Sustainability, City Light, Arts & Culture Committee 5/3/2024

Good morning.

The May 3rd, 2024 meeting of the Sustainability City Light Arts and Culture Committee will come to order.

It's 9.32 a.m.

I'm Tonya Wu, chair of the committee.

Will the committee clerk please call the roll?

Councilmember Moore?

Present.

Councilmember Morales?

Councilmember Saca?

Here.

Councilmember Strauss?

Present.

Chair Wu?

Present.

Chair, there are four members present.

If there is no objection, the agenda will be adopted.

Hearing no objection, the agenda is adopted.

So as indicated on the agenda, there will be public comment for the May 17th committee meeting regarding appointment 2864 and a possible vote on the appointment of Don Lincel as General Manager and Chief Executive Officer of Seattle City Light.

Also want to mention that on May 11th, the Seattle Opera celebrates their 60th anniversary.

And the Seattle Opera is an example of one institution that brings history and so much joy to our communities.

I'm excited to recognize and proclaim their anniversary and Seattle Opera Month of May with my colleagues and the mayor's office next week.

And speaking of, today we will learn more about the mayoral appointment candidates for the Seattle Arts Commission.

which leverages arts to uplift and revitalize our downtown.

So neighborhoods is a priority of mine.

I look forward to hearing from our Seattle Arts Commission members and how we do this.

The council president and I will bring forth an economic round table and amplify the arts and culture voices and more details on this round table will be coming soon.

So today we will also continue our discussion on City Lights conservation targets from the April 19th committee date.

for which we had held a public comment period at the last meeting.

So I'm excited for this discussion and possible vote.

We will now open the hybrid public comment period.

Public comments should relate to items on today's agenda and within the purview of this committee.

Clerk, how many speakers are signed up for today?

We have zero in-person speakers signed up and zero remote speakers.

So we will now proceed to our items of business.

Members of the public are encouraged to either submit written public comment or sign up cards are also available on the podium, or you can also email the council at councilatseattle.gov.

So we'll now move on to our next item of business.

Will the please read the first item into the record.

Agenda items one through six, Appointments 2858 to Appointments 2863, the appointments and reappointments of Avery Barnes, Yoon Kang O'Higgins, Rodney King, Leslie Anderson, Kayla DeMonte, and Holly Jacobson as members of the Seattle Arts Commission for a term to December 31st, 2025 for briefing, discussion, and possible vote.

Thank you, all six items have been read into the record.

Will the department coordinators and presenters who are present at the community table, once ready, please introduce yourselves and we're excited to learn more about our nominees.

Good morning.

Thank you so much.

Good morning, committee chair Wu, council members.

My name is Allie McGehee.

I'm the interim deputy director of the Seattle Office of Arts and Culture and council liaison.

The Seattle Arts Commission supports the city by advocating for arts policy, creating access for equitable participation in the arts, and fostering arts engagement for all residents.

The Seattle Arts Commission is comprised of 16 members who are community member volunteers appointed by the mayor and city council.

The commissioners include artists, art professionals, and art administrators, and citizens with strong connections to Seattle's vibrant arts community.

Today I would like to introduce the three new mayoral appointments and three mayoral reappointments for your consideration.

The first candidate I have is Avery Barnes.

Avery Barnes is an entrepreneur, African art curator, and community builder titled The Connector by the Seattle Met Magazine and a Forbes Seattle 30 Under 30 awardee in 2023. She owns and operates Taswira, Seattle's only African art gallery and event space in Pioneer Square.

Avery advocates for causes that empower women, people of color, and small business owners.

Do you need to say something?

Hello.

I just would like to comment how I would be honored to represent my area of the community, which I see as representing the forming arts and cultural organizations in Seattle.

the first of many of the Seattle Restored participants and small businesses with brick and mortars.

You know, I'm eager to bring this perspective to the council.

Currently a member of the DSA Arts and Cultural Coalition, and I'm just overall driven by adding to the vibrancy and diversity of our future.

Thank you.

Thank you.

The next candidate we have for consideration is Yoon Kang O'Higgins.

