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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAgenda_GTEU_04.21.2022Notice of Meeting for the Georgetown Electric Utility B oard of the City of Georgetown April 21, 2022 at 4:00 P M at F riends Room at Georgetown P ublic L ibrary 402 W. 8th Street Georgetown, Texas 78626 T he C ity of G eorgetown is committed to compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). If you require as s is tance in partic ipating at a public meeting due to a disability, as defined under the ADA, reas onable as s is tance, adaptations , or ac commodations will be provided upon request. P leas e c ontact the C ity S ec retary's O ffic e, at leas t three (3) days prior to the sc heduled meeting date, at (512) 930-3652 or C ity Hall at 808 Martin Luther King Jr. S treet, G eorgetown, T X 78626 for additional information; T T Y users route through R elay Texas at 711. The Geor getown E le ctr ic U tility A dvisory B oard is now me eting in per son. A quor um of the B oard will be in attendance at the F riends R oom at Geor getown P ublic L ibr ary 402 W. 8th S tre et Geor getown, Te xas 78626. It is possible that one or mor e board me mber s may attend via video Confe re nc e using the Zoom clie nt. Regular Session (T his R egular S es s ion may, at any time, be rec es s ed to c onvene an Exec utive S es s ion for any purpose authorized by the O pen Meetings Act, Texas G overnment C ode 551.) A C all to O rder- R obert C as e; Board C harman B Introduc tion of Visitors - R obert C ase; Board C hairman C P ublic Wis hing to Address the Board- R ober C as e; Board C hairman D R eview and Approval of Minutes from 03/24/2022 Meeting- Kres s C arson; Board Liais on E G eneral Manager's Monthly R eport- Daniel Bethapudi; G eneral Manager of Electric Utility F C ons ideration and possible action to approve a Tas k O rder with S chneider Engineering to facilitate pole attac hment joint us e adminis tration and engineering analys is and support.- Kress C ars on, Elec tric Utility Analyst and Daniel Mc R eynolds, Elec tric Engineering Manager G C ons ideration and possible action to approve a five year agreement with Texas Electric C ooperative (T EC ) with a three year renewal option to allow T EC to be the sole s ourc e provider of electric material and warehous e services; -Daniel Bethapudi- G eneral Manager of Elec tric Utility and Mike Westbrook, Elec tric O perations Manager Adjournment Adjournment- R obert C as e; Board C hair Ce rtificate of Posting Page 1 of 35 I, R obyn Densmore, C ity S ecretary for the C ity of G eorgetown, Texas, do hereby c ertify that this Notic e of Meeting was posted at C ity Hall, 808 Martin Luther King Jr. S treet, G eorgetown, T X 78626, a plac e readily acc es s ible to the general public as required by law, on the _____ day of _________________, 2022, at __________, and remained s o posted for at leas t 72 c ontinuous hours prec eding the s cheduled time of said meeting. __________________________________ R obyn Dens more, C ity S ec retary Page 2 of 35 City of Georgetown, Texas Electric Utility Board April 21, 2022 S UB J E C T: R eview and Approval of Minutes from 03/24/2022 Meeting- Kress C ars on; Board Liaison 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 Minutes 3-24 Cover Memo Page 3 of 35 Minutes of the Meeting for the Georgetown Electric Utility Board Thursday, March 24th at 4:00 PM at the Community Room at Georgetown City Hall, 402 W. 8th St. Georgetown, TX 78626 Board Members Present: Robert Case - Chairman, Rick Woodruff- Vice-Chairman, Sam Jones- Secretary, Ben Butler, Mike Triggs Board Members Absent: Butler (Excused) Staff Present: Daniel Bethapudi, Daniel Potter, Daniel McReynolds, Mike Westbrook, Cindy Pospisil, Kress Carson, Jennifer Flor, Jose Torres, and Richard Pajestka 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. • Butler absent C. Introduction of Visitors -- Robert Case, Board Chairman D. Public Wishing to Address the Board • None present Legislative Session E. Election of Vice Chair and Secretary • Vice Chairman Election o Jones nominates Woodruff for Vice Chair; no other nominations for Vice Page 4 of 35 Chair; Triggs seconds the