Over the past few years, many of the cities that are still expanding geographically have been building into their infrastructure a recycled water system, often referred to as a purple pipe program on account of the color of the pipes used. A purple pipe program both reduces demand for new water and increases the supply of water. Water from the purple pipe is used only for irrigation and a few other indoor uses, since it’s not considered potable (although in truth, it would be perfectly safe to drink.) But irrigation is one of the biggest uses of water, so reducing the use of “clean” water for this single purpose can have a huge impact on the overall demand for water.

Unfortunately, Anaheim is not still growing geographically. For the most part, we are a built out city. Anaheim has a huge challenge to build a purple pipe program simply because it will require the retrofit of many streets to add the new pipes. It would be cost prohibitive to build the type of large purple pipe systems that Irvine has built in their newer areas. Instead, Anaheim needs to build smaller systems that can serve limited areas and later be connected to one another to form a larger system.

To this end, later this month the city is planning on starting construction on a Water Recycling Demonstration Project at City Hall. This project will take waste water from in and around City Hall to provide not only irrigation but also water for toilets and urinals within City Hall West. In the future, this system will be able to provide reclaimed water for nearby developments and parks that have been designed to use reclaimed water.

The Waste Water Demonstration Project is a perfect example of how the City of Anaheim needs to identify future needs and implement solutions today for those needs. The lack of water will only grow in future years. Small scale purple pipe systems are the only way forward for Anaheim, and the City is out to prove it’s possible.

One goal that Anaheim Public Utilities should try to advance is the creation of distributed power generation throughout the city.

First, what is distributed power? Most of our electricity comes from large centralized power plants. Coal, nuclear and hydro-electric plants, such as San Onofre and the Hoover Dam, are where the majority of our electricity comes from. Distributed power, on the other hand, is a large collection of smaller electric facilities located much closer to where the electricity is used. The most recognizable is rooftop photovoltaics, or solar. However, solar isn’t the only way to produce distributed electricity. There are also micro wind turbines that would work very well in Anaheim Hills and The Canyon.

There are many advantages to distributed over centrally produced electricity. Distributed power is more efficient, resilient and sustainable.

Large central power plants must produce considerably more power than will be used since power is lost when transmitting the electricity over long distances. Because electricity generated in a distributed system doesn’t need to travel as far, for instance from your rooftop to your living room, or to your neighbor’s house, it doesn’t suffer from these losses. This makes distributed power more efficient than centrally produced power.

Another advantage of distributed power is its relicensey. The power grid across America is amazingly fragile. California saw this first hand with the power crisis and rolling blackouts in 2000 and 2001, and then again in 2005 due to a key transmission line going down due to a faulty sensor. And while we didn’t experience it first hand, we saw the wholesale failure of the power grid in the northeast in 2003. While these issues are rare, they will become increasingly common as we continue to tax our power grid and fail to invest in it. Because of Anaheim’s unique position, it’s possible to mitigate these crises with a distributed power system. A distributed system does not have a single point of failure. If the power fails, but you have enough solar on your roof to generate as much electricity as you use, your power will still work. If your neighborhood’s subgrid generates enough power, your neighborhood’s power will still work. And if the City of Anaheim generates enough power within the city, and something happens to the rest of Southern California’s power grid, our lights will still turn on.

The final benefit of distributed power is that it is green and renewable. Fossil fuels, oil and coal, will become increasingly expensive as demand increases and supplies decrease. Most, but not all, distributed power systems are renewable, such as wind and solar. If we build these renewable systems, we will be able to ensure our electric rates stay low even as the price for electricity continues to rise for most of our neighboring cities.

While the advantages of a distributed power system are great and many, so are the hurdles to installing such a system. The biggest hurdle is two pronged: cost. For your average house, it will easily cost ten or twenty thousand dollars. For an apartment complex, a system can be a quarter million or more. This is a huge outlay of money for any home owner.

Coupled with the initial outlay of funds, a homeowner will never recoup their expenses from the savings they would expect to see in their electric bill because of Anaheim’s low electric rates. While some home owners will install such systems in an effort to be green, or because of other financial considerations that make such a system feasible, the majority of Anaheim will choose not to spend the money.

