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HomeMy WebLinkAboutElectric Board - Minutes - 12/18/1996Council Liaison: Alan Apt II Staff Liaison: Delynn Coldiron Chairperson: Mark Fidrych Phone: 490-7240 (W) 223-7140 (H) Vice Chair: Jim Welch Phone: 491-5784 (W) 223-9487 (H) A regular meeting of the Fort Collins Electric Board was held on Wednesday, December 18, 1996, in the Light and Power Training Room, at 700 Wood Street, Ft. Collins. BOARD MEMBERS PRESENT: Bill Brayden, Jeff Eighmy, Mark Fidrych, Len Loomans, Barbara Rutstein, Richard Smart and Jim Welch BOARD MEMBERS ABSENT: None STAFF PRESENT: Ellen Alward, Delynn Coldiron, Eric Dahlgren, Carol Dollard, Suzanne Jarboe -Simpson, Bob Kost, Tom Rock, Rich Shannon, Dennis Sumner, Gwyn Strand, and Steve VanderMeer. OTHERS PRESENT: Council Member Apt 1. APPROVAL OF MINUTES: Board Member Welch made a clarification on page four, fifth paragraph, third sentence. He suggested that the part of the sentence that reads "that we are interested in diversification" be changed to "that we are interested in equivalent financing as for conventional fuels." A Motion was made by Board Member Rutstein to approve the Minutes as amended. Board Member Smart seconded the Motion. The Motion passed unanimously and the Minutes from the November 18, 1996 meeting were approved as amended. 2. FOCUS GROUP UPDATE: Steve VanderMeer provided Board Members with an update on the Marketing Plan, including information on the focus groups, which were recently conducted. Work on Light and Power's Marketing Plan began in late January, early February of 1996. Staff worked with a consultant to develop some marketing goals and strategies. During this process staff identified areas of agreement, disagreement, uncertainty, the non- negotiable core functions that exist for Light and Power, and the Utility's strengths and weaknesses. Some of the non-negotiables that were identified included electricity, safety, driven by community values, local control, economic benefit to the Community, reliability, easy to do business with, responsive to the customer, public ownership and competitive rates. Once this was completed, staff began to work on a market and competitive analysis. Staff has done work to review who we are as a Utility and the Utility's market. A Values Proposition resulted from staff work on defining who we are as a Utility. The Values Proposition has three key elements which include reliable systems and services, competitive costs, and responsiveness (employees dedicated to meeting customer needs). The organization has spent a considerable amount of time developing this, sharing this with employees, etc. There has been a lot of ongoing dialog on this and awareness within the organization of what the Values Proposition means is very high. Work is also being done to determine what local information and research is available, to obtain and review secondary research, and to identify our competitors and obtain information on them. One barrier staff has faced is that we did not have a lot of good information on our customers or our competitors. Because of this, the focus groups were initiated in an effort to pull together some primary research data. Through these focus groups, staff was trying to get a better understanding of what is important to our customers, to find out whether or not they knew who we are, to find out how well they think we are doing in providing them the services they think are important, and to try to surmise what our customers think of and how much they know about our competitors. These focus groups were conducted in October. Approximately ten customers participated in each of the focus groups. Two of the groups focused on residential customers, and two focused on commercial customers. The information gained from the focus groups was used to develop a phone survey that staff is conducting right now which should be completed within the next few days. The purpose of the phone survey is to try and quantify the information that was obtained in the focus groups. Once staff has obtained the survey and analysis results, staff will begin developing marketing strategies. Board Members briefly discussed the information that was presented. Staff intends to provide Board Members with an update in the next couple of months. Council Member Apt asked for an update for Council as well. -2- SIERRA CLUB LAWSUIT Board Members discussed the information that was included in packets. The information was very detailed and Board Members asked Rich for a summary of the issue. Rich understands the heart of the debate to be that the State Air Quality Commission adopted a set of rules many years ago that did not recognize the fact that during shut down and start up of power plants you cannot meet both air quality and safety standards. As a result, the state agency over the years has ignored its own rule and has given these plants permits and permit renewals. They simply didn't count the times that the power plants were starting up or shutting down. Sierra Club has taken the position that the power plants are technically in violation of the rules and feel this is unacceptable. Board Members briefly discussed this issue. There was some interest in getting a viewpoint from the Sierra Club. Rich cautioned Board Members to seek information from the Sierra Club as individuals and not as members of the Electric Board to avoid the possibility of being subpoenaed to court proceedings. 4. LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS CROSS CURRENTS PROGRAM: Board Members discussed topics for a League of Women Voters Cross Currents program. There was some feeling that the charter changes relating to the Utility were not pro/con issues as are most of the topics showcased on this program. Board Members agreed to not suggest this issue for a Cross Currents program, but will keep this in mind for future pro/con issues which might surface. Staff asked Board Members for suggestions on individuals or groups that might be interested in having a speaker come and talk to them about deregulation issues. Staffs intent is to do some front-end work to help citizens understand these issues and the changes that will occur as a result of deregulation. Suzanne Jarboe -Simpson went over the list of groups and individuals that staff has identified. Board Members offered some suggestions and will forward any others they think of to staff. Staff is preparing a slide show that will be used in presentations. Staff also intends to develop some literature that can be sent out to those groups that don't have room on their agendas for additional speakers, and that can be handed out to interested individuals. Staff is also looking into the possibility of creating a video that can be shown on Channel 27 and forwarded to various groups. Staff encouraged Board Members to write Soap Box articles in an effort to get the word out. If any Board Members are interested in doing some of the presentations, they should contact staff. -3- 5. STAFF REPORTS 1. GREEN RESOURCE