Yoon Kang O'Higgins is the Director of Community Impact and Programs for Friends of the Waterfront Park, where her team co-creates dynamic and free programming for our new waterfront.

She has over 20 years of program experience in arts, culture, and education contexts in the US and abroad.

Our third candidate for mayoral appointment is Rodney King.

Rodney King is an artist and owner of art studio King's Pen LLC.

His goal is to create vibrant images that celebrate the greatness of black culture, primarily focusing on hip hop, jazz and basketball in his pieces.

Yes.

Thank you for the opportunity to serve on the Seattle Art Commission.

My name is Rodney King.

I was raised on 29th and Dearborn in Seattle.

And most of my pieces are going to be representation of the African-American culture.

Leschi is where I went as a little kid.

And I do pieces centered on Garfield High School and just the community at large.

I have built a following in the Central District, working with Africatown, working with the different businesses in the area.

I would love to bring more art to the Central District, you know, in order to have like a hard walk, you know, just like we have akin to Pioneer Square downtown and West Seattle and Georgetown.

We just want to make sure that, you know, we have the proper representation in the Central District and the areas at large.

And I appreciate your time.

Thank you so much.

Next, I would like to introduce, for reappointment, Leslie Anderson.

Leslie Anderson is the chief curator of the National Nordic Museum.

A former Fulbright scholar, she has organized major exhibitions with Sweden's National Museum, Finland's National Gallery, Norway's Nationalmuseet, and collaborated with Jansi, vocalist for the world-famous band Sigur Rós, on his first art exhibition at a U.S. museum.

She currently serves as the chair of the Public Art Advisory Committee of the Seattle Arts Commission and is seeking reappointment for a second term.

Thank you.

My work as an art curator has been to amplify the work of underrepresented artists, past and present, to foster connection with art and ideas within the communities I serve, and to tell untold stories.

A recent example of this work is the traveling exhibition I organized and co-curated, Nordic Utopia, African Americans in the 20th Century, which premiered in Ballard at the National Nordic Museum and will soon travel to the Chazen Museum of Art in Scandinavia House in New York.

I brought this experience to bear in my work at public institutions and supported public art as a member of the Salt Lake Art Design Board and more recently as a member of the Seattle Art Commission and as chair of the Public Art Advisory Committee.

My SAC colleagues and I on this call have been steadfast volunteers during our terms and enthusiastic representatives of the community.

Thank you.

Next, I'd like to introduce Kyla DeMonte.

Kyla is the Chief Program Officer at Citizens University, a national nonprofit working to build a cultural, powerful, responsible citizenship across the United States.

Prior to her current role, she was Director of Programs and Partnerships at the Seattle Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce, where she built and managed a roster of public programs, including the Young Professional Network and Women in Business and Leadership Initiative.

She currently serves as the co-chair of the Cultural Investments Committee of the Seattle Arts Commission and is seeking a reappointment for a third term.

Hi, good morning, council members.

Thank you so much for this opportunity.

I'm really excited to continue to support the Office of Arts and Culture and the arts community in Seattle.

As we all know, the arts sector is so important to not only the civic life of our community, but is such an economic engine.

And so really on the commission, we want to continue to ensure that artists and arts organizations can continue to grow and thrive and continue to engage in partnerships and initiatives and opportunities with you all and the arts community to support that.

So thank you so much.

Thank you.

And finally, I'd like to introduce Holly Jacobson.

Holly Jacobson is the executive director of Path with Art, an organization that supports individual and community recovery through trauma-informed arts.

She's also created strategic solutions for Microsoft, the City of Seattle, the Seattle International Film Festival, and national voting rights initiatives.

She currently serves as the co-chair for the Cultural Investment Committee of the Seattle Arts Commission and is seeking reappointment for a third term.

Thank you.

Appreciate this opportunity to serve a third term.

I have a lot of hope for what we might be able to accomplish in the last two years of my tenure.

And I'm really excited about the new, doing that with my current co-commissioners, but also our new crop of commissioners that are coming onto the Arts Commission.

