6.1a ERMUSR 02-14-2017 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:
February 14, 2017 6.1a
SUBJECT:
Staff Updates—General Manager
DISCUSSION:
• The Board of Directors of the Minnesota Municipal Power Agency(MMPA)met on January 24,
2017 in Shakopee,Minnesota.
Commissioning work continues on the Agency's 46 MW Shakopee Energy Park project. All five
engines have been fired. The project remains on schedule and on budget. The Board was also
informed that commissioning of the 78 MW Black Oak Wind Farm,with which MMPA has a 20-
year power purchase agreement, was completed on December 23,2016.
Dan Boyce, an MMPA Board member for over twelve years who is about to retire from East
Grand Forks Water&Light, was presented with a Board Service Award.
• In late 2016 the Commission gave staff direction on issuing an early 2017 Power Cost
Adjustment(PCA)credit. Staff is getting ready to process this PCA credit.And before sending
that through, I want to talk through the numbers with the Commission at the time of the
Commission Meeting.
• The 2017 Minnesota Municipal Utilities Association(MMUA)Legislative Rally in St. Paul on
January 31 —February 1 was productive. Attached is the MMUA 2016 Year in Review.
The key legislative issue for ERMU in 2017 is small cell distributed antenna systems. In 2016 a
bill was introduced that targeted at municipal's rights for local control regarding cell attachments
to public infrastructure and access for cell tower to be located within road right-of-way.And now
again in 2017 a bill has been introduced that would amend the state's right-of-way management
law. The bill,HF 739 and SF 561,would allow cell equipment to be placed on power poles,
streetlights, and"any other property a local government unit has an interest in and has made
available for commercial purposes."It would also prevent or severely limit municipals from using
their local authority to negotiate rates and maintenance requirements for emerging wireless
infrastructure.This is an issue for ERMU and for all Minnesota municipal utilities. Staff will
keep the commission updated as this develops.
ATTACHMENTS:
• MMUA 2016 Year in Review
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Introduction
Dear MMUA Members and Friends — history. It's nice to take a few minutes and
look back on everything we did.
Welcome to our 2016 Year in Review. It was
an action packed year as usual, with the added We hope you enjoy this trip down memory
attraction of hosting the largest and lane.
coldest Public Power Lineworkers Rodeo in
Jack Kegel
Contents
Timeline 3-4 Safety&Training 11-12
Rodeo 5 Meetings and Workshops 13-14
State Government Relations 6-7 Communications/Member Relations...15
Federal Government Relations 8-9
Engineering and Policy Analysis 9-10
Photo credits:All photos by MMUA, except for page 15, courtesy of Moorhead Public Service.
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The biggest event for MMUA in 2016 was undoubtedly co-hosting, with Shakopee Public Utilities,the national Public
Power Lineworkers Rodeo. The event was held April 2 at Canterbury Park in Shakopee.
2016 Year in Review-2
141
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Minnesotans gathered for a group photograph following the national Public Power Lineworkers Rodeo banquet.
2016 Timeline
January 12-15-MMUA holds its Transformer i
School and Pre-Conference at the MMUA Train- I
ing Center in Marshall. Forty-five municipal util-
ity employees attend, along with 16 from electric + ,
cooperatives. # 1, ;-' t. 4 # -- e
January 21 -MMUA asks for flexibility in meeting ,. - ,,,
the proposed Clean Power Plan, in comments to the --
federal Environmental Protection Agency. ''" 3 '
Feb. 2-3-MMUA holds its Rodeo Team Training / 0, i 14-04
Clinic at the MMUA Training Center in Marshall. V ; _,4, a t
This year's training was particularly intense, as ` �-
teams readied for the April rodeo, to be held onAi Su i ` '` �
their home turf. The Elk River Municipal Utilities contingent gathered at
the conclusion of the Rodeo competition.
Feb. 16-19-MMUA held its annual Basic Meter-
ing Pre-Conference and Meter School at the MMUA
Training Center in Marshall. Forty-four students March 7-9-MMUA staff and member represen-
attend the Pre-Conference and 60 the Meter School. tatives advance the public power agenda at the
American Public Power Legislative Rally in Wash-
at ,410*...., ington D.C.
,,. `° `. � "'I-- T April 1-2-MMUA and Shakopee Public Utilities
1 .. r` ? : co-host the APPA Public Power Lineworkers Rodeo,
t . at Canterbury Park in Shakopee. MMUA members
" ` •� turn out in droves—their volunteer help keeps
M things running smoothly. Competitors from other
areas of the country gain a new appreciation for the
#•� ' term"wind chill factor."
z '' 4,- of
__i Is - , April 3-6-Much of the Minnesota public power del-
=a egation attends the APPA E&O Workshop, held for
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the first time in Minnesota, downtown Minneapolis.
Numerous MMUA staff and members attend and
d ...- -M many serve as presenters at the meeting.
Instructor Scott Meinecke went over book work with a continued on next page
group of students at the January Transformer School.
2016 Year in Review-3
142
May 4—A group of MMUA members and staff se-
lect the top four winners in the Tom Bovitz Memo-
rial Scholarship Award contest. First place, and a
- =; $2,000 scholarship, goes to Ruby Irene Redekopp of
Hutchinson.
