6.1. ERMUSR 10-11-2011Elk River~,~
Municipal Utilities
13069 Orono Parkway • P.O. Box 430
Elk River, MN 55330-0430
UTILITIES COMMISSION MEETING
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Phone: 763.441.2020
Fax: 763.441.8099
TO: FROM:
Elk River Municipal Utilities Commission Troy Adams, P.E. -Utilities Director
John Dietz -Chair
Daryl Thompson- Vice Chair
Al Nadeau -Trustee
MEETING DATE: AGENDA ITEM NUMBER:
October 11, 2011 6.1
SUBJECT:
Staff U dates -Utilities Director
DISCUSSION:
Central Minnesota Municipal Power Agency will be holding their 2011 annual agency meeting
and dinner on Tuesday October 25`" and also on Thursday October 27`". The meeting is held
twice each year to allow greater flexibility for attendance. In the past these meeting have been
held in Mankato, MN. This year the location has changed. The meeting on October 25`" will be
held at Spm in Owatonna, MN. The meeting on October 27`" will be held at Spm in Springfield,
MN. The registration deadline is October 17`".
CENTRAL MINNESOTA MUNICIPAL POWER AGENCY
459 South Grove Street Blue Earth, Minnesota 56013 507-526-2193
DATE: September 28, 2011
TO: Troy Adams Elk River
FROM: Steve Thompson
TOTAL NUMBER OF PAGES: Cover + 2 naQes
Attached you will find an electronic copy of the invitation to the CMMPA 2011 Regional
Member Meeting and Dinner.
Within the next couple of days you will receive an envelope that will contain multiple
copies of this invitation along with the return registration form for each of Elk River's
utility management and commissioners.
CMMPA is working hazd to help associate member cities like yours succeed in the
rapidly changing and challenging electricity market. These issues increasingly cannot be
considered a spectator sport. On behalf of your Agency, I strongly encourage you and
other key representatives of your City to attend and actively participate in this
informative and important event.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to give me a call.
Thank you,
~~f'" `^'"~' ~
Steve Thompson
CEO, CMMPA
~~ CENTRAL MINNESOTA MUNICIPAL POWER AGENCY
2011 AGENCY MEETING AND DINNER
Tuesday -October 25th, 2011 Holiday Inn -Owatonna, Minnesota
OR
Thursday -October 27th, 2011 Sprin~eld Area Community Center Sprin~eld, Minnesota
Both nights 5:00 - 9: 00 PM (Dinner served at 5: 00 PM)
THE CMMPA STAFF WOULD LIKE TO EXTEND AN INVITATION TO
OUR CMMPA ASSOCIATE MEMBER
ELK RIVER
UTILITY COMMISSIONERS AND TOP LEVEL MUNICIPAL OFFICIALS
RSVP By Monday, October 17, 2011
This meeting has been designed to bring together
your city/utility colleagues and leaders for an
excellent learning opportunity to deal with the
challenges of working in a rapidly changing energy
environment.
You, along with your agency, CMMPA, have been
charged with taking important steps toward meeting
the future and managing it effectively.
Key meeting topics:
• Industry Trends
• Current/Future Power Supply
• Transmission
• Minnesota Compliance
• CMMPA Outlook Register Now!
(see attached)
