1 Gainesville’s Public Utility, GRU Pegeen Hanrahan, P.E. The City of Sarasota June 2010

2 Introduction to Gainesville  City population is + 130,000 with more than 60 square miles – 14th largest in FL  County population is + 250,000 with more than 930 square miles  Home to the University of Florida  Low tax base - rely heavily on municipal utility

3 3 Gainesville Regional Utilities  Municipally-owned Utility (electric, gas, water/wastewater, telecom)  Self Generating  60% Coal  20% Natural Gas  5% Nuclear  0.5% Oil  1% Renewable Energy  15.5% Purchased power  To be almost 22% renewable by 2013

4 4 Gainesville Regional Utilities  Governed by the Gainesville City Commission – Mayor is the Chair of the Board  Annual revenues of $370 million, with $269 million from the electric utility; $34.4 million transfer to city  Net capital assets in excess of $1 billion  Over 90,000 residential and commercial electric customers  Net generating capacity of 610 MW  In process to obtain approval for a 100 MW biomass plant using waste wood with a private partner; Feed-in-Tariff has 32 MW in solar approved

5 5 Gainesville Regional Utilities  Double A bond rating by Moody’s and Standard and Poor’s – One of the top 20 bond ratings among public utilities, out of more than 2,000 nationwide  Over 700 employees altogether  Citizen input with two advisory committees and through commission Utility Committee and citizen comment held at every City Commission meeting

Benefits of a Public Utility  Local control – local elected officials set policy and rates, within regulatory guidelines  Local revenues – GRU transfers $34.4 million into our general government budget of around $100 million. Covers most of the police department 6

Public Utility Challenges  Rates higher, on average, when compared to IOU’s  Utility issues key to political debate, conflicts  Board of Directors, staff seeking to meet multiple conflicting goals 7

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Difficult Energy Supply Debate  From , debated need and technology for new base load supply  Ultimately adopted policies to increase energy efficiency (TRC vs. RIM test)  Came to focus on renewable and low carbon options, notably biomass and solar  In 2007, the Florida Public Service Commission put a moratorium on new coal generation in Florida 10

11 Strategies and Options  Energy Efficiency  Lowest kilowatt-hour usage per residential customer in Florida*  Motivate Customers Rebates Information and Education Rate designs  Renewable energy based on resource availability - Biomass and Solar  Wind, hydro, geothermal, tidal not available *Among Florida generating utilities

12 Energy Supply Changes  Biomass  Landfill Gas to Energy  Solar (FIT, Rebates, Net Metering)

13 Gainesville Renewable Energy Center  100-megawatt plant fueled by woody biomass – contract with private industry  Carbon neutral  Expected to create 525 local jobs 490 in the forestry industry 35 in the generating plant

14 Landfill Gas to Energy  New project at Marion County Baseline Landfill  3-megawatt facility  GRU contract with Atlanta-based G2 Energy

15 Our Focus on Cleaner Energy  Joined ICLEI & Cities for Climate Protection in 1998  Signed US Mayors Climate Protection Agreement in 2005  Today more than 1000 mayors have signed, committing to Kyoto Standards

16 Reducing Pollutants  Ambitious goals  Four key strategies with focus on:  Energy conservation  Energy supply  Transportation  Land use planning

17 Meeting Kyoto by 2013

18 Energy Efficiency Incentives  Rebates  HVAC upgrades and maintenance  Insulation  Solar photovoltaic & solar thermal  Duct repair  LEEP whole-house program for low- income residents  Over $20 million invested in our local economy by business and residential customers  Low interest loans also available

19 Energy Efficiency Incentives Cumulative results for FY 07 & FY 08  35,548 megawatt hours of electricity saved Enough to power over 3200 homes  6,060 kW of demand reductions  10% of all customers have participated

20  GRU Customized Business Rebates  Reduced energy consumption helped businesses weather the storm of higher fuel costs this summer  Rebate offers up to $40,000 per site or up to 50% of project cost, whichever is less  Sparking innovative business ideas to upgrade facilities  Lighting retrofits most popular  Example – Santa Fe College gym Business Incentives Are Key

21 Santa Fe College Retrofit Before After

22 Business Incentives Are Key  Other programs include Smart Vendor, LED exit sign  CRA incentives for LEED buildings  25% discount and fast-track building permits for LEED standards

23  Municipals in Germany led the way  Gainesville FIT announcement has drawn international attention  Newspapers, magazines, blogs and websites  Long-term guaranteed power purchase price is driving investors and new local solar contractors Implementing Solar Feed-In-Tariff

24 Why Solar?  Customer survey of 400 residential customers Would you support or oppose GRU ’ s efforts to encourage solar energy investments in your community if it would add one dollar or less per month to all customers ’ utility bills? Support: 75 percent  Strong community environmental ethic  Largest single source of energy on planet  Great faith in continued advances in cost- effectiveness

25 “ Signing Day ”

26 Implementing Solar Feed-In-Tariff  Since March, MW worth of projects have submitted applications, 4 MW/year  Program will bring steady work for local trades  Have increased solar capacity installed by a factor of more than six fold in 16 months

27 What More Can We Do?  Improve access to capital for building retrofits particularly for lower-income residents/renters  Help bring down cost of solar technologies and energy efficiency equipment – FIT is working in this way  Help established businesses, educational institutions, hospitals and other “big players” to see themselves as part of the solution

Conclusion Best wishes for a successful outcome in Sarasota! 28

29 Questions or Comments? Pegeen Hanrahan, P.E mobile