Another hurdle to adoption is the aesthetics of solar systems. While it’s clear that solar on the roof of one of Anaheim’s many historic homes would ruin the character of that house and neighborhood, newer homes can support solar without much problem. As solar becomes more prevalent, we will become accustomed to seeing it and it will therefore be less obtrusive.

Thankfully, there is a relatively simple solution to all of these barriers, although it will be unwanted by many. If Anaheim Public Utilities raises rates a little, not even to the same price as SCE or PG&E, just a little, and then uses that excess revenue to provide subsidies to homeowners who install solar or wind power systems, such systems will suddenly make financial sense. By attacking the cost issue from both sides, the initial outlay of money and its payback period, the city can minimize the burden on homeowners while still improving our power system.

Yesterday was the Anaheim Chamber of Commerce’s annual State of the City event.  There were a number of interesting initiatives that both the City and the Chamber are attempting that I hadn’t heard about before.  I’ll post more about these once I have a chance to do a bit more research, but from the event yesterday, here is a short list of developments that were of interest:

• The Chamber is trying to form an Enterprise Zone in Anaheim.  They didn’t mention where in the city the Enterprise Zone would be, but I would expect that The Canyon would be the most likely place.
• The Mayor announced an initiative that he is trying to get adopted by the City Council to refund one half of the City’s part of the sales tax on all large purchases of $20,000 or more.  He wants this program to run from February until June, in order to help spur the local economy and encourage large purchases from local businesses.
• The Anaheim Fixed-Guideway Transit Corridor has been renamed Anaheim Rapid Connection (ARC).  Additionally, Anaheim has launched a new website and branding campaign for all of the City’s transportation related projects called A Connext.  This is especially exciting because it shows the City’s understanding that all of our transportation amenities form an interdependent network for people to move around the city.
• Finally, Mayor Pringle talked about the successes of AC-NET over the past year and also mentioned that the City received a $5.8 million grant to help create a smart grid for the City and encouraging the creation of renewable energy for Anaheim.  This is particularly timely for Anaheim 2060 because there is a post on renewable energy scheduled to be posted later today.

There are two items on this week’s City Council agenda that are worth discussing.  The first is a grant request to help fund the construction of a new part and the second is an increase in electric rates charged by the Anaheim Public Utilities Commission.

Item #23 – Miraloma Park Grant Application

There is a lack of easy access to parks in much of Anaheim.  The City’s Community Development Department is applying for a grant under the Statewide Park Development and Community Revitalization Grant Program.    This grant, if awarded, will work in conjunction with a Section 108 loan the city has applied for to the Department of Housing and Urban Development.  (I’ll be talking more about the Section 108 loan in a future post.)  This application is just one example of the many ways Anaheim is finding to fund the improvement of resident’s quality of life without over exerting the City’s general fund.

Item #29 – Anaheim Public Utility Rate Adjustment

The penultimate item on this week’s consent calendar is a modification in the rate structure for Anaheim Public Utilities.  There are actually a couple of points related to this agenda item that are worth noting.  First, the Anaheim Public Utilities Board is the best example of an advisory board that engages the public in Anaheim.  In a future post, we’ll be looking more closely as to why that might be the case and what the City can do to improve the other boards and commissions.

Secondly, this rate adjustment is needed to ensure the City maintains its electric infrastructure.  Too often, cities let their infrastructure degrade in order to keep fees, rates and taxes low.  This rate adjustment will ensure the Anaheim Public Utilities basic rates cover the cost of maintaining the quality electric infrastructure we have today.

Finally, the Public Utilities Board is requesting the City reinstate the Economic Development and Business Retention Rate, which had previously expired in 2008.  This rate is just one way to encourage businesses to move to or start up in Anaheim.  This is just one way the City can encourage a diversification in its economic base.

One final item simply of interest.  In the staff report for an amendment to the Neighborhood Stabilization Program policy guidelines, they state that many homes are selling for above their appraised value.  This is a good thing for the City’s economy and our property values.  Appraisals are lagging indicators, meaning that they reflect what the value of the property was, not what it currently is.  This is because appraisals rely upon the value of recently past sales of comparable properties.  If houses are selling above their appraised values, that means the value of the homes is higher today than it was just a couple of months ago.  With any luck, we’ve hit the bottom of this market and are now starting to rebound.