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6.1.A. ERMUSR 12-17-2013 Elk River . Municipal Utilities UTILITIES COMMISSION MEETING TO: FROM: Elk River Municipal Utilities Commission Troy Adams, P.E.—General Manager John Dietz—Chair Al Nadeau—Vice Chair Daryl Thompson—Trustee MEETING DATE: AGENDA ITEM NUMBER: December 17, 2013 6.1a SUBJECT: Staff Updates—General Manager DISCUSSION: • The Minnesota Municipal Transmission Group (MMTG) Annual Meeting was scheduled for November 22 to be held in Mason City, IA. Due to inclement weather the meeting was changed to a conference call. This meeting was comprised of three parts: a meeting of the general membership, a speaker, and a meeting of the board of directors. The Meeting of the General Membership covered: o MMTG Annual report including MMTG's purpose, structure, and significant 2013 activities; o MMTG's membership in Transmission Access Policy Study Group (TAPS) and an update on 2013 TAPS activities; o Review of 2012 Independent Accountant's Review Report; o Adoption of 2014 dues structure—dues remain the same as 2013 for ERMU; o Election of Board of Directors for 2014 board vacancies; The Meeting of the Board of Directors covered: o Approval for a number of MMTG actions/filings: o Financial Report; o Election of Officers— I was the 2013 MMTG Executive Board of Directors Vice President and was elected President for 2014; o Update on transmission investments opportunities— BSIUBrookings swap. • The Minnesota Municipal Utilities Association (MMUA) 2013 Technical &Operations Conference was held December 10-12 in St. Cloud, MN. This conference included a MMUA board meeting. The MMUA board meeting included discussions on the following: o MMUA website design update; o Financial report; o General counsel updates; o Legislative updates; reutfEO er Page 1 of 2 NATURE Fellable Public P O W E R E D T o S E R V E Power Provider 76 o Engineering and policy analysis report. • Ayres Associates has completed the draft of the Elk River Dam Emergency Action Plan (EAP). The City and Utilities are currently sharing the responsibility for the ongoing operation and maintenance for the dam. The EAP will outline City and Utility responsibility in the event of a dam failure. The report will also include Sherburne and Wright County staff. The goal is to complete the EAP prior to spring. aiEaE , i It Page 2 of 2 NAUREI Reliable Publicv Power Provider P OWERED TO SERVf 77 Elk River h..., Municipal Utilities UTILITIES COMMISSION MEETING TO: FROM: Elk River Municipal Utilities Commission Theresa Slominski —Finance and Office Manager John Dietz—Chair Al Nadeau—Vice Chair Daryl Thompson—Trustee MEETING DATE: AGENDA ITEM NUMBER: December 17,2013 6.1b SUBJECT: Staff Update DISCUSSION: We had 2,360 credit card payment transactions in November, compared to 2,599 in October. The fee for November should be $5,350.70. We currently have $368,047 in PCA credits through November's billing. This includes the amounts from our power provider and our previous distribution of credits for the year. As stated before, we would like to be able to distribute remaining PCA credits in December, and in doing so there would be a credit PCA of 17 mils this month (approximately twice the amount distributed in September.) I have attached the spreadsheet used for tracking the PCAs. All of the health insurance participation paperwork was due November 25th. We had 17 employees sign up for the HSA health care plan, out of 37 eligible employees. This number is more than I expected and a pleasant surprise. Per customer requests, the phone message during office hours was reconfigured to allow an option to bypass the pre-recorded message by pressing zero. Also, at the Freeport drop box, a "snorkel"was added. A snorkel is an extension tube/slot for dropping in the envelopes, versus a flat front slot on the face of the drop box. The Auditors will be here for preliminary audit work on Monday, December 16`n. They will also have an individual here during the electric inventory counts on Friday, December 20`n E A E o���,, , Page 1 of I NATURE Reliable Publie Power Provider P O W ER E D T o S E R V E 78 POWER COST ADJUSTMENT WORKSHEET I '(Coll from)/Ref to Collected from/ customers less 2013 