Item 2a-Draft of September 4, 2015 Meeting Minutes — original pdf

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Page 1 of 3 LOW INCOME CONSUMER ADVISORY TASK FORCE MEETING MINUTES SEPTEMBER 4, 2015 The Low Income Consumer Advisory Task Force convened in a regular meeting at Town Lake Center, 721 Barton Springs Road, Room 100, in Austin, Texas. Chairperson, Carol Biedrzycki called the meeting to order at 9:02 a.m. Task Force Members in Attendance: Carol Biedrzycki (Chair), Lanetta Cooper, Richard Halpin, Dan Pruett, Cyrus Reed and Michael Wong. Chris Strand was not present at the call to order, but arrived later. Tim Arndt (Vice Chair) and Karen Hadden were absent. Staff in Attendance: Austin Energy (AE) staff included Debbie Kimberly, Liz Jambor, Denise Kuehn, Ronnie Mendoza, Stacy Lewis and Hayden Migl. Neighborhood Housing and Community Development Department (NHCD) staff included Letitia Brown. 1. CITIZEN COMMUNICATIONS: GENERAL Kaiba White stated that money not expended in previous energy efficiency budgets should be rolled over. She stated her agreement that money collected for energy efficiency should be spent in that area, but a roll-over of unexpended funds is be simpler for this year. 2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES a. Approve minutes from the August 21, 2015 meeting- A motion was made by Member Richard Halpin to approve the August 21, 2015 meeting minutes and seconded by Member Dan Pruett. One amendment was proposed: Under Item c3, delete the sentence, “PACE program opportunities should also be explored.” Member Halpin and Member Pruett accepted the amendment and all members approved on a 6-0 vote, with Member Chris Strand not yet in attendance. 3. OLD BUSINESS a. Discussion and possible action on the low income weatherization budget. - Member Cyrus Reed introduced the document “Recommendation Regarding Energy Efficiency Budget Goal for Low and Low-Moderate Income Residential Customers” (Back-up Item 3a, September 4, 2015 meeting) and described the groups addressed in the recommendation. Member Richard Halpin moved approval of the recommendation, seconded by Member Cyrus Reed. Discussion included the current percentage of the budget dedicated to programs, program effectiveness and cost of repairs. Member Richard Halpin motioned to change “20%” in the Recommendation to “25%”, seconded by Member Lanetta Cooper. The motion passed 4-3 with Members Chris Strand, Cyrus Reed, and Michael Wong voting against. Member Richard Halpin moved to add in the Recommendation “with at least 10% of the Energy Efficiency Services budget dedicated to free weatherization,” seconded by Member Cyrus Reed. The motion passed 6-1 with member Chris Strand voting against. Member Cyrus Reed moved to modify the solar portion to read “At least 15% should be dedicated to projects…,” seconded by Member Richard Halpin. All members approved the amendment on a 7-0 vote. The main motion passed 6-1 with Member Chris Strand voting against.  Page 2 of 3 Member Cyrus Reed introduced the document “Recommendation to Investigate Reducing the Costs of the Low Income Weatherization Program” (Back-up Item 3a, September 4, 2015 meeting). Member Cyrus Reed moved approval of the recommendation, seconded by Member Chris Strand. Discussion included concerns that low performing programs are improved instead of dropped and the current program audit being performed by the City Auditor’s Office. A friendly amendment was made so that the Recommendation reads, “…could potentially increase the cost effectiveness of the low…” The motion passed with all in favor 7-0. b. Discussion and possible action on Austin Energy’s overall energy (kWh) and demand (KW) goals and kWh and KW goals for programs for low income and low moderate income customers. - Member Cyrus Reed introduced the document “Overall Demand and Energy Savings Goals for Austin Energy” (Back-up Item 3b, September 4, 2015 meeting). Discussion included the appropriateness of the Task Force to discuss elements of the Generation Plan and the differences of demand response versus energy savings. Chair Carol Biedrzycki requested the load factor of various energy efficiency programs. Member Dan Pruett moved approval of only the Energy Savings Goals section of the recommendation, seconded by Member Richard Halpin. The motion passed with all in favor 7-0. Member Cyrus Reed introduced the document “Recommendation Regarding Low and Low-Moderate