Meeting of Commissioners of
Public Utility District No. 1 of Clark County, Washington
August 15, 2017
A meeting of Commissioners of Public Utility District No. 1 of Clark County was held in the Electric Center, 1200 Fort Vancouver Way, Vancouver, Washington, on Tuesday, the 15th day of August at the hour of 9:00 a.m.
Present: President Jane Van Dyke, Vice President Jim Malinowski, Secretary Nancy Barnes Commissioners, CEO/General Manager Wayne Nelson, Director of Finance Rick Dyer, Director of Operations Dan Krebs, Director of Water Doug Quinn, Director of Customer Service Lisa Fix, Director of Engineering Cal Morris, Director of Energy Resources Dan Bedbury, Corporate Communications Manager Erica Erland, Manager of Energy Planning and