ESC Multifamily Consortium Minutes 08082022

ESC Multifamily Consortium Minutes from August 8, 2022 The meeting was called to order at 2:02 Eastern time. Attendance: Black Hills Energy Trish Riber NW Natural Samantha Moore ONE Gas Victor Ito Southeast Gas Shannon Jackson Open Discussion: Barb opened by saying that she would like the group to have a discussion on the impact that HUD has on multifamily projects. It has been mentioned in previous meetings that it was difficult to serve multifamily projects that are low income, and HUD has been sited as the reason. Barb did reach out to HUD to see if they would present a webinar to our group, and they responded that they have no impact on what fuels are selected for these projects and don’t plan to speak with us. Barb immediately reached out to both Spire and Southern Company to attempt to gather more information on this issue. Both companies did provide some information on what they saw as issues with low-income projects. Southern Company did mention that in order for the tenants to receive utility subsidies, the building has to be individually metered. Corey Minchew also noted that the allowances are often driven by the equipment efficiency. So, an electric heat pump that has a site efficiency of 100% could receive higher allowances than a gas furnace that is 90% efficient. Spire wondered how a utility could get involved in the process and if there were any educational opportunities available. At that point it seemed logical to discuss this with the entire group. Barb asked those on the call what issues they have encountered when serving HUD projects. Shannon Jackson did comment that they worked well with HUD, and work was coordinated through a local contact. Barb did note that per the email she received from HUD, it was mentioned that they were primarily a funding agency that provides rental subsidies to create and preserve affordable housing. In addition, HUD does not own or manage private buildings, and, therefore, are not experts in the use of fuels in multifamily housing. Barb and Trish Riber from Black Hills were googling HUD rules; Trish sent a link to Barb. Barb will do some research to see if there is anything in HUD rules that would deter a project from using natural gas. Upon further discussion, it became apparent that perhaps our group needed to prepare some educational materials, for architects, engineers and property owners on why natural gas is a better option for low-income housing. Barb will do some additional research on the HUD site and begin to gather ideas for an educational PowerPoint presentation that can be used in a lunch n learn setting or a newsletter. This will most likely be a topic for additional meetings and perhaps at the next TMAF if there is a strong attendance for the Multifamily consortium. Barb asked if there were any other topics to discuss, and Trish from Black Hills asked how members handled a gas leak in a multifamily building with commercial space as well and was served with a single meter. Is the entire building shut down? Barb offered to send out a member survey for Trish. Anyone wanting to share with Trish can reach her at [email protected] With no further discussion, the call ended at 2:27 PM.