HomeMy WebLinkAbout2018-08-28 Utilities Advisory Commission Summary MinutesUtilities Advisory Commission Minutes Approved on: October 3, 2018 Page 1 of 4
UTILITIES ADVISORY COMMISSION MEETING
FINAL MINUTES OF AUGUST 28, 2018 SPECIAL MEETING
CALL TO ORDER
Ed Shikada, Utilities General Manager, called the meeting of the Utilities Advisory Commission (UAC) to order
at 4:03 p.m.
Present: Chair Danaher, Vice Chair Schwartz, Commissioners Ballantine, Forssell, Segal, and Trumbull
Absent: Commissioner Johnston
ORAL COMMUNICATIONS
None
RESILIENCE WORKSHOP #1: DEFINE RESILIENCE, VISION AND GOALS
A. Introductions and Meeting Objectives
Ed Shikada, Utilities General Manager, explained that the workshop is intended to identify aspects of
resilience that are important to the community and to explore the roles of the Utilities Department and
utilities in general in a new and evolving vision of community resilience. During the update of the Strategic
Plan, stakeholders related that resilience is an important dimension of utility services. Shikada shared
definitions of resilience provided by stakeholders. Given the range of concepts, staff decided to engage the
UAC and community in a discussion to understand community assets, potential hazards, and resilience needs
related to utility services. Utility investments in infrastructure are typically large and long-term; thus,
changing the priorities and practices for utility investments is difficult to effect quickly. Questions for
consideration are how should the City of Palo Alto Utilities' (CPAU) role in building public infrastructure be
balanced with encouraging private investment and development on individual properties; what investments
should be prioritized for resilience while continuing to meet other City needs; how is resilience impacted by
staffing strategies and human resources; and other similar questions.
Mindy Craig, facilitator, advised that the intent of the workshop is to develop a common vocabulary, to learn
about CPAU activities, and to begin to establish goals, priorities, and a vision for resiliency. A future workshop
will explore solutions. A panel of experts will provide broad perspectives, and then staff will share CPAU
projects and studies. Hopefully, a video presentation will create a sense of urgency that resiliency is important
because of the many things that can impact CPAU. Participants will talk about what resilience means to the
City of Palo Alto, and small groups will identify details of resilience. Lastly, participants will identify priorities
and next steps.
B. Resilience Experts Panel
Corinne Bartshire, Urban Areas Security Initiative (UASI), related the background of UASI. One of UASI's tasks
is to prepare a Threat and Hazard Identification and Risk Assessment (THIRA), which is a tool for looking at
threats and risks across the Bay Area. The THIRA does take into account the interconnections of utilities and
transportation. UASI manages several working groups that facilitate conversations throughout the Bay Area.
The Emergency Management Work Group has focused on large special event planning and sharing law
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enforcement and security; commodity points of distribution; and on local agency capabilities for care and
shelter. An upcoming area of focus is critical transportation. UASI materials are available to the public on
UASI's website.
Josh Schellenberg, Nexant, reported on the difficulties of assessing the risk of a resilience investment for an
electric system. The focus on assessing risk has increased because of the increasing frequency and severity
of significant disasters. The Department of Energy, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and Nexant will
publish reports that provide guidance and recommendations for assessing the costs and benefits of resilience
investments. Nexant has conducted many studies of the value of grid resiliency and the direct and indirect
costs to businesses. Electricity is highly valued due to the high level of business productivity in the Bay Area.
The cost of a long-duration power outage is highest for small and medium businesses because they cannot
easily shift production from one time period to another. Methodological debate and challenges continue
around understanding the economic impacts of disasters. Based on information obtained in prior studies, a
power interruption lasting multiple weeks in the Bay Area could cost billions of dollars. The impacts to critical
infrastructure may require a separate assessment for the potential of a micro grid or grid islanding
capabilities.
