HomeMy WebLinkAboutAgenda_GTEU_04.15.2021Notice of Meeting for the
Georgetown Electric Utility Board
of the City of Georgetown
April 15, 2021 at 4:00 P M
at Virtual
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Regular Session
(T his R egular S es s ion may, at any time, be rec es sed to convene an Exec utive S ession for any purpose authorized by the O pen Meetings Ac t, Texas
G overnment C ode 551.)
A C all to O rder- Bill S attler; Board C hairman
B R oll C all of Board Members- Bill S attler; Bo ard C hairman
C Introd uc tion of Vis itors- Bill S attler; Board C hairman
D P ublic Wis hing to Ad dress the Board- Bill S attler; Board C hairman
Page 1 of 8
E R eview and Approval of Minutes from 3/18/2021 Meeting
F G eneral Manager's Monthly R eport- Daniel Bethapudi; G eneral Manager of Elec tric Utility
Executive Session
In c ompliance with the O pen Meetings Act, C hapter 551, G overnment C ode, Vernon's Texas C o des , Annotated, the items lis ted below will be
dis c us s ed in clos ed session and are subject to ac tion in the regular s ession.
G S ec tion 551.086: C ompetitive Matters- Daniel Bethapud i; G eneral Manager of Electric Utility
Adjournment
Adjournment- Bill S attler; Board C hairman
Ce rtificate of Posting
I, R obyn Densmore, C ity S ecretary for the C ity of G eo rgetown, Texas , do hereby certify that this No tic e of Meeting was posted at C ity Hall, 808
Martin Luther King Jr. S treet, G eorgetown, T X 78626, a place readily access ible to the general public as required by law, on the _____ day of
_________________, 2021, at __________, and remained so posted for at least 72 continuous hours preceding the scheduled time of s aid
meeting.
__________________________________
R obyn Densmore, C ity S ecretary
Page 2 of 8
City of Georgetown, Texas
Electric Utility Board
April 15, 2021
S UB J E C T:
R eview and Approval of Minutes from 3/18/2021 Meeting
IT E M S UMMARY:
F IN AN C IAL IMPAC T:
N/A
S UB MIT T E D B Y:
Kres s C arson- Board Liaison
AT TAC H ME N T S:
Description Type
3/18/21 Minutes Cover Memo
Page 3 of 8
Minutes of the Meeting for the
Georgetown Electric Utility Advisory Board
Thursday, March 18th, 2021 at 4:00 PM
at: Virtual Meeting (Zoom)
Board Members Present:
Via Teleconference (Zoom): Robert Case -Vice-Chairman, Sam Jones – Secretary, Mike Triggs,
Rick Woodruff
Board Members Absent: Bill Sattler – Chairman
Staff Present:
Via Teleconference (Zoom): Laurie Brewer, Daniel Bethapudi, Mike
Westbrook, Michael Weisner, Leigh Wallace, Jennifer Flor, Cindy Pospisil, Kress Carson,
Jose Torres, Karen Frost
No Others Present
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 Vice-Chairman
• Meeting called to order at 4:00 pm by Case.
B. Roll Call of Board Members -- Robert Case, Board Vice-Chairman
Case, Jones, Triggs, Woodruff were present; Sattler was absent.
C. Introduction of Visitors -- Robert Case, Board Vice-Chairman
• No visitors present.
D. Public Wishing to Address the Board. -- Robert Case, Vice-Chairman
• No one signed up to speak to the Board.
E. Review of City Council’s Boards and Commissions Attendance Policy-
Robert Cast, Board Vice-Chairman
• Members must attend at least 9 out of the 12 meetings.
Legislative Session
F. Review and Approval of Minutes
• January 21st Meeting-Motion to Approve- Woodruff; Seconded by Jones.
• March 4th Meeting- Motion to Approve- Jones; Seconded by Woodruff
• Both meeting with minor adjustments approved as read 4-1 (Sattler Absent)
G. Discussion of Possible Meeting Times and Date
• Times and dates scheduled for every 3rd Thursday of every month at 4:00 PM as
usual.
• Motion to Approve- Triggs; Seconded by Woodruff. Approved 4-1 (Sattler absent)
H. Review of Board Purpose and Bylaws
• Motion to approve- Jones; seconded by Woodruff. Approved 4-1 (Sattler absent) Page 4 of 8
I. Election of Georgetown Electric Utility Board Officer- Robert Case- Vice-Chairman
• Robert Case nominated for Vice-Chairman by Jones; No others nominated; Seconded
by Triggs. Robert Case approved as Vice Chair by board 4-1 (Sattler absemt).
• Sam Jones nominated for Secretary by Case; No others nominated; Seconded by
Triggs. Sam Jones approved as Secretary by board 4-1 (Sattler absent)
J. Possible Action on Collection Agency Item- Cindy Pospisil- Customer Care Operations
Manager
• Need for Collection Agency due to a backlog of past due accounts that range to
approximately 4,000 account costing nearly 1.6 million in backlogs; Age ranges from
90 days to 4 years.
