[00:00:01]
IT'S STILL MORNING FOR SOME OF US.
UM, I AM CALLING TODAY'S HEALTH AND ENVIRONMENT COMMITTEE MEETING TO ORDER.
THE CALL OF TODAY'S MEETING IS TO REVIEW AND DISCUSS THE LANDSCAPE OF THERMAL ENERGY NETWORK 10 PLANNING IN CAMBRIDGE, INCLUDING REVIEWING RESULTS FROM THE CAMBRIDGE NETWORK, GEOTHERMAL FEASIBILITY STUDY, AND IT WILL COVER, OBVIOUSLY THE, UM, LANDSCAPE AROUND THE AREA.
AND IF WE WANT THE COUNTRY AND WORLD, THE FIRST ORDER OF BUSINESS IS A ROLL CALL OF MEMBERS PRESENT.
COUNCILOR ZUBIE, PRESENT VICE ZE.
PRESENT, COUNCILLOR ZUI PRESENT.
AND I BELIEVE THERE IS A REPRESENTATIVE FROM THE MAYOR'S OFFICE HERE.
HE'S BEEN IN AND OUT, SO I APPRECIATE THAT THE MAYOR, UH, WILL BE HERE.
UM, PURSUANT TO CHAPTER TWO OF THE ACTS OF 2025, I BELIEVE I HAVE TO READ THIS, UM, ADOPTED BY MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL COURT AND APPROVED BY THE GOVERNOR.
THE CITY IS AUTHORIZED TO USE REMOTE PARTICIPATION AT MEETINGS OF THE CAMBRIDGE CITY COUNCIL AND ITS COMMITTEES.
PLEASE NOTE, THE CITY OF CAMBRIDGE AUDIO AND VIDEO RECORDS THIS MEETING.
IT MAKES IT AVAILABLE TO THE PUBLIC FOR FUTURE VIEWING.
THIRD PARTIES MAY ALSO BE AUDIO AND VIDEO RECORDING THIS MEETING.
IN ADDITION TO HAVING MEMBERS OF THE COUNCIL PARTICIPATE REMOTELY, WE ALSO HAVE SET UP ZOOM TELECONFERENCE FOR PUBLIC COMMENT.
EACH SPEAKER WILL HAVE TWO MINUTES.
UH, IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO PROVIDE PUBLIC COMMENT, PLEASE VISIT THE CITY COUNCIL SECTION OF THE CITY'S WEBPAGE.
INSTRUCTIONS FOR HOW TO SIGN UP ARE POSTED THERE.
YOU CAN COMPLETE THAT SIGNUP PROCEDURE.
IF YOU ARE IN THE ROOM, FEEL FREE TO LET US KNOW IF YOU HAVE NOT SIGNED UP TO PUBLIC COMMENT, AND WE'LL ADD YOU TO THE LIST.
YOU CAN ALSO EMAIL WRITTEN COMMENTS FOR THE RECORD TO THE CITY CLERK TO WATCH THE MEETING.
PLEASE TUNE INTO CHANNEL 22 OR VISIT THE OPEN MEETING PORTAL ON A CITY'S WEBSITE WITHOUT ALL OF TODAY'S VOTES, IF ANY WILL BE BY ROLL CALL.
AND I WILL ACTUALLY, IF YOU HAVE PREPARED THREE MINUTES, THERE'S ONLY THREE PEOPLE SIGNED UP FOR PUBLIC COMMENT.
HAPPY TO HAVE THREE MINUTES, WHICH IS THE USUAL, UH, WHICH IS, WHICH IS THE CHAIR'S PREROGATIVE TO SAY THAT IT COULD BE THREE MINUTES.
IT REALLY, UM, SO WITH THAT, UM, I CANNOT BE MORE EXCITED TO SEE THIS TABLE HERE,
UM, AND THEN IT, IT IS JUST UNBELIEVABLY EXCITING BECAUSE THOSE OF US IN THIS FIELD KNOW THAT IT WAS A KEY ELEMENT OF THE CITY.
DID AN APPLICATION FOR A, FOR A 10, MANY YEARS AGO.
WE DID NOT GET THAT FUNDING, BUT THEN THE CLIMATE CRISIS WORKING GROUP, WHICH SEVERAL MEMBERS IN THIS ROOM PARTICIPATED IN, SAID, HEY, LET'S DO THIS.
THE CITY HAS BEEN REALLY WANTING TO DO IT, AND SINCE THE LAST FEW YEARS, JUST THERE'S BEEN AN INCREDIBLE EXPLOSION OF INTEREST AND WORK ON TENS AROUND, UM, AROUND THE COUNTRY.
WE WILL HEAR ABOUT THAT FROM THE CITY.
AND ALSO HEAT AND BLACK SWAN LAB.
UM, AT, AT THE ILEY CONFERENCE THAT I WAS, UH, AT, JUST, UH, 10 DAYS AGO, IT WAS IN BALTIMORE.
THERMAL ENERGY NETWORKS WERE DISCUSSED WIDELY AMONG PEOPLE BEING INCREDIBLY EXCITED ABOUT.
IT REALLY DOES SEEM TO BE A POTENTIALLY TRANSFORMATIVE WAY FOR US TO ACHIEVE OUR, UM, DECARBONIZATION GOALS.
I THINK WHAT WE SHOULD DO IS JUST GO QUICKER AROUND THE ROOM AND INTRODUCE WHO'S HERE, BECAUSE, UH, WE'RE GONNA HAVE TO DO A LITTLE BIT RAPID FIRE, BUT WE'LL SEE, UM, BECAUSE I'VE LAID IT OUT, THERE'S ABOUT FIVE, UH, GROUPS WHO WILL BE PRESENTING.
WE'RE TRYING TO KEEP IT TO ABOUT 10 MINUTES EACH, AND WE'LL SEE.
BUT IF WE CAN GO AROUND, UH, VICE MAYOR, IF YOU WANNA JUST START US OFF.
HANZI VICE MAYOR, I'M SARAH GALLUP.
I'M, UH, DIRECTOR OF GOVERNMENT AND COMMUNITY RELATIONS AT MIT.
I'M HERE ALONG WITH OUR ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR, ANN ELISA BIA.
I'LL LET, UH, JOE INTRODUCE HIMSELF.
JOE HIGGINS, UH, VICE PRESIDENT OF CAMPUS SERVICES STEWARDSHIP, UH, STEWARDSHIP AT, UH, MIT, UM, OVERSIGHT FOR OUR DECARBONIZATION PLANS AND THE AMAZING TEAMS THAT ARE WORKING ON THAT.
AND WE ALSO BROUGHT ONE OF OUR RESEARCHERS WITH US HERE TODAY, ZACH, KEVIN HAGGERTY.
I'M THE PRESIDENT AND CEO OF VICINITY ENERGY.
WE RUN THE DISTRICT ENERGY SYSTEM THAT SUPPLIES STEAM AND OTHER ENERGIES TO BOSTON AND CAMBRIDGE.
HI, MY NAME IS IRINA KEY FROM, WITH THE OFFICE OF SUSTAINABILITY, WORKING AS A BUILDING DECARBONIZATION PLANNER, ERIC BOSWORTH HERE.
UM, HOPING TO COMMUNICATE THE VIEWPOINT OF THE FOLKS OVER AT HEAT.
AUDREY SCHULMAN, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF BLACK SWAN LAB.
UH, KATHY WATKINS, W, CITY MANAGER.
AND I KNOW, UH, CHIEF CLIMATE OFFICER JULIE, UH, JULIE WORM IS, AND A MEETING OVER AT BU I THINK SHE IS PROBABLY AVAILABLE ONLINE.
UM, AND I'M NOT SURE, I KNOW SOMEONE FROM THE GREEN RIBBON COMMISSION, BOSS 10 DID SEND IN A PRESENTATION.
I'M NOT SURE IF THEY'RE ONLINE, UM, OR IF THEY'RE GONNA BE ABLE TO BE HERE AT PRESENT.
AND I KNOW SOMEONE FROM EVERSOURCE IS ALSO, UH, HOPING TO JOIN EITHER IN PERSON OR REMOTELY.
SO I'M LOOKING BACK TO OUR CLERK TO MAKE SURE IF,
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IF THOSE PEOPLE ARE HERE, THAT UM, WE SHOULD MAKE SURE WE PROMOTE THEM SO THAT THEY CAN PRESENT.UM, UH, SO I THINK I'M, YOU KNOW, AS I SAID, I'M REALLY EXCITED ABOUT THIS.
THIS IS AN UNBELIEVABLY IMPORTANT WAY FOR US TO JOINTLY COMPREHENSIVELY AND HOPEFULLY SYSTEMATICALLY LOOK AT WAYS THAT WE CAN ACHIEVE OUR GOALS.
AND AS I HAVE SAID, UH, MANY, MANY TIMES, IF CAMBRIDGE AND MIT AND EVERSOURCE AND VICINITY JOINTLY CAN'T MOVE THE BALL FORWARD MORE QUICKLY THAN THE REST OF THE WORLD, THEN WE MIGHT AS WELL GIVE UP ON LITERALLY, NOT TO BE TOO DRAMATIC, BUT, BUT SAVING OUR OWN HEALTH AND OUR OWN LIVES.
SO WITH THAT, I, THE AGENDA IS BEFORE YOU, UM, WE'RE GONNA START OFF WITH THE OFFICE OF SUSTAINABILITY, FOLLOWED BY BLACK SWAN LAB AND HEAT, THEN VICINITY ENERGY, MIT WILL TALK ABOUT ITS HEAT RECOVERY, UM, PLANS AND CAMPUS PLANNING.
AND THEN THE, UH, BOSS 10, WHICH IS THE BOSTON THERMAL ENERGY NETWORK PLANNING.
REALLY EXCITING, UM, REGIONAL FEASIBILITY STUDY.
AGAIN, THERE'S SO MUCH IN THE NEWS ABOUT THIS, ABOUT EVERY DAY PRACTICALLY, THERE'S SOMEONE ELSE SAYING, OH, WE COULD EXPLORE THIS.
YOU KNOW, LET'S USE THE OCEANS.
LET'S USE THERMAL ENERGY SOMEWHERE.
I JUST GOT SOME EMAIL LIST I'M ON ABOUT YET ANOTHER PROJECT.
SO LET'S START OFF WITH ARENA.
THANK YOU CHAIR NOLAN, AND TO THE COMMITTEE MEMBERS FOR HOSTING THIS SESSION AND THE PRESENTERS.
I APPRECIATE YOU MOVING THE NEEDLE ON CLEAN THERMAL AND, UH, SHARING WHAT YOU'VE LEARNED SO FAR.
CAN WE SHARE THE PRESENTATION? AND FOR THOSE OF YOU HERE, THERE ARE A COUPLE, UH, COPIES OF THE PRESENTATION.
I KNOW WE'RE TIGHT ON TIME AND REALLY JUST FOCUS ON GIVING A REALLY HIGH LEVEL OVERVIEW OF THIS WORK, OF THE GOALS AND THE FINDINGS FOR THE FEASIBILITY STUDY TO LOOK AT A PILOT PROJECT.
UM, I DO WANNA NOTE THAT WE HAVE HAD A IN-DEPTH WEBINAR A COUPLE OF WEEKS AGO THAT REALLY TALKED THROUGH THE PROCESS, THE METHODOLOGY, MORE OF THE FINDINGS AND THE RECORDING FOR THAT WEBINAR, UH, IS AVAILABLE ON OUR WEBSITE.
SO I WOULD DIRECT YOU THERE IF THERE'S ANYTHING THAT CAUGHT YOUR EYE THAT YOU WANT TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THAT I'M REALLY JUST GOING TO KIND OF GLAZE OVER.
SO THE PRAGMATIC QUESTION HERE THAT THE CITY WAS ASKING WAS, YOU KNOW, WHAT WOULD IT TAKE TO BUILD A PILOT PROJECT FOR A GEOTHERMAL BASED THERMAL ENERGY NETWORK IN AN EXISTING CAMBRIDGE NEIGHBORHOOD? UM, AND WE ARE PRIMARILY USING IN SLIDE, PLEASE.
SO PRIMARILY USING ARPA FUNDING, THE CITY BROUGHT ON SAL O'BRIEN AS THE TECHNICAL CONSULTANT.
THEY ARE HERE IN THE ZOOM MEETING WITH US AND CAN JOIN FOR THIS.
CAN THOSE, CAN YOU RAISE YOUR HAND IF YOU CAN HEAR IRINA? OKAY, GREAT.
UH, SO WE BROUGHT ON TE SAL O'BRIEN AS THE TECHNICAL AND CONSULTANT FOR THIS PROJECT.
THEY'RE A LEADER IN DESIGNING THERMAL ENERGY NETWORKS ACROSS THE US TRUST WAS THEIR SUBCONTRACTOR FOR COMMUNICATIONS AND ENGAGEMENT, UM, AND, UM, THE TEAM.
SO YEAH, WE CAN ASK ANY QUESTIONS TO THE REST OF THE TEAM.
UM, ON THE ZOOM SLIDE, PLEASE.
SO WE KNOW THAT THE CITY HAS REALLY BEEN COMMITTED TO CUTTING OUR CARBON, RIGHT? WE HAVE OUR NET ZERO GOAL BY 2050, AND, UM, WE'RE MAKING SOONER STRIDES ON CUTTING THIS CARBON POLLUTION.
SO WHERE DOES OUR CARBON POLLUTION REALLY COME FROM? AND IN CAMBRIDGE, THE ANSWER IS MOSTLY BUILDINGS, AS YOU CAN SEE IN THE, THE GRAPHIC THERE.
UH, AND THAT IS MOSTLY FROM CONSTRUCTION, CONSTRUCTING AND OPERATING THESE BUILDINGS.
AND, UH, WHEN YOU LIVE IN A HISTORIC CITY IN A COLD CLIMATE, THEN HEATING AND COOLING THESE BUILDINGS REALLY TAKES A LOT OF ENERGY.
SO WE NEED TO CHANGE HOW OUR ENERGIES ARE GETTING THEIR HEAT SLIDE PLEASE.
AND, UH, THE CITY'S NET ZERO ACTION PLAN REALLY FOCUSES ON DECARBONIZATION OF THE BUILDING SECTOR.
SO YOU CAN SEE HERE THE KIND OF SUITE OF APPROACHES THAT WE'RE TAKING TO ADDRESS NEW CONSTRUCTION TO, UM, OFFER COMMUNITY ENERGY PROGRAMS. AND WE'VE MADE GREAT STRIDES IN ESPECIALLY THE AREA OF NEW CONSTRUCTION.
AND THIS IDEA OF HAVING A MICRO DISTRICT AT THE TIME, IT WAS CALLED A MITRA DISTRICT, UH, GEO MICRO DISTRICT STUDY FOR A PILOT PROJECT CAME FROM THE NET ZERO ACTION PLAN, UM, AS A WAY TO LOOK AT THESE EXISTING NEIGHBORHOODS.
SO WITHIN THIS, SO, SO THAT'S KIND OF WHERE WE CAME TO THE STUDY ITSELF.
SLIDE, PLEASE, AND I WON'T DIG TOO DEEPLY INTO THIS NOW, I WANNA KEEP MOVING, BUT WANNA NOTE THAT THE PLAN WAS NOT THE FIRST TIME THAT WE'VE EXPRESSED INTEREST IN LOOKING AT THESE KIND OF NEIGHBORHOOD SCALE SOLUTIONS, UM, LEADING INTO THIS STUDY SLIDE, PLEASE.
SO AT ITS CORE, A THERMAL ENERGY NETWORK THAT USES GEOTHERMAL SOURCES HAS FOUR PARTS.
THE FIRST IS THE GROUND, RIGHT? AS SOON AS YOU GET BELOW 20 TO 30 FEET
[00:10:01]
IN THE GROUND, UM, THE EARTH ACTUALLY STAYS STEADY AT ABOUT 53 DEGREES ALL YEAR ROUND, NO MATTER WHAT THE CLIMATE OR THE WEATHER IS DOING OUTSIDE.SO IT IS WARMER THAN THE AIR IN THE WINTER, IT'S COOLER THAN THE AIR IN THE SUMMER.
AND A REALLY GOOD OPPORTUNITY TO, UM, PROVIDE A SOURCE OF CLEAN HEATING AND COLD.
SO TO TAP INTO THE THERMAL ENERGY, WE WOULD DRILL, UH, DRILL THESE DEEP HOLES BETWEEN 550 AND 850 FEET DEEP.
AND USUALLY THOSE, THOSE ARE UNDER A, UH, PARKING LOT OR A SURFACE, UH, OR A, OR A PARK.
AND ON THE GRAPHIC IS JUST BEHIND THE SUBTITLES.
UH, AND THEN THERE ARE PIPES THAT ARE MOSTLY FILLED WITH WATER THAT RUN FROM THE BORE FIELD THROUGH THE NEIGHBORHOOD IN THE STREETS TO CONNECT TO BUILDINGS THAT CIRCULATES THE WATER AT A MILD TEMPERATURE.
IT'S NOT GONNA BE HOT LIKE YOUR BOILER.
UM, AND THAT IS CALLED THE DISTRIBUTION NETWORK.
AND THEN INSIDE OF EACH BUILDING, THERE WOULD BE EQUIPMENT.
SO THERE'S A HEAT PUMP THAT CAN PULL HEAT FROM THE WATER AND THEN CIRCULATE IT WITHIN THE BUILDING.
UM, AND THEN WOULD DO THE OPPOSITE, KIND OF LIKE A HEAT PUMP IN A RESIDENTIAL HOME TO, TO, UM, FLIP THE DIRECTION IN THE SUMMERTIME.
AND MOST BUILDINGS WOULD NEED SOME KIND OF AN UPGRADE TO BE ABLE TO CONNECT SUCH AS NEW, YOU KNOW, EQUIPMENT OR CHANGES TO HOW THIS HEAT IS DELIVERED INTO ROOMS LIKE NEW DUCT DUCT WORK.
SO THIS IDEA OF SHARED INFRASTRUCTURE ISN'T NEW, RIGHT? THERE'S SHARED INFRASTRUCTURE IN OUR STREETS ALREADY.
IT WOULD FUNCTION LIKE OUR DRINKING WATER, WHERE THERE'S A STREET NETWORK AND THEN AN INDIVIDUAL CONNECTION FROM THE HOME OR THE BUILDING TO THAT STREET.
AND, UM, IN WINTER, MOST BUILDINGS DO PULL HEAT FROM THE NETWORK, WITH THE EXCEPTION IN CAMBRIDGE, ESPECIALLY OF BUILDINGS LIKE LABS THAT MIGHT HAVE SOME EXCESS HEAT THAT THEY COULD CONTRIBUTE TO THE NETWORK AND CONTINUE THAT IN CIRCULATION SLIDE.
SO IT'S IMPORTANT TO NOTE HERE THAT GEOTHERMAL BOARDS ARE NOT THE ONLY SOURCE OF HEATING AND COOLING FOR BUILDINGS.
UM, A NETWORK COULD DRAW ON A LARGER SOURCE, LIKE A, LIKE THE RIVER, LIKE THE BOSTON HARBOR, FOR EXAMPLE, UM, WHERE THERE'S THIS KIND OF PLENTIFUL AND CHEAP SOURCE OF ENERGY.
UH, AND A NETWORK COULD ALSO DRAW ON EXISTING INFRASTRUCTURE SYSTEMS LIKE THE, YOU KNOW, MBTA, YOU CAN SOMETIMES WALK OVER A, A GRATE AND FEEL THE HEAT COMING OUT OF THE, OF THE GRATE.
UH, AND SO, YOU KNOW, THIS FEDERALLY FUNDED PROJECT WAS REALLY FOCUSED ON NETWORK GEOTHERMAL AS A PILOT THAT COULD BE REPLICATED AS A SOLUTION FOR EXISTING NEIGHBORHOODS SLIDE.
AND SO THERE ARE, THERE ARE LOTS OF BENEFITS TO THERMAL ENERGY NETWORKS.
YOU MAY HAVE HEARD THEM FROM SOME OF THE FOLKS AT THIS TABLE BEFORE, BUT I REALLY JUST WANNA HIGHLIGHT A COUPLE HERE.
ONE IS THAT THERMAL ENERGY NETWORKS OFFER A REALLY HIGH EFFICIENCY SOURCE OF HEAT AND COOL CO AND COOLING.
SO THAT ENERGY, UH, IS LOWER THAN WHAT YOU WOULD USE WITH NATIONAL NATURAL GAS.
AND SO WE WOULD, YOU KNOW, BE ABLE TO ACHIEVE LOWER BUILDING EMISSIONS THROUGH A THERMAL ENERGY NETWORK.
AND WE WERE REALLY INTERESTED IN THIS IDEA OF BEING ABLE TO HAVE A NEIGHBORHOOD SCALE IMPACT, RIGHT? WE KNOW THAT EACH BUILDING INDIVIDUALLY WILL NEED SOME KIND OF UPGRADE, BUT THE IDEA OF BEING ABLE TO PROVIDE THE SOURCE OF HEAT OR SOURCE THE SOURCE OF ENERGY, UM, IN A SHARED WAY FOR A NEIGHBORHOOD WAS REALLY APPEALING TO US.
SO WHAT WE'RE, YOU KNOW, WE LEARNED A LOT FROM PROJECTS THAT EITHER ARE COMING ONLINE OR ALL ARE, ARE ALREADY ONLINE, LIKE EVER SOURCE'S, DEMONSTRATION PROJECT IN FRAMINGHAM THAT ARE DELIVERING DATA KIND OF IN REAL TIME.
AND WHAT WE DIDN'T KNOW WAS HOW THIS WORK WOULD SPECIFIC SPECIFICALLY, UH, LAND IN CAMBRIDGE, RIGHT? LIKE WITH OUR DENSITY, WITH OUR STREETS, UM, OUR LAND, IF WE WERE TO MOVE AHEAD WITH A PROJECT TOMORROW, WHAT WOULD IT LOOK LIKE AND HOW MUCH WOULD IT COST AND, AND WHO COULD OPERATE IT? SO THESE PROJECTS ARE COMPLICATED.
WE WANTED TO KNOW WHAT KIND OF INFRASTRUCTURE WE WERE GOING TO NEED.
UM, WHAT WOULD IT TAKE TO REALLY CONVERT AND CONNECT DIFFERENT TYPES OF BUILDINGS TO A NETWORK AND WHO WOULD ULTIMATELY BE THE KIND OF RESPONSIBLE ENTITY TO OWN AND TO OPERATE A NETWORK SLIDE.
AND TO KIND OF REITERATE HERE, GEOTHERMAL IS NOT NEW IN CAMBRIDGE.
THERE'S A MANY BUILDINGS THAT WE HAVE THAT ARE ALREADY USING GROUND SOURCE HEAT PUMPS FOR HEATING AND COOLING.
THIS IS A, A LIST, ESPECIALLY OF SOME OF THE MORE RECENT SCHOOLS AS A SCHOOL IS RENOVATED.
UM, OFTEN THIS IS GEOTHERMAL IS THE BEST WAY TO ACHIEVE OUR DECARBONIZATION GOALS AS A CITY SLIDE.
UH, AND THIS IS JUST A KIND OF TEASE OF THE WORK THAT SALAS O'BRIEN HAS BEEN INVOLVED WITH AROUND THE COUNTRY, UM, THAT THEY COULD SPEAK TO SLIDE.
SO KNOWING THAT THERE ARE MANY DIFFERENT WAYS TO CONFIGURE A THERMAL ENERGY NETWORK, OUR GOAL FOR THIS PROJECT WAS REALLY TO FIND THE BEST SITE, UM, FOR A EXISTING NEIGHBORHOOD THAT REALLY REPRESENTS CAMBRIDGE, UM, AND COULD BE SCALED OR REPLICATED ELSEWHERE AND POTENTIALLY TIE INTO A BIGGER NETWORK LIKE THE ONE THAT WE'RE TALKING ABOUT FOR BOSTON.