Connexus (Refunded to) Connexus chg 1 Power Bill PCA Customers Balance Balance Forward - January-13 demand 10,562.18 energy (97,464.11) - - -- -- - February-13 demand 8,951.00 energy 1,911.00 March-13 demand { 5,550.00 energy (24,531.00) April-13 demand (2,088.00) energy (10,389.00) May-13 demand (21,989.00) energy 41,831.00 June-13 demand (79,081.00) - - - energy (10,430.00) July-13 demand (4,378.00) energy (20,247.00) August-13 demand (42,088.00) energy (17,614.00) September-13 demand (31,127.61) (135,135.63) energy (39,298.43) October-13 demand (44,967.45) energy (37,254.70) _ -November-13 demand (13,386.09) energy (75,654.64) December-13 demand energy (503,182.85) (135,135.63) 368,047.22 0.017 mils Page 1 79 i Elk River Municipal Utilities UTILITIES COMMISSION MEETING TO: FROM: Elk River Municipal Utilities Commission Mark Fuchs— Electric Superintendent John Dietz—Chair Al Nadeau—Vice Chair Daryl Thompson—Trustee MEETING DATE: AGENDA ITEM NUMBER: December 17, 2013 6.1 SUBJECT: Staff Update DISCUSSION: • Had ten new services. • Continue working on the second part of feeder 94 rebuild. We have all the underground primary wire installed and now have to remove some overhead wire. • Continue working on the Triple Deck Feeder rebuild. Underground Piercing got the wire pulled in the pipe. Working on terminating the underground and getting ready to pull the overhead wire in on Main Street. • Wildflower Meadows housing development in Otsego added 28 more lots. This development went bankrupt and has a new developer. We had some wire already in but the new developer made some changes to some lots so we had to lower some wire and move a transformer and pedestal. We will finish putting in the rest of the wire in the spring. • Installed new street light poles and fixtures on Riverview Drive. • Installed new LED light fixtures in Handke Pit. • Finished up boring for this year. • Going through and fixing street lights that have a photo eye controller that feed multiple lights at one time. INATUPE1 Page 1 of 1 Fellable Public Power Provider P o w E R E D T o S e n v s 80 Elk River z Municipal Utilities UTILITIES COMMISSION MEETING TO: FROM: Elk River Municipal Utilities Commission Wade Lovelette—Superintendent of Technical John Dietz—Chair Services Al Nadeau—Vice Chair Daryl Thompson—Trustee MEETING DATE: AGENDA ITEM NUMBER: December 17, 2013 6.1d SUBJECT: Staff Update DISCUSSION: • The Locating department had a total of 213 locate tickets in November; seven of them being emergency tickets, three cancelations, seven meets, 176 normal tickets, one non-excavation, one boundary survey and 18 updated tickets. • In November, the Security Systems Department had a total of 78 phone contacts, 10 systems quoted, four system sales made, seven installs completed, 21 service calls and 10 personal visits. Attached is some financial information from the Security Systems Department. • Electric Technicians continue with the meter reading, power bill, substation checks and off-peak issues. They continue to change out the three phase meters to radio read meters. They completed the annual oil samples from the substation transformers and are awaiting the results. • The power plant staff did the monthly run of the engines. The engines ran good with no problems. • Staff continues to collect data with the GPS for our ArcView maps as time permits. • Steve and Jeff are done directional boring for the season. Jeff is now conducting infrared tests on our electric system and Steve is catching up on power plant maintenance. ATTACHMENTS: • Security Systems Financial Information ® INALURE1 Page 1 of 1 Reliable Public Power Provider POWERED To SERVE 81 • • Elk River Municipal Utilities 13069 Orono Parkway P.O. Box 430 Elk River, MN 55330-0430 Elk River Municipal Utilities Security System Weekly Update (sum of weeks) (total for calendar month) Month of November-13 November-13 Number of Contacts 77 78 Number of systems quoted 10 10 Number of sales made 4 4 Number of Installs completed 7 7 Number of service calls 20 21 Personal Visits 9 10 Oct-13 Revenue $ 25,966.98 Oct-13 Expense $ 16,523.91 Oct-13 Margin* $ 9,443.07 Oct-13 YTD Revenue $ 236,573.96 Oct-13 YTD Expense $ 170,195.24 Oct-13 YTD Margin* $ 66,378.72 `Margin calculations