From our friends at Fort Collins Sustainability Group

The Fort Collins City Budget and the Climate Action Plan

Last year, the City of Fort Collins re-affirmed a climate goal it originally established in 2008, and established a new climate goal that is one of the most ambitious in the world.  Those two goals are to reduce community-wide greenhouse gas emissions 20% by 2020 and 80% by 2030 compared to 2005 levels.

Lat fall, City Council set the City’s budget for the next two years.  This process began with various City departments making “budget offers” last spring, which the City Manager then evaluated and used to develop his “recommended budget”, which was released in early September.  Since then, City Council has been taking input from residents.  Council finalized the budget on November 15th.

In 2015, community-wide GHG emissions were 9% lower than they were in 2005.  According to City staff analysis, if all of the offers included in the City Manager’s recommended budget were funded in both the current budget cycle and the 2019-20 budget cycle, community-wide emissions would be about 12.9% lower by 2020 than they were in 2005.  Clearly, considerably more work must be done in the next four years to achieve the 2020 goal.

The Fort Collins Sustainability Group (FCSG) has identified three additional offers made by City staff that are NOT currently included in the City Manager’s recommended budget and that would help close the gap between projected GHG emissions and our 2020 goal.  Those offers are 3.17: Trip Reduction and Efficiency Programs, 67.11: Sunday Transfort Service, and 94.1: Wind and Solar Energy for Municipal Operations.  Together, these three offers would help get the community-wide GHG emissions down 14.2% by 2020 if fully funded over the next four years.

Offer 3.17 would pay for a study by a consulting firm that would result in incentive programs to reduce motor vehicle use and thereby reduce GHG emissions from the transit sector.  Some of these incentive programs would be “no-cost,” and could be implemented immediately.  Other incentive programs emerging from the study could be funded in the next biennial budget.

Offer 67.11 would provide funds to operate MAX, key bus routes, and complementary paratransit service on Sundays.  While this offer is projected to result in relatively low GHG emissions reductions in comparison to the other two unfunded offers, it would significantly increase the usefulness of the public transit system for Fort Collins residents.

Finally, Offer 94.1 would dedicate City funds to purchasing renewable energy from the Platte River Power Authority (PRPA) to meet all of the electricity needs of all City departments.  This offer needs to be improved by requiring that the renewable energy used in municipal operations come from new instead of existing sources.  If this were done, Offer 94.1 would enable our community to make significant progress toward the 2020 goal.

The FCSG urges readers of this newsletter to let City Council members know that the three offers described above are critical to meeting our 2020 climate goal.  Write to council members at CityCouncil@fcgov.com.  For more information on these offers, click here.

Kevin Cross is a member of the Fort Collins Sustainability Group Steering Committee.

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Update from Fort Collins Utilities on Energy Score

In 2016 CforSE organized citizen support for an "Energy Score" program to evaluate home energy efficiency improvements and help to quantify value for home sale. Here is the latest update from FCU:

Building Energy Benchmarking Update

·        The new staff member approved by Council to support building benchmarking and scoring is now on board.

·        Staff are currently evaluating software which can support the data management requirements

·        Staff anticipate a phased approach to benchmarking, scoring, and transparency based on building size and sector

·        Initiative planning will continue on an ongoing basis and stakeholder engagement is expected to be focused on Q1 and Q2 2017

That's one small waste of money...

The City's Biomass Burner Study has been completed. I know you are dieing to hear the result! It was exactly as predicted - A biomass burner is not a practical solution to dealing with the potential impact of the Emerald Ash Borer. In case you haven't heard, the Ash Borer is an insect that is decimating ash trees across the country and is anticipated to arrive in FoCo in a year or two. A biomass burner would have burned the dead trees to create electricity. The City spent $50,000 to recreate studies that have been done in better biomass markets in CO already. One small example of how our City Council wastes $$. The wood could be sold to furniture makers, or firewood cutters, or mulch, or many other applications that wouldn't cost the millions of dollars that the city was considering spending on a biomass burner. They truly missed the forest for the trees on this one.

