Environmental Sustainability Task Force Final Report.pdf

Estes Park Environmental Sustainability Task Force - Final Report January 31, 2022

Environmental Sustainability Task Force

Final Report

Respectfully Submitted to the Town Board by the Appointed Members of the

Environmental Sustainability Task Force

Gordon MacAlpine, Chairperson

Thomas Keck, Vice-Chairperson

Thomas Beck

David Diggs

Patricia Donahue

William Fryer

Lisa Hutchins

Douglas Sacarto

Barbara Werner

January 31, 2022

Contents

Preface and Acknowledgments, iii

Sustainable Energy, 1 Opportunities to reduce GHG pollution through adoption of renewable energy sources, energy efficiency in buildings, electric vehicles and multi-modal transportation, and outdoor equipment electrification. Recommendations 1-20 (20) Prepared by:

• Thomas Beck

• William Fryer

• Thomas Keck

• Gordon MacAlpine

Solid Waste Management, 14 Policies and actions to reduce environmental contamination and GHG pollution due to solid waste disposal in landfills: through community-wide source reduction, increased recycling, and composting of organic waste. Recommendations 21-43 (23)

Prepared by:

• Patricia Donahue

• Lisa Hutchins

• Barbara Werner

Institutional Factors for Sustainability, 21 Sustainability policies and programs in Town operations; Town planning, budgeting, and capital improvements; and delivery of Town services. These institutional reforms concern the entire range of sustainability best practices, as outlined in Appendix 5. Recommendations 44-51 (8) Prepared by:

• David Diggs

• Douglas Sacarto

Endnotes, 30

Appendices (separate documents)

1. ESTF Public Engagement

2. Lakes Computation

3. Colorado Plastic Pollution Reduction Act (HB 21-1162)

4. Strategy for Early Implementation of Colorado Plastic Pollution Reduction Act

5. American Planning Association Sustainability Scorecard https://drive.google.com/file/d/1_BFjkUAWbh-T4jRIWZnwtlzeLNe_FQkq/view https://drive.google.com/file/d/1XsmVdzWwIp5pcBlnSQbkL_y_k23pBxG4/view https://drive.google.com/file/d/1XsmVdzWwIp5pcBlnSQbkL_y_k23pBxG4/view https://drive.google.com/file/d/1GjK-uoFKb_1WeJ5CBlI_hZExuvR6EPJh/view https://drive.google.com/file/d/1MBLqxnxvI9mKt_nNG5jT2vQVRJlcRCCX/view https://drive.google.com/file/d/1KD7nWEuEshj52MBL3YGCLCvX0sX36J4j/view

Preface and Acknowledgments

The Estes Park Town Board of Trustees created the Environmental Sustainability Ad-Hoc Task Force (ESTF) under Town Policy 102 through Resolution 55-21 on June 22, 2021, to provide a detailed exploration and evaluation of options for Town involvement in environmental sustainability initiatives. Its scope is limited to developing recommendations for the Town Board regarding the Town’s role in initiatives, strategies, and tactics to advance environmental sustainability, with those recommended strategies and tactics having proposed timelines for implementation.

The Town Board established "Public Safety, Health, and Environment" as Outcome Areas in the 2021 and 2022 Strategic Plans. It is committed to promoting policies that encourage environmental stewardship and making data-driven decisions to improve and protect the quality of the environment in the Town and surrounding areas, as well as evaluating ways that the Town can advance the cause of environmental sustainability.

The ESTF consisted of nine members appointed by the Town Board, with support from the Assistant Town Administrator. The group met regularly (usually virtually) every other Tuesday, beginning on August 17, 2021. All meetings were open to the public, with supporting materials made available in advance by the Town Clerk’s Office.

Broad public input was solicited in various ways, including widely noticed opportunities to submit comments on the Town’s ESTF web page, two public listening sessions held on October 14 and November 16, and an online survey with responses from 221 residents and 22 commercial businesses. Detailed results from all public engagement processes are contained in Appendix 1 of this report.

The scope of environmental sustainability is broad, and with a limited timeframe and resources the task force divided into three subgroups to work in parallel on specific recommendations for the Town to promote environmental sustainability and resiliency, with particular focus on reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) pollution to combat climate change—the most pressing environmental threat of our time.

The report's recommendations range from straightforward and immediate to complex and long-term actions. Each report section was researched and written by the subgroup members; sections and recommendations are not listed in a prioritized order:

Sustainable Energy—The report's first section spotlights many opportunities to reduce GHG pollution through adoption of renewable energy sources, energy efficiency in buildings, electric vehicles and multi-mobility, and outdoor equipment electrification.

(Thomas Beck, William Fryer, Thomas Keck, Gordon MacAlpine)

Solid Waste Management—The second section outlines a large catalog of policies and actions for the Town to reduce environmental contamination and GHG pollution due to solid waste disposal in landfills: through community-wide source reduction, increased recycling, and composting of organic waste. (Patricia Donahue, Lisa Hutchins, Barbara Werner)

Preface and Acknowledgments iv

Institutional Factors—The last section addresses sustainability policies and programs in Town operations; Town planning, budgeting, and capital improvements; and delivery of Town services. These institutional reforms concern the entire range of sustainability best practices. (David Diggs, Douglas Sacarto)

There are many environmental challenges not explicitly discussed in this report that require additional actions by our community--wildfire, flooding, threats to water supplies and air quality, loss of wildlife corridors, noise and light pollution, invasive plant species, and more, where the challenges often are becoming more extreme due to climate change. Some of these may be in the purview of other governmental organizations. A comprehensive catalog of sustainability concerns and ongoing efforts to promote sustainability would provide a basis for coordination and cooperation. The task force calls respectfully on the Town Board to address these problems with an ongoing strategy and practices for environmental sustainability.

