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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes_GTEU_06.17.2021Minutes of the Meeting for the Georgetown Electric Utility Board Thursday, June 17th, at 2:00 PM at the Community Room at City Hall, 808 Martin Luther King Jr. St., Georgetown, TX 78626 Board Members Present: Robert Case - Chairman, Rick Woodruff- Vice-Chairman, Sam Jones–Secretary, Mike Triggs, Ben Butler Staff Present: Daniel Bethapudi, Letica Zavala, Mike Westbrook, Cindy Pospisil, Jose Torres, Leigh Wallace, and Kress Carson Via Teleconference (Zoom): Michael Weisner and Jennifer Flor Public Attendees: Brian Scott (via Zoom) 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 2:00 pm by Case. B. Roll Call of Board Members -- Robert Case, Board Chairman. C. Introduction of Visitors -- Robert Case, Board Chairman D. Public Wishing to Address the Board • Brian Scott prepared the following comments to the Board: o “I will be attending the meeting via Zoom today at 2pm, but I would like to post some items that are due to come up from others. I have just gotten solar installed at my home (301 Canyon View Road), but it seems there are two motions that stifle adoption of solar in general: The upper limit of 10 kw is insufficient for many homes to claim grid independence – my home was originally scoped for 26 panels but was cut to 24 because it would have yielded more than 10 kw The reclaimed energy credit (REC) was cut in half in February 2021, so that any overage created by a home owner is cheapened in value I understand that Texas is an oil and gas state, but after the February disaster state-wide, and the challenge of upcoming months of hot weather, we need better alternatives and solar SHOULD be incentivized for ALL residents. More and more of my neighbors hit a tipping point in February (including myself) and will no longer leave our fate and survival in the hands of others.” • Daniel Bethapudi, General Manager of the Electric Utility, addresses his questions: o Bethapudi assures that the DER Policy is currently being reviewed. To ensure that the costs do not shift to those without DERs such as solar, the 10kw limit is in place. There are instances of which customers were oversizing their systems in which they are offsetting their bills and customers without solar are forced to pay costs. However, the Utility is currently participating in a rate study to identify how costs are allocated among customers. Once this is done, could see a review and update of the current DER policy in a way that is equitable to all customers. He further explains that the current net metering rate was approved and based off the Utility’s avoided cost of energy. This policy also calls for annual review of the credit. The initial credit was approved in October of 2020 and in February of 2021 the annual update took place. The DER policy I expected to be handled in a similar matter and hopefully will see changes later in the year. Legislative Session E. Review and Approval of Minutes • May 20th Meeting- Motion to approve by Jones, seconded by Triggs • Minutes approved as read 5-0 Regular Session (cont.) F. General Managers Monthly Report- Daniel Bethapudi- General Manager of Electric Utility • Customer Service and Billing- Leticia Zavala-Customer Care Director o Available Service: 20 new connections; total of 593 new connections of this fiscal year o 30,559 available services total; Security Lights added to the total services count o 29,386 Electric customers/accounts, 13 estimated “bad meter reads” ▪ Case- what defines a “bad reading?” ▪ Cindy Pospisil, Customer Care Manager, answers that this is currently tracked in the billing system in which there is a range of percentages in which the variability is acceptable. If readings are outside of the expected range, then this is considered a “bad read.” ▪ Bethapudi adds that there are instances that AMI system may not have reading for the entire billing cycle. In this case, usage is estimated through a data management system that provides estimation to the readings and if the estimations fall outside the range of acceptability, then the “bad reading” is met. ▪ Case- How bad readings are rectified? ▪ Pospisil answers that if the reading is off the estimation enough, then in most cases they wait until the next month to verify an issue with the meter, if there is a reading issue a technician is sent out to determine the issue. In most cases there is “0” read in which there is not a reading rather than an inaccurate reading. o Overall Average May 2021 bills roughly $4 lower than May 2020 ▪ Residential numbers lower than last year due to the closure of commercial and industrial businesses and people staying at home in May 2020 and decrease of PCA in January 2021 o Electric Revenue Breakdown and Receivables presented- roughly 57% of yearly budgeted amount collected. o Account receivables aging report presented- the collection process has begun from the newly contracted