Sneakers
CMMPA Board Chairman
Bob Elston
CMMPA STAFF
Steve Thompson, CEO
Larry Blaine, CFO
Lori Frisk-Thompson, Member Services
Shankar Karki, Senior Engineer
Kyle Haemig, Resource Planner
Loren Schumacher, Energy Conservation
Chad Hanson, Scheduler Supervisor
Andrew Ristau, Scheduler
Ben Nelson, Scheduler
CENTRAL MINNESOTA MUNICIPAL POWER AGENCY
2011 MEMBER MEETING AND DINNER -REGISTRATION FORM
** Registration will be available until October 17, 2011 at 5:00 p.m.
City/Municipal:
Name
Posifion:
Please choose one of the two meeting nights:
CHOICE OF NIGHTS
Tuesday
October 25, 2011
1B
Thursday
October 27, 2011
Holiday Ina
2365 43rd Street NW
Owatonna, Minaesota
Springfield Area Community Center
33 South Cass Avenue
Springfield, Minnesota
Return registration form by Mondav October 17, 2011:
BY MAIL: CMMPA
459 South Grove Street
Blue Earth, MN 56013
BY FAX: 507-526-2527
BY EMAIL: colleenk(a~cmmoa.org
Elk River~i:
Municipal U
13069 Orono Parkway • P.O. Box 430
Elk River, bIN 55330-0430
UTILITIES COMMISSION MEETING
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Phone: 763.441.2020
Fax: 763.441.8099
TO: FROM:
Elk River Municipal Utilities Commission Theresa Slominski -Finance and Office
John Dietz -Chair Manager
Daryl Thompson -Vice Chair
Al Nadeau -Trustee
MEETING DATE: AGENDA ITEM NUMBER:
October 11, 2011 6.1
SUBJECT:
Staff U dates -Finance Director/Office Mana er
DISCUSSION:
We had 1086 credit card payment transactions in September, compared to 935 in August. The
fee for September should be $2,443.50.
We had our audit interviews Monday, October 3rd with the interview team of Tim Simon, Lori
Zeimer, Lori Stitch, Lorrie Franz, Bob Pearson, and myself. The three auditing firms that were
interviewed were the current auditors Abdo Eick & Meyers, and competing firms Larson Allen,
and Kern Dewenter Viere (KDV). All three firms presented well, proposed a reduced rate from
our prior audit rates, and all firms' proposals were very comparable in price (for ERMU. The
quotes varied more for the City.) In evaluation of the proposing auditing companies, the items
we were most focused on was experience with Municipal Utilities of Electric and Water.
Recognizing that an audit firm provides more of a service than an annual audit, but a partner in
addressing challenges within our industry related to many varied financial aspects, we felt this
was extremely important. The team is meeting again on Friday, October 7`h to determine final
recommendations.
All auditors also provided a quote for performing the audit with a separate component for
preparing the audit report (as requested.) A consideration I would like to address is the
preparation of the report for the upcoming year. Recognizing that we will have reduced audit
fees, regardless of the final firm selection, I would propose that we have the auditing firm
prepare the actual audit report this year, while we internally prepare the audit report and position
ourselves to do it entirely the following year. This allows us more opportunity to work with the
auditors side by side in its creation so efficiencies can be identified and the best processes
adopted. Especially if a new audit firm is selected, this would allow us transition time to produce
the best quality report.
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P OVV EKED T O $ E0.V E
Elk Ri
Municipal Utilities
UTILITIES COMMISSION MEETING
TO: FROM:
Elk River Municipal Utilities Comrnission David Berg
John Dietz, Chair Water Superintendent
Daryl Thompson, Vice Chair
Al Nadeau, Trustee
MEETING DATE: AGENDA ITEM NUMBER:
October 11, 2011 6.1
SUBJECT:
Staff U dates
Discussion:
• The Gary Street water tower painting project is almost fmished. They ran out of paint
so they will need to come back to finish the doors and railing. The tower has been
filled and is in use.
• The newly installed water main is finished on County Road 13. Some restoration still
needs to be done. We hope to start running water through the lines on Tuesday,
October 11`h
• Staff continues to upgrade the water and electric meters.
Elk Riv
Municip al Utilitie s
UTILITIES COMMISSION MEETING
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P p W E 0. E D T O S E R E
TO: FROM:
Elk River Municipal Utilities Commission Mark Fuchs
John Dietz -Chair Line Superintendent
Daryl Thompson -Vice Chair
Al Nadeau -Trustee
MEETING DATE: AGENDA ITEM NUMBER:
October 11, 2011 6.1
SUBJECT:
Staff U dates
DISCUSSION:
• Finished changing out the gaskets on our switchgear.
• Finished converting Co. Rd. 30 west of Waco from 2400 volts to 7200 volts.
• Continue working on 6`h and 7`h Street Rebuild.
• Working on changing out six rusty three phase j-boxes and removing one rusty PMH-9
switchgear cabinet on Proctor Rd.
• Working on moving a transformer and changing out some street lights that were on wood
poles and adding a few new ones on 15` and 2"d Street project.
• Replaced a single phase underground primary tap that went bad on 209`h avenue.
• Upgraded the three phase transformer at the Pizza Ranch building.
• Helped Butch from the City put antennas on the siren poles and replace a light fixture at
Northbound Liquor.