The Environmental Sustainability Task Force expresses its sincere gratitude to Jason Damweber, Assistant Town Administrator, who provided the essential administrative support for the task force, and whose experience and judgment benefitted every stage of our work.

Some individuals made special efforts to advance the work of the task force, and we wish to acknowledge them personally: Matt Allen, Cathy Alper, Bunny Beers, Reuben Bergsten, Chris Bieker, Sarah Clark, Marina Connors, Christy Crosser, Kimberly Disney, James Duell, Kara Franker, Jessica Garner, Beth Headley, Randy Hunt, Greg Muhonen, Duane Penney, Rex Poggenpohl, Alice Reuman, Gary Rusu, Brian Schaffer, Don Sellers, Judi Smith, Vanessa Solesbee, Liz Spalding, and Jeff Woeber.

The task force also thanks each person who attended a taskforce meeting or listening session, responded to a survey, or submitted comments. Your ideas and recommendations have helped importantly to identify problems, opportunities, and priorities in strengthening the sustainability of our community.

Cover background photo courtesy of Visit Estes Park.

Sustainable Energy

Introduction Environmental sustainability requires steep and rapid reductions in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, which are the major causes of global warming and climate change. As illustrated in the left diagram below, burning of coal and gas has caused a rapid and unprecedented rise in atmospheric CO2 levels, which are much higher than in the past 800,000 years. The vertical axes represent temperature changes on the left and CO2 in parts per million (ppm) on the right. The measurements were made using oxygen isotopes and CO2 in ice cores, as well as direct methods. The CO2 level in 2021 reached

420 ppm, as compared with pre-industrial levels near 270 ppm.

Credit: World Economic Forum 2018 Credit: Scott Denning 2020

The roughly periodic atmospheric CO2 fluctuations in the past are understood as resulting from

Earth's orbital characteristics (Milankovitch cycles) coupled with the natural carbon cycle. Relative temperature fluctuations directly mirrored the CO2, with low levels representing past "glacial periods"

(also called ice ages) and high levels representing warmer "interglacial periods." We are currently in an interglacial period, and our fossil fuel burning is disrupting the natural functioning of the planet.

Trends in tropospheric and stratospheric temperatures, measured using satellites, demonstrate conclusively that the increasing CO2 and other increasing greenhouse gases are responsible for currently rising global temperatures.

The right diagram above (by Scott Denning, Monfort Professor of Atmospheric Science at Colorado

State University) illustrates projected global temperature increases, compared with pre-industrial levels, from climate models. The shaded area denotes 1.5–2.0 degrees Celsius (2.7-3.6 deg. F), above which effects of climate change will become so catastrophic that vulnerable countries and many people will not survive. The red line projects the situation for continued, business-as-usual carbon burning; the orange line indicates dramatic improvement if electricity were no longer derived from fossil fuels; the light green line shows even more improvement for proposed ambitious GHG emission reductions world-wide; but only the dark green line for prompt cessation of all fossil fuel burning stays below 2 deg. C. If we were to stop burning carbon right now, the temperature would continue to rise for a decade or more, flatten out, and then decline. That represents the best (perhaps only) hope for future generations.

Sustainable Energy 2

Greenhouse gas emissions in Fort Collins, Larimer County, and Colorado result primarily from electricity generation, buildings with natural gas, and internal combustion engines. Fort Collins and

Larimer County monitor CO2 emissions, and their most recent reports show percentages indicated on the left above. In Fort Collins, electric energy at 46% is the worst offender.1 It combines with natural gas use and travel to account for roughly 90% of emissions. In Larimer County, vehicles and buildings

(with electricity and natural gas) account for 97% of emissions.2 The right-hand diagram from the new draft Colorado GHG Metrics Dashboard indicates that the largest contributors to Colorado’s GHG emissions are electricity generation, transportation, and buildings.3 Estes Park’s Strategic Plan includes adding more renewable energy generation and storage for residential and public buildings, as well as improving building efficiency and design, along with cleaner transportation.

Climate models for Estes Park and vicinity are consistent with measured temperatures here having increased by about 2 deg. F since the 1980s.4 The same models project roughly an additional 3 deg. F increase during the next 25-30 years, with associated impacts on soil moisture, flora, fire, smoke, and water. All of this will affect our quality of life and tourism. As recent fires testify, the situation is already dire. How bad it will get is up to us. With fossil-fueled inertia and general lack of political will, municipalities like Estes Park must play a role if global temperatures are to be held close to 1.5-2.0 deg. C. In this section of the report we make recommendations for reducing our GHG emissions from electricity, buildings, and engines.

Electric Energy The Sun’s energy striking the Earth is more than 10,000 times the total energy used by humanity.

Under the Infrastructure Key Outcome Area in the 2022 Estes Park Strategic Plan, Objective 3.A.1.

states: "Consider implementing the recommendations of the Environmental Sustainability Task Force to support renewable energy and storage sources for use by the Town and by individual residents."