collection agency. Pospisil adds that the first files were sent to the agency for collection- roughly 2500 accounts. Zavala adds they plan to include collection reports in the overview once more collections are taken place. ▪ Bethapudi- What the status is of the disconnects of customer accounts? ▪ Zavala answers once a customer account reaches to a point of disconnection, they typically follow the PUC guidelines based on summer, but these guidelines were not available. The accounts listed on the Accounts Receivable Reports have not paid their account and respectively had their service disconnected or terminated their service and have not paid their final account balance. • Finance and Budgeting Report- Leigh Wallace- Finance Director o Second Quarter Background ▪ Due to the timing of COVID-19 pandemic timing, yearly comparisons from 2020 to 2021 show large variances in revenues and expenses. This was expected going into FY 2021. ▪ Includes February Winter Storm and January PCA adjustment o Electric Fund Revenue ▪ Revenue is trending lower compared to 2020 Q2 due to the PCA adjustment. However, revenue is on track to meet budgeted amount. ▪ Bond proceeds to be reported in the Q3 o Electric Fund Expenses ▪ Largely factored to the extreme costs impacted form the February Winter Storm in purchased power. ▪ There is to be a budget amendment to be approved and receive a second reading by City Council on June 22nd to account for the expenses. ▪ Case- Was the recent securitization bill that was recently signed by the Governor has any impact on these fees? • Bethapudi answers that are no exact numbers known just yet. However, it is expected to see some relief from the costs of ancillary services. There is also expected reduction in costs from the ERCOT reliability adder and CRR accountable revenues. The accountable revenues are essentially a fee that ERCOT collected from utility entities in order to pay generators in order to cover potential significant short pays in roughly the amount of 800 million dollars. The utility should expect this fee to be reimbursed because of this bill. It is not expected to cover the entire 48 million dollar hit from the storm, but some financial relief should be expected. ▪ Woodruff – What will happen once relief is met since we already have been issued debt to cover the 48-million-dollar expense. • Bethapudi answers that once the relief comes in, there are multiple to ways to funnel such relief to the customer, such as PCA reduction. Ultimately, the customers will see some form of benefit when the relief hits. o Budget to Actual Expense Report ▪ Expenses were high due to the Winter Weather Event. It is noted that many much of the personnel will be moved and reported into capital projects the labor was attributed to capital projects. o Purchased Power ▪ Excluding the 48 million expense from the budget, roughly 52% of the purchased power budget has met totaling 32.4 million dollars for the fiscal year. ▪ Triggs- How often are renewable energy credits are sold? ▪ Bethapudi answers that they ae sold multiple times a year. Ideally, they look to sell when the market is up and at least once a quarter. ▪ Triggs- How are the credits are valued? ▪ Bethapudi answers that there is a market for these. The City has access to environmental attributes; these attributes are encapsulated in the form of REC (renewable energy credits). There are groups and people who want these credits. For instance, a company may have environmental sustainability goals in which they purchase RECs to help achieve such goals. Case adds that retail electric providers are required to purchase these RECs based upon their load ratio share by ERCOT. ▪ Triggs -With the new amounts of solar farms going online, what effect will this have on the REC market? ▪ Bethapudi answers the market is constantly changes and that they have seen both an increase in supply and demand, thus resulting in a price increase in the last year. The value of renewable energy is increasing as these farms continue to meet the demand therefore the market looks promising. o June Mid-Year Budget Amendment ▪ This is due to the personnel overtime, operations, and purchased power related costs as mentioned previously. ▪ The Electric Fund to see contribution towards the Ronald Reagan electric reliability project in the amount of $180,000 from the Water Fund that also improves water reliability. • Electric Engineering and Operations Report- Mike Westbrook- Electric Operations Manager o Electric Reliability (SAIFI)- .57 (Good Metric) o Electric Outage Duration (CAIDI)-88.816(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 Top 5 Outages Report ▪ In most cases the outages were cases were something that blew a fuse; no major repair or replaces ▪ Case asks what the Bad Overhead Service outage in the report. ▪ Westbrook answers that a tree branch feel down and pulled the lug out of bushing and required replacement. ▪ Bethapudi adds that in the fusing situations in which