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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes_GTEU_08.19.2021Minutes of the Meeting for the Georgetown Electric Utility Board Thursday, August 19th, at 4:00 PM at the Friends Room in the Georgetown Public Library, 402 W. 8th St. Georgetown, TX 78626 Board Members Present: Robert Case - Chairman, Rick Woodruff- Vice-Chairman, Sam Jones–Secretary, Ben Butler Board Member Absent: Mike Triggs Staff Present: Daniel Bethapudi, Letica Zavala, Mike Westbrook, Danny McReynolds, Cindy Pospisil, Jose Torres, Leigh Wallace, Laurie Brewer, David Morgan, Jennifer Flor, Aaron St. Pierre, and Kress Carson Public Attendees: None 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 4:00 pm by Case. B. Roll Call of Board Members -- Robert Case, Board Chairman. • Mike Triggs is absent C. Introduction of Visitors -- Robert Case, Board Chairman D. Public Wishing to Address the Board • None present Legislative Session E. Review and Approval of Minutes- Kress Carson, Board Liaison • July 15th Meeting- Motion to approve by Jones, seconded by Woodruff • Minutes approved as read 4-1 (Triggs absent) F. Tree Trimming Contract- Mike Westbrook, Electric Operations Manager • Consideration and possible recommendation to award the Tree Trimming and Vegetation Management Contract to Townsend Tree Service LLC. of Muncie, Indiana, in the estimated amount not to exceed of $300,000.00. • This is the same tree trimming service that has been previously used by the Utility for the last 5 years. The original 5-year term had expired, and Townsend Tree was the only company to return a bid. This a 4 year contract with a one year extension afterwards. • Case asks if the homeowners are responsible for any tree trimming on the service drop to their home. o Westbrook confirms. If they receive a call in which there is a tree limb putting pressure on the line, they will clear the line of any limbs. If customers are ever worried about they trees in their lines, they will inform the customer that the line needs to be trimmed, and they will temporarily shut off power and remove the line to allow for the tree trimming to take place and will reconnect the service in the same day. • Buter asks how are we making sure we are getting a fair price for the tree trimming services. o Westbrook answers that the prices were compared to other vendors and was competitively priced and bid. • Motion to approve the Tree Trimming Contract- Motion by Woodruff, seconded by Butler. Vote passes 4-1(Triggs absent) Regular Session (cont.) G. General Managers Monthly Report- Daniel Bethapudi- General Manager of Electric Utility • Customer Service and Billing- Leticia Zavala-Customer Care Director o 30,011 Active Services/ Billed Meters o 29,554 Electric customers/accounts, 53 estimated “bad meter reads” o Overall Average June 2021 bills nearly $50 cheaper than June 2020 ▪ Billing numbers lower than last year due to a combination of lower average monthly temperatures and reduced PCA o Electric Revenue Breakdown and Receivables presented- roughly 75% of yearly budgeted amount collected. o Roughly $50,00 collected in outstanding bills since the collection agency commenced collections in May. o Bethapudi adds that kWh sold in July was less by 17% than what was previously anticipated in the budget projections. This year’s mild summer is a major cause for the lack of electric sales revenue. • Electric Engineering and Operations Report- Mike Westbrook- Electric Operations Manager o Electric Reliability (SAIFI)- .57 (Good Metric) o Electric Outage Duration (CAIDI)-90.229(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 ▪ 2 failed transformers in Sun City area in early July and a blown arrestor in South Georgetown in late July highlight the major outages o Westbrook explains a recent change to the Line Extension Policy o The reason for the change in the policy is to properly reflect the unit changes in material prices. This is largely due to increased commodity process and supply chain issues in the market. o The determined costs for single and multi-family units were evaluated by the specific material increases o The single family lots charges were increased from $2600 to $3375 per lot; multi family unit charges were increased from $800 to $1000 per unit o The fees per dwelling until are to be reviewed at least annually as prices change. Any proposes changes greater than 5 percent are to be approved by City Council. o The DER fees were moved to the DER Interconnection and Installation Policy on 06/15/2021. o The meter connect fees for multi family and commercial developments are to be billed and collected along with the line extension fees. o Additional costs include, if applicable, the advanced metering infrastructure cost, the civil infrastructure installation inspection cost, and any other non-standard costs such as disposal and engineering studies if necessary for a customer or developer. • Case asks why the Utility adopted the fee schedule on a per lot basis rather than billing the customer on a real-time basis. o Bethapudi answers that most material prices stay fairly consistent. This was put in place to allow customers to estimate their costs more accurately and enable them to provide financing efficiently, and ultimately expedite the line extension process. However, due to the recent dramatic changes in prices, a change in fees had to be made to cover the expenses appropriately. • FY 2022 Budget Overview- Daniel Bethapudi- General Manager of Electric Utility o Budget Updates o Electric Sales Revenue projections decreased by roughly $3.8 million to $79 million for FY 2021 o Developer Contributions/ CIAC was increased by roughly $2.2 million to $6.1 million o REC Sales Revenue was increased by $1.5 million to $2.5 million ▪ The bottom-line net impact to the budget of these changes is $0 MOTION by Jones, second by Woodruff to adjourn the Regular Session and move into Executive Session. APPROVED 4-1 (Triggs absent) at 4:45 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. H. Section 551.086: Competitive Matters • Purchased Power Update MOTION by Woodruff; second by Jones to adjourn Executive Session. APPROVED 4-1 (Triggs absent) at 5:17 PM. Adjournment MOTION by Jones, second by Butler to adjourn the Board Meeting. APPROVED 4-1 Electric Board Meeting Adjourned at 5:18 PM.