| Meeting July 21, 2008
Draft Minutes:
June 18, 2008
Minutes Archive
Draft Alternative Energy Committee Agenda
Cape Elizabeth Alternative Energy Committee
Agenda
Date: Monday, July 21
Time: 6:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.
Location: Technology Room (Basement)
I. Approval of June meeting minutes 5 minutes
II. Town and Council Process for Approvals and Actions 20 minutes
a. Wind Grant Application (Wyman)
b. Informational memo to Town Council (Bill and Sara)
c. Going forward (All)
III. Timeline and Tasks for Report 10 minutes
IV. Reports on Action Items about Alternative Energy Systems 20 minutes
assigned at June Meeting
a. Discussion about windmill with Saco Councilor Eric Cote (Dave)
b. Cogeneration systems used by other organizations (Ted)
i. Sample RFP for a cogen proposal (Bill)
c. Geothermal systems in Westbrook, Gorham and USM (Bill, Rick, Sara and Peter)
V. Reaffirm priority of strategies to look at based on reports 5 minutes
a. Audit/Weatherization
b. Windmill
c. Cogeneration
d. Geothermal
e. Fuel Diversity
i. Biomass
ii. Natural Gas
iii. Propane
VI. Energy Audit RFP Draft Update (Bill) 10 minutes
VII. Comments on Wyman’s draft report (All) 10 minutes
VIII. Action Items/Topics/Agenda/Schedule for Next Meeting 5 minutes
IX. Sharing Relevant Energy Stories/News/Events 5 minutes
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DRAFT MINUTES
Cape Elizabeth Alternative Energy Committee
Minutes for June 18, 2008 Meeting
Present: Ted Hawkes, Peter Ingraham, Sara Lennon, Bill Slack, David Whitten,
Guests: Dave Clay, Rick Fontana, Anne Holland, Steve Linnell
Not Present: Wyman Briggs, Alan Lishness, Ernie MacVane
I. May 20 Meeting Minutes Unanimously Approved
II. Wind Grant Status Application and Review
The proposal that Wyman put together for an Efficiency Maine Grant to install
a 100 foot (30 meter) tower and anemometer to collect wind data was reviewed.
The proposal states that the anemometer will be placed in an open field near
the tennis courts. There is a requirement that the proposal be signed by
an elected official and is due on June 30.
Action Item: Sara will e-mail the proposal to Mike McGovern, an elected official
and Alan Hawkins (with the school) to get them in the loop as soon as possible.
Sara reported that the proposal before the Town Council to allow wind turbines
has been pushed to July 14 for a public hearing. She feels the Council is
firmly behind allowing wind turbines on town property, but there is resistance
to allowing windmills on residential property.
There was discussion about the placement of the tower, whether the 100 feet
could be reached in a way other than a tower, how tied to the location that
is stated in the proposal the tower needs to be, and the length of the time
required for monitoring a site. Bill thinks there may be some flexibility.
It is thought that the grant from Efficiency Maine is tied to the production
of a minimum of 500 kilowatts which would put the tower at 70 meters.
III. Combined Heat and Power Proposal
Dave and Ernie met with a representative from Bonhag Associates and toured
various locations in the schools. The purpose was to get an overview of the
possibility of a combined heat and power biomass facility to be used in
combination with existing boilers. A rough estimate suggests that the cost
would be approximately $5 million dollars to supply about 50% of the heat
and electricity produced by current fuel and electricity usage. This project
could be added on to over time.
Dave thinks it would be a good idea for Bonhag to attend a Cape Elizabeth
Alternative Energy Committee meeting. He also pointed out that Bonhag could
help Cape Elizabeth find federal and grant money for the project. The rest
of the money could come from a bond. The next step is possibly contracting
with a company for a feasibility study. Bonhag proposes such a study for
about $30,000.
Action Item: Ted offered to check with organizations that had cogeneration
systems put in place in the 70s to see if and how they are still running.
It was also suggested that the Committee check with facilities in Vermont
who have recently had cogeneration systems installed.
IV. Courier Article(s) Update
Anne has drafted the first of three articles for the Courier based on her
interview with Ernie. It is about Cape Elizabeth's energy monitoring system.
Ernie is reviewing it and Anne will forward it to Bill to add information
about the Cape Elizabeth Alternative Energy Committee next week.
The other articles proposed are about other energy saving strategies and
the grant that Ernie got from Efficiency Maine for Pool Lighting.
It was suggested that Anne look at the Courier website to find out deadline
dates.
V. Update on Cost Appraisals
The numbers Ernie presented at the last meeting about the cost of converting
to propane were reviewed. It was suggested that replacing forms of fuel might
only be a band-aid and that propane and natural gas prices are likely to
rise.