Income Energy Efficiency Programs Demand Savings Goal” (Back-up Item 3b, September 4, 2015 meeting). Member Richard Halpin moved approval of the recommendation, seconded by Member Lanetta Cooper. Discussion included how 5% matches the State’s requirements and the potential difficulty of reaching long-term goals. A friendly amendment was made to change the Recommendation to “The Council should set a current demand savings goal for Austin Energy’s energy efficiency programs targeting low and low-moderate income customers of no less than 5% of the utility’s annual peak demand savings and increasing that goal 1% per year over the next five years reaching 10%” and to remove the table. The motion passed with all in favor 7-0. c. Discussion and possible action on ECAD (Energy Conservation Audit Disclosure) online audit and disclosure postings and expanding the scope of disclosure requirements. – Chair Carol Biedrzycki introduced a couple recommendations for this item: 1. Motion to approve “Recommendation Regarding Online Access of ECAD Results” (Back-up Item 3c, September 4, 2015 meeting) was made by Member Cyrus Reed, and seconded by Member Michael Wong. The motion passed with all in favor 7-0. 2. Motion to approve “Recommendation to Amend the ECAD Ordinance to Include Small Rental Properties” (Back-up Item 3c, September 4, 2015 meeting) was made by Chair Carol Biedrzycki, and seconded by Member Dan Pruett. Discussion included applicability of the ordinance and confidentiality concerns. Chair Carol Biedrzycki withdrew this recommendation and stated the item will be placed in the “Items for Future Consideration” section of the report. d. Discussion and possible action on energy efficiency rate true-up proceeding. - Member Lanetta Cooper introduced the document “Recommendation for an Annual Energy Efficiency True-up” (Back-up Item 3d, September 4, 2015 meeting). A motion to approve was made by Member Cooper and seconded by Member Cyrus Reed. Discussion included timing and necessity of the adjustment. The motion passed with all in favor 7-0.  Page 3 of 3 e. Discussion and possible action on Building Codes. - Member Cyrus Reed introduced the document “Recommendation on Building Codes Revised Version August 20, 2015” (Back-up Item 3e, September 4, 2015 meeting). A motion to approve was made by Member Richard Halpin and seconded by Member Lanetta Cooper. The motion passed with all in favor 7-0. f. Discussion and possible action on audit of the billing system. - Chair Carol Biedrzycki stated this item would be placed in the “Items for Future Consideration” section of the report. g. Discussion and possible action on final report. - Discussion included renaming the “Miscellaneous” section to “Items for Future Consideration” and inclusion of the billing audit and continuing the work of the Task Force as items in that section. Also included was a discussion of the Low and Low-Moderate Program History. Member Chris Strand distributed a revised Background section to replace the existing Background and Mission sections. Member Lanetta Cooper moved to withdraw the contractor rebates recommendation approved on August 7, since it was passed on August 21. The motion was seconded by Member Richard Halpin and passed with all in favor 7-0. 4. BRIEFINGS & REPORTS a. Austin Energy staff update on the weatherization program job status – Chair Carol Biedrzycki requested a breakdown of the unable to serve customers and the reasons why they are not able to be served. Discussion also included the number of homes completed and the number expected to be completed by the end of the fiscal year, as well as the screening process. b. Status of data requests – Ronnie Mendoza described the document “CAP FY2014 Billed to Paid analysis for Task Force” (Back-up Item 4b, September 4, 2015 meeting). Member Richard Halpin requested some testimonials from customers in these programs. c. Committee Reports – possible reports from the Low Income Energy Efficiency Program Committee, Low-Moderate Income Energy Efficiency Program Committee, and/or Affordable Rental Property Committee - This item was not discussed. 5. FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS a. Discussion regarding future agenda items including a schedule of topics and issues and topics raised during briefings and citizen communications – This item was not discussed. ADJOURNMENT - The Chair adjourned the meeting at 11:55 am with no objection.