•
III ifirle*, May 17-20—members'dig' the MMUA Under
,ti � :" ground School, at the Training Center.Attending
were nearly 70 participants from 32 municipal
ri ,,, utilities in Minnesota, three in South Dakota and
04 ,----- ,..-+'; , .-:„.-,) three Minnesota cooperatives.
9 June 9—Minnesota Public Utilities Commission
' opens a docket on distributed generation tariffs of
Bill Schwandt of Moorhead, Patty and Brad Roos of 14 electric cooperatives.
Moorhead and Roger Moltzan of Detroit Lakes paused
for a picture following the Annual Conference banquet August 15-17—The state's municipals congregate
and awards ceremony. for the 85th time under the MMUA banner, at the
Annual Summer Conference, held at Cragun's
April 11 —MMPA breaks ground on the 46-mega- Resort near Brainerd. Bob Elston of Sleepy Eye as-
watt Shakopee Energy Park, one of the newest sumes the president's role from Troy Adams of Elk
generation of municipal power plants in Minnesota. River Municipal Utilities.
April 15—Eleven more municipal utility people August 16—Municipal Utilities Action Fund and
graduate from the Firstline Supervision program. MMUA Executive Leadership Program unveiled at
Annual Summer Conference.
April 16—The busy spring continues as MMUA
holds its Legislative Rally in St. Paul. The meeting September 13-16—The Overhead School, one of
is shortened to one day due to Capitol construction. MMUA's largest and most complex events, is held
at the Training Center.A total of 55 lineworkers at-
April 19-21—MMUA holds its Substation School in tend the event.
Shakopee, with 37 attending.
October 18-20— Cross Training School held at the
April 26—Crews from 21 municipal utilities con- Training Center.
verge at the rodeo grounds in Shakopee, speedily
dismantling the field that was built the previous December 6-8—MMUA holds its annual T&O Con-
fall. ference at a new location, the Best Western Kelly
Inn in St. Cloud.
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'� December 13- : ,,, 70401€,. 4, ,--71„
15—Not content .., ,
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, . ,00°-- to hold just one
Transformer ,.
€ School a year, ,
� . , MMUA held its ,.
second of the `
year at the Train- `
ing Center.
-,,,. The double-up A group of students worked on a
Jerry Williams of Rochester, Mark Fritsch of Owatonna reflects not only miniature transformer bank at the
and Troy Adams of Elk River, from left to right, played the popularity second transformer school, held
leading roles in the development of the MMUA Execu- of the training, Dec. 16 at the Training Center.
tive Leadership Program, along with MMUA Executive but a slight re-
Director Jack Kegel. shuffling of MMUA's training lineup.
2016 Year in Review-4
143
Public Power Lineworker's Rodeo—The event of the year
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The Rodeo brought people from all over the country to Canterbury Park in Shakopee for the annual competition.
The biggest event for MMUA in 2016? Serving as Among those competing were teams or individuals
co-host, along with Shakopee Public Utilities, of the from MMUA members Austin, Blooming Prairie,
16th annual Public Power Lineworkers Rodeo. The Brainerd, Chaska, Detroit Lakes, Elk River, Mar-
American Public Power Association (APPA) event shall, Rochester, Shakopee and Willmar.
was held April 2 at Canterbury Park in Shakopee.
Lineworkers at the event competed for professional A Marshall Municipal Utilities (MMU) team of
recognition, attended training courses, and prac- Tony Mead, Nate Janssen, Cody Raveling and
ticed essential skills in a safe environment. Derek Varpness finished second in a journeyman
event and MMU's Trevor Morin placed third in two
There were approximately apprentice categories. It was the best combined
650 people involved— placement ever by a Minnesota municipal utility.
competitors, volunteers -�
and judges. It was the ° Rodeo day concluded with a gigantic banquet at the
largest Rodeo ever held, w , Minneapolis Convention Center. Public power re-
in terms of competitors. t tained a presence in Minneapolis over the next four
There was also a large III 1 days, with the APPA Engineering and Operations
crowd of spectators and aTechnical Conference. MMUA staff and members
variety of media present. 1 helped plan for the event and served as speakers.
Approximately 230 volun
teers, mostly from Minne- g ' The APPA rodeo grounds were constructed in the
sota's municipal utilities, fall of 2015, but teardown occurred April 26, 2016,
kept the event moving as approximately 50 lineworkers, along with 30
smoothly. Volunteers did - bucket trucks and digger derricks from 21 munici-
everything from greet- One of four pole lines on pal electric utilities, converged at the rodeo field.
ing, to auditing results, to the Apprentice side of Crews speedily dismantled and removed the 14 pole
hanging dummies for the the rodeo field. lines (including 129 poles) built to exacting specifi-
`hurtman' rescue,judg- cations. In a testament to the organizational abili-
ing, helping in different areas and generally doing ties and work ethic of Minnesota municipal electric
whatever needed to be done to make the event func- crews, the work was completed in less than one
tion smoothly. complete work day.