Current Campaigns

Please visit Current Campaigns page to learn more and take action.

Full-Time City Council?

CforSE is part of an exploratory committee to determine if an initiative should be placed on the ballot to pay City Council as a full-time job. Click on the link below to learn more and provide input.  

SHOULD FORT COLLINS CITY COUNCIL BE A FULL-TIME POSITION WITH FULL-TIME PAY?

A little less talk...

...And a lot more action! Is what we need from the City of Fort Collins. The businesses and citizens continue to lead with action. Unfortunately the public sector is lagging behind. We hear great words, goals, and plans from our City leadership but the action is still lacking. Not that the City is doing nothing. They recently hired an inspector to go through construction permit paperwork to make sure that builders are following the rules. The rebates for commercial efficiency are helping local businesses save money and energy. But we could be, and need to be, doing a lot better.

The talk from leadership demonstrates that they understand the related problems and solutions in our local energy sector. They tend to pat themselves on the back a lot but they don't talk about the failings and opportunities for improvement within the system. This manifests in poor execution of good intention. One example is the On-Bill Financing (OBF) program that CforSE lobbied so hard and long for. Fort Collins Utilities recently decided to effectively end the program before they even implemented it for renters and lower income home-owners. City leadership doesn't want to talk about this. 

FCU's assistance programs are mostly used by people earning greater than the Area Median Income. 7% of your electric bill goes to these programs. The result is that renters and low income home-owners are subsidizing programs that are not practically available to them. The poor are subsidizing the rich. One local building scientist claims that the City is spending 4 times what they need to and getting less than half the desired result. We are spending the people's money making some already pretty good houses a little bit more efficient when we could be spending the same amount of money making really bad houses a lot more efficient. City leadership has not added this to their bragging points.

The Climate Action Plan is a joke. Staff did such a poor job communicating what it is that everyone thinks it comes with a $200 million price tag. Communication is the least of the problems. They study and talk and spend and study and talk and spend. One example is the council approved idea to spend $50,000 studying the feasibility of generating power by burning the Ash trees that are expected to die in the next few years in town. This is an idea that has been proven unfeasible in several better markets. The furnace itself would cost millions of dollars. What do we do with it once all the Ash trees are burned, if they even die to begin with? Most of the Climate Action Plan expense comes from hiring more staff and/or promoting from within without demonstrating results or competency. City leadership doesn't want to talk about that either.

It is beginning to appear that a local non-profit made up of our talented and proven leaders in the business and civic community could do a much better job than our government can do for much less money. I am currently researching this idea and it may become a longer term strategy for CforSE. Stay tuned! 

June 2016 Update

As Fort Collins roles out the Climate Action Implementation Plan the rubber is hitting the road. Already we have had to defend decisions that council made and staff is trying to back out of. In June the city's Climate Action Leadership Team recommended that council not extend funding for the commercial energy efficiency program. This program has the best return on investment of any of the city's efficiency programs. It provides rebates to businesses to change their lighting. It has been wildly successful. It helps businesses reduce cost, reduces the need for Utilities to build infrastructure, provides work to more than 60 electrical contractors, and reduces our energy footprint. It is also something that council explicitly decided to fund in March. 

Staff wanted to defund the program because unexpected costs appeared in other areas of the Fort Collins Utilities budget (rumor is the new Utility building on LaPorte is WAY over budget).  The very "leaders" on staff who are supposed to administer the climate action plan are ready to sacrifice the most effective tools at the drop of the hat. Fortunately Councilman Ross Cunniff was able to think outside the box and found the funding to keep this program going. 