• Registered Tony Hubbard's electrical license with the state since Tony is the master
electrician. This allows us to work on the customer side of the electric meter.
• Had an accident in our parking lot with our 2002 one ton dump truck and a garbage truck.
Nobody was hurt, but our truck had quite of bit of damage because it was above the
bumper in the front of the truck.
• I was an instructor at the MMUA overhead school. MMUA had very good attendance at
the school. Shane DeFayter and Matt Schwartz also attended the school.
Elk Ri
Municipal Utilities
UTILITIES COMMISSION MEETING
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TO: FROM:
Elk River Municipal Utilities Commission Wade Lovelette-Superintendent of Technical
John Dietz, Chair Services
Daryl Thompson, Vice Chair
Al Nadeau, Trustee
MEETING DATE: AGENDA ITEM NUMBER:
October 11, 2011 6.1
SUBJECT:
Staff U dates - Su erintendent of Technical Services
DISCUSSION:
In September, the Security Systems Department had a total of 61 phone contacts, 11 new
systems quoted, eight system sales made, eight installs completed, 25 service calls made and 11
personal visits.
The Locating department had a total of 253 locate tickets, five of them being emergency
tickets. The numbers of tickets are down a little bit from August, but I expect that number to
increase as the days marching toward freeze up lessen.
Meter Shop and Locating staff performed a practice commercial energy audit last month.
Meter reading is going very well for our part-time meter reader. The lap-top for meter
reading seems to be paying for itself very fast.
I have been working on applying for Elk River Municipal Utilities to be recognized as a
Reliable Public Power Provider (RP3) from American Public Power Association (APPA). A lot
of data and records go into a report like this to provide the right kind of information. Attached is
a memo explaining what APPA is about and the RP3 program overview.
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Elk River;
Municipal U
UTILITIES COMMISSION MEETING
TO: FROM:
Elk River Municipal Utilities Commission Wade Lovelette-Superintendent of Technical
John Dietz -Chair Services
Daryl Thompson -Vice Chair
AI Nadeau -Trustee
MEETING DATE: MEMO
October 11, 2011
SUBJECT:
Staff U date (RP3 ro'ect)
The American Public Power Association (APPA) is the service organization for the nation's more than
2,000 community owned electric utilities. APPA member utilities serve some of the nation's largest cities,
such as Los Angeles, Sacramento, Seattle, Phoenix, Jacksonville, Austin, San Antonio, Nashville,
Memphis, Cleveland, Omaha and Orlando. Several state public power agencies, such as the New York
Power Authority, South Carolina Public Service Authority (Santee Cooper) and Lower Colorado River
Authority in Texas, provide electric power to many communities within [heir states. However, the
majority of APPA member utilities are located in small and medium-sized communities. Combined,
public power utilities serve more than 45 million Americans.
The APPA was created in 1940 as anon-profit, non-partisan organization whose purpose is to advance
the public policy interests of its members and their consumers, and provide member services to ensure
adequate, reliable electricity at a reasonable price with the proper protection to the environment.
RP3 is APPA's program to encourage public power utilities to demonstrate basic proficiency in four
important disciplines:
• Reliability
• Safety
• Work Force Development
• System Improvement
Being recognized by the RP3 program demonstrates to community leaders, governing board members,
suppliers and service providers a utility's commitment to its employees, customers, and community.
Additionally, an RP3 designation is a sign of a utility focused on operating an efficient and reliable
distribution system.
In the RP3 system, applicants can earn up to 100 points for their practices and accomplishments in each of
the four disciplines. Criteria within each category are based on sound business practices and are intended
to represent autility-wide commitment to safe and reliable delivery of electricity. A list of the specific
scoring criteria is provided in the following sections and summarized in the back of this manual.
RP3 Criteria Allocation
Sytetn
Reliab ilih , ImprovetuettL
i~uo X500
~Vurk Force
Development,
+:,oo
Figure 1: Percentage allocation of points by discipline
Reliability
The term "reliable" is defined by Webster's Dictionary as an adjective that means: can be relied on;
dependable; trustworthy; and worthy of confidence. Although these are all true in context, reliability of
an electric system goes deeper than just defining the results that are evident through reliable day-to-day
service.