The proposal for an Energy Audit was discussed. It was thought that the current
proposal is of too limited a scope, but once the Committee gets comfortable
with the scope, an audit would be money well spent. The current limited proposal
is for $7000 and the committee agreed that it would be better to have a more
complete audit and pay a bit more. It was decided that it would be best to
write up a comprehensive scope and get three energy audit proposals.
Action Item: Bill will do a first draft for an RFP for more audits
It was acknowledged that the scale of the cogeneration system is completely
different from converting from one kind of fuel to another for heat. In the
long run, cogeneration is the clear winner. It was questioned whether it
would be worth it to spend $15,000 (propane or natural gas conversion) on
something that may have to be replaced in a few years.
Action Item: Bill will try to find a sample of an RFP for a cogen proposal.
VI. Review and Verify Approach to Report
Sara suggested that the report make recommendations and arguments for investing
a certain number of dollars in energy conservation and improvement measures
instead of proposing abstract ideas. It was suggested that the report include
the "cost of doing nothing."
Performance contracts were discussed again as a way for making improvements
without the town putting up any money. A lot of organizations are using
performance contracts including the University of Maine, but Dave Clay warned
that the town should be very careful in regard to performance
contracts-especially of the accounting.
Ernie is getting bills for two years back. It was suggested that once the
background information is gathered all those submitting proposals can use
the same information.
The Cape Elizabeth Alternative Energy Committee is committed to doing an
energy audit. The plan is to suggest ways in which we can reduce the demand
for energy through conservation before going to other measures. It was asked
how fast the committee could get money from the council to do an energy audit.
It was suggested that it would be nice to do the audit before school starts
and be able to say "If we get this done in time, we'll save this much
money
"
Action Item: Bill will work with Sara to write an informational memo to the
Council about what the Alternative Energy Committee is working on.
It was discussed that because people weren't doing their homework, the "Divide
and Conquer" approach may not be working. It was generally agreed that this
may be true, but if work doesn't get done there is still the Champion's matrix
to fall back on.
It is thought that a case study on the Saco windmill will be instructive.
Saco has not been getting the amount of electricity from the windmill that
they hoped for. This might show the value of getting a full year's worth
of wind data at a site before locating a windmill there
Action Item: Dave will call Saco City councilor Eric Cote to discuss Saco's
windmill and write up a brief report.
It would be a good idea to look at the geothermal systems in both Westbrook
and Gorham. Westbrook has an open system and Gorham has a closed system.
Either the Abromson Center or the new Muskie School (or both) on the USM
campus in Portland also has geothermal. Dave Early is the contact for USM.
Action Item: Bill, Rick, Sara (who knows the architect for one of the systems)
and Peter will contact Westbrook, Gorham and USM to visit and get feedback
on how their systems are working.
VII: Review and Determine Strategies to Focus on
The committee is still looking at all possibilities but the windmill and
cogeneration are current priorities.
VII: Timeline
The Council expects the report in Early December and the committee should
work back from that date. There should be a good outline in September and
a draft on October 1.
Action item: Each member of the committee should look at Wyman's draft of
the report and come back with comments.
IX: Action Items and Next Meeting
Action Item: Sara will e-mail the wind power grant proposal for Maine Efficiency
to Mike McGovern, an elected official and Alan Hopkins (with the school)
to get them in the loop as soon as possible.
Action Item: Ted will check with organizations that had cogeneration systems
put in place in the 70s to see if and how they are still running.
Action Item: Bill will do a first draft for an RFP for more energy audits.
Action Item: Bill will try to find a sample of an RFP for a cogen proposal.
Action Item: Bill will work with Sara to write an informational memo to the
Council about what the Alternative Energy Committee is working on.
Action Item: Dave will call Saco City councilor Eric Cote to discuss Saco's
windmill and write up a brief report.
Action Item: Bill, Rick, Sara (who knows the architect for one of the systems)
and Peter will contact Westbrook, Gorham and USM to visit and get feedback
on how their systems are working.
Action item: Each member of the committee should look at Wyman's draft of
the report and come back with comments
The next meeting will be either the week of July 14th or the week of July
21st.
X. Sharing Relevant Energy Stories/News/Events
Bill gave a recap of the Cool Communities meeting he attended. He reported
that Cool Communities is more comprehensive as it focuses on the entire town
and not just municipal buildings. He reported that there will be a series
of meetings in September.
Steve reported that Maine Clean Communities and the Hydrogen Energy Center
will host the beginning of The Hydrogen Tour 2008, a cross-country trek of
hydrogen vehicles. The two groups have applied to hold the event at Fort
Williams on August 11. The event will is scheduled to take place between
9:00 and 10:00 a.m. Unfortunately, test drives will not be offered at this
kick-off event. The tour will make 33 stops across the country.
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