Also, "solar incentives" have been identified in Planning Commission discussions as important issues to be addressed prior to completion of the new Comprehensive Plan. Such distributed energy generation should be emphasized for sustainability, economics, and resiliency, the latter in case there are problems with the primary grid as has been happening in California, Texas, and Louisiana.

https://ftcollinscap.clearpointstrategy.com/ https://www.larimer.org/sites/default/files/uploads/2021/cslc_public_brochure_final_12.7.2020.pdf https://cohealthviz.dphe.state.co.us/t/EnvironmentalEpidemiologyPublic/views/DRAFTGreenhouseGasMetricsDashoard-MGH/GreenhouseGasMetricsDashboard?:showAppBanner=false&:display_count=n&:showVizHome=n&:origin=viz_share_link&:embed=y&:deepLinkingDisabled=y https://www.rockymountainclimate.org/images/extremes/LarimerExtremesFinal.pdf

Sustainable Energy 3

Residential Solar Generation According to a report published by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), roughly 75% of residential structures in Estes Park may be suitable for solar energy generation.5 As of Nov. 10, 2021, only 1.47% of electric services in the Estes Park Power and Communications service area had solar or wind net-metered systems (158 net-meters out of 10,742 registered electric meters). There are excellent opportunities for improving our sustainability and resiliency by adding more clean solar generation, which is significantly under-utilized here.

Ways of encouraging and facilitating solar generation on residences, as well as bringing desirable recognition to Estes Park, could include the advantages of becoming a solar “high achieving community” under the auspices of an organization like the Colorado Solar & Storage Association6 or the Solsmart program.7 Estes Park could also streamline permitting processes, thereby reducing so-called soft costs, by adopting available software packages like NREL’s SolarAPP+ or Solsmart’s similar application, which is already being successfully employed in 29 other Colorado communities. For example, Steamboat Springs significantly increased residential solar generation by attaining a

Solsmart “silver” designation, while reducing their solar permitting fee to $0 and limiting the permitting process to five working days. In addition, if Solar United Neighbors were to select Estes

Park for a “solar co-op” with organized buying power,8 that opportunity for residents should be supported by the Town.

According to NREL, the costs for residential solar installations declined an additional factor of roughly three over the past 10 years, while solar panels have become more efficient and reliable.9

Furthermore, 26% federal tax incentives have been extended through 2022, and low-cost loans are available through the State of Colorado. The RENU program is a statewide residential loan program sponsored by the Colorado Energy Office in partnership with Elevations Credit Union. It makes home energy upgrades affordable by offering low-cost, long-term financing for energy efficiency and renewable energy improvements. With existing incentives, installed and operating first-rate residential 5-6 kW photovoltaic systems may now cost in the neighborhood of $12,000-$13,000. It would also serve our sustainability goals if Estes Park were to follow examples set by Fort Collins, Nederland, and Boulder County by making available $1,000 solar installation grants for those with qualifying financial status.

Recommendation #1: Educate the public about solar opportunities on residential buildings, and encourage solar development by becoming a solar high achieving community and adopting programs for reducing soft costs. Offer local incentives for those with qualifying financial status.

Recommended timeline: 2022-2023/ongoing.

Commercial Solar Generation On Nov. 10, 2021, there were only eight commercial net-metered systems in the area serviced by

Estes Park Power and Communications. This is a small fraction of the many businesses that could benefit from cleaner, less expensive energy, along with associated good will of customers. Other destination communities like Breckenridge and Durango give special recognition to establishments deriving a significant fraction of their electric energy from the Sun.

Routt County also participates in the State of Colorado’s C-PACE program, which enables owners of commercial and industrial buildings to finance up to 100% of eligible energy efficiency, renewable energy, and water conservation improvements. Another related grant, called the MainStreet Open for https://www.nrel.gov/docs/fy16osti/65298.pdf https://cossa.co/solar-and-storage-friendly-communities/ https://solsmart.org/how-we-help/what-is-solsmart/ https://coops.solarunitedneighbors.org/coops/denver-solar-co-op-2/ https://www.nrel.gov/news/program/2021/documenting-a-decade-of-cost-declines-for-pv-systems.html https://energyoffice.colorado.gov/clean-energy-programs/colorado-renu-loan https://copace.com/

Sustainable Energy 4

Business Grant, is funded by the Colorado Department of Local Affairs (DOLA) as a response to helping local businesses recover from COVID-19 and transition to greener energy.

Recommendation #2: Provide information to businesses about solar generation and funding opportunities. Also, give recognition to solar-generating business establishments, with displayable certification placards. Recommended timeline: 2022-2023/ongoing.

Residential or Commercial Battery Storage Energy storage batteries associated with residential or commercial buildings can be valuable for making energy available during what would otherwise be electricity interruptions. In addition, they can shift excess energy from midday, when there may be more solar generation, to late afternoon or evening when there is peak energy use. In the latter case, “time-of-use” electricity rates may make utility-provided energy cost significantly more. Multiple batteries can also be beneficially accessed by a utility, with permission of the owners, and used as a microgrid. Microgrids are gaining favor for providing localized emergency energy or for shifting of available energy to level-out or stabilize the main power grid.10 The solar 26% tax incentive applies to battery purchases, as long as they are used for storing solar energy.

