6.1 ERMUSR 01-09-2024��i
Elk River
Municipal Utilities UTILITIES COMMISSION MEETING
TO:
FROM:
ERMU Commission
Mark Hanson — General Manager
MEETING DATE:
AGENDA ITEM NUMBER:
January 9, 2024
6.1a
SUBJECT:
Staff Update
ACTION REQUESTED:
None
DISCUSSION:
• A notice of intent to begin contract negotiations has been sent to the selected Advanced
Metering Infrastructure meter installation vendor. The same vendor will provide
installation services for both electric and water meters. Staff anticipates the negotiation
process to go smoothly. Once the contract has been signed, staff will release the
vendor's name.
• The professional services agreement with Baker Tilly for the compensation study was
signed last week. The management team has been reviewing job descriptions as the
consultant will need updated job descriptions for all positions. Staff anticipate
scheduling the project kickoff meeting in the next two weeks.
• The Board of Directors of the Minnesota Municipal Power Agency (MMPA) met on
December 19, 2023, at Chaska City Hall in Chaska, Minnesota and via videoconference.
o The Board reviewed the Agency's financial and operating performance for
November 2023.
o Customer penetration for the residential Clean Energy Choice program increased
to 5.3%. There was an increase of 48 customers participating in the residential
Clean Energy Choice program from October to November.
o The Board discussed the current business environment.
o The Board approved rates for 2024, which are the same as 2023 rates.
o The Board discussed the status of renewable projects the Agency is pursuing.
o The Board was informed that the Hometown BioEnergy Renewable Natural Gas
(RNG) project has achieved commercial operation.
o The following officers were elected for 2024: Matt Podhradsky — Chairman,
Keith Mykleseth — Vice Chairman, Greg Drent — Treasurer, Mark Hanson —
Secretary.
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73
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Elk River
Municipal Utilities UTILITIES COMMISSION MEETING
TO:
FROM:
ERMU Commission
Sara Youngs —Administrations Director
MEETING DATE:
AGENDA ITEM NUMBER:
January 9, 2024
6.1b
SUBJECT:
Staff Update
ACTION REQUESTED:
None
DISCUSSION:
• Office walk-in traffic for December consisted of 114 customers, averaging 29 customers
per week over the 4-week period.
• ERMU red tag notification count for December under the Cold Weather Rule.
o Cycle 3 — 7 red tag notifications
o Cycle 4 — 11 red tag notifications
o Cycle 1— 20 red tag notifications and 1 disconnection
• The year-end process within National Information Solutions Cooperative's iVUE
software was a success. All fees have been updated for 2024. Rates for 2024 will be
updated for the February billing cycle which captures January usage.
• During the month of December 2023, the customer service team entered 50 payment
arrangements with customers. During December 2022 there were 74 payment
arrangements.
• Training that was scheduled with Star Energy for December 12, 2023, for the NOVA
Power Portal was postponed due to a software upgrade. Training will take place in
January 2024. All distributed energy interconnection applications will ultimately be
submitted through this portal. This application tracks and manages the application
process for the solar vendor, customer, and utility.
• Currently there are 11 active residential solar photovoltaic projects planned or under
construction in the ERMU service territory.
• In the last 30 days, combined the level two charger located downtown and in the
parking lot in front of ERMU had 17 sessions and provided customers with 607 kWh of
green energy.
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Staff ordered 50 weatherization kits that will be donated to Tri-CAP to assist with
ERMU's Sherburne county residents who are reaching out for energy assistance.
Weatherization kits are an additional resource to help residents reduce their energy
consumption.
• As part of our annual review of demand commercial accounts, 23 accounts were
identified as not meeting the requirements of exceeding a peak demand of 50 kW in the
previous 12 months. Accounts will be evaluated to determine if it is financially beneficial
for the customer to move them to the non -demand commercial rate schedule.
Page 2of2
75
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Elk Riv
Municipal Utilities UTILITIES COMMISSION MEETING
TO:
FROM:
ERMU Commission
Melissa Karpinski — Finance Manager
MEETING DATE:
AGENDA ITEM NUMBER:
January 9, 2024
6.1c
SUBJECT:
Staff Update
ACTION REQUESTED:
None
DISCUSSION:
• The 2023 audit field work is scheduled for February 22-23, which most likely will be
done remotely or in a hybrid method. Accounting continues to gather requested
information/work papers and will be busy preparing for the 2023 annual audit.
We received our Minnesota Department of Revenue Sales and Use Tax Refund of
$11,645.11, of which $220.66 was interest. We submitted this back on May 3, 2023.
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OR
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Elk Riv
Municipal Utilities UTILITIES COMMISSION MEETING
TO:
FROM:
ERMU Commission
Tony Mauren — Governance & Communications Manager
MEETING DATE:
AGENDA ITEM NUMBER:
January 9, 2024
6.1d
SUBJECT:
Staff Update
ACTION REQUESTED:
None
DISCUSSION:
• The January bill insert is the attached informational flyer about SmartHub's Auto Pay
Program.