that the outages that require fusing also require a significant amount of time finding the source that caused the outages such as a tree limb in the Serenada area. ▪ There was a lightning storm on the evening of the 28th that lasted nearly 3 hours in which there were 9 total outages of which required refusing in affected areas of the service system ▪ Woodruff- Exactly what causes the outages in which trees fall on the service? ▪ Westbrook answers that is a combination of wind and extreme weather-related issues. Trees are the largest overhead issue in the electric distribution system. • Electric Business Plan Presentation- Daniel Bethapudi, Mike Westbrook, and Kress Carson, Electric Utility Analyst o Bethapudi explains that this plan will be shared on quarterly basis. The consist of 3 measures of performance, which is financial performance, capital infrastructure projects, and internal operational performance. The purpose of business plan is meant to capture, report, and lay out the overall objective plan of the Utility in association with Utility projects. o David Morgan, City Manager, adds that every part of the city has a business plan that is to be provided with their annual budget as a requirement of the City. o The Utility Strategy consists of 4 groups- maintain excellent safety record, develop and maintain workforce, achieve high level of reliability, and achieve excellent financial performance. • The key performance metrics for safety record are tracking safety meeting attendance and supervisory field visits, near misses and incident tracking, and maintaining RP3 and APPA certification. The APPA/ RP3 certification consists of the reports of which is reported in the metric in the monthly Operations Report. • The indicators for developing and maintaining the workforce are the apprentice line training program, technical and continuous training, and operation technology training and refreshers. o Bethapudi adds that the Utility currently does have a robust lineman training program, but after graduation of the program the Utility wants to make sure that those are always plugged into new developments in training. o Case -What is an example of a “near miss”? ▪ Westbrook answers and explains the situation of which an employee was working in a J-Box where the elbows plug in and in the designed working area is very tight for movement. In this particular situation it was a rainy night in which conditions are not ideal for electric work. When attempting to plug in the last elbow, it began arching on the box due to the moisture in the area. The employee had to make a call to control center to shut down the entire circuit to ensure the safety of the group. Westbrook further explains that these near misses are meant to be tracked and learned from the electric group to mitigate risk and increase safety awareness. • The indicators for achieving a high level of reliability are SAIFI and CAIDI metric of which are currently provided in Operations monthly report. In addition, there is a need to meet yearly goals for system maintenance and upgrade programs. This is to be tracked in the future in the new Partners software that is to be implemented in the coming months, of which tracking, equipment and field staking are all done under one online platform. • The indicators for excellent financial performance are rate competitiveness, meeting budgets, and meeting financial ratios. o Case- Is there is a group of which we compare to for rate competitiveness? ▪ Bethapudi answers that they have identified a peer group. This mostly consists of regulated entities; however unregulated entities must be considered as well. o SWOT Analysis ▪ Bethapudi explains that this was the first step in implementing the business plan. o Strategic Goals and Initiatives ▪ SG1: Software Upgrades and Implementation ▪ ANB System- a software platform of which permitting and associated costs for DER (distributed energy resources) is collected through and creates a seamless process for the customer and utility. • Woodruff- Is the software cloud-based? o Bethapudi confirms. ▪ Partners-a real time comprehensive software for tracking software for project design, project cost management, job/project estimation, and field staking • Bethapudi adds that electric infrastructure is added on a daily, therefore it is important to implement a streamlined process from the GIS system to the model to the operations of the Utility. o SG2: Employee Training and Development ▪ Lineman Apprentice Program- currently done through a training company called Merchants. Currently the training information provided through Merchants is outdated therefore we are beginning to us the Northwest Line College. They currently have a hub in Denton. It is the utility’s belief that this offers a more robust and development program. ▪ Ongoing Employee Training ▪ Employee Safety and Training Group o SG3: Fleet/ Equipment Improvements and Replacements ▪ Contracting with Fleet and Rental Companies ▪ Fleet Replacements and Policy Review o SG4: Operation Improvements ▪ Job tracking and management- jobs beginning to be tracked from initial plans throughout implementation. ▪ Emergency Plans Update ▪ Engineering Studies for Projects- many engineering projects to begin taken place in house rather than be done by contractors. This has begun taking place since the Utility has begun bringing in their own engineering staff. ▪ Warehouse Outsourcing- a JIT function in which cash is not tied up in inventory and to take advantage to economies of scale of an electric distributor in which they are more faceted to serving a utility unlike the current City warehouse. ▪ Creation of Operation Technology ▪ Woodruff asks if this entails over vital city infrastructure and managing risk such as cyber-attacks. ▪ Bethapudi that this does include this and claims the IT director will be present for the next meeting to address this issue directly. o SG5: Energy Risk Management Updates ▪ Implement Risk Management Policies- proposed updates to be provided next meeting. ▪ Alternate Load Structures- identify the least risk and cheapest way of providing load. ▪ Procure Energy Portfolio Support and Management Services- Shell, ACES, and Crescent Power currently serve some of these functions to help better manage the energy portfolio. ▪ Butler- How susceptible is Georgetown to the recent potential rolling blackouts? • Bethapudi answers that whatever happens on the state grid is what Georgetown is subject to. If the ERCOT mandates rolling blackouts, Georgetown must follow suit by virtue of being a part of the ERCOT grid. • Jones adds ERCOT only lets the City’s transmission provider, LCRA, know when and how much load to drop in the transmission system in such an event. Afterwards the LCRA relays this message to the City and the Utility decides how to precisely manage the load shed. ▪ Woodruff- Are there granular ways to manage load shedding? • Bethapudi answers that there are ways to target load shedding. This includes going through the process of identifying a critical load from the meter. With new meter technology there are ways the load can be managed at a meter level rather than a feeder level. ▪ Case asks for clarification of the entities that would be considered critical loads at the granular level. • Bethapudi answers that Senate Bill 3 identifies a process in which entities would have to certify themselves as a critical facility or customer as required by the PUC (Public Utility Commission). • Zavala adds there are standard notification processes in load shedding situations that they must follow in such of an event as well to cater to such entities. • Capital Improvement Projects- Mike Westbrook o Projects divide into tow main categories- New Development Customer Growth and System Improvements o New Development Projects consist of Single Family Residential, Multi- Family Residential, Commercial, and Industrial o Single Family Projects include: ▪ Sun City Additions ▪ Sun City RV Tract Amenity Center/ Sun City NH 10 ▪ Wolf Ranch o Multi- Family Projects Include: ▪ Windmill Hill Multi- Family Units ▪ Mays Street Multi-Family Units ▪ Ascend Westinghouse Apartments ▪ Rockmoor Apartments ▪ Allora North Georgetown Apartments ▪ Vida Apartments ▪ Wolf Ranch Parkway Apartments o Commercial Projects Include: ▪ All Care Therapies ▪ Clarity Eye Center ▪ Republic Center Starbucks ▪ High Tech Retail Center ▪ Rbank SDP ▪ Georgetown Medical ▪ Wolf Lakes Village ▪ Kwik Chek ▪ Wolf Crossings ▪ Westinghouse Road Additions o Industrial Projects include: ▪ Titan Development- North Park 35 Aviation Phase 1 ▪ Titan Development- Gate Way 35 Commerce Center ▪ Texas Outdoor Power o System Improvements for Titan Development Projects ▪ Total estimated load is 20MW, in the future this amounted load could grow to 40 MW as development continues. ▪ Plan to add redundant feed to compensate for power in the Aviation Drive industrial area are also in the planning stages. ▪ Currently Utility has capacity to serve the load, but feeder upgrades are necessary to serve the additional load appropriately. ▪ In negations with LCRA to add a new substation, and potentially a second, transformer to provide capacity for future growth at the Gabriel Substation to accommodate the load ▪ Jose Torres, Electric Engineer, adds that new distribution feeders would then come off the new transformer to provide a back feed to the area. ▪ Woodruff- Are the upgrades are exclusive to this area? • Westbrook answers that that upgrades in the area are not exclusive as they are also intended to branch off to support other feeders in Georgetown. He also adds that in the planning process the Utility looks at an overall picture of the service load for the City rather than just an area in order to serve the load appropriately • Bethapudi adds that the project is an excellent opportunity to provide industrial load to the City, however because of the nature of the industrial business, there is a higher responsibility