I work really in the intersectionality working with systems impacted folks, Path of Art, the organization I run serves about 1500 individuals who are systems impacted and 65 social service agencies providing arts to those folks who typically may not have that opportunity.

as a path to health and well-being and to uplift the sector in general we're also working with uh johns hopkins international arts and mine lab out in maryland on demonstrating the impact of arts on um or the effects of art on health and well mental health and behavioral health um and Also, this summer, we're providing trauma-informed arts trainings to the Washington State Arts Commission, which will include many arts organizations in Seattle.

So I'm very excited to be able to have the opportunity, if approved, to move that ball forward and put Seattle on the map in that way.

Thank you so much.

Well, thank you for being here today.

Thank you for your service.

It's so exciting to see so many accomplished and excited people willing to serve.

So colleagues, any questions or comments?

Sure.

Awesome.

Mr. Rose?

Yeah.

Thank you all.

I reviewed all of your resumes and it's very impressive.

Just kind of ticking down the line, not necessarily in order, but Yoon, I'm not sure that Yoon is here, but what I...

You are?

No, sorry, I didn't even catch your name when you were talking, so my apologies there.

But just to say, when we're reimagining the waterfront, art is a central aspect of it.

And this is really exciting to have her joining in volunteer service.

With Holly, your work, Pathway to Art from Redmond to Seattle, we're really lucky to have you here working on our arts commission.

Rodney, looking at your resume from Wanawari to Redmond, born and raised here in Seattle.

It's really incredible to get to see you participate in this way.

Your resume speaks volumes, and I'll share my Highline connection later.

But then Leslie, you know, for everyone else out here, I know Leslie very well because I have a strong connection to the National Nordic Museum, so while I don't know you all, everyone else as well, Leslie is, I get to interact with her quite often and it's, I'll highlight one thing beyond all of the amazing different exhibits that she's brought.

But LaVonne Bell, A History of Unruly Returns was the art exhibit that was supposed to open in March of 2020. And Leslie made sure to bring LaVonne back just last year.

And getting to chat with LaVonne, she said that the National Nordic Museum was the only gallery or museum that asked for her to return after the pandemic had closed down a lot of her shows.

And I just think that that speaks volumes to your work, Leslie.

You work with kings, queens, princes, presidents every day.

You know, it's amazing.

Just continuing to tick down the line.

Kyla, getting to know you over the years, I'm excited to see you participate here in the Arts Commission in this way.

And Avery, your resume is, I'm not sure how you fit it on one page.

It's really incredible.

And so I'll just take this moment to thank everyone for their volunteer service to our city.

I was talking to a person last night about the role of art in our community.

It's what makes it vibrant.

Seattle has one of the densest cultural arts places in the Northwest, downtown specifically.

And it's this access to arts and culture and all of your work to influence our work is just, it can't be overstated.

So I want to thank you for your volunteer service.

I actually have a question.

I was hoping for those who are looking at reappointments are willing to discuss any projects you've seen come through the Arts Commission that you were excited about.

And for those who are coming into the Arts Commission for the first time, wanted to learn more about why you're excited about serving and doing on the council or commission.

You want to go, Kayla or Leslie?

Sure, I'll jump in first.

Just to quickly say thank you so much.

I think one of the most exciting projects that the Arts Commission helped support was the Cultural Space Agency that really was born out of one of the subcommittees of the Arts Commission and is now sort of an independent operating agency.

support system for so many arts organizations who are looking for space.

So that's just one example of the type of work that we can do now that especially that we are getting some new commissioners on board and are up to speed.

So really excited, as Holly said, to continue this work, especially coming out now into a time where You know, we are through sort of a chaotic period of COVID times and can really look to the future.

Thank you for that note about the waterfront.

And there's just so many awesome opportunities coming ahead that we can really engage with.

So, Holly or Leslie?

Yeah, I'll just add briefly that in my role in the subcommittee, the Public Art Advisory Committee, we're really excited about Seattle hosting the World Cup.

and the opportunities in showcasing our city as a locus for public art in addition to sporting events.

So not only beautifying and edifying our community through art, but also visitors from all over the world.

And I'll just chime in that it's been a real honor to work with my co-commissioners through, as Kayla mentioned, a really chaotic time.

It speaks a lot to tenacity and everyone's collective tenacity and dedication, knowing that the arts can really lift up communities.