exclude depreciation,payroll taxes,benefits coverage and office support 82 N. N M to O M o r N 7 N N 4- 8 l ' 1- N- O N C A • ^ 2 O f 0 - m C C d trz O 1 L.t a T e,,co ice+ N C = O y co ce } 2 Cl) L r- ;- to 8 N N O 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 O co in M N N N o S a S S W a S S Elk River Municipal Utilities UTILITIES COMMISSION MEETING TO: FROM: Elk River Municipal Utilities Commission Eric Volk - Water Superintendent John Dietz—Chair Al Nadeau—Vice Chair Daryl Thompson—Trustee MEETING DATE: AGENDA ITEM NUMBER: December 17, 2013 6.1E SUBJECT: Staff Update DISCUSSION: • Delivered 8 new residential water meters and 1 new commercial water meter. • Completed 25 BACTUTotal Chlorine Residual Samples; all confirmed negative for Coliform Bacteria. • Completed daily fluoride samples. All samples met EPA standards. • Completed 4 Total Trihalomethanes/Haloacetic Acids (TTHM/HAA5) samples. • Well #4 has been pulled for routine maintenance. The motor and pump required some extensive rebuilding and it was decided that it was cheaper to buy a new motor and pump. There were also 2 sections of pipe that needed to be replaced due to holes in the pipe. The televising went well with only 2 feet of sediment having collected at the bottom since it was televised 8 years ago. • Angela has been working to organize and catalog all of the utility maps so we can get a good count of what we have and what we need to obtain. These maps will eventually be scanned and attached to the Bolton and Menk GIS WebApp. • Pete has been inventorying curbstop ties and identifying what addresses we are missing. It has been discovered that 803 curbstop ties were missing. Pete has already started to locate and get ties for the ones we are missing. 34 of the 803 have been completed. • Once the weather turned cold making it harder to work outside, Pete has been sanding and painting various parts of the filtration system at Well#6. • Since Well #4 has been down for pump maintenance, the filter has been recharged and is good for another year of iron and manganese removal. • Jennie has sent out the second and final round of letters to businesses who have private hydrants on their property. We currently have 37 of 78 businesses signed up which constitutes 95 of 191 total private hydrants. • Our Department of Labor and Industry(DLI) Safety grant was approved and the Hydrant Buddy has been purchased. We are currently waiting to get '/ of the money back from the DLI. rAURE trEr�� Page l of l ' Reliable Public Power Provider P P O W E R E D T o S F e a r 84 Elk River Municipal Utilities UTILITIES COMMISSION MEETING TO: FROM: Elk River Municipal Utilities Commission Tom Sagstetter- Conservation and Key Accounts John Dietz—Chair Manager Al Nadeau—Vice Chair Daryl Thompson—Trustee MEETING DATE: AGENDA ITEM NUMBER: December 17, 2013 6.1f SUBJECT: Staff Update DISCUSSION: • We have 13 residential customers registered for the Holiday Lighting Contest this year. We gained 5 additional participants in year two. We had 11 residents register from mailed applications and 2 used the new internet site to print the form. The winners will be announced on the 17th and the Star News should run an article on the 20. • The landfill expansion is beginning to look more promising. I have had frequent discussions with Waste Management and it appears that the expansion is gaining momentum internally. The new district manager is interested in possibly adding some new technologies (sterling engine) to the expansion and we will explore cost effective options and include Sherburne County in the discussions as we make progress on the new technologies. • Met with Waste Management about engine performance and improving communication on engine operation and maintenance. The addition of a stable district manager will greatly improve communication and accountability for the landfill gas plant and performance. Engines 2,3,and 4 will be replaced in December. This is earlier than originally planned,but due to poor performance and high operational costs the engines will be changed in 2013 instead of early 2014. • There has been a flurry of commercial rebate activity and it appears that ERMU will make the energy savings goal of 2,263,482 