Boston Council to Hear Mayor Wu’s Docket 1223 Energy-Fund Proposal
Boston’s City Council Committee on Government Operations will hold a remote hearing Tuesday, August 4, at 10 a.m. on Mayor Michelle Wu’s proposal to amend the city’s Distributed Energy Resource Revenue Revolving Fund ordinance.
The hearing concerns Docket 1223, a proposed change to how Boston records and spends revenue connected to municipal energy activities, including payments from the city’s demand-response program. The proposal is pending and would not immediately change household utility bills, energy-program eligibility or city services.
What Docket 1223 would change
The proposed ordinance would replace the current language in Boston Code Chapter VI, Section 6-9.5(G), governing the Distributed Energy Resource Revenue Revolving Fund. The measure would direct the City Auditor to maintain the fund as a separate account and credit it with revenue from the sale of solar renewable energy certificates produced by city photovoltaic arrays, the sale of alternative energy certificates produced by School Department combined heat and power units, and payments earned by city demand-response systems and received by the Environment Department.
The ordinance would allow the Environment Department to spend from the fund on several energy-related purposes. Those uses include greenhouse-gas-emissions offsets for municipal emissions not otherwise addressed through the city’s distributed energy resources, renewable energy and demand-response programs; monitoring, operating and maintaining city and School Department photovoltaic arrays and combined heat and power units; and maintaining the Environment Department’s demand-response systems.
The proposed list also includes demand-response aggregator contracts and enrollment support, controls programming and building-automation adjustments, retrocommissioning, repairs or replacement of failed sensors and related equipment, submetering and interval-data access, data systems and analytics, performance tracking, load-flexibility assessments, feasibility studies, and battery or thermal-storage installations that affect program participation.
Why demand response is part of the proposal
Demand response generally means reducing or shifting electricity use when demand is high. In the mayor’s transmittal and the council hearing notice, the city says the amendment would help the fund capture demand-response revenue and support further development of Boston’s demand-response program.
The city lists increased energy savings and reduced greenhouse-gas emissions as goals of the proposal. Those are stated objectives, not verified outcomes. The council has not enacted the amendment, and the records do not present it as an immediate rate change or a guarantee of savings for individual households.
How Boston residents can watch or testify
The August 4 hearing will be conducted remotely through Zoom. The public can watch it through Boston City Council TV’s online livestream or on Xfinity Channel 8, RCN Channel 82 and Fios Channel 964. The city says the hearing will be recorded for later viewing.
Residents who want to testify virtually must email Meghan Kavanagh, the committee staff contact, for a videoconference link and instructions. Written comments may be sent to ccc.go@boston.gov or meghan.kavanagh@boston.gov. The hearing notice says written comments will become part of the public record and be available to councilors.
Written correspondence may be addressed to Docket #1223, Boston City Council, City Hall, 5th Floor, Boston, MA 02201. The notice lists Kavanagh’s telephone number as 617-635-3040.
What happens next
The City Council record identifies Docket 1223 as a matter under consideration by the Committee on Government Operations and lists its status as “Agenda Ready.” The August 4 hearing is the scheduled opportunity for committee discussion and public testimony. Any later action would depend on the council’s legislative process.
Until the council passes the ordinance and it takes effect, the proposed fund-accounting changes remain under consideration rather than a final change to Boston’s energy programs.
Sources
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