Seattle City Councilmember Bruce Harrell

This afternoon (12/16/09), I issued a press release calling for a Smart Grid. Below is a post with more information.

System would save people money, modernize City Light’s basic infrastructure and increase reliability and conservation

SEATTLE – In an effort to position City Light on the cutting edge of customer service, Seattle City Councilmember Bruce Harrell has directed the Utility to develop a specific plan for the development of a Smart Grid in 2010. “I want a plan that puts the Full Council and the Executive in a position to make a funding decision for Smart Grid deployment by the middle of 2010,” says Councilmember Harrell. A Smart Grid basically adds two-way communication technology to the existing electrical grid where power and information can flow between the utility and the customer to create a system that operates more efficiently and reliably. It will also result in giving customers more control over their power consumption.

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Seattle City Light is uniquely positioned to provide low-cost, clean electricity to our customers—who own the public utility. Approximately 88.83% of Seattle City Light’s electricity generation is from hydro, a renewable energy. In comparison, about 50% of the United States electrical production comes from coal. The carbon footprint of coal is approximately 1000 grams of CO2 per kWh of electricity generated when compared to 10-30 grams of CO2 per kWh of electricity generated from hydro. Seattle City Light offers an average rate of 6.42 cents per kWh, compared to the national average of 9.7 cents per kWh. With the commitment Seattle and Washington state has demonstrated with the passage of I-937 in 2006 (3%-renewable energy of its load by 2012, 9%-renewable energy of its load by 2016, and 15%-renewable energy of its load by 2020) and Seattle City Light’s commitment with a 5-Year Conservation Plan to avoid 1 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions, what is the next step to continue providing the lowest rates and the cleanest electricity in Seattle?

That next step is Smart Grid. IBM’s slogan is “building a smarter planet.” Smart grid is the answer for building a smarter Seattle. Smart grid is a revolutionary change in how a utility generates and distributes electricity. The revolution has begun, with a federal stimulus package of $3.4 billion for smart grid technology. From these funds, $9.6 million was granted to Seattle City Light and the University of Washington for the development of a “smart micro grid” on the Seattle campus. Consumer education and engaging the public on what exactly is a smart grid and how it helps residents is absolutely vital as we discuss the development of a smart grid. Continue Reading »

Our Energy and Technology Committee recently reviewed City Light’s key milestones for the 2009 year. I am very pleased to report that City Light has been rated as an “Elite Utility” in terms of customer service by J.D. Power and Associates.

Customer Service: City Light continues to improve their customer service. From a base of 84,000 streetlights, in 2008, 19,067 were reported out. In 2009, 12,799 were reported out, which is a 6,268 reduction. The reduction is even greater when we look back to 2004 where there were 23,367 outages. Based on our policy directives, the Utility is on track to achieve a 10-14 day turnaround on streetlight repair in 2010 and outages have been significantly reduced. In addition, phase two of a group re-lamping scheme will be completed by the end of 2009, with phases three and four on track for completion in 2010 and 2011. We have seen great improvement on the streetlight issue and our plan calls for City Light to improve even more. Also, our push for E-billing has become a reality and to date, 26,000 customers have signed up so far. In 2010, I have added “Customer Service” to the ETC committee’s responsibilities as a means to examine City Light, Seattle Public Utilities and the city’s Customer Service Bureau to conduct a “best practices” approach to customer service.

System Reliability. System reliability continues to significantly improve. The average number of outages per customer has fallen below the Utility goal of one per year. We continue to examine the problem areas in our City with an aging underground system and have allocated substantial budget dollars toward their repair. We are also addressing this by injecting gel into the cables. This strengthens the integrity of the cable and extends its life at a lower cost than replacing.

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In January 2009, a 93-year-old Michigan man died as a result of freezing indoors just after the local power company restricted his use of electricity because of unpaid bills. As we approach incredible cold weather, our office monitors what occurs in other cities to make sure we don’t repeat the same mistakes.

Our Energy and Technology Committee has taken steps to make sure this does not happen here. Recognizing the challenges our lower income residents have, we required the utility to exert stronger advocacy efforts to generate volunteerism in our electric bill assistance program and this resulted in approximately $258,000 in donations. Based on these efforts, I am proud to report that we have achieved a 17 percent increase in donations from 2008. In 2010, the ETC Committee will approve legislation to accept and allocate almost $800,000 from an Enron settlement to be available for low-income energy assistance. In Seattle, we care about our neighbors and we will continue to take measures to make sure the Michigan tragedy does not happen here.

Project Share Website – Contribute Online: http://www.seattle.gov/light/HELP/Share/

People must be kept warm!

As you may know, the Council is in the middle of evaluating the Mayor’s proposed 2010 budget. One element we are addressing is the proposal to raise City Light rates by 8.8%. The question I am raising is whether we can drive this increase down without compromising the reliability of our service and commitment to conservation. I must also factor in the financial condition of the utility as it prepares to go to the bond market.

On Wednesday, November 4th, at 5:30 PM, the ETC will hear the recommendation from the City Light Rates Advisory Committee and discuss City Light’s 2009 Labor Budget. On Thursday, November 5th, at 2:00 PM, the ETC will discuss and possibly vote on four pieces of legislation concerning City Light rates, financial policies and a power rate adjustment mechanism (PRAM) proposal.

I encourage you to watch these meetings on the Seattle Channel (21), or watch online at http://www.seattle.gov/council/council_live.htm

I am currently in the process of working with local high-speed Internet providers and the Office of Cable Communications to develop a “Project Share” program to help low-income residents receive access to affordable high-speed Internet service. For example and to use Comcast as an example, I want to explore the possibility of soliciting from customers a small voluntary donation that can be used to help those who are unable to obtain Internet access. I have previously written about how Internet access is a potential gateway relative to education, job opportunities, training, networking and economic growth.

I will request the Department of Information Technology via a Statement of Legislative Intent (SLI) during this year’s budget to report back to Council next year on the implementation of this new program.

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