Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutElectric Board - Minutes - 02/04/2009Fort Collins Utilities Electric Board Minutes Regular Meeting Wednesday, February 4, 2009 ** MINUTES AS AMENDED BY ELECTRIC BOARD AT THE 4/1/09 REGULAR MEETING** Electric Board Chairperson City Council Liaison John Morris, 377-8221 Wade Troxell, 219-8940 Electric Board Vice Chairperson Staff Liaison Steve Yurash, 226-4248 Robin Pierce, 221-6702 Roll Call Board Present Chairperson John Morris, Vice Chairperson Dan Bihn, Board Members Tom Barnish, John Harris, Steven Wolley, and Steve Yurash Board Absent Board Member John Graham Staff Present Kraig Bader, Ellen Switzer, Robin Pierce, Meagan Peil, Steve Catanach, Brian Janonis, Terri Bryant, Tom Rock, Wayne Sterler, Carrie Daggett, Jenny Lopez-Filkins, and Patty Bigner; Council Liaison Wade Troxell Guests Eric Sutherland Meeting Convened Chairperson Morris called the meeting to order at 5:36 p.m. Approval of January 7, 2009, Regular Meeting Minutes Board Member Bihn motioned to approve the minutes from the January 7, 2009, meeting. Board Member Harris seconded the motion, and it passed unanimously. Approval of January 20, 2009, Special Meeting Minutes Board Member Bihn motioned to approve the minutes from the January 20, 2009, meeting. Board Member Harris seconded the motion, and it passed unanimously. Public Comment Eric Sutherland commented that he asked the question of the Board, "Have you read the PRPA contract?" at the January 20, 2009, special meeting of the Electric Board. Mr. Sutherland would like this reflected for the record and added to the minutes of that meeting. Mr. Sutherland indicated he doesn't understand the public comment period in which he was told that he could make comments but could not ask the Board questions. He added it is the public's time and should be treated as such. Electric Board Meeting Minutes February 4, 2009 Approval of Board Bylaws and 2009 Meeting Schedule Assistant City Attorney Jenny Lopez-Filkins presented the draft bylaws to board members for feedback in January. One question arose regarding teleconferencing. It would be in the best interest of the Electric Board if the members could be present, and at this time, the teleconference option is not considered attendance at a meeting. Section 4, Article 4 states four board members must be present to be considered a quorum, and attendance is required unless prior notice is given. Board Member Wolley motioned to accept the new Electric Board Bylaws. Vice Chairperson Bihn seconded the motion. The vote was unanimous, and the motion passed. The new bylaws will be posted online at the City's web site (fcgov.com) by the City Clerk's office. Staff Liaison Robin Pierce presented a draft of the 2009 meeting schedule for the Board's approval. A motion was made to approve the 2009 meeting schedule by Board Member Wolley. Board Member Harris seconded the motion. The vote was unanimous, and the motion passed. Election of Officers Nominations for Chairperson: John Morris Vote from the Electric Board: Unanimous John Morris was elected to again serve as the Chairperson of the Electric Board. Nominations for Vice Chairperson: Steve Yurash Vote from the Electric Board: Unanimous Steve Yurash was elected to serve as Vice Chairperson of the Electric Board. Budgeting for Outcomes (BFO) 101 Utilities Finance and Budget Manager Terri Bryant presented an introduction to Budgeting for Outcomes for the 2010-2011 budget cycles. City Council has asked that all boards are included in the BFO process; therefore, Utilities staff will seek your input on key criteria for the process at specific milestones as directed by the City Finance Director. Ms. Bryant referred to a sample of the Light and Power offers for 2009. Ellen Switzer, Utilities Financial Operations Manager, who is responsible for the Light and Power budget, was introduced and will be part of the routine BFO discussions at these meetings. The idea behind Budgeting For Outcomes is to base budgeting on outcomes as determined by Council. After Council determines the outcomes, results teams for the various offers are established, and the teams map the results desired for each outcome with specific supporting strategies. The strategies provide the guidelines for funding offers. For example, Light and Power has an energy services offer in the Safe Community result. The selling process takes place when the departments put together offers. Results teams look at what we can derive from the funding, and then offers are rated and ranked, based on community needs. The budget lead team looks at the offers, and Council ranks them. Electric Board Meeting Minutes 2 February 4, 2009 We have been asked to increase board involvement throughout the funding process and to provide more feedback from the boards to Council. At the next meeting in March, there will be two questions asked of the Electric Board for response to Council by March 27: ■ Do the seven Outcome/Result areas still make sense as the priority areas through which to organize the BFO process or do they need to be modified? ■ Do the existing results statements adequately reflect the community's needs? Initial discussion in response to these questions included: Would the need for sufficient electricityfit better in Economic Health than Safe Community? How many times is the budgeting cycle done? Where is routine maintenance reflected? Board Member Yurash made a motion to recommend to Council that Light and Power adopt an outcome called Economic Health. Discussion on the motion: The Electric Board is to look at outcomes and recommend where our supporting initiatives fit. Categories