The day dawned sunny but cold and windy. A MMUA thanks everybody, including individuals,
26,000 square-foot heated tent served as shelter Regular, Affiliate and Associate Members, who
and housed events and displays, including a yen- helped make the rodeo a success. We couldn't have
dor's show, dining area and children's area. done it without your help.
2016 Year in Review-5
144
Government Relations
MMUA Government Relations staff represents the r
interests of municipal utilities before state and fed- —11
eral government entities. Our government relations
staff includes Government Relations Director Bill
Black and Government Relations Representative . 7.
Amanda Duerr. We have two excellent outside con- ,*
sultants who assist us in this work—Doug Carnival Z ,''
of the McGrann Shea Carnival Straughn & Lamb X i`
law firm on the state level and Michael Nolan, MJN "';',
Consulting, on the federal level. Here, we divide ' ' - '
our efforts into state and federal reports. ~"` <
For MMUA,government relations takes many different
State Government Relations forms. In this picture from the Annual Conference, Dar-
ryl Tveitbakk, Rep. Deb Kiel, Dalene Monsebroten and
Legislative Activities Dan Boyce (from left to right), visit following the awards
The 2016 Legislative Session convened on a his- banquet. Kiel, a representative from Minnesota District
torically-late March 8 and adjourned on May 23. 1B, received a Public Service Award. Tveitbakk and
The State Capitol was closed to the public; the only Monsebroten are with the Northern Municipal Power
business taking place inside were floor sessions of Agency and Boyce with East Grand Forks Water&Light.
the House of Representatives. The Minnesota Sen-
ate held its floor sessions in the newly-constructed
Minnesota Senate Building, where DFL Senators So, in what was largely a do-nothing Legislative
also moved their offices. Session, MMUA achieved several successes. Work-
ing with cooperative and telecom stakeholders,
Going into the Session, there appeared to be con- MMUA helped pass a new law governing railroad
sensus that transportation, bonding, and taxes crossing fees. In establishing a one-time crossing
were the top priorities. However, none of these bills fee and project approval timeline, utilities will now
ultimately became law. Serious transportation ne- have more certainty when their facilities cross rail-
gotiations never materialized.A last-minute bond- road right-of-way.
ing bill failed to pass both legislative bodies on the
final night.A drafting error in the tax bill caused MMUA also collaborated with the LMC and MPCA
it to be vetoed. Though legislative leaders and the to pass"regulatory certainty" legislation. If a
Governor discussed for months the possibility of wastewater facility voluntarily treated for nitrogen
a special session for a tax and bonding bill, these while removing phosphorus using biologic nutri-
negotiations ended in stalemate. ent technology, MPCA would not raise their permit
limits during the useful life of the equipment (up to
20 years).
'
T
'= MMUA's government
p
relations effort relies Regulatory Activities
� ¢' on the involvement of In 2016, the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission
)* staff, contract lob-
44
ob opened proceedings on two regulatory issues af-
byists, and most all, fecting municipal utilities, albeit somewhat indi-
, the members of the
', 0 `4). association. Here, rectly. One involves potential changes to the state's
FY 1 Doug Carnival of theOr 1' 1
model interconnection standards for distributed
McGrann Shea law generation. The other is based on objections to fees
firm pauses outside charged to power generating customers of several
the House office build- electric cooperatives. The commission has under-
' 044L
ing with Buffalo's Joe taken detailed interpretation of the legal basis for
` Steffel. The Capitol, those fees which also provides authority for munici-
pal construction, pal utilities to recover revenues to pay for infra-
is visible in the back- structure that generating customers avoid paying
''! ground. under the state's net metering laws. Government
6-2016 Year in Review
145
Member Outreach
MMUA's Government Relations team attended the
annual meetings for MMPA, CMPAS, and SMM-
PA, which provided a great opportunity to connect
t _ ;.- with Agency staff and their member utilities.
•N+ MMUA Government Relations spent a lot of time
on the road over the summer visiting member
utilities, including: St. Peter, Madelia, Arlington,
Round Lake, New Ulm, Hutchinson, Rochester,
Above:House Energy Austin, Owatonna, Moorhead, Detroit Lakes, Haw-
Chair Pat Garofalo ad- ley, Virginia, Hibbing, and Ely.
dressed our group at " 1Z7141%.-..„, 4"
; , Amanda attended the Transmission Access Policy
the MMUA Legislative •-- .�
� �" � Study Group (TAPS) conference in Duluth, the
Rally,April 19. Right: , :
Visiting at the recep- - Midwest Energy Consumer's conference in Denver,
tion were, from left to = and the Midwest States Public Power Association's
right:Chris Olson and . '` annual meeting in Iowa.
Al Crowser of Alexan-
dria, Paul Hoeschen Member Resources
of Sauk Centre, Reps. Amanda and Bill drafted"Guidance for Utility
Torrey Westrom and Mary Franson,Sen. Bill Ingebrigt- Installations Across Railroad Right-of-Way," which
sen,Bobbie Osterberg of Alexandria and Denny Rykken provided an overview of the new railroad crossing
of Sauk Centre. fees law and letter templates for members to use
when communicating with railroads.
Relations staff continues to monitor these proceed-
ings and participate when warranted. Amanda drafted the Legislative Report, which
recapped the legislative proposals that were dis-
Stakeholder Collaborations cussed and passed in the 2016 Legislative Session.