• In addition to highlighting the bill insert topic, social media posts this month feature a
variety of items including the commission meeting notice, holiday closures and garbage
delays, as well as announcing the 2024 electric and water rates.
• Communications staff is updating the website, forms, and processes for the residential
and commercial rebate programs to be in line with the rebate management services
provided by Frontier Energy.
• Staff has coordinated a presentation for the Commission from Frontier Energy on the
services they are providing to the Conservation Improvement Program as well as
offering an opportunity to answer any questions. This presentation will serve as the
Commission's Annual Orientation and is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. on Tuesday, March 12
in the Uppertown Conference Room, an hour prior to the regular meeting in the same
room. Thank you for adding this to your schedule.
• On January 3, representatives from the communications department and field staff met
to begin the strategic plan initiative for enhancing the field services building through
branding and decorative interior elements. The group reviewed three quotes, discussed
overall direction, and options for the different spaces. This initiative is scheduled to be
complete by the end of 2024.
Office staff celebrated the holidays with a lunch on December 21. The group looks
forward to this opportunity to enjoy each other's company every year!
ATTACHMENTS:
• Bill Insert — Smart Hub Auto Pay Program
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77
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WHAT IS SMARTHUB?
SmartHub is a web and mobile app that allows you to take control of all
aspects of your utility account. Pay your bill, set up automatic payments,
manage your use, and contact ERMU with service issues quickly and easily
online or on your mobile device.
WHAT IS SMARTHUB'S AUTO PAY PROGRAM?
SmartHub's Auto Pay Program helps you save time, avoid service interruptions, and eliminate late fees by allowing
you to set up automatic payments using your preferred method (credit, debit, checking, or savings) While still
Letting you view your itemized bill.
EASY PROGRAM
SIGN UP
Existing SmartHub users
can simply go to their account,
select the Auto Pay Program
option, and follow the prompts,
while new users can create a
SmartHub account using the QR
code, then follow the prompts.
CHOOSE YOUR
PAYMENT METHOD
Set up your preferred secure
payment method and let account
management do the rest.
• Credit
• Debit
• Checking
• Savings
SAVE TIME &
REDUCE STRESS
With SmartHub's Auto Pay
Program, you Will still be able to
viewan itemized billeach month,
but you won't need to take time
to schedule a payment. Rest
assured, your bill will be taken
care of on its due date.
New signups to SmartHub's Auto Pay Program will receive a one-time $5.00 credit!
Elk River
Municipal Utilities UTILITIES COMMISSION MEETING
TO:
FROM:
ERMU Commission
Thomas Geiser — Operations Director
MEETING DATE:
AGENDA ITEM NUMBER:
January 9, 2024
6.1e
SUBJECT:
Staff Update
ACTION REQUESTED:
None
DISCUSSION:
• Staff has been attending meetings with Sherburne County to plan for the County Road
44 project.
• Working through maps for the new GIS mapping system that we plan to move forward
with in the future.
• Attending Advanced Metering Infrastructure project meetings weekly with other ERMU
staff.
• ERMU received a new woodchipper box for tree trimming.
• Staff is working on 2024 projects and 2024 equipment needs.
• Staff attended a Minnesota regional meeting on Friday, January 5 for the second round
of the Grid Resilience and Innovation Partnerships grant.
• Staff is planning for the American Public Power Association's Lineworkers Rodeo event
that is scheduled for April 6, 2024.
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79
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Elk Riv
Municipal Utilities UTILITIES COMMISSION MEETING
TO:
FROM:
ERMU Commission
Chris Sumstad — Electric Superintendent
MEETING DATE:
AGENDA ITEM NUMBER:
January 9, 2024
6.1f
SUBJECT:
Staff Update
ACTION REQUESTED:
None
DISCUSSION:
• Installed 14 new residential services, which involves the connection of a secondary line
once the customer requests service.
• Crews completed the three phase service at the Martin Marietta gravel pit off Baldwin
Street north of 225th Avenue.
• Crews completed the three phase service at the Beaudry storage facility located along
County Road 1.
• Crews finished up the landfill reroute project, setting a new three phase transformer
and getting the primary loop back to normal.
• Joe Schmidt from Minnesota Municipal Utilities Association (MMUA) was here on
December 28, 2023. He conducted year in review training sessions that touched on all
safety topics that were covered in 2023.
• The bore crew replaced approximately 2000 feet of underground primary on 202"
Avenue in Elk River. They will continue there again in the spring with about 1500 feet
left to install in this project.
• Crews have been working on replacing the rejected poles found during Mi-Tech
Services' annual pole testing which occurred this past summer.
• Crews replaced older high pressure sodium streetlights with new LED lights along Main
Street from Proctor Avenue to Waco Street. Annually, we target areas of our service
territory to replaces old lights with new LEDs and plan to start another area in February.
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• 1 attended the MMUA Technical & Operations Conference held in St. Cloud, December
5-7. 1 had the chance to hear some great speakers on interesting topics and attended a
good trade show Wednesday evening.
• The inventory and procurement team have been working around the west storage yard,
organizing and cleaning up wire and other inventory materials.
