ESC Residential Consortium Minutes 070920

ESC Residential Consortium Minutes from July 9, 2020 Meeting was called to order at 2:05 pm Eastern Time Attendance: CenterPoint Energy Kathryn Knudson Chesapeake Utilities Kelley Gabbard DTE Energy Chris Cole DTE Energy Rosana Laurain Eversource Gerald Graham Lake Apopka Monica Marlow MGAG Chris Strippelhoff National Fuel Ashley Butera National Fuel Marti Sawyer NW Natural John Frankel ONE Gas Brandon Rainbolt Piedmont Natural Gas Beth Potts Piedmont Natural Gas Carl Peterson Puget Sound Energy Mari Davenport SoCal Debbie Eggers Southeast Gas Shannon Jackson Southern Co Corey Minshew TMAF: Due to the ongoing situation with COVID-19, ESC has decided to officially cancel the October TMAF scheduled for Minneapolis, MN. However, ESC is planning a virtual TMAF in lieu of the regular TMAF. ESC staff has been reviewing software options and we are excited to be able to provide this option. We are hoping to have the virtual TMAF on the same dates as the cancelled TMAF (October 6 – 8) but we will not be able to confirm until the software vendor has been selected. Watch your email for more information. On a side note, Barb asked if any one on the call had a builder(s) that would like to be part of a panel for the vTMAF. Since we don’t have a host utility, and no travel is required, any utility could have one of their builders be a part of the panel. Carl Peterson, Piedmont; Chris Cole, DTE and Debbie Eggers, SoCalGas all thought they could get someone to be a part of vTMAF. Barb thought it would be a good idea if each member that volunteered could get one builder. That will offer participants a good cross section of the residential construction issues across the country. Builder Kits: Although there seemed to be a renewed interest in the builder kits at the Phoenix TMAF, it now appears that the production of the kits will be temporarily on hold due to circumstances. Many companies have experienced budget cuts as well as a reduction in physical customer outreach efforts. If members feel otherwise, we will proceed. ESC did pay to have a mock-up done for the brochures, giving them a more contemporary look and feel. We are pleased with the results are anxious to roll these out to members. Content will be revised once the project is a “go”. AGA to Organize Testing of Residential Cooking Appliances: There have been numerous negative stories in the news regarding indoor air quality and gas cooking appliances. AGA BECS committee recently had a discussions with AHAM (Assc. Of Home Appliance Mfgrs) and NPGA (National Propane Gas Assoc) about co-sponsoring an emission testing program for residential gas cooking appliances. Residential gas cooking appliances have been cited by “electrification” advocates as contributing to unhealthy indoor air quality. The CSA Group, Cleveland, OH has been listed as a possible candidate to perform the testing and the NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology) as having qualifications for performing exposure estimate modeling. As of now, the target date for completion is estimated for November 2020. More details will be reported as they are available. Debbie Eggers, SoCalGas, reported that SoCal is conducting some studies of their own. Debbie will keep us apprised of their work. Rocky Mountain Institute, Sierra Club and Others call for the CEC to Convene a Workshop on Indoor Air Quality: In a similar vein to the discussion above, there is a call for the CA Energy Commission to review the best available data on indoor pollution and health. This is needed to help with ventilation requirements for the 2022 Building Energy Efficiency Standards. The potential impact on the installation and use of natural gas ranges can be significant. More details to follow as they are available. Open Discussion: Jerry Graham, Eversource, started the discussion by mentioning that several municipalities in their service territory were trying to ban natural gas in future developments. He was wondering if any other utilities had seen movements like this? Chris Cole, DTE, noted that Ann Arbor, MI were the University of Michigan is located, has been trying to enact legislation that would ban gas. Debbie Eggers, SoCal mentioned that they had seen similar activity in CA. Barb noted that over 60 municipalities have banned gas across the country to date. However, she asked Chris Strippelhoff to share the good news from Georgia. Chris noted that Georgia is attempting to enact legislation that would prohibit the banning of natural gas. He said this was similar to legislation in AZ and potentially Louisiana. Barb noted that Michael Favela, SW Gas, shared at the Phoenix TMAF that AZ had enacted legislation that would not allow natural gas to be banned. Kat Knudson, CenterPoint Energy, noted that MN has been ramping up their gas relevancy messaging. Both Kat and Chris noted that their efforts were reduced a bit due to COVID-19 issues that took priority. Monica Marlow, Lake Apopka, commented that Florida was looking at doing a study to quantify the value of gas to the state in terms of tax dollars. The study is to be completed by a leading Florida economist. Mari Davenport, PSE, noted that Seattle began efforts to ban gas but those have been halted for now. Mari also commented that utilities need to watch what is happening with energy codes. A gas furnace and an electric heat pump used to be worth the same point value. The code committee attempted to change that in favor of electric equipment. PSE, being both a gas and electric utility, testified in favor of natural gas and noted how expensive the electric alternative would be. Ashley Butera, National Fuel, commented that NY has aggressive climate legislation. She noted that a combo utility in NY is ceasing all natural gas expansion efforts, conversions and rebates. All members agree that this could be a topic of discussion every month. With no further discussion, the meeting was adjourned at 2:39 pm.