And as you mentioned, Council Member Strauss do.

For me, Kayla and I co-chair the Cultural Investments Committee, and so I'm hoping to get to know a lot more of you soon because we're going to be working on some advocacy efforts and also just wanting to partner with the council and the new director on how we can help Seattle lead in that area on the national stage.

My work takes me looking at, you know, we look as arts administrators, we're often looking at national stage.

And I really think that there's a lot happening in the intersection of arts and public health and individual and community health, and that we can do what we do best in Seattle and go and lead.

So that I just thank you for, I thank you for your questions.

This is the first reappointment I've had where we've had such interactive discussion.

Well, this is really great to hear from the rest of the group on especially, you know, what how, of course, arts and culture has contributed to the regrowth in our community, or in the city of Seattle, and what the Arts Commission was working on during that time.

My background, I'm 24 years old, so I represent, you know, a younger community of leaders, I'll say, because it's taken so much dedication and work establishing right prior to COVID in 2000, early 2022, being one of the first businesses selected in the Seattle Restored Program and to...

build a thriving, you know, a gallery and event space that is bringing artists from all over Africa.

And Rodney's actually been a resident artist of ours for the last year.

And to form a partnership with Allied Arts Foundation through fiscal sponsorship, and being able to take groups working with feyutes.

uh, first students of international learning or something, but, um, actually visiting with, uh, groups of students from Africa and bringing authors in like Rajni Eddins, a part of the Lion Tells Its Tale within Timon Theater, um, and Delbert Richardson, um, and lead poetry workshops.

So we're two years old now and at a point where we're even seeing us expanding, needing a larger space, and seeing empty spaces and businesses fill, you know, year by year, and seeing what the Pioneer Square Alliance has been doing and the Downtown Seattle Association.

I was also a part of that policy revision with the mayor of Seattle.

So, you know, I'm committed to this and I'm in for the long run.

And I feel like we're just getting started.

And I feel like new businesses that have arisen from COVID, new arts organizations, you know, I see collaboration and I love how this can be seen here at this table.

So thank you for the opportunity and it'll be really interesting to see how our perspectives, especially with all of the new funding, open doors and see what we can do with that.

I can't agree more.

You know, piggyback off of what Avery was saying, you know, we're just looking forward to making Seattle like an art district.

I was talking to, you know, some fellow artists yesterday and they were saying that, you know, Seattle doesn't really feel like it has like its own art district.

I do work in Belltown, you know, like a base camp.

I got a current show at Labor Temple.

currently and I have like a solo show coming up at Access for July and August and Avery opened up her doors to me with my first solo show and so I'm working like on my fourth one did a couple group shows and I got a large collective of artist friends that we congregate we hang out and we're always looking for spots and we see a lot of you know empty storefronts within Seattle that eventually we can you know basically have as our hub and have as you know artists you know meeting spots where or keeping people off of the streets and actually just doing something collectively and great for the city and beautifying the city, adding color, you know, getting away from just like the gray and the blues and like those dense hues of Seattle that are associated with us, you know, that we appreciate and everything, but adding some color and some spirit out there that make people have that feeling of nostalgia when they look at pieces that make them go back to their childhood, make them want their hearts jump for joy when they see these pieces.

And there's so many different artists that, you know, are just waiting to be awakened.

And I feel like we can rejuvenate this stuff and make it happy.

and make it, you know, out of the norm and, you know, just give them, like, the vibrant that, you know, this city needs because, you know, depression runs high in here.

It rains a lot and everything.

And that color, you know, awakens people's spirits.

And that's what I hope to bring to it is just, like, that joy.

I'm not as young as Avery, but, hey, in my heart, I still got that.

I still got a couple strides in me.

Thank you, yes, I'm so very excited at all the things that you will accomplish and wanted to thank Kaylee for mentioning the Cultural Space Agency.

I went to their graduation this past week and met a gentleman who is presenting a show, I believe at the Moore Theater.

And so I'm excited to go see that this weekend called Tales of a Lion.

Also, thank you for mentioning FIFA Soccer.