nomination o Vote passes 4-1 (Butler absent); Woodruff is elected Vice Chair • Secretary Election o Triggs nominates Jones for Secretary; no other nomination for Secretary; Woodruff seconds the nomination o Vote passes 4-1 (Butler absent); Jones is elected Secretary F. Review and Approval of Minutes- Kress Carson, Board Liaison • February 17th Meeting- Motion to approve by Jones; seconded by Woodruff • Minutes approved as read 4-1 (Butler 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 31,922 Available Services o 30,094 Electric customers/accounts, 188 estimated “bad meter reads” o 30,390 Billed Electric Meters o Overall Residential February 2022 bills nearly identical compared to January 2021 as there hasn't been a change in rates o Average monthly and YTD electric bills for February 2022 compared to February 2021 are roughly the same. ▪ Billing numbers lower than last year due to a combination of higher monthly temperatures and reduced PCA o Electric Revenue Breakdown and Receivables presented- roughly 31% of yearly budgeted amount collected o 93% of 1st Quarter billings (Oct, Nov, Dec) collected and 45% of 2nd Quarter (Jan, Feb, Mar) billings collected o $16,000 decreased total in Aged Receivables o Roughly $112,000 collected in outstanding bills since the collection agency commenced collections in May to collect the bad debt o Case asks if there is a process for temp meters in Sun City. ▪ Zavala answers that that is true for most of Sun City. ▪ Bethapudi adds that the City is trying to move away from the temp meters, particularly for residential customers. In the future, more infrastructure will have meter pedestals in which both temp and permanent power can be utilized. This cuts down man hours to switch meters. Sun City is only area where meter pedestals can’t be used. o Case then asks how does the Utility know where to install the pedestal? ▪ Bethapudi answers generally it is installed next to the transformer and then it is up to the electrician/ builder to run the secondary line Page 5 of 35 to the house. o Case asks for clarification on the amount of total debt handed off to the collection agency ▪ Zavala confirms the amount is $1.9 Million • Electric Operations Report- Electric Operations Manager o Electric Reliability (SAIFI)- .403 (Good Metric) o Electric Outage Duration (CAIDI)-61.137(Good Metric) o Training- 100% (Good metric) o Safety, 100% attendance o Service Order Completion, 100% o Preventative Maintenance, 99% o Corrective Maintenance, 100% o Top 5 Outages Report ▪ No major outages, primarily typical; largest was due to a car hitting a pad mount transformer. o In recent wind storm, Georgetown Electric customers experienced zero outages. • Electric Employee Safety and Development Report- Eric Pouncey- Electric Operations Supervisor o Electric received an the APPA Safety Award of Excellence for 2021 in its division o 22 Safety Inspections conducted throughout the month o 1 safety incident in which there was short circuit within a transformer. Certain safety tools were implemented to help further prevent this from happening again. o Hurt Man Rescue- average department time was two minutes and 26 seconds; the industry standard is four minutes • Electric Warehouse Outsourcing Update o Bethapudi gives update on the Electric Warehouse Outsourcing RFP o Recent supply chain issues have revealed the critical need to have an expert electric material provider and how that mitigates the risk for Georgetown while also creating a competitive advantage. o An RFP was issued and the City finalized the proposals down to four vendors. The City has now singled that list down to one vendor, and are currently working on a contract with the vendor. o Bethapudi describes a situation in which a developer in dually certified area was denied by Oncor due to such supply chain issues, in turn the developer asked Georgetown to be the provider. o Westbrook further explains that the vendor has demonstrated expertise on supply chain issues and describes that due to their foresight in the market, they were able to secure a large amount of material before such issues and were able to provide to developers when other vendors could not. o Woodruff asks if