Department: County Administration
Department Head: Diana Ramirez, County Administrator
Regular or Supplemental RCA: Regular RCA
Type of Request: Investment Memo
Investment Memo Type: Final Investment Memo
Project Name: Energy Infrastructure Pilot, Installation of Distributed Energy Resources at Community Centers and Libraries in Harris County
Project ID (if applicable): SOLARSTORAGE
Vendor Legal Name (if applicable):
MWDBE Contracted Goal (if applicable): 15%
MWDBE Current Achievement (if applicable): N/A
Justification for 0% MWDBE Participation Goal: N/A - Goal is not 0% and is listed above
Managing Entity: Office of County Engineer
Incremental Authorization Requested: $20,952,363
Total Estimated Project Cost: $21,152,363
Request Summary:
title
Request for approval of a Final Investment Memo for the Energy Infrastructure Pilot, Installation of Distributed Energy Resources (DERS) at Community Centers and Libraries in Harris County for an additional authorization of $20,952,363 for a total authorization of $21,152,363 and commercial paper funding for an additional $3,500,000 for a total allocation of $3,700,000, MWDBE Contracted Goal: 15%.
end
Project Description:
In October of 2022, the Commissioner’s Court approved a preliminary investment memo for Harris County’s Distributed Energy Resources (DERS) pilot. This project has been designed to invest in select libraries and community centers with distributed energy technology such as solar panels and battery storage, to make these locations more resilient to extreme weather and events impacting the power grid. The goal was to understand how to achieve a level of scale to install this technology in County facilities. The package for each site includes solar panels, battery storage, and level 2 dual-port electric vehicle charging stations. In addition to increasing resiliency, this project will allow the County to be less reliant on the electricity grid, reduce energy usage, and increase load flexibility.
Project Scope:
The pilot will be performed at 16 County buildings, including community centers and libraries. The cost per location is included below. Across the 16 sites, the average site will include a 231 kW solar array with an estimated 30-year operating life, 294 kWh of energy storage, and will qualify for a federal tax credit worth ~40% of the total investment.
Justification:
The preliminary investment memo projected three sites per-precinct and significantly smaller solar and battery arrays. Through further investigation of sites identified by precinct staff, larger systems were needed to cover the building’s energy usage and all of the sites that were investigated were good candidates for the project. The project originally conceived of 100 kW solar systems on every site, with the final bids averaging 321 kW systems per site.
The increase in equipment per site, as well as outfitting 16 sites instead of 12, caused an increase in the projected cost of the project. Overall, ~2/3 of the cost increase is attributable to the increase in project site, with ~1/4 attributable to cost increases in equipment and labor beyond the 2022 projections.
Despite the cost increases, these investments provide a positive financial benefit to the County. A benefits-cost analysis was performed for the PIM with projected costs as well as with the final costs. While the cost increases represented a decrease in the IRR, the current project provides a strong return on investment. We currently project a 9.5% IRR to the County with a simple payback of nine years. These returns come from the solar-generated, the value of energy storage, as well as some resilience benefits of each site.
In addition, there are a number of additional financial benefits not considered in our analysis. The benefit-cost analysis below does not consider the sale of Renewable Energy Credits, contribution to a County demand response program, or any financial value to the avoided cost of carbon.
Alternatives and Engagement:
OCA worked closely with precinct offices to select potential sites for this program. OCE will be project managing construction.
Anticipated Project Expenditures and Timeline:
|
Scope of Work |
Estimated Cost |
Estimated Completion |
|
Lincoln Park Community Center |
$ 945,498.46 |
Q1 CY2027 |
|
Finnigan Community Center |
$ 1,511,409.82 |
Q1 CY2027 |
|
Adair Community Center |
$ 5,442,915.67 |
Q1 CY2027 |
|
Health Care Annex Cavalcade Community Center |
$ 859,395.09 |
Q1 CY2027 |
|
Bay Area Community Center |
$ 408,069.26 |
Q1 CY2027 |
|
Almendarez Community Center |
$ 597,746.72 |
Q1 CY2027 |
|
Challenger Seven Center/Park |
$ 728,687.46 |
Q1 CY2027 |
|
Aldine Branch Library |
$ 683,423.34 |
Q1 CY2027 |
|
Trini Mendenhall Community Center |
$ 572,003.56 |
Q1 CY2027 |
|
George Bush Community Center |
$ 531,073.78 |
Q1 CY2027 |
|
Baldwin Boettcher Branch Library |
$ 352,869.76 |
Q1 CY2027 |
|
Barrett Station Community Center |
$ 975,846.60 |
Q1 CY2027 |
|
Weekley Community Center |
$ 1,395,708.04 |
Q1 CY2027 |
|
Steve Radack Community Center |
$ 1,361,317.36 |
Q1 CY2027 |
|
Tracy Gee Community Center |
$ 1,499,176.30 |
Q1 CY2027 |
|
Hockley Community Center |
$ 1,182,461.26 |
Q1 CY2027 |
|
Contingency (10%) |
$ 1,904,760.25 |
Q1 CY2027 |
|
Total |
$ 20,952,362.73 |
Q1 CY2027 |
Alignment with Goal(s):
_ Justice and Safety
_ Economic Opportunity
_ Housing
_ Public Health
_ Transportation
_ Flooding
X Environment
_ Governance and Customer Service
Previous Court Action:
|
Date |
Agenda Item # |
Action Taken |
|
2/8/2022 |
270 |
Transmittal by OCA of Tradition Energy’s Clean Energy Strategy report |
|
10/25/2022 |
17 |
Request for approval of a Preliminary Investment Memo for the Energy Infrastructure Pilot program for an initial authorization of $200,000. |
|
9/19/2024 |
321 |
Approval of an award to METCO ENGINEERING, INC. for installation of distributed energy resources at Precinct 2 & 3 community centers and libraries. |
Address: Multiple
Precinct(s): Countywide
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Fiscal and Personnel Summary |
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Service Name |
Energy Infrastructure Pilot |
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Current Fiscal Year Cost |
Annual Fiscal Cost |
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Non-Labor |
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Funding Sources |
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Existing Budget |
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$ |
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Total Current Budget |
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Additional Budget Request |
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Commercial Paper |
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$3,500,000 |
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Total Additional Budget Request |
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$3,500,000 |
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Total Funding Request |
$ |
$3,500,000 |
$ |
$ |
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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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- |
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Additional Positions Request |
- |
- |
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Total Personnel |
- |
- |
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Anticipated Court Date: 12/10/2024
Anticipated Implementation Date (if different from Court date):
Legal funding compliance confirmed by: Paige Abernathy, Assistant County Attorney, 11/20/2024
Department Approval by: Jesse Dickerman, Managing Director, OCA, 12/4/2024
OMB CIP Team Approval by: Amiel Chen, CIP Manager, OMB, 12/3/2024
Commercial Paper Request (For OMB use only):
Receiving Department: County Engineer
Project PeopleSoft ID: SOLARSTORAGE
CP Series Description: Commercial Paper Series D can be used for (1) construction of public works, (2) the purchase of automobiles, equipment and machinery, including computers, materials and supplies for the operation of the County’s precincts and departments (3) Professional services, including services provided by engineers, architects, attorneys, auditors, financial advisors, and fiscal agents, in connection with the contractual obligations described in (1) and (2).
Commercial Paper is being requested for the Energy Infrastructure Pilot project and is expected to be repaid within the next three fiscal years either through bonds, budgetary means or pay-as-you-go sources.
OMB Financial Management contact: Amy Perez, Deputy Executive Director, Office of Management and Budget