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Glendale approves transfer of ICE Energy thermal storage units and $4,500 credit per unit
Summary
Glendale Water & Power won council approval to transfer ownership of roughly 104 ICE Energy "Ice Bear" thermal storage units and issue a $4,500 electric bill credit per unit, with property owners responsible for removal; staff said the program had limited data and ICE Energy went bankrupt in 2019.
The Glendale City Council on March 3 approved a Glendale Water & Power (GWP) recommendation to transfer ownership of ICE Energy ("Ice Bear") thermal storage units that the utility said are no longer economically or operationally viable and to issue a $4,500 electric utility bill credit per unit to facilitate transfer or removal.
GWP general manager Scott Nolan told the council the city plans to transfer 104 units installed on private commercial properties and that the $4,500 credit is intended to cover the utility's average or minimal annual operations and maintenance cost: "That $4,500 is basically our average or minimal cost that we would be paying for O and M on these products," Nolan said.
Staff said the original program—covered in part by federal grant funds—installed most units between 2010 and 2014. Nolan told the council that ICE Energy later went bankrupt (2019), follow-on vendors struggled to sustain communications and support, and the city has sparse data on historical energy savings from the devices. Council members pressed staff to follow up with property owners about actual replacement costs and to provide a memo on costs for the three units on city properties.
Scope and fiscal impact: staff said 162 units were originally installed, about 107 remain in the field, and the city plans to remove 104 of them; at $4,500 per unit, council members calculated a payout in the neighborhood of $468,000. The removal and ongoing maintenance, staff said, would be the responsibility and expense of the property owners if they accept ownership; otherwise the city would remove in the course of the transfer agreement.
Council debate focused on procurement lessons and fiscal prudence: some members said the city should be cautious with taxpayer funds and improve future contracts to specify end-of-life responsibilities; other members urged the city continue measured innovation but write stronger terms in future agreements. Staff acknowledged those lessons and said future distributed energy resource work would include enforceable communications and data-collection requirements.
The council moved, seconded and approved the transfer and credit authorization by roll call. Council directed staff to follow up with owners about replacement costs and to return information regarding the city-owned units.