Benson Joe, ABB Enterprise Software, summarized regulations to increase renewable energy standards and
to reduce carbon emissions. The California Independent System Operator (CAISO) power supply queue
includes 8,000 megawatts (MW) of solar power, 3,000 MW of wind power, and 12,000 MW of energy storage.
CAISO has to ensure the instantaneous supply of generation matches the instantaneous demand for
generation. As the amount of renewable energy in the power system increases, the reliability of the system
decreases. As a solution, adding more rooftop solar can be challenging in that too much generation without
sufficient load can damage equipment. Another solution is a micro grid, but the business proposition must
be considered. A discussion of grid resiliency has to include the question of what is the acceptable duration
of a power outage.
In response to questions from participants, Schellenberg advised that a great deal of research into everyday
outages has been conducted. The billions of dollars in cost applies to outages lasting multiple weeks. The cost
of a single-day outage is closer to $100 million. Joe added that there are tradeoffs to increasing the resilience
of existing infrastructure and building a micro grid for islanding during short-term outages. Mindy Craig,
facilitator, remarked that the benefit of resilience includes having a better community or better resources as
well as recovering from an outage. Schellenberg indicated most businesses believe that insurance would
cover only physical damages caused by an outage. Business interruption insurance or another type of
insurance probably would not cover the high cost of an extended outage. In many ways, investment in
infrastructure could be considered insurance. Joe likened insurance for an outage to an extended warranty
for a consumer product. The business has to compare the cost of a replacement product amortized over its
lifespan to the annual cost of an extended warranty. Bartshire reported the regional THIRA identifies risks
and resources but not action steps to respond to and recover from threats, which is the role of local
jurisdictions, cities, counties, etc. A local THIRA identifies actions and implementation. Sharing and witnessing
the effects of disasters has led to community preparedness. Schellenberg indicated a survey of Palo Alto
businesses could provide a fiscal analysis of resilience, but existing research can be extrapolated to Palo Alto.
Craig reported the community should help CPAU understand the qualitative values.
C. Community Risks and Resources for a Resilient Palo Alto
Kenneth Dueker, City of Palo Alto Office of Emergency Services Director, reported the City of Palo Alto is one
of the only local jurisdictions to have a THIRA. The City's THIRA addresses natural disasters such as
earthquakes and floods, accidents, and human-caused events. Resilience is the ability to suffer an event and
return to a reasonable level of functionality. Public safety's mission is to prepare for, prevent when possible,
mitigate, respond to, and recover from hazards. Following the airplane crash into the transmission line in
2010, the City considered spending millions of dollars to mitigate risks. However, the City has only identified
options for mitigating risks.
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Karla Dailey, CPAU Senior Resource Planner, noted the City of Palo Alto Comprehensive Plan and other City
documents address resilience. Specifically, the Comprehensive Plan addresses cooperative planning with
other agencies, community awareness, and long-term resilience for water and energy, community safety,
and CPAU infrastructure. The City completed its Emergency Water Supply Plan by refurbishing five wells and
developing three new wells. Along with the Santa Clara Valley Water District, staff is exploring an expansion
of local resilient water supplies.
Debra Lloyd, CPAU Acting Assistant Director of Utility Engineering, remarked that a loss of water would be
catastrophic on a long-term basis. Communications is a vital part of resilience and emergency planning. With
respect to local distribution, resiliency means prevention, recovery, and survivability. Water, wastewater,
and gas pipes are being replaced with pipes made of materials that are amenable to liquefaction. Electric
systems are not loaded to capacity so that supply can be switched among systems. Vegetation management
is important for the electric utility. Prevention strategies include installing barriers, elevating equipment,
relocating equipment and infrastructure, and increasing security. Staff is investigating battery storage and
smart grid pilot programs. Recovery plans, on-call field staff, and the outage management system aid in
recovering from a disaster. Survivability strategies include battery backups at substations, natural gas
generators to power low-voltage electronics, and communications to the community.
