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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes_GTEU_05.20.2021Minutes of the Meeting for the Georgetown Electric Utility Advisory Board Thursday, May 20th, 2021 at 4:15 PM at: Virtual Meeting (Zoom) Board Members Present: Via Teleconference (Zoom): Robert Case - Chairman, Sam Jones–Secretary, Mike Triggs, Rick Woodruff, Ben Butler Staff Present: Via Teleconference (Zoom): Daniel Bethapudi, Letica Zavala, Laurie Brewer, Mike Weisner, Mike Westbrook, Jennifer Flor, Cindy Pospisil, Mike Maldonado, Christi Rawls, Jose Torres, and Kress Carson Visitors: Schneider Engineering: Ramsey Cripe and Emily Mullins Public Attendees: Steve Sossamon Regular Session (This Regular Session may, at any time, be recessed to convene an Executive Session for any purpose authorized by the Open Meetings Act, Texas Government Code 551.) A. Call to Order -- Robert Case, Board Chairman • Meeting called to order at 4:15 pm by Case. B. Roll Call of Board Members -- Robert Case, Board Chairman. C. Introduction of Visitors -- Robert Case, Board Chairman • Schneider Engineering- Ramsey Cripe and Emily Mullins D. Recent Board Membership Changes—Robert Case, Board Chairman • Bill Sattler vacated Board position • Robert Case appointed by City Council as Board Chairman on 04/27/2021 • Benjamin Butler appointed as new board member by City Council on 04/27/2021 • Butler shares background- spent the last 30 years with US Army in numerous engineering and leadership roles; certified Energy Manager and Professional Engineer; 12 years in the private sector in consulting and sustainability management Legislative Session E. Election of Vice Chairman- Robert Case- Board Chairman • Case nominates Rick Woodruff; no further nominations; seconded by Triggs • Vote passes 5-0 and Rick Woodruff elected as Vice Chairman of the Board F. Review and Approval of Minutes • April 15th Meeting- Motion to approve by Jones, seconded by Woodruff • Minutes approved as read 4-1 (Butler abstained, 1st meeting) Regular Session (cont.) G. Public Wishing to Address the Board. -- Robert Case, Board Chairman • Steve Sossamon prepared the following questions and are direct quotes: o 1. February 1, 2021, GUS changed the process on how much Kwh credit would be reimbursed for GUS customers with Solar PV Interconnect installations on personal residence. Prior to Feb 1, 2021, ALL Kwh that was received by GUS from the residence PV array was given credit to the GUS customer at a rate of $0.049760. After February 1, 2021, the rate went down because the PCA also went down to $0.04692 per kilowatt hour. Now the amount of credit is limited to the amount of kwH actually used by the residence customer account. Example of this is as follows: If a customer used from the GUS a total of 100 Kwh during a billing cycle and the customer overproduced on their solar array and push 300 Kwh to GUS as electricity received, the GUS customer only gets a credit applied for 100 Kwh and GUS GETS 200 Kwh of FREE ELECTRICITY TO PROVIDE TO OTHER GUS CUSTOMERS. How do I as the provider of this 200 Kwh get compensated for the Khw produced from my solar system ? I have had my system online for three months and two of the three months (Jan and Mar), I have overproduced. Of course, Feb 2021 I did not due to the winter storm. o 2. What is being done to ensure that the city of Georgetown (GUS) not be exposed to another $40M+ bill from ERCOT for having to purchase capacity at market prices that were on the verge of price gouging? As a customer, I would be open to a slightly increase charge per Kwh if a consistent contract rate can be obtained versus gambling against the market conditions as happened in February 2021 and the winter storm that caused a lot of damage. That said, I know that the GUS is planning on issuing bonds to pay for the $40M+ bill. The PCA that is currently being charged was planned to be removed sometime in 2022. o 3. Another question is will the PCA be used to pay off the bonds being issued to pay the $40M+ and the PCA being extended for the 10 year duration that the bonds are being issued for? • Sossamon addresses the question 1- claims that there are situations that he overproduces on his PV system in which he is typically credited for his amount of electricity put back on the city electric grid. However, due to recent ordinance changes, he claims he no longer is getting the appropriate amount credited to his account that he puts on the electric grid. He asks for clarification of the overproduction for those in his situation. • For his next two questions- Sossamon claims that he understands that an increase in rates if there is a consistent contract rate that doesn’t leave the City exposed to market fluctuations. • Questions are addressed by Daniel Bethapudi- General Manger of Electric Utility: o Bethapudi addresses the first question and explains that not every rate payer of Georgetown has the ability to