who 00:40:42.894 --> 00:40:48.398 - provided insights, direction, and advice throughout the project's development. So finally, we turn our 00:40:48.398 --> 00:40:51.230 - remaining time over to you for questions. Thank you. 00:40:59.490 --> 00:41:06.062 - Well, thank you very much for that wonderful presentation. And I just want to say this is a really impressive 00:41:06.062 --> 00:41:11.558 - body of work, and this is going to be very useful for us. It gives us a lot to think about, 00:41:11.558 --> 00:41:15.262 - a lot to digest, and we're looking forward to diving into it. 00:41:15.394 --> 00:41:20.992 - So congratulations on a well a job well done and and thank you for all the effort that you've put into 00:41:20.992 --> 00:41:26.537 - it and Those things also extend to everyone else who is involved who you acknowledged the faculty who 00:41:26.537 --> 00:41:32.026 - supported it our star staff here on the commission and with the city So now with that I will open it 00:41:32.026 --> 00:41:37.734 - up to the rest of the commissioners for questions. Is there anyone who would like to begin? Commissioner 00:41:37.734 --> 00:41:43.006 - Dunderdale Yeah, I just want to echo this isn't a phenomenal amount of work and I have been I've 00:41:43.138 --> 00:41:48.550 - given these kinds of presentations, both as a student and professional, and this is one of the best 00:41:48.550 --> 00:41:54.178 - ones I've seen. It's incredible work. And I'm going to actually ask an education-related question. This 00:41:54.178 --> 00:41:59.644 - is the first time our commission has done this. I think that any of our commissions in the city have 00:41:59.644 --> 00:42:05.164 - done this. And I would love to hear about this experience as a student. This is not a trick question. 00:42:05.164 --> 00:42:10.955 - I want to know, would you recommend that students sign up for another capstone like this if our commission 00:42:10.955 --> 00:42:12.254 - or any other commission 00:42:12.418 --> 00:42:24.542 - decides to propose another project. Yeah. And it's OK to say no. It's really not a trick question. 00:42:25.474 --> 00:42:31.156 - I mean personally I'm sure everyone has different opinions but it was nice to be working on a project 00:42:31.156 --> 00:42:36.337 - that we would present to a local you know a local commission that could actually take it and 00:42:36.337 --> 00:42:41.963 - make recommendations for real changes in our community that we could see. So that aspect of it was I 00:42:41.963 --> 00:42:47.422 - think beneficial for me and helped motivate me to do good work because I cared about the results. 00:42:49.602 --> 00:42:56.292 - Yeah, and I'll add that there are multiple students in this group who work for the city as fellows So 00:42:56.292 --> 00:43:02.917 - it was nice to connect what we're doing in the office to this project It was nice to have people who 00:43:02.917 --> 00:43:09.607 - are like, oh, I know that one. I know that one or I know who to talk to So I think Opening up to more 00:43:09.607 --> 00:43:16.166 - Commission led capstones is certainly not a bad idea if other offices want to get in on this action 00:43:16.166 --> 00:43:18.462 - I think it's a great idea for some 00:43:18.722 --> 00:43:26.664 - Experiential learning it was a challenge, but we certainly learned a lot both from the aspect of skills 00:43:26.664 --> 00:43:34.682 - development and teamwork and Certainly in the area of subject matter expertise because I had never heard 00:43:34.682 --> 00:43:42.471 - the acronym se you in my life And now I know so much All right any other questions from commissioners 00:43:42.471 --> 00:43:46.366 - and throw your hand up so I can see it if you do I 00:43:48.578 --> 00:43:57.624 - Yeah, Alex, go ahead. Yeah, on the community solar project with Duke, the 50-50 split, I was just wondering 00:43:57.624 --> 00:44:06.001 - why a 50-50 split with Duke and if other arrangements were also considered. So a lot of the details 00:44:06.001 --> 00:44:12.702 - about the community solar project were just based on what they did in Columbus. 