At the request of Sen. John Marty and Rep. Dave After the votes were tallied,Amanda compiled an
Baker, MMUA met twice with representatives election analysis, describing the changes in the
of the Division of Energy Resources, the Center makeup of the Minnesota Legislature and MMUA's
for Energy and the Environment, and the Clean legislative representation.
Energy Resource Teams to discuss ways to assist
municipal utilities with the Conservation Improve- Political Fund
ment Program (CIP). This year, the Municipal Utilities Action Fund
(MUAF)was created. The MUAF is MMUA's Po-
Government Relations staff participated in the litical Fund, which provides an organized means of
LMC Telecom Committee and Rural Broadband making campaign contributions to key legislators.
Coalition meetings in demonstration of MMUA's The fundraising effort kicked off at the
support for border-to-border broadband. Summer Conference and contin-
ued at the T & 0 Con-
Bill and Amanda regularly attended meetings of ference. Individual
the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce's Energy MMUA members gener-
Policy Committee. ously contributed towards
the MUAF in 2016. With these
MMUA Government Relations continued their in- funds, MMUA Government
volvement in the MPCA's Clean Power Plan stake- 1 Relations staff attended several
holder group. / mp;#/t fundraisers, making contribu-
Il'1IUJ?i f` tions to key legislators and
Bill and Amanda frequently attended meetings 2016 caucuses.
throughout the year with the government relations
staff of Minnesota's investor-owned utilities and
cooperatives.
2016 Year in Review-7
146
Federal Government Relations
2016 was full of political tumult, division, and
chaos—and that was just on the campaign trail.
The halls of Congress were the same—contentious,
partisan, and on edge. Progress was made, however.
In January, Senate Republican leaders put their
first bill on the floor—the largest energy package r ,:�,
in ten years. The bill had the general backing of 4. ;x `
the electric utility industry, including APPA, but
quickly bogged down over non-energy matters, V
including the controversial handling of the Flint,
Mich., water crisis. The episode set the tone for the
year to come: start, stop, partisan divide, bog down,
and move on. Could anything get accomplished in
an election year?
MMUA Government Relations Director Bill Black ad-
Turns out, yes, we got some things accomplished in dresses U.S. Sens.Al Franken and Amy Klobuchar at the
the areas of tax, environmental regulations, cyber MMUA meetings held as part of the American Public
Power Association Legislative Rally.
security, and drones, and a big win came in the last
few days of the 114th Congress when the utility in-
dustry's coal ash language was included in a major The spring also featured lots of debate around the
water projects bill. That was a big deal. FAA reauthorization bill, because the FAA has
jurisdiction over unmanned aircraft systems (UAS,
Early 2016 saw Congressional Republicans con- or drones), which are increasingly important to the
tinuing their efforts to repeal or restrict the White utility industry. FAA wanted new regulations im-
House's many environmental regulations, including posed on drone usage, but utilities opposed this—
EPA's Clean Power Plan (CPP) and the WOTUS and won when the exemption for certain aircraft
rule—Waters of the U.S., which would dramati- was expanded.
cally alter long-standing definitions of water bodies
under the federal Clean Water Act. In February The spring was active with several key issues, in-
electric utilities caught a break when the U.S. Su- cluding the Commodity Futures Trading Commis-
preme Court imposed an unprecedented stay on the sion (CFTC), WOTUS, coal ash, and tax.A positive
controversial CPP; environmentalists howled, but move for public power was the effort to reauthorize
the stay continued through the end of the year, and the CFTC, a bill to provide equal treatment for spe-
beyond—until the Court decides anew. cial entities using operations-related swaps.
March also featured the APPA Legislative Rally, The House and Senate finally reached agreement
and the pending energy bill was a top priority for later in the year. And just before the Memorial Day
MMUA members. A major battle was brewing over recess the House, which had already passed their
a sticky amendment on residential solar programs: energy legislation in late 2015, named their long
the King-Reid provision sought to protect solar list of conferees to move to an energy conference
customers by limiting the authority of utilities and with the Senate. Things looked promising for an en-
state agencies to retroactively change net meter- ergy package after all.
ing standards. The amendment was opposed by
the utility industry, NARUC, APPA, and MMUA, In the cyber world both the Homeland Security and
which shaped their arguments to emphasize the Justice departments announced in the summer
benefits of local community solar programs in sev- final guidelines on new federal cyber law known as
eral MMUA communities. In April the Senate eas- CISA—Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act—
ily passed the energy package but the solar amend- long supported by the utility industry. The new
ment did not survive. provisions offered guidance on assisting non-federal
entities to share cyber information, on privacy and
civil liberties, and on a final process to receive cyber
8-2016 Year in Review
147
threat information, all new language developed in
consort with the electricity industry. During the
August recess public power provided the industry
witness to a field hearing on captive rail issues—
Tom Heller from MRES. The hearing in Sioux Falls
also featured all three STB commissioners who are
working to resolve several issues for rail customers.