I spoke on behalf of CforSE and the Fort Collins Sustainability Group did an excellent job to make sure that Council recognized the importance of this program and overrode staff's recommendation to defund. This is a victory for citizens and council leadership, and it is  a red flag about the intentions and/or capabilities of the staff leadership team. We will continue to monitor their activities and hold them accountable to executing the will of the council and the citizens of Fort Collins.

CforSE joins coalition to hold state accountable to climate action goals

News release for Wednesday, September 16, 2015



Fort Collins, CO - Member organizations of the Colorado Coalition for a
Livable Climate (CCLC) were disappointed to learn that the 2015 Colorado
Climate Plan
<http://cwcbweblink.state.co.us/WebLink/0/doc/196541/Electronic.aspx?searchi
d=243b8969-739b-448c-bd2d-699af9b7aea0> , which was released today by the
Hickenlooper Administration, makes only cursory reference to the greenhouse
gas emissions reduction goals established by the Ritter Administration.  The
Plan does not acknowledge that the State is currently falling far short of
achieving those goals, as is evident in the Colorado Greenhouse Gas
Inventory
<https://www.colorado.gov/pacific/sites/default/files/AP-COGHGInventory2014U
pdate.pdf> - 2014 Update.



The CCLC is also concerned that the goals adopted by the Ritter
Administration - which have seemingly been abandoned by the Hickenlooper
Administration - are inadequate to meet the responsibility of our State to
help avert catastrophic global climate change.  Given the widespread
agreement among climate scientists that a global temperature rise of more
than 1.5° to 2.0° C (2.7° to 3.6° F) over the mid-19th Century average would
lead to a climate catastrophe, the CCLC proposes that the State of Colorado
adopt the following new climate goal statement:



"To help secure a future in which the environment, culture, and economy of
Colorado are not further irrevocably damaged by climate change, the State
shall develop and adopt annual greenhouse gas emissions goals that are
supportive of limiting the global average temperature rise to 1.5° C (2.7°
F) or less by the end of this century, and which shall include achievement
of carbon neutrality by 2030.  These goals shall be informed by the best
available science, as well as by the need for an equitable allocation of our
remaining carbon budget among all the people of the planet.  Building on
past efforts, the State shall also develop and adopt a comprehensive,
multi-sector plan to achieve the new goals, in addition to accounting
measures to validate annual progress toward them."



Due to the urgency of addressing global climate change, we must do far more
than is contemplated by the recently released 2015 Colorado Climate Plan.
Adoption of the above goal statement, followed by the creation of a plan for
developing, achieving, and monitoring progress toward reaching the annual
goals called for, is essential if Colorado is to assume a leadership role in
responding to the climate crisis.



Member organizations of the CCLC include:

1.       350 Colorado (http://350colorado.org)

2.       Clean Energy Action (http://cleanenergyaction.org)

3.       Colorado Chapter, Global Catholic Climate Movement
(https://catholicclimatemovement.global)

4.       Colorado Interfaith Power and Light (http://www.coloradoipl.org)

5.       Colorado Renewable Energy Society (http://cres-energy.org)

6.       Community for Sustainable Energy (http://www.cforse.org)

7.       Denver Catholic Network

8.       Eco-Justice Ministries (http://www.eco-justice.org)

9.       Empower Our Future (http://empowerourfuture.org)

10.   EnergyShouldBe.Org (http://energyshouldbe.org)

11.   Fort Collins Sustainability Group (http://fcsg.fccan.org)

12.   Fossil Fuel Free Denver (http://decarbondenver.org)

13.   Our Children's Trust Colorado
(http://ourchildrenstrust.org/state/colorado)

14.   Rocky Mountain Peace and Justice Center (http://rmpjc.org)

15.   San Luis Valley Ecosystem Council (www.slvec.org)

16.   Sustainable Revolution Longmont (http://www.srlongmont.org)

17.   Transition Fort Collins (http://transitionfortcollins.org)



For further information, please contact Kevin Cross of the Fort Collins
Sustainability Group at info@fccan.org or 970-419-8944.

