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2019, March 29

FSEC Advisory Board Meeting

2019, March 29
10:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.
CCTS Conference Room
1679 Clearlake Road, Cocoa, FL 32922-5703
Phone: 321-638-1000

Agenda

Time Description Speaker
10:00 a.m. Welcome Mike Faas, Chair
10:10 a.m. Approval of October 19, 2018 Meeting Minutes Mike Faas, Chair
10:15 a.m. Presentation: The State of FSEC [video, PDF, 2 MB]
In Memory of Larry Hufford [Karen Kicinski]
 Jim Fenton
Rob Vieira
10:30 a.m. National, States, and Florida State and Cities Energy Policy

Report of Florida Energy Office

 Louis Rotundo, Colleen Kettles

Kelley Smith Burk
11:00 a.m. Presentation: Florida’s Energy Future [video, PDF, 2.7 MB] Jim Fenton
11:30 a.m. Presentation: Batteries and Their Applications [PDF, 2.2 MB] Hanko Song, VP of Sales, Microvast North America
12:00 p.m. Lunch (Buffet)
 12:45 p.m.  City of Orlando Energy Update, Smart Energy Innovation Network (Orlando/OUC/FSEC/NREL/RMI)  Chris Castro
 1:05 p.m. Review and Update of FSEC AB 2014 SWOT Analysis to provide framework for FSEC Strategic Plan for 2019 to 2024, Presentation: SWOT Analysis 2014-2019 [PDF, 3.2M] Mike Faas, Jim Fenton, Sherri Shields
 1:50 p.m. Board Business
–Date and Agenda for Next Advisory Board Meeting		 Mike Faas,
Jim Fenton
2:00 p.m. Adjournment

Meeting Minutes

Attendees: John Anderson, Chris Castro (call-in), Dave Click, Peter DeNapoli, Mike Faas, Linda Ferrone, Holly Henderson (call-in), Mike Hess, Pete DeNapoli, Dave Norvell, Helda Rodriguez, Louis Rotundo, Susan Schumann, Kelley Smith Burk, Jennifer Szaro (call-in), David Winslow.

Invited Guests: Tom Davis, Health First; John Eichelberger, CHELCO; Karen Kazinski, LifeStyle Homes; Hanko Song, Microvast; Brian Yonemoto, Microvast;, Bob Reedy, UCF; Duane Siemen, UCF

FSEC Staff: Philip Fairey, Karen Fenaughty, James Fenton, Angela Haberman, Colleen Kettles, Doug Kettles, Susan Schleith, Winston Schoenfeld, Sherri Shields, John Sherwin, Safvat Kalaghchy

      1. Mike Faas called the meeting to order at 10:00am and welcomed board members and guests. Everyone introduced themselves.
      2. Mike Faas and James Fenton presented a plaque to David Winslow for being the Chair and Co-Chair of the Advisory Board for the past four years. David was thanked by all for his years of service on the Board.
      3. Mike Faas asked that the minutes from October 19, 2018 be reviewed and approved. A motion was made to approve minutes as written and seconded. Minutes were approved unanimously. James Fenton mentioned again that the minutes and presentations are always available on the FSEC website as well for review.
      4. James Fenton and Rob Vieria spoke about Larry Hufford and the nine years of service he gave the Advisory Board. Sadly, Larry had passed away last year and as a gift of thanks, James and Rob presented a plaque to Karen Kazinski, Larry’s daughter. Larry was instrumental in constructing net-zero energy efficient homes with LifeStyle Homes.
      5. James Fenton gave a presentation about FSEC, and the collaborative partnerships they have, along with its current programs, new contracts, pending proposals and pending contracts. PRESENTATION: The State of FSEC [video, PDF, 2 MB].
      6. Susan Schleith spoke about the upcoming activities in the Education Department. FSEC’s Education Department is putting together free kits for teachers that are offered through the Energy Office’s website. More than 600 kits, composed of PV cells, meters, and FSEC’s solar curriculum will be made for grades: K-5, 6-8 and 9-12. Susan then mentioned that EnergyWhiz is on May 4, 2019 and she is in need of about 100 volunteers to make this event run smoothly. She also asked for sponsorship for EnergyWhiz from those that may have not sponsored the event yet.
      7. James then brought back to the board an overview of the SWOT survey results from 2014. FSEC is working on their new strategic plan for 2019-2024, and your input is needed. A new SWOT survey went out to all board members already but if you have not completed this, you still can.
      8. Kelley Smith Burk spoke about the work that is being done with Florida’s Commissioner of Agriculture, Nikki Fried, and what the future of energy looks like under her term. More updates on that work will come soon. In regards to the Legislative session, Kelley stated that there have been 3-4 energy bills that have been filed: one that asks the Public Service Commission to establish a renewable portfolio standard, one that asks that the Energy Office develop a plan to switch to 100% renewable energy by 2050, and the other is a plan for the new office that was created by the Governor, the Office of Resilience Coastal Protection, asking that they develop a plan to reduce greenhouse emissions. None of these bills have moved anywhere though.There has been movement on Bill 1368, and that is for natural gas fuel fleet rebates. This not only re-establishes $6 million a year in funding for the natural gas program but also $3 million for electric and hybrid vehicles for the years 2019-2024.