I had a meeting with the Transportation Choices Coalition and they talked about how they're hoping FIFA Soccer leaves what the World's Fair left for Seattle and how arts and culture ties into that and especially how we revitalize downtown into the arts and cultural district as well as how do we invite people to come into our neighborhoods.

to learn about its history and the intersection with history and arts and cultural preservation is really important.

So thank you for all your work and so very excited for all the great things you're going to accomplish.

Council Member Moore.

Thank you, Madam Chair.

I just wanted to thank all of you for stepping forward and for those of you who are reappointing for the work that you've done so far.

Because we are now district wide, I just want to put in a plug for when you're thinking about initiatives and work to look at District 5. We really are sort of, we have tremendous diversity and potential, but we really are kind of an arts and culture desert.

And we've got Northgate that's going to be opening up.

Lake City is desperate for that kind of space.

Same with Crown Hill.

There's just so much potential up there.

And my office, very happy to work with the commission and individual commissioners and how we can expand those opportunities, particularly for our young people.

We have a wonderful mural project, but I would love to see that expanded and additional opportunities.

So thank you so much.

Council Member Saka.

Thank you, Madam Chair.

I'll make this brief, hopefully.

I just want to echo a lot of the sentiment that's already been expressed by my esteemed colleagues here, namely highlighting the importance of art to our city, our region, our economy.

And it truly makes an impact in the daily lives of everyone.

And it's really an opportunity to highlight our culture, broadly and inclusively defined and has also tremendous impact on making sure we have a thriving economy.

And so I also wanna thank and express my gratitude and appreciation for all you all for stepping up to serve and this work again, very critically important.

I will share a quick priority of mine because it was called out and mentioned a couple times.

FIFA World Cup.

Was it Leslie who mentioned that?

But regardless, that is a really, really huge opportunity for the city, the region, the state.

And obviously because the World Cup is occurring across the continent, literally, in many cities, it's an opportunity here locally at least to showcase what Seattle has to offer and what kind of culture and values do we want to put forth on display for the whole world to view.

I think based off the briefing that I last received on FIFA, there were anticipated to have a million plus unique visitors to Seattle for FIFA.

plus 4 billion, 4 billion eyeballs, viewers watching on TV.

So what kind of impression do we want people to have of Seattle when they walk away from an arts and cultural perspective?

You all have an important opportunity to help shape that.

And from my perspective, I wanna make sure FIFA is a safe, welcoming environment for all.

And we take advantage of it from a economic development standpoint, but also making sure again, we're highlighting all the rich, tremendous diversity and cultural diversity across the city.

So thank you all for Taking the laboring war on this really important urgent work, the new folks and the folks being reappointed, appreciate your continued service as well.

Thank you.

Okay.

With that, I move that the committee recommend confirmation of appointments 2858 to 2863. Second.

It is moved and seconded to confer the appointments.

Are there any further comments?

Will the clerk please call the roll on the confirmation of the appointments?

Council Member Moore?

Aye.

Council Member Saca?

Aye.

Council Member Strauss?

Yes.

Chair Wu?

Yes.

Chair, there are four in favor.

The motion carries and the recommendation that the appointments be confirmed will be sent to the City Council.

Thank you.

We will now move on to our last item of business.

Will the clerk please read our third item into the record?

Agenda two, resolution 134, a resolution relating to the Seattle City Light Department acknowledging and approving the City Light Department's adoption of the biennial energy conservation target for 2024-2025 and the 10-year conservation potential.

For public hearing, briefing, discussion and possible vote.

Thank you.

So once ready, please introduce yourselves.

And I'm excited to learn and continue the discussion about conservation targets for 2024 through 2025 and our 10-year conservation potential.

Thank you, Council Chair Wu and council members.

Appreciate it.

I am Dawn Lindell.

I'm the Interim General Manager and CEO for Seattle City Light.

Good morning.

I'm Jennifer Finnegan.

I work in Customer Energy Solutions at Seattle City Light.

Good morning.

Joe Fernandi, Director of Customer Energy Solutions at Seattle City Light.

Good morning.

I'm Craig Smith, Chief Customer Officer at Seattle City Light.

Good morning.

I'm Eric McConaughey.

I'm with the Council Central staff.