Battery storage makes the most sense for three scenarios: 1) for areas where there may be primary grid electricity interruptions; 2) for regions with mandatory time-of-use rates; and 3) for customers with utilities that significantly subsidize battery costs in exchange for potential access to the batteries.

Examples of utilities that cooperate with customers on beneficial battery access and use include

Green Mountain Power in Vermont and Holy Cross Energy in Colorado.

Recommendation #3: Provide information on battery storage to all electricity customers. If mandatory time-of-use rates go into effect, then revisit this issue. Encourage electricity providers to consider the potential benefits of subsidizing residential or commercial batteries for grid resilience.

Recommended timeline: 2022-2023.

Solar Generation on Public Buildings and Land Estes Park has Town-owned and operated buildings or structures that could beneficially accommodate significant amounts of solar generation. Examples include the Event Center, the Pavilion, the Museum

Annex, the Water Division facility on Fish Creek Road, the Visitor Center, and the Visitor Center

Parking Garage. In the cases of the Event Center and the Pavilion, considering azimuth orientations of both sides of the buildings, roof slopes, roof areas, and using NREL’s solar potential analysis program, solar installations on those two buildings could generate as much as 800,000 kWh of energy over the course of a year. That would supply about 100 homes using an average of 8,000 kWh per year.

With its primary roof orientation slanted toward the south and slightly west (ideal for solar generation during prime-time usage), the Parking Garage is an outstanding opportunity for solar generation as well as sustainability recognition by visitors. If the available upper story space were equipped with raised solar panels, the energy generation could be of order 560,000 kWh per year, which could provide energy for 70 homes using 8,000 kWh per year.

A question that comes up often is "Why doesn’t Estes Park have a shared community solar garden?"

That was considered several years ago on a website called “EVSolarGarden”, with the conclusion that

Estes Park does not have necessary available land space. Having solar panels on public buildings or https://www.energy.gov/oe/activities/technology-development/grid-modernization-and-smart-grid/role-microgrids-helping https://www.utilitydive.com/news/green-mountain-power-pilots-tesla-batteries-as-meters/553873/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Jbt_Yaxk5I https://pvwatts.nrel.gov/pvwatts.php https://evsolargarden.weebly.com/

Sustainable Energy 5 structures could actually function in a similar manner like a shared solar garden. In addition, community solar gardens are being successfully deployed on closed landfills that do not serve any other purpose.11 A highly regarded company called Sandbox Solar in Fort Collins has previously pointed out the potential for a beneficial solar garden that could power 100 homes at the closed landfill site on Elm Road.

With changes to the Organic Contract between the Platte River Power Authority (PRPA) and the municipalities it serves, a customer or a town can contract with a third party for installation of solar facilities and purchase power from that third party. A variation of this could be Utility Owned

Distributed Solar (UODS), which has been successfully employed by the largest public utility in the country, CPS Energy in San Antonio. UODS is especially suitable for applications with larger arrays on public buildings, parking structures, or landfills. An important advantage would be having energy produced locally, as opposed to being dependent completely on a distant source. In this regard, the

PRPA has recently issued a Request for Proposals (RFP), a portion of which calls for the creation of up to 250 MW of new solar generating capacity. With a solar “capacity factor” of 0.25 (the useful fraction of peak capacity), this would result in about 62.5 MW of average available power or about 550,000

MWh of available energy per year. The RFP specifically solicits proposals for distributed-energy solar installations and storage in the owner communities. Since the total energy for the specific projects mentioned above would be only about 2,120 MWh per year, there are numerous opportunities here.

For projects like those discussed in this section, associated generation and storage could function as back-up microgrids in the event of disruption or a need for smoothing of the main grid. In that regard, it is noted that recently-introduced bi-partisan Colorado House Bill HB22-1013 (“Microgrids for

Community Resilience Grant Program”) specifically targets municipal utilities and remote communities like Estes Park. It is an integral part of efforts to establish a smarter, safer, and more reliable grid.

Recommendation #4: Request proposal information in a timely fashion and give strong encouragement for PRPA RFP proposals for solar generation and battery storage involving our public buildings and parking structure, as well as the unused landfill on Elm Road. The RFP proposals are due by February 18, 2022, with projects selected in 2022, so timing is critical. Also, investigate state-supported opportunities for establishing resilience microgrids in Estes Park. Recommended timeline:

2022/as soon as possible.

Solar Generation on Schools As another example of how solar generation can be advantageous, more than 7,000 schools across the country are benefitting from reliability and cost savings by hosting solar facilities, including schools in Glenwood Springs and Carbondale.12 Furthermore, a report in EcoWatch illustrates how a school district in Arkansas was able to provide substantial raises to teachers by going solar.

Fortuitously, some of the Estes Park schools have ideal southwest-facing roof space, angled at roughly

20 degrees. Solar facilities can also be advantageously installed on our schools’ flat roofs.