By the time September rolled around it seemed ' 100110111'4"`
Congress had little fight left, let alone the energy to
pass anything beyond the required continuing reso-
lution budget package. Several controversial items -= .�'�•. 1111
remained unresolved, including the water crisis in MMUA Washington Representative Michael Nolan made
Flint, relief for recent flood victims, new financial a popular summer conference presentation.
assistance for massive forest fires, and drought
relief for Western states. There was also the House- legislation, something that had a chance of passing,
Senate energy conference, plus coal ash and tax, chances of victory increase. But time was run-
with very little time left before Congress broke for ning out, and legislative options were limited. One
the October campaign season. They wouldn't return last shot came with a major water bill—the Water
until after Election Day. Resources Development Act, or WRDA. This is al-
ways bipartisan legislation since it has such broad
As the energy conference got underway, public authority over federal spending for infrastructure
power's priorities developed at the same time: sup- projects; the bill also was becoming a magnet for
port energy efficiency provisions; support hydro last minute "must pass" items, including drought
relicensing reform; support the bulk power systems and flood relief, and federal assistance for Flint.
reliability impact statement; and support vegeta-
tion management language involving federal lands. The WRDA bill comes through the Senate Environ-
But we also needed to oppose several sticky wick- ment and Public Works Committee, which had just
ets, including: oppose new FERC development of developed new bipartisan language on coal ash,
electromagnetic pulse (EMP) regulations; oppose all language now supported by EPA. The provision
PURPA-related items, including a House-adopted would allow for state permitting programs to either
amendment on net metering interconnection stan- implement the final EPA coal ash regulations,
dards for solar; and oppose language that would or operate a separate state program. The Senate
direct DOE to develop model guidance for intercon- went first—it easily passed a new WRDA bill, now
nection of combined heat-and-power systems. Some dubbed the WIIN Act—Water Infrastructure for
of these came to pass during conference delibera- the Improvements of the Nation Act—and included
tions—the EMP language was dropped, so was the the coal ash language. The House passed their own
solar amendment—but the conferees ran out of bill, but without coal ash.A struggle ensued during
time as the lame duck session came to an end. conference deliberations but the total package was
agreed to just before Congress went home. With a
But not before coal ash had one last chance. A new continuing resolution spending bill done, the
stand-alone coal ash bill would never make it, but if 114th Congress ended, leaving a host of issues for
the provision could be attached to a larger piece of the new 115th
Engineering and Policy Analysis
MMUA Director of Engineering and Policy Analysis ates the energy policies of the state, assessing the
Bob Jagusch was kept extremely busy in 2016 with impact on the future of the environment and the
many long-term policy and regulatory proceedings, economy. The commission also monitors the state's
which were actively meeting—until the November progress in achieving goals to develop renewable
election. These activities included: sources of electric energy; evaluates progress in
reducing greenhouse gas emissions; reviews and
Legislative Energy Commission recommends proposed energy legislation and takes
The Legislative Energy Commission (LEC) evalu- public testimony on energy issues.
2016 Year in Review-9
148
The LEC is currently working on the 2025 Minne- continuing conservation improvements throughout
sota Energy Planning Project. This process started the state. DER agreed that it was time for a new
in July 2015. The LEC Taskforce finished designing study since the last study was over five years old.
its Action Plan in late summer of 2016 to identify A Request for Proposals to conduct the study was
key areas to drive the state forward toward a 2025 issued by DER with the study to commence in 2017.
energy future. The areas of discussion were Trans-
portation; Electricity Supply and Grid Modern- Minnesota Public Utilities Commission (MPUC)
ization; Efficient Buildings and Thermal Energy; study groups
Industry and Agriculture; and Local Planning. MMUA participated in study groups on Smart Grid
The group and its stakeholder committee held two Technologies, cyber security, advancing solar op-
meetings in 2016. portunities and development of possible changes to
the state's distributed generation interconnection
e21 Initiative standard.
The e21 Initiative, convened by the Great Plains
Institute and the Center for Energy and Environ- Clean Power Plan (EPA)
ment, "aims to develop a more customer-centric MMUA met with the MPCA and a stakeholder
and sustainable framework for utility regulation, group throughout the year to discuss compliance
that better aligns how utilities earn revenue with with the proposed Clean Power Plan issued in
public policy goals, new customer expectations, and 2014. The Final Rule was released by the EPA in
the changing technology landscape." The initiative 2015 with the CPP publication in the Federal Reg-
brings together a wide variety of interests to accom- ister in October of that year. MMUA was an active
plish the above-stated goal and"enable Minnesota participant in the stakeholder process to define and
to continue to lead in shaping an electric system guide the State Plan.
for the 21st century." Phase II started in January
of 2015, with meetings occurring monthly or more Along with the MPCA Stakeholder group, many
often in 2016. No consensus on reaching goals was sub-group meetings were held to help guide the
reached by November and the report was delayed larger stakeholder process. MMUA was active with
for re-writes. multiple groups as the details of the rule were be-
ing developed. With the outcome of the November
Minnesota Division of Energy Resources (DER): election, the future of the CPP is in doubt.