the vendor has a local warehouse ▪ Bethapudi answers that they have a hub and spoke model in which the hub is close proximity of Georgetown. As apart of the Page 6 of 35 transaction, the vendor will purchase the inventory as well. o Case asks are they familiar with watching the commodity markets in which such commodities make up the electric material. ▪ Westbrook confirms that the vendors are experts at looking at such commodities, of which helps them establish their competitive advantage. o Jones asks is it still the case that the majority of transformers are still manufactured out of the country. ▪ Bethapudi answers that in last few years, some of the manufacturing has moved back to the US, but most of the manufacturing is still done out of the country. • FY2021 Audit and Annual Financial Report- Leigh Wallace- Finance Director o Wallace gives the background and terms to the report, and describes the requirements of which an independent auditor is hired to ensure that the City is following policy and standards issued by GASB (Governmental Accounting Standards Board) o Case asks how does the City select e who the external auditor will be. ▪ Wallace answers they can offer up to five year contract and then the contract has to go back to bid. They can select the same firm, but the usual practice they ask for different staff review, but with the same auding firm. The firm the City uses is Weaver and Tidwell. o Highlights to the Electric Fund include increases in both assets and liabilities, increases in capital contributions, and increases in debt. The total net position was an $11.9 million increase from 2020. o Ending balance fully finding 30.5 million in reserves o Total net operating income was a loss of 395k of which was partially a result of the PCA reduction by 1 cent in January 2021, which caused a $5 million decrease to sales revenue, a depreciation expense of $6 million; this was partially offset by REC sales of $4.1 million o This also features debt issuance and regulatory asset accounting regarding Winter Storm Uri in February 2021 o A clean opinion was given by the auditor • Quarterly Financial Report- Leigh Wallace o Background includes the CIP rollforward and operational amendment; reorganization of Electric cost centers effective January 2022; year-over- year comparisons of the past two years are beginning to normalize from impact of COVID-19 o Case asks what is causing the use of the money already used in Developer Growth ▪ Bethapudi answers that this purely driven by customer growth in the City o Electric Sales Revenue represents 92% of the budgeted Electric Fund revenue. 21% of which was collected in the First Quarter. o Expense budget for the Electric Fund is $109 Million, 50% of which is Page 7 of 35 purchased power related expenses; bond proceeds are 11.23%; Electrical Engineering is 17% (includes CIP expense), non-departmental (Transfers, debt service etc.) is 16% o Purchased power makes up 77.4% of operating expenses; 26% of the budget was used in the quarter H. Credit System International Agreement Renewal - Leticia Zavala- Customer Care Director • In 2021, the City entered a contract with Credit Systems International, Inc.(CSII), a 3rd party collection agency, to pursue collections of closed utility account balances. The current balance of accounts submitted to CSII is $1,796,372.83 • The City has sent to CSII 3,501 accounts totaling $1,928,570.91 ranging in age from 90 days to 4 years. Through 2/28/22, collections of $112,122.27, or 5.8% of the submitted account balances, have been received at a cost of $18,686.15. Adjustments of $20,075.81 have also been applied to various accounts based on additional information discovered during the collection process. • Case asks how many personnel are committed to serve Georgetown. o Zavala is not certain of that, but will return with an answer • Case asks does the City have a way of reviewing their calls with customers o Zavala answers that they do, they have reviewed their call scripts and they are able to contractually listen in on their calls with customers. • Case asks where the call center is and if it has been visited? o Zavala says no, at the time of the original contract