[00:15:01]
SO SALAS PRETTY QUICKLY IDENTIFIED THAT THE LAND FOR THE BORE FIELD WAS THE MAJOR LIMITING FACTOR.UH, AND WE STARTED OUT WITH THESE 38 SITES THAT KIND OF MET THAT FIRST FILTER SWEEP AND THEN NARROWED THEM DOWN, UH, FOR A DEEPER ANALYSIS BASED ON, YOU KNOW, WHAT IS THE LAND CURRENTLY USED FOR, WHAT MIGHT BE THE IMPACT TO THE COMMUNITY OF A PROJECT LIKE THIS, WHO'S AROUND? SO, WHICH, UH, BUILDING OWNERS, WHICH ANCHOR INSTITUTIONS ARE AROUND THE SITE THAT COULD, UH, WHO ARE BIGGER ENERGY USERS THAT WOULD BE ABLE TO, UM, TIE IN AND INTERESTED TO TIE IN.
AND THEN WE LOOKED AT THE ENERGY BALANCE, RIGHT? SO RESIDENTIAL AREAS MOSTLY NEED HEAT IN THE WINTER.
THEY'RE NOT THE ONES WITH THE, THE WASTE HEAT COMING BACK INTO THE SYSTEM.
SO THE MORE SUITABLE SITES HERE HAD A MORE BALANCED ENERGY LOAD, WHICH IS REALLY IMPORTANT FOR GEOTHERMAL.
AND YOU WILL NOTICE HERE, EVEN THOUGH IT'S A HIGH LEVEL MAP, IT'S MOSTLY, YOU KNOW, MOSTLY SEEING PARKS AS FITTING THESE CRITERIA.
'CAUSE A NETWORK THAT IS DESIGNED, UH, TO SERVE A NEIGHBORHOOD IS, IS LOOKING AT ABOUT AN ACRE OF LAND.
UH, AND IN CAMBRIDGE, WE KNOW THAT THESE PRIVATE PARKING LOTS OR OPEN SPACES ARE UNLIKELY TO REMAIN AS OPEN SPACES OR PARKING LOTS FOR THE LONG TERM.
'CAUSE WHEN WE THINK ABOUT A THERMAL ENERGY NETWORK, WE'RE THINKING MINIMALLY OF A 50 YEAR ASSET LASTS A LONG TIME.
AND, UM, AT, IN THIS MAP, YOU KNOW, GREEN IS REPRESENTING A MORE FAVORABLE SITE FOR A PILOT PROJECT, AND THE ORANGE REPRESENTS A LESS SUITABLE SITE SLIDE, PLEASE.
SO THE MAIN LESSONS FROM THIS SITE SELECTION IS THAT, YOU KNOW, OUR, OUR STREETS AND OUR LAND, THEY'RE, THEY'RE BUSY.
THEY'VE, THEY'VE ALREADY GOT A LOT OF JOBS.
UM, AND SO SEVERAL SITES WE FOUND MAY BE TECHNICALLY FEASIBLE FROM AN ENGINEERING PERSPECTIVE, BUT WE WEREN'T READY TO MOVE FORWARD ON ANY OF THEM KINDA DUE TO THESE REASONS ON THE SCREEN.
SO, YOU KNOW, ONE IS LAND, THE LAND DOESN'T EXIST IN A VACUUM, RIGHT? THERE, UM, EXIST IN THE KIND OF CONTEXT OF ALL THESE OTHER USERS AND, UM, SERVING COMMUNITY NEEDS, UM, SURFACE PARKING LOTS THAT ARE CHANGING OVER TIME TO RESPOND TO OTHER COMMUNITY PRIORITIES LIKE THE DEVELOPMENT OF HOUSING, FOR EXAMPLE, AND STREETS.
SO THE SPACE UNDER OUR STREETS HAS A LOT IN IT.
THERE'S GAS, THERE'S WATER, SEWER, STORM WATER, ELECTRIC, TELECOMMUNICATIONS LINES.
YOU KNOW, THAT'S NOT A, THAT'S NOT A BIG DEAL TO OUR DPW IN THE SENSE THAT OUR DPW DEALS WITH BUILDING IN CONGESTED STREETS ALL THE TIME.
UM, BUT WHAT IT DOES DO IS KIND OF LIMIT THE DIRECTION THAT A THERMAL ENERGY NETWORK COULD GO IN AND COMPLICATE, COMPLICATES NAVIGATING THROUGH THE STREETS TO THE BUILDINGS AS WELL.
SO THINK ABOUT, YOU KNOW, A PROJECT THAT IS NORTH OF MASS AVE COULDN'T, COULDN'T MOVE SOUTH OF MASS AVE BECAUSE THE RED LINE IS THERE AND THERE'S ALL THESE LIKE BIG STREETS THAT HAVE, UM, LARGER PIECES OF INFRASTRUCTURE THAT ARE HARDER TO MOVE AROUND.
AND THEN THERE'S ALSO A STRUCTURE THAT WOULD BE NEEDED FOR A THERMAL ENERGY NETWORK.
IT COULD BE UNDERGROUND, IT COULD BE PLACED UNDERGROUND, UM, AT HIGHER COST, BUT OTHERWISE WOULD NEED ABOUT 20 TO, TO A 20 BY 20 TO 40 FOOT STRUCTURE TO SITE SOMEWHERE.
AND THERE ARE SOME POLICY ISSUES AS WELL.
BUT REALLY THESE WERE THE MAIN FO THE MAIN FOCUSES.
I THINK THE OWNERSHIP AND OPERATIONS WAS THE ONE THAT REALLY STOPPED US ON OUR TRACK HERE, WHICH IS THINKING ABOUT, YOU KNOW, WHO IS SET UP TO RUN THIS AND TO BUILD THIS, UM, YOU DO NEED ALIGNMENT ACROSS ALL PRI PRIVATE PROPERTY OWNERS, UH, BECAUSE EVERY BUILDING, UM, WOULD NEED SOME LEVEL OF CONVERSION.
AND THEY'RE ON DIFFERENT TIMELINES, RIGHT? SO A BUILDING THAT WAS RETROFIT FIVE YEARS AGO ISN'T GONNA HAVE EQUIPMENT THAT REACHES END OF LIFE FOR ANOTHER, YOU KNOW, 10, 15 YEARS.
UM, SO HOW DO WE COORDINATE ALL OF THE PRIVATE PROPERTY OWNER NEEDS, UM, TOGETHER ON ONE, AROUND ONE SITE.
AND THEN, YOU KNOW, FOR ECONOMICS, WHO IS GOING TO PAY FOR THE PROJECT THAT MIGHT BE DIFFERENT FROM WHO BE WHO IS ABLE TO ACCESS THE SAVINGS FROM A PROJECT MOVING FORWARD.
SO INSTEAD OF JUST PICKING A SINGLE SITE TO TELL THE PUBLIC ABOUT AND TO ADVANCE INTO CONSTRUCTION, UH, WE ENDED UP CHOOSING ONE STU ONE LOCATION TO STUDY IN GREATER DEPTH SLIDE PLEASE.
SO THAT SITE IS PACIFIC STREET PARK.
IT'S LOCATED IN CAMBRIDGE PORT.
I'M SHOWN THE MAP WITH AN MIT GRADUATE HOUSING BUILDING, UM, JUST TO THE, TO THE WEST THERE SLIDE.
AND WE CHOSE THIS SPACE BECAUSE IT HAS, UM, SEVERAL OF THE ELEMENTS WE FOUND TO BE REALLY INTERESTING TO RESEARCH.
THERE'S SPACE AT THE PARK AND THE DOG PARK FOR THE BORE FIELDS.
THERE IS A WILLING ANCHOR INSTITUTION THAT IS NEARBY THAT, UM, YOU KNOW, COULD, COULD SUPPORT THE, AND TAKE ON THE ENERGY FROM THE SITE.
AND THEN WE ALSO WERE CURIOUS ABOUT LOOKING AT RIGHTS OF WAY, REALLY WHAT WOULD IT TAKE TO BUILD A BORE FIELD IN A LINEAR FASHION THROUGH, SAY FOR EXAMPLE, THE BIKE PAD PATH, WAVERLY PATH OR SOME LOW VOLUME STREETS, TUDOR STREET AND EMILY STREET HERE IN THIS EXAMPLE, UH, WE ALSO LIKED THAT THERE WAS THIS MIX OF COMMERCIAL BUILDINGS AND RESIDENTIAL BUILDINGS SO THAT WE COULD BETTER UNDERSTAND WHAT IT WOULD TAKE TO DO THESE BUILDING CONVERSIONS FOR DIFFERENT TYPES AND KINDA CLASSES OF BUILDING SLIDE.
[00:20:04]
UM, SO FROM HERE, UM, SAL'S HAD DONE A DEEP ANALYSIS OF BOTH THE BUILDINGS AND THE INFRASTRUCTURE.THIS IS A COST NOW OR COST ESTIMATE, UM, THAT LOOKS AT THE, THE COST FOR A HYBRID PROJECT.
AND SO THAT IS LEAVING THE KIND OF FINAL BIT OF THE HOTTEST AND THE COLDEST DAYS UNANSWERED, UM, AS KIND OF THE BEST FIT FOR THIS SITE.
SO THIS IS, WE'RE CALLING IT A 99% GEOTHERMAL WITH THAT LAST 1% BEING THE EITHER THE EXISTING EQUIPMENT OR TO BE ELECTRIFIED OVER TIME.
SO LOOKING AT THE LOWEST POSSIBLE COST TO SEE HOW IT COULD WORK, WE FOUND THAT MOST OF THE COSTS WOULD REALLY BE FOR CONVERTING THOSE BUILDINGS THEMSELVES.
AND THEN SOME ENTITY WOULD NEED TO TAKE ON THE DEVELOPMENT AND THE OPERATION OF THE NETWORK SLIDE.
SO THERE DOES NEED TO BE SOME WAY TO PAY BACK THE CAPITAL COSTS OF THE PROJECT.
AND THIS IS AN IF, RIGHT? SO IF THIS MOVES FORWARD TOMORROW, AND IF WE'RE LOOKING AT THIS CONCEPTUAL SITE, UM, WITH JUST THE ASCENT INCENTIVES THAT ARE AVAILABLE TODAY, THEN THE, YOU KNOW, IT WOULD TAKE 30 YEARS TO RECOUP THE COSTS OF THE CAPITAL.
AND IF THE ENTITY WERE TO RECOUP THOSE COSTS THROUGH BILLS ALONE, THEN THE COST WOULD DOUBLE SLIDE.
SO THIS IS KIND OF BACK TO OUR STARTING QUESTION IS WHAT WOULD IT TAKE TO BUILD THIS THERMAL ENERGY NETWORK IN CAMBRIDGE? THE ANSWER IS THAT A LOT OF THE PUZZLE PIECES HAVE TO COME TOGETHER AT THE SAME TIME.
SO THE FOUR GENERAL CATEGORIES THAT WE'VE DISTILLED THIS DOWN TO, AND THERE IS A MORE COMPLICATED PUZZLE WITH A, THE, UH, ELEMENTARY TO MIDDLE SCHOOL NUMBER OF PIECES, UM, THAT WE CAN FIND, UH, ONLINE.
UM, BUT REALLY THINKING ABOUT THESE CATEGORIES AS THE PLACE, RIGHT? SO LOOKING FOR THE RIGHT SITE THAT, UM, AND THE RIGHT SOURCE AND THE LAND TO REACH IT, MAKING SURE THAT THERE'S ROOM UNDER THE STREETS, MAKING SURE THAT THERE'S ANCHOR CUSTOMERS THAT CAN TIE IN THAT WHO WANNA JOIN, AND A GOOD BALANCE OF HEATING AND COOLING.
AND THEN THE MONEY, RIGHT? SO, SO THE CAPITAL TO BUILD THE ACTUAL PROJECT ITSELF, A REVENUE BOT MODEL THAT COULD OPERATE THE, THE, UH, THERMAL ENERGY NETWORK, A WAY TO CAPTURE BENEFITS THAT RIGHT NOW THERE'S NOT A GOOD OPPORTUNITY TO DO.
LIKE, IS THERE A, ANY SAVINGS IN DELAYING, DEFERRING OR OBVIATING THE NEED FOR GRID UPGRADES RIGHT NOW? WE CAN'T, THERE ISN'T A WAY TO TURN THAT INTO CASH FOR THE PROJECT.
AND BUILDING OWNERS, UM, READY TO CONVERT WHEN THEIR EQUIPMENT IS DUE FOR REPLACEMENT, YOU KNOW, IT FALLS INTO THAT.
WHEN DO YOU PAY AND WHEN DO YOU REALLY NEED TO HAVE THESE RENOVATIONS, UM, INDEPENDENT OF A THERMAL ENERGY NETWORK PROJECT.
UH, THE MARKET IS ANOTHER PUZZLE PIECE HERE WITH REALLY THINKING ABOUT, YOU KNOW, WHO THE LOCAL DRILLERS ARE.
ARE THERE HVAC WORKERS THAT COULD DO THIS? IS THERE EQUIPMENT, COMMERCIAL HEAT PUMP EQUIPMENT, FOR EXAMPLE, UM, THAT CAN SERVE THE NEEDS OF THESE BUILDINGS? AND, UM, WHO REALLY WOULD BE THE ENTITY THAT COULD MANAGE THE BUILDING CONVERSIONS? AND THEN THE LAST KINDA PUZZLE PIECE WE HAVE HERE AS POLICY.
THERE ARE SOME, YOU KNOW, STATE POLICIES THAT DO OFFER A PATHWAY FORWARD, BUT THEY DO TO ADD ADDITIONAL, UM, ADMINISTRATIVE AND KINDA LEGAL PROCESS TO GET APPROVAL FOR, UH, USING AN OPEN SPACE, UH, FOR GEOTHERMAL, JUST LIKE WE'VE, THE CITY HAS ACTUALLY HAD EXPERIENCE IN FOR SOME OF THE SCHOOL PROJECTS THAT WE'VE HAD.
SO THOSE ARE THE PUZZLE PIECES.
I THINK THAT IS THE LAST SLIDE.
SO, SO THIS IS JUST SHOWING SOME OF THE FACTORS THAT KIND OF MAKE IT MORE POSSIBLE AND, UM, MORE DIFFICULT TO MOVE FORWARD WITH THE GEOTHERMAL BASED THERMAL ENERGY NETWORK.
I WANNA NOTE HARVARD HAS A, HAS SEVERAL BUILDINGS THAT ARE THERMAL ENERGY NETWORKS AS WELL.
AND WE'LL HEAR FROM MIT LATER ABOUT THEIR PLANS.
UH, I WANNA TURN IT OVER TO, UH, ERIC AND AUDREY.
I'M NOT SURE WHICH OF THE TWO OF YOU WANNA GO FIRST, BUT LET'S, THANK YOU.
I'M HAPPY TO JUST TAKE A COUPLE OF MINUTES HERE UP FRONT AND THEN TURN IT OVER TO AUDREY SPEAK A GREEN LIGHT.
HOPEFULLY YOU CAN HEAR ME FINE.
I AM HERE TO ATTEMPT TO CONVEY THE, UH, THE POSITION OF THE FOLKS OVER AT HEAT.
UM, HAD A GREAT DISCUSSION WITH THEM AND, AND LOOKED THROUGH THE SLIDES.
SO THANK YOU FOR MAKING THOSE AVAILABLE.
I THINK AT A HIGH LEVEL, WHAT I WANTED TO SAY IS TO POINT OUT, UM, YOU KNOW, WHAT IS THE CONCLUSION? WHAT ARE WE LEARNING FROM THIS STUDY? AND I WOULD ARGUE THAT IT'S NOT NECESSARILY SAYING IS A THERMAL ENERGY NETWORK VIABLE IN CAMBRIDGE? IT IS SAYING UNDER THESE SETS OF ASSUMPTIONS AND CONSTRAINTS, THIS IS WHAT, YOU KNOW, THE, THE PROJECT WOULD LOOK LIKE.
AND I WANT TO PUT A FINE POINT ON THAT BECAUSE THERE WERE A NUMBER OF ASSUMPTIONS SPECIFICALLY AROUND AVAILABLE SPACE, RELYING ON BOREHOLE AND HOW A NETWORK WOULD BE SET UP WITHIN THE CITY THAT I THINK IF YOU LOOK AT THEM THROUGH A DIFFERENT LENS, YOU MAY COME TO A SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT CONCLUSION.
SO I WOULD SUGGEST THAT STARTING FROM A POSITION OF HOW DO WE MAKE A THERMAL ENERGY NETWORK VIABLE IN CAMBRIDGE, AND THEN WORKING BACK INTO,
[00:25:01]
HERE'S THE CRITERIA WE WOULD NEED, AND HERE'S HOW WE WOULD FIND A SITE IS A DIFFERENT WAY TO APPROACH IT, AND IT MAY SHOW SOME DIFFERENT RESULTS.THE MAIN THING, AND, AND IT WAS, IT WAS SAID ON THAT LAST SLIDE THAT WAS PULLED UP, IS LOW COST.
THERMAL RESOURCES ARE ABSOLUTELY A WAY TO DRIVE DOWN PROJECT COSTS.
AND SO IF YOU LIMIT YOURSELF TO ONLY BOREHOLE UP FRONT AND YOU DON'T CONSIDER WASTE HEAT, YOU DON'T CONSIDER THE WORK THAT'S GOING ON WITH BOSS 10 AND USING MAYBE WATER RESOURCES AND SOME OTHER WAYS TO HEAT AND COOL THE NETWORK.
UM, YOU'RE, YOU'RE PRETTY HANDCUFFED IN WHAT THE RESULTS OF THAT, UH, THAT STUDY WILL SAY.
IN MY OPINION, IT SAYS CAMBRIDGE HAS A LAND PROBLEM.
THERE'S, THERE'S A LOT OF BUILDINGS, IT'S VERY DENSE AND IT'S HARD TO FIND OPEN SPACE FOR BORE FIELDS, WHICH IS FINE.
BUT I WOULD SAY MAYBE WE SHOULD SAY, OKAY, DO WE LOOK AT DIFFERENT WAYS TO DEPLOY? WE LOOK AT PLACING THEM UNDERNEATH, BUILDING FOOTPRINTS, SOME OF THE THINGS THAT OTHER MAJOR CITIES AROUND THE COUNTRY ARE ACTIVELY CONSIDERING IN PROJECTS RIGHT NOW.
UM, ON THE ECONOMIC SIDE OF THINGS, I ALSO WANTED TO FLAG THAT MY READ OF THE STUDY IS THAT WE'RE COMPARING TO BUSINESS AS USUAL.
WE'RE LOOKING AT WHAT DO WE DO TODAY? WHAT ARE THE COST OF FUELS TODAY? AND WE'RE NOT THINKING ABOUT WHERE DOES THE CITY NEED TO BE IN 10, 15, 20 YEARS TO MEET ITS GOALS.
AND SO, FOR EXAMPLE, SOMETHING LIKE THE MASS DEPLOYMENT OF AIR SOURCE HEAT PUMPS ON A BUILDING BY BUILDING BASIS, THOSE CAN LOOK ATTRACTIVE, BUT IF YOU CONSIDER WHAT THE GRID BUILD OUT NEEDS TO BE HERE IN THE CITY AND, AND WHAT THAT'S GOING TO COST TO PUT IN POTENTIALLY MULTIPLE NEW SUBSTATIONS, FOR EXAMPLE, OVER THAT TIME PERIOD.
UM, WE WANNA LOOK AT THIS HOLISTICALLY.
WE WANNA SAY, WHAT WILL CUSTOMER BILLS BE AT THE END OF THE DAY WHEN WE HAVE BUILT OUT THE ELECTRIC GRID TO ACCOMMODATE WINTER CONDITIONS IN MASSACHUSETTS? AND SO FINALLY, YOU KNOW, THE FOLKS AT HEAT, THEY'RE DOING A LOT OF GREAT WORK ON THIS.
THEY HAVE, UM, SOME STUDIES COMING OUT VERY, UH, SOON HERE IN THE NEAR FUTURE.
THEY HAVE SOME RESEARCH THAT THEY'RE ACTIVELY UNDERTAKING.
SO I WOULD ENCOURAGE EVERYBODY TO FIRST AND FOREMOST, YOU KNOW, SPEAK WITH THEM, ASK QUESTIONS, BUT LOOK AT ALL OF THIS THROUGH THE LENS OF WHAT IS BEST FOR THE CITY AND HOW DO WE MAKE A THERMAL ENERGY NETWORK WORK? WHAT'S THE BEST CASE SCENARIO? AND YOU KNOW, AS LONG AS WE'RE CONSIDERING ALL OF THE OPTIONS AND WE'RE GOING INTO THIS OPEN AND INFORMED, THAT'S HOW WE MAKE THE BEST DECISIONS.
SO I WILL PASS IT OVER TO AUDREY, 'CAUSE I KNOW SHE HAS SOME SLIDES, BUT HOPEFULLY, UM, THAT VIEWPOINT WAS COMMUNICATED.
UH, SO I THINK I'M JUST GONNA SAY IN A LONGER WAY WITH VISUALS,
IT'S A NONPROFIT CLIMATE SOLUTIONS INCUBATOR THAT'S FUNDED BY BAR FOUNDATION MASS, CEC, AND MAPC, TO HELP MUNICIPALITIES INSTALL THERMAL, INITIATE THE INSTALLATION OF THERMAL NETWORKS IN EVERY WAY.
I AM AVAILABLE TO HELP YOU AS YOU WISH.
SO, CAMBRIDGE IS ONE OF THE BEST, UH, PLACES IN THE WORLD TO INSTALL THERMAL NETWORKS BECAUSE IT IS A GAS ISLAND.
IT WAS ORIGINALLY ONE GAS, MUNICIPAL, UH, OR MUNICIPAL PLANT, WHAT I THINK IT'S MUNICIPAL.
AND, UH, EVERY GAS PIPE ENDS AT THE, AT THE BORDER OF THE CITY.
YOU CAN START TO PRUNE THAT GAS TREE ANYWHERE YOU WANT AT THE BORDERS OF THE BUILD, UH, CITY ON IN AND PROBABLY IN A LOT OF OTHER PLACES TOO.
UH, NO, ALMOST NO OTHER CITY HAS THAT ABILITY.
AND ALSO CAMBRIDGE IS THE, YOU KNOW, THE CITY KNOWN FOR BEING ENVIRONMENTAL.
IT IS INCUMBENT UPON CAMBRIDGE TO DO THIS WELL AND THINK IT'S THROUGH.
UH, AND, UH, THERE'S SO MANY PEOPLE AVAILABLE TO HELP THEM.
NEXT, UH, THE STUDY CONSIDERED ONLY BOREHOLE, AS WAS STATED, THAT IS THE MOST EXPENSIVE THERMAL SOURCE POSSIBLE, ESPECIALLY IN AN AREA WHERE THE LAND IS VERY VALUABLE AND HAS DENSE INFRASTRUCTURE ON IT.
WHY ONLY BOREHOLE NEXT? IF YOU WERE GOING TO CHOOSE ANYTHING FOR, YOU KNOW, IF THERE WAS A RESTRICTION IN THE MONEY FOR THE STUDY, WHY NOT CHOOSE, UH, WASTEWATER? THERE'S CURRENTLY A STATE GRANT FOR IT, OR WASTE HEAT OR AQUIFERS OR ALL THE OTHER WAYS THAT YOU CAN INSTALL THERMAL.
YOU KNOW THAT YOU CAN ACCESS THERMAL ENERGY.
IT DID NOT LOOK AT HARVARD, MIT OR LESLIE LAND TO LOCATE THOSE BORE HOLES IN THOSE ARE, THAT'S GOTTA BE 20% OF CAMBRIDGE LAND, RIGHT? WHY I DON'T UNDERSTAND.