Workshops were held and are continuing on multi-
ple aspects of regulatory policy guidance including: Other efforts
Jagusch presented to the Midwest Governors As-
•Conservation Improvement Program (CIP) im- sociation on the Research and Development efforts
provements for public power utilities with stake- of the public power community.
holders from the Minnesota Legislature, DER,
The Center for Energy and the Environment (CEE) Jagusch continued as a member of the American
and the University of Minnesota Clean Energy Re- Public Power Association's Demonstration of En-
source Teams (CERTs). This process was a continu- ergy and Efficiency Developments (DEED) Board
ing discussion from Legislation proposed by MMUA of Directors and is public power's representative on
in 2015. Though no formal changes have been made the National Energy Efficiency Registry, which is
to the rule, the process has allowed a free flow of developing a national trade desk for energy efficien-
ideas among the stakeholders. cy credits. Jagusch also served as a member of the
Minnesota Energy Storage Alliance and the Divi-
•Combined Heat and Power (CHP). This is another sion of Energy Resources CIP Advisory Group. He
multi-year stakeholder group that is struggling also worked with the National Renewable Energy
with the development of standby charges for CHP Laboratory (NREL), to develop a cyber security
projects. The group is working through the multiple framework for small public power utilities.
proposed standby tariff formulas that the IOUs and
Dakota Electric have proposed. This process will Jagusch also served as staff support for the Solar
continue in 2017. Distributed Generation Task Force, the Minnesota
Municipal Gas Association (an MMUA sister orga-
•Conservation Potential Study. This was a proposal nization) and also for the Midwest Consortium of
from MMUA and MREA to study the potential for Municipal Utilities, MMUA's financing arm.
10-2016 Year in Review
149
Safety and Training
2016 marked the first full year for Art Gatchell as
MMUA's primary Job Training and Safety (JTS)
and Apprenticeship instructor. Gatchell brings 40
years of knowledge, experience and wisdom to the x
job. He was joined by a handful of other MMUA em-
ployees who are also experienced linemen, provid-
ing Job Training and Safety services.
gok
Ninety-four utilities participated in the JT&S pro-
gram and another nine in the On-site/On-demand
Apprentice Lineworker Training program. ° a
Training Center
Cody Raveling joined
MMUA in April as Training tage
Center Coordinator/JTS In-
structor.
n structor. A journeyman line "
man since 2011, Raveling Art Gatchell, left and Al Fisher conferred at the Under-
also brought years of Rodeo ground School. The men epitomize MMUA's Job Training
competition experience to and Safety program—experienced utility personnel com-
MMUA. miffed to handing down a tradition of safe and efficient
work practices.
Six schools were held at - tc,
the Training Center over Gas Circuit Rider
the year (for more on these Cody Raveling MMUA Natural Gas Circuit Rider Troy Dahlin
events, see the Meetings and worked with Minnesota's municipal natural gas
Workshops section). utilities. He addressed a variety of needs, including
on-site training, pre-inspections and assisting with
Schools were popular and typically well attended. annual Minnesota Office of Pipeline Safety inspec-
Evaluations were very positive in regards to the tions, technical operator training and tracking
quality of instruction, and students and MMUA regulatory changes. Membership evaluations of this
members were generally supportive of the pro- program continued to be very positive.
grams. In total, nearly 350 people participated in
these experiential learning opportunities. see next page please
min � �... 'i^'
+—��{� a _
ti
low �
;'
-
A student walked down the hill from the Training Center A visitor to the Training Center is typically greeted by
office/indoor training area to the main section of the this sign on the south side of the training field. Part of
training field. the office is visible to the right of the sign.
2016 Year in Review-11
150
person. Audits included a review of equipment,
procedures and records. The audit also provided
k : }0 an opportunity for member utility staff to discuss a
� variety of generation-related issues with MMUA's
staff expert. Sewell produced a detailed Operations
&Maintenance manual for five plants.
,,,,c.- MMUA staff also conducted a number of other
,, " _ ,�,} . ai �, " training sessions, per request on a fee-for-service
- , .4, 7, , basis, including Safe Chainsaw Operation and Arc
. ,t, i40Flash.
` -
a k. . Mutual Aid Program
. MMUA has taken the lead on a number of Mutual
MMUA's safety and training program provides hands-on Aid situations over the years. To keep current infor-
training in many areas, including the chance to use vari- mation on a variety of topics, we initiated efforts for
ous types of the most modern utility equipment. members to update their emergency contact infor-
mation through Veracity Connect's web portal.
Safety Management program
This program was MMUA's largest in terms of We also identified a number of electric utilities that
budget and staff, with 11 employees dedicated to were not current/did not have a Mutual Aid Agree-
this work full-time in 2016 and two splitting time ment on file. Today 75 percent of our membership
between a Regional Safety Group and electrical has an Agreement on file and we continue to work
training duties. The MMUA Safety Management toward achieving 100 percent participation.
program, under contract to the League of Minneso-
ta Cities, provided a comprehensive safety program MMUA and member utilities provided mutual aid
for all city departments. for several member cities/utilities.Although we
were not called up to assist, we also were prepared
Regional Safety Groups to send lineworkers to the East Coast to assist with
Mike Sewell served as Regional Safety Group the aftermath of Hurricane Matthew.
Program Leader.At the end of 2016, there were 27
RSGs comprised of 153 cities
throughout the state, cover- -7-.... -
ing thousands of employees
trained annually.