Two groups of local high school students and their instructors, supported by the Estes Park Education

Foundation, are currently considering a “feasibility study” for putting solar generation on Estes Park school buildings. In addition to possibly facilitating cleaner, more sustainable and less expensive energy, the students will learn about solar technology and terminology.

https://cleantechnica.com/2021/11/24/a-bright-future-for-landfill-solar-yes-landfill-solar/ https://17565969725349410953.googlegroups.com/attach/72865d7c9d9b1/Solar%20RFP%20news%20release.pdf?part=0.1&view=1&vt=ANaJVrECabRii9JP77qDH1QG117ypiN1VIc4x-ia5pO5ccPM1ys-7y2wGJubiXuU0kOWR8SX1J6WXPXZZNuOijtyomi2TyKcBA-yDs35v0P7bufQGu7gxkg https://www.asumag.com/green/sustainability-initiatives/article/20856800/solar-array-in-colorado-district-will-completely-offset-electricity-use-at-elementary-school https://www.ecowatch.com/arkansas-schools-solar-2650598915.html

Sustainable Energy 6

Financial support may be available for school projects. The City of Steamboat Springs and its Routt and Moffat County partners received a $2.1 million grant award from the Colorado Department of

Local Affairs Energy Impact Fund for regional solar projects on government facilities as well as for the

Moffat County School District.

Recommendation #5: Although the Estes Park schools are not included in Town governance, we recommend that their sustainability efforts be encouraged and supported as much as possible.

Recommended timeline: 2022/ongoing.

Wind Energy Generation Another abundant source of renewable energy for residential or commercial use is wind power.

Whereas people generally envision “horizontal-axis” wind turbines with propellers, “vertical axis” turbines are becoming more common, especially for residential use.13 They are less conspicuous, rotate more slowly, and can generate at lower wind speeds. As with solar panels, there are options for different amounts of power generation; and the electricity can be used, stored in a battery, or net-metered to function in coordination with the local utility. Current regulations for wind power generators may be found in the Estes Park Development Code, Chapter 5, Paragraph 5.2.B.2.g. These regulations do not adequately take into consideration vertical axis wind generators.

Recommendation #6: Reconsider the Development Code regulations for wind generators, taking into consideration vertical axis configurations. Recommended timeline: 2022-2024.

Use of Existing Generating Stations and Lakes for Emergency Power and Storage Colorado communities like Gunnison are taking advantage of local lakes for hydropower.14 In that regard, several informed citizens have proposed utilizing stored or pumped energy potential in our local lakes. In 2021, a representative for the Western Area Power Administration acknowledged the

Estes Power Plant on Lake Estes as a viable back-up electricity resource if there is an interruption during future replacement of power lines from the Front Range to Estes Park. Correspondingly, it is also reasonable to consider locally generated hydropower as a back-up resource in case the regional grid is interrupted by natural disasters, which may be increasingly common with climate change.

There are two Estes Valley hydroelectric power plants, at Lake Estes and Mary’s Lake. Characteristics of the Estes-Power-Plant: installed generation capacity = 45,000 kW (three 15 MW turbines); plant factor = 26.2 % (ratio of average power load to generation capacity, so average operation is about a fourth of rated capacity). Characteristics of the Mary’s-Lake-Power-Plant: installed generation capacity = 8,100 kW (one 8.1 MW turbine); plant factor = 58 %. Mary’s Lake and Lake Estes constitute part of the Colorado-Big-Thompson-Project. Water from Grand Lake passes through the Alva Adams

Tunnel to Mary’s Lake. Then, the Prospect Mountain Conduit and Tunnel carry water from Mary’s

Lake to the Estes Power Plant penstocks. After entering Lake Estes, the water flows further down for multiple uses along the Front Range.

Either of the above generation resources could provide emergency power if necessary. As an example, the Sustainable Energy subgroup members considered the Estes Power Plant utilizing Mary’s Lake water. We can ask how much water needs to pass through the Estes Plant turbines in order to generate 10 MWh of energy (enough to power more than 400 average homes for a day). This may be compared with the Mary’s Lake surface area in order to estimate how much that lake level might drop https://www.panparks.org/vertical-axis-wind-turbines/ https://library.municode.com/co/estes_park/codes/development_code?nodeId=CH5USRE_S5.1SPUSST https://www.gunnisontimes.com/articles/taylor-park-dam-may-soon-produce-hydropower/ https://www.usbr.gov/projects/index.php?id=544 https://www.usbr.gov/projects/index.php?id=561 https://www.northernwater.org/Home/Page/ce5e78af-35f1-40fb-b4b7-8334a1c394fb

Sustainable Energy 7 in order to supply the emergency energy. The answer is about 6 inches, which could be compensated by adding water from Grand Lake. See Appendix #2 for Lakes-Computation physics and math details.

This is just one example of how emergency energy could be produced and utilized if necessary. The

Mary’s Lake Power Plant could also provide additional emergency generation with water coming directly through the Adams tunnel from Grand Lake. Furthermore, it may be possible to modify existing facilities to pump Lake Estes water, back through the penstocks and the Prospect Tunnel, to

Mary’s Lake. This could provide storage of energy during peak power production, for later release to the Estes Power Plant during peak power load. Estes Park should consider significant resiliency opportunities involving existing lake and generation facilities.

Recommendation #7: Arrange with our local utility to have preparations in place for using water in Mary’s Lake to provide up to 10 MWh of electric energy in case of emergency. This can be done in coordination with the Western Area Power Association when the new electric lines are being brought up from the Loveland area, and the old lines are being removed. Also, investigate the use of Lake Estes and Mary’s Lake for pumped energy storage. Recommended timeline: 2022-2024.

Building Sustainability As indicated in the GHG emission diagrams above, buildings and related uses of natural gas rank among the top two or three GHG emitters in Fort Collins, Larimer County, and the State of Colorado.