NEXT, IT INCLUDED THE COST OF THE BUILDING RETROFITS AS THOUGH IT WAS ADDITIONAL.
NEXT WE HAVE BUDDHA HERE, ALL OF THE LARGE BUILDINGS MUST TRANSITION.
[00:30:01]
WHY ARE WE ADDING THAT COST AS THOUGH IT'S ADDITIONAL? MAYBE YOU JUST ADD THAT, THAT ASSUME THAT THE BUILDINGS WOULD BE DECARBONIZED FASTER THAN OTHERWISE, AND YOU PAY THE DIFFERENCE IN THAT, YOU KNOW, FOR THAT TIME PERIOD.BUT CERTAINLY YOU SHOULDN'T DO THE WHOLE COST AS THOUGH IT IS ADDITIONAL.
NEXT, DID NOT CONSIDER THAT WITH ULTRA EFFICIENT THERMAL NETWORKS.
THE ELECTRIC GRID UPGRADES WOULD BE LESS EXPENSIVE NEXT, AND THE, THAT MONEY COULD POTENTIALLY BE MOVED TO PAY FOR THE BUILDING RETROFITS THAT WERE NOT COVERED BY BUDDHA.
AND I KNOW THAT'S NOT ALLOWED REGULATORILY YET, BUT THIS IS THE YEAR TO SUGGEST IT TO THE STATE.
AND I THINK WITH EVERSOURCE BEING BOTH THE GAS AND THE ELECTRIC PROVIDER, IT'S POSSIBLE TO BARGAIN THAT THROUGH AS A PILOT STUDY.
NEXT, THE CUSTOMER SAVINGS LOOKED SUSPICIOUSLY TINY.
I DON'T KNOW WHY, BECAUSE NONE OF THE ANALYSIS HAS BEEN MADE AVAILABLE TO ANYBODY.
NEXT, DO YOU KNOW WHAT'S THE EFFICIENCY ASSUMPTION FOR THE SYSTEM? WHAT'S THE, WAS THE ELECTRIC HEAT PUMP RATE USED? WERE THE CUSTOMERS SUPPOSED TO BE PAYING BACK THE RETROFITS? IT LOOKS LIKE THAT.
UM, AND, UH, A VAR, YOU KNOW, WAS IT COMPARED TO GAS? WE DON'T KNOW.
THE THING ABOUT GAS IS THE PRICE IS EXTREMELY VOLATILE AS WE ALL EXPERIENCED LAST YEAR.
AND THAT THE ENERGY PRICE, THE PRICE OF ENERGY IS ONE OF THE MOST COMMON REASONS THAT PEOPLE BECOME HOMELESS.
IT IS EXTREMELY IMPORTANT TO BUSINESSES TO BE ABLE TO KNOW IN THE FUTURE WHAT THEIR PRICE OF ENERGY WILL BE.
WITH GAS, WE DO NOT KNOW NEXT WITH THERMAL ENERGY, BECAUSE IT IS SIMPLY INSTALLING THE THERMAL INFRASTRUCTURE AND PAYING BACK FOR THAT, AS WELL AS PAYING FOR THE OPERATIONS AND MAINTENANCE.
WE CAN KNOW THAT IT CAN BE SIMILAR TO A MORTGAGE.
SO NEXT IT IS GOING TO THERMAL ENERGY.
IF IT IS CALCULATED, UH, YOU KNOW, DONE THROUGH A ENERGY AS A SERVICE AGREEMENT, IT COULD BE CONSIDERED AN ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT.
NEXT, FINALLY, AND THIS IS PROBABLY THE MOST IMPORTANT IN CAMBRIDGE, WE HAVE BOTH ZAINAB, MAGA AND ME WHO HELPED GET THERMAL NETWORKS BEING CONSIDERED NATIONALLY AS SOMETHING THAT GAS UTILITIES COULD GO TOWARDS.
WE HELPED MAKE THEM AS AN OPTION ACROSS THE COUNTRY.
WE, WE BOTH HELP ADVISE CITIES AND STATES NATIONALLY, PLEASE ASK FOR HELP
AND, UH, SO NOW NEXT WAYS FORWARD, LOOK AT HOW OTHER PUBLIC ENTITIES HAVE INSTALLED THESE SYSTEMS. I HAVE A LIST THERE.
THERE'S A, THERE'S MORE OF THEM.
LOOK AT THIRD PARTY INSTALLATIONS.
UH, THERE'S A LIST OF THEM THERE.
UH, AND THESE ARE NOT ALL AMBIENT TEMPERATURE SYSTEMS, BUT THEY ARE, YOU KNOW, YOU KNOW, THERMAL NETWORKS, UH, AND TALK TO STATE REGULATORS TO CONSIDER OPTIONS AND FIGURE OUT HOW CAMBRIDGE CAN HELP TO MAKE REAL SYSTEMS CHANGE HERE.
HOW WE CAN HELP TO CREATE A SYSTEM THAT CHANGES HOW THE STATE LOOKS AT THIS AND HOW THE COUNTRY DOES, BECAUSE WE HAVE THAT OPPORTUNITY, WE CAN DO IT NEXT.
AND MY PERSONAL SUGGESTION IS THAT WE PICK A SITE NOW POTENTIALLY WITH MANY BUDDO BUILDINGS AND SOME LOCAL ELECTRIC GRID CONSTRAINTS, AND WE DON'T ASSUME THAT THE THERMAL ENERGY IS COMING FROM BORE HOLES.
AND WE WORK WITH LARGE LOCAL LANDOWNER AND WE CREATE AN RFP WORKING WITH LOCAL EXPERTS AND CREATE IN THAT RFP, THE STIPULATIONS THAT THE CITY WOULD BE PROUD OF.
FLAT THERMAL BILLS THROUGH ENERGY AS A SERVICE, NON BUDDHA BUILDING RETROFITS PAID FOR BY ELECTRIC GRID CONSTRAINT, YOU KNOW, COSTS, AVOIDED COSTS, ET CETERA.
WHATEVER WOULD MAKE CAMBRIDGE PROUD TO BE TRANSITIONING EQUITABLY AND QUICKLY AND IN A THOUGHTFUL WAY.
AND WITH ENERGY BILL AFFORDABILITY, AND THEN ISSUE THE RFP FOR OUTSIDE ENTITIES EVER SOURCE AND OTHERS.
WE GOT VICINITY AT THE TABLE HERE TO INSTALL AN AMBIENT TEMPERATURE THERMAL NETWORK, THE KIND OF SYSTEM THAT CAN DELIVER HEATING AND COOLING AS WE MOVE TOWARDS COOLING DOMINANT CITY.
AND AGAIN, MANY PEOPLE IN CAMBRIDGE WOULD BE SO HAPPY TO HELP.
[00:35:01]
I TRY TO ALWAYS, SO, AND ALSO WHAT I LOVE IS THAT I KNOW THE CITY LOVES THIS PUSH, KIND OF LIKE PUSHING US.
IT, IT'S TOTALLY IN LINE WITH WHO WE ARE.
'CAUSE THAT'S THE ONLY WAY WE MAKE PROGRESS IS TO MAKE SURE THAT WE TEST OUR ASSUMPTIONS.
SO, BUT I WILL KEEP US ON TRACK.
AND NEXT TURN TO VICINITY ENERGY, WHO I HAVE TO SAY WAS UNBELIEVABLE WHEN YOU THINK ABOUT WHAT VICINITY DOES.
AND I REMEMBER GOING THERE TO LOOK AT THE, THE WAY THAT YOU WERE TRANSFORMING ENERGY AND IT'S, ANYWAY, I'LL, I'LL LET YOU DO YOUR PRESENTATION, BUT IT'S, IT'S REALLY EXCITING TO HAVE YOU AT THE TABLE.
AND I KNOW MATT O'MALLEY DIDN'T GET A CHANCE TO INTRODUCE HIMSELF.
A RECOVERING ELECTED OFFICIAL IS HERE ALSO.
SO, WELL, I COULD HAVE DONE WITH A BETTER INTRODUCTION THAN THAT.
UH, SO FIRST OFF A BIG THANK YOU, UH, CHAIR NOLAN, ALSO THE COMMITTEE MEMBERS, UH, VERY EXCITED TO BE HERE AND TALK ABOUT WHAT WE'RE DOING TO MOVE THE BALL FORWARD ON DECARBONIZING CITIES.
IT'S VERY EXCITING FOR ME TO BE PART OF A GROUP WHERE WE'RE TALKING ABOUT, UH, NEW TECHNOLOGIES AND WE'RE TALKING ABOUT PUSHING THINGS FORWARD TO BE ABLE TO DECARBONIZE.
SO TODAY I AM GONNA TALK ABOUT WHAT VICINITY ISS DOING TO MOVE THE BALL FORWARD AND NEW TECH THAT WE'RE PUTTING IN PLACE TO DECARBONIZE THE CITIES OF BOSTON AND CAMBRIDGE.
AND I'M VERY EXCITED TO SAY THAT WE ARE WELL UNDERWAY ON THIS.
UH, I, I WELCOME ANYBODY TO STOP BY OUR PLANT SO YOU CAN SEE WHAT WE'RE DOING.
WE'RE WE CURRENTLY PUT ONLINE JUST RECENTLY ONE OF THE LARGEST E BOILERS ON THE CONTINENT.
AND WE ARE IN THE PROCESS OF CONSTRUCTING THE LARGEST HEAT PUMP IN THE WORLD.
UH, AND IF YOU'RE GONNA STOP BY THE PLANT, STOP BY THE PLANT SOON.
'CAUSE WE ACTUALLY JUST OPENED UP THE SPACE.
I HAVE A PICTURE TO SHOW WHERE THE HEAT PUMP'S GONNA GO.
UH, BEFORE WE OPENED UP THE SPACE, I WASN'T QUITE SURE IT WAS THE BIGGEST IN THE WORLD, BUT NOW THAT I CAN SEE THE SPACE WHERE IT'S GOING, IT'S DEFINITELY THE BIGGEST IN THE WORLD.
ALRIGHT, SO WITH THAT, UH, IF WE COULD PULL UP THE SLIDE DECK PLEASE.
ALRIGHT, SO A LITTLE BIT ABOUT, UH, VICINITY ENERGY.
SO WE ARE THE LARGEST OWNER AND OPERATOR OF DISTRICT ENERGY SYSTEMS IN THE UNITED STATES.
THIS IS THE BOSTON AND CAMBRIDGE DISTRICT ENERGY SYSTEM.
IT IS APPROXIMATELY 71 MILLION SQUARE FEET OR 29 MILES OF PIPING.
WE ADD ABOUT A MILE OF PIPE PER YEAR, UH, AND WE ARE PUTTING ONLINE, UH, MULTIPLE MILLIONS OF SQUARE FOOT, UH, EVERY COUPLE YEARS.
SO IT IS SOMETHING THAT IS GROWING AND ONE OF THE REASONS IT'S GROWING IS WE HAVE SEEN THAT WITH HOW WE ARE ADVANCING SUSTAINABILITY AND DECARBONIZATION.
WE'VE SHOWN UP WITH WHAT WE CALL AN AFFORDABLE, SUSTAINABLE SOLUTION.
AND WE HAVE SEEN THAT IF YOU CAN MAKE SUSTAINABILITY AFFORDABLE THAT IT SELLS.
AND I CAN TALK ABOUT HOW WE ARE GOING TO BE ABLE TO QUICKLY DECARBONIZE THE BOSTON AND CAMBRIDGE SYSTEM, UH, WITH WHAT WE'RE CURRENTLY DOING.
UH, SO AS A POINT OF REFERENCE, UH, WHEN I TALK ABOUT 71 MILLION SQUARE FEET, UH, IT'S A LITTLE DIFFICULT FOR PEOPLE TO TRY TO PICTURE THAT.
THE PRUDENTIAL CENTER IS ABOUT A MILLION SQUARE FEET.
UH, SO WE SERVE APPROXIMATELY 71, UH, PRUDENTIAL CENTERS.
IF YOU WANNA THINK ABOUT SIZE.
ANOTHER WAY TO THINK ABOUT IS IF YOU LOOK ON THE BOSTON OR CAMBRIDGE SKYLINE, WE SERVE TYPICALLY THE MOST MARQUES BUILDINGS, THE LARGEST BUILDINGS, APPROXIMATELY FOUR OUT OF FIVE BUILDINGS ON THE SKYLINE ARE CONNECTED TO THE DISTRICT ENERGY SYSTEM.
ALL RIGHT, SO WHAT ARE WE DOING? SO AT VICINITY, WE, OUR MISSION IS TO DECARBONIZE CITIES.
AND WE ARE DOING THAT WITH A FORMULA THAT HAS BEEN APPLIED OVER IN EUROPE.
WE HAVE SHAMELESSLY COPIED IT, MADE IT SUITABLE FOR THE AMERICAN MARKET, AND THAT'S WHAT WE'RE ROLLING OUT ACROSS WHERE WE DO BUSINESS.
SO BOSTON AND CAMBRIDGE ARE THE FIRST CITIES.
WE'RE ROLLING THIS OUT, BUT THIS IS SOMETHING WE ARE ACTIVELY DOING IN PLACE IN PHILADELPHIA, BALTIMORE, UH, WE'RE GONNA BE TURNING ON A LARGE E BOILER IN GRAND RAPIDS LATER THIS YEAR.
SO THIS ISN'T TALK, THIS IS SOMETHING THAT'S ACTUALLY HAPPENING.
SO THE FIRST PIECE OF EQUIPMENT, MUCH LIKE THE ELECTRIC GRID, WE HAVE THREE SEPARATE PIECES OF EQUIPMENT THAT WE'RE GONNA BE PUTTING IN PLACE.
WE HAVE TO HAVE PEAKERS THAT REPRESENT THE FACT THAT WE HAVE LARGE SWINGS IN OUR ENERGY THAT NEEDS TO BE SERVED.
LAST YEAR WE PUT ON A 42 E BOILER.
THIS IS SOMETHING THAT WE STARTED BACK IN, UH, NOVEMBER OF 2224.
NOVEMBER OF 24, YEAH, NOVEMBER OF 24.
UH, AND IT IS ONLINE AS A NOVEMBER OF 2025.
SO THIS IS SOMETHING THAT, UH, OR I'M SORRY, WE STARTED IT IN 22.
IT ENTERED SERVICE IN NOVEMBER OF 2024.
WE'VE BEEN AT IT FOR A LITTLE WHILE.
SO, UH, THIS IS SOMETHING THAT STARTED OUT, UH, AS OUR PEAKING SERVICE.
BUT ONE OF THE THINGS WE'VE SEEN THAT'S REALLY INTERESTING IS WE HAVE A LOT OF HOURS ON THE NEW ENGLAND ISO GRID WHERE WE HAVE SURPLUS SOLAR THAT DRIVES THE POWER PRICE NEGATIVE.
WE ANTICIPATED APPROXIMATELY ONE TO 3% OF OUR HOURS OF OPERATION BEING TAKEN ADVANTAGE OF BALANCING THE GRID.
ABOUT 15% OF OUR HOURS ARE BALANCING THE GRID.
SO WHAT YOU'LL SEE IF YOU STOP BY ANY GIVEN TIME, YOU CAN SEE THE GREEN LIGHT ON THE BOILER THERE.
UH, MUCH LIKE AN ELECTRIC CAR, YOU CAN'T ACTUALLY HEAR IT RUN.
SO WE HAD TO PUT A LIGHT ON IT SO WE COULD TELL IF IT'S ON.
UH, SO IF YOU WALK BY THE PLANT AND YOU'LL SEE THAT LIGHT GO FROM GREEN TO RED OR RED TO GREEN.
AND WHAT'S HAPPENING IS THE OPERATORS ARE WATCHING THE POWER PRICE ON THE GRID.
AND AS WE GET SURPLUS SOLAR EVENTS OR WE GET SURPLUS POWER EVENTS, WE'LL TURN THE BOILER ON TO HELP BALANCE THE GRID.
SO IT'S SOMETHING THAT WE'VE SEEN THAT IS NOT ONLY HELPING BALANCE THE GRID, BUT AS PART OF US BEING ABLE TO IMPORT THOSE LOW
[00:40:01]
COST WHOLESALE POWER PRICES, WE CAN THEN TURN AROUND AND SELL A DECARBONIZED, UH, ENERGY PRODUCT AT A VERY, VERY COMPETITIVE PRICE.THE SECOND TECHNOLOGY IS THE ONE THAT I'M MOST EXCITED ABOUT, UH, IS OUR HEAT PUMP.
SO THIS PICTURE UP HERE IS A HEAT PUMP THAT WE HAVE VISITED OVER IN COPENHAGEN.
UH, SO I'M GLAD TO SAY I THINK THAT'S A 35 MEGAWATT MACHINE BEHIND US THERE.
WE HAD TO DO IT BIGGER, AND THIS IS GONNA BE OUR BASE LOAD TECHNOLOGY.
UH, THE HEAT PUMP IS A RIVER SOURCE HEAT PUMP.
WE LEVERAGE EXISTING INFRASTRUCTURE.
ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WE'RE VERY PROUD OF AT VICINITY IS OUR MISSION IS TO DECARBONIZE CITIES.
AND AS PART OF THAT IS, IS LEVERAGING EXISTING INFRASTRUCTURE AND INCORPORATING THAT WITH NEW TECHNOLOGIES.
AND I THINK THAT'S THE WAY THAT WE MOVE THINGS FORWARD.
AND AS, AS PART OF USING OUR EXISTING TECHNOLOGY, OUR EXISTING INFRASTRUCTURE, WE'RE LEVERAGING THE OLD RIVER WATER INTAKES THAT GO INTO THE FACILITY THAT THE FACILITY BACK WHEN IT USED TO GENERATE POWER AT THAT FACILITY WOULD BE USED FOR COOLING.
WE NO LONGER USE IT FOR COOLING, BUT WE HAVE ALL THE INFRASTRUCTURE THERE.
SO WE CAN BRING IN LARGE VOLUMES OF RIVER WATER, PUT THAT THROUGH OUR HEAT PUMP, COOL THAT RIVER WATER OFF ABOUT FOUR DEGREES FAHRENHEIT, AND THEN SEND THAT RIVER BACK, SEND THAT WATER BACK OUT TO THE RIVER.
IT ALLOWS US TO PEEL OFF JUST A LITTLE BIT OF ENERGY.
THE HEAT PUMPING CONCENTRATES THAT ENERGY UP INTO A HIGH TEMPERATURE.
AND THAT'S WHAT WE SEND OUT TO THE BOSTON AND CAMBRIDGE SYSTEMS. IT'S A VERY, VERY ECONOMIC WAY.
IT'S MORE ECONOMIC THAN OUR E BOILER THAT IS GONNA BE ONLINE IN 2028.
AND WE ARE ANTICIPATING OUR SYSTEM GETTING UP CLOSE TO 30 TO 40% DECARBONIZED.
WHEN THAT PIECE OF EQUIPMENT COMES ONLINE IN 2028.
WE'RE ENORMOUSLY EXCITED ABOUT IT.
THE LAST PIECE OF TECHNOLOGY WE'RE GONNA BE PUTTING IN PLACE, MUCH LIKE THE ELECTRIC GOOD, YOU HAVE TO HAVE STORAGE.
SO WE ARE IN THE PROCESS OF, OF DETERMINING WHAT TECHNOLOGY WE WANNA PUT IN PLACE.
WE HAVE THE FOOTPRINT AND WE HAVE THE ABILITY TO BE ABLE TO STORE UPWARDS OF ONE GIGAWATT OF THERMAL STORAGE AT OUR SITE IN KENDALL.
SO IF YOU HAVE THE PLEASURE TO STOP AND BY OUR FACILITY IN 10 YEARS, WHAT YOU'LL SEE IS YOU'LL SEE A COUPLE E BOILERS THERE.
YOU'LL SEE MULTIPLE RIVER SOURCE HEAT PUMPS, AND YOU'LL SEE A LARGE GIGAWATT THERMAL STORAGE THAT'S WORKING ALL IN TANDEM.
THESE THREE TECHNOLOGIES PUT TOGETHER ALLOW US TO AFFORDABLY DECARBONIZE THE CITIES OF BOSTON AND CAMBRIDGE.
AND IT'S SOMETHING WE'RE ACTIVELY DOING AND IT IS GROWING AT A RATE THAT IS, UH, MUCH GREATER THAN WHAT WE EXPECTED.
SO SOME TIMELINES, UH, LIKE I TALKED ABOUT, UH, WE ARE IN THE PROCESS OF ACTUALLY DOING THIS.
SO OUR E STEAM VOLUMES AT THE TOP THERE.
UH, 2025 WAS OUR FIRST YEAR OF OPERATION WHERE WE HAD OUR E BOILER AVAILABLE.
UH, LESS THAN 1% OF OUR TOTAL STEAM SALES, UH, WERE ETE.
UH, ETE IS OUR, UH, I THINK BECAUSE WE HAVE MORE ENGINEERS THAN MARKETING PEOPLE IN THE COMPANY.
UH, AND ETE IS WHERE WE IMPORT DECARBONIZED ELECTRICITY INTO OUR E BOILER OR IN THE FUTURE IN 2028, IMPORT DECARBONIZED ELECTRICITY INTO OUR HEAT PUMP AND THEN TURN AROUND AND SEND THAT DECARBONIZED STEAM OUT ONTO THE SYSTEM.
SO WE'VE SEEN A FIVE X GROWTH BETWEEN 2025 AND 2026.
AND JUST AS A POINT, UH, IF YOU REMEMBER FROM THE, THE SECOND SLIDE THAT I SHOWED, WE SERVE ABOUT 71 TO 73 OR 71 TO 73 MILLION SQUARE FEET OF BUILDING SPACE.
SO THAT 5% IS ABOUT 3.6 MILLION SQUARE FEET.
SO THAT'S, WE'VE ALREADY DECARBONIZED APPROXIMATELY THREE, ALMOST FOUR PRUDENTIAL CENTERS.
SO WE ARE ACTIVELY IN THE PROCESS OF DOING THIS.
WE ANTICIPATE IN 2027, WE ALREADY HAVE SUBSCRIPTIONS THAT GET US UP ABOVE 20 OR GET US ABOVE 10%.
AND THEN WHEN THE HEAT PUMP GOES ONLINE IN 2028, AGAIN, THE HEAT PUMP BY ITSELF IS CAPABLE OF DOING AROUND 26 TO 28% OF OUR TOTAL STEAM FLOW.
UH, AND WITH THIS INCREMENTAL LOAD THAT WE'RE SEEING ALREADY, WE ANTICIPATE BEING CLOSE TO 40% DECARBONIZED AFTER THE HEAT PUMP COMES ONLINE.
SO THIS IS MOVING A LOT FASTER THAN WE ANTICIPATED.
AND LIKE I SAID, APPROACHING THE MARKET WITH AN AFFORDABLE, SUSTAINABLE SOLUTION WORKS.
I'VE ALREADY TALKED A LITTLE BIT ABOUT, UH, OUR HEAT PUMP THAT'S GONNA COME ONLINE IN 2028.
THAT PICTURE OFF TO THE RIGHT, UH, I LOVE THE IRONY OF THE FACT THAT IN ORDER TO MAKE SPACE FOR THE HEAT PUMP, WE TOOK OUT AN OLD RETIRED COAL BOILER.
SO THE FACILITY USED TO BE COAL.
IT'S NOT ANYMORE WE USE NATURAL GAS.
UH, BUT WE HAD AN OLD COAL BOILER THAT WE HAD SOME SPACE.
WE DEMOED IT OUT AND AS YOU CAN SEE THAT SPACE THERE GOES UP APPROXIMATELY SIX TO SEVEN STORIES.
THAT ENTIRE SPACE IS GONNA GET FILLED BY THE HEAT PUMP.