LMCIT/MMUA4
generation projects ; r * i , Lt \
MMUA has partnered with projects *_ •' it
the LMCIT to put in place t. .<'~ #f111111°P Vii#
customized guidelines de
signed for safe operation of g /`
local electrical generating 1 ,_'
plants. An up-to-date writ- '---'
ten preventive maintenance i,d `
schedule, including a com- . _ _ -
prehensive inventory of 3. J # l--
critical equipment, qualifies ,,
a utility for a 10 percent rate , :, '}'`t
reduction on its property .-..�
coverage rates. MMUA's Bob ,'
Sewell audited 52 MMUA ,I •• a fi
member power plants, in the Electric service is either provided overhead of underground, and offerings at the
company of a utility staff MMUA Training Center in Marshall cover both methods extensively.
12-2016 Year in Review
151
Meetings and workshops
For much of MMUA's history, association activities
revolved around members meeting together, and
that remains a large part of our activities today.
In 2016, MMUA conducted three major member-
ship
t
meetings, along with numerous schools and
workshops. .all
Staff and members were also heavily involved in ,
American Public Power Association events. Unlir
-
der the MMUA banner, approximately 55 people
traveled to Washington, D.C., to attend the APPA
Legislative Rally, held March 7-9. Meetings with Troy Adams of Elk River(holding the clock)was thanked
senators and congressional staff highlighted the for serving as MMUA president in 2015-2016. He had
meeting. ample support at the Annual Conference from utility
staff and policymakers.
The signature event for MMUA in 2016 was also speaker. The afternoon was taken up with legisla-
an APPA event—the national Public Power Line- tive visits, and attendees re-connected that evening
workers Rodeo, held April 2 at Canterbury Park with each other, and legislators, at a reception.
in Shakopee. This event coincided with the APPA
Engineering and Operations Conference, which The next ma-
followed April 3-6 at the Minneapolis Convention jor event on
Center. Numerous MMUA Regular and Associate our meeting
members, as well as some of our staff, attended the calendar came
E&O and also served as speakers at the event. Aug. 15-17 at
Cragun's Resort
The hectic April continued, with the MMUA Leg- in Brainerd, as
islative Conference, held April 19 in St. Paul. MMUA held
The 2016 meeting was unique. The State Capitol, its 85th Annual
without running water, was closed to the public. Conference. 1 N5'`tars A'.�
It was also the first session where the new Minne- Backdrops to \ hr
sota Senate Building was open. With the disarray the event in-
of construction, new facilities, and a short session, cluded a turbuif
'
MMUA shortened its program to one day. Despite lent presidential
the disruption, over 70 people attended. The morn- campaign and Sleepy Eye's Bob Elston took the
ingincluded a legislative briefing, and a luncheon MMUA president's reins at our 85th
g g� an uncertain Annual Conference.
regulatory
climate.Approximately 320 people attended the
p Annual Conference, making this our largest meet-
ing. Included in that number were many associate
.,r .4. t. 41 members participating in a trade show. Sleepy Eye
I. '' Public Works Director Bob Elston assumed the
tok,
+' president's duties at the meeting, taking over from
i 14414 . 1111
Troy Adams of Elk River Municipal Utilities.
4t„
r
,, _ f Our second largest meeting of the year proved to be
the Technical and Operations (T&O) Conference,
__ imAi
''' , which was held Dec. 6-8 in St. Cloud. Approximate-
ly 200 municipal utility personnel, vendors and
The MMUA Annual Conference, held each summer, pro- MMUA staff attended the event, which featured
vides ample opportunity for utility and associate mem- a variety of technical talks along with sessions on
bers to get together. leadership and a sharply-focused safety message.
2016 Year in Review-13
152
nesota municipal utilities participated, along with
- -- all— one from South Dakota and 10 electric coopera-
EC ■ ;.„ Lives. The class included an evening product show.
` ` r AP.
ii" Substation School
VI ),ab, ' '° There was a strong turnout to this April 19-21
' ' school in Shakopee, with 37 attending. Thirty-
-.,
"" C.
�� two participants came from 18 municipal utilities
U
- (including one from Wisconsin), and five registered
through the Minnesota Rural Electric Association.
Underground School
The 2016 Substation School, one of several MMUA tech Nearly 70 participants from 32 municipal utilities
nical trainings, was held in Shakopee. in Minnesota, three in South Dakota and three
Minnesota cooperatives attended this school, May
Technical training 17-20 at the Training Center. Many thanks for
MMUA held a variety of other schools, conferences the Regular and Associate Members that provided
and training events during the year. equipment, materials, served as instructors, etc.
Transformer Schools Overhead School
Due to a quirk in schedules, MMUA held two A total of 55 electric lineworkers from nearly 30
Transformer Schools in 2016. The first Transformer municipals and one cooperative participated in this
School Pre-Conference was held Jan. 12-13 followed school, Sept. 13-16 at the Training Center. Most
by the Transformer School Jan. 13-15, both at the hailed from Minnesota, with some coming from
MMUA Training Center in Marshall. Forty-five South Dakota and as far away as Maryland. Sand-
municipal employees attended, along with 16 from wiched between general sessions were two days
electric cooperatives. The pre-conference was at- of hands-on training on the field. MMUA thanks
tended by 34 from the municipals and 13 from coop- all the utilities and companies that sent students,
eratives. The school featured a variety of hands-on instructors and equipment.
and classroom teaching.