In reply to questions from participants, Dailey advised that lines for recycled water (purple pipes) are not
being installed city wide. Romel Antonio, Senior Project Engineer, reported generators have been installed at
El Camino Park and the Mayfield Pump Station to pump water, and three portable generators can be
transported to facilities as needed. The City can provide 9 million gallons of water per day from ground wells
if electricity is available. A participant suggested CPAU consider long-term power for cell towers and a rebate
program for homeowner purchase of Tesla wall packs. Dueker agreed that City staff need to live in or near
Palo Alto in order to provide manpower during an emergency situation.
D. Resilience and Palo Alto
The video HayWired (a USGS video depicting a 7.0 earthquake and the cascading impacts) was shown
followed by a large group discussion of “What does resilience mean to Palo Alto?”
Participants offered their definitions of resilience, including self-sufficiency and organization, continuation of
critical facilities, sheltering in home, the community working together, people of all income levels having
access to resources, safe and functional schools, clear roadways, pre-planning to ensure recovery in hours or
days, communications and charging of cell phones, and neighbor networks.
E. Small Group Exercise: What are the Problems We Need to Address?
Participants met in small groups to discuss the impacts and vulnerabilities that the Utility should prioritize
with the question in mind of “What are the problems we need to address?” and then reported back their top
priorities and focus areas for utilities. Each group had a scenario to consider and responded to questions
focusing on one of five asset categories: Critical Services; Economy; Natural Environment; People &
Community; or Built Environment.
• The critical services group identified a hierarchy of critical services, i.e., electric service for water
pumps, public safety, and communications; water for fire suppression, drinking, and medical
services; and communications for emergency responders and individuals. They also discussed the
location of utility infrastructure and risks of being in liquefaction zones.
• The economy group identified high priority retail services of hardware stores, pharmacies, gas
stations, and grocery stores and the need for utilities and employees at those businesses.
Employees may be able to work remotely if data centers and internet providers are operational.
Daycares and schools will be needed for employees to return to work in physical locations. A barter
system will be needed to replace cash and credit cards for purchases. The group also discussed the
need for highway recovery as “delivery systems” so that supplies can be brought in.
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• The natural environment group considered impacts on flora and fauna by season. People displaced
from their homes could camp in parks, in which case health, safety, and utility resources will be
needed in parks. Parks could be used as quarantine spaces to prevent the spread of disease. A
second natural environment group considered priorities of natural infrastructure, wildlife, parks
and recreation areas, and protecting and preserving the water supply, communications, and
electricity.
• The people and community resources group identified priorities of housing for workers, integration
of workers into the community, care facilities, and at-risk residents. Community Emergency
Response Team (CERT) and Palo Alto Neighborhood Disaster Activities (PANDA) volunteers and
resource maps will be needed. A second people and community group identified workforce housing
for City staff and staff retention and recruitment as priorities. Volunteers could be trained to
substitute for utility workers in the event of an emergency. Neighborhood leaders could compile
information regarding residents with special needs to ensure they have the resources they need.
• The built environment group identified priorities of minimizing and mitigating damage, converting
buildings to housing for displaced residents, and meeting Building Code and Code enforcement
needs. A second built environment group, guided by the importance of surviving a disaster as a
community, identified the priorities of safe housing, buildings, churches, schools, and water supply
and distribution.
F. Wrap Up and Next Steps
Participants identified needs for a roadmap to a secure smart grid for electricity, water, and gas; waste
disposal; secure CPAU infrastructure; decentralized operations for community hubs; meaningful support of
emergency volunteers; utility volunteers; a list of appliances and products to be turned off when electric
service resumes; and micro grids for community hubs that are distributed around Palo Alto.
Ed Shikada, Utilities General Manager, reported staff will provide information from the workshop to the UAC
so that the UAC can direct staff.
Meeting adjourned at 7:05 p.m.
Respecfully Submitted
Rachel Chiu
City of Palo Alto Utilities