00:44:12.834 --> 00:44:21.055 - Certainly some differences in that a lot of the details there were based on an EPA grant program that 00:44:21.055 --> 00:44:29.437 - no longer exists So a lot of those specifically but the understanding of the people involved in In that 00:44:29.437 --> 00:44:37.578 - project is that for that grant program 50% of the energy had to specifically 50% of the revenues had 00:44:37.578 --> 00:44:40.318 - to help low-income households and 00:44:40.578 --> 00:44:46.633 - So there was some of that generation that goes to the United Way Center in Columbus and then the money 00:44:46.633 --> 00:44:52.571 - that gets The profits from selling the energy back to Duke is then distributed into bill credits for 00:44:52.571 --> 00:44:58.509 - a few hundred low-income households in Columbus So that was really the reason for the 50-50 split is 00:44:58.509 --> 00:45:04.506 - just that is the example that we had that's what they did and to meet the requirements of the program 00:45:04.506 --> 00:45:06.622 - that they were getting funding from 00:45:11.554 --> 00:45:18.627 - Yeah, Zach. You mentioned during the community solar component that the environmental benefits were 00:45:18.627 --> 00:45:25.700 - negligible or minimal because of land use impacts. I'm curious, did you quantify how many acres for 00:45:25.700 --> 00:45:31.358 - each percentage, how many acres would be impacted? I'm just curious about that. 00:45:31.682 --> 00:45:37.965 - Would there be any impact on a tree canopy? For example, I am going to call our lovely live Myers to 00:45:37.965 --> 00:45:44.620 - the stand as the lead on the environmental Sustainability pillar and provide you so many wonderful details 00:45:44.620 --> 00:45:50.654 - in that department. Awesome. Thank you I anticipated some questions about the ecological impacts 00:45:50.754 --> 00:45:58.206 - And I was not able to find any data on acreage, so I went off of literature review, so scientific articles, 00:45:58.206 --> 00:46:05.314 - and then taking what I learned from those articles and making assumptions. So what you read within the 00:46:05.314 --> 00:46:12.283 - appendix as well as the project are just assumptions and recommendations based off of the scientific 00:46:12.283 --> 00:46:17.182 - literature, which is cited. So I could not find any quantifiable data. 00:46:22.274 --> 00:46:28.558 - You're a very important person. Did you ever fall out? I thought it was done. I'm so sorry. If you're 00:46:28.558 --> 00:46:34.903 - the sustainability person, I'd like to ask you a few questions while you're up there. So first of all, 00:46:34.903 --> 00:46:41.126 - I just wanted to say I am also impressed by the robustness and the professional depth of this study. 00:46:41.126 --> 00:46:47.841 - I appreciate that you did work on, it's probably not the correct term, but electrical engineering questions, 00:46:47.841 --> 00:46:52.030 - among other things. I'm impressed. I had a few different questions. 00:46:52.898 --> 00:47:01.307 - Some of them are about definition, just for clarity. So I couldn't find anywhere that environmental 00:47:01.307 --> 00:47:09.800 - impact or sustainability were explicitly defined or outlined in these materials. Can you do that for 00:47:09.800 --> 00:47:15.518 - me? Or is there a place where you have done so that I'm not finding 00:47:16.002 --> 00:47:22.470 - My thought, and I was not a member of the legal team, so I might have to call somebody else to the stand, 00:47:22.470 --> 00:47:28.328 - pun somewhat intended, is that the pillars are codified in Indiana state law with environmental 00:47:28.328 --> 00:47:34.491 - sustainability being one of them. So there might be a statutory definition provided. I don't know if 00:47:34.491 --> 00:47:40.899 - that's accurate. So that definition lives in Indiana state law, and that's what you used as your metric. 00:47:40.899 --> 00:47:42.302 - OK, I appreciate that. 00:47:43.106 --> 00:47:50.344 - Maybe a similar question that you may or may not be in a position to answer. In your stakeholder key, 00:47:50.344 --> 00:47:58.078 - it's very thorough. I'm impressed by that. I noticed that things like other species, flora, fauna, non-human 00:47:58.078 --> 00:48:05.528 - actors, and people, so non-institutional players, are not identified there. Was there a reason for that? 00:48:05.528 --> 00:48:12.766 - I hate to take it to another person, but I was not a part of the stakeholder analysis. It's me again. 