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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2020-05-14-SLC-min Town of Lexington Sustainable Lexington Committee Minutes of Meeting of May 14, 2020 A meeting of the Sustainable Lexington Committee (SLC) was held by Zoom conference. A quorum of eight was present. Members Present: Cindy Arens, Celis Brisbin, Paul Chernick, Marcia Gens, Rick Reibstein, Todd Rhodes (vice-chair), Dan Voss (chair), Charlie Wyman Members Absent: Other Attendees: Archana Dayalu, Jeffrey Rhodin, Mark Sandeen (Select Board), Paul Gromer (Peregrine Energy), Mary Hutton, Per Jensen, Tina McBride, Ricki Pappo, Mandy Smith The meeting was called to order at 7:02 pm. Todd read the opening statement requested by the Town Clerk, and all members responded that they could hear. Guests introduced themselves and described their interest in the meeting. 1. Previous minutes. The minutes of November 26, December 11, January 1, January 28, February 4, and February 25, all of which were circulated previously, were approved as written. 2. Community Aggre ag tion. Paul Gromer of Peregrine Energy presented background on Lexington's Community Choice Program and decisions facing the town. • Lexington currently offers three options: 100% Green (which has 5% more Class 1 RECs than the 16% required by the Renewable Portfolio Standard, with the rest of the mix offset with national wind RECs), New England Green (100% Class I REC's), and Eversource Basic Service. The 100% Green option is the default, and the vast majority of Lexington residents are enrolled in it. Community Choice offers a stable rate, while Eversource Basic Service tends to be higher in winter, lower in summer, and overall tends to be a bit higher than the 100% Green option. • The current contract expires in December; the town will need a new supply contract and will go out to bid in fall. However, electricity prices low now, so it may make sense to enter into a new contract now, though it wouldn't begin until the end of the year. Bidding occurs in two rounds: indicative prices in an initial round, and then executable prices (only good for a day) in a second round. Peregrine is working with the Town Manager's office to get indicative prices now, which will be discussed with the Town Manager on Monday, at which point he'll decide whether to proceed now or wait until the fall. • A lengthy discussion ensued about whether to increase the percentage of Class I RECs in the 100% Green option, including the relative merits of Class I RECs and national wind RECs, what other towns are doing, and whether to offer an additional option that bracketed the others. 1. Sustainable Lexington Committee Minutes of May 14, 2020 • Other towns tend to take one of two basic approaches: adding Class I RECs to the point where the rate is comparable to Eversource's Basic Service, or evaluating the incremental cost of additional RECs above required minimum without regard to the basic rate. Many towns have settled on 20% as an additional percentage of Class 1 RECs that results in a price comparable to Eversource's Basic Service. • After further discussion, it was moved, seconded and approved unanimously to recommend to the Town Manager that the 100% Green option include a minimum of 20% Class I RECs above the state's renewable portfolio standard (currently 16%). 2. Sustainability Director Update. Dan reported that Stella Carr recently completed her MPA at Arizona State and has been working with the Chandler city government on sustainability issues. She will begin work on May 26, working remotely to start, and will move to Massachusetts when conditions permit. Dan requested and received members input on the initial priorities we'd recommend for her attention. 3. HeatSmart Program. Cindy and Per Jensen presented an overview of the HeatSmart program, which seeks to facilitate the conversion of residential heating systems from fossil fuels to electricity. To get to net zero by 2040, an average of 500 Lexington homes/year will need to be retrofitted. • Cindy and Per have assembled a leadership team, sketched out a roadmap, and received endorsements from GWAC, Mothers Out Front, and LPS Green Teams. The Mass. Clean Energy Center will assist with marketing, technologies, the vetting of installers, and construction of the website. • The program will be launched in 2021, with the remainder of 2020 devoted to planning and preparing, including a survey of town residents to gauge interest. • Committee members expressed enthusiastic support for the program. The question of how to approach the Select Board was discussed, with the consensus that Cindy and Per should discuss this with the Town Manager first before presenting it to the Board. 4. All-Electric Construction Bylaw. Ricki Pappo explained that the Rocky Mountain Institute is working with municipalities in Colorado and Massachusetts to facilitate the adoption of gas bans, and is offering a 6-month training program (10 hours/month) to two people in each interested town on how to organize a successful campaign. The committee agreed that Archana and Ricki were good choices (Archana needs to confirm this won't present a conflict of interest with work responsibilities). 5. Hartwell Avenue Sustainable Development Guidelines. Cindy has received feedback from Archana and Celis and will combine it with her comments. 6. Police Station and Solar Canopies at Schools. Mark provide an update on both: • Regarding the police station, the PBC is currently focused on the facade (design, color, etc.), which is of particular interest to the Historical Commission. Many of the sustainability issues have been put off for later discussion. It is important for us to stay 2. Sustainable Lexington Committee Minutes of May 14, 2020 engaged; it was agreed that Celis would attend PBC meetings when he could, and would alert Dan when he couldn't; Cindy volunteered to be one of Celis' back-ups. • Regarding the solar canopies at school parking lots, Mark reported that all the contracts have been signed. The hope was to include storage in each case, but we have settled for the canopies plus a promise of storage in the future if issues with Eversource can be resolved. Seven contracts have been signed, with construction scheduled for this summer. 7. Electric School Bus Feasibility. Todd reported that he, Mark, and other members of the team are collecting information on bus operations and exploring the concept of a solar charging station where buses are currently parked in the lot off Bedford Street. Planning hasn't proceeded far, as the contract with C&W isn't up for another two years. A report to the School Committee will be made sometime this summer. 8. Bike Month. Todd explained that Susan Barrett,the town's Transportation Manager, is planning to replace Bike Week, scheduled for this spring, with a Bike Month in September, with a wide range of activities to get people out on bikes and trails. Next Meeting: The next meeting of the Sustainable Lexington Committee will be in June—the date is to be determined. The meeting was adjourned at 10:00 pm. Respectfully submitted, Charlie Wyman 3.