Cross Training School
The second round of transformer training closed Not our largest in terms of attendance, this school
out the year. The Pre-Conference course on Basic provided good training for the non-lineworkers that
Single-Phase Transformer Connections &Theory attended Oct. 18-20 at the Training Center.
was held Dec. 13-14, at the Training Center. The
Transformer Conference, dealing primarily with Firstline Supervision
Three-Phase Connections, started the afternoon of Sprinkled throughout the year were six sessions
the 14th and ran through the morning of Dec. 16. of Firstline Supervision. Sessions were held either
Thirty-four people attended, including 25 from Min- at the MMUA office in Plymouth or Central Lakes
nesota municipal utilities. Other attendees came College in Brainerd. This popular program had 65
from municipals in Maryland and South Dakota, a actively enrolled students in 2016 and 20 gradu-
Minnesota cooperative, a Michigan investor-owned ates.
utility and one Associate Member.
Rodeo Team Training Clinic
This clinic was held Feb. 2-3 at the Training Cen-
6.
ter. This event was well-attended, as individuals . '44.
and crews readied for the APPA Lineworkers Ro-
deo, which was just two months away at the time. 4
$ ,
Metering Conference
Basic Metering Pre-Conference was held Feb. 16-17
and the Meter School Feb. 17-19 at the Training .►
Center. Forty-four students attended the Pre-Con- Firstline Supervision continues to be a strong program,
ference and 60 the Meter School. Thirty-four Min- with 65 participating in 2016.
14-2016 Year in Review
153
Communications and Member Relations
Communicating with our membership and the
general public is one of the fundamental reasons
for MMUA's existence. MMUA Associate Execu-
tive
xecu tive Director Steve Downer works with many other
MMUA staff members to fulfill this function. ' V
Over the course of the year, MMUA researched and 4*
answered numerous questions in regards to opera-
tion of municipal utilities.At times, the answer
P
was gained through posting an online survey on the
MMUA website. - r
MMUA Associate Executive Director Steve Downer(at
As is the case every year, MMUA in 2016 produced right)performed a number of functions and made 55
a number of informative publications, including 11 member visits in 2016. Here he is in Moorhead, along
monthly Resource newsletters for MMUA members, with WAPA Administrator Mark Gabriel, Bill Schwandt,
24 Connector newsletters for members to send to Congressman Collin Peterson and Dennis Eisenbraun
their customers, as well as 10 Capitol Letter elec- (from left to right). Schwandt and Eisenbraun are with
tronic legislative updates. The Capitol Letter was Moorhead Public Service.
produced by MMUA Government Relations Rep-
resentative Amanda Duerr.After a several decade • Presentations before city councils, utilities corn-
run, the Connector was discontinued for 2017. missions, etc., on a variety of topics relating to mu-
nicipal utilities and their operation, including the
MMUA also produced position statement booklets formation of new municipal electric and natural gas
for the APPA Washington Rally and the MMUA utilities.At times, this type of work led to the giv-
Legislative Conference, and produced materials re- ing of counsel and advice on a wide range of issues.
lated to MMUA's training programs and meetings,
including a meetings/training calendar. Govern- • Conducted 19 on-line surveys to gather informa-
ment relations staff took the lead on publishing the tion for members.
Legislative Report,
• Administered committees, the MMUA Tom Bo-
MMUA Annual Sponsorships, which have proven to vitz Memorial Scholarship Award and the MMUA
be quite popular, were solicited and administered, Drug and Alcohol Testing Consortium.
as was advertising in the Resource. The MMUA
brochure, a brochure on municipal utilities, various • Served as chair of the Salvation Army HeatShare
maps and PowerPoint presentations were updated. Advisory Board, and participated in various meet-
ings on a variety of topics with municipal power
Staff endeavors to keep the MMUA website fresh and non-profit interest groups, as well as govern-
with new photography, updated information and ment regulatory agencies.
Breaking News. There is also a lot of behind-the-
scenes work related to tying together the website MMUA associates with its members at their sites
and database. Numerous staff contributed to the whenever possible. While staff likes to recount its
website's wording and look, including staff in the activities in this publication, perhaps the most
communications area. Staff also used a variety of valuable thing we can do is to listen to our mem-
other communications tools, including an occasion- bers. This helps us better understand the issues
al tweet and flickr photo pages (these are gener- and pressures that affect individual members and
ally accessed through various Events pages on the the industry as a whole. This outreach is particu-
MMUA website.) larly valuable, as many municipal utilities find it
difficult to break away to an association meeting.
Communications and Member Relations staff Steve Downer in 2016 made 55 visits to members.
played a number of other roles, including:
2016 Year in Review-15
154
Minnesota Municipal Utilities Association
3025 Harbor Lane N., Suite 400
Plymouth, MN 55447-5142
763-551-1230; 1-800-422-0119
www.mmua.org
155