6.1a ERMUSR 05-09-2023Elk River
Municipal Utilities UTILITIES COMMISSION MEETING
TO:
FROM:
ERMU Commission
Mark Hanson —General Manager
MEETING DATE:
AGENDA ITEM NUMBER:
May 9, 2023
6.1a
SUBJECT:
Staff Update
ACTION REQUESTED:
None
DISCUSSION:
• Tom Geiser and I attended American Public Power Association's (APPA) Engineering &
Operations conference last week, May 1-3, in Pasadena, CA. In addition to a great
conference filled with very informative breakout sessions, ERMU was recognized for having
achieved the Platinum designation in APPA's Reliable Public Provider (RP3) program. The
RP3 designation recognizes public power utilities that demonstrate proficiency in four key
disciplines: reliability, safety, workforce development, and system improvement. ERMU
joins 271 public utilities nationwide that hold the RP3 designation.
While the entire ERMU team deserves recognition for their role in receiving the RP3
designation, Technical Services Superintendent Mike Tietz deserves special mention for
collecting, consolidating, and submitting the enormous amount of data needed to meet RP3
requirements. A press release, attached, will be submitted to the Elk River Star News next
week.
:: PUBLIC PUBLIC PUBLIC
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• The public summary of the April 2023 MMPA Board of Directors meeting is below.
o The Board of Directors of the Minnesota Municipal Power Agency (MMPA) met on April
25, 2023, at Faribault Energy Park (FEP) in Faribault, Minnesota and via
videoconference.
o MMPA's auditor, FORVIS, presented MMPA's 2022 financial statement audit. The audit
report can be found on MMPA's website www.mmpa.org, and is also attached.
o The Board reviewed the Agency's financial and operating performance for March 2023.
o Customer penetration for the residential Clean Energy Choice program increased to
4.6%. There was an increase of 44 customers participating in the residential Clean
Energy Choice program from February to March.
o MMPA's Energy Education program was discussed. MMPA visited nine schools in March,
with another 18 planned to attend the FEP Tour Event in May. This year's program is
expected to reach 2,000 fourth grade students.
o The Board discussed the current business environment.
o The Board discussed the status of renewable projects the Agency is pursuing.
• We've now received two proposals for consulting services related to developing plans and
specifications on a competitive bid process for installing our Advanced Metering
Infrastructure meters. After an internal review of the proposals, we'll select a consultant
and begin developing bid documents and a rough project timeline. We expect electric and
water meters will have separate installation contractors.
ATTACHMENTS:
• Press Release — ERMU Reliable Public Power Provider
• Audit Report — Minnesota Municipal Power Agency Audit Report 2022
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