We are here today to seek your approval of City Lights conservation targets.

This is to fulfill a state legislative requirement.

This is part two.

We were here two weeks ago on April 19th.

Today, we want to clarify how the targets were calculated to address your questions and to seek your approval.

Next slide.

We are here because Washington I-937, also known as the Washington Energy Independence Act, requires us to present our two-year and 10-year conservation targets to you, City Council, every two years.

That means that we were here two years ago and we'll be back two years from now.

The targets identify the amount of cost-effective conservation in Seattle City Light's service territory.

To set the targets we follow a methodology that is set by the state, we do a big report called the conservation potential assessment that shows our work.

And we do a large quantitative model that's filled with lots of inputs that helps set those targets.

The inputs are specific to our service territory and our climate zone, and they include a lot of things, including inputs about our energy code.

And thanks to you, we have some of the strictest energy codes in the country.

We build this off of our building stock assessments that look at the age, size, and energy uses for building types in our service territory.

We build this off of technology penetration based off of market studies that show us what's been purchased and when.

And we build this off of energy consumption for hundreds, if not thousands, of energy measures specific to our climate zone.

We also include labor costs, our resource mix, load forecast, the pace of electrification, and our past conservation achievement.

50 years of conservation programs add up.

The output of this big model is the amount of cost-effective efficiency in City Lights territory for this time period.

We use the results of the potential assessments to comply with state requirements, like Washington Initiative 937, the Clean Energy Transformation Act, and we also use it as an input into several big energy models here at the utility, including the integrated resource plan and the load forecast, which will come before you.

in future committee meetings.

And we also use it to set assumptions for what incentives we'll be offering to customers in the future.

Next slide.

This graph shows our history.

It shows our past two-year targets in green and the amount of conservation savings in blue that we collected every two years.

Let me explain the axis.

On the bottom is time.

It shows 20 years divided up into two-year chunks called biennia.

On the left is 2004 through five and on the right is 2022 through 23. On the vertical axis is average megawatts.

One average megawatt is the equivalent electricity consumed by 1,200 average Seattle homes.

The green blocks show our past conservation targets, and the blue blocks show the amount of conservation that Seattle City Light collected in that time period.

There are several things I wanna bring to your attention.

The first is that these green blocks, the biennial conservation targets change over time and they've been getting smaller.

They've been getting smaller for a couple of reasons.

One is the strict energy codes that we have in Seattle.

Strict energy codes are great.

They help everybody save money and they help everybody save electricity.

But for us, when we're trying to provide incentives, we can only provide incentives for things that are above code.

And so when code raises, that means that there's less in the basket for us to be able to collect.

And that's not a bad thing because that means that with incentives, we provide money to people who can go above code, but not everybody can.

Another reason why the green blocks have gotten smaller over time is market transformation.

Our 50 years of conservation programs at City Light have helped to transform the market and have transformed the buildings where our residents live, work, and play.

They simply use less energy than they used to, and that means that there's less opportunity for us to make things more efficient.

The other thing that I want to raise for your attention is that City Light has a history of going beyond what we had to.

We have overachieved by collecting more energy efficiency than is required.

That's shown by the difference in height between the green and the blue bars.

Just because a target is set does not mean that we're limited to collecting that amount of energy efficiency.

Next slide.

In the previous slide, I showed you where we've been.

Now let's go to the future and the two-year targets that we're asking you to approve.

So I showed this graphic two weeks ago.

On the blue area on the right is one of the things that I'm asking you to approve.

It shows you that the two-year target is 18 average megawatts that's shown in the green box.

The gray area to the left is the result of the previous study that we presented two years ago.

It shows that the total amount of cost-effective savings is slightly higher at 18.74 average megawatts.

And when I do the math, that means that it's a 4% decrease.

Let's look at the 10-year target.

Next slide.

This slide is looking at the tenure targets of this study and the previous study.

The blue area on the right is the current target of 79 average megawatts that we're asking you to approve.

On the left is the result of the previous study, the tenure target of 76.89 average megawatts.

And the thing to note is that the target has increased by 2.7%.

