COMMISSION 
AGENDA MEMORANDUM                        Item No.          8c 
ACTION ITEM                            Date of Meeting       April 27, 2021 
DATE :     April 19, 2021 
TO:        Stephen P. Metruck, Executive Director 
FROM:    Stephanie Meyn, Sr. Environmental Program Manager (Aviation) 
David Fujimoto, Sr. Environmental Program Manager (Maritime) 
Arlyn Purcell, Interim Senior Director, Engineering, Environment and Sustainability 
Sandy Kilroy, Director, Sustainability and Environmental (Maritime) 
SUBJECT:  Interlocal Agreement with National Renewable Energy Laboratory 
Amount of this request:                       $0 
ACTION REQUESTED 
Request Commission authorization for the Executive Director to enter  into  an interlocal
agreement with National Renewable Energy Laboratory to analyze energy and technology
alternatives for both aviation and maritime facilities to help meet Century Agenda environmental
and energy goals. 

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 
This interlocal agreement (ILA) is with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), a notfor-profit
federally-funded agency. NREL is managed for the U.S. Department of Energy's Office
of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy by the Alliance for Sustainable Energy LLC, a 
partnership between Battelle and MRIGlobal. 
Airports and seaports look to NREL for decision support and actionable insights to inform their
long-term facility, infrastructure, and energy planning efforts. Adapting complex, legacy energy
systems and transportation networks to minimize costs, emissions, and inefficiencies requires
new, innovative solutions that NREL is uniquely positioned to offer. 
NREL has helped other major transportation airports and seaports like Los Angeles World
Airports, Dallas Fort Worth International Airport, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey,
and the Port of Long Beach understand the full range of options for achieving ambitious energysaving
goals, improving regional air quality, and optimizing the movement of people and goods. 
NREL's expertise will allow the Port to make progress toward its Century Agenda emissions and
energy goals, increase resiliency, and improve community health and social equity. 

Template revised January 10, 2019.

COMMISSION AGENDA  Action Item No. 8c                                   Page 2 of 4 
Meeting Date: April 27, 2021 
The budget for this work was approved by the Commission on December 15, 2020. This action is
exclusively for the approval to enter into the agreement with NREL. The value of this ILA is for
$150,000 of work over an approximate 1-year period. 
JUSTIFICATION 
This partnership with a federal laboratory will provide technical analysis enabling the Port to
further explore its carbon reduction strategies. The NREL work will leverage and integrate with
Port long-term planning efforts including Maritime's Waterfront Clean Energy Strategic Plan and
SEA's Utility Master Plan (UMP). 
NREL explicitly does not offer its services where commercial consultants or engineering firms can
do the work. This partnership provides access to world-leading technology and energy source
integration that isn't available elsewhere. 
The selection of energy sources such as natural gas or electricity, technologies such as steam,
water, or ground-source heat to the Port's buildings, and energy resources such as efficiency,
storage or microgrids will have significant impacts on the cost (operating and capital), ability to
support industry clean energy transition and environmental footprint of the Port for the next 50
years.  As a result of these large impacts, NREL expertise is warranted to seek the optimum
solutions that will save the Port money, pursue smart investments and reduce emissions. 
DETAILS 
For the maritime-related work, the goal of NREL's work is to identify energy asset combinations
(e.g.,  on-site  renewable  generation,  energy  storage,  and  other  considerations  such  as
transportation vehicle loads or on-site generation of renewable fuels) to address energy costs,
network constraints, and sustainability initiatives.  The initial focus of the work will be on
Terminal 91 - which has a diverse mix of use cases, planned redevelopment and energy
distribution constraints. NREL will technically validate and financially evaluate options in
conjunction with the Seattle Waterfront Clean Energy Strategic Plan. 
For the aviation-related work, the primary goal of NREL's work is to identify opportunities to 
reduce emissions of the airport's central plant (e.g., conversion of heating system from steam to
hot water, geothermal ground source heat pumps, heat pumps using heat recovery chillers) over
the long term while expanding the thermal generation capacities for projected future loads as a
complement to the UMP assessment. This is particularly important to assess before the RNG
contract term is completed in late 2030. 
Scope of Work 
While the maritime and aviation scopes will examine different technologies and alternatives for
their specific application, the general nature of the work will follow a similar methodology. NREL
has developed a technoeconomic assessment tool known as Re-Opt (Renewable Energy
Integration and Optimization) which recommends the optimal choice or mix of renewable

Template revised June 27, 2019 (Diversity in Contracting).

COMMISSION AGENDA  Action Item No. 8c                                   Page 3 of 4 
Meeting Date: April 27, 2021 
energy, conventional generation, and energy storage technologies to meet cost savings, 
resilience, and energy and emission performance goals. 
The Scopes for both aviation and maritime will follow these general tasks and deliverables: 
(1)   Data Gathering and Review 
(2)   Examine Assumptions and Limitations 
(3)   Develop & Refine Alternatives 
(4)   Techno-economic Analysis of Refined Alternative(s) 
(5)   Final Recommendations and Report 
Schedule 
Task/Deliverable                               Date 
Commission ILA authorization                   Q2 2021 
Data Gathering                                 Q2-Q3 2021 
Evaluation of Alternatives & Technologies       Q3-Q4 2021 
Final Recommendations                       Q1 2022 

ALTERNATIVES AND IMPLICATIONS CONSIDERED 
Alternative 1  Do not support an NREL partnership. 
Cost Implications:     $0 
Pros: 
(1)   Cost savings. Conserves staff resources for other work. 
Cons: 
(1)   If this study is not conducted, options that may not have been considered by the Utilities
Master Plan will not be evaluated for sustainability or Century Agenda goals. For
Terminal 91, the detailed analysis of energy options would be delayed. 
(2)   Port will not meet Century Agenda goals. 
This is not the recommended alternative. 
Alternative 2  Support the NREL partnership 
Cost Implications: $150,000 (previously approved by Commission Dec 15, 2020) 
Pros: 
(1) This study will examine several alternatives that will offer more innovative, low carbon,
and efficient options as we expand our heating and cooling needs in the airport, and
electrification of our waterfront. By conducting the study in 2021, we reduce the risk of
proceeding with capital project designs that do not factor in more efficient and low-carbon
options. 

Template revised June 27, 2019 (Diversity in Contracting).

COMMISSION AGENDA  Action Item No. 8c                                   Page 4 of 4 
Meeting Date: April 27, 2021 
(2) Supports Century Agenda goals. 
Cons: 
(1) Financial cost. 
(2) Staff effort across multiple Port departments. 
This is the recommended alternative. 

Annual Budget Status and Source of Funds 
The previously approved budget includes  $127,000 from the Energy and Sustainability
Committee Fund, and $23,000 from the Environment and Sustainability Center of Expertise
operating budget, for a total of $150,000. 
ATTACHMENTS TO THIS REQUEST 
(1)   Presentation slides 
PREVIOUS COMMISSION ACTIONS OR BRIEFINGS 
December 15, 2020  The Commission authorized for the Executive Director to commit
previously approved Environment and Sustainability Center of Expertise funds to analyze
energy and technology alternatives for both aviation and maritime facilities in the amount
of $127,000. 









Template revised June 27, 2019 (Diversity in Contracting).