This is a situation that can be substantially improved by educating the public on how to optimize building energy use practices, by facilitating energy audits and making existing buildings more energy efficient, and by requiring or incentivizing sustainable practices in new or remodeling construction.

Behavioral Energy-Saving Practices and Improved Energy Efficiency in Existing Buildings According to the Colorado State University (CSU) Extension, beneficial behavior and making a house more energy efficient can reduce energy bills and associated emissions by upwards of 20-30%. This may include simple things like turning off electrical appliances when not in use, employing LED lighting, dialing down the heating temperature in winter or dialing up the cooling temperature in summer, and washing clothes in cold water. The above CSU reference contains a relatively short, useful energy-saving checklist for homeowners, and a more comprehensive list has been made available by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.

Initial retrofitting steps toward significantly improving sustainability in existing buildings should involve building energy audits or assessments. In that regard, a program called “Efficiency Works” is a collaboration between the Platte River Power Authority and the utility departments of its four owner municipalities. Funded by each participating utility for its respective customers, services include affordable home energy assessments (various levels, $60 cost for in-person assessments) and information on available rebates for products and retrofits (eligibility criteria apply).

Homeowners can begin the process by contacting a call center in Utah, whereby scheduling arrangements can be made to have an auditing crew travel from Fort Collins, Loveland or Longmont.

The process would be more convenient and sustainable if someone here in Estes Park were available to carry out energy audits. The trained auditors follow standard procedures like putting a blower fan in the front door and depressurizing the house, so air comes into the house through any leaks around https://drive.google.com/file/d/1XsmVdzWwIp5pcBlnSQbkL_y_k23pBxG4/view https://extension.colostate.edu/topic-areas/family-home-consumer/energy-checklist-for-homeowners-10-621/ https://www.nrel.gov/docs/fy14osti/61628.pdf https://efficiencyworks.org/

Sustainable Energy 8 windows, electric outlets, or a fireplace. Then the auditors can use an infrared camera to document temperature anomalies showing locations of potentially wasteful leaks. Other important procedures can include checking for insulation around heating pipes or ducts. The auditors prepare a report which homeowners may use for their own modifications or for consulting with associated businesses. Once an audit takes place, a homeowner can access a list of approved Efficiency Works consulting businesses in places like Fort Collins, Loveland, or Longmont, whereby the resident may qualify for rebates that may not be available in Estes Park. Unfortunately, there are currently no registered

Efficiency Works consultants in Estes Park, and these valuable opportunities are under-utilized here.

Recommendation #8:

A. Ask a local group, such as students in the high school sustainability class, to take ideas from existing lists of home energy-saving practices and prepare a short energy-use pamphlet, which the Town could make widely available to residents, either in print or electronic format.

B. To increase the effectiveness of Efficiency Works for customers of Estes Park Power and

Communications (EPPC), the Town should hire or designate and train an employee of EPPC with expertise in energy efficiency. This individual would be compensated from EPPC enterprise funds.

Duties would include:

(1) promoting Efficiency Works by educating customers about the program and available rebates.

(2) Carrying out energy audits or inspections as requested by EPPC customers.

(3) Recruiting and incentivizing local contractors to take part in the Efficiency Works program.

Recommended timeline: 2022-2023.

New Building Construction Whereas behavioral practices and retrofitting an existing building can save considerable amounts of energy, money, and pollution, new building construction or remodeling is also very important. As indicated in the Estes Park Adopted Building Codes and Local Amendments, Estes Park has adopted a number of widely recognized building codes, like the International Building Code, the International

Residential Code, and the International Energy Conservation Code. These codes, as amended, are well regarded, but there is considerable room for improvement. The Town of Basalt, in coordination with

Holy Cross Energy, has been employing highly sustainable, high-performance, all-renewable-electric building practices15; and Estes Park in coordination with our utility and PRPA should consider similar initiatives. Furthermore, Fort Collins has been working with three residential projects that are exploring the intersection between “Zero Energy Ready Home” efficiency standards, solar generation/storage, and distributed energy resource management systems (DERMS) in very creative ways.16

Recommendation #9: The Estes Park Community Development Department in coordination with the Planning Commission and the Town Board should require or incentivize the following construction practices. Recommended timeline: 2022-2024.

This section includes practices that are also important for retrofitting existing buildings to make them more energy efficient.

1. Sustainable, high-performance houses built here should be required to have the highest standards for tight envelopes, insulation, windows and doors. Well-sealed houses will take optimal advantage of the best energy-efficient heating or cooling practices, while fresh, healthy https://estespark.colorado.gov/departments/community-development/building-safety/adopted-building-codes-and-local-amendments https://www.holycross.com/basalt-vista-affordable-housing-project/ https://revivefc.com/

Sustainable Energy 9 air in the living environment is provided by “energy recovery ventilators.” The latter use “waste” exhaust air to warm incoming “make-up” air by utilizing air-to-air heat exchangers.

What are other cities and states doing to promote sustainability in the built environment? A search of incentives revealed this interesting resource – dsireusa.org – which is funded by the

US Department of Energy. Denver is supporting these much-needed affordable housing and sustainable built projects by providing incentives that could include a fee reduction, an enhanced site development plan process which will reduce the overall number of required submittals and associated review cycles, and dedicated resources to expedite reviews of construction plans.17

Locally, how do we encourage the use of more efficient, innovative products in new homes and remodels? Incentives such as reduced permit fees and rebates on efficient water heaters and other appliances can be a good start. We need to make it as easy and affordable as possible for homeowners, architects, designers, and builders to choose sustainable materials, lighting, appliances, and finishes in new and remodel projects.