00:48:13.762 --> 00:48:20.290 - So that is a wonderful point, and I'm going to be honest with you, it was not something that I thought 00:48:20.290 --> 00:48:26.817 - of and is something that I would definitely incorporate into a future version of that analysis. I knew 00:48:26.817 --> 00:48:33.155 - that Liv was incorporating some aspects of ecological analysis and ecological impact into her work, 00:48:33.155 --> 00:48:36.894 - so I wasn't entirely sure how much would be covered there. 00:48:37.282 --> 00:48:42.367 - That is a wonderful point. And yeah, in a future version of this or in future recommendations that would 00:48:42.367 --> 00:48:45.950 - be created based on this, I think that should absolutely be incorporated. 00:48:47.586 --> 00:48:53.922 - Adding onto that a little bit, in terms of the ecological impacts, the main concerns that I was looking 00:48:53.922 --> 00:49:00.015 - at were habitat fragmentation, as well as just land use and land cover change over time, especially 00:49:00.015 --> 00:49:06.352 - with deployment of solar arrays. So not specifically what species are being displaced, because we don't 00:49:06.352 --> 00:49:13.054 - have, I know we have an idea and suggestions of places, but I think moving forward, doing a deeper ecological 00:49:13.054 --> 00:49:16.222 - dive and maybe a conservation index of what species 00:49:16.290 --> 00:49:23.281 - will be impacted in each deployment area should be considered. Thank you. I have a question 00:49:23.281 --> 00:49:30.956 - about conclusions, but I can wait, because these were themed, and I can pass it on. Sounds good. Are 00:49:30.956 --> 00:49:39.239 - there any other questions from commissioners? Yeah. Alex? Yeah. I was wondering, going back to the community 00:49:39.239 --> 00:49:43.038 - solar land use. I'm in the hot seat tonight, yes. 00:49:44.514 --> 00:49:51.459 - It occurred to me the idea of modeling that there's land use degradation when you go to solar. Was it 00:49:51.459 --> 00:49:58.609 - at all considered to do something like agrifoltaics, where you're still utilizing the land in some other 00:49:58.609 --> 00:50:05.486 - way, or putting the solar on already disturbed land, brownfields or existing buildings? And what are 00:50:05.486 --> 00:50:11.614 - the environmental impacts then when we're not using pristine land that's being disturbed? 00:50:12.258 --> 00:50:19.873 - So in terms of other land use, we considered brownfields. And once again, I'm going to call on Vinny, 00:50:19.873 --> 00:50:27.413 - because he did a lot of research on brownfields. And he'd have a lot more information, because in my 00:50:27.413 --> 00:50:35.177 - ecological impact write-up, we had different quantifiable measures that we were looking at. And Vinny's 00:50:35.177 --> 00:50:39.358 - had more concern about brownfields. Yeah, sure. Thanks. 00:50:39.906 --> 00:50:48.302 - For the Brownfields aspect of it, a lot of the research that went into it was what is available. And 00:50:48.302 --> 00:50:56.864 - so looking on the Indiana Brownfields program list, what currently exists in the state, in Bloomington 00:50:56.864 --> 00:51:05.427 - in particular, is quite competitive with other projects, both private and public. There wasn't a whole 00:51:05.427 --> 00:51:07.006 - lot of information 00:51:07.234 --> 00:51:15.714 - Regarding the actual characteristics of the site in particular the sizes of them is that would play 00:51:15.714 --> 00:51:24.279 - a most important role in how much energy would actually end up be generated The largest sites on the 00:51:24.279 --> 00:51:33.099 - list was somewhere around 70 acres however, this one was just recently purchased by a biopharmaceutical 00:51:33.099 --> 00:51:36.830 - company for large-scale manufacturing plant 00:51:37.218 --> 00:51:48.457 - So in the case of brownfields as a whole We kind of look to avoid that in the analysis Primarily due 00:51:48.457 --> 00:51:59.807 - to the lack of information on the both the availability and from what it looked like other purchasers 00:51:59.807 --> 00:52:04.926 - of the land already for ongoing projects Yeah 00:52:05.826 --> 00:52:12.492 - I'm just wondering how in-depth you looked at Ann Arbor's specific program and the reason why I ask 00:52:12.492 --> 00:52:19.290 - is my understanding is and this is just a cursory I don't understand it in depth that I was I was I'm 00:52:19.290 --> 00:52:25.956 - wondering My understanding is their legal constraints are fairly similar to what we have in Indiana 00:52:25.956 --> 00:52:29.022 - while the political constraints are different 00:52:29.218 --> 00:52:35.088 - They're obviously at the bluer state than here's they have different political constraints the legal 00:52:35.088 --> 00:52:41.248 - framework my understanding at least is it's fairly similar to Indiana yet They found a way to work around 00:52:41.248 --> 00:52:47.351 - it To create an se you I'm wondering How different what is what makes us different here? the the primary 00:52:47.351 --> 00:52:53.918 - difference in Michigan is a the foot act which has been interpreted by state courts to allow for competition and 00:52:54.146 --> 00:53:00.871 - So it is set up similarly in the basic like code But this specific legislation has been interpreted 00:53:00.871 --> 00:53:07.730 - by the state Supreme Court to allow for a parallel utility Which is what Ann Arbor actually did? Just 00:53:07.730 --> 00:53:14.590 - a brief follow-up if I may My understanding though of the Ann Arbor program that is is that it's more 00:53:14.590 --> 00:53:21.920 - complementary and less and direct competition With their version of Duke. I think it's called deep something 00:53:21.920 --> 00:53:23.870 - DTE. Yeah is that correct or 00:53:24.290 --> 00:53:32.340 - But yeah by competition, I mean in the economic sense of the word that there can be another utility 00:53:32.340 --> 00:53:40.470 - operating in the same space So it is in a way complementary. They're not replacing the existing IOU. 00:53:40.470 --> 00:53:44.254 - They're just working in parallel Yeah, Quentin 00:53:56.578 --> 00:54:05.196 - We did not know Yeah, that was we did consider it but we decided that was outside of the scope of our 00:54:05.196 --> 00:54:13.646 - project which was more based on research and feasibility analysis So we we left that up to the city 00:54:13.646 --> 00:54:22.180 - and the Commission to actually contact you can start those relationships And I'm sure this will be I 00:54:22.180 --> 00:54:25.982 - this may be covered in the full report but I 00:54:26.338 --> 00:54:34.206 - in considering environmental impact are you does your analysis include the the sort of outsourced impacts 00:54:34.206 --> 00:54:41.628 - of solar so the rare earth mining that's happening somewhere else the cost to the emissions related 00:54:41.628 --> 00:54:48.382 - to getting it here and then the cost of repair and replace of the infrastructure over time 00:54:48.994 --> 00:54:56.202 - So within the report, our scope was just based on greenhouse gas emissions as well as regional pollutants 00:54:56.202 --> 00:55:03.342 - or criteria pollutants within the area. And the data that we used from that was the EPA eGrid 2023 data. 00:55:03.342 --> 00:55:10.482 - So I collected the data for Indiana specifically for power plant emissions. So a whole bunch of criteria 00:55:10.482 --> 00:55:15.038 - pollutants and created a range and then average based off of that. 00:55:15.202 --> 00:55:23.110 - So within the report I have to mention that there are limitations to some of the numbers that you will 00:55:23.110 --> 00:55:31.248 - read because they are based on Monroe County and not Bloomington specifically. So outside sources weren't 00:55:31.248 --> 00:55:38.925 - considered. It was just 20 23 power plant data for regional criteria pollutants. All right. We were 00:55:38.925 --> 00:55:44.990 - getting pretty close to time. Are there any last minute quick questions. Alex. 00:55:45.634 --> 00:55:54.001 - Last one going back to CEU legality. I'm not arguing that it's not I'm not arguing that it is legal 00:55:54.001 --> 00:56:02.953 - but we talked about community solar not being currently permitted. But if you have the utilities agreement 00:56:02.953 --> 00:56:11.487 - you can do pretty much anything. Would it be your understanding that if Duke were amenable to it that 00:56:11.487 --> 00:56:13.662 - the city could do an SEU. 00:56:13.762 --> 00:56:19.957 - Because I know that in Ann Arbor's case that DTE did not fight it and that they have been a partner 00:56:19.957 --> 00:56:26.585 - So if the city could secure that partnership, do you think that? the se you could potentially move forward 00:56:26.585 --> 00:56:33.151 - Yes, our understanding is that? Basically any option that you can get Duke to agree with would be legally 00:56:33.151 --> 00:56:39.469 - feasible The question is what you can get them to