6.1g ERMUSR 04-08-2025Elk River
Municipal Utilities UTILITIES COMMISSION MEETING
TO:
FROM:
ERMU Commission
Mike Tietz —Technical Services Superintendent
MEETING DATE:
AGENDA ITEM NUMBER:
April 8, 2025
6.1g
SUBJECT:
Staff Update
ACTION REQUESTED:
None
DISCUSSION:
• In March, the locators processed 212 locate tickets. These consisted of 174 normal
tickets, 1 emergency ticket, 18 updated tickets, 10 meets, 3 planning, 2 boundary
surveys, and 4 cancellations. This resulted in a 91.0% increase in tickets from the
previous month and a 12.8% decrease from the prior March.
• Staff has completed review of GPS equipment and has decided to purchase two Trimble
R580 units. These will be used during the construction of our underground facilities to
aid in mapping and help meet the new locating laws that go into effect in 2026. The
locators are currently demo-ing the Radio Detection GPS locator. We expect to have a
decision on the GPS locator soon.
• Electrical technicians completed 213 service order tasks, updated the power bill,
addressed customer meter issues and any off-peak concerns.
• The Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) residential water meters and residential
electric meters continue to be installed in new services. The electrical technicians have
been busy changing out the current Automated Meter Reading meters to AMI meters
for off-peak around the system. Approximately 5,179 water meters and 11,675 electric
meters are currently active within our AMI system.
• Staff have successfully completed oil replacement/dehydration on 25 switchgears so far
utilizing the trailer -mounted oil collection system. Contaminated oil is reconditioned
overnight and then used in another switchgear the next day. The testing of oil in
completed units shows the moisture levels returning to acceptable levels. We extended
the timeframe on this project to recondition the oil on as many switchgear as possible
by the end of April.
• Our monthly peak was 41.80 MW on March 8, at 7:02 p.m.
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