kWh. The rebate dollars and energy savings should be tallied by early February 2014. • ERMU received final approval of our 2012 CIP filing. ERMU exceeded our 1% energy savings goal and actually saved 1.2%of average retail sales. Of the 29 utilities that GRE aggregates for, ERMU tied with Connexus for the #1 spot. I have included a copy of the letter for your reference. • Greg and I provided utility billing training to the office staff. The training focused on the different types of services and rates, how rates are determined, details of commercial demand bills, types of meters, and the benefits of load management programs. The PowerPoint presentation is attached for reference. IRRERER II Page 1 of 2 (NATURE Reliable Public Power Provider POWERED To SERVE 85 ATTACHMENTS: • Letter from the"Division of Energy Services" • Utility Bills 101 Presentation J. POWERED IT i'3 Page 2 of 2 NATURE Reliable Poblic P O W E R E D T o S E R V E PowerProvider 86 1 Jfr• On Of 85 71h Race East,Suite 500,St.Pad,MN 55101-2198 main:651.298.4026 tty.651.296,2860 minn•sota DMertment of Commerce fax:651.297.7891 www.energymn.gov December 6,2013 Tom Sagstetter Energy Efficiency Coordinator Elk River Municipal Utilities P.O.Box 430 Elk River, MN 55330 RE: 2012 Conservation Improvement Program(CIP)Results Dear Mr. Sagstetter: Thank you very much for Elk River Municipal Utilities's energy efficiency and conservation efforts in 2012 through the Conservation Improvement Program(CIP)as a member of Great River Energy. My staff has finished reviewing the information reported by Great River Energy,your CIP aggregator. Based on the information provided by Great River Energy,your organization: • Saved a total of$2,880,635 kWh at the generator in 2012, approximately 1.2 percent of average 2008-2010 retail sales.' • Invested a total of$388,567 in 2012,approximately 1.5 percent of 2010 gross operating revenue (GOR). • Invested a total of$24,128 in 2012,approximately 0.3 percent of 2010 residential GOR, in programs dedicated to low-income persons. Collectively, Great River Energy members had the following achievements and investments in 2012. Energy Savings at the Generator(kWh) Energy Savings %of Retail Sales $127,028,666 Total CIP Spending Total CI?Spending, %Gross Operating Revenue $20,359,851 CIP Spending on Programs for Low-Income Customers Low-Income CIP Spending, %Residential Gross Operating Revenue $1,609,928 0.2% DER Staff calculated energy savings at the generator by assuming 8.0%distribution and transmission losses. 87 Elk River Municipal Utilities Member of: Great River Energy Page 2 Thank you for Elk River Municipal Utilities and its member's continued contributions to Minnesota's energy efficiency and conservation goals. Please contact Jessica Burdette at Jessica.Burdette@state.mn.us or 651-539-1871 or Laura Silver at Laura.Silver@state.mn.us or 651-539- 1873 with any questions or concerns. Sincerely, ;fr(cit William Grant Deputy Commissioner WG/LNS I 88 division of 85 7th Place East,Suite 500,St.Paul,MN 55101-2198 9 main:651.296.4026 fa 851.2962891 ��r fax 651.2977891 Minnesota Department of Commerce W W W.t'llergy.1DI1gOv December 6, 2013 Jeffrey Haase Energy Efficiency Coordinator Great River Energy 12300 Elm Creek Blvd. Maple Grove,MN 55369 RE: Conservation Improvement Program(CIP)2012 Results and 2014 Plans • Dear Mr.Haase: Thank you very much for Great River Energy's efforts to report 2012 Conservation Improvement Program(CIP)results and a 2014 CIP plan in the Energy Savings Platform(ESP®)on behalf of Great River Energy's members. My staff has finished reviewing this information. 2012 ENERGY SAVINGS REPORTED Each utility and association has an annual energy savings goal equal to 1.5 percent of gross annual retail sales) Based on the information you provided,Great River Energy members saved a total of 127,028,666 kWh at the generator2 in 2012, 1.1 percent of average 2008-2010 retail sales.3 We appreciate Great River Energy's energy efficiency and conservation achievements in 2012. A summary of Great River Energy's energy savings by member are as follows: Member Utility Energy Savings at the Generator %of Retail Agralite (kWh) Sales gra 1,182,678 0.6% Arrowhead 240,947 0 0.4/0 BENCO 2,890,867 1.1% Brown Co 594,746 0 0.4/0 Connexus 23,628,782 1.2% Cooperative 201,661 0.2% 'See Minn. Stat. §2168241 subd. lc(b). 