And the other thing to note is that the amount of residential potential has doubled while the amount of commercial has gone down a little bit and industrial has stayed about the same.

The reason why these shifted is that our models really liked the load shape or when conservation savings were happening for residential efficiency.

They saved energy, so weatherization and heating saves energy at exactly the right time when market prices are high.

Next slide.

You guys asked questions about how these results compare with others in the region and other utilities.

These 10-year results are in line or higher than what we're hearing from around the region and from our peers.

In fact, I'm presenting at a conference in a little over a week where I'll be talking about our rising targets and I'll be talking about the doubling of residential energy efficiency.

This is a big contrast for many utilities that have declining targets.

On the right is regional information reflecting the conservation potential for Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and Montana.

Essentially, the study that we do every two years is done at a regional level every five years.

And every five years, this is called the Northwest Power Plan that identifies the amount of cost-effective conservation in the Northwest.

The horizontal axis is time.

It's a little bit different from what I showed you before in the slides for City Light in that the time period is a six-year time horizon and a 20-year time horizon.

On the vertical axis is the same metric that I showed you before in City Light slides that are average megawatts, one average megawatt.

use of 1,200 average Seattle homes.

The blue blocks show the amount of cost-effective conservation in the Northwest as of 2016. And the orange blocks show the amount of cost-effective conservation in the 2021 plan, 2021 Northwest Power Plan.

And the difference in the six-year time horizon is that the amount of cost-effective conservation for the Northwest decreased by about 50%, and the amount of cost-effective conservation for the region decreased by about 40% over the 20-year time horizon.

So that's the regional perspective.

Shifting to the utility perspective, I wanna tell you what we've heard from our neighbors.

And it was a simple question, but it's not as easy to answer because all the utilities are in the process of reporting our results to the state.

And so not all that information is aggregated together yet.

Those results will be available later this summer.

But in talking with a few of our peers, we heard that Snohomish PUD's 10-year target is rising by 7%, and Tacoma Power's 10-year target is rising by about 1.2% over the 10-year time period.

So our 2.7% is in the range between them.

The results of Snohomish PUDs and Tacoma Power's potential assessments are based off of their service territory, their past achievement, their resource mix, and their energy codes, which are different from ours.

Next slide.

This is my last slide, and the thing that I want to leave you with is that Seattle City Light's commitment to conservation remains strong, and we will continue to deliver innovative programs.

Over the next two years, between now and the time we come before you again, we will be scaling up our residential offerings, we will be leveraging the Inflation Reduction Act, and we will be designing our programs based around equity.

So we formally ask your approval of the two-year conservation target of 18 average megawatts and the 10-year conservation target of 79 average megawatts.

Thank you.

Colleagues, any questions or comments?

Looks like Council Member Moore, did you have a comment?

Great, thank you.

Yeah, thank you very much for coming back and providing additional clarification.

I'm still trying to wrap my head around a little bit why there is less conservation provided for in the commercial arena, and I note that you're talking about the factors of supply chain building, increased building vacancies and decreased investment.

Can you just explain to me how that affects the target?

Yeah, there are several things that are going on.

There are lots of inputs into the model, and you're exactly right.

that at least when we're looking at the near term, the amount of cost-effective commercial conservation is lower.

Part of that has to do with the higher vacancy supply chain issues and higher interest rates.

People just aren't investing in commercial real estate as much right now in the short term, but long term, we know that they will.

That's one thing that's going on.

The other thing that's going on is that we've refined our models to provide more granular direction in where energy efficiency provides the most cost-effective value to the utility.

And we were...

delighted, surprised, shocked when we saw that the models just loved residential weatherization and heating.

And the models indicated that we should be redoubling our efforts.

The third thing I think it's important to point out is going back to the code.

Seattle is the only jurisdiction in the state that has its own commercial energy code.

And so that's continuing to raise the bar on what folks are required to do when they're constructing new buildings and when they are upgrading major systems.

And so that code eats into the opportunity to have programmatic conservation savings.

And how is that going to play out with the proposed commercial space conversions into residential space?

Has there been any contemplation of that?

In terms of converting office space to residential space?

Yeah.

If it's large multifamily, our Seattle Energy Code thinks of that as a commercial facility.

