MINUTES

Meeting No. 2
Utility Subcommittee of the Energy Task Force
November 19, 2003

1. The Minutes of Meeting No. 1 of the Energy Task Force and the Utility Subcommittee of the Energy Task Force held On October 29, 2003 were approved.

Jeanne Hoffman reported that the City was in the final stages of the Energy Task Force Web Site and that the web site had opportunities for links.

On December 17, 2003, Paul Meier was scheduled to present his model to the Subcommittee.

2. Karl Van Lith, led an exercise regarding a fish bone analysis on obstacles to renewable energy resources. At the conclusion of the exercise, Karl agreed to draft the results for consideration by the Subcommittee.

3. Greg Bollom, MGE presented data regarding customer energy needs, MGE’s energy supply portfolio, and transmission issues regarding the importation of power to the Madison area. Copies of the slides are attached and have been placed on the City’s Energy Task Force Web Site.

• Over 60% of MGE customers have air conditioning.
• Overall load has increased due to computer use, which also drives a demand for air conditioning.
• Homes are bigger.
• 3.5% of MGE customers participate in wind power.
• Standby generators on customer’s property run about 20 hours per year.
• In 2002, MGE could not purchase or sell energy on 50 days because of the lack of transmission capacity.
• Over the last 20 years, MGE energy projections have been less than actual demand.

4. John Garvin, ATC presented ATC’s transmission model, which includes years 2009 and 2013. Approximately 3% growth in electrical demand is projected. Alliant has its fastest growing area on the west side and needs a robust source of power.

ATC cannot get wind power from Iowa over the transmission lines. Every wind power source for Wisconsin will have to be in Wisconsin.

Jeanne Hoffman requested that the presentation be made available for the web.

Garvin provided the following summary or bullet points of his presentation:

• American Transmission Company (ATC) began operations on January 1, 2001 and was created following the passage of consensus legislation in 1999. The legislature provided incentives for state utilities to divest their transmission assets into one company that would be responsible for the electric transmission system.
• ATC is responsible for building, operating, upgrading and maintaining the transmission system in the eastern two-thirds of Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.
• ATC helps ensure the reliability of the transmission system as the critical link between generating plants and the utilities that provide power to homes and businesses.
• ATC works with a variety of stakeholders, including landowners, as it plans, sites and constructs electric transmission facilities.
• Electricity use has grown significantly in Madison and Dane County over the last 15 years due to population growth, business demand and increased residential use. Based on statistics provided by MGE, the demand for electricity is increasing an average of 3% per year.
• Dane County imports 85% of its electric energy needs over the high voltage transmission system. Upon completion of MGE’s cogeneration plant, that number will decrease to 70% for a limited period of time.
• Nearly all of the renewable power used in Madison is imported over the transmission system.
• Based on the vulnerability of the current transmission grid, the loss of a significant transmission line in Dane County could create potential brownouts or cascading outages.
• The increased demand for electricity in the next 10 years will require additional transmission or generation.
• ATC is planning several projects to enhance the current transmission infrastructure in Dane County. These efforts will require capital investments in excess of $250 million dollars.
• By the end of this decade, a strong source of energy (e.g. a 345kv transmission line) will be required to provide an adequate supply of electricity and system wide reliability.
• ATC will work to utilize existing utility corridors whenever possible in order to minimize public and environmental impacts, in accordance with a new law in the state of Wisconsin that prioritizes the siting of transmission facilities in the following order:
  • Existing utility corridors
  • Highway and railroad corridors
  • Recreational trails, to the extent that the facilities may be constructed below ground and that the facilities do not significantly impact environmentally sensitive areas.
  • New corridors

5. Adjourned at 9:00 P.M.

Submitted by:

Larry D. Nelson, P.E.
City Engineer