2 Based on a transmission and distribution loss factor of 8.0%previously provided to DER Staff. DER Staff assumed a transmission and distribution loss factor of 8%if no value was provided. 3 Minnesota Statutes 216B.241 subd. I c(b)states that the energy savings goal is to be calculated based on the most recent three-year weather-normalized average.This review was based on 2008-2010 retail sales as reported in ESP®. 89 Great River Energy December 6, 2013 Page 2 Crow Wing 3,772,583 0.7% Dakota 20,660,472 1.1% East Central 7,183,873 0.8% Elk River 2,880,635 1.2% Federated 1,130,165 0.4% Goodhue 557,615 0.6% Great River Energy(EUI&Load Mgmt) 20,266,522 NA Itasca Mantrap 1,872,014 0.9% Kandiyohi 1,533,314 1.0% Lake Country 6,607,910 1.0% Lake Region 2,592,440 0.6% McLeod 1,056,352 0.6% Meeker 942,916 0.6% Mille Lacs 2,011,177 1.0% Minnesota Valley 7,264,760 1.1% Nobles 1,448,121 0.9% North Itasca 470,503 0.9% Redwood 132,729 0.2% Runestone 1,691,298 0.8% South Central 1,598,703 0.9% Steams 5,334,299 1.1% Steele Waseca 1,469,729 0.6% Todd Wadena 945,013 0.6% Wright-Hennepin 4,865,842 0.6% TOTAL 127,028,666 1.1% 2012 SPENDING REPORTED Each electric utility is required to invest a minimum of 1.5 percent of its Minnesota gross operating revenues(GOR)on CIP.4 For 2012,2010 revenues were the baseline for establishing these minimum spending requirements. Based on the information you provided,Great River Energy's members invested a total of$20,327,872 in 2012,approximately 1.7 percent of 2010 GOR. Additionally,Minnesota Statutes require each electric utility to invest a minimum of 0.2 percent of its residential Minnesota GOR on CTPprograms that directly serve the needs of low-income persons, including renters.5 Each member utility is responsible for meeting the low-income spending requirement. While utilities may claim energy savings that result from EUI projects,'Minnesota Statutes do not allow the spending on EUI projects to count towards the C1P spending requirement.' Therefore,total 2012 CIF' 4 See Minn.Stat. §216B.241 subd. la(2). 5 See Minn.Stat. §216B.241 subd.7(a)and(c). 90 Great River Energy December 6,2013 Page 3 spending does not reflect any EUI spending. The Department is supportive of EUI projects that increase generation and distribution efficiencies and appreciates that utilities are reporting information about these investments through ESP®. Department Staff will work with Energy Platforms in the future to develop functionality to clearly display EUI investments separately from CIP eligible spending within ESP®. A summary of Great River Energy's investments by member are as follows: Member Utility 2012 Total 2012 Total 2012 LI 2012 LI EUI Spending(8) Spending(%) Spending($) Spending(%) Spending($) Agralite $596,501 3.5% $16,938 0.2% $0 Arrowhead $109,905 1.5% $16,935 0.3% $0 BENCO $574,058 2.1% $44,676 0.2% $0 Brown Co $159,077 1.3% $15,043 0.2% $0 Connexus $3,072,928 1.5% $293,385 0.2% $0 Cooperative $125,988 1.3% $15,487 0.3% $0 Crow Wing $382,043 0.7% $35,937 0.1% $0 Dakota $3,809,219 - 2.1% $315,638 0.3% $0 East Central $1,819,728 1.8% $115,507 0.2% $0 Elk River $388,567 1.5% $24,128 0.3% $0 Federated $210,172 0.8% $5,802 0.1% $0 Goodhue $229,822 2.3% $10,927 0.1% $0 Great River Energy $3 0.0% $0 0.0% $1 Itasca Mantrap $317,609 1.7% $19,030 0.2% $0 Kandiyohi $303,125 1.8% $33,703 0.3% $0 Lake Country $1,224,614 1.7% $100,720 0.2% $0 Lake Region $700,799 1.7% $47,655 0.1% $0 McLeod $388,964 2.3% $24,773 0.2% $0 Meeker $321,302 1.8% $7,072 0.0% $0 Mille Lacs $407,337 1.9% $63,277 0.4% $0 Minnesota Valley $1,254,068 2.0% $92,091 0 0.2/0 $0 Nobles $142,079 1.1% $29,594 ; 0,3% $0 North Itasca $102,767 1.5% $11,103 0.2% $0 Redwood $47,277 0.6% $6,254 0.1% $0 Runestone $447,940 2.0% $32,141 0.2% $0 - South Central $137,605 0.9% $6,568 0.1% $0 Stearns $886,631 2.0% $91,100 0.4% $0 Steele Waseca $681,505 2.9% $9,812 0.1% $0 Todd Wadena $350,065 2.4% $3,485 0.0% $0 Wright-Hennepin $1,136,177 1.5% $121,146 0.2% $0 TOTAL $20,327,872 1.7% $1,609,928 0.2% $1 6 Minn. Stat.§216B.241 subd. lc(d)allows a utility or associated to include in its energy conservation plan energy savings from electric utility infrastructure projects. r Minn. Stat.