This presentation was given to the Holland City Council on June 9, 2010. The purpose of this was to present the work of the Holland Sustainability Committee and to provide a framework for a Community Energy Plan.

1. Holland Energy Plan
Our Way Forward

2. What is a City Energy Plan?
We studied 5 cities
similar to Holland
in these ways:
Traverse City, MI
Comparable size.
Guelph, Ontario
Municipally owned
Fort Collins, CO
electric utility.
Riverside, CA
College towns.
Austin, TX

3. What is a City Energy Plan?
City Energy Plans Set Goals.
Emphasize development, recruitment,
and retention of clean energy business
enterprises. (Austin)
Adopt pricing policies that reflect short
and long term costs both direct and
indirect. (Fort Collins)
Diversify electrical generation assets.
(Traverse City)
Energy use per capita and resulting
greenhouse gas emissions will be less
than the current global average.
(Guelph)
First seek renewable energy and
conservation before resorting to
traditional fossil fuels. (Austin & Guelph)

4. What is a City Energy Plan?
City Energy Plans Set Metrics.
30% renewable energy by 2020.
(Traverse City)
15% of energy supply from energy
efficiency efforts by 2020. (Austin)
Increase power managed by load
management, smart grid, & distributed
generation to at least 10% of summer
peak by 2020. (Fort Collins)
Reduce per capita base load energy
consumption by 10% through energy
efficiency and conservation programs by
2016. (Riverside)
Reduce summer peak electric demand by
40% by 2031 to meet city growth without
new infrastructure. (Guelph)

5. What is a City Energy Plan?
City Energy Plans Have Lifecycles.
Citizen groups like HCSC write them
• with community involvement,
• with input from utility companies,
• with advice from independent
experts
• with discussion based on data and
values.
City Councils enact them.
Everyone tracks them annually.

6. Holland Energy Plan
Setting Our Bicentennial Goals, Measuring Our Progress.

7. Holland Needs Goals & Metrics.
If you don’t know where you want to go,
how can you tell if you’re making progress?
We need bicentennial goals
that express our values.
We need quantitative metrics
that measure our progress.

8. Possible Bicentennial Goals
Expressing Our Values.
• Holland will be the place to invest
because of its commitment to a
sustainable energy future.
• Holland will develop, recruit, and retain
clean energy business enterprises.
• Holland will diversify its sources of
electricity so that it can continue its
tradition of reliable electricity at
competitive rates.
• Holland will favor investments in
renewable energy and energy
conservation over investments in energy
generation from fossil fuels.
• Holland will encourage all of its energy
consumers to make their own private
investments in energy conservation,
efficiency, and distributed generation.

9. Possible Bicentennial Goals
Expressing Our Values (continued).
• Holland will adopt electricity pricing
policies that reflect short and long term
costs both direct and indirect.
• Holland will seek to reduce adverse
health and environmental effects of
energy generation and use.
• Holland will seek partnerships that
promote energy conservation, energy
efficiency, and renewable energy.
• All public energy expenditures will visibly
contribute to meeting these goals.
• All publicly funded energy expenditures
will be cost-effective. “Cost effective” is
not the same as “cheapest now.” Cost
comparisons will consider likely
electricity price increases over the
lifetime of the equipment involved.

10. Possible Quantitative Metrics
Measuring Our Progress
• Reliability statistics in electrical services.
• Total energy consumption.
• Total energy billings to consumers.
• Percent of total energy consumption
generated from fossil fuels.
• Greenhouse gas emissions.
• Percent of electricity demand met by
efficiency and conservation.
• Percent of electricity demand met by
renewable energy sources.
• Peak demand for electricity.
(normalized for population & GDP as appropriate)

11. Moving Forward…
Writing Our Bicentennial Energy Plan.

12. Relationships to BV Report
BV answered many technical questions,
but also noted some important civic issues.
“A detailed specific DSM and EE
study for Holland was beyond the
scope of this study.”
All 3 JDY units are aging and “it
would be prudent” to plan for
retiring them in 20-30 years.
“Local control” offsets higher cost .
Do other community values also?

13. Relationship to Community Forums
Citizens showed high levels of interest in:
Setting long term policies and goals.
Diversifying central power generation.
Contributing individually through energy
efficiency, distributed generation, smart grids.

14. Writing Our Bicentennial Energy Plan…
Progress to Date.
October, 2009 – HCSC
recommends to City
Council that “someone”
write it.
January, 2010 – City
Council directs HCSC to do
the job.
May, 2010 – HCSC begins
putting pen to paper.

15. Writing Our Bicentennial Energy Plan…
Finishing the Job.
Setting
a timeline for
completion in 2010.
Establishing a budget for the
project.
Arranging
for community input
and independent expert advice.
Committing to be guided by the
results.
Reviewing revising annually.

16. A Bicentennial Energy Plan…
Moving Forward Together!

17. Why Write an Energy Plan?
The future requires it.
Our citizens expect it.
Forums and BV reports set the stage for it.
City Council commissioned it.
It will enrich City Council decision making.
For 2050 Bicentennial, a goal and a plan!

18. Holland Needs an Energy Plan?
YES! It will unify a divided community,
moving us from an “either... or” debate
to “both... and” cooperation and unity.

19. Writing Our Bicentennial Energy Plan…
Puts City Council in the Center.
CITY
ENERGY
PLAN
CITY COUNCIL
Informed
Accountable
Decisions
Black Holland’s
Community
Veatch Forums

20. References
Specifically Cited
Austin, TX http://www.austinenergy.com/about us/newsroom/Reports/strategicPlan.pdf
Fort Collins, CO http://www.fcgov.com/electric/pdf/energy-policy.pdf
Guelph, Canada http://guelph.ca/living.cfm?subCatID=1831smocid=2407
Riverside, CA http://riversideca.gov/utilities/pdf/gp/actionplan-june.pdf
Traverse City, MI http://www.tclp.org/TCLP-2009-Strategic-Goals.pdf
Others of Interest
Cambridge, MA http://cambridgeenergyalliance.org/about/mission
Chicago, IL http://www.chicagoclimateaction.org/filebin/pdf/finalreport/CCAPREPORTFINAL.pdf
Michigan Climate Action Plan http://www.miclimatechange.us/ewebeditpro/items/O46F21226.pdf
Midwest Governors Energy Stewardship http://www.midwesternaccord.org/Platform.pdf