they were not able to visit, but the call center is located in Dallas • Motion to approve made by Woodruff; seconded by Triggs; vote passes 4 -1 (Butler absent) I. Electric Just-in-Time Agreement Renewal- Mike Westbrook- Electric Operations Manager • Westbrook explains update to the current renewal to ensure that material is able to continue to be ordered as the new development budget has been used a larger rate than expected. This will ensure that jobs are still going to be performed until the warehouse outsourcing contract is complete. • The contract has a not to exceed amount of $5,000,000 • Triggs asks if $5 million will be enough to make it through o Westbrook confirms, this should be good enough until the new vendor is in agreement with Georgetown o Bethapudi adds that there is hope that particular contract will be in place by the start of May • Westbrook also confirms that there are no changes to the contract itself, it is Page 8 of 35 simply a renewal. • Motion to approve by Jones, and seconded by Triggs; vote passes 4-1 (Butler absent) Board moves into Executive Session at 5:32 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 Board moves back into Regular Session at 5:58 PM. Adjournment MOTION by Triggs, seconded by Jones to adjourn the Board Meeting APPROVED 4-1 (Butler absent) Electric Board Meeting Adjourned at 5:58 PM. Page 9 of 35 City of Georgetown, Texas Electric Utility Board April 21, 2022 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: Includes : C ustomer S ervice and Billing- Letic ia Zavala- C us tomer S ervic e Direc tor Electric O perations R eport- Mike Wes tbrook- Elec tric O perations Manager Electric S afety and Employee Development R eport- Daniel P otter- Electric S afety and Employee Development Manager 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 AT TAC H ME N T S: Description Type 4/21 Presentation Pres entation Page 10 of 35 Georgetown Electric Utility Advisory Board 04/21/2022 Page 11 of 35 22 AGENDA I.Regular Session: (* -indicates legislative action) A.Call to Order B.Roll Call C.Introduction of Visitors D.Public Wishing to Address the Board E.Review and Approval of Minutes* F.General Manager’s Monthly Report i.Customer Service and Billing Report ii.Operations Report iii.Safety and Employee Development Report G.Task Order-Pole Attachments* H.Electric Warehouse Outsourcing Project * II.Executive Session: J. Purchased Power Update *-indicates legislative action Page 12 of 35 Customer Service and Billing – Electric Services Customer Service and Billing – Electric Services Review of Minutes 03/24/2022 Page 13 of 35 General Manager’s Monthly Report 04/21/2022 Page 14 of 35 Customer Service and Billing – Electric Services Customer Service and Billing – Electric Services Customer Service and Billing – Electric Services Letica Zavala-Customer Care Director Page 15 of 35 66 •All Available Services* *Active & Inactive service delivery points Customer Statistics Available Electric Meters:Feb-2022 Mar-2022 Residential 27,192 27,284 General -Small 2,586 2,586 General -Large 342 346 Industrial 23 22 Industrial -Large 1 1 School Services 25 25 Municipal 256 254 Municipal -Pumping 42 45 Total Services Count 30,467 30,563 Available Security Lights Feb-2022 Mar-2022 Residential 95 94 Non-Residential 126 127 Municipal 4,203 4,203 Total Services Count 4,424 4,424 Net Metering REC Meters*542 543 *Main Meters Included in Counts above Page 16 of 35 77 •Breakdown by Active Electric Customers (unique) : •Electric Billing Collection: •Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI): 99.7% –Usage data automatically transmitted to billing office •Automated Meter Reading (AMR): .3% –Usage data is collected via a drive by system •# of Customer Estimations: 59 •Account did not get a “good” READ; or •Account did not get “ANY” READ (work order put in for metering to investigate) Customer Statistics Feb-2022 Mar-2022 Residential 26,657 26,759 Builder 729 736 Commercial & Industrial 2,412 2,409 Municipal/Schools 296 295 Total Electric Customers:30,094 30,199 Page 17 of 35 88 •Billed Meters/Services* *Meters billed during the month Customer Statistics Billed Electric Meters:Feb-2022 Mar-2022 Residential 26,901 27,010 