Meeting of Commissioners of
Public Utility District No. 1 of Clark County, Washington
April 2, 2019
A meeting of Commissioners of Public Utility District No. 1 of Clark County was held at the Electric Center, 1200 Fort Vancouver Way, Vancouver, Washington, on Tuesday, April 2, 2019.
Present: President Nancy Barnes, Vice President Jane Van Dyke, Secretary Jim Malinowski Commissioners, CEO/General Manager Wayne Nelson, Director of Communications and Employee Resources Lena Wittler, Director of Finance Melissa Ankeny, Director of Water Doug Quinn, Director of Operations Gene Morris, Director of Information Services Mike Harris, Director of Energy Resources Dan Bedbury, Director of Customer Service Lisa Fix, Corporate Communications Manager Erica Erland, Materials and Purchasing Manager Cathy Wannamaker, Manager of Energy Planning and Operations Tom Haymaker, Manager of Engineering & System Planning Ryan Kerr, Manager of Energy Services Debbie DePetris, Accounting Manager Bryan Johnson, Executive Assistant ofEngineering Anna Bickford, IT Lead System Engineer June Olson, Program Coordinator Cameron Daline, Program Coordinator Brittany Thomas, and Assistant to CEO/General Manager Margaret Anderson.
Press Representatives: None
Others Present: Pat Freiberg, Jim Windus, Dana Calvin-Service First, Shawn Suhrstedd-Service First (Materials A)
At 9:00 a.m., President Barnes called the meeting to order for the transaction of formal business. Commissioner Barnes noted a quorum was present and the agenda (Materials B) was approved as submitted.
Consideration of the Minutes of March 19, 2019
There were no changes or corrections.
Public Comment – Non Agenda Items
There were no comments.
Consideration of Accounts Payable
The board, by a unanimous vote, approved the following payment amounts as listed on the Letter of Transmittal dated March 28, from the District Auditor (Materials C):
Electric Revenue Fund – $18,666,500.78
Water Revenue Fund – $334,598.57
Generating System Fund – $243,208.91
For a total of $19,244,308.26
Consideration of Resolutions of Establishment of LUD Nos. 1353 and 1355
Executive Assistant of Engineering Anna Bickford addressed the board regarding the Establishment of Local Utility District Nos. 1353 and 1355.
Resolution No. 7533 – LUD No. 1353 – Pinnacle Cluster
Resolution No. 7534 – LUD No. 1355 – Austin Heritage PUD PH 1A
After the presentation by Ms. Bickford, Commissioner Barnes opened for public comment. There being no comment, a motion was made by Commissioner Van Dyke, seconded by Commissioner Malinowski, and unanimously carried that Resolution Nos. 7533 and 7534 be adopted (Materials D).
Consideration of Resolutions of Intent to Establish LUD Nos. 1354, 1362, and 1363
Executive Assistant of Engineering Anna Bickford addressed the board regarding the Intent to Establish Local Utility District Nos. 1354, 1362 and 1363.
Resolution No. 7530 – LUD No. 1354 – NE 117th Avenue Mixed Use PH 1
Resolution No. 7531 – LUD No. 1362 – 94th Avenue Short Plat
Resolution No. 7532 – LUD No. 1363 – Goshawk Hollow
After the presentation by Ms. Bickford, Commissioner Barnes opened the public hearing for comment. There being no comment, a motion was made by Commissioner Van Dyke, seconded by Commissioner Malinowski and unanimously carried that Resolution Nos. 7530 through 7532 be adopted and a public hearing was set for May 7, 2019 (Materials E).
Consideration of Bid Award No. 561 – Outdoor Metal-Clad Switchgear
Materials and Purchasing Manager Cathy Wannamaker reviewed the memo dated April 2, 2019, detailing the bid results (Materials F). Commissioner Malinowski moved to recommend that Bid No. 561 be awarded to the low evaluated bidder, Crown Technical Systems, Inc. in the amount of $1,618,763.58 plus applicable taxes. Commissioner Van Dyke seconded the motion, and it passed unanimously.
