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Projects Updates for key objective: 43. Campus Power Contracts for Renewables

  2. iWG follow up letter

    Associated Project(s): 
    iCAP Working Group (iWG)
    Wind Power Purchase Agreement (PPA)
    Energy Generation, Purchasing, & Distribution (eGen) SWATeam [ARCHIVED]

    Dear Al,

    Attached please find a reply from the iCAP Working Group regarding the wind PPA process.

    By the way, thanks so much for your participation in iSEE's Roundtable this week...sorry we didn't get a chance to chat!

    Cheers,

    Ben

    --

    Professor Benjamin J. McCall

    Associate Director for Campus Sustainability Institute for Sustainability, Energy, and Environment University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign campus-sustainability@illinois.edu

     

    Attached Files: 

  3. iWG agenda packet

    Associated Project(s): 
    iCAP Working Group (iWG)
    Wind Power Purchase Agreement (PPA)
    Agriculture, Land Use, Food, and Sequestration (ALUFS) SWATeam [ARCHIVED]
    Energy Conservation and Building Standards (ECBS) SWATeam [ARCHIVED]
    Water and Stormwater SWATeam [ARCHIVED]
    Transportation iCAP Team
    Energy Generation, Purchasing, & Distribution (eGen) SWATeam [ARCHIVED]
    Zero Waste iCAP Team
    2015 Illinois Climate Action Plan (2015 iCAP) [ARCHIVED]

    Attached here are the agenda and other relevant materials for the September 25, 2014 meeting of the iCAP Working Group.

    Attached Files: 

  4. F&S response to iWG assessment

    Associated Project(s): 
    iCAP Working Group (iWG)
    Wind Power Purchase Agreement (PPA)

    This letter is in response to the Illinois Climate Action Plan (iCAP) Working Group (iWG) recommendation #EG001, which Facilities & Services (F&S) received on August 28.  F&S agrees that the campus should investigate the feasibility of entering into a Wind Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) to increase the use of renewable energy for campus. 

    Regarding the EG001 general statements about campus energy use, data points, and assessments of anticipated financial impacts, F&S will need more time to compile a useful response.  Regarding the three specific EG001 recommendations, I have consulted with Al Stratman, Kent Reifsteck, and Mike Larson to provide the responses below. 

    1. Recommendation: “The campus should undertake a Power Purchase Agreement for wind energy. Based on currently available information, we recommend that the amount be at least 119 million kWh per year (25% of our total electrical usage), but we should aim to purchase as much as we possibly can, given any technical, financial, and contractual constraints.”

    From this recommendation, we understand that the iWG recommends entering into a Wind PPA for at least 25% of the FY15 electrical demand.  However, the campus cannot make an informed decision about whether or not to undertake a PPA until the financial impact is fully understood.  A key component of the financial impact is the fully burdened cost of the purchased wind power, which will not be known until after the successful completion of the Request for Proposal (RFP) process.  Therefore, F&S does support pursuing a PPA so the feasibility can be evaluated, but we do not support making a final decision to undertake a PPA until completely evaluating the financial implications.

    1. Recommendation: “The effort to secure a PPA should be pursued as quickly as possible. The campus should inform PEI that this is a top priority, and that the review of RFI submittals and the issuance of the RFP should be expedited by all necessary means.”

    During this summer, F&S worked with PEI to define a schedule for issuing a Request for Information (RFI) and a subsequent Request for Proposals (RFP).  This schedule shows a completion date of April 2015, so that the PPA could commence with delivery of power on July 1, 2015, at the start of FY16.  We have informed PEI that this is a top priority, along with safety and reliability of the overall campus energy system.

    1. Recommendation: “The iCAP Working Group should be kept informed and advised during the process of pursuing the RFI, RFP, and PPA, and given the opportunity to provide recommendations before key decisions are made about the PPA, to ensure that technical and financial considerations are appropriately balanced with our campus sustainability objectives.”

    F&S values the advice and input from sustainability advocates on campus.  Therefore, we suggest developing a set of interim checkpoints for keeping the iWG informed as the process unfolds.

    To meet our Climate Commitment and achieve carbon neutrality, there is a lot of work that needs to be done.  I look forward to working with the iWG and the SWATeams as this recommendation is pursued.

    Sincerely,

    Morgan B. Johnston

    Associate Director of Sustainability, F&S

  5. Updated RFP schedule from PEI

    Associated Project(s): 
    Wind Power Purchase Agreement (PPA)

    I am providing an updated schedule for the RFP related to a wind-power PPA for UIUC.  The change reflects a request by one vendor to extend the response period by one week.  Because of that, we have made other slight modifications to target dates for some of the milestones, but the original completion date of April 30, 2015 is maintained.

    If you have any question, please let me know.  Dan Mortland

    Attached Files: 

  6. revised schedule

    Associated Project(s): 
    Wind Power Purchase Agreement (PPA)

    Morgan,

    I understand the deadline for submitting the RFI was extended until September 5 based on the requests from some vendors for more time to prepare their responses.

    UA / PEI will be forwarding more info and will be looking to keep the overall schedule from being extended.

    Thanks

    Kent

  11. F&S receives Wind PPA recommendation

    Associated Project(s): 
    Energy Generation, Purchasing, & Distribution (eGen) SWATeam [ARCHIVED]
    Wind Power Purchase Agreement (PPA)

    Evan:

    We contacted UA. They're supposed to give us a RFP schedule next week. That should give us a better idea of the timeline.

    -Al Stratman

    From: Evan DeLucia [mailto:delucia@life.illinois.edu]
    Sent: Thursday, May 29, 2014 5:39 PM
    To: McCall, Benjamin
    Cc: Stratman, Allan
    Subject: SWAT report on energy generation

    Ben,

    In the absence of a fully formulated SWAT process - iWG and the Sustainability Council have yet to be formed - I forwarded the May 2014 position paper from the 'energy generation' team directly to Al Stratman for consideration.

    Under the SWAT process, the teams should be... "developing and recommending specific actions or initiatives the campus should under take to meet iCAP targets..." The energy generation SWAT did a nice job of recommending a specific action that would help meet our targets.

    To paraphrase, Al responded...

    • the concept of a PPA is meritorious and has potential
    • F&S is evaluating this plan
    • some of the issues that need to be considered include pricing options, length of agreement constraints, REC pricing alternatives
    • F&S is working to obtain hard data on pricing and other details before moving forward

    I've taken the liberty of copying Al to be sure I didn't misrepresent his response to me.

    Al, do you have any idea of what might be a reasonable time frame would be for completing an analysis of the feasibility, costs, and benefits of purchasing wind power for campus?

    Cheers,

    Evan

  12. Recommendation: Wind PPA

    Associated Project(s): 
    Energy Generation, Purchasing, & Distribution (eGen) SWATeam [ARCHIVED]
    Wind Power Purchase Agreement (PPA)

    Here is the first recommendation from the Energy Generation SWATeam.

    "We strongly endorse obtaining Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) with one or more Wind Farms as soon as possible.  It is unlikely that a better opportunity to purchase renewable energy will present itself in the foreseeable future."

    Attached Files: 

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