General -Small 2,361 2,371 General -Large 330 337 Industrial 21 22 Industrial -Large 1 1 School Services 25 25 Municipal 183 196 Municipal -Pumping 38 41 Total Services Count 29,860 30,003 Billed Security Lights Feb-2022 Mar-2022 Residential 95 95 Non-Residential 126 126 Municipal 4,197 4,197 Total Services Count 4,418 4,418 Billed Net Meters*530 533 *Also included in above meter counts Page 18 of 35 99 Customer Billing Statistics Average Monthly Electric Bill FY22 -Mar FY21 -Mar All Customers $108.19 $113.98 Average YTD Electric Bill FY2022 FY2021 All Customers $200.02 $219.88 Residential Customer -FY2022 FY2021 Cost per 1000 kWh $134.35 $134.35 (including PCA + Base) Average kWh 764 771 Electric Bill (based on Average kWh)$102.64 $103.58 Page 19 of 35 1010 Electric Revenue –FY 2022 Page 20 of 35 1111 Electric AR –Active & Inactive Accounts Electric AR –Combined Aging Breakdown Aged Receivables Report –thru 3/31/22 Electric Mar-22 Prior Month Variance 31 –60 Days $69,699.81 $80,407.24 ($10,707.43) 61 –90 Days $28,548.13 $59,257.84 ($30,709.71) 91 –120 Days $35,110.13 $59,402.25 ($24,292.12) 120 –365 Days $251,700.41 $270,660.53 ($18,960.12) > 365 Days $135,292.91 $121,629.32 $13,663.59 Total $520,351.39 $591,357.18 ($71,005.79) Customer Count 2250 2211 39 Mar-22 Prior Month Variance Active Accounts $88,749.65 $211,864.28 ($123,114.63) Inactive Accounts $431,601.74 $379,492.90 $52,108.84 Total $520,351.39 $591,357.18 ($71,005.79) Page 21 of 35 1212 Collection Agency Review Page 22 of 35 Electric Operations Report Mike Westbrook Electric Operations Manager City of GeorgetownPage 23 of 35 14 Performance Metrics City of Georgetown Mar-22 Feb.March Good Caution Alert Training 100%100%>90%90%-80%<80% Safety 100%100%>90%90%-80%<80% SO OTC 100%100%>90%90%-80%<80% PM WO OTC 99%99%>90%90%-80%<80% CM WO OTC 100%99%>90%90%-80%<80% Electric Reliability (SAIFI)0.403 0.436 <1 1-2 >2 Electric Outage Duration (CAIDI)61.137 58.975 <116 116-200 >200 Page 24 of 35 15 Top Five Outages & Events City of Georgetown Date Start Time Duration (min) Customers Affected Customer Minutes Cause Area 3/6/2022 12:28pm 64 3 192 Burned up jumper South Georgetown 3/21/2022 6:30am 115 704 80,960 Pole fire Gabriel 3/21/2022 4:49pm 22 9 198 Tree issue Georgetown 3/23/2022 9:49am 71 91 6,461 Car vs J Box Georgetown East 3/28/2022 8:25am 195 12 2,340 Failed Transformer Gabriel Date Start of Event End of Event # of Outages Average Duration Cause Area N/A Page 25 of 35 Electric Safety and Training Report Danny Potter Electric Safety and Employee Development Manager Page 26 of 35 Legislative Action Items 04/21/2022 Page 27 of 35 1818 •Consideration and possible action to approve a Task Order with Schneider Engineering to facilitate pole attachment joint use administration and engineering analysis and support.-Kress Carson, Electric Utility Analyst and Daniel McReynolds, Electric Engineering Manager •The City is expecting an increase in pole attachment applications. •Multiple Fiber-to-Home projects projected for construction within the year- Frontier, Grande/Astound, Ubiquity/Millennium Telecom •Historically, the City has maintained a joint-use program in which pole attachment applications were fairly manageable-Roughly 100-200 pole attachments per year in FY 2021 and prior •So far in FY 2022,we have witnessed roughly 400 pole attachments so far in the year and expecting much more. Task Order- Pole Attachment Administration Support and Analysis Page 28 of 35 1919 •The largest licensee in the City (Suddenlink) is attached onto roughly 5800 City-owned poles; others are expected to match this. •In light of such growth, Schneider Engineering, with whom we have a preexisting Master Service Agreement,is a qualified engineering firm to facilitate the administration of the joint use program which includes pole loading analysis review, provide make-ready estimates, and conduct post construction inspections •This task order is intended to be help effectively manage the impending growth of applications. •The costs associated with the task order will be offset by the fees we collect from the applicants Task Order- Pole Attachment Administration and Analysis Page 29 of 35 2020 Task Order- Pole