HomeMy WebLinkAbout2022-04-01-SLC-min 1.
Sustainable Lexington Committee
Minutes of Meeting of April 1, 2022
A meeting of the Sustainable Lexington Committee (SLC) was held by Zoom conference. A
quorum of six was present throughout.
Members Present: Cindy Arens, Paul Chernick, Rick Reibstein, Todd Rhodes (vice-
chair), Dan Voss (Chair), Charlie Wyman
Members Absent: Celis Brisbin, Archana Dayalu, Lin Jensen
Staff Present: None
Other Attendees: Joe Pato (Select Board), Mark Sandeen (Select Board), Mary Hutton
(Mothers Out Front), Ricki Pappo (LexCAN), Jeanne Krieger, Mike
Boudett (Capital Expenditures), David Kanter, Steve Heinrich, Frank
Smith, Robert Peters
The meeting was called to order at 5:07 pm. Todd referenced the opening statement requested by
the Town Clerk, and all members present responded that they could hear.
Review proposed updates to Article 31: Building Energy Use Disclosure (BEU-D) for approval.
Todd asked that the committee grant Todd, Cindy, and Dan the authority to make adjustments to
the motion at Town Meeting, if necessary, in a manner that doesn’t change the overall purpose
and goals of the article. The motion passed unanimously.
Todd described the proposed adjustments to the wording of the motion. The language had been
patterned largely after the ordinances currently in place in Boston, Cambridge, and the proposed
state legislation. The two changes being suggested are (1) elimination of the third category of
buildings subject to the reporting requirements to remove large properties with more than 25
buildings (such as Potter Pond and Drummer Boy), and (2) some wordsmithing requested by
Town Counsel to clarify the meaning of the last sentence to eliminate any ambiguity. The
proposed appropriation of $70,000 had been previously removed.
There followed a lengthy discussion. It was clarified that clause (2) applies only to buildings
over 25,000 square feet. David Kanter expressed concerns about remaining ambiguity, the
lateness of the amendments, and the title of the article not adequately reflecting its contents. He
asked that the article be indefinitely postponed, and will offer an amendment on the floor of
Town Meeting to that effect. Others who had been concerned about its impact on condominia
expressed their comfort with the proposed amendment.
After further discussion, the committee voted unanimously to endorse the motion as amended.
Sustainable Lexington Committee Minutes of April 1, 2022
2.
Review proposed electric and gas bids for Town operations.
Mark explained that the Town’s energy broker has presented to the Town the opportunity to
contract for future gas and electricity purchases, to begin when the current contracts expire. With
regards to electricity, a key question is what level of Class I RECs to require in the contract.
Under the current contract it is 10% on top of what is required by the state’s Renewable Portfolio
Standard, in addition to which the Town purchases sufficient national wind RECs to make the
Town’s electricity mix 100% renewable. The question is whether and how much to increase that
to keep the town on track to meet its sustainability goals. It was noted that the current contract
doesn’t expire until December 2023, and the broker’s recommended length of contract, offering
the best deal on price, is three years, which would run until the end of 2026, which would be the
next time the town could consider a higher Class I REC component (though the town could buy
them separately).
Committee members asked why we were doing this now if the current contract doesn’t expire
until the end of next year; it was speculated that the timing is being driven by the opportunity to
lock in a favorable price on natural gas. Paul expressed concern with the optics of the town
acquiring any lower percentage of Class I RECs than are included in Community Choice for
residents. While a higher percentage will cost more, the increase is modest ($16K/year to go to
20%), and Cindy pointed out that the town is saving money with the solar, for which we had
advocated. Paul also noted that the price of the national wind RECs in the broker’s proposal
($0.0035/kWh) seems high.
After further discussion, the committee approved the following motion unanimously:
The SLC has reviewed the proposed bids for gas and electric and recommends to the
Select Board that the Town increase the percentage of Class 1 RECs in the electricity bid
to 20% to align with the percentage of Class 1 RECs in the Community Choice
Aggregation (CCA) program. The committee believes that it is important for the Town to
support New England renewable energy. It is also important to align municipal
procurement with the town’s values for renewable energy as reflected in the CCA
program.
The committee also recommends that the price of Texas Wind RECs in the proposal be
reviewed. They appear to be higher (about 40%) than current forward market prices for
the period in question. Lower prices for these RECs could reduce the total cost of the
procurement.
The committee does not have a position on the proposed gas bid.
The committee voted to adjourn at 6:27 pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Charlie Wyman