to provide adequate power at all times to the businesses in the area. Therefore, precautions such as double circuiting are necessary to service the area and provide for future growth. ▪ Woodruff- Are these businesses considered as a “critical load?” o Bethapudi confirms that they are important loads, but not a critical load. ▪ Woodruff- With the additional new loads that the City will have to buy to provide service, will Georgetown become exposed to the market. o Bethapudi answers yes, but there are incentives to participate into ERCOT’s demand response program and create one for the City as well. For example, when load was very high in demand on the ERCOT grid on June 15th, the Electric Utility asked the Water Utility to not run their larger pumps until later in the evening in order to preserve load. This can be utilized in association with Georgetown’s various manufacturing plants in which energy usage can changed on short notice. ▪ Case- Does the Aviation Drive Development in question consist of one or multiple entities? o Westbrook confirms that there are multiple companies involved in the project. Titan is the developer of the land and constructing the buildings themselves. ▪ Case- If these companies are carrying such a large load, does the City require them to agree to a standard tariff agreement or is there a negotiated tariff agreement? Is there a breakpoint to require a negotiated tariff? o Bethapudi believes there will be a breakpoint for a negotiated tariff agreement. There are risks to address when serving this size of load. Historically, utilities would build infrastructure to support a large business and the business would leave shortly thereafter. To avoid this, the Utility could require the companies in question to pay up front costs or in full for installing the incoming infrastructure. It is expected there will be instances of competitive and negotiated rates to cover the financial risk of the Utility. ▪ Gateway 35 Commerce Center spanning 83 acres is currently in the preliminary design phase. ▪ Bethapudi adds that the Utility has been working closely on the Titan projects with the Economic Development department of the City. Some of the electric infrastructure has been accounted for by GEDCO (Georgetown Economic Development Corporation). o Morgan adds that the Transportation Enhancement Corporation funded the Aviation Drive Extension and GEDCO funded the Water and Electric construction. o Downtown Overhead Rehab ▪ A 5 year plan to convert overhead lines to underground to beautify the downtown area. This a 5 year project due to the circumstances in which planning is strategically done with the Streets department and the downtown businesses o Ronald Reagan- Glasscock Feeder Extension Along Hwy 195 ▪ Phase 1- clean the vault a the Glasscock substation in which the feeders are separated into respective vaults, rather than the feeders being fed from vault. This ensures safety and effective job performance when working at these locations ▪ Phase 2- To provide more back feed capabilities to the Sun City area. Current construction completed from 245 to Rattlesnake Road. Eventually a double circuit will be installed in which the current poles are set up for to service future Wastewater Treatment Plant (partially funded by Water Department). o Shell Road-Esparada Reconductor- Express Feeders ▪ To help move load around and allow better feed capabilities to the area o 2022 Capital Improvement Projects ▪ Potential $7.4 Million to be voted for approval by City Council • $4 Million in New Development • $2 Million in System Improvements for Capacity, Capacity, Upgrades, and Unanticipated Improvements • $150,000 in System Improvements for Power Quality • $1 Million in System Improvements for Sectionalization and Distribution Automation • $250,000 in Feeder Exits/Additions o Much of the engineering work, and at an increasing rate, is being performed in house by the Utility. o Butler asks if we have the infrastructure for the increase of EV vehicle usage in the city. ▪ Bethapudi answers that we currently do have the capability of providing the increase in EV usage. If the penetration is 15 to 20% the infrastructure should handle the load. At 50% there may be line conditioning equipment in place to provide for the increase. Currently, the Utility is looking at models for this that go by a time-of-use rate in which incentives can be placed to ensure less infrastructure strain. Bethapudi ensures that if any given projected loads are coming in, that current engineering practices would assist in provide the proper growth mechanisms to provide appropriate system infrastructure. MOTION by Woodruff, second by Jones to adjourn the Regular Session and move into Executive Session. APPROVED 5-0 at 4:02 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. G. Section 551.086: Competitive Matters • Purchased Power Update MOTION by Woodruff, second by Jones 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 4:40 PM.