2. All new houses should take advantage of beneficial electrification and eliminate new gas hookups. Building sustainable homes means moving away from appliances and equipment that would otherwise burn natural gas, and installing cleaner and higher-efficiency electric appliances. All-electric homes are healthier, safer environments, and they significantly reduce environmental harm if the electricity is derived from clean, renewable sources like solar or wind.18 Cities in California have been leading the way toward limiting or barring new gas facilities, and more recently Denver19 and New York City20 are phasing out or banning new gas hookups.

3. New construction should involve modern, highly efficient heat pump technology for heating homes during the winter and cooling during the summer.21 Heat pumps have improved dramatically in recent years in terms of efficiency, effectiveness, cost, and availability.22 They provide more energy-efficient heating than any sort of direct, conventional method because they function by extracting heat from the environment (air, ground, or water) and moving it into the desired space, rather than creating heat from fuel. By reversing the operating process, the same equipment provides cooling, thereby reducing the reason for having energy-wasteful air conditioning. Air-source heat pump systems can transfer two to five times more thermal energy than they consume in electrical energy, for a “coefficient of performance” (COP) of two to five. The equipment optimized for cold climates like the Estes Valley, can provide heat down to temperatures of -20 F (with somewhat lower efficiency).23 The most affordable heat pumps are air source, and they are becoming very popular in Colorado. The homes in the Basalt Vista development use only air-source heat pumps for heating water as well as heating the indoor environment. Larger heat pumps can be used for entire houses, and mini-split ductless window units can be added to heat or cool individual or multiple rooms.24 Ground or water-source heat pumps are more expensive, but they can serve multiple homes.

Regarding another alternative to air conditioning, a new special white paint absorbs less heat than it reflects. A roof surface coated with this paint can be cooled below the surrounding temperature without consuming power. Information about developments like this should be made available locally.

https://www.dsireusa.org/ https://www.denvergov.org/content/denvergov/en/mayors-office/newsroom/2020/new-pilot-program-encourages-more-sustainability-and-more-afford.html https://rmi.org/insight/gas-stoves-pollution-health/ https://www.naturalgasintel.com/denver-looking-to-phase-out-natural-gas-in-commercial-multifamily-buildings/ https://news.yahoo.com/in-significant-climate-change-action-new-york-city-bans-new-gas-hookups-173727046.html?guccounter=1 https://www.energysmartcolorado.com/take-action/beneficial-electrification/ https://sealed.com/resources/winter-heat-pump/ https://rmi.org/heat-pumps-a-practical-solution-for-cold-climates/ https://www.energy.gov/energysaver/ductless-mini-split-heat-pumps https://www.architecturaldigest.com/story/whitest-paint-in-the-world

Sustainable Energy 10

4. All new homes should take advantage of clean renewable energy as much as practical. They should make use of opportunities for passive solar heating, and they should be ready for solar PV installation and EV chargers with electrical pre-wiring or electric capacity.

5. All new construction should be equipped with at least a 200A electric service, which will allow for beneficial practices like EV charging and the use of heat pumps.

6. It has been stressed repeatedly that there should be some means to incentivize developers away from building wastefully oversized homes, which are bad for the environment, wildlife, and affordable home availability.25 In the City of Boulder, homes with larger square footage have more stringent energy rating index (ERI) requirements.

7. New construction should have low-flush toilets, as well as low-flow shower heads and faucet aerators.26 The existing water supply to the Estes Valley is currently sufficient and of very good quality; but, in the face of climate change, continuation of that supply is not assured.

8. Estes Park should require a permitting review process for acquiring new hot tubs for both new construction and existing homes. Hot tubs are particularly wasteful of electric energy. The amount of energy expended depends on use, climate conditions, hot tub size, hot tub construction, and hot tub coverings. In the Denver area, hot tub contributions to electric bills can range from $50/month to more than $100/month.27 Considering an average of $75/month and an electricity cost of $0.11/kWh computes to more than 8000 kWh/year, which is higher than the entire energy use for many homes. This should be recognized and addressed as a serious sustainability issue.

Vehicle and Equipment Electrification Fossil fuel internal combustion engines (ICE) not only generate GHGs but also emit multiple harmful air pollutants. Small two-cycle motors emit much more harmful air pollutants and noise pollution than larger four-cycle motors on a per unit basis.

Electric Vehicles (EVs) The Town should convert its fleet to electric vehicles as rapidly as is feasible.

Recommendation #10: Replace the Town's ICE police vehicles with electric vehicles because of the large amount of idling and high mileage usage that police vehicles incur. EVs also have superior acceleration compared to ICE vehicles which would be valuable for police patrol cars. The Boulder County Sheriff's Department has already begun converting their vehicles to EVs. Boulder's experience shows their Tesla Model Ys’ operating expense is only $0.03 a mile versus $0.18 (one sixth of the cost) of the Ford Explorers they will be replacing. New York City is also ordering nearly 200 EVs in 2022 for police and first responders.28 Recommended timeline: as soon as possible.