install solar panels. When the program was designed, there was a need to ensure there is not a cost shift between those who have panels and those who do not in which the rates between the two were not equitable. o For the next two questions, Bethapudi explains that there are current risks that need to be addressed to create predictable rates. Even though the City was impacted by the Winter Storm, the cost did not impact current customer rates. Regular Session (cont.) H. General Managers Monthly Report- Daniel Bethapudi- General Manager of Electric Utility • Customer Service and Billing- Leticia Zavala-Customer Care Director o Available Service: 60 new connections; total of 573 new connections of this fiscal year o 30,062 available services total o 29,311 Electric customers/accounts o 135 estimated “not good” or “any” meter reads; work orders put in to investigate o Overall Average April 2021 bills roughly $20 lower than April 2020 o Electric Revenue Breakdown and Receivables presented- roughly 50% of yearly budgeted amount collected o Account receivables aging report given- Zavala explains the collection agency will begin collecting outstanding bills soon. Cindy Pospisil, Customer Care Manager, clarifies that collection efforts are expected to begin the coming Monday. • Finance and Budgeting Report- Daniel Bethapudi, General Manager of Electric Utility o Summary of Revenue and Purchase Power Expense ▪ Electric revenues collected are currently above the budgeted amount by roughly 2.5 million ▪ Bethapudi explains that February purchase power numbers are removed from the report in order to explain usual trending expenditures due to expenses incurred during the Winter Storm. This is to be updated with to include the February numbers, but exclude the Winter Storm numbers for the next meeting. o Debt update ▪ $6.6 million for capital projects and equipment for FY 2021 were successfully awarded on 05/11/2021. This is to be paid through electric sales revenues. ▪ The winning bid interest rate was 1.733%, with a 9-year call option, and amortization set to useful life of assets (7, 10, and 20 years) to SAMCO Capital Markets • Electric Engineering and Operations Report- Mike Westbrook- Electric Operations Manager o Electric Reliability (SAIFI)- .526 (Good Metric) o Electric Outage Duration (CAIDI)-92.732 (Good Metric) o Training- 98% (Good metric) o Safety, 100% attendance o Service Order Completion, 100% o Preventative Maintenance, 100% o Corrective Maintenance, 100% o Recent Outages and Maintenance- One transformer replacement due to recent storm due to wind and tree limbs. Overall system performed well in recent storms o Project Update- Along Highway 195/ Ronald Reagan -currently poles wire installed from Highway 245 to Rattlesnake Blvd due to crossover and down 195 into the Glasscock Substation. This is significant because it gives opportunity to backfeed into Sun City area and allows easier access to isolate outages and move load when needed. This also is for preparation for the Summer Hills project that is to be on the north side of Ronald Reagan. o Project Update- Aviation Drive- professional development area- in current planning process to build feed from two ends to accommodate future loads in association with the LCRA for transformer needs. o Woodruff asks when the Ronald Reagan project is expected to go live. Westbrook answers that this is expected to be live by July. o Bethapudi adds that these projects are typically debt funded and is considered a system improvement rather than a load extension. Legislative Session (cont.) I. Distributed Energy Resources- Interconnection Application and Inspection Review- Daniel Bethapudi, General Manager of Electric Utility, and Schneider Engineering • Background given by Bethapudi- o Issues were identified with the Interconnection Process that was processed by the City’s Building and Permitting Departments. The issues included: poor compliance with size and equipment requirements, poor record keeping, no field verification, and poor recovery of costs through the interconnection process. These issues could also lead to extenuating safety issues if left unchecked. o Interconnection Improvements projects include the interconnection process overseen by the Electric Engineering group, simplifying the requirements, and implement adequate review and inspection of installation. o This also includes an online service portal built to facilitate DER interconnection process and ultimately undertake a cost-of-service study to identify cost for the process as performed by Schneider Engineering. o An RFP has been issued and a provider for the portal has been identified to manage this process. o Current DER Application and Metering Fee: $245 ($35 Application Fee and $210 Meter Fee) • Cost of Service Study given by Ramsey Cripe of Schneider Engineering- o Compiled by determining list of replicable activities required to complete services including the following: employee responsible for activity, estimated time of completion, and employee’s cost per hour. o 3 Services Identified with the associated costs to the Utility: ▪ Application Inspection and Approval- $221.88 ▪ Installation Inspection and Meter Installation- $436.94 ▪ Additional Inspection Instance for failed inspection- $137.81 o Recommended Fees ▪ Application Inspection and Approval- $250 ▪ Installation Inspection and Meter Installation- $450 ▪ Additional Inspection Instance for failed inspection- $150 o The fees were set as such to ensure longevity, flexibility in cost, and ease of understanding o Fee comparison- Recommended fees to Georgetown are higher than others in the area. This is difficult to compare due to differing philosophies. Some utilize subsidization based on renewable energy goals or to how much exposure the system has to DER customers. • Case asks if there is a specific trigger for a new cost of service study. Bethapudi answers that essentially if actuals do not meet projected costs this would trigger such a study to the fee structure. • Woodruff asks if installations were considered into the study in which it could potentially be easier to allow standardized turn-key installations by known companies rather than services from smaller companies offering different installation services that would potentially result in less work for the Utility. Bethapudi answers that this is factored in the study. He references the City’s move to limit PV systems to 10 kW to ensure that this wouldn’t interfere with the City’s electric system addresses this standardization and prevent a full interconnection study. He also mentions the software portal that will facilitate the interconnection process will help identify approved installers. • Woodruff asks for clarification if the City does not concern with what is produced at consumed at a customer’s home but does cause concern if the site is putting energy back into the electric grid. Bethapudi answers that there must be adequate cost recovery mechanisms built into the rates in which a customer can build a system in such a way that they do have a need for City electricity but will need it in instances similar to Winter Storm. In this case, if no preparations are in place, then the customers who do not have panels installed are responsible to carry the cost rendered during such an event. • Bethapudi asks Cripe to explain customers that Schneider has served in which some of the fees are created. Cripe explains that clients have implemented a pseudo- demand-based fee for DER customers. Essentially a fixed fee per system or kilowatt installed to ensure that costs are not shifted entirely on to non-solar customers. • Jones asks if there are any inspections on some of the actual hardware on the customers installation to determine quality. Bethapudi answers that this responsibility lies between the customer and the DER installer. Inspection from the Utility point of view focuses on only if it is safely connected to City grid, if labeling is adequate, and if the City infrastructure could handle the load. • Woodruff asks if there are any houses presently in Georgetown that have the ability to pair battery storage in combination with solar practicability. Bethapudi answers that to his knowledge, that there are none, but is something the Utility is looking into the future in preparation for. • Woodruff follows if this installation is followed through by a customer, would this be allowed by the City. Bethapudi answers this should be allowed if energy from the customer is isolated and not put back on the grid if there is an outage in the area. The installation guidelines for this process are currently under review. • Woodruff asks if battery storage penetration is being considered by the Utility, or in the future will be. Bethapudi answers that as solutions come along, the Utility is assessing new developments as they come along. • Woodruff asks if there is a number of those customers with DER’s. Bethapudi answers that the data is available but will have to present it for the next meeting. Staff’s Recommendation to accept the proposed fee structure for new DER interconnection applications with a Tentative start date July 1st 2021 MOTION by Woodruff to vote to approve proposed fee structure- Seconded by Jones. APPROVED 5-0 MOTION by Jones, second by Woodruff to adjourn the Regular Session and move into Executive Session. APPROVED 5-0 at 5:34 PM Executive Session In compliance with the Open Meetings Act, Chapter 551, Government Code, Vernon's Texas Codes, Annotated, the items listed below will be discussed in closed session and are subject to action in the regular session. J. Section 551.086: Competitive Matters • Purchased Power Update MOTION by Jones, second by Woodruff to adjourn Executive Session. APPROVED 5-0 Adjournment MOTION by Jones, second by Woodruff to adjourn the Board Meeting. APPROVED 5-0 Electric Board Meeting Adjourned at 5:57 PM.