Department: County Administration
Department Head/Elected Official: Diana Ramirez, County Administrator
Regular or Supplemental RCA: Regular RCA
Type of Request: Interlocal Agreement
Project ID (if applicable): N/A
Vendor/Entity Legal Name (if applicable): Geotechnology Research Institute of the Houston Advanced Research Center
MWDBE Contracted Goal (if applicable): N/A
MWDBE Current Participation (if applicable): N/A
Justification for 0% MWDBE Participation Goal: N/A - Goal not applicable to request
Request Summary (Agenda Caption):
title
Request for approval to execute an interlocal agreement with the Geotechnology Research Institute of the Houston Advanced Research Center, to examine the technical, environmental, social, and economic challenges of integrating PV solar and flood control infrastructure.
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Background and Discussion:
In February, 2022, the Office of County Administration transmitted a Clean Energy Strategy to Commissioners Court addressing how to make the County more sustainable and resilient with the use of clean energy technologies. One potential avenue involved use of public land to host energy infrastructure. Of the more than 86 square miles of property controlled by the County, 44% (37.8 square miles) is managed by the Harris County Flood Control (FCD) district.
As the demand for sustainable energy continues to grow, OCA and FCD seek to explore if there exists a unique opportunity to co-locate energy infrastructure with flood control assets. If successful, this approach could increase energy resilience in the County and open the door to generate additional revenue for flood control activities.
OCA and FCD, working in close collaboration with researchers from the Houston Advanced Research Center, have designed an approach to investigate the technical, hydrological, regulatory, and economic issues of locating energy assets on some FCD property. This multi-phased study will be funded with Federal funds from the Energy Efficiency Community Block Grant secured by OCA though the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL).
Expected Impact:
This study will evaluate a number of FCD locations from the perspective of current use, existing vegetation and habitats, local and federal land use and permitting restrictions, nearby power grid infrastructure, and surrounding communities. Any sites that are deemed viable after initial screening will be analyzed from an economic and environmental permitting perspective and finally, guidelines for the development of energy infrastructure may be discussed and evaluated.
Alternative Options:
Commissioners Court can choose to not engage with HARC and move this work forward.
Alignment with Goal(s):
_ Justice and Safety
_ Economic Opportunity
_ Housing
_ Public Health
_ Transportation
X Flooding
X Environment
_ Governance and Customer Service
Prior Court Action (if any):
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Precinct(s): Countywide
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Fiscal and Personnel Summary |
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Existing Budget |
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Grant |
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$248,000 |
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$ |
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$ |
$ |
$ |
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Total Current Budget |
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$248,000 |
$ |
$ |
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Additional Budget Request (Requires Fiscal Review Request Form) |
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$ |
$ |
$ |
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Total Additional Budget Request |
$ |
$ |
$ |
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Total Funding Request |
$ |
$ |
$ |
$ |
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Personnel (Fill out section only if requesting new PCNs) |
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Current Position Count for Service |
- |
- |
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Additional Positions Request |
- |
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Total Personnel |
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Anticipated Court Date: December 10, 2024
Anticipated Implementation Date (if different from Court date):
Emergency/Disaster Recovery Note: Not an emergency, disaster, or COVID-19 related item
Contact(s) name, title, department: Jesse Dickerman, Managing Director, Office of County Administration
Attachments (if applicable): ILA Between Harris County and GTRI/HARC