01-23-15 BPU RPT 10 - Laserfiche WebLink

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WA"B f. K IF.NAB F.R G 4. kE F. RIVERSIDE PUBLIC UTILITIES Board Memorandum P U B L I C U T I L I T I E BOARD OF PUBLIC UTILITIES DATE: JANUARY 23, 2015 ITEM NO: 10 SUBJECT: THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA RIVERSIDE'S PROPOSAL FOR RIVERSIDE PUBLIC UTILITIES' ENERGY INNOVATIONS GRANT ISSUE: The issue for Board of Public Utilities consideration is to recommend approval an Energy Innovations Grant (EIG) to the University of California, Riverside (UCR) in the amount of$100,000 to fund research for monitoring and control of Photovoltaic systems (PVs), battery storage systems and Electric Vehicle (EV) chargers at a 12 kV Industrial Substation Feeder Level, RECOMMENDATION: That the Board of Public Utilities approve and recommend that the City Council approve the UCR request for an Energy Innovations Grant in the amount of $100,000, to be paid in four installments with two payments being funded in Fiscal Year 2014-15 and two payments to be funded in Fiscal Year 2015-16, to research monitoring and control of PVs, battery storage systems and EV chargers at a 12 kV Industrial Substation Feeder Level. BACKGROUND: One of Riverside Public Utilities' (RPU) programs funded through the Public Benefits Funds is the Energy Innovations Grant Program. This Program was developed for the funding of research, development and demonstration programs for the public interest to advance science or technology in electric related projects in the institutions of higher education within the City of Riverside. Participation in the EIG Program is restricted to public or private post-secondary institutions whose primary activities fall within City limits. The grant funds must comply with the relevant portions of California Public Utilities Code Section 385 related to the use of Public Benefits Funds. Section 385(a)(3) provides that Public Benefits Funds may be used for "Research, development and demonstration programs for the public interest to advance science or technology which is not adequately provided by competitive and regulated markets." UCR has been awarded grant funds through this Program in the past in various separate projects ranging from: the Control of NOx (nitrogen oxides), SOx (sulfur oxides) and Particulate Matter in Biological Filters to the establishment of the Southern California Research Initiative for Solar Energy (SC- RISE). To date, UCR has received approximately $2 million in grant funding through this program. Today the utility is focusing these projects and funding request towards applications that directly affect the utility, its operations and potential impacts to RPU's electric system. A new proposal was recently submitted for grant funding by Professors Dr. Harried Mohsenian-Rad, Dr. Sadrul Ula and Dr. Matthew Barth. In this proposal, the applicants note that solar sustainable energy is one of the potential green technologies for meeting the ever-growing energy demands of the City of Riverside. However, given the intermittent output of solar panels, they are best utilized when linked with batteries; electricity is stored when generated and delivered to the grid during peak demand periods. To enable these emerging technologies, this project will coordinate the existing smart grid test bed at UC Riverside's College of Engineering-Center for Environmental Research & Technology (CE-CERT) with the operation of RPU's Hunter Substation. This will be done by utilizing the available energy resources at CE-CERT, in particular its 1 MWH lithium-ion batteries and 460 kW solar panels. The project will also benefit from implementing high quality power monitoring and control technologies to make smart decisions and corrective actions.