UPDATE Steve mentioned that we have received 650+ wind power subscriptions, but they have slowed down considerably. There has not been too much more interest from commercial customers. Staff intends to do some follow up work with them. Staff feels confident that enough subscriptions will come in to allow for construction of a second turbine. Staff met with the Land and Water Fund and the OEC and talked to them about how we can do some additional outreach to environmental groups. The Land and Water Fund is very interested in getting involved. Randy Udall from CORE also attended this meeting. He has been a valuable resource for information. He mentioned that we now have the largest green pricing project in the country. The Land and Water Fund and the OEC have funds available that we can use for a case study and business analysis of our wind project that should give us all a lot of valuable information. Staff plans to follow up on this. 2. PRPA ACTIVITIES: The PRPA Board has approved the creation of a subsidiary, called NEWCO. This subsidiary is technically a for -profit subsidiary that, for now, will concentrate on making aggregated natural gas purchases for large customers. The NEWCO will have a separate Board of Directors from Platte River's Board of Directors. In the next few months the new Board will be defining the role and mission of the NEWCO, etc. Staffing arrangements for the NEWCO are still in question. Public Service Company responded to PRPA regarding the $53 million dollar claim. They have maintained their original position. Staff will keep Board Members informed of new developments. OTHER BUSINESS: 1. New Energy Services Engineer: Steve VanderMeer introduced Carol Dollard, who is Light and Power's new Energy Services Engineer. Carol worked for Platte River Power Authority and was in a role similar to the one she has here for the City of Longmont prior to coming to work for us. Carol is long-time member of the Ft. Collins Community. She lives in Rist Canyon and is enjoying the shorter commute! Staff is delighted to have her on board. KI Council Member Apt: Council Member Apt thanked Board Members and staff for their hard work and efforts this past year. He mentioned that the achievements have been tremendous and are a testament of what can be achieved in the future. He was very complimentary of the wind project and felt that the marketing efforts for this project were outstanding. He mentioned that great strides have been made with demand side management. Council Member Apt encouraged Board Members to continue relaying these types of successes to Council because they demonstrate the types of changes that we have been talking about that are necessary for the Utility to be able to be competitive, and will help get Council Members on the same page. Council Member Apt briefly discussed the governance and Charter changes issues. He mentioned that he appreciated all of the work that was done by the Board on these issues and thanked Board Member Rutstein for her additional role on the Charter Review Committee. He also mentioned that Council supports the charter language allowing them to create an independent board at some point in the future and that these changes will be included on the upcoming ballot. He encouraged Board Members to continue efforts to inform Council about deregulation, etc., through periodic summaries and another work session, if needed. He also encouraged the current Board to start tackling some of the substantive issues that have been identified. Council Member Apt discussed communication with Council. He believes this communication should be a two-way street. Generally, if Council gets involved with an issue that pertains to the electric utility or electric industry, they will ask Rich to forward the issue to the Board for review and feedback. If the Board is dealing with an issue and feels that a Resolution or Ordinance is appropriate, they should let Council know. An item can be placed on Council's agenda at any time and would go through the usual process including a work session, etc. If the issue is time sensitive, Council Member Apt encouraged Board Members to give him a call to let him know about it, and to determine the next step. In addition to meeting minutes, Council Member Apt suggested that forwarding a two page summary to Council on a periodic basis might also help keep Council informed on the issues that the Board is dealing with. Periodic conversations with the Board Chair might also be beneficial. Council Member Apt had reviewed the Board's 1997 Work Plan and thought it looked like another ambitious year. He encouraged the Board Chair to call a couple of other Council Members and do a quick survey to see if they have any questions or changes regarding the Board's Work Plan, if they agree with the way the items have been prioritized, etc. This could also be done by staff through electronic mail. Board Members discussed scheduling a dedicated work session with Council sometime after the election to revisit deregulation issues. It was suggested that Dr. Curt Cramer be invited to give Council an overview on these issues and to talk about related business -5- strategies. Chairperson Fidrych highly recommended this. Board Member Smart agreed. Staff will make necessary preparations. Council Member Apt suggested that it might be time for a celebration with Council on the Wind Project success. He suggested having an open house. Rich mentioned that staff intends to go to Council in January or February with a Resolution for the formal endorsement of the wind program. Platte River's Board will be voting in February. Once this is done, staff will make arrangements for a celebration. Board Member Loomans shared information on the possibility of a tour to a site in Medicine Bow to see a wind generator in operation. If Board Members or Council are interested, he will make arrangements. There will also be another trip to NREL in Durango in the near future. Staff will invite Council Members to this once a date has been established. Board Members thanked Council Member Apt for taking the time to attend the meeting and for his support and interest in utility issues. 2. Visit with Hazel O'Leary: Thaine Michie from Platte River Power Authority visited with Hazel O'Leary, U.S. Secretary of Energy. Thaine's observations from her comments were that: 1) There would be a push to end tax -exemption for public power agencies. 2) Renewable energy will be required in future legislation. 3) There will be Federal legislation on deregulation within 2 years. 4) DOE was holding pretty strong that WAPA would not be sold. 7. Agenda: January: 1996 Annual Report Update on Community Outreach Efforts on Deregulation Update on Sierra Club Lawsuit (Len) Marketing Research Update Green Resource Update M1 Future: PRPA distributed generation Net metering PRPA IRP plan League of Women Voters Cross Current Program (State legislation) Discussion with Telecommunications Board Adjournment: The meeting adjourned at 7:30 p.m. l o_. Delyn� Coldiron, Secretary -7-