SO IT IS GONNA LIVE UP TO THE NAME OF THE LARGEST HEAT PUMP IN THE WORLD.
UH, WE'RE ALREADY STARTING ON THE DESIGN FOR HEAT PUMP NUMBER TWO.
UH, WE'VE GOT A LOT OF INTEREST IN HEAT PUMP ONE, WE ANTICIPATE THAT COMING ONLINE FULLY SUBSCRIBED.
UH, AND WE ARE ALSO STARTING DESIGN IN A HARBOR SOURCE HEAT PUMP ON THE SOUTH SIDE OF THE SYSTEM.
UH, SO THIS IS A TECHNOLOGY THAT THAT WORKS.
UH, IT'S A TECHNOLOGY THAT'S BEEN DEPLOYED OVER IN EUROPE.
WE'VE RETOOLED A LITTLE BIT FOR THE US MARKET, UH, BUT IT IS SOMETHING THAT WE'RE VERY EXCITED ABOUT AND IS, IS GROWING UNDER ITS OWN POWER.
WE'VE ALREADY SOURCED THE CAPITAL FOR THESE.
UH, WE ARE IN THE PROCESS OF SOURCING CUSTOMERS.
IT'S SIMPLY JUST A MATTER OF MARCHING IT FORWARD.
LIKE WE ARE BY 2035, WE ANTICIPATE OVER HALF OF OUR SYSTEM IS GOING TO BE FULLY DECARBONIZED AND WE ARE WELL ON OUR WAY TO MEETING THE CITY'S DECARBONIZATION GOALS AND WELL ON OUR WAY TO MEETING OUR OWN INTERNAL DECARBONIZATION GOALS.
SO THIS SLIDE JUST WANTED TO TALK ABOUT SOME OF THE COLLABORATION.
ONE OF THE MORE EXCITING THINGS ABOUT BRINGING CUTTING EDGE TECHNOLOGY INTO CAMBRIDGE IS IT'S A PHENOMENAL
[00:45:01]
PLACE FOR PARTNERSHIPS.WE CAN BRING IN MULTIPLE DIFFERENT ENTITIES AND PEOPLE THAT, THAT WE CAN SHOW HOW WE'RE MOVING THE BALL FORWARD ON DECARBONIZING CITIES.
AND WE CAN SHOW HOW WE ARE ESTABLISHING THE BLUEPRINT OF HOW YOU DECARBONIZE LARGE ENERGY DENSE CITIES.
AND WE'VE HAD MANY THROUGH THE FACILITY.
WE'VE GOT, UH, WE'VE, WE'VE GOT, UH, REGULATORS UP THERE.
WE'VE GOT SOME STUDENTS FROM MIT THAT HAVE COME IN AND IT'S SIMPLY JUST TRYING TO SHOW HOW WE CAN DECARBONIZE CITIES, HOW WE CAN DO IT AFFORDABLY, AND HOW WE CAN DO IT QUICKLY.
AND WE HAVE THE BLUEPRINT, IT'S THE SAME BLUEPRINT THAT'S BEEN DEPLOYED OVER IN EUROPE AND WE'RE SIMPLY JUST DEPLOYING THAT OVER HERE.
JUST RETOOL FOR THE US MARKET.
ALRIGHT, AND I'LL HOLD OFF FOR ANY QUESTIONS UNTIL LATER.
OH MY GOSH, I HAVE SEVERAL QUESTIONS, BUT I AM GONNA HOLD OFF.
UM, CAMPUS, UH, HEAT RECOVERY AND MIT'S BUILDINGS CAMPUS PLANNING.
YOU JUST NEED TO TURN THE MIC ON, PLEASE.
THANK YOU MADAM CHAIR, VICE MAYOR AND AND COUNCILORS.
UH, DELIGHTED TO BE PART OF THIS CONVERSATION TODAY.
SO MANY OF YOU KNOW, UM, MIT HAS BEEN ON A DISTRICT ENERGY SYSTEM SINCE IT CAME OVER TO CAMBRIDGE OVER A HUNDRED YEARS AGO.
SO TODAY IT'S ABOUT 10 MILLION SQUARE FEET AND WELL OVER A A HUNDRED BUILDINGS ARE ON THAT DISTRICT ENERGY SYSTEM.
AND, AND THAT'S EVOLVED OVER TIME FROM, FROM COAL TO OIL TO NATURAL GAS, THE NEXT GENERATION CO-GENERATION TECHNOLOGY.
AND NOW WE'RE CURRENTLY IN DESIGN OF ELECTRIFYING A MAJOR PART OF THE HEAT FOR OUR DISTRICT ENERGY SYSTEM.
SO, BUT I DID WANNA TAKE A FEW MINUTES, UH, JUST TO PROVIDE AN UPDATE ON, YOU KNOW, SORT OF A LITTLE BIT BROADER PROGRESS ON THE CAMPUS.
WE HAVE MANY TEAMS WORKING ON ENERGY EFFICIENCY AND DECARBONIZATION PLANNING.
UM, AND AS MANY OF YOU KNOW, MIT HAD, UM, CAMPUS DECARBONIZATION GOALS IS PART OF ITS FASTFORWARD CLIMATE PLAN, WHICH WE, OUR PRESIDENT LAUNCHED IN IN 2021, AND HERE WE ARE NOW FIVE YEARS LATER.
MANY OF THOSE GOALS HAVE BEEN ACHIEVED OR ON SCHEDULE INCLUDING IMPROVING BUILDING ENERGY EFFICIENCY, EXPANDING OUR ROOFTOP SOLAR AND PROGRESSING TOWARDS OUR NET ZERO, UH, CARBON GOAL.
SO JUST SOME SOME FACT POINTS.
UM, MIT'S CUT ENERGY USE PER SQUARE FOOT, UM, ACROSS OUR CAMPUS BY MORE THAN 10% OVER THE PAST DECADE.
AND THAT'S DESPITE CAMPUS SIGNIFICANT CAMPUS GROWTH AND MORE INTENTION INTENSIVE RESEARCH ACTIVITY ON OUR CAMPUS.
UH, ROOFTOP SOLAR GENERATION IS INCREASED BY MORE THAN FIVEFOLD.
WE'VE RECENTLY INSTALLED, UH, SOLAR PANELS ON OUR STUDENT CENTER, THE DEWEY LIBRARY, NEW VASSAR DOMA GRADUATE JUNCTION, AND THE THEATER ARTS BUILDING.
UM, 33 MIT BUILDING PROJECTS OVER THE PAST DECADE HAVE EARNED, UH, LEAD CERTIFICATION FOR ENERGY EFFICIENCY.
WE'VE COMPLETED MORE THAN 300 ENERGY EFFICIENCY PROJECTS, UH, ACROSS THE CAMPUS, UH, WITH AN EMPHASIS ON OUR ENERGY INTENSIVE RESEARCH FACILITIES, UH, AT, WITH GREAT PARTNERSHIPS FROM THE, THE CITY AND EVERSOURCE AND, AND SUPPORTING US IN THAT ENDEAVOR.
UM, ONE EXAMPLE, BUILDING 46, UM, WHICH IS HOME TO OUR BRAIN AND COGNITIVE SCIENCES COMPLEX.
UH, WE IDENTIFIED, UH, MAJOR ENERGY USERS, UM, AND A RECENT, UH, RENOVATION OF THOSE ENERGY SYSTEMS REDUCED CARBON EMISSIONS BY 35%, WHICH REPRESENTED ROUGHLY 2% OF THE OVERALL REDUCTION OF OUR CAMPUS EMISSIONS.
AND THEN MOST RECENTLY, UM, AND YOU MAY HAVE HEARD, UH, THE METROPOLITAN STORAGE WAREHOUSE OPEN TO, UH, AS THE NEW HEADQUARTERS FOR OUR SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE, UM, AND PLANNING.
UM, AND THAT USES AN INNOVATIVE SYSTEM THAT CAPTURES WASTE HEAT FROM THE CAMPUS COOLING SYSTEM.
UH, IT USES ELECTRIC HEAT PUMPS, UH, THAT THEN HEAT, UH, THE BUILDING.
UM, WE DID LOOK AT BORE HOLES FOR THAT PARTICULAR PROJECT, BUT IT WAS THE THIRD OF THE ECONOMIC LIFECYCLE COST TO ACTUALLY JUST USE WASTE HEAT RATHER THAN, UM, UM, BOREHOLE, UH, TO SUPPLY THE HEAT FOR THAT, FOR THE HEAT PUMP.
UH, SYSTEMS. UM, AND AGAIN, FEATURE RENOVATIONS ARE GONNA CONTINUE TO EMBED EFFICIENCY MEASURES, SMART VENTILATION, EXPANDED HEAT RECOVERY.
AND WE'RE ALSO USING, UH, AI SUPPORTED TEMPERATURE MANAGEMENT ACROSS OUR CLASSROOMS, UH, AND, AND, UH, TAKES INTO CONSIDERATION WEATHER OCCUPANCY PATTERNS AND GRID CARBON INTENSITY.
AND LAST, YOU MAY HAVE SEEN THE ANNOUNCEMENT, UH, BILLING 39, UH, AS AN OLDER BUILDING ON CAMPUS, BUT IT WILL BE THE NEW HOME FOR MIT'S QUANTUM RESEARCH LAB.
UM, IT'S PROJECTED TO HOUSE, UH, ONE OR TWO OR THREE, UH, MAJOR QUANTUM COMPUTERS.
UM, BUT OVERALL THE FACILITY IS PROJECTED TO REDUCE ENERGY USE AND EMISSIONS BY ABOUT 70% COMPARED TO WHAT THE EXISTING BUILDING BASELINE ENERGY USE WAS IN THE PAST.
SO WE WERE REALLY HAPPY TO, UH, TO SET THAT, THAT GOAL.
SO NOW TO FURTHER MODERNIZE OUR THERMAL ENERGY NETWORK, UM, AND DECARBONIZE ON AN URBAN CAMPUS, UM, WE'RE GONNA CONTINUE TO EVOLVE HOW WE PRODUCE ENERGY AND HOW WE DISTRIBUTE ENERGY ACROSS THE CAMPUS.
UH, THERE'S SEVERAL FOUNDATIONAL ELEMENTS, UH, THAT WILL SHIFT OUR HEAT PRODUCTION FROM BURNING NATURAL GAS TO USING ELECTRICITY IN AN INCREASINGLY GREEN, UH, POWER GRID.
UM, AND THE FIRST ELEMENT TO THAT IS, UH, STARTING DESIGN ON A NEW LARGE SCALE ELECTRIC HEAT PUMP PLANT.
SO WHAT WE LEARNED FROM THE MET WAREHOUSE, UM, IS THAT WE COULD AIM TO RECOVER WASTE HEAT FROM OUR DISTRICT COOLING SYSTEM, AND THAT COULD SUPPLY UP TO 30 TO 40% OF OUR CAMPUS, UM, HEATING NEEDS.
UM, THE, THE TECHNOLOGY THAT'S OUT THERE TODAY IS NEW.
UM, AS, AS VICINITY HAD MENTIONED, THERE'S SOME EXCITING NEW LARGE SCALE HEAT PUMPS THAT WE'RE EVALUATING DIFFERENT CONFIGURATIONS.
[00:50:01]
CURRENTLY IN THE DESIGN, UH, TO DO THAT.AND AGAIN, IT WOULD USE ELECTRICITY, PRODUCE HOT WATER FOR CAMPUS, UH, HEATING.
UM, WE'RE ALSO EXPLORING OPPORTUNITIES ON THE MIT CAMPUS FOR POSSIBLE FUTURE USE OF GEOTHERMAL AIR SOURCES.
UH, IT, IT COULD BE BOREHOLE, UM, BUT AGAIN, ACCESSING LOCATIONS AND POTENTIAL THERMAL YIELD IS SOMETHING THAT WE'RE CURRENTLY EVALUATING, UM, AND, AND, AND ASSESSING.
SO WE'RE DOING EARLY DESIGN AND LOGISTICS PLANNING ON, ON HOW WE MIGHT, UM, UNLOCK SOME OF THESE, UH, NEW ENERGY SOURCES.
UM, BUT WE DON'T HAVE ANY LIKE SPECIFIC PLANS, UM, AT THIS TIME AS WE'RE STILL GOING THROUGH THE INFRASTRUCTURE CHALLENGES.
AS ARENA SAID, THE STREETS ARE BUSY.
THERE'S A LOT OF UTILITIES, THERE'S A LOT OF TREES IN HOW YOU GET THE PIPES TO INTERCONNECT.
SOME OF THESE THINGS IS CURRENTLY UNDER EVALUATION.
UM, ANOTHER ELEMENT TO DECARBONIZING THE DISTRICT ENERGY SYSTEM IS CONTINUING TO REPLACE A LOT OF THE LEGACY STEAM DISTRIBUTION PIPING, UM, AND BUILDINGS, UH, TO, UH, HOT WATER.
SO MORE BUILDINGS WILL BE CONVERTED, UM, FROM STEAM TO HOT WATER, UM, ON OUR CAMPUS.
AND WE'RE CURRENTLY INTO DESIGN TO, UH, TO, YOU KNOW, CONTINUE THAT WORK.
AND THEN, UM, I THINK THE LAST BUILDING BLOCK IS ONE WE'RE GONNA TALK ABOUT VERY SOON IS DEVELOPING A SHARED REGIONAL, UM, ENERGY INFRASTRUCTURE.
SO, YOU KNOW, MIT AND, AND YOU KNOW, COLLABORATION WITH, WITH HARVARD AND THE CITY AND, AND BOSTON UNIVERSITY AND NORTHEASTERN AND MANY INSTITUTIONS, MUNICIPALITIES, UM, WE REALLY SEE THAT IT'S ESSENTIAL TO DECARBONIZATION AT SCALE.
WE, WE CAN'T JUST DO THIS ONE BUILDING AT A TIME.
UM, AND MIT IS AN ANCHOR PARTICIPANT IN THE BOSS 10 PROJECT, AND WE'RE CURRENTLY DESIGNING OUR HEAT PUMP PLANT TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THAT THERMAL ENERGY NETWORK CITYWIDE FOR, FOR THE REMAINDER, UM, 60, UH, TO 70% OF SOURCE HEAT, UM, THAT, THAT WE'RE GONNA NEED.
SO, SO WE'RE REALLY EXCITED, UH, BY THIS COLLECTIVE EFFORT.
UM, YOU KNOW, WE'VE GONE OVER AND SEEN IT FIRSTHAND IN, IN DENMARK AND GERMANY WITH MANY OF THE PEOPLE HERE IN THIS ROOM.
WE KNOW IT CAN BE DONE, UM, BUT IT'S A MATTER OF POLICY GOVERNANCE, OWNER OPERATOR STRUCTURES, AND I THINK THAT'S WHAT WE'RE GONNA BE SPENDING, UH, THE REST OF OUR, OUR TIME HERE DISCUSSING TODAY.
ANYTHING TO ADD FROM NIT? ALL RIGHT.
UM, WE'LL GO TO, IS BOSTON 10 ONLINE? THAT'S WHAT, HEY, YES.
CAN YOU GUYS HEAR ME OKAY? YES, LINDSAY, THANK YOU.
AND I BELIEVE WE DID GET OUR, YOUR PRESENTATION, SO IS THAT TRUE? IF YOU QUEUE IT UP, MS. STEFAN? YEAH.
SO IF YOU, WE CAN QUEUE IT UP FOR YOU AND MOVE FORWARD IF YOU WANNA INTRODUCE YOURSELF AND TAKE IT AWAY.
UM, MADAM CHAIR, VICE MAYOR, AND MEMBERS OF THE CITY COUNCIL, THANK YOU FOR HAVING US AND GIVING US THE OPPORTUNITY TO SHARE WITH YOU A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THE BOSTON 10 PROJECT.
UM, MY NAME IS DR. LINDSAY BUTLER.
I'M THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF THE BOSTON GREEN RIBBON COMMISSION.
UH, JUST A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THE GRC FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO ARE NOT FAMILIAR.
UH, THE GRC IS A MEMBER BASED ORGANIZATION THAT CONVENES BOSTON'S MOST INFLUENTIAL INSTITUTIONS TO ACCELERATE THE CLIMATE ACTION PLAN FOR THE CITY OF BOSTON.
WE ADVANCE MULTI-SECTOR COLLABORATION FOR BOTH MITIGATION AND ADAPTATION AND ARE AN INTERNATIONAL MODEL FOR PUBLIC-PRIVATE CLIMATE ACTION NETWORKS.
WHILE THE GRC WAS CREATED ABOUT 15 YEARS AGO TO ADVANCE CLIMATE ACTION WORK FOR BOSTON, UH, WE HAVE A GREAT DEAL OF OVERLAP, UM, IN OUR MEMBERSHIP AND A LOT OF WAYS IN WHICH WE TOUCH THE CITY OF CAMBRIDGE.
UM, YOU'LL SEE SOME OF CAMBRIDGE'S BIGGEST ANCHOR INSTITUTIONS ARE ALSO MEMBERS OF THE GRC, UM, AND THAT INCLUDES HARVARD, MIT.
UH, WE ALSO HAVE OUR UTILITIES AS MEMBERS OF THE GRC, SO NATIONAL GRID, EVERSOURCE, AND VICINITY.
UM, A LOT OF OUR OTHER PROPERTY OWNERS LIKE BXP AND MASS GENERAL, UM, ALSO OVERLAP THE SORT OF BOSTON CAMBRIDGE LINE.
AND SO, WHILE THE GRC EXISTS TO ADVANCE THE CITY OF BOSTON'S CLIMATE ACTION WORK, UH, WE REALLY SEE A GREAT DEAL OF REGIONAL OVERLAP, UH, IN OUR ENGAGEMENT, UH, WITH OUR MEMBERS.
WE HAVE THREE AREAS OF STRATEGIC FOCUS AT THE GRC.
UM, WHEN WE LOOK AT THE THINGS WE'RE TRYING TO ADVANCE, BOTH HERE IN BOSTON AND REGIONALLY ON CLIMATE ACTION, AND WE SORT OF COMBINE THAT WITH THE POWER OF OUR MEMBERS, WHERE CAN WE BE MOST EFFECTIVE? AND THAT IS ON LARGE BUILDING DECARBONIZATION GRID MODERNIZATION IN THE ENERGY TRANSITION, UH, AND COASTAL RESILIENCE.
THAT WORK IS DRIVEN THROUGH, UH, SIX WORKING GROUPS THAT ARE SORT OF THE HEART OF THE GRC, HEALTHCARE, HIGHER EDUCATION CULTURAL INSTITUTIONS, COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE, COASTAL RESILIENCE AND GRID MODERNIZATION, UH, IN THE CITY OF CAMBRIDGE AND CAMBRIDGE INSTITUTIONS ARE REPRESENTED ACROSS ALL SIX OF THOSE WORKING GROUPS.
SO NOW THAT EVERYONE HAS A VERY BRIEF, UM, OVERVIEW OF WHAT THE GRC IS AND
[00:55:01]
HOW WE OVERLAP WITH INSTITUTIONS ACROSS CAMBRIDGE, I'M NOW GONNA SPEAK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THE BOS 10 PROJECT.UM, AS JOE JUST ALLUDED TO, UM, MANY INSTITUTIONS ARE EXAMINING THE ROLE OF GROUND SOURCE GEOTHERMAL IN PARTICULAR, UM, AS A PART OF THEIR CAMPUS-WIDE DECARBONIZATION STRATEGIES.
AND BOSTON, I THINK, WAS THE CONVERGENCE OF MANY PEOPLE'S IDEAS ABOUT HOW WE CAN DECARBONIZE AT SCALE.
UM, YOU HEARD ABOUT FROM KEVIN ALL OF THE OPPORTUNITIES WE SEE TO USE THESE, THIS TECHNOLOGY THAT WE LEARN FROM OUR, UH, FRIENDS IN EUROPE AND HOW VICINITY IS ALTERING THAT FOR THE US MARKET.
UM, BUT THERE'S SO MUCH EXCITEMENT AMONG GRC MEMBERS ABOUT GEOTHERMAL ENERGY, BUT THERE'S ALSO A LOT OF CHALLENGES, UM, AS WE'VE SEEN IN CAMBRIDGE AND AS WE SEE IN BOSTON, WE HAVE A VERY, UH, CROWDED AND DENSE UNDERGROUND.
AND SO, UM, AMONG LEADERS OF THE HIGHER EDUCATION WORKING GROUP AND WITH THE SUPPORT OF PEOPLE LIKE AUDREY AND ZAINAB, WHO I KNOW ARE ARE THERE WITH YOU IN THE ROOM TODAY, THERE WAS THIS IDEA TO THINK ABOUT HOW WE COULD SHARE A THERMAL RESERVOIR FOR DECARBONIZATION DECARBONIZATION AT SCALE, UH, VERSUS EVERYONE HAVING TO TAKE THIS ON ON THEIR OWN.
UH, IN COLLABORATION WITH OUR FUNDERS, THE MASSACHUSETTS CLEAN ENERGY CENTER AND THE CITY OF BOSTON, UH, THE GREEN RIBBON COMMISSION CONVENES, UM, APPROXIMATELY 25 INSTITUTIONS AND LARGE PROPERTY OWNERS IN THE BOS 10 EFFORT.
AND WHAT WE ARE TRYING TO DO IS EXAMINE THE FEASIBILITY OF TAPPING INTO THESE SHARED RESERVOIRS, UM, AS OUR THERMAL SOURCES.
SO THE STUDY IS EXAMINING THE FEASIBILITY OF UTILIZING, UM, OCEAN SOURCE, UM, HEAT PUMPS.
WE WOULD BE LOOKING AT THE BOSTON HARBOR, THE FORT POINT CHANNEL, THE MYSTIC RIVER AND THE CHARLES RIVER, AS WELL AS THE BEDROCK BENEATH THOSE RIVERS, UM, AS THE START OF THIS SHARED THERMAL ENERGY NETWORK.
THIS STUDY HAS FIVE KEY DELIVERABLES THAT WE'RE LOOKING TO ANSWER.
UH, FIRST RELATED TO THERMAL SUPPLY.
HOW MUCH CLEAN THERMAL ENERGY CAN BE RELIABLY EXTRACTED AND OR STORED IN THESE IDENTIFIED THERMAL RESERVOIRS, UH, DISTRIBUTION.
HOW CAN THERMAL ENERGY BE TRANSPORTED EFFICIENTLY FROM THOSE RESOURCES TO OUR POTENTIAL USERS? UH, THERMAL DEMAND.
WHERE IS THERE SUFFICIENT DEMAND TO SUPPORT INVESTMENT IN THIS SHARED THERMAL INFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITIES FOR THOSE PLACES WHERE WE'VE IDENTIFIED THAT TECHNICAL AND ECONOMIC FEASIBILITY EXISTS AND IS DEMONSTRATED? WHERE CAN WE MOVE FORWARD FIRST? UM, AND LASTLY, THE REGULATORY AND POLICY CONSIDERATIONS THAT WILL BE RELEVANT TO THIS WORK.
WHAT ARE THE REGULATORY PERMITTING AND OWNERSHIP ISSUES THAT MUST BE ADDRESSED BEFORE THESE PROJECTS CAN BE IMPLEMENTED? NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE.
WE HAVE A VARIETY OF DIFFERENT WAYS THAT WE ARE CONVENING STAKEHOLDERS AROUND THIS WORK.
WE HAVE A STAKEHOLDER ADVISORY GROUP, WHICH INCLUDES THE CITY OF CAMBRIDGE AND SEVERAL OF CAMBRIDGE'S LARGEST PROPERTY OWNERS AND INSTITUTIONS LIKE HARVARD AND MIT.
UH, THE STAKEHOLDER ADVISORY GROUP HELPS GUIDE THE PROJECT ANALYSIS AND RECOMMENDATIONS, UH, AND THE SAG WILL SERVE AS THE CORE STAKEHOLDER OF THE GROUP TO GUIDE THE PROJECT.