are determined from the overall available budget, and funds are split depending on how the best community benefit may be derived. Council determined seven results several budgeting cycles prior. Council put the money for light and power in Safe Community, so the light and power offer was made from that category. Light and Power will have multiple proposals throughout the BFO process. Board Member Yurash would like to continue with the motion. The point of the motion is to start the discussion with Council and to find out more decisions from them. The Electric Board disagrees with the motion at this time and feels it is premature, because further discussion is needed on additional results. The Board will have an opportunity to provide in-depth feedback when the Request For Results documents (RFRs) are produced, likely in May. Is the fared bucket of money fi-om rates or revenue? It is a combination of both. Council has given us new goals, set the rates and is expecting the revenue. Board Member Yurash withdrew the motion. In conclusion, Ms. Bryant noted the documents are on fcgov.com under the heading Departments/Budgets. Electric Utilities Employee Safety Manual Electric Distribution Safety and Training Supervisor Wayne Sterler and Electric Standards Engineering Manager Kraig Bader presented the Electric Utilities Employee Safety Manual to the Board for approval and adoption. Adoption of the manual by a Electric Board Meeting Minutes 3 February 4, 2009 governing body is part of the American Public Power Association's RP3 certification awarded to the City of Fort Collins Light and Power Utility. This manual is a result of a significant update to the existing manual that occurred over the last two years. Multiple individuals contributed to the manual including representatives from electric distribution, line crews and engineering. The manual was written in the context of an undergrounded system; Fort Collins is currently a 99.8% undergrounded system. Risk Management was also asked to review the manual, and noted the manual goes above and beyond safety standards. Safety is the first priority for our crews. We compare ourselves annually with safety statistics from other light and power utilities. The only acceptable goal is no accidents. Discussion: Are our line crews trained on overhead lines, since the Fort Collins system is primarily undergrounded? Training is provided in-house, and we also do cross training with Estes Park on their overhead system. Our linemen must be overhead line certified. They are kept up to date and also sent to Grand Junction to the Mesa Hot Line School. There can be large flashes in confined spaces with our undergrounded system, and personal safety precautions for these scenarios are included in the manual. The manual has an emphasis on all types of scenarios including confined spaces training and hazardous situations. How is the manual changing for the generation of electricity from citizens? The manual will be adjusted as we go along to address safety as it relates to citizen generation. Do you require them to wear boots that electricians wear? We do purchase safety toe boots for our employees. The term safety toe in the manual refers to industry standard for protecting the feet. Will this manual be on the trucks for employees? The goal is to have each lineman have a copy of the safety manual. The manual will be used primarily in the office area, but a goal is to have this available soon on each laptop in trucks. Every morning, each job is mapped out with safety as the primary concern. Every person knows it will be documented; our documentation goes back 15 years. The Electric Board requested to see the safety record. Our safety record is second to none. Board Member Yurash expressed concern with the process around furnishing the manual to line workers and the approach to the presentation. He would like to see the manual itself before being asked to approve it. Electric Board Meeting Minutes 4 February 4, 2009 The Board decided to delay approval to the March meeting, so the safety manual can be read by the members before voting. If there are any questions, please feel free to contact Light and Power Operations Manager Steve Catanach. Routine Updates PRPA: Board Member Bihn - No report. Capital News: Board Member Wolley - No report. Other Business Staff Liaison Robin Pierce and Mr. Catanach worked together on developing a manual for Electric Board members containing sections of the City Charter and Code pertaining to the electric utility, as well as key policies and documents for your reference. The manual is a work in progress. If you'd like to see something else included in it, please send your suggestions in, and the manuals will be updated as needed. FortZED is a DOE (Department of Energy) project. For those who are familiar with the zero energy district concept, the ultimate goal is to have energy consumed that is produced by renewable energy sources. The City of Fort Collins, Colorado State University and others have prepared a proposal to the Governors Energy Office for this project to be part of the federal stimulus package. The Board will be notified if the public document is available for viewing. Future Agenda Items Budgeting for Outcomes Adoption of the Safety Manual Strategic Implementation of the Energy Policy AMI (Automated Metering Infrastructure) Cost Benefit Analysis Adiournment The meeting was adjourned at 7:26 p.m. following a motion from Board Member Yurash. Submitted by Meagan Peil, Electric Board Secretary Fort Collins Utilities Approved by the Board on / 52009 Signed eag n Peil Date Electric Board Meeting Minutes 5 February 4, 2009