Renewable Energy for Municipal Governments NCSEA’s work with the City of Raleigh, NC

Sustainability Leader “We are a 21st Century City of Innovation focusing on environmental, cultural and economic sustainability.” - City Council Mission Statement Why Raleigh? Always been a City striving to be at the cutting edge of sustainability practices. Making the most of the resources available to them to wanting to continue that tradition. First thin film PV panels in the Southeast First LED city in the world LEED Platinum Transit Facility LEED Platinum Solid Wastes Services at Wilder’s Grove LEED Silver Raleigh Convention Center Methane capture at Wilder’s Grove Landfill since 1989 Community champion for plug-in electric vehicles 2013 NCSEA Community Leadership Award The rooftop at the Raleigh Convention Center features a 500kW solar PV array installed in 2012.

Roadmap to Raleigh’s Energy Future Climate Energy Action Plan CEAP – looked at holistically across the city Completed in 2012 – looked at all city operations in terms of climate and energy. Laid out on things that they had to do to make their climate use better. Three follow-up plans were set into motion by the CEAP. Fleet & Fuel – separate plan and it is in motion now. Basically thought that the City had so many vehicles they didn’t want to include this in the Renewable Energy Plan. Business Case Evaluations Training – training for the business case for budgeting folks and others to make the total cost of ownership assessment of the project. If energy projects are different - now if they want to own rather than paying An electricity bill it takes a different kind of analysis. City of Raleigh Office of Sustainability wanted a recognized expert in renewable energy in North Carolina to help them understand how they could optimize the integration of renewable energy resources into municipal operations given current trends in energy markets and policy. Enter NCSEA as leader in clean energy information and policy in North Carolina to provide insights to accomplishing renewable energy goals. City didn’t understand how the grid worked, the relationship between transportation fuels and energy when they thought about transportation and when you think about energy together fleet and fuel would be part of entire energy plan (EVs, etc). Met with transportation coordinator in the NCSEA work but from the get go they didn’t consider of energy in this area (and didn’t even think about it during the scope of work). Thought about CNG trucks and fleet fuel standards for garbage trucks. Renewable Energy Plan Fleet and Fuel Transformation Plan Business Case Evaluations Training

Raleigh’s Assessment Methodology Findings City of Raleigh Staff Interviews Best Practices Literature Review Findings Energy Data Planning Process Resources Communication 4. City of Raleigh Renewable Energy Assessment Findings 4.1 Methodology – two steps 1) interview to gather information about specific issues within Raleigh, and 2) research best practices to solving identified issues (make recommendations based on these) 4.2 Findings – The findings are basically a summary of the interview answers, many of which were common for many respondents. These form the basis for the recommendations made in the next section Energy Consumption and Performance Information - The most evident finding of this assessment was a lack of widely available information on the City’s energy use and performance. While the City has already accomplished much in the way of improving energy consumption, and data management, interviewees mentioned that it was not possible for them to holistically assess energy use across the city without a central hub for data on fuel expenditures, traditional electricity purchases, and distributed energy production. Energy Planning Process - NCSEA also discovered that the City’s energy planning process is not integrated throughout all departments. This makes informed renewable energy integration difficult. Staff mentioned that there is a lack of structure for the systematic implementation, ownership, measurement, and communication of renewable energy projects. Resources - Additionally, it was found that funding sources for renewable energy projects were limited. Competition for budget allocations. Communication - Finally, several interviewees noted that the City could improve upon its ability to communicate, both internally and externally, the benefits of increased renewable energy implementation. Need the bottom-up buy from both citizens and employees charged with operating and maintaining the energy infrastructure.

Renewable Energy Plan A comprehensive and actionable guide to meeting the goals of the Climate/Energy Action Plan through renewable energy planning for the city’s Municipal Operations. Renewable Energy Holistic Perspective Relevant Policies Current Technologies Viable Options They wanted this overall goal but very little beyond this statement. Original plan for the contents of the renewable energy plan Overview of renewable energy technologies Holistic perspective of both city’s needs and the overall state of the energy economy What policies were relevant to NC municipalities trying to implement renewable energy at the time (tax credits, no third part sales, land leases, etc.…) How does municipalities take advantage of tax credits, what are the suite of technologies and what are the viable options. Wanted to look at energy and production data initially. Originally wanted a third party to go in and have the facilities folks share their data.

Office of Sustainability Interview Flow Chart Legal Lead Contact: Carolyn Bachl NCSEA Robin Aldina (919) 832-7601 City Manager New A.C.M. Public Works Construction Management Richard Kelly Public Utilities John Carman Office of Sustainability Paula Thomas Parks and Rec O&M Billy Jackson Renewable Energy Plan Finance Fred Blackwood Solid Waste Fred Battle Began with staff interviews. Interviews were where we started to understand the city’s operations and the energy operational side of things. Describe your role & how it relates to renewable energy. How do you touch energy? How have you worked on renewables in the past and or are you currently working on any renewable energy? What do they want out of a renewable energy plan and what opportunities do they see benefitting the city. How they touch energy? How they dealt with energy procurement & production? Surprises in this process – how many people worked in the energy process, what they were doing, how it was not coordinated without any energy manager or plan, there was no one that did all the production procurement (energy purchasing from the utilities). They have 906 separate electric accounts with the City of Raleigh – and one person’s job is how to pay all of these energy bills every month. Electric utility accounts. This process took much longer than anticipated and provide lots of insights into how the city was accomplishing a lot in terms of renewables and sustainability, but lacked a coordinated approach to achieving established goals.

Recommendations Energy Performance Measurements Energy Planning Process Financing Strategies Communication and Education Partnerships Policy Changes Energy Performance Measurements - Accurate, meaningful, and thorough measurement of all City energy consumption and generation is essential to understanding the existing energy situation and identifying areas for improvement. Data is the basis for the establishment of specific goals that improve energy performance in the City of Raleigh Energy Planning Process -Communication might be maintained throughout project planning and management, involving the appropriate parties in identifying opportunities, designing projects, and optimizing operations Financing Strategies - Renewable energy systems benefit from having no fuel costs, but are capital intensive. Suggested financing models include public-private partnerships, creating an affiliated nonprofit entity, or developing a revolving loan fund for renewable energy projects Communication and Education - It is important for the City to have open communication with the staff who will be involved in the operation and maintenance of renewable projects on a daily basis. Basic training for everyone in the organization on RE and CE. From budgeting to operation. Partnerships - Raleigh may also benefit from the fostering of relationships with those organizations attempting to bring new renewable energy technologies to market. These include the many local colleges and universities, local companies, and even the electric utility Policy Changes - The City has the opportunity to become a more active participant in shaping the renewable energy landscape by engaging in the process of developing new rules and regulations for renewables in North Carolina. Groups such as the North Carolina League of Municipalities, the North Carolina Metropolitan Mayors Coalition, and NCSEA are advocates for effective renewable energy regulations

Questions? robin@energync.org