• RFP released in November of 2020; 5 received and scored; top 2 were asked to give
presentations and provide references. Recommendation to board is Credit Systems
International. They request a $100,000 fee estimated at 25% of the outstanding
delinquent account collections. If rate is higher than estimated, matte will return to
the board.
o Case asks for clarification if $100,000 figure is an actual figure or a budgeted
one. Cindy clarifies that this is the case.
• Vote to approve recommendation of Credit System International, Inc, as 3rd Party
Collection Agency for Utility Customer Care delinquent accounts through 9/30/2022
in the amount of $100,000. Motion by Woodruff; seconded by Triggs. Approved 4-1
(Sattler Absent)
Regular Session (cont.)
K. General Managers Monthly Report- Daniel Bethapudi- General Manager of Electric Utility
• Customer Service and Billing- Cindy Pospisil-Customer Care Operations Manager
o 78 new connections; total of 433 new connections of this year
o 30651 of available services, 28964 total customers
o Average usage is higher in 2021 compared to 2020 during time beginning of
February
o Electric Revenue Breakdown and Receivables given
• Finance and Budgeting Report- Leigh Wallace-Finance Director
o Annual audit report-clean report opinion received-including electric fund
o City’s overall net position increased by $111 Million; total net position is $983
million
o Electric fund highlights: net position increased $17.8 million to a total of $113
million; including a net operating income of $8.9 million and capital
contributions of $6.5 million
o Case asks if there is a target net position for the fund. Leigh answers that
there is no real target, generally assets should be greater than liabilities;
Daniel elaborates that the optimal number is achieved by saving enough to
follow reserves and to acquire favorable coverage ratios to debt agencies.
o Triggs asks for comparison of net position between public and private
sectors. Bethapudi answers that the statement of net position is similar to a
balance sheet. Wallace adds that statement of revenues and expenses is
similar to an income statement.
o Debt Portfolio Update- bids due March 22nd for $48 million tax backed
instrument from unbudgeted energy due to winter storm; to be awarded by
council March 23rd
o Council approved selling $6.6 million of debt for electric capital projects Page 5 of 8
o Case asks if there is any update on uplift charges in relation to the debt
instrument. Bethapudi answers that uplift charges are not approved to be
covered by the bond. It covers the exposure to the market, and not the uplift
charges.
• Electric Engineering and Operations Report- Mike Westbrook- Electric Operations
Manager
o Electric Reliability (SAIFI)- .496 (Good Metric)
o Electric Outage Duration (CAIDI)-89.785 (Good Metric)- Outages do no not
reflect rolling blackouts, only regular distribution related outages.
o Operations have resumed back to normal operations- various projects in
place-including intersection I-35 and Ronald Reagan (4 miles of wire
installed), TXDOT job across I-35 (reimbursable by TXDOT)
o Daniel adds that the department is currently working on identifying the
weather event costs through FEMA reimbursement process.
o Woodruff asks if there has been discussion of infrastructure improvement to
better handle events such that occurred in February. Daniel answers that
design related changes are being discussed including further underground
electric system. Discussion between current grid improvement will be
discussed more on the state and national level as time goes on.
o Group consensus is that Georgetown handled the event favorably.
• Winter Weather Event Update- Daniel Bethapudi- General Manager of Electric
Utility
o Legislative update- Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick asks the Governor to take executive
action to correct the price of electricity given or require ERCOT of pricing
review
o ERCOT Activity- potential repricing for Feb. 15ht due to software errors.
Average increase of $58.36/MWh ranging from $0.01.MWh to $1241.68/MW/h
o Current estimated cumulative aggregate short pay amount is $2.9 billion
o Georgetown Impacts-Spinning Spur 3 and EDF Renewables claimed Force
Majeure (force of nature) for the event in order protect from legal action.
Wind performed, but faced icing issues during event.
o February invoice received from Shell; currently working on deadlines to be
extended in order to make sure ERCOT short pays and payment adjustments
are getting processed accordingly.
o Jones comments on the arbitrary response of event by ERCOT. Woodruff
asks what the financial exposure if ancillary services and energy market
concerns are not addresses by state powers. Bethapudi answers that if there
is implantation there should be benefits of a decrease in ancillary services
due to repricing but an increase of energy exposure of approximately $5
million. Hopefully, an offset will occur in expenses- best case scenario.
Adjournment
MOTION by Woodruff, second by Triggs to adjourn the Board Meeting. APPROVED 4-1
(Sattler absent)
Electric Board Meeting Adjourned at 5:26 PM.
Page 6 of 8
Page 7 of 8
City of Georgetown, Texas
Electric Utility Board
April 15, 2021
S UB J E C T:
G eneral Manager's Monthly R eport- Daniel Bethapudi; G eneral Manager of Elec tric Utility
IT E M S UMMARY:
F IN AN C IAL IMPAC T:
N/A
S UB MIT T E D B Y:
Daniel Bethapudi-G eneral Manager of Electric Utility
Page 8 of 8