agree to and that's why we pursued other options We 00:56:39.469 --> 00:56:40.894 - did not think that was 00:56:41.218 --> 00:56:46.879 - Especially realistic, but it's certainly something that could be worth pursuing All right, I lied about 00:56:46.879 --> 00:56:52.702 - that being the last question we have one more quick one from Christopher Very quickly. Um, so I appreciate 00:56:52.702 --> 00:56:58.363 - that Immediately after starting this you pretty much identified that you're hamstrung by straight state 00:56:58.363 --> 00:57:03.915 - law in terms of what you're doing That can't be a fun discovery to instantly make but along the lines 00:57:03.915 --> 00:57:09.140 - of sort of possibilities and constraints going forward it sounds like the conclusions are local 00:57:09.140 --> 00:57:10.174 - municipalities are 00:57:10.466 --> 00:57:18.199 - significantly constrained in what they can do. Would you therefore say that your conclusion from this 00:57:18.199 --> 00:57:26.388 - research is that state or federal level legislative change or other forms of more fundamentally structural, 00:57:26.388 --> 00:57:34.045 - political, ecological transformation are necessary to achieve meaningful sustainability transitions? 00:57:34.045 --> 00:57:35.486 - Yes. Yes, I would. 00:57:35.586 --> 00:57:42.049 - In the stakeholder analysis, in the full thing, I discuss the congressional representatives for both 00:57:42.049 --> 00:57:48.448 - in the Senate, Indiana as a whole, in the House, the Bloomington general area, as well as the state 00:57:48.448 --> 00:57:55.167 - legislative representatives. And it was clear, looking into their voting records, that there were things 00:57:55.167 --> 00:58:01.822 - in there that could have made a project like this a lot easier, a lot more feasible. There's been bills 00:58:01.822 --> 00:58:04.126 - introduced in the state legislature 00:58:04.738 --> 00:58:11.354 - to allow community solar, I believe, for the last two or three years, it's all in there. But it's been 00:58:11.354 --> 00:58:17.906 - shot down every time. And a lot of that has to do with lobbying and outside influence and things that 00:58:17.906 --> 00:58:24.458 - I will not get into at the moment. But yes, and on the other end, too, at the federal level, not only 00:58:24.458 --> 00:58:29.790 - is federal policy a huge, huge, huge player, but federal funding is a huge player. 00:58:29.922 --> 00:58:37.665 - The only, well, not the only, but a large part of why the project in Columbus could go anywhere was 00:58:37.665 --> 00:58:45.562 - because there was EPA funding. We know very well that that does not exist anymore for the time being. 00:58:45.562 --> 00:58:53.769 - But in a future where these things are not obstacles in the state house, are not obstacles at the federal 00:58:53.769 --> 00:58:55.550 - level, I think they're 00:58:56.002 --> 00:59:02.312 - A bright future ahead. I'm choosing to believe there's a bright future ahead anyway. But yes, I think 00:59:02.312 --> 00:59:08.622 - the state and federal policy play a huge role in what the municipalities can do. We learned that real 00:59:08.622 --> 00:59:14.808 - quick. And as much as I would love to recommend all the bills that I think should be passed to make 00:59:14.808 --> 00:59:21.118 - this happen, it's out of the scope and potentially unrealistic for a while. But all that to say, yes. 00:59:21.634 --> 00:59:27.089 - Accomplished a lot within the time that you had to put this work together and it really is an incredible 00:59:27.089 --> 00:59:32.440 - piece of work that we deeply appreciate So thank you very much again for all the hard work that you've 00:59:32.440 --> 00:59:37.946 - put into it and for everybody who was who played a role in that As a quick note before y'all leave anyone 00:59:37.946 --> 00:59:43.141 - who spoke at the podium today If you could just see our secretary Tara before you leave just so she 00:59:43.141 --> 00:59:48.648 - can get down your name for the record And other than that I will just note that our next regular business 00:59:48.648 --> 00:59:50.622 - meeting of this Commission will be on 00:59:50.722 --> 00:59:59.369 - Tuesday May 12th at 6 30 p.m. In the McCloskey room down the hall I'm sorry 6 p.m. And We are at the 00:59:59.369 --> 01:00:05.790 - end of the scheduled time. So with that we are adjourned at 6 30 Thank you