Sustainability Advisory Board Agenda and Packet 2023 06 21

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Sustainability Advisory Board Minutes May 17, 2023 Page 3of8 Kayla explained that cities can apply to the Colorado Water Conservation Board (CWCB) for lawn replacement grants. Louisville applied for $23,000 to expand its residential lawn replacement program and Louisville may also expand the program to include a commercial lawn replacement program this year. Louisville current has a lawn replacement program with a budget of $14,000 - $15,000 and this grant will expand the budget. In regards to the Xcel distribution system infrastructure capacity constraint situation, there are no large updates. Capacity constraints continue to hinder the expansion of rooftop solar in Louisville, especially for new construction that uses solar installations to comply with the new building codes. Xcel is putting together an FAQ about this issue. The Colorado Public Utilities Commission (PUC) may take up the issue this summer. Louisville has not decided whether to participate in the PUC proceeding, but Louisville will likely sign a letter that will be sent to the PUC explaining how Xcel's capacity constraint issue is hindering the implementation of new building codes. House Bill 291: Requires the PUC to conduct a study on investor -owned utility tariffs and interconnection policies. "On or before January 1, 2024, the Commission shall conduct a study to be completed no later than March 15, 2024 examining existing investor -owned electric utility tariffs and interconnection policies and practices to determine [... ] whether requiring a customer that seeks to interconnect distributed energy resources or beneficial electrification resources to the investor -owned electric utility's electric grid to bear the full incremental cost of transformer or service upgrades needed at the time of interconnection imposes an undue burden on the customer." https://Ieg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/2023a 291 signed.pdf The new Sustainability Specialist starts on June 20. Hannah Miller currently works at ICLEI and has expertise in GHG accounting. Kayla has worked with Hannah in the past. Anschutz School of Public Health students assessed what building benchmarking programs exist in Colorado and assessed what a benchmarking program could look like in the City of Louisville. The state's program includes buildings 50,000