§216B.241 subd. lb(b)requires each electric cooperative association and electric municipal utility to spend 1.5%of gross operating revenues annually on energy conservation improvements. Minn.Stat. §216B.241 subd. 1(e)specifically excludes electric utility infrastructure projects from the definition of energy conservation improvements. 91 Great River Energy December 6,2013 Page 4 ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS In addition to meeting the energy savings goal and the total and low-income spending requirements, Minnesota Statutes §§216B.241 and 216B.2411 contain provisions that utilities must meet,including the following: Research and Development(R&D):Each utility and association may spend up the 10 percent of a utility's minimum spending requirement on R&D(§216B.241,subd.2(c)). Distributed and Renewable Generation (DRG):Each utility and association may spend up the 5 percent of a utility's minimum spending requirement on DRG(§216B.2411,subd. 1). Utilities may not use green pricing programs to achieve CIP requirements. Load-Management Activities:Each utility and association may use load-management activities to achieve up to 50 percent of a utility's minimum spending requirement(§216B.241,subd. lb(e)). Green Building Standards:Each utility and association must offer one or more programs that support green building certification of commercial buildings and that support goals consistent with Sustainable Buildings 2030(SB 2030)standards(§216B.241,subd. If(c)and§216B.241, subd. 9(e)). We recommend that at a minimum,utilities offer subsidies for design assistance and/or certification expenses on a case by case basis within their commercial and industrial program(s). Electric Utility Infrastructure(EUI): As stated above,energy savings from EUI projects count towards CIP energy savings goals. However,according to the Minnesota Statutes,spending on EUI projects may not be counted towards CIP spending requitcments. 92 Great River Energy December 6, 2013 Page 5 FINDINGS REGARDING 2012 RESULTS It appears that the CIP activities in 2012 of the members of Great River Energy did not meet the following statutory provisions or CIP policies: • Savigns of 5,000 kWh was reported for BENCO for the Indirect Education program. An education program should not have energy savings associated with it unless it includes a component where members initiate a request for energy savings measures(e.g.CFL,low-flow aerators,and weather stripping)or such measures are directly installed by a technician during a home visit. Based on the information provided in the description of the program DER Staff believe the energy savings claimed should be removed. We will open the editing function of ESP so that you can make the appropriate edits. If you feel there is an error in our analysis or in the information that was reported,please contact Jessica Burdette or Laura Silver. 2014 PLAN REVIEW My staff has reviewed Great River Energy's program designs for 2014 as reported in ESP®. It appears that Great River Energy has developed a broad array of programs for its members covering the residential,commercial,and industrial sectors. In addition,Great River Energy operates a low-income program to assist low-income members to purchase and install ENERGY STAR qualified appliance and equipment. FUTURE REPORTING Annual one-year plans and one-year status reports are due on June 1 of each year. The next scheduled report will be on June 1,2014,when you will be required to submit your expenditures and savings for 2013 and update your program designs in ESP®for 2015. Your program designs will persist from one year to the next so that you do not have to reenter those programs that have not changed. The baseline periods for each program year are shown below. Table 1: Baseline Periods for Electric Cooperatives and Municipalities Program Year Savings Goal Total Spending Rqmt Low Income Spending Rqmt 1.5%of: 1.5%of: 0.2%of: 2013 2009-2011 average sales 2011 GOR 2011 residential GOR 2014 2010-2012 average sales 2012 GOR 2012 residential GOR 2015 2011-2013 average sales 2013 GOR 2013 residential GOR 2016 2012-2014 average sales 2014 GOR 2014 residential GOR 93 •