Furthermore, an EV's lifetime is much greater than an ICE vehicle. Model Y motors are rated for 1 million miles, and the battery pack is rated for 300,000-400,000 miles. Brake pads shouldn't need to be replaced because they're only used for emergency, lay-down-rubber braking. Normal braking is regenerative, with the motors recharging the battery. The only recurring replaceable parts are tires and windshield wipers. There are no belts, hoses, or fluids (except windshield washer) to be regularly replaced.

Over several years, this would result in large cost savings for the Town of Estes Park because of the very low maintenance and significantly longer operational lifetimes for EVs and per mile fuel https://cleantechnica.com/2021/12/07/researchers-passive-solar-energy-could-provide-%E2%85%93-of-home-heating-needs/ https://www.npr.org/2021/09/04/1033585422/the-housing-shortage-is-significant-its-acute-for-small-entry-level-homes?utm_source=pocket-newtab https://www.homeserve.com/en-us/blog/how-to/home-water-conservation/ https://moneyning.com/shopping-smart/what-does-buying-a-hot-tub-really-cost-6-hidden-expenses-to-consider/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4gLHyBGzL0w https://www.theverge.com/2021/12/30/22860068/nyc-police-car-electric-ford-mustang-mach-e

Sustainable Energy 11

(kilowatts) cost which are only half to one-fifth of ICE vehicles. With a nationwide gas price at $3.40 per gallon when this report was written and Estes Park Power & Communications/PRPA electricity at

$0.11 per kWh, the cost per mile for an average ICE car is two to five times more than the cost for an

EV, depending on the charging source.

Recommendation #11: Include requirements in vendor contracts establishing a date for converting the contract vehicles used for Town projects to electric vehicles. Recommended timeline: 2022-2023.

Recommendation #12: Establish incentives for residents to convert to personal electric vehicles sooner rather than later, by offering the following incentives. Recommended timeline: 2022-2023.

1. Charging incentives: Create substantially reduced year-round residential late night (~1AM-4AM) electricity rates to further increase the operational savings of EVs versus ICE vehicles. This could also be used for delayed appliance operations such as clothes dryers and dishwashers which would also have the benefit of reducing peak electrical usage and therefore reduce the use of the greenhouse gas generating PRPA “peaker” plant.

2. Parking incentives: Allow longer summer free parking and reduced parking rates for local EVs than for ICE vehicles. Make a small percentage of the most desirable Town parking spaces EVs only.

Public EV Charging Alternating Current (AC) Level 2 (8kW) J-1772 Charging: Maximum AC charging speed is limited by the capacity of the car's internal rectifier, which is typically no more than 11 kW. There are two free

ChargePoint J-1772 8kW dual port chargers at the EP Visitor Center Parking Garage entrance and one dual port ChargePoint charger in the Town Hall/Library parking lot. This charger is free for three hours but has a $25 fee after that. There are two Blink dual-ported chargers at the National Park Village shopping center. There are three J-1772 chargers opposite the “The Pavilion at the Stanley" for a total of 13 J-1772 Level 2 charger plugs in Town. There are also three Tesla Destination Chargers at the

Sweet Basilico Restaurant.

Recommendation #13: Install an additional three Level 2 dual ported J-1772 chargers in three of the larger Town parking lots and a dual ported charger in the Estes Valley Community Center parking lot to provide eight additional charging ports which would bring the Town total level 2 ports to 21.

Suggested timeline: 2022-2023.

Level 3 Direct Current (DC) Fast Charging: There are two Combined Charging System (CCS Type 1) and

CHAdeMO ChargePoint 125kW DC fast chargers and two medium speed (62kW) ChargePoint DC chargers at the EP Visitor Center. Rates are $0.45/kWh and a $15/hr parking charge after 30 min of free parking. There are two FreeWire (EVConnect) DC chargers (that share 120kW) at the National

Park Village shopping center. There are seven Tesla version 2 (150 kW) Superchargers at the Stanley

Hotel. Tesla is in the process of making their Superchargers available to non-Tesla vehicles.

The Sustainable Energy subgroup members believe that the 13 DC fast chargers in Estes Park are probably adequate for the near term (~next 18 months) and possibly for a longer term if the opening up of the seven Stanley Tesla Superchargers to other EVs and availability of Tesla's CCS Type 1 adapter happens by then.

Sustainable Energy 12

However, a major concern is that there is no charging available in Rocky Mountain National Park

(RMNP). Many EVs do not have enough range to drive a Trail Ridge Road round trip without charging.

There are two free ChargePoint 62kW DC medium speed chargers in Grand Lake, but that will not be adequate as EV adoption grows.

Recommendation #14: Initiate discussions with RMNP about adding charging stations in the middle (Alpine Visitor Center) and west side (Kawuneeche Visitor Center) of the Park. One concern is that the Park may not have the electrical infrastructure for direct DC fast charging. Possible solutions for this are the FreeWire chargers that are in National Park Village or Electrify America's chargers that use Tesla's PowerPacks. These internal batteries can be charged at relatively low power AC levels and then use the internal batteries to charge EVs at a relatively high (120 kW) DC power level. As EV adoption grows, the lack of fast charging in RMNP may substantially impact EP tourist visitation and therefore Town revenue. Because of the importance of this, the Town should fund all or part of the RMNP DC chargers’ cost if the National Park Service does not have enough funds available to implement the proposal. Suggested timeline: 2022-2024.

Residential EV Charging

Recommendation #15: Include installation of a NEMA14-50 AC garage outlet in the building code for new single family residential homes.