Fort Collin update

We have been working since January to establish a grading system for building energy efficiency and disclosing the grade that a building has earned in sale or lease advertising. 12 communities around the country have implemented similar policies and the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy has a "how to" sheet to help local governments do the same.  I have been meeting with renters, homeowners, landlords, property managers, real-estate professionals, energy auditors, contractors, and Fort Collins City Councilmembers and Utilities to develop a policy that works for all stakeholders. Gino Campana, council district 3, is the only council member out of seven that has yet to meet with me about this.

I am meeting with Gerry Horak, Council dist. 6, next week to draft ordinance language that will require the energy score be disclosed in advertising. It looks like we will go for a 1-10 score instead of an A-F grade, 10 being the best. If a building hasn't yet been scored, then it will receive an "unrated" score. I'd like to see the latter provision sunset after 2 yrs and a building not rated would score "0".  This is required to prevent an army of "unrated" buildings that would undercut the entire policy. The real-estate folks that I've met with are at least OK with this idea. The landlords that have faith in their property love the idea. Renters and prospective buyers love the idea. The contractors and auditors absolutely love the idea. The only people that don't love the idea are afraid to have their housing inspected. This could be because of asbestos in the house or because of illegal situations (fire hazards, etc) in rentals. In this case the owner can accept a "0" score and renters and buyers beware.

The other caveat is that Fort Collins Utilities needs to develop the scoring system. Energy auditors (inspectors) and contractors want to see a score of "10" being energy neutral and a score "1" means that you're living in a tent. Most housing would fall right in the middle. Energy neutral means that the property generates as much energy as it uses. This can be done (and has been in town) with ultra-efficiency and solar panels. "10" is a step above the rest. "8 or 9" is what most housing in FTC would be shooting for and there is extremely low cost financing available to get there. 

Unfortunately Fort Collins Utilities wants to use a Department of Energy scoring method that grades on a curve. A "10" is equivalent to the top 12% of houses participating in a survey from 2009. Not only is it disingenuous to grade on a curve but the curve is WAY out of date! A building should be scored on it's potential and if you went through the expense and effort to be the best, then you deserve better. Energy professionals and at least one councilman (Ross Cunniff, D5) agree. We have to hold our public Utility to a higher standard! 

Thank you for your continued support!

Take five for a Key Public Comment Period for Sustainable Energy!

Our friends at Delta-Montrose Electric Association are working to add micro-hydro from a local irrigation ditch to their energy mix. Unfortunately Tri-State (the parent electric co-op) is trying to stop them and instead favors building a new ($3 Billion) coal plant in Kansas. Tri-State is doing this to a few of the local co-ops in Colorado. However, Tri-State recently restructured it's financing to become a public utility. This change means that Federal law prohibits Tri-State from preventing the local co-ops from buying local, renewable energy. The agency in charge has not yet made a ruling on this and Tri-State is still blocking progress.

Sooo..... DMEA is asking the feds to make their ruling and there is a public comment period. That brings us to you! A brief comment in support will get the Feds to prioritize this decision. Here is a form letter that you can copy. Your homework is due by March 11th so do it now and stick it in the mail!

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The Honorable Kimberly D. Bose, Secretary                                                                               Federal Energy Regulatory Commission                                                                                           888 First Street, NE                                                                                                                  Washington, D.C. 20426

Re: Delta-Montrose Electric Association,  Docket No. EL15-43

Dear Federal Energy Regulatory Commissioners:

I am writing as one of the 30,000 Coloradans that support Community for Sustainable Energy to back Delta-Montrose Electric Association (DMEA) in their petitioning for Declaratory Order and Request for Expedited Action.

As an energy consumer it is important to me that local electric providers such as DMEA are able to purchase energy from small scale, local, renewable energy sources without limitation for the purpose of establishing an energy system that:  Promotes local economic health, minimizes harm done to the environment, and results in equitable retail rates.

Sincerely,