Item 3- RCA: Solar For All Grant — original pdf

Backup

Item 3 ..Title Posting Language Approve an ordinance amending the Fiscal Year 2024-2025 Austin Energy Operating Budget Special Revenue Fund (Ordinance No. 20240814-007) to accept and appropriate $31,593,683 in grant funds from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and add three full-time equivalent grant positions to implement the Solar for All residential-serving community and residential rooftop solar program. ..De Lead Department Austin Energy Prior Council Action: Fiscal Note Funding in the amount of $31,593,683 is available from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Harris County. A City funding match is not required. A fiscal note is attached. For More Information: Amy Everhart, Local Government Issues Director (512) 322-6087; Richard Génecé, Vice President, Customer Energy Solutions, Austin Energy, (512)-322-6327; Tim Harvey, Customer Renewable Solutions Manager (512)- 482-5386 Council Committee, Boards and Commission Action: October 15, 2024 - To be reviewed by the Resource Management Commission. October 21, 2024 - To be reviewed by the Electric Utility Commission. Additional Backup Information: On July 9, 2024, Harris County received Notice of Award for The Texas Solar for All Coalition: A Collaborative Effort to Enable Low-Income Solar and Storage including all modifications and amendments, the United States acting by and through the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) hereby awards $249,300,000 to Harris County and of that funding $31,593,683 is pass-through to Austin Energy as a Coalition Member. As a subrecipient, Austin Energy will be required to enter into an agreement with Harris County to carry out the performance of this award. Subrecipient agreement is subject to applicable EPA regulatory and statutory provisions, all terms and conditions of the signed agreement and attachments for a five-year grant term. Austin Energy, through its hybrid residential-serving community solar and residential rooftop solar program, will provide Low Income (LI) and Disadvantage (DAC) single-family homeowners, medically vulnerable, and multifamily property owners access to solar and batteries through an owner-flip model where a third-party owns the installations for a 15-year period providing power to the Austin Energy Community Solar Program through a PPA and where the batteries will be operated as a Virtual Power Plant (VPP) through a performance contract. Eligible LI/DAC customers can sign up to the Community Solar program and receive guaranteed 20% bill savings. The onsite battery will provide resiliency to the host during a grid event. At the end of the 15-year term, the host will have an option to receive ownership of the battery and the solar at no cost. The solar energy produced at the LI/DAC customer residences would feed into the existing community solar program. The approach to adding capacity is novel while the mechanism to allow access and bill savings for LI/DAC individuals builds on existing capability at the utility. Coalition Members: (1) Harris County: leading the Coalition and representing Harris County (2) Dallas County: representing Dallas County, City of Dallas, Tarrant County (3) City of Houston: representing City of Houston (4) City of San Antonio: representing San Antonio (5) Opportunity Home: housing authority in San Antonio (6) City of Austin: representing Austin Energy, Travis County (7) City of Waco: representing Waco (8) Texas Energy Poverty Research Institute (TEPRI): representing partners in Cameron County, Willacy County, Brownsville, Laredo, El Paso, and supporting the Coalition (9) Clean Energy Fund of Texas (TxCEF): supporting the statewide single-family program and Coalition partners as needed; and (10) Houston Advanced Research Center (HARC): representing partners in Port Arthur and El Paso (outside of ERCOT) and supporting the Hub Home & Community Hub Program in Harris County/Houston and Coalition statewide programs and initiatives. The objective of these funds is to accelerate community solar projects in the City of Austin over the next five years. Austin Energy plans to provide financial and technical assistance to low-income and disadvantaged communities on the benefits of Solar and residential-serving distributed solar energy and storage projects. Solar projects receiving financial assistance from this federal funding may receive assistance for upgrades that maximize the benefits, such as energy efficiency improvements through existing Austin Energy weatherization programming. The expected outcomes include climate and air pollution benefits, equity and community benefits, and market transformation benefits. The intended beneficiaries include households in low-income and disadvantaged communities. The improvements will reduce energy use, produce fewer greenhouse gases, enhance facility comfort, and directly benefit vulnerable members of the Austin community. Austin Energy expects to administer this grant funding through existing Customer Renewable Solutions program staff and budget, as well as additional grant-funded staff. Austin Energy has a long history of providing solar incentives in the community to ensure clean, affordable, and reliable electricity – and reduce the need to build new fossil-fuel powerplants. Because of Austin’s emphasis on conservation and protecting the environment, Austin Energy’s energy-efficiency programs have garnered national attention and became a model for the federal government’s ENERGY STAR program. Currently, Austin Energy targets carbon-free generation by 2035 to support the City of Austin’s efforts towards our community-wide goals to reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2040, as outlined in the Austin Community Climate Plan. Grant funds help Austin Energy meet these carbon reduction targets that benefit the climate and community and is part of the utility’s strategy to lead the clean-energy transformation. Once the grant funds are expended, Austin Energy’s Solar Program will continue to incentivize solar improvements for commercial and residential customers within its rebate budget. Solar Installations made utilizing federal funds will be operated and maintained by the responsible vendor through a Power Purchase Agreement for the care and management of the installations for 15 years. Any lessons learned or recommendations will be documented and provided to Austin Energy’s Solar program managers to consider in future program design. The grant will report program performance for the entire period of performance, representing an overall assessment of the sub-recipient's implementation of its EPA-approved Solar for All Workplan, supported with qualitative discussions and quantitative metrics. The anticipated deliverables will include steps and milestones to implement the strategies for the Solar for All Program, as a distributed solar market strategy, the financial assistance strategy, the project-deployment technical assistance strategy, and an equitable access and a community involvement plan. This grant supports Austin Energy’s efforts to create solutions that address climate change and support community resiliency. The Austin Energy Operating Fund will not be required to contribute additional funds beyond those currently budgeted to this grant or to the funding of these positions. When the grant funds expire, Austin Energy’s need for these positions will be evaluated and the positions may be eliminated.