The impact that Craig has just described will apply to those buildings as well.

Even though it'll be a residential space, you won't be able to apply the residential conservation approaches to the commercial spaces?

We'd look at it as a major renovation into a high-rise multifamily building type, essentially.

And we have programs that serve our new construction projects across both commercial, industrial, and multifamily that reward developers for exceeding what's required of them by Seattle Energy Code.

Okay.

So you will be looking at the ways to increase conservation when those conversions happen?

Always.

Absolutely.

Beyond the code.

But the code will help us out by setting a higher bar that buildings will be required to meet.

Okay.

And that eats into what we're able to incentivize programmatically.

Okay.

Thank you very much.

Any additional questions?

Sure.

Councilmember?

Yeah, sure.

Thank you.

Can you remind me when I-937 was passed?

2006.

2006. So we're at basic math here, 18 years.

And what was the intent of I-937?

There's a renewable portfolio standard.

It had solar provisions, or renewable provisions, and it also set a lot of requirements related to what we're talking about today, saying that utilities need to collect all cost-effective conservation in their territories, and then it set out the methodology for how we determine what is cost-effective, and it also set out when we need to be reporting on it.

And can you remind me of the conservation environment in 2006?

How were utilities, how were individuals conserving electricity?

Was it widely used?

Was it new?

Where were we at in 2006?

Wow, that's a good question.

I have to admit that I wasn't working in the Northwest in 2006.

We've been at this, though, for 50 years.

So for utilities like Seattle City Light that were already active and aggressive in the energy efficiency space and, frankly, in the clean energy space on the supply side, the requirement was probably less impactful to us than to others.

So that's really from a regulatory framework.

technology.

Hang on.

Sorry, that was a leading question to give you the opportunity to say that there was not conservation widely used throughout the market and throughout utilities.

Would you say that that's a correct statement?

Yes.

So in 2006, 937 is passed with conservation standards that we have to report back to the state.

That's just generally how we got to today.

Is that right?

And so I will share with colleagues, I was not comfortable voting on this at the last committee meeting because I did not think it was appropriate to vote on conservation standards that were lower than what we'd done in the past.

It has been helpful to learn more in the intervening time and not sit here and ask tough questions on the dais, but really to have a conversation in my office to understand the bell curve of 18 years ago to today.

If you colleagues want to think of low early adopters, regular adopters and late adopters, I'm always a late adopter to new technology.

I will never stand in line for an iPhone, but there are some people that will, right?

And then there's some people that will wait for the rebate to come, and then they'll go get their new iPhone.

I'm an Android user.

And so it's really been helpful for me to understand that bell curve of conservation, because in my time here, it is sometimes good to be first and best in the nation.

Seattle has been the leading edge on really important things, and I was honored and proud to sponsor the bill, the energy bill that at the time was the strongest energy code in the nation.

That made your job harder.

because we changed the code so that energy conservation was out of your realm to present to us today.

It's impressive to see that we're still outpacing others and we still need to do more.

And so while I'll vote to approve this today, even though we're on the downside of the bell curve, the next time you come to committee, I'm gonna be looking for more conservation savings.

I really appreciate all of the time that you took with me because I know I had a lot of questions and I asked a lot of you.

I'm not going to spend all of our communal time here today going through all of that, but just wanted to highlight some of the better parts of our conversation.

I really appreciate all of your work.

Yes, and thank you.

Council member Strauss, thank you for coming in and answering all our questions and presenting this in the last two weeks.

And so I move that the committee recommend adoption of resolution 32134. Is there a second?

Second.

It is moved and seconded to adopt the resolution.

Are there any further comments?

Will the clerk please call the roll on the adoption of resolution 32134. Council member Moore.

Aye.

Council member Saka.

Aye.

Council member Strauss.

Yes.

Chair Wu.

Yes.

There are four in favor.

The motion carries and the committee recommends that the council adopt resolution 32134 will be sent to the April 30th, 2024 city council meeting.

Thank you.

So we have reached the end of today's meeting agenda.

Is there any further business to come before the committee before we adjourn?

Hearing no further business to come before the committee, we are adjourned.

Thank you.