• Crews finished installing electric infrastructure at The Cove housing development. This is
located on the west side of Elk River near the old bowling alley location. This was the
fourth joint trench housing development for 2023.
• We celebrated the holidays this year with a lunch for field service staff on December 20.
Lots of great work was done safely and with pride in 2023!
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M
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Elk Riv
Municipal Utilities UTILITIES COMMISSION MEETING
TO:
FROM:
ERMU Commission
Mike Tietz — Technical Services Superintendent
MEETING DATE:
AGENDA ITEM NUMBER:
January 9, 2024
6.1g
SUBJECT:
Staff Update
ACTION REQUESTED:
None
DISCUSSION:
• In December, the locators processed 150 locate tickets. These consisted of 117 normal
tickets, 5 emergency tickets, 15 updated tickets, 4 cancellations, 3 meets, 3 non -
excavation, and 3 boundary surveys. This resulted in a 64.6% decrease in tickets from
the previous month and is a 44.2% increase from the prior December. The ticket count
for 2023 is up 6.0% from 2022's numbers.
• Electrical technicians completed 305 service order tasks, updated the power bill,
addressed customer meter issues and any off-peak concerns.
• The Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AM]) residential water meters and residential
electric meters continue to be installed in new services and where we may have had an
existing meter failure. The AM endpoint installation vendor selection team made a
decision and staff are expecting contracting to progress quickly and move into initial
deployment testing within a month. We still anticipate a start date in March of 2024 for
the mass deployment of meters. Integration with National Information Solutions
Cooperative continues to progress as we are starting our Meter Data Management
System implementation now. Weekly meetings have been found to be very beneficial in
keeping everyone on the same page as we progress through the different stages of
implementation.
• For the month of December, staff did not run generators. Engine #4 was run for testing
purposes after repairs were made to it.
Staff completed installation of an air -source heat pump at the West substation control
building. Staff did a great job framing in a window opening to allow for installation of
the unit. Providing a conditioned space will help keep the electronic components
housed there in the optimal operating temperature range.
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M
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Elk Riv
Municipal Utilities UTILITIES COMMISSION MEETING
TO:
FROM:
ERMU Commission
Dave Ninow —Water Superintendent
MEETING DATE:
AGENDA ITEM NUMBER:
January 9, 2024
6.1h
SUBJECT:
Staff Update
ACTION REQUESTED:
None
DISCUSSION:
• Delivered 5 new water meters, installed a Smart Point module, and took curb stop ties.
• Completed 15 BACTI/Total Chlorine Residual Samples
o All confirmed negative for Coliform Bacteria
o Bacteriological/Disinfectant Residual Monthly Report submitted to the MDH
• Completed 19 routine fluoride samples
o All samples met MDH standards
o Submitted MDH Fluoride Report
• Submitted Discharge Monitoring Report for the Diesel Generation Plant to the
Minnesota Pollution Control Agency.
• John Thom, Water Operations Specialist with Short Elliot Hendrickson will be conducting
a water treatment system operations course with the Minnesota Department of Health
at our new field services building. This course will consist of classes each Monday
evening for 10 weeks starting February 5, 2024.
• The programable logic controllers (PLC) have been replaced for wells 5, 7, and 9 to allow
for transitioning our Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) system from
communicating through radio to fiber optic. The PLCs have also been replaced at the
Auburn and Johnson water towers for the SCADA communication switch to fiber along
with the new Advanced Metering Infrastructure meter reading equipment at those
locations.
• The water operators continue to perform preventative maintenance on the water
treatment plants. We are also repairing or upgrading any items requiring attention.
• Following up from questions at the December meeting, staff has done some research on
regulations and found no requirement for tiered water rates. However, ERMU is
required by the DNR to have water conservation measures in place and tiered water
rates count towards that. The MDH also highly encourages having them to provide
incentives for customers to conserve water.
ATTACHMENTS:
• December 2023 Pumping by Well
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Elk River -�---
Municipal Utilities UTILITIES COMMISSION MEETING
TO:
FROM:
ERMU Commission
Chris Kerzman — Engineering Manager
MEETING DATE:
AGENDA ITEM NUMBER:
January 9, 2024
6.1i
SUBJECT:
Staff Update
ACTION REQUESTED:
None
DISCUSSION:
• Staff met with the contractor for the fiber loop expansion and are working to finalize
locations of our laterals for the contractor's design. The contractor plans to start
installation as weather allows over the next few months.
• Staff have received review drawings for the Otsego substation transformer and are
working with DGR Engineering to provide comments.
• Staff continue to work on the planning and design of the future East substation which
will be needed to support development in the southeast portion of ERMU's service
territory.
• Staff have expanded the use of multi factor authentication and continue to work on
future cybersecurity enhancements.
• Commissioners Stewart, Bell, and Zerwas are budgeted for Wad replacements this year.
Staff will follow up individually to confirm if a replacement is needed and schedule
accordingly.
• Be sure to check out this from Landform Professional Services displaying the
landscape architecture, land surveying, planning, historical retention, and civil
engineering they brought to the ERMU Field Services Building project.
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