Consideration of Bid Award No. 572 – Line Clearance Hockinson #1, #2 and #4
Materials and Purchasing Manager Cathy Wannamaker reviewed the memo dated April 2, 2019, detailing the bid results (Materials G). Commissioner Van Dyke moved to recommend that Bid No. 572 be awarded to the low evaluated bidder Kemp West, Inc., in the amount of $235,850.00 plus applicable taxes. Commissioner Malinowski seconded the motion, and it passed unanimously.
Limited Income Thermostat Program Update
Program Coordinators Cameron Daline and Brittany Thomas provided the board with an update on the Limited Income Thermostat Program (Materials H). Line voltage thermostat replacements in multi-family complexes managed by the Vancouver Housing Authority are currently underway as are individual installations of Nest smart thermostats in single-family and manufactured homes. All participants also receive up to ten LED bulbs, which the contractors replace during the visit. Work continues to qualify additional customers based on household income and heating type, and currently the team is working with Communications to develop an online eligibility form, expected to be available this month.
Installation contractor Shawn Suhrstedd with Service First Heating and Cooling was on hand to share with the board their installation process and the interactions they are having with customers. He stated that customers are thankful for the thermostat and the LED bulbs that are being installed.
February Financials
Director of Finance Melissa Ankeny addressed the board (Materials I). February had cooler and wetter weather resulting in electric revenues coming in above forecast. Ms. Ankeny reported that both system sales and off system sales were above budget for the month. February residential sales were 121.8% of budget, commercial sales were 106.4% and industrial sales were 100.6% of budget. February ended with net income of $6.8 million compared to a budgeted net income of $3.3 million. Year-to-date net income is $4.3 million ahead of budget.
The Water System ended February with 162 new customers, which is a growth rate of 2.7%. There was a net income loss of $220,000 for February, compared to a budgeted net income loss of $477,000.
February Wholesale Operations
Manager of Planning and Operations Tom Haymaker addressed the board (Materials J). Mr. Haymaker updated the board on power supply noting that Slice performed above prompt month by 15 aMW but 2 aMW below budget forecasts. Loads were 88 aMW above budget for the month of February. February loads proved to be the highest average on record at 692 aMW in combination with the lowest average Combine Hills wind generation at 8.34 aMW. Power and gas prices were starting to show some volatility. Mr. Haymaker provided an update on the impacts of the Enbridge Natural Gas pipeline rupture to power supply costs.
Run-off forecast is continuing a downward trend and hydro generation is forecasted at budget for the remainder of the year.
River Road Generating Plant returned to service on March 13.
Commissioner Reports and Comments
Commissioner Malinowski reported on his attendance at the Energy Northwest meetings.
Commissioner Van Dyke reported on her attendance at the Leadership Live presentation on Tableau Dashboards and expressed support for staff efforts to integrate this type of data visualization in future reports to the board.
Staff Reports
Director of Information Services Mike Harris provided the board with an update on our recent Cyber Security testing and shared coming updates to password strategy and internal system security. Mr. Harris ended the presentation with a preview of a video created to introduce the new guidelines to our employees.
CEO/General Manager Wayne Nelson reported that the bill credit of $10 million that was approved by the commission started showing in bills that are being mailed out today.
CEO/General Manager Wayne Nelson provided a legislative update on Senate Bill 5116 as it relates to Clark Public Utilities. Mr. Nelson also asked the board to provide staff with guidance regarding the cost cap percentage and I-937 expense layering.
Public Comment
There were no additional comments.
The board recessed to executive session at 12:00 p.m. in accordance with the Open Public Meeting Act, RCW 42.30.110 (1)(g) – to evaluate the qualifications of an applicant for public employment or to review the performance of a public employee. It was noted that no action would be taken and the session would last until 1:30 p.m.
Commissioner Barnes reconvened the public meeting at 1:39 p.m. stating that no action was taken during executive session.
Other Business before the Board
There being no further business to come before the Board, the meeting adjourned at 1:39 p.m.