A meeting of Commissioners of Public Utility District No. 1 of Clark County was held in the District offices, 1200 Fort Vancouver Way, Vancouver, Washington, on Tuesday, the 26th day of April at the hour of 9:00 a.m.
Present: President Nancy Barnes, Vice President Jane Van Dyke, Secretary Jim Malinowski, Commissioners; CEO/General Manager Wayne Nelson, Director of Finance Rick Dyer, Director of Water Doug Quinn, Director of Engineering Cal Morris, Director of Operations Dan Krebs, Director of Information Services Mike Harris, Director of Communications Lena Wittler, Director of Energy Resources Dan Bedbury, Manager of Energy Planning and Operations Tom Haymaker, Corporate Communications Manager Erica Erland, Communications Coordinator Martha Foley, Senior Legal Counsel John Eldridge and Assistant to CEO/General Manager Margaret Anderson.
Press Representatives: None
Others Present: Mike Lyons, Doug Moody-Wafer Tech, Robert Schaefer-SEH America and Jim Short-Linear Technology (Materials A)
The order of business recorded below reflects the published agenda (Materials B)
At 9:00 a.m., President Barnes called the meeting to order for the transaction of formal business.
Consideration of the Minutes of April 12, 2016
There were no changes or corrections.
Consideration of Accounts Payable
The Board, by a unanimous vote, approved the following payment amounts as listed on the Letter of Transmittal dated April 26, 2016 from the District Auditor:
Electric Revenue Fund – $21,120,761.91
Water Revenue Fund – $420,184.78
Generating System Fund – $289,193.90
For a total of $21,830,140.56
Consideration of Resolution Regarding Initiative 732
Commissioners discussed a revised resolution in opposition to Initiative 732 related to a tax on carbon (Materials C). The resolution outlines potential negative impacts to customers of Clark Public Utilities, including increased rates and diminished economic development opportunity should the Initiative pass.
Commissioners thought it was important to inform the customers of Clark Public Utilities about the potential impacts of the Initiative if passed, and considered a resolution in opposition of the Initiative was the best way to accomplish that.
Commissioner Barnes opened the meeting for public comment; Mr. Lyons asked what the actual financial impact would be to the utility. CEO/General Manager Wayne Nelson said it would lead to a 15-17% tax increase for the utility that would ultimately affect rates.
Commissioner Van Dyke moved to approve the resolution opposing Initiative 732 (Carbon Pollution Tax Act) as revised during the meeting today. Commissioner Malinowski seconded the motion and it passed unanimously.
Robert Schaefer representing SEH America thanked the utility for passing the resolution opposing the Initiative.
Consideration of Personnel Policy Manual Updates
Senior Legal Counsel John Eldridge reviewed the memo dated April 26, 2016, outlining the proposed updates to the personnel policy manual (Materials D).
The updates are minor and are limited to legal issues regarding public records and a clarification on our employee separation plan. (This is in response to a request from the State Auditor’s Office.)
After a brief discussion Commissioner Van Dyke moved to adopt the updates to the personnel policy manual as presented, Commissioner Malinowski seconded the motion and it passed unanimously.
March Financials
Director of Finance Rick Dyer addressed the board (Materials E). March had warmer and wetter weather on average. System sales were below budget, and off system sales were above budget. March residential sales were 94.1% of budget; commercial sales 100.6% of budget and industrial sales were 107.4% of budget.
For the month of March, the Electric System showed a net income of $2.3 million compared to a budgeted net income of $1.6 million. Residential customer growth for March was 1.89%. Mr. Dyer provided an update on conservation spending to date, noting that a large project coming in later in the year is expected to take up the bulk of the funds.
The Water System has added 186 new customers year to date resulting in a growth rate of 2.25%. There was a net income loss in March of $27,000 against a budgeted net income loss of $182,000.
March Wholesale Operations
Manager of Energy Planning and Operations Tom Haymaker addressed the board (Materials F). Slice performed above both prompt month forecast and budget forecast. Loads performed below budgeted forecast due to mild temperatures, prices were fairly flat through the month.
River Road Generating Plant was taken offline on March 10 for economic displacement and prep work has begun for scheduled maintenance. The plant should be available June 1; economics are trending toward running it in the month of June.
Commissioner Reports and Comments
Commissioners Malinowski and Van Dyke reported on their attendance at Washington PUD Association meetings earlier in the month.
Staff Reports
Director of Communications Lena Wittler took a moment to thank Corporate Communications Manager Erica Erland and Communications Coordinator Martha Foley for their tireless work on the new public website. Ms. Erland showed the board a video tour of the site and highlighted improvements with a brief website demonstration. The board thanked staff for the work on the website.
Other Business before the Board
There being no further business before the Board, the meeting was adjourned at 10:53 a.m.