Attachment Administration and Analysis Services Provided Proposed Rate Structure Application Review $15/ Pole Pole Loading Analysis Review $25/ Pole Pole Loading Analysis $110/ Pole Make Ready Engineering $315/ Pole Post Construction Inspection $75/Pole Any Additional Processing Outside Scope of Work At cost *Amount not to exceed $250,000 Page 30 of 35 2121 •Consideration and possible action to approve a five year agreement with Texas Electric Cooperative (TEC) with a three year renewal option to allow TEC to be the sole source provider of electric material and warehouse services;-Daniel Bethapudi-General Manager of Electric Utilities and Mike Westbrook, Electric Operations Manager Electric Warehouse Outsourcing Page 31 of 35 Executive Session: In compliance with the Open Meetings Act, Chapter 551, Government Code, Vernon's Texas Codes, Annotated, the item listed below will be discussed in closed session and is subject to action in the regular session. –Daniel Bethapudi, General Manager of the Electric Utility Sec. 551.086 Competitive Matters •Purchased Power Review Page 32 of 35 City of Georgetown, Texas Electric Utility Board April 21, 2022 S UB J E C T: C onsideration and pos s ible ac tion to approve a Task O rder with S c hneider Engineering to fac ilitate pole attachment joint use administration and engineering analysis and s upport.- Kres s C arson, Electric Utility Analys t and Daniel Mc R eynolds , Electric Engineering Manager IT E M S UMMARY: •T he C ity is expec ting an inc reas e in pole attachment applic ations . •Multiple F iber-to-Home projects projec ted for c onstruc tion within the year- F rontier, G rande/Astound, Ubiquity/Millennium Telec om •His toric ally, the C ity has maintained a joint-us e program in whic h pole attac hment applications were fairly manageable- R oughly 100-200 pole attac hments per year in F Y 2021 and prior •S o far in F Y 2022, we have witnessed roughly 400 pole attachments so far in the year and expec ting much more. •T he larges t licens ee in the C ity (S uddenlink) is attac hed onto roughly 5800 C ity-owned poles ; others are expec ted to matc h this . •In light of s uc h growth, S chneider Engineering, with whom we have a preexisting Mas ter S ervic e Agreement, is a qualified engineering firm to fac ilitate the administration of the joint use program which includes pole loading analysis review, provide make-ready es timates , and conduc t pos t cons truction ins pections •T his tas k order is intended to be help effec tively manage the impending growth of applications. •T he c os ts as s ociated with the task order will be offset by the fees we c ollect from the applic ants F IN AN C IAL IMPAC T: S ervic es P rovided P ropos ed R ate S truc ture Application R eview $15/ P ole P ole Loading Analysis R eview $25/ P ole P ole Loading Analysis $110/ P ole Make R eady Engineering $315/ P ole P os t C onstruc tion Inspec tion $75/P ole Any Additional P roc es s ing O uts ide S c ope of Work At cost Page 33 of 35 S UB MIT T E D B Y: Kres s C arson- Elec tric Utility Analys t and Danny Mc reynolds - Elec tric Engineering Manager Page 34 of 35 City of Georgetown, Texas Electric Utility Board April 21, 2022 S UB J E C T: C onsideration and pos s ible ac tion to approve a five year agreement with Texas Elec tric C ooperative (T EC ) with a three year renewal option to allow T EC to be the s ole source provider of elec tric material and warehouse s ervic es ; -Daniel Bethapudi- G eneral Manager of Electric Utility and Mike Wes tbrook, Electric O perations Manager IT E M S UMMARY: T his is an allianc e agreement of which Elec tric material warehous ing services and material will be outs ourc ed and provided by T EC . T he agreement also entails a purc hase of c urrent electric warehouse s toc k. T he item will make T EC the s ole source provider if elec tric material and warehous e services for the Electric Utility. F IN AN C IAL IMPAC T: T EC to purc hase outs tanding Elec tric stock in addition to charging margins for the services and material provided under the agreement. S UB MIT T E D B Y: Mike Wes tbrook, Electric O perations Manager and Daniel Bethapudi, G eneral Manager of Electric Utility Page 35 of 35