Key elements of the Reliability category include reliability indices, a mutual aid agreement, a system-
wide disaster management plan (emergency response plan), and both cyber and physical security. To
attain the full 25% rating in this section, please see the detailed Reliability section (pg. 14) and Scoring
Criteria Summary (pg. 47) in this manual.
Safety
Workers' safety starts with the utility's safety program. A culture of safety must be created. This
commitment to safety must begin with top management and include safety in all aspects of operations
from generation to line work, and all utility services in between. Benchmarking of safety statistics by
tracking industry-accepted OSHA incident rates, along with focusing on frontline workers, is crucial to
the delivery of safe and reliable electricity. In the RP3 program, each utility must prove that it uses an
accepted safety manual, provides benchmarking information through APPA's Annual Safety Awards, and
follows safe work practices, to name a few critical items. To attain the full 25% rating in this section,
please see the detailed Safety section (pg. 24) and Scoring Criteria Summary (pg. 47) in this manual.
Work Force Development
Training employees, whether through traditional avenues such as workshops and college courses or
through in-house programs, demonstrates that a utility values its work force. However, education alone is
not sufficient, especially in the world of public power. This section covers a broader scope of work force
development. Utilities benefit from providing opportunities for staff to network with other utility
representatives throughout the nation and encourage them to get involved in the national perspective of
utility relations. Utility staff knowledge increases through membership in state, regional, and nationally
focused committees, as well as attendance in conferences and training. RP3 applicants must demonstrate
that their utility staff attend applicable industry conferences and workshops, are provided education and
career development opportunities, are active either directly or indirectly on industry committees, and the
utility has addressed work force and succession planning challenges.
System Improvement
Stewardship of utility assets is essential to ensuring long term system reliability and performance.
Keeping an electric utility well maintained and up-to-date by mandating an improvement program that
includes both an eye on the Future through reseazch and development (R&D) and a commitment to system
betterment programs can help utilities provide reliable services in the future. Important items in this
section include demonstrating that your utility participates in a national, regional, or local R&D program,
involvement in energy efficiency or conservation programs, descriptions of system planning and
betterment projects to maintain your system's integrity and efficiency.
Becoming a Reliable Public Power Provider
By completing the checklists contained in this packet and providing the requested documentation and
application fee, participating utilities may be recognized as a Gold, Platinum or Diamond Reliable Public
Power Provider. The diamond designation is awarded to the utility if it successfully meets 100% of the
defined criteria. The platinum designation is awarded if the utility meets 90% of the criteria. The gold
designation is awarded if the utility meets 80% of the RP3 Program criteria. An RP3 designation is valid
for a two year period; therefore, utilities must re-apply every other year. The intent of the re-application
process is to ensure RP3 utilities are consistently striving to improve their reliability and safety practices.
~t,~s 10-1~-I`
Auditor RFP Evaluation Results
Overall Totals
AEM 10 77
Larson Allen 10 74
HLB 10 68
KDV 7 64
MMMKR 10 68
5 Year
2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 Total
AEM $ 13,813 $ 13,813 $ 14,227 $ 14,654 $ 15,094 $ 71,601
with rpt $ 15,813 $ 15,813 $ 16,287 $ 16,776 $ 17,280 $ 81,969
Larson Allen $ 13,300 $ 13,450 $ 13,600 $ 13,750 $ 13,900 $ 68,000
with rpt $ 14,300 $ 14,450 $ 14,600 $ 14,750 $ 14,900 $ 73,000
HLB $ 18,000 $ 18,550 $ 19,100 $ 19,700 $ 20,300 $ 95,650
with rpt $ 20,000 $ 20,600 $ 21,200 $ 21,850 $ 22,500 $ 106,150
KDV $ 17,150 $ 17,525 $ 17,900 $ 18,275 $ 18,650 $ 89,500
with rpt $ 18,350 $ 18,750 $ 19,150 $ 19,550 $ 19,950 $ 95,750
MMMKR $ 19,350 $ 19,500 $ 20,000 $ 20,500 $ 21,000 $ 100,350
with rpt $ 24,350 $ 24,500 $ 25,000 $ 25,500 $ 26,000 $ 125,350
w/o rptg $ 18,000 $ 18,000 $ 18,540 $ 19,096 $ 19,669 $ 93,305
current w/rpt $ 20,000 $ 20,000 $ 20,600 $ 21,218 $ 21,855 $ 103,673