        On the VW settlement front, the Energy Office has heard from DEP that the plan should be released by late April/May. Once released it will then be open for public comment for adjustments and then submitted to the trustees for approval, with implementation by late Summer/early Fall 2019.James Fenton asked that Kelley remind the board what the role of the Energy Office is in ensuring liquid fuel is available during an emergency. The “Emergency Support Function 12” makes sure that all emergency response vehicles and other critical places have the fuel they need to support the residents that have been impacted by the emergency.Colleen Kettles mentioned the importance of FSEC working with other local governments as more cities are setting goals to be 100% renewable energy. This is a great opportunity for FSEC. Colleen hopes that the work being done in New Smyrna Beach will make FSEC the experts that local governments see as having solutions on energy efficiency and solar. New Smyrna Beach is the first city to do this and Colleen is hoping that these results will generate interest from other cities to do the same.

        Louis Rotundo seconded what Colleen said and agreed about the lack of legislature on this. Louis encouraged members to go online at leg.state.fl.us and go to the Energy Committee icon to see the packet of information that they put together for interested parties.

        Louis then stated that the project done with Uber from three years ago regarding transportation to/from five of the surrounding cities to Altamonte Springs. The city pays 20% of your fare for using Uber for transportation and 25% of one’s fare for using the Sun Rail! This project is a smashing success and great way to move people within cities.

        James Fenton spoke on the Federal side of energy policies/happenings. With the new U.S. President, there was a cut in energy efficiency and renewable energy research funding by 70%, but both the Democrats and Republicans worked together and passed a budget that was higher than the previous budget. FSEC ended up putting in $14 million in proposals in just the month of June alone, and it turned out very well for FSEC. The President has again put in a new budget and asked for a cut in energy funding by 76% this time! James is very hopeful that FSEC will continue to move forward.

      9. James Fenton gave another presentation, this being on Florida’s Energy Future (through 2030). The future of solar is promising and pricing continues to drop while the demand for solar continues to grow. We are really moving to the point where customers are engaged in their utility usage and their use will be more of a partnership with the local utility companies, not just customers paying for a service. This demand for solar is also creating more job openings in the field – from rooftop installation to manufacturing of the panels – solar jobs are expected to grow at 106% rate over the period of 2016-2026, the nation’s highest job growth! PRESENTATION: Florida’s Energy Future [video, PDF, 2.7 MB]
      10. Hanko Song of Microvast, guest speaker, gave a presentation on “Batteries and Their Applications.” Microvast is a company that specializes in ultra-fast charging, long life, and non-flammable Lithium-Ion batteries. This opened up conversation on the price of recycling these batteries and also the expected lifespan. PRESENTATION: Batteries and Their Applications [PDF, 2.2 MB]
      11. Meeting adjourned at 12:20 for lunch.
      12. Meeting reconvened at 1:00 and due to technical difficulties Chris Castro’s presentation, the City of Orlando’s Energy Update, was postponed to later in the meeting. James Fenton began with his presentation which brought us back to the SWOT Survey from 2014 and the strategic plan FSEC is putting together for 2019-2024. James and Mike Faas both reiterated that if you have not done the survey, please take the time to do so. Sherri Shields spoke on the SWOT analysis as well. She found that most of our strengths and weaknesses are similar to what they were in 2014 with technical skills being FSEC’s biggest strength and State of FL funding being minimal as the biggest weakness. PRESENTATION: FSEC-SWOT-Analyses-2014-2019 [PDF, 3.2MB]
      13. Chris Castro, while still having a bit of technical problems, was able to give most of his energy update on the City of Orlando. Since the last board meeting, the City of Orlando was officially picked for the American Cities Climate Challenge grant. This 2-3 year challenge will put together framework of different policies and programs that will reduce carbon pollution by the greatest amount over just a few years. The City of Orlando came up with eight different strategies that the City of Orlando will collaborate with FSEC on to produce the results needed for this grant.The City of Orlando recently looked at a new fleet facilities energy project. They are looking to add 250kW more of PV to their already existing 420kW of PV on their rooftop, with about 16 electric vehicle charging stations and potentially an on-site battery back-up system! With the addition of these 250 kW of PV, the facility will be a net-zero complex!
      14. Mike Faas brought the attention of the Board back to the SWOT survey results and to setting the date for the next Advisory Board meeting. It will be in October of this year and James Fenton will send out another Doodle Poll to get the date best selected. The meeting was adjourned at 1:55pm.

Respectfully submitted,

Mike Faas
Chair, FSEC Advisory Board