6.1d ERMUSR 03-10-2020UTILITIES COMMISSION MEETING
TO:FROM:
ERMU Commission Mike Tietz –Technical Services Superintendent
MEETING DATE: AGENDA ITEM NUMBER:
March10, 2020 6.1d
SUBJECT:
Staff Update
ACTION REQUESTED:
None
DISCUSSION:
• In February, the locating department had a total of 82 locate tickets consisting of 1
emergency ticket, 64 normal tickets, 6 design tickets, 9 updated tickets, and 2 locate
meets. This is a 10.9% decrease in volume of tickets from the previous month. The
locators have been collecting GPS data again as time allows.
• Electrical Technicians continue with updating the power bill, substation checks,
disconnects/reconnects, dealing with customer meter and off-peak issues. Staff has
been working on updating the redundant substation meters that we purchased from
GRE.
• On February 11, staff from Industrial Diesel Service (IDS) began working with ERMU staff
to diagnose the cause of water in the fuel of Engine 2. They found that cooling water
was leaking from the cylinder lubricator tube packing and was running down the
injection drip drain trough, which was plumbed back to the day tank. Staff made the
repairs and corrected the plumbing. On day 2, IDS looked over Engine 3 and determined
that it has a severe exhaust leak that needs to be addressed. They also looked at the
unburned fuel problem but were not able to determine the cause at this time. IDS is
planning to return in April with the equipment needed to diagnose the issue. Staff ran
Engines 1 & 4 on February 26 and Engine 2 on February 27. Engine 3 will remain out of
service until IDS returns, but it is available for emergency use.
• Weekly meter reads continue to go well. Staff continues to perform meter audits
around the system as time allows. Staff has become proficient with using AppSuite and
has found it to be a very useful tool.
• Mapping department continues to update points and attributes for our systems assets
within the ESRI ArcView GIS system. Staff continues to work on the development of a
Water Backflow Prevention Inspection application as time allows, along with
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investigating how tointegrate this withinMS Office 365 to automate and streamline the
process.
I attended the Upper Midwest Meter Association winter conference in February. The
conference covered a rangeof topics includingthe metersand current transformers (CT)
that municipals and cooperatives are using, different AMI platforms, anddog safetyin
the field. There was also a presentation from Mat Kilgore with Iowa Lakes Electric
Cooperative on his recent trip to Guatemala where a group of linemen from Iowa and
Illinoishelped to bring electricity to the small village of Salinas. During roundtable
sessions, there was discussion on using different types of Meter Data Management
(MDM) platforms, meter and CT testing procedures/schedules, and renewable energy
policies. The vendor show included a wide variety of devices used to measure, calibrate,
and troubleshoot meters and other devices. In all, it was a very beneficial conference. I
was able to network with many other municipal and cooperative metering staffs and
learned a great deal. I appreciate Elk River Municipal Utilities allowing me the
opportunity to attend.
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