A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THE ROLES THAT THAT SAG PLAYS IN BOSTON.
UH, THEY PROVIDE REQUESTED DATA TO SUPPORT AN ACCURATE ANALYSIS AND MAKE SURE THAT THE STUDY REFLECTS STAKEHOLDER NEEDS AND THE LOCAL CONDITIONS.
THEY'RE HELPING TO INFORM THE PROJECT DESIGN, PROVIDING, UH, FEEDBACK ON INTERIM DELIVERABLES AND PROJECT RECOMMENDATIONS AND ADVOCATING FOR KEY NEXT STEPS TO REALLY GET THIS WORK IMPLEMENTED.
THE PROJECT ALSO HAS A TECHNICAL ADVISORY GROUP THAT WE'VE ESTABLISHED TO PROVIDE OBJECTIVE THIRD PARTY FEEDBACK ON POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS TO ADVANCED BOSTON AREA CLEAN THERMAL ENERGY NETWORKS.
UM, AND I THINK YOU'RE GONNA HEAR FROM A MEMBER OF OUR TECHNICAL ADVISORY GROUP WITH HEAT.
NEXT SLIDE, A LITTLE BIT MORE ABOUT WHAT THE TAG IS PROVIDING US INPUT ON SPECIFIC TECHNICAL ISSUES, A SOUNDING BOARD TO SAL O'BRIEN, WHO IS THE ENGINEERING CONSULTANT, LEAD ON THE PROJECT, AND FEEDBACK ON OUR KEY ASSUMPTIONS, DATA SOURCES, METHODOLOGIES, UH, AND
[01:00:01]
KEY QUESTIONS.HERE'S A LITTLE BIT OF A TIMELINE OF OUR PROJECT AND WHEN YOU SHOULD, UM, EXPECT TO HEAR MORE ABOUT THE FINDINGS OF BOS TEN'S FEASIBILITY.
AND A LITTLE BIT ABOUT WHY WE ARE DOING THIS.
UM, AS JOE SAID, WE ARE INTERESTED IN LARGE BUILDING DECARBONIZATION AT SCALE.
UH, WE KNOW WE CAN MOVE MORE EFFECTIVELY, EFFICIENTLY, AND FASTER.
UH, WE ARE LOOKING TO OBVIOUSLY REDUCE RELIANCE ON FOSSIL FUELS, UM, BECAUSE OF THE HEALTH IMPROVEMENTS THAT COME WITH THAT, THE JOBS THAT IT CAN BRING INTO OUR REGION AND THE FREEDOM FROM VOLATILITY OF FOSSIL FUEL MARKETS THAT WE ARE CURRENTLY SEEING DRIVEN BY GEOPOLITICAL FORCES.
WE ARE LOOKING TO ACHIEVE A LOWER LEVELIZED COST OF ENERGY WITH DISTRIBUTION AND CONNECTION SHARED OVER SEVERAL USERS.
WE WANT TO SEE OWNERS PAY LESS PER UNIT OF DELIVERED COMFORT.
UH, WE KNOW THAT ENERGY IS EXCHANGED AND NOT PRODUCED IN A TE THERMAL ENERGY NETWORK, WHICH GIVES US A HIGHER COEFFICIENT OF PERFORMANCE.
WE ARE LOOKING TO REDUCE ELECTRIC GRID STRAIN.
WE BELIEVE THIS CAN HELP REDUCE PEAK DEMAND, UH, REDUCES NEEDS FOR THE COSTLY GRID INFRASTRUCTURE IMPROVEMENTS THAT WE THINK WE'LL NEED TO MAKE AS WE ELECTRIFY EVERYTHING, UM, AND ALLOWS FOR NECESSARY REDUNDANCIES IN THESE ANCHOR INSTITUTIONS.
IT'S EVEN MORE EXCITING WITH EVERY PRESENTATION
UM, SO BEFORE I KNOW THERE'S UM, UH, I THINK WE HAVE A COUPLE PEOPLE IN PUBLIC COMMENT.
AND ALSO I WANNA MAKE SURE THAT LEAN, IF YOU WANNA JUST SAY WHO YOU ARE AND INTRODUCE YOURSELF NOW THAT YOU'RE AT THE TABLE.
UM, GOOD MOR GOOD AFTERNOON EVERYONE.
I'M A SUPERVISOR WITH EVERSOURCE ENERGY WITH THE CLEAN TECHNOLOGY TEAM, CURRENTLY WORKING ON THE FRAMINGHAM PILOT AND EXPANSION.
BECAUSE OF COURSE THAT IS THE EPICENTER OF ALL OF OUR HOPES AND DREAMS. THE FRAMINGHAM PILOT, ALTHOUGH MESA UNIVERSITY IN COLORADO IS ALSO ONE OF THOSE 'CAUSE THEY'VE BEEN IN IN PLACE FOR WHAT, 15 YEARS.
UM, UH, I DO JUST WANNA REMIND, SO ONE OF THE THINGS THAT UM, WAS JUST NOTED, WHICH WE DON'T TALK ENOUGH ABOUT IS THE OPPORTUNITY COST OF NOT DOING SOMETHING.
WE REALLY JUST THINK, WELL, THIS IS JUST SOMETHING WE'RE, WE EITHER CHOOSE TO DO OR NOT, BUT THE OPPORTUNITY COST OF NOT MOVING FORWARD WITH SOMETHING THAT IS CLEAN ENERGY.
BUT THE CRITICALLY IMPORTANT THING IS THE HEALTH IMPACT THAT WE KNOW FOR SURE EVERY SINGLE P PLACE THAT HAS FOSSIL FUELS, LIKE MY HOME THAT IS HAS A GAS STOVE, IS ACTUALLY COMPROMISING HEALTH.
AND WE KNOW FOR VULNERABLE POPULATIONS THAT ASTHMA RATES HAVE, HAVE CONTINUED TO SKYROCKET BECAUSE WE HAVE NOT TAKEN THIS ON.
SO I'M JUST REMINDING US OF THAT, THAT THOSE ARE COSTS THAT SHOULD BE INCLUDED.
BUT I WILL GO TO, UH, PUBLIC COMMENT.
I KNOW A ANUSH FROM MIT GEO IS HERE.
IF YOU WANNA START OUT WITH THAT FOR A FEW MINUTES AND THEN I DUNNO IF OTHER PEOPLE HAVE SIGNED UP.
OH, LEAN, DID YOU WANNA SAY SOMETHING? DID YOU OR NO, SOMEONE? NO.
CAN I MAKE ONE CLARIFYING POINT? 'CAUSE IT MIGHT BE NOT CLEAR FROM WHAT WAS SAID.
UH, THERMAL AMBIENT TEMPERATURE THERMAL NETWORKS IS WHAT, UH, BLACK SWAN LAB AND HEAT ARE PUSHING FOR.
THEY HAVE THE HIGHEST DEFICIENCY FOR EVERY ONE UNIT OF ENERGY GOING IN.
IT HAS IT, YOU DELIVER SIX TO EIGHT ENERGY, UH, UNITS TO THE BUILDING.
UH, SO, AND WHEREAS, UH, IT IS A FIFTH GENERATION SYSTEM, STEAM AS LOVELY AS IT IS, IT, IT IS WHEN PRODUCED WITH RENEWABLES IS FI FIRST GENERATION, UH, THERMAL NET, UH, THERMAL NETWORKS OR DISTRICT ENERGY SYSTEMS, AND THEY, UH, IT'S LIKE, UH, WHAT, WHAT COP ARE YOU GETTING? WHAT? EFFICIENCY LEVEL THREE.
SO OUR HEAT PUMP RUNS IN THE HIGH TWOS.
IF YOU LOOK AT THE HEAT PUMP IN ISOLATION, UH, WE BUILT THE HEAT PUMP TO COMPETE IN THE WINTER TIME AGAINST AIR SOURCE HEAT PUMPS.
SO WE WILL ACTUALLY BE AT A HIGHER EFFICIENCY THAN BUILDING SIDE AIR SOURCE HEAT PUMPS IN THE MIDDLE OF THE WINTER TIME.
SO IT'S, IT'S A THIRD OF THE EFFICIENCY.
AND SO I JUST WANNA MAKE SURE THAT EVERYBODY UNDERSTANDS IF CAMBRIDGE IS GONNA AIM FOR SOMETHING, IT SHOULD AIM FOR AMBIENT TEMPERATURE, THERMAL NETWORKS, THEY ARE THE HIGHEST EFFICIENCY.
THEY WILL HELP DELIVER THE LOWEST ENERGY BILLS AND MOVE US FORWARD FASTEST TO WHAT WE NEED.
DID YOU WANNA, AND THEN I, I THINK THERE'S A COUPLE OTHER PEOPLE JUST SIGNED UP FOR PUBLIC COMMENT.
WE HAVE THREE PEOPLE SIGNED UP.
UM, IF YOU COULD JUST SAY YOUR NAME FOR THE RECORD, PLEASE.
YOU JUST HAVE TO TURN THE MICROPHONE ON.
AND YOU CAN BRING IT FORWARD, THE MIC FORWARD.
UM, TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES ASIDE, UM, I AM ANUSHKA.
I AM THE PRESIDENT OF GEO, MIT, WHICH IS
[01:05:01]
A STUDENT GROUP FOCUSED ON RESPONSIBLE COMMUNITY DRIVEN BUILDING DECARBONIZATION THROUGH SHALLOW GEOTHERMAL.UH, WE'VE BEEN WORKING WITH THE GOVERNMENTS OF ASHFIELD AND SALEM TO CONDUCT INITIAL FEASIBILITY STUDIES.
WE'VE WORKED WITH VERMONT COMMUNITY THERMAL NETWORKS AND WON SEVERAL COMPETITION FOR OUR DISTRICT ENERGY DESIGN AND ANALYSIS.
AND I WANTED TO QUICKLY ADDRESS THE, UH, GO BACK TO THE INITIAL STUDY AND ASK A COUPLE QUESTIONS, I THINK POINTS OF WHICH THAT HE HAS ADDRESSED ALREADY.
ONE, THE INCLUSION OF MIT AND HARVARD AND LARGE BUILDING OWNERS, UM, WITH MIT AND HARVARD ENCOMPASSING BETWEEN BOTH OF THEM, ALMOST A THIRD OF CAMBRIDGE'S EMISSIONS.
UM, AN EXCLUSION WOULD BE STRANGE.
UM, ADDITIONALLY, THE CONSIDERATION OF ALTERNATIVE THERMAL SOURCES, ESPECIALLY, UM, INDUSTRIAL WASTE HEAT FROM LABS, AS WELL AS WASTEWATER HEAT.
SO GMIT, FOR EXAMPLE, HAS A PROJECT CONSIDERING THE POTENTIAL OF USING MUNICIPAL WATER AS A THERMAL RESOURCE.
AND THERE ARE SO MANY DIVERSE THERMAL RESOURCES THAT CAN BE CONSIDERED BOTH SOURCES AND SINKS TO HELP IMPROVE THE EFFICIENCY OF A THERMAL NETWORK.
BUT THE MOST IMPORTANT THING THAT I REALLY WANTED TO COVER TODAY WAS, YOU KNOW, TO BORROW THE LANGUAGE OF ACADEMIA, IT WOULD BE WONDERFUL TO HAVE A THOROUGH PEER REVIEW.
UM, SO AS PART OF CAMBRIDGE A PUBLIC GOVERNMENT SPACE, THERE IS A, THERE'S A CIVIC RESPONSIBILITY TO HAVE TRANSPARENCY TO THE CONSTITUENTS OF CAMBRIDGE.
SO ASKING THE QUESTIONS OF WHAT WERE THE DATA SOURCES BEHIND THE ANALYSIS? WHAT WERE THE CRITICAL ASSUMPTIONS BEHIND THE MODEL? DID, WHAT TYPES OF DRILLING DID YOU CONSIDER? WHAT WERE THE COST ASSUMPTIONS? WHAT WERE THE EFFICIENCY ASSUMPTIONS? UM, ANYTHING THAT WOULD ALLOW THE PUBLIC OF CAMBRIDGE AND CAMBRIDGE CONSTITUENCY TO ACTUALLY GO THROUGH AND SYSTEMATICALLY REVIEW, ESPECIALLY CONSIDERING THE AMOUNT OF EXPERTISE THAT WE HAVE JUST SITTING IN THIS ROOM RIGHT NOW.
AND I ALSO WANTED TO TOUCH ON GOING FORWARD, UM, GIVEN THE CURRENT STATE, AND GIVEN THAT THERE IS CLEARLY A LOT MORE WORK TO BE DONE IN THIS SPACE, UM, WHAT IS THE ROLE THAT CAMBRIDGE RESIDENTS CAN PLAY? UM, SO HOW CAN WE INCLUDE NOT JUST THESE LARGE INSTITUTIONS AND PROJECTS LIKE BOSS 10, BUT HOW DO WE CONSIDER BOTH THE INTERESTED RESIDENT AND THE AVERAGE RESIDENT SO THAT WE CAN MAKE SURE THAT WHEN WE DECARBONIZE WE'RE DOING SO IN A EFFECTIVE AND EQUITABLE MANNER THAT REALLY CONSIDERS THE NEEDS OF EVERYBODY INVOLVED? THANK YOU.
AND IF YOU WANT TO ADD MORE LATER, YOU CAN.
WHO ELSE IS THEN ON THE, UH, OUR FIRST SPEAKER IS RUPAUL JANE.
I'VE BEEN A CAMBRIDGE RESIDENT IN NORTH CAMBRIDGE FOR OVER 15 YEARS.
I'M ALSO THE MOTHER OF A CPS FOURTH GRADER, AND I'M SPEAKING THIS AFTERNOON ON BEHALF OF THE CAMBRIDGE CHAPTER OF MOTHERS OUT FRONT, WE ARE PROUD OF OUR CITY FOR ADOPTING THE BUDDHA ORDINANCE AND THE SPECIALIZED STRETCH CODE, AND FOR PARTICIPATING IN THE FOSSIL FUEL FREE PILOT PROJECT, ALL MEASURES THAT WILL HELP TO REDUCE GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS.
WE WANNA THANK THE CITY COUNCIL FOR THEIR FORESIGHT AND FUNDING THE GEOTHERMAL NETWORK PILOT STUDY.
WE ALSO THANK THE CITY'S STAFF AND OUS ORION FOR THEIR CAREFUL WORK.
WITH THE PACE OF CLIMATE CHANGE ACCELERATING, IT'S CRITICAL TO LOOK AT APPROACHES FOR MOVING WHOLE NEIGHBORHOODS OFF FOSSIL FUELS.
CAMBRIDGE HAS MADE A STRONG START ON ADOPTING GEOTHERMAL HEATING SYSTEMS FOR OUR NEW SCHOOLS AND RENOVATED MUNICIPAL BUILDINGS.
WE'RE ENCOURAGED THAT THE CITY IS LOOKING FORWARD TO OPPORTUNITIES THAT COULD SUPPORT MUNICIPAL THERMAL NETWORKS CENTERED ON ADDITIONAL SCHOOLS, CHA PROPERTIES AND AROUND PARKS.
SINCE THE PACIFIC PARK PILOT SHOWED CHALLENGES WITH THE COSTS OF DRILLING BOREHOLE, LET'S EXPLORE OTHER HEAT SOURCES LIKE CITY SEWERS, COMM, COMMERCIAL WASTE HEAT IN THE CHARLES RIVER HEALTH PEAKS PLANNED 42 ACRE DEVELOPMENT AT ALEWIFE SHOULD BE ABLE TO BE SERVED BY A GEOTHERMAL NETWORK WHERE NEW BUILDING CONSTRUCTION SUBSTANTIALLY LOWERS COSTS.
BECAUSE THERMAL NETWORKS REQUIRE MUCH LESS ELECTRICITY THAN OTHER CLEAN HEAT SOURCES, THE HEALTH PEAK COMPLEX COULD AVOID OVERLOADING THE EXISTING ELECTRIC SUBSTATION.
REGARDLESS OF THE GREEN TECHNOLOGIES WE ADOPT, CAMBRIDGE NEEDS TO BEGIN COLLABORATIVE LONG-TERM PLANNING WITH EVERSOURCE.
WE URGE THE CITY TO SEEK THE PLANNING AND MAPPING TOOLS EVERSOURCE CAN PROVIDE AND USE THEM TO WORK WITH THE EVERSOURCE, WITH EVERSOURCE TO PLAN AND CARRY OUT THE GRADUAL DECOMMISSIONING OF EXISTING GAS INFRASTRUCTURE.
ALONGSIDE THE BUILD OUT OF ELECTRIC INFRASTRUCTURE, WE WILL NEED TO ACHIEVE NET ZERO BY 2050.
OUR NEXT SPEAKER IS ELENA FDO.
ANYONE ELSE? OUR FINAL SPEAKER IS SUSAN MURCOTT.
[01:10:01]
OH, RIGHT, THAT IS ALL WHO SIGNED UP? OKAY.DID YOU EVER COMMENTS BY ANY CHANCE? I WAS TALKING DRAFT
I, I WOULD HONOR THAT TO READ THEM INTO THE RECORD, BUT I DON'T SEE THEM, SO WE'LL MAKE SURE WE, WE WE GET THEM.
UM, OKAY, SO HERE'S, HERE'S WHAT COMES NEXT, IS THE PART WHERE WE ALL GET TO TALK WITH EACH OTHER.
AND THIS, WELL, IT IS A FORMAL COMMITTEE HEARING.
I ALSO THINK IT'S REALLY IMPORTANT WE TREAT ALL OF US AS PARTICIPANTS.
SO I WILL RECOGNIZE ANYBODY, I, I'LL START WITH MY COLLEAGUES IF THEY HAVE QUESTIONS, BUT FEEL FREE TO ASK QUESTIONS OF ANYBODY AT THE TABLE AND TO GO BACK AND FORTH, INCLUDING IF VICINITY IS A QUESTION FOR BLACK SWAN OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT.
DID YOU HAVE A QUESTION AROUND THE PROGRAM? SO I, I JUST HAD A STATEMENT IN THE, IN THE, IN THE THEME OF, OF WORKING TOGETHER AND, AND TRYING TO MOVE THINGS FORWARD.
UH, I THINK IT'S ENORMOUSLY INTERESTING PERFORMING THESE KIND OF STUDIES.
AND WE'RE HAPPY WE'RE, UH, UH, HAPPY TO BE PART OF THE MEMBERSHIP IN GRC AND PARTICIPATE IN THIS BOSS 10 STUDY.
ONE OF THE THINGS THAT, THAT WE'VE TRIED TO BE VERY PARTICULAR ABOUT IS WE ARE ROLLING OUT SOLUTIONS, IS THE AFFORDABILITY SIDE, ESPECIALLY IN TODAY'S ENVIRONMENT WHERE ENERGY'S BECOMING ENORMOUSLY EXPENSIVE.
AND ONE OF THE REASONS WHY, WHAT, WHAT WE ARE, ARE, ARE PUSHING OUT WORKS IS BECAUSE THE AFFORDABILITY ANGLE TO IT.
AND I THINK IT'S IMPORTANT TO KEEP THAT INTO CONTEXT OF EFFICIENCY'S IMPORTANT.
BUT AT THE END OF THE DAY, IT'S NOT ABOUT EFFICIENCY, IT'S ABOUT AFFORDABILITY.
THERE'S A REASON WHY WE DON'T DRIVE CARS WITH FUEL CELLS.
FUEL CELLS ARE, YOU KNOW, MORE THAN DOUBLE THE EFFICIENCY OF INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINES.
BUT NONE OF US HAVE CARS WITH FUEL CELLS BECAUSE THEY'RE TOO EXPENSIVE.
SO IT'S JUST SOMETHING TO KEEP IN MIND.
I THINK IT'S A VERY IMPORTANT TO TRY TO CHASE AND SECURE MORE EFFICIENT, UH, SOLUTIONS.
BUT AT THE END OF THE DAY, WE WANT TO ARRIVE AT A SOLUTION THAT IS AFFORDABLE, BECAUSE AFFORDABLE DRIVES THE RATE OF ADOPTION.
AND WE ALL UNDERSTAND THAT THIS IS SOMETHING THAT WE NEED TO HAVE MOVING TODAY.
I JUST, I DO WOULD MAKE A PLEA FOR FULLY LOADED COSTS, WHICH INCLUDES HEALTH COSTS, HEALTHCARE, YOU KNOW, OF, AND OPPORTUNITY COSTS OF NOT DOING SOMETHING.
IF IT'S NOT AFFORDABLE, IT'S NOT GONNA HAPPEN.
AUDREY, DID YOU WANNA END THEN? LET ME START WITH MY COLLEAGUES AND THEN I'LL COME TO YOU, AUDREY.
SO, UH, COUNCIL ZUBE, THANK YOU.
UH, JUST CURIOUS TO HEAR A LITTLE BIT MORE, IF ANYBODY CAN SPEAK TO IT ON WHERE EVER SOURCE HAS BEEN IN THIS CONVERSATION.
I SAW ON THE PRESENTATION SLIDE THAT THEY ARE DOING WORK IN FRAMINGHAM, AND I'M CURIOUS, LIKE ARE, HAVE WE BEEN IN TOUCH IN COMMUNICATION AROUND WHAT THEY'RE THINKING LONG TERM FOR THIS AND WHAT ROLE THEY WOULD PLAY? UM, CURIOUS TO HEAR THAT AND THEN HAVE ANOTHER COMMENT ON THE BORE HOLES.
SO, UM, THE, UH, ADVERSARIES TEAM HAS BEEN ENGAGED WITH THE CITY OF, UH, CITY OF CAMBRIDGE.
UH, WE ATTENDED THE, UH, TECHNICAL PRESENTATIONS A COUPLE OF WEEKS AGO, I BELIEVE.
PROVIDED SOME COMMENTS AND DISCUSSION, AND OF COURSE WE'RE ALWAYS HAPPY TO COOPERATE, UM, REVIEW THE STUDY IN MORE DETAIL, UH, OFFER ANY COMMENTS.
AND, UH, THE WHOLE PURPOSE OF THE FRAMINGHAM PILOT WAS OF COURSE, TO BRING FORTH LESSONS LEARNED AND SHARE THEM WITH, UH, ALL COMMUNITIES THAT ARE INTERESTED AND, YOU KNOW, WHETHER NATIONALLY AND BEYOND, UM, TO PROMOTE, UH, NETWORK GEOTHERMAL, UH, PROJECTS.
AND SO, UH, WE'D BE HAPPY TO CONTINUE TO COOPERATE AND, UH, SHARE THOSE LESSONS LEARNED.
DO YOU KNOW WHAT THE FRAMING AND PILOT CONSISTS OF? 'CAUSE IF NOT LEAN COULD JUST, I'M HAPPY TO GIVE AN INTRODUCTION.
YEAH, I THINK IT'D BE GREAT TO HEAR THAT.
AND ALSO I WOULD UNDER, I DON'T KNOW ABOUT MUCH ABOUT THE EVERSOURCE PILOT PROGRAM IN FRAMING 'EM, SO I'D BE CURIOUS TO HEAR LIKE HOW MUCH OF THAT WAS FUNDED BY EVERSOURCE VERSUS FRAMING 'EM.
SO I'D BE CURIOUS TO HEAR LIKE WHAT ROLE EVERSOURCE COULD PLAY WITH US, UM, IN MAKING THIS HAPPEN TOO.
YEAH, THAT'S A GREAT QUESTION.
SO I CAN GIVE A QUICK OVERVIEW OF THE FRAMINGHAM PROJECT.
SO, UH, THE PROJECT IS A, UH, NETWORK, GEOTHERMAL PROJECT.
WE PROVIDE, UH, HEATING AND COOLING TO AROUND 135 CUSTOMERS, UH, IN ONE NEIGHBORHOOD IN FRAMINGHAM.
THIS INCLUDES A VARIETY OF CUSTOMERS WITH DIFFERENT LOADS.
SO IT INCLUDES COMMERCIAL CUSTOMERS, A FRAMINGHAM PUBLIC SCHOOL BUILDING, A FIRE STATION, A COUPLE OF SMALLER COMMERCIAL, UH, CUSTOMERS, UM, AS WELL AS, UH, UH, HOUSING AUTHORITY, THE FRAMING HOUSING AUTHORITY.
WE HAVE AROUND NINE BUILDINGS PLUS A COMMUNITY CENTER, NON RESIDENTIAL BUILDINGS, AND A COMMUNITY CENTER ON OUR LOOP.
AND, UH, ADDITIONALLY WE HAVE AROUND 23 RESIDENTIAL CUSTOMERS THAT ARE SERVED.
OVERALL, WE HAVE 88 BOREHOLES.
WE HAVE THREE BORE FIELDS, UH, COMBINING,
[01:15:01]
UH, BOTH DIRECTIONAL AND TRADITIONAL DRILLING TECHNOLOGIES.UM, AND, UM, SO FAR WE'VE BEEN IN OPERATE, THE SYSTEM WAS COMMISSIONED IN DECEMBER, 2024.
UM, SINCE THEN WE'VE, YOU KNOW, BEEN IN, UH, OPERATIONS AND MAINTENANCE.
WE HAD SOME ADDITIONAL CUSTOMERS JOIN IN LATER, UH, JUST DUE TO STAGGERING CONSTRUCTION, BUT THE SYSTEM HASN'T BEEN OPERATING QUITE WELL.
UM, EVEN THIS PAST WINTER IT WAS A RECORD BREAKING WINNER AND WE WERE ALL, YOU KNOW, EXCITED TO SEE HOW THE SYSTEM PERFORMS, BUT, UH, IT OPERATED QUITE WELL.
WE HAVE A, UM, BACKUP BOILER WE HAVEN'T HAD TO TURN ON 'CAUSE THE LOOP TEMP LOOP TEMPERATURE WAS WITHIN THE DESIGN BOUNDARIES.
UM, AND, UM, YOU KNOW, WE'RE EXCITED TO SEE HOW, HOW, HOW MUCH THE SYSTEM CONTINUES TO PERFORM.
IT'S BEEN QUITE RESILIENT, I WILL SAY, AS I MENTIONED.
AND, UM, UM, OVERALL, I THINK RIGHT NOW WE'RE MOVING MORE TOWARDS OPTIMIZING THE SYSTEM IN TERMS OF, UH, PUMP OPERATIONS, SYSTEM LOGIC, THINGS LIKE THAT.
UH, OVERALL IN TERMS OF COST, UH, THE PROJECT IS RATE PAYER FUNDED.
SO EVERSOURCE RECOVERS THE COST THROUGH A GEOTHERMAL ENERGY PROVISION FILING WITH A DPU.
UM, WE FILE FOR THAT ANNUALLY, BASICALLY.
YEAH, IF I MAY ADD, UM, HEAT EVERSOURCE AND THE CITY OF FRAMINGHAM ARE ALSO JOINTLY WORKING ON AN EXPANSION TO THE SYSTEM THAT IS FUNDED THROUGH A, UH, A FEDERAL DOE GRANT.
SO THAT IS ONGOING WORK SEPARATE FROM THE INITIAL PILOT, BUT THAT HAS BEEN MOVING ALONG FOR THE PAST YEAR AND A HALF AT THIS POINT.
YOU SAID THAT WAS A DOE GRANT? YEAH, IT WAS A DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY, UM, GTO OFFICES GRANT.
AND INITIALLY IT WAS FOR DESIGN OF AN EXPANSION AND THEN IT MOVED TO PHASE TWO.
UH, IT WAS DOWN SELECTED FOR CONSTRUCTION FUNDING AS WELL.
SO THAT IS ONGOING WORK TO APPROXIMATELY DOUBLE THE SIZE OF THE EXISTING NETWORK.
UM, I'LL BE VERY QUICK IN THIS SECOND PART.
I DEFINITELY AM STILL TRYING TO DIGEST ALL OF THE COMMENTS AND PRESENTATIONS.
UM, I NOTICED THAT ON THE, ON, ON THE SLIDE THAT HAS THE, THE MAP OF THE UNITED STATES AND JUST KIND OF WHERE DIFFERENT CITIES ARE WITH THE STUDY DESIGN AND OPERATION.
I HAD LOOKED UP EACH ONE AND IT SEEMS LIKE BORE HOLES WERE THE ONES THAT CONSISTENTLY WERE USED.
ALTHOUGH IT WAS INTERESTING TO SEE THERE WERE LIKE A FEW SCENARIOS WHERE AN AQUIFER OPEN LOOP SYSTEM WAS USED.
UM, I'D BE CURIOUS LIKE, TO, TO LEARN A LITTLE BIT MORE ABOUT THOSE, ESPECIALLY IF WE KNOW THAT THE COST OF DOING BOREHOLE, UM, WOULD BE REALLY EXPENSIVE AND HOW WE CAN LEVERAGE, LIKE WE'VE HEARD OTHERS SAY, UM, SOME OF THE SOURCES THAT WE ALREADY HAVE IN THE CITY ALL YIELD.
UM, I WAS JUST GONNA SAY THAT THAT'S THE MAP OF, UM, FROM THE CONSULTANTS.
I DUNNO IF SOMEBODY FROM SO O'BRIEN CAN RESPOND TO THAT OR ARENA MIGHT CALL ON LINDSAY OR BRIAN ERLA FROM THE SALES TEAM.
IF BRIAN, YOU COULD TAKE THIS ONE.
COULD, COULD YOU REPEAT THAT QUESTION? I APOLOGIZE.
I WAS JUST FASCINATED BY THE, THE MAP AND I, I NOTICED LOOKING THEM UP IS A LOT OF THEM HAVE, ARE USING BOREHOLE, ALTHOUGH THERE ARE SOME CASES LIKE THE WATERFRONT GATEWAY THAT'S USING AN OPEN LOOP SYSTEM WITH AN AQUAPHOR, AND THEN THE ONE IN STATEN ISLAND SEEMS A BIT DIFFERENT AS WELL.
UM, IS THAT, LIKE, DO YOU HAVE AN EXPLANATION BEHIND THAT TREND? SURE.
LIKE THERE IS A QUESTION I WERE TO ASK.
I GUESS UNDERSTANDING THAT TREND WOULD BE HELPFUL.
YEAH, I MEAN, UM, WHEN IT RELATED TO GEOTHERMAL, UH, SYSTEMS OR, OR GEO EXCHANGE SYSTEMS, THEY'RE VERY SITE SPECIFIC TO THE SUBSURFACE CONDITIONS.
AND SO, UH, IF YOU'RE SITTING ON TOP OF A REALLY HIGH PRODUCTIVE AQUIFER THAT'S RELATIVELY SHALLOW, THAT'S A LOWER COST OF CONSTRUCTION.
SO WE WOULD LOOK AT THAT AS A POTENTIAL OPTION.
UH, GRANTED IF IT'S, IF IT'S ALLOWED BY CODE, STATE CODE, UM, SO THE NORTHWEST NATURAL PROJECT IS SITTING ON A FANTASTIC AQUIFER.
AND SO IF YOU CAN REDUCE, UH, OPERATING AND, AND I'M SORRY, CONSTRUCTION COSTS, YOU KNOW, THAT'S SOMETHING THAT WE CERTAINLY ANALYZE ANYTIME WE LOOK AT THESE PROJECTS.
SO WE'RE ALWAYS TRYING TO REALLY OPTIMIZE COSTS, UH, AND CAPITAL EXPENDITURES VERSUS, UM, YOU KNOW, OPERATING COSTS AND, AND SO FORTH.
SO SOME OF THESE PROJECTS HAVE TRADITIONAL BORE HOLES, SOME OF THEM HAVE OPEN LOOP SYSTEMS. UM, SOME OF THEM, UH, LIKE THE HARA PROJECT IN NEW YORK IS, IS ALSO COMBINED WITH A SEWAGE HEAT RECOVERY SYSTEM.
SO AGAIN, IT'S REALLY TRYING TO LOOK FOR THE MOST, UH, OR, OR THE LOWEST COST THERMAL ASSETS.
TRY TO DEPLOY THOSE WITHIN THE PROJECT, UH, BECAUSE THAT WOULD BRING THE ENTIRE COST DOWN AND UM, YOU KNOW, THEN OBVIOUSLY MAKE IT MORE AFFORDABLE FOR, YOU KNOW, PEOPLE USING THE
[01:20:01]
ENERGY.OKAY, BEFORE I GO TO COUNCILOR SUZI, UH, AUDREY, YOU SAID YOU WANTED TO ADD TO THIS? YEAH, SIMPLY THAT, UH, THE, THE LOWEST COST IS, YOU KNOW, IN ALMOST ALL PLACES WHEN IT'S AVAILABLE IS NOT BOREHOLE.
BOREHOLE ARE, YOU KNOW, INCREDIBLE
UH, ASSUMING YOU'VE GOT A GOOD, UH, YOU KNOW, UH, ACCESS TO BEDROCK, IT'S A REALLY GREAT WAY TO GO.
AND YOU ALWAYS LOOK FOR LOWER COST FIRST OPTIONS.
RIGHT NOW THERE IS A STATE, YOU KNOW, DEP GRANT TO DO WASTEWATER ENERGY RECOVERY.
AND I WILL ADD THAT IN NEW YORK, THE TWO THERMAL NETWORKS THAT ARE MOVING FORWARD ARE BOTH WASTEWATER ENERGY RECOVERY SYSTEMS BECAUSE THEY COST LESS.
UM, THAT IS A COMMON OBSERVATION.
SO, AND CAN I ADD JUST ONE THING GOING BACK TO, UH, KEVIN'S POINT IS THAT OKAY.
UM, THE ENERGY BILL AFFORDABILITY IS OF COURSE INCREDIBLY IMPORTANT.
UM, I WOULD SAY THAT, YOU KNOW, AND I'M SURE, UH, VICINITY IS DOING AN INCREDIBLE JOB.
I KNOW THAT VICINITY IS, IS NOT REGULATED AND THAT IT'S PREVIOUS OWNER OF VEOLIA HAD SOME DIFFICULTIES WITH THE CUSTOMERS WHERE THE BILLS WERE GOING VERY HIGH IN WEIRD WAYS.
AND I, I'M SURE VICINITY IS NOT DOING THE SAME, BUT IT CAN, IF IT'S NON-REGULATED OR IF THERE IS A, THE ENTITY IS NOT, YOU KNOW, IT DOESN'T HAVE A GOOD CONTRACT, YOU KNOW, BARGAIN POTENTIALLY BY THE PUBLIC ENTITY THAT, THAT, YOU KNOW, BY THE CITY
IF YOU'RE GONNA LET ANYBODY USE YOUR PUBLIC RIGHT OF WAYS, DO THE BARGAINING TO MAKE SURE YOUR RESIDENTS GET REALLY GOOD, UH, ENERGY AFFORDABILITY FAR INTO THE FUTURE FOR DECADES INTO THE FUTURE.
'CAUSE YOU CAN WITH THIS METHOD, DID YOU WANNA RESPOND TO, BEFORE I GO TO COUNCILOR SUZI OR, SO I, I WOULD JUST LIKE TO MAKE A COMMENT ON THE WASTE HEAT UHHUH.
SO, UH, ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WE'VE BEEN WORKING ON, NOT IN BOSTON AND CAMBRIDGE BUT IN KANSAS CITY, SO WE ARE A PRIVATE UTILITY, BUT ONE OF THE REAL BENEFITS OF PRIVATE UTILITY IS WE GO FAST.
SO IN SOMETHING THAT WE CAN DECIDE IN A BOARDROOM ON AN AFTERNOON, NOON, MIGHT TAKE A REGULATED UTILITY A COUPLE YEARS, AND WE HAVE PARTNERSHIPS WITH REGULATED UTILITIES BECAUSE THEY OFTENTIMES WILL SPEND MORE, MORE DOLLARS ON A STUDY, UH, THAN WE WILL ON JUST THE PRELIMINARY ENGINEERING FOR SOMETHING.
SO BEING A PART OF A PRIVATE UTILITY, UH, ALLOWS US TO GO VERY QUICKLY, WHICH WE'RE SHOWING OFF IN BOSTON AND CAMBRIDGE'S DECARBONIZATION PLANS, BUT ALSO, AND WHEN YOU WANNA TALK WASTE HEAT, UH, WE RECENTLY, UH, EXECUTED TWO SEPARATE DEALS WITH EDGE DATA CENTERS IN KANSAS CITY.
AND ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WE ARE SEEING AS AN ENORMOUS WASTE HEAT SOURCE OR EDGE DATA CENTERS, AS YOU GET INTO TECHNOLOGIES LIKE AUTONOMOUS DRIVING CARS, WE'RE STARTING TO SEE SMALLER DATA CENTERS AND THE QUITE LARGE 10 20, THE ONE IN KANSAS CITY'S 25 MEGAWATTS THAT WE ARE CONNECTED ONTO OUR CHILL WATER SYSTEM THAT'S BRINGING THE HEAT BACK TO THE PLANT.
WE ARE THEN GONNA USE THAT HEAT TO HELP HEAT THE CITY OF, OF, UH, KANSAS CITY.
SO WE'RE LOOKING TO DO THE SAME THING HERE IN BOSTON AND CAMBRIDGE AND US BEING A PRIVATE UTILITY ALLOWS US TO GET INTO THOSE AGREEMENTS QUICK WITH THOSE KIND OF EDGE DATA CENTERS.
BUT WHEN WE'RE LOOKING AT HEAT, I A HUNDRED PERCENT AGREE THAT OFTENTIMES WASTE HEAT IS MORE ECONOMIC.
AND THESE EDGE DATA CENTERS, IF YOU PUT 20 MEGAWATTS INTO A DATA CENTER, YOU GET 20 MEGAWATTS OF WASTE HEAT OUT.
I DON'T THINK ANYONE WOULD SAY, WE SOMETIMES OVER-REGULATE, BUT THERE'S A REASON THAT REGULATIONS COME IN.
AND SO IT'S REALLY FIGURING THAT OUT.
THE CITY IS IN THE MIDDLE OF TRYING TO FIGURE OUT HOW DO WE ACCELERATE MANY, MANY THINGS BY NOT TAKING AWAY REGULATION.
AND YET YOU'RE RIGHT THERE, THERE IS BOY, WHEN YOU GO TO NATIONAL LEAGUE OF CITIES AND YOU HEAR HOW FAST OTHER PEOPLE GO, IT'S A LITTLE EMBARRASSING TO BE FROM MASSACHUSETTS.
ERIC, DID YOU WANNA, AND THEN WE GET TO COUNCILOR ZUI, IF I MAY JUST CONTINUE ON THE POINT.
UM, WASTE HEAT IN ANY FORM OR USING OUR WATERWAYS OR USING AN AQUIFER ARE ALL GREAT WAYS TO RECOVER AND LEVERAGE THE HEAT THAT'S ALREADY IN OUR SYSTEMS. THE KEY IS YOU HAVE TO HAVE A WAY TO MOVE AND USE THAT HEAT.
IF YOU DON'T HAVE THE HIGHWAY, IF YOU DON'T HAVE THE THERMAL NETWORK, THERE'S NOWHERE FOR IT TO GO AND IT ENDS UP GOING UP INTO THE AIR AT A MUCH HIGHER COST.
SO I JUST WANTED TO CLOSE ON THAT POINT THAT YOU NEED SOME FORM OF A NETWORK REGARDLESS OF WHAT IT IS, THERE NEEDS TO BE A WAY TO MOVE THAT HEAT THROUGHOUT THE COMMUNITY.
MY FAVORITE IS THERE'S A BUILDING IN NEW YORK THAT JUST LIKE ACROSS FROM A POST OFFICE AND THEY JUST SHARE ENERGY.
IT'S UNBELIEVABLE HOW EFFECTIVE IT'S COUNCILOR UZI.
UM, THANK YOUR, THANK YOU COUNCILOR NOLAN IN WHAT AN AMAZING GATHERING OF MINDS.
UM, I WANTED, I JUST WANTED TO MAKE A COMMENT AT FIRST, WHICH IS, UH, IT SEEMS TO ME, UH, UNFORTUNATE THAT HEAT WASN'T BROUGHT IN AT, AT THE BEGINNING AS THE CITY WAS CONSIDERING, UM, EXPLORING THERMAL ENERGY NETWORKS.
I FEEL LIKE THE ASSUMPTIONS THAT THE SETUP OF THE STUDY
[01:25:01]
WOULD'VE BEEN MORE PRODUCTIVE HAD TO HEAT BLACK SWAN LAB TOO.I, UM, THEY, THEY SHOULD HAVE BEEN PART OF THE, AS YOU WERE DEFINING THE STUDY, THEY SHOULD HAVE BEEN THERE.
IT WOULD'VE BEEN A MORE EFFECTIVE STUDY IF THEY HAD BEEN ENGAGED.
SO LET'S LEARN FROM THAT EXPERIENCE AND BE MORE INCLUSIVE GOING FORWARD, UM, AND NOT INTIMIDATED BY OTHER, BRINGING IN OTHER EXPERTISE.
I WANTED TO ASK, AGAIN, LOOKING AT THE CITY STUDY AND THEN LIKE GOING BACK TO FRAMINGHAM, I DON'T KNOW WHAT THE FRAMINGHAM PROJECT COST, IT WOULD BE GOOD TO KNOW WHAT THAT COST WAS.
I MEAN, WE'RE THINKING THAT IF WE DEVELOPED AT PACIFIC STREET PARK, IT COULD COST BETWEEN WHAT, BETWEEN 50 AND $70 MILLION.
SO WHAT, WHAT DID THE FRAMINGHAM PROJECT COST AND WHO FUNDED IT? SO, UH, CURRENTLY AS I MENTIONED, UH, PER OUR LATEST GEOTHERMAL ENERGY PROVISION FILING, I BELIEVE WE'RE ON, UH, SPENDING INCURRED HAS BEEN AROUND $28 MILLION OVERALL.
AND THE OVERALL ESTIMATE FOR THE PROJECT IS ROUGHLY AROUND $30 MILLION, 38 28 INCURRED SO FAR.
AND THE TOTAL COST IS AROUND 30 MILLION IN WHAT YEAR? WHAT, OH, THIS IS OVERALL OVER TOTAL PROJECT COST.
AND SO WHY IS OUR PROJECT SO MUCH MORE EXPENSIVE? AND THEN JUST TO ADD ONTO THAT QUESTION, IS MIT SUPPORTIVE OF THE PACIFIC STREET PARK PROJECT AND WHO, WHO WOULD TAKE THE LEAD WITH THAT? WHO WOULD PAY FOR THAT PROJECT? CAN MAYBE I CAN JUST ADD A LITTLE BIT.
UM, AND I THINK SO, SO BRIAN CAN, UM, WEIGH IN OUR ARENA ON THE COST.
I THINK WE REALLY LOOKED AT THIS AS A FEASIBILITY STUDY.
AND SO I DO WANNA JUST TAKE A LITTLE BIT OF A BACKUP IN TERMS OF, UM, MAKING SURE WE'RE CLEAR THAT, YOU KNOW, THIS REALLY CAME OUT, UM, THE PUSH FOR THIS WAS IMMEDIATELY AFTER THE FRAMINGHAM PILOT CAME OUT AND, YOU KNOW, WE HAD WANTED TO PARTICIPATE IN THE EVERSOURCE PILOT, UM, AND WE WERE NOT CHOSEN, I THINK PROBABLY FOR SOME OF THE COMPLEXITIES AND, UM, AND CHALLENGES OF THE, THE CITY OF CAMBRIDGE.
AND SO THAT WAS SORT OF THE GENESIS OF THE STUDY.
AND SO I TOTALLY TAKE THE FEEDBACK ABOUT THERE WERE DIFFERENT WAYS TO LOOK AT IT AND DIFFERENT THINGS THAT SHOULD BE CONSIDERED.
AND SO, UM, TO COUNCILOR NOLAN'S POINT, LIKE THE PUSH AND PULL IS SUPER HELPFUL AND, AND ACTUALLY REALLY APPRECIATED.
UM, BUT THE, THE SORT OF THE PREMISE OF THE STUDY WAS REALLY TO SORT OF SAY, OKAY, IS A MODEL THAT'S SORT OF LIKE FRAMINGHAM REPEATABLE IN THE CITY OF CAMBRIDGE AND WHAT WOULD THAT LOOK LIKE? UM, AND SO THAT WAS THE PREMISE OF THE STUDY.
AND, UM, THE, THE, UM, THE, SO THE FEASIBILITY WAS REALLY A VERY HIGH LEVEL FEASIBILITY.
THIS IS NOT A, OH, WE HAVE A DESIGN, LET'S GO IMPLEMENT.
IT'S TO SORT OF SAY WHAT WOULD IT TAKE TO BE THE, FOR THIS TO BE FEASIBLE AT A NEIGHBORHOOD LEVEL, BUT THAT'S SORT OF REPEATABLE THAT YOU COULD DO A MULTIPLE LEVELS.
AND I THINK, YOU KNOW, AT A HIGH LEVEL, ONE OF THE SIGNIFICANT CHALLENGES IS THAT, YOU KNOW, FRAMINGHAM, THAT WAS DONE BY EVERSOURCE OWNED BY THE UTILITY THAT IS BEING BILLED BY THE UTILITY AND PAID BY THE RATE PAYERS.
AND IT'S ALSO THAT THERE IS MORE OF A DIRECT CONNECTION OF SOME OF THE COST OF LIKE, OH, YOU COULD AVOID THE COST OF A, OF FUTURE SUBSTATION, WHICH IS REALLY SIGNIFICANT, RIGHT? LIKE THAT IS ONE OF WHERE THE REALLY BENEFICIAL COSTS COME FROM AND THAT IS MUCH MORE CLEAR IF IT'S EVERSOURCE SORT OF OWNING THE G YOU KNOW, THE 10 NETWORK AND AVOIDING THE FUTURE, UM, SUBSTATION WORK.
AND SO IT'S SUPER HARD TO SORT OF PARSE THESE OUT AS A, OH, HERE'S A CAMBRIDGE PROJECT THAT WE SHOULD DO IN TERMS OF US OWNING AND OPERATING, UM, ELECTRIC UTILITY OR, YOU KNOW, A, UM, THERMAL ENERGY UTILITY AND SORT OF HOW THAT WOULD PLAY OUT.
AND SO I THINK THAT IS WHERE THE FRAMINGHAM MODEL IS SUPER HELPFUL IN TERMS OF EVERSOURCE.
AND AGAIN, EVERSOURCE, YOU KNOW, HAS BOTH THE GAS AND THE ELECTRICITY SIDE.
AND SO IF THEY'RE MOVING COMPANIES FROM ONE, YOU KNOW, CUSTOMERS FROM ONE SIDE OR THE OTHER, THEY'RE ALSO CAPTURING THOSE CUSTOMER BASE SO THEY'RE NOT COMPETING WITH EACH OTHER IN THE SAME WAY.
BUT, BUT I DID JUST WANNA MAKE REALLY CLEAR THAT THIS IS NOT SORT OF A LIKE, OH, HERE'S WHAT, UH, YOU KNOW, A DETAILED DESIGN THAT THEY WOULD MOVE FORWARD.
IT'S REALLY WHAT ARE THE CONDITIONS THAT WOULD MAKE THIS SORT OF REPEATABLE AT SCALE IN A NEIGHBORHOOD.
UM, AND I THINK IT'S SHOWN THAT THERE'S SOME REAL CHALLENGES WITH THAT AND THERE'S SOME REAL BENEFITS IN TERMS OF EVERSOURCE SORT OF BEING THE LEAD OWNER AND OPERATOR OF SUCH SYSTEMS THAT WE ARE REALLY DEDICATED TO TRYING TO FIGURE OUT HOW TO PROCEED WITH.
AND I ALSO JUST WANNA REALLY EMPHASIZE, I REALLY APPRECIATE, YOU KNOW, PULLING IN THE BOSS 10 CONVERSATION 'CAUSE THAT IS ALSO ONE THAT WE ARE SUPER EXCITED TO BE A PART OF.
AND I REALLY THINK, YOU KNOW, REALLY BELIEVE THAT BROADER COLLABORATION ON ALL OF THESE ISSUES, RIGHT? LIKE WE'VE TALKED ABOUT IT WITH THE COASTAL RESILIENCY FOR YEARS, UM, BUT SIMILARLY WITH THE, YOU KNOW, THE BOSTON GREEN RIBBON COMMISSION, IT'S SUPER HELPFUL TO HAVE THIS MORE REGIONAL LARGER SCALE.
[01:30:01]
UM, AND SO WE'RE SUPER EXCITED TO BE PARTICIPANTS IN THAT PROCESS AS WELL.UM, AND I, AND I'LL JUST SAY LEAN, DID YOU WANNA YEAH, DID YOU HAVE YOUR HAND UP? YEAH, I JUST WANTED TO ADD, JUST TO ADD TO THAT, I THINK IN ADDITION, UM, ONE OF THE MAIN, YOU KNOW, ADVANTAGES OF OF BEING IN A UTILITY IS A LOT OF TRANSFERABLE WORKFORCE OR TRANSFERABLE LEARNINGS.
AND, UM, I THINK HAVING THAT EXPERTISE WITHIN THE UTILITY HAS REALLY HELPED, UH, PUSH THE PROJECT, UH, FORWARD.
UM, ON THE COST, UH, ARGUMENT OR THE COST DISCUSSION.
I'D LIKE TO JUST ALSO, UM, POINT OUT AS, AS ERIC HAD MENTIONED, THE EXPANSION IS DOUBLING THE CAPACITY, BUT AT HALF THE COST, SO THIS IS, UH, A GREAT, OR AT WHAT DID WE EXPECT TO BE HALF THE COST? SO THIS IS A GREAT, UM, I GUESS LESSON LEARNED IN THE EXPANDABILITY OF, OF GEOTHERMAL SYSTEMS AND, UM, THE IMPROVED DEFICIENCY ONCE, UH, THE INITIAL SYSTEM IS, UH, IS CONSTRUCTED AND YOU START TO BUILD ON THAT NETWORK AND THE NETWORK BENEFITS AS THE NETWORK GROWS.
I JUST WANTED TO FLAG THAT AS WELL.
IF, IF IT WASN'T CLEAR, BY THE WAY, IF ANYONE AT THE TABLE WANTS TO ADD, JUST LIKE PUT YOUR HAND UP OR SOMETHING AND I'LL TRY TO SCAN AND MAKE SURE THAT YOU'RE INCLUDED.
SO ARENA AND THEN AUDREY AND THEN KATHY, THANK YOU.
I KNOW IT'S HARDER TO HAVE THE FOLKS THAT ARE ONLINE RAISE THEIR HANDS, BUT I THINK ROB MCKENNA, IF YOU'RE ON AND CAN TALK A LITTLE BIT MORE ABOUT HOW THE CITY'S STUDY EVALUATED THE COSTS AND CAN I JUST CONFIRM AT SOME POINT ALL THOSE ASSUMPTIONS WILL BE MADE PUBLIC, CORRECT? YEAH, WE HAVE A, WE HAVE THE REPORTS TO SHARE OUT, AND MAYBE YOU HAD ALSO ASKED ABOUT THE, YOU KNOW, PARTICIPATION OF MIT AND I THINK MIT WAS INTERESTED IN HAVING US LOOK INTO THIS BUILDING IN PART BECAUSE THE BUILDING ITSELF IS NOT PART OF THE UTI OF THE, UH, CENTRAL UTILITY PLANT FOR THE CAMPUS.
SO WE WERE ABLE TO, YOU KNOW, PROVIDE DATA THROUGH THIS COST ESTIMATION OF WHAT IT WOULD TAKE TO CONVERT THIS BUILDING THAT WE ARE ABLE TO SHARE WITH MIT.
ROB, DID YOU WANNA? THANK YOU.
I'LL, I'LL ATTEMPT TO, UH, CAN, CAN YOU ALL HEAR ME? MM-HMM
I'LL, I'LL ATTEMPT TO RESPOND TO, TO THE COST, UH, QUESTION.
SO, UH, FOR STARTERS, UM, THIS IS A, A CONCEPTUAL, UH, STUDY.
AND SO THESE COST ESTIMATES ARE CLASSIFIED ESTIMATES BASED ON BASICALLY, UH, LESS THAN 5% DESIGN OF A SYSTEM.
AND SO THERE IS A WIDE RANGE OF UNCERTAINTY AROUND, UH, THESE COST ESTIMATES.
AND SO THERE IS A SIGNIFICANT, UH, PROBABILITY THAT THE COST COULD POTENTIALLY BE LESS.
SECOND FACTOR IF YOU'RE COMPARING RELATIVE TO THE, UH, FRAMINGHAM EXAMPLE IS WE'RE NOW, UH, A FEW YEARS BEYOND THAT COST ESCALATIONS.
THERE'S BEEN SIGNIFICANT COST ESCALATIONS IN THIS MARKET SPECIFICALLY, UH, THAT HAVE DRIVEN COSTS HIGHER.
AND SO THE COST, UH, REFERENCE POINTS THAT WE UTILIZED, UM, YOU KNOW, HAD ACCOUNTED FOR THAT, WHICH IS A, YOU KNOW, FAIRLY, UH, SIGNIFICANT INCREASE IN, IN COSTS.
AND, UM, ANYWAY, SO THOSE ARE THE TWO BIGGEST DRIVERS THAT WE SEE.
AND LET ME, UH, POINT AT, UH, LINDSAY AND BRIAN, UH, FROM OUR TEAM TO SEE IF YOU HAVE ANY OTHER ELEMENTS TO, UH, UH, TO ADD TO THAT, BRIAN, I KNOW WE'RE, UH, YOU HAD A COUPLE OF OTHER POINTS POTENTIALLY TO ADD.
YEAH, I MEAN, I MEAN, I MEAN OBVIOUSLY LIKE YOU SAID, THIS IS A CLASS FIVE ESTIMATE.
WE LOOKED AT THE NUMBER OF OTHER PROJECTS THAT WE'VE BEEN INVOLVED WITH AROUND THE COUNTRY, UH, COMPARED THAT, UH, TO THE COST THAT WE WERE ESTIMATING.
OBVIOUSLY THERE'S A TREMENDOUS AMOUNT OF CONTINGENCY IN THE COST BECAUSE YOU DON'T REALLY KNOW UNTIL YOU GET INTO THE DESIGN EXACTLY WHAT THE DESIGN ELEMENTS ARE AND HOW THAT IMPACTS COSTS.
SO, UM, BUT WE DID TRY TO USE AS MUCH AS WE COULD FROM OTHER PROJECTS AND, AND ALSO TALKING WITH THE COST ESTIMATOR THAT HAS REGIONAL COSTS.
SO, YOU KNOW, UH, YEAH, IF YOU LOOK AT THE, THE LOW END OF OUR COST ESTIMATE, IT'S UM, ABOUT NOT QUITE DOUBLE WHAT FRAMINGHAM IS, BUT AGAIN, UH, NOT KNOWING EXACTLY HOW YOU WERE GOING TO TREAT EACH BUILDING.
AND THESE BUILDINGS ARE A LITTLE MORE COMPLICATED, ESPECIALLY THE COMMERCIAL BUILDINGS.
SO THERE'S GONNA BE A LITTLE HIGHER COST THERE.
UH, CAMBRIDGE STREETS ARE MORE CONFINED AND MORE DENSE, SO THERE'S MORE THAN LIKELY GONNA BE HIGHER COSTS THERE.
UM, AND SO, YOU KNOW, WHEN WE LOOKED AT ALL THAT AND WE ADJUSTED OUR COSTS ACCORDINGLY AND THEN ADDED THE CONTINGENCIES, THAT'S KIND OF WHERE THE PRICING FELL.
BUT I THINK THE COSTS ARE ALL RELATIVELY DEFENSIBLE, BUT IF YOU GOT INTO IT MORE DETAILED, CERTAINLY YOU COULD MAKE ADJUSTMENTS TO THOSE COSTS TO GET IT, UH, TO GET THAT COST TO HOME.
BUT YOU DON'T REALLY KNOW THAT UNTIL YOU HAVE A DESIGN, UNTIL YOU ACTUALLY, UH, GET INTO THE, TO THE PROCESS AND THEN GET MORE REFINED COST ESTIMATES.
SO THAT'S KINDA WHERE WE WERE AT WITH IT.
UM, I MEAN, WE'VE DONE A, A NUMBER OF THESE PROJECTS AND, AND ALSO A LOT OF GEOTHERMAL AROUND THE NATION.
AND SO WE'VE PULLED FROM A PRETTY LARGE DATA
[01:35:01]
BANK OF, OF COSTS THAT WE KNOW OF.AND THEN OF COURSE, AGAIN, LIKE I SAID, WE'VE APPLIED A, A LOT OF CONTINGENCIES AND, UM, ESCALATION TO THAT.
IS HAS, UH, WHO ELSE WANTED TO, DID YOU, I JUST WANNA MAKE SURE I GET AROUND, BUT WE'RE WE ALSO, WE ARE SUPPOSED TO END AT ONE 30 AND I DO HAVE A FEW QUESTIONS.
SO OF COURSE I JUST WANTED TO ASK, SO IT, FOR THE PACIFIC STREET SITE, IS THERE, IS THERE A POSSIBLE PARTY THAT IS INTERESTED IN TAKING THE LEAD? I'M JUST TRYING TO THINK ABOUT THE VIABILITY OF THE PACIFIC STREET SITE SINCE THAT WAS SELECTED AS POSSIBLY THE MOST LIKELY.
WELL, I'LL GO TO AUDREY AND THEN I THINK THE, THE KEY IS, IS THAT WE WOULD'VE TO GO TO THE NEXT STEP AND SAY, OKAY, WHAT'S NEXT STEPS FOR THE, FOR THE CITY AND FOR THIS WHOLE IDEA.
AUDREY, DID YOU WANNA YEAH, I WOULD JUST SUGGEST, SUGGEST THAT THERE'S A LOT OF, UH, FRUSTRATED INVESTMENT MONEY NOW THAT WAS GONNA GO INTO SOLAR OR WIND, UM, THAT IS CURRENTLY LOOKING AT THERMAL NETWORKS.
AND I WOULD REMIND EVERYBODY TO CALL IT THERMAL NETWORKS RATHER THAN GEOTHERMAL BECAUSE WE'VE ALREADY ESTABLISHED THAT GEOTHERMAL IS THE MOST EXPENSIVE WAY AND THAT MIGHT NOT BE THE WAY WE WANNA GO FORWARD IF IT IS POSSIBLE IN THE LOCAL AREA.
UH, SECONDLY, THE FIRST COMPUTER, UM, COST I THINK $55,000.
PERSONAL COMPUTER COST $55,000 NOT ADJUSTED FOR INFLATION.
NOBODY RESENTS THAT AS THE FIRST COST BECAUSE THE COST CAME DOWN A LOT SINCE THEN.
RIGHT? SO THIS IS SOMETHING THAT PROBABLY WILL BE MORE EXPENSIVE IN THE BEGINNING AND GO DOWN OVER TIME.
UH, THIRD, UM, I'M GONNA BE HAVING A SERIES OF PAPERS OUT ABOUT BOTH HOW TO REDUCE THE COST OF THERMAL NETWORKS AS WELL AS HOW TO COMPARE COSTS ACROSS DIFFERENT SYSTEMS. UH, I SUGGEST YOU LOOK FOR THEM.
THE FIRST ONE SHOULD BE OUT IN ABOUT TWO WEEKS ON MY WEBSITE.
AND ALSO JUST TO REMIND US, DIRECT ENERGY, LIKE ALL THE FEDERAL SUBSIDIES HAVE GONE AWAY, BUT DIRECT ENERGY STILL, I BELIEVE PAYS FOR, UH, THERMAL ENERGY NETWORKS, WHEREAS THEY TOOK AWAY SOLAR.
SO IT'S STILL POSSIBLE IF, IF YOU DON'T KNOW THAT.
I MEAN THAT'S, IF WE KNOW THE FEDERAL FUNDING IS NOT THERE AND YET, I, I DON'T KNOW IF VICINITY IS PART OF IT, BUT DEFINITELY THERMAL ENERGY NETWORKS ARE STILL ON A POSSIBLE FEDERAL, UH, TAX BREAK.
SO, UM, SO DID I GIVE A COUPLE QUESTIONS OR WAS THERE A COUPLE MORE? DID YOU WANNA SAY ANYTHING OR, AND THEN ERIC NO, YOU'RE OKAY OR I CAN'T TELL.
ERIC, I, I WAS JUST GONNA ADD THE, THE FEDERAL ITC IS AVAILABLE AS WELL AS POTENTIAL STATE CREDITS.
UM, YOU KNOW, THINGS LIKE MASS SAVE, AND SO TAKING INITIAL CONSTRUCTION COSTS INTO ACCOUNT IS GREAT, BUT UNDERSTANDING THE BENEFITS SIDE AND THE POTENTIAL TAX INCENTIVES AS WELL IS REALLY IMPORTANT.
PEOPLE SEE THAT STICKER NUMBER OF SAY 50 MILLION AND THEY DON'T REALIZE THERE'S POTENTIALLY A 30% TAX CREDIT THAT COULD BE APPLIED TO THAT WITH THE CAVEAT THAT THERE ARE SOME REQUIREMENTS TO GET THAT.
AND I BELIEVE THEY START SUNING IN 2032.
SO IF YOU DON'T MOVE QUICK, YOU KNOW, THEY, THEY MAY NOT BE THERE.
SO IF, DID YOU WANNA, I HAVE A COUPLE QUESTIONS.
SHOULD I GO TO THEM? I SHOULD.
I WAS JUST GONNA SAY PENNY, WOULD IT BE COUNCILLOR NOLAN WOULD BE HELPFUL.
I DON'T KNOW IF EVERSOURCE HAS ANY COMMENTS ABOUT AND LOOKING AT BEYOND EXPANDING AND FRAMINGHAM SORT OF NEXT STEPS IN TERMS OF YOUR PROGRAM.
YEAH, SO WE CURRENTLY HAVE A, A NEW CONSTRUCTION FILING WITH THE DPU.
AND THE PURPOSE OF THAT FILING IS TO, UM, PROCEED WITH NEW PROJECT FOR NEW TARGETING, NEW CONSTRUCTION.
UH, THE LOGIC BEHIND THAT IS THAT BUILDING RETROFITS ARE THE LARGEST COST CHUNK, ESSENTIALLY FROM THE PILOT.
UH, BEHIND THE METER WORK WAS QUITE EXPENSIVE AND WE WOULD CONSTANTLY RUN INTO UNFORESEEN CIRCUMSTANCES THAT REQUIRE REMEDIATION, UH, LIKE MOLD, ASBESTOS, ET CETERA.
AND SO BY ADDRESSING NEW CONSTRUCTION, YOU CAN REALLY FIND A LOT OF COST SYNERGIES, REDUCED RESTORATION COSTS, PERMITTING, ET CETERA, AND, AND ALIGN WITH THE DEVELOPER ON A NUMBER OF WAYS.
AND SO, UM, THAT IS CURRENTLY, UM, UH, A WAY FORWARD THAT THE COMPANY IS LOOKING TOWARDS.
AGAIN, I'M, IT'S, EVERY COMMENT IS MAKING ME MORE EXCITED ABOUT POSSIBILITIES.
SO I DID WANNA, I HAVE A COUPLE QUESTIONS.
UM, JOE, IF YOU COULD EXPLAIN, SO IT'S TOTALLY EXCITING ABOUT MET, IS THAT NOW TOTALLY FOSSIL FUEL FOR YOU? YOU SAID IT'S, AND SOME OF THE NEW BUILDING IS LIKE 70% MORE EFFICIENT, BUT HOW FAR ALONG THE TERM, YOU KNOW, THE, THE MET WAREHOUSE AND YOU MENTIONED SOME OTHER NEW BUILDING THAT IS GONNA BE 70%, YOU KNOW, WITH THE QUANTUM COMPUTING, HOW CLOSE IS IT TO COMPLETELY EMISSION POLLUTION FREE AND ALSO IN YOUR RANGE FOR THE, UM, THERMAL HARVESTING FROM MIT, YOU MENTIONED REALLY MAKING USE OF THE WASTE, THE WASTE HEAT, IS THE NUCLEAR POWER PLANT ALSO INCLUDED IN THAT, THAT YOU'RE GONNA BE USING THAT FOR SOMETHING HELPFUL? SURE.
UM, MADAM CHAIR, UM, SO I'D SAY THE MET WAREHOUSE, UM, UH, IS, IS FULLY ELECTRIFIED.
[01:40:01]
SO IT, IT USES, UM, OLIVE ELECTRICITY, WHICH IS OFFSET BY OUR RENEWABLE ENERGY CERTIFICATES.SO I'D I'D SAY IT'S PROBABLY, PROBABLY 98%, UM, FOSSIL FREE.
UM, IT IS CONNECTED TO OUR CENTRAL CHILL WATER PLANT BECAUSE WE CAN MAKE CHILL WATER VERY, VERY EFFICIENTLY WITH LARGE MACHINES IN OUR CENTRAL PLANT THAT ARE RUN MOSTLY ON ELECTRICITY, BUT IT'S ALSO A BYPRODUCT OF STEAM FROM OUR COGEN PROCESS DURING THE MIDDLE OF THE SUMMER WHEN IT'S MOST EFFECTIVE FOR THE UTILITY TO, TO, UH, TO RUN FOR THE GRID.
SO, SO THERE'S, THERE'S A SMALL COMPONENT.
I WOULDN'T SAY IT'S A HUNDRED PERCENT, BUT IT'S PROBABLY LIKE 99%.
UM, AND THEN THE SAME WOULD BE FOR THE, YOU KNOW, BILLING 39, UH, QUANTUM LAB IS, YOU KNOW, PROBABLY IN THAT SAME, SAME RANGE.
SO, SO WE'RE REALLY EXCITED WITH THAT.
UM, SO, SO THE QUESTION ABOUT, UM, WASTE HEAT.
SO, SO, SO WE HAVE A, AN AIR CONDITIONING SYSTEM NETWORK AROUND THE CAMPUS THAT REJECTS HEAT FROM ALL THE LABORATORIES AND DORMS AND ATHLETIC FACILITIES.
UM, WE ALSO HAVE A LOOP THAT, YOU KNOW, SENDS HEAT AROUND.
UM, SO WE THINK WE CAN GET 30 TO 40% SOURCE HEAT FROM THE AIR CONDITIONING SYSTEM.
IT'S, IT'S WASTE HEAT THAT WE OTHERWISE JUST REJECT TO THE, YOU KNOW, THROUGH COOLING TOWERS, UM, THROUGH AN ELECTRIC HEAT PUMP JUST LIKE WE DO WITH THE MET AND PUT IT BACK INTO HEATING, UH, THE BUILDING.
AND THEN OBVIOUSLY THE NEXT QUESTION IS THE NEXT PHASES OF THAT HEAT PUMP PLANT, WHERE ARE WE GOING TO GET, UM, YOU KNOW, MORE WASTE HEAT? SO, UM, WE WE'RE ALREADY EVALUATING, YOU KNOW, OUR, OUR NUCLEAR REACTOR, WHICH RUNS INTERMITTENTLY.
UM, WE HAVE A CHILL WATER LINE THAT GOES RIGHT BY IT.
WE'RE GONNA HOOK RIGHT INTO IT AND REJECT THE HEAT FROM THE REACTOR INTO THE INTO LOOPS, NOT DIRECTLY FROM THE REACTOR.
IT'S THE COOLING TOWER FOR, FOR THE REACTOR.
UM, AND YOU KNOW, SO, SO AGAIN, I THINK WE ARE INSANELY OPTIMISTIC THAT THE BOSS 10 IS GONNA PROVIDE THE NEXT 60 TO 70% SOURCE ENERGY FOR THE FUTURE PHASES OF THE HEAT PUMP PLANT.
AND, AND, AND I, AND I THINK I WOULD, UM, KIND OF GO BACK TO, WE ALL LEARNED A LOT OVER THE LAST COUPLE OF YEARS TOGETHER AS, AS YOU KNOW, THE CITIES, THE UTILITY COMPANIES, OUR FACULTY, OUR STUDENTS, OUR UTILITY PROVIDERS, OUR INDUSTRY PARTNERS,
I MEAN, YOU KNOW, WE, WE MET THE SCIENTISTS IN GERMANY AND DENMARK, WE MET THE MINISTRIES.
YOU KNOW, WE TALKED TO THE, YOU KNOW, YOU KNOW, GOVERNMENTS OF, YOU KNOW, THE COMMONWEALTH.
AND YOU KNOW, I THINK TECHNOLOGICALLY, I THINK WE REALIZE THAT WE HAVE TO GO BIG ON A THERMAL ENERGY NETWORK, UM, CITYWIDE.
AND, AND AGAIN, I THINK THAT THERE'S NO SINGLE NETWORK SOLUTION THAT FITS EVERY APPLICATION.
UM, AND I THINK WE HEARD TODAY LIKE, OH, WE SHOULD DO THIS, WE SHOULD DO THAT.
NOW, WHAT WE LEARNED IN GERMANY,
SO THEIR WHOLE PHILOSOPHY IS USE THE WASTE ENERGY FIRST, THEN GO TO THE SEA OR THE RIVERS AND THEN YOU DO YOUR PEAKS WITH NATURAL GAS OR RENEWABLE FUELS OR WHATEVER THE NEXT KIND OF TECH.
SO I WOULD SAY TECHNICALLY WE'VE LEARNED A LOT TOGETHER TO HAVE THIS CONVERSATION.
I, I WOULD REALLY LIKE TO ASK THE NEXT TRIP OVER TO DENMARK, BE LEADERS FROM THE CITY OF CAMBRIDGE, THE CITY OF BOSTON.
UM, IT NEEDS TO BE EVERSOURCE, IT NEEDS TO BE INGRID AND, AND, AND THE COMMONWEALTH, YOU KNOW, THE ENERGY SECRETARY AND WE NEED TO MEET WITH THE MINISTRY OF ENERGY IN, IN, IN DENMARK, AND WE KNOW THE AMBASSADOR.
SO HE'S WILLING TO SET UP THAT MEETING AND THEY SET IT UP THE GOVERNANCE, THE OWNER OPERATOR MODEL.
WE NEED THE OWNER OPERATOR MODEL FIRST.
AND I THINK WE'VE HEARD THAT DISCUSSED TODAY.
WHO'S GONNA OWN IT? WHO'S GONNA MONETIZE IT? WHO'S GONNA OPERATE IT? WHO'S GONNA RECOVER THE RATES THROUGH IT? THAT'S SOMETHING THAT THE NEXT DELEGATION AND HOPEFULLY IT'S WITHIN THE NEXT YEAR IS GONNA GONNA SOLVE.
AND THE QUESTION IS, IS IT A, IS IT A PUBLIC, UH, UTILITY? IS IT A PRIVATE UTILITY? UM, IS IT, UM, A MUNICIPAL UH, PROVIDER? UH, THERE'S, THERE'S A NUMBER OF DIFFERENT WAYS WE CAN THINK ABOUT WHO OWNS AND OPERATES IT AND MONETIZES IT AND RECOVERS THE RATES.
UM, AND THE BOSS 10 STUDY IS GONNA EVALUATE SORT OF LIKE, KIND OF THOSE FOUR MODELS.
THEY'RE GONNA LIKE LIGHTLY TOUCH IT, BUT I THINK THE NEXT CONTINGENT IS TO REALLY GO OVER AND TALK TO THE PEOPLE THAT DO IT AND THEY DO IT AFFORDABLY AND YOU KNOW, AND THEY SAY, HERE'S HOW WE GOVERN IT.
HERE'S HOW WE SET THE RATES, HERE'S WHY ALL THE VILLAGES SIGN UP FOR IT AND TAKE THE HEAT BETTER THAN THEY COULD PROVIDE IT FOR THEMSELVES.
SO I I I WOULD SAY THAT'S SORT OF IT, SOMETHING COMES OUT OF THIS DISCUSSION IS THE TECHNOLOGISTS IN THE ROOM ARE, ARE KIND OF THERE.
WE, WE NEED TO GET THE POLICY GOVERNANCE LEVEL THERE TO REALLY TAKE THAT NEXT BIG STEP ONCE WE GET THE RESULTS BACK FROM THE BOSS 10, UM, EARLY CONCEPT EVALUATION.
SO I, I DON'T SAY IT LIGHTLY 'CAUSE WE HAVE TO BUILD ON WHAT'S ALREADY WORKING.
SO IT'S SO VERY MUCH IN LINE WITH, WITH WHAT IT IS THAT WE HOPE TO DO.
AND I AM READY TO GO AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.
SO MY NEXT QUESTION IS FOR VICINITY.
YOU MENTIONED A COUPLE TIMES ABOUT HOW THIS ADOPTION HAS BEEN FASTER THAN EXPECTED.
YOU KNOW, CAN YOU JUST TALK ABOUT THE LESSONS? IS IT 'CAUSE THE TECHNOLOGY EVOLVED FASTER THAN EXPECTED FINANCING
[01:45:01]
DID DEMAND, DID THE, UM, AVOIDED COSTS, YOU KNOW, THE, THE OPPORTUNITY COST OF NOT DOING IT? LIKE WHAT WAS IT? 'CAUSE YOU MENTIONED THAT A COUPLE TIMES.I THINK IT WOULD BE MAYBE THE LESSONS LEARNED FOR SURE.
I THINK WHAT ULTIMATELY DRIVES THE RATE OF ADOPTION IS THE COST THAT YOU APPROACH THE MARKET WITH.
WELL ACTUALLY LIKE TAKE A STEP BACK, UH, CITIES SETTING OUT THE RIGHT REGULATORY ENVIRONMENTS, WHICH CREATES A MARKET WHICH SHOWS BUILDINGS WHICH DIRECTION WE'RE GOING AND SHOWS END USERS, WHICH DIRECTION WE'RE GOING GETS EVERYBODY ON THE SAME PAGE, RIGHT? SO ALBERTO AND BOSTON BUTO HERE IN, IN CAMBRIDGE.
SO ONCE YOU'VE GOT THAT GROUNDWORK IN PLACE APPROACHING THE MARKET WITH SOMETHING THAT IS AFFORDABLE, THERE'S A DIRECT CORRELATION BETWEEN THE RATE OF ADOPTION AND THE AFFORDABILITY THAT YOU COME IN WITH.
AND ONE OF THE THINGS WE'VE BEEN PLEASANTLY SURPRISED WITH THAT WE'VE BEEN ABLE TO SOURCE ELECTRICITY LESS EXPENSIVE THAN WE ANTICIPATED THAT WE COULD.
UH, WE'VE ALSO BEEN ABLE TO DELIVER AT SLIGHTLY HIGHER EFFICIENCIES THAN WE ANTICIPATED.
UH, AND I REALLY THINK THAT IT WAS THE, THE, THE PRICE THAT ULTIMATELY SETS THAT ADOPTION RATE.
AND SO THAT'S WHAT'S DRIVING IT.
AND WE DIDN'T ANTICIPATE MOVING INTO DESIGN ON HEAT PUMP TWO, UH, FOR QUITE SOME TIME, BUT WE'VE ALREADY STARTED DESIGN ON HEAT PUMP TWO BECAUSE WE ANTICIPATE HEAT PUMP ONE ENTERING THE MARKET FULLY SUBSCRIBED.
SO THAT'S ONE OF THE REASONS WHY KEEP PUSHING THE POINT.
AFFORDABILITY IS NOT JUST SOMETHING THAT'S IMPORTANT IN TODAY'S ENVIRONMENT, BUT AFFORDABILITY SETS THE PACE AT WHICH YOU WERE GOING TO BE ABLE TO ENTICE PEOPLE ONTO WHATEVER PRODUCT YOU ARE PUTTING OUT THERE.
AND I A HUNDRED PERCENT AGREE WITH JOE.
I THINK A BIG PART OF BEING ABLE TO DO THAT IS SHOWING UP WITH THE RIGHT TOOL TO THE RIGHT JOB.
WE LOOK AT A LOT OF DIFFERENT DISTRICT ENERGY SYSTEMS ACROSS THE WORLD AND ONE OF THE ONES THAT WE REALLY LIKE IS BERLIN.
UH, BERLIN HAS MULTIPLE DIFFERENT TEMPERATURES, MULTIPLE DIFFERENT WAYS THAT IT SERVES ITS END USERS, BUT IT'S ALL ABOUT APPROACHING THAT END USER WITH THE MOST AFFORDABLE PRODUCT, NOT NECESSARILY THE MOST EFFICIENT OR NOT NECESSARILY, UH, IT'S ABOUT GETTING TO THE MOST AFFORDABLE POINT AND THAT DRIVES THE RATE OF ADOPTION.
SO I THINK THAT'S THE UNDERLYING PREMISE THAT WE LEARNED IS WORK OVERTIME TO TRY TO GET THE COST DOWN BECAUSE THAT'LL DRIVE THE RATE OF ADOPTION FOR THE SUSTAINABLE SOLUTION.
AND OF COURSE EFFICIENCY FACTORS INTO AFFORDABILITY AS WELL BECAUSE IT DOES.
MY QUESTION FOR EVERSOURCE IS A COUPLE.
SO I'M GONNA, AND I RECOGNIZE, FIRST OF ALL, I REALLY THANK YOU FOR BEING HERE.
I KNOW THAT YOU ALL ARE WORKING ON A GAZILLION DIFFERENT THINGS, PLUS WE'RE ALL WAITING FOR THE STATE TO ALLOW YOU TO DO THINGS THAT WE WANT YOU TO DO AND WE VERY MUCH RELY ON BOTH PRIVATE UTILITIES AND OUR PUBLIC UTILITIES.
SO I'LL THROW A COUPLE QUESTIONS.
UM, HOW ARE AVOIDED COSTS FACTORED INTO DECISIONS? UM, AT, AT EVERSOURCE YOU DO YOUR LONG-TERM PLANNING.
'CAUSE I DO THINK WHAT WE HAVE TO THINK ABOUT AND WE AS A CITY HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY JUST LIKE MIT AND VICINITY, WE SHOULD BE THINKING IN 50 YEAR TIMELINES BECAUSE WE ARE GONNA BE HERE FOR 50 YEARS, WHICH IS VERY DIFFERENT FROM SOME MODELS WHERE IT'S JUST LIKE A FIVE YEAR TIMELINE.
UM, THAT'S, UM, I THINK HELPFUL IN SOME WAYS.
AND THEN IT IS IT KIND OF RELATED TO AVOID COSTS IS THE NEED FOR SUBSTATIONS, YOU KNOW, IS IT POSSIBLE TO CALCULATE THE SAVINGS ABOUT NOT NEEDING THEM IF IT IS THAT WE CAN GET MORE EFFICIENT, UH, DELIVERY OF SYSTEMS. AND THEN THE OTHER QUESTION IS, SO HOW DOES THE FACT THAT WE'RE A GAS ISLAND FACTOR INTO, OR SHOULD IT FACTOR INTO THE WAY THAT WE AS A CITY AND YOU AS EVERSOURCE AS OUR UTILITY CONSIDER GOING FORWARD? SO DOES THAT MAKE SENSE? IT'S JUST LOVE TO HEAR YOUR THOUGHTS AND AGAIN, IF I'M THROWING THINGS AT YOU THAT ARE UNFAIR AND YOU HAVE TO GET BACK TO ME, THAT'S AN APPROPRIATE ANSWER TOO.
YEAH, I THINK FOR A COUPLE ITEMS I MIGHT HAVE TO, MIGHT HAVE TO GET BACK TO YOU.
I THINK IN TERMS OF THE COORDINATION ON, YOU KNOW, SUBSTATIONS OR AVOIDED COSTS, UM, I THINK THAT THE TEAM WORKS VERY CLOSELY WITH, IN THE INTEGRATED ENERGY PLANNING TEAM WITHIN, WITHIN EVERSOURCE.
AND, UM, THERE'S ALWAYS THAT DISCUSSION OF, UM, AVOIDED ELECTRICAL UPGRADE COSTS, UM, UH, THERE THAT WOULD, THAT THAT DOES FACTOR INTO, THAT DOES FACTOR IN THE PLANNING.
SO THAT'S ALWAYS A GOOD, UM, DISCUSSION AND RELATIONSHIP TO HAVE INTERNALLY WITHIN, WITHIN THE, WITHIN THE UTILITY.
UM, UH, CAN YOU REPEAT THE SECOND QUESTION? SORRY.
YEAH, JUST IT'S, IT'S UM, YOU KNOW, BASICALLY ALL AVOIDED COSTS.
HOW WOULD THAT FACTOR IN? UM, AND THEN THE QUESTION OF THIS GAS ISLAND, YOU KNOW, WE HEARD CAMBRIDGE IS A GAS ISLAND.
UM, AND ALSO IT'S, IT'S KIND OF INTRIGUING TO ME, AS WAS ALSO POINTED OUT, EVERSOURCE IS BOTH ARE ELECTRIC SUPPLIER AND OUR GAS SUPPLIER.
SO IF THAT WASN'T THE CASE, AND I KNOW EVERSOURCE HAS WORKED A LONG TIME ON TRYING TO GET THEM, MY UNDERSTANDING IS THAT THEY'RE NOT TOTALLY SEPARATE BECAUSE OTHERWISE YOU HAVE, YOU CAN'T REDUCE GAS, YOU CAN'T ELECTRIFY 'CAUSE THAT REDUCES OUR GAS.
BUT IF YOU CAN SEE, NO, WE'RE JUST SHIFTING IT OVER.
UM, SO, BUT IT'S THAT GAS ISLAND THING, LIKE HOW, HOW INSIGNIFICANT IS THAT AS WE DO OUR PLANNING FOR, FOR, UH, FUTURE DECARBONIZATION? UM, YEAH, AGAIN, I THINK I MIGHT HAVE TO, I MIGHT HAVE TO CHECK BACK AND GET BACK TO YOU ON THAT.
I THINK IN TERMS OF THE, UM, AGAIN, THE, THE COORDINATION AND AS YOU SAID, THE COMPLETE SEPARATION BETWEEN GAS AND ELECTRIC WITH THE INTEGRATED ENERGY PLANNING, UH, EFFORTS, I THINK THAT REALLY
[01:50:01]
ADDRESSES A LOT OF THOSE.UM, UH, MAYBE LIKE HISTORICAL COMMUNICATION GAPS, UM, IN TERMS OF FACTORING IN AVOIDED ENERGY COSTS, UM, OR NOT AVOIDED ENERGY COSTS, AVOIDED COSTS IN GENERAL, UM, WITHIN THE, THE, THE PLANNING PROCESS.
UM, IN TERMS OF WITH, WITHIN THE ENERGY INTEGRATED ENERGY PLANNING GROUP, THERE ARE, UH, UH, NPA ANALYSES THERE, WHICH DO FACTOR IN, UM, WHICH DO FACTOR IN AVOIDED COSTS WITHIN OUR PROJECT OR THE GEOTHERMAL PROGRAM, UH, WITHIN ITSELF.
WE ALSO, AGAIN, WORK WITH THE SAME GROUPS TO KIND OF IDENTIFY WHAT ARE THE AVOIDED COSTS, FOR EXAMPLE, WITHIN THE CITY FRAMING WITHIN THE FRAMINGHAM PILOT.
UM, AND THEN AS I MENTIONED WITHIN THE OTHER, UH, FILINGS THAT WE'RE CURRENTLY WORKING ON, LIKE THE NEW CONSTRUCTION FILINGS.
AGAIN, WHAT ARE THE AVOIDED COSTS? THAT COULD BE BY STARTING IN A, UM, UNDEVELOPED, UH, UNDEVELOPED AREA, AND THEN HOW COULD THAT COULD HELP STREAMLINE, UH, COSTS, UH, FURTHER.
AND THEN I JUST HAVE ONE BROAD QUESTION FOR ANYBODY AT THE TABLE.
HOW DO WE THINK ABOUT THE HEALTH COSTS OF CONTINUING? YOU KNOW, THE, THE ONE I KEEP COMING BACK TO, AND I KNOW IT'S, IT'S ONLY INDIRECTLY RELATED TO THERMAL ENERGY NETWORK, BUT IF YOU TAKE MY HOUSE, WHICH I AM SLOWLY TAKING APPLIANCES AND REPLACING THEM WITH ELECTRIC, BUT WE ARE NOT ALL ELECTRIC, BUT I KNOW THAT EVERY SINGLE STUDY SHOWS THAT EVERY GAS STOVE IN THIS CITY IS INCREASING THE POSSIBLE ASTHMA, WHICH WE KNOW VULNERABLE POPULATIONS ALSO HAVE, YOU KNOW, WE KNOW THAT OUR, OUR LOW INCOME POPULATION IS WAY MORE PRONE TO ASTHMA BECAUSE THEY PROBABLY ALSO LIVE NEAR.
SO I THINK THE QUESTION IS HOW DO WE, AND I DON'T KNOW IF VICINITY OR OTHERS FACTOR IN AND ENSURE THAT AS WE MOVE FORWARD, WE'RE ALSO UNDERSTANDING THAT THERE'S A PUBLIC HEALTH BENEFIT, WHICH IS ALSO A DIRECT COST SAVINGS IN TERMS OF HEALTH, IF THAT MAKES SENSE.
NOW, DOES ANYBODY, I GUESS MAYBE AUDREY OR ERIC, DOES ANYBODY DO THAT IN THEIR PLANNING? I'M, I'M HAPPY TO CHIME IN FIRST AND THE SHORT ANSWER IS NO, NOT TO MY KNOWLEDGE.
UM, THERE ARE SOME STUDIES THAT ARE LOOKING TO QUANTIFY IT, BUT ESPECIALLY THAT GAP OF QUANTIFYING IT AND THEN TURNING AROUND AND SAYING, THIS IS HOW MUCH BENEFIT WE'RE GOING TO ASSIGN TO THE PROJECT, THAT TYPICALLY DOESN'T TAKE PLACE AND THAT'S THE CASE AS WELL.
UM, TOUCHING ON THE ELECTRIC GRID POINT, UH, WE STRUGGLE WITH THAT HERE TOO.
WE HAVE A QUANTIFICATION OF WHAT THE UTILITIES ARE PROJECTING THE GRID NEEDS TO DO OVER THE NEXT 10, 15, 25 YEARS.
BUT THAT MECHANISM FOR SAYING THE ELECTRIC SECTOR MODERNIZATION PLANS THAT HAVE BEEN FILED BY THE UTILITIES PROJECT X AT A COST OF Y IF WE OFFSET THIS AMOUNT OF LOAD WITH A THERMAL NETWORK, WE SHOULD BE ABLE TO QUANTIFY WHAT THE VALUE OF THAT IS.
BUT ASSIGNING IT TO THE PROJECT, THAT'S THE REAL CHALLENGE.
THERE IS NO MECHANISM FOR TAKING A BENEFIT FROM ONE PART OF THE GRID AND ASSIGNING IT TO A DIFFERENT UTILITY OR A DIFFERENT PART OF THE GRID.
SO IT'S SOMETHING WE REALLY NEED TO, TO THINK ABOUT AND THERE'S WORK ACTIVELY GOING ON LOOKING AT THIS AND, AND, YOU KNOW, I'M SURE IN THE FUTURE WE CAN FIND A WAY TO SAY WE'VE REDUCED PEAK LOAD BY THIS AMOUNT HERE IN CAMBRIDGE THAT HAS A VALUE AND WE'RE GONNA OFFSET PROJECT COSTS WITH IT.
UM, AS, UH, ONE OF THE PEOPLE RESPOND AS THE, THE STARTER OF THE STUDY ABOUT GAS CHEMISTRY THAT WAS ISSUED BY HARVARD UNIVERSITY, IT, IT CAME BECAUSE I WAS PART OF RESEARCH IN ELISE ELISEO CANYON AT THE LARGEST GAS LEAK IN THE COUNTRY.
AND PEOPLE WERE CALLING ME TO SAY, MY KID HAS HAD A NOSEBLEED FOR THREE DAYS.
WHAT'S IN THE GAS? PEOPLE WERE CALLING ME TO SAY, I AM, I FEEL SEASICK.
WHAT'S IN THAT GAS? AND SO I, I THINK PART OF THE HEALTH IMPACTS IS ALWAYS CRITICAL TO THINK ABOUT AND I AM SUPER HAPPY ALSO, JUST THAT BOSS 10 IS SUCH A BIG PART OF ALL OF THIS CONVERSATION BECAUSE I HELPED TO START THAT WITH DENNIS KARLBERG, UH, AND I'M SO GRATEFUL.
AND THEN, UH, THIRD, I WOULD SAY ONE POSSIBLE WAY FORWARD FOR CAMBRIDGE THAT WOULD BE A NO REGRET SOLUTION IS PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND IS LOOKING AT EVERY SINGLE SCHOOL THAT THEY ARE ABOUT TO RETROFIT.
AND ASSUMING THAT THAT BECOMES A CLEAN THERMAL POWER PLANT FOR THE NEIGHBORHOOD, PUT THE B BORE HOLES THERE IN THE, UNDER THE ATHLETIC FIELDS, UNDER THE PLAYGROUNDS, ET CETERA, AND PAY FOR IT, UH, WITH THE REVENUE COMING IN FROM THE NEIGHBORHOOD THAT WOULD ALSO REDUCE THERMAL DRIFT TECHNICAL LANGUAGE, JOE, AND THEN SURE.
UH, SO, UM, OUR OFFICE OF OF SUSTAINABILITY, UM, WORK WITH MIT'S INSTITUTE RESEARCHERS ON JUST THAT QUESTION IS WHAT'S THE FRAMEWORK THAT ASSESSES NOT ONLY THE AVOIDED EMISSIONS FROM, FROM EFFORTS, BUT ALSO THE ECONOMIC AND HEALTH OUTCOMES.
[01:55:01]
KNOW, UM, CITY OF CAMBRIDGE AND 1111 OTHER ORGANIZATIONS CAME TOGETHER TO CREATE THESE LARGE SCALE AND ENABLE THESE LARGE SCALE WIND AND SOLAR PROJECTS.AND, AND OUR RESEARCHERS STARTED TO QUANTIFY IT IN TERMS OF, YOU KNOW, THE, THE, THE ECONOMIC BENEFITS ARE, YOU KNOW, ONE YEAR CONSTRUCTION JOBS, SO CREATING 7,001 YEAR CONSTRUCTION JOBS, 189 MAINTENANCE JOBS OVER 20 YEARS.
BUT THE HEALTH BENEFITS, THEY, THEY KIND OF MEASURED IT IN A COUPLE OF WAYS.
UM, BUT THE ONE METRIC THAT THEY STARTED TO SETTLE ON IS, YOU KNOW, 640 PEOPLE QUITTING SMOKING FOR LIFE OR NEARLY 200 PREMATURE DEATHS AVOIDED EACH 20 YEARS FROM THE BENEFITS OF THESE PROJECTS.
SO WE HAVE RESEARCH TEAMS THAT IF YOU CAN GET PROJECTS TO AVOIDED EMISSIONS, THEY CAN START TO TRANSLATE IT INTO, AND, YOU KNOW, THESE, THESE SORT OF STANDARD MODELS TO ACTUALLY QUANTIFY THOSE BENEFITS.
SO YES, IT'S, WE HAVE FOLKS OUT THERE WORKING ON THAT AND CAN HELP WITH ANY, ANY STUDY THAT TO ADD THOSE METRICS.
SO IT IS SOMETHING, UH, AS AN ORGANIZATION THAT HAS HAD TO SECURE A SUBSTANTIAL AMOUNT OF FUNDING FOR WHAT WE'RE CURRENTLY DOING.
UH, I I CAN TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT HOW, UH, WHEN YOU'RE LOOKING TO SOURCE FUNDING, UH, HOW ARGUMENTS, LIKE HOW IT AFFECTS OUR HEALTH PLAYS A PART.
UH, SO IT, IT, FIRST IT, IT HELPS UNDERWRITE OUR, OUR CORE MISSION OF VICINITY, WHY WE'RE DOING WHAT WE'RE DOING.
UH, WE'VE ALSO FOUND THAT WHEN LOOKING TO SOURCE CAPITAL SHOWING UP, THERE ARE SOURCES OUT THERE THAT ARE WILLING TO CONTRIBUTE AT RATES THAT ARE, UH, MORE COMPETITIVE IF YOU ARE SHOWING UP WITH PROJECTS THAT ARE MOVING THE SUSTAINABILITY FORWARD, UH, OR OR IMPROVING THE HEALTH AND WELLNESS OF CITIZENS WITHIN CITIES.
SO, UH, IT'S NOT SOMETHING THAT WE EMPHASIZE WHEN WE ARE OUT THERE RAISING FUNDS, BUT I THINK IT IS SOMETHING THAT WE USUALLY LEAN HEAVILY INTO THE SUSTAINABILITY FRONT.
UH, BUT I THINK IT IS SOMETHING THAT, THAT WHEN PEOPLE ARE LOOKING TO RAISE MONEY, YOU WILL FIND OUT THAT THERE ARE OTHER MONEY SOURCES OUT THERE IF YOU DO SHOW UP WITH THESE KIND OF SOLUTIONS FOR, FOR OUR CITIES.
UH, AND I THINK IT'S SOMETHING THAT WE'LL LOOK TO EMPHASIZE MORE AS WE'RE TRYING TO RAISE THOSE TYPE OF FUNDS.
IT CAN ONLY HELP, RIGHT? I MEAN TO CALL THEM EXTERNALITIES WHEN THEY'RE INTRINSIC IS PART OF THE PROBLEM.
ANYWAY, WE'RE, I DON'T KNOW IF DCM WATKINS YOU WANTED TO ADD ANYTHING OR ANYONE? 'CAUSE I THINK WE'RE PRETTY CLOSE.
ANYONE MATT? NO, WE'RE ALL GOOD.
DO WE, DO I JUST SAY THAT TIME OF THE MEETING HAVING COME WE ARE ADJOURNED OR DO I HAVE TO HAVE AN ADJOURNMENT? YOU CAN DO A VOICE VOTE TO ADJOURN.
THOSE OPPOSED THE AYES HAVE IT.
WE ARE ADJOURNED AND WE ARE SO GRATEFUL.
'CAUSE I ACTUALLY FEEL LIKE I SHOULD HAVE SAID WE ARE GONNA RECESS 'CAUSE WE WANNA RECONVENE YOU ALL BECAUSE I THINK THIS WAS REALLY, REALLY HELPFUL AND, UH, THAT'S HOW WE'RE GONNA MOVE FORWARD.
SO, UM, IN THIS KIND OF COLLABORATIVE AND, UH, BEING HONEST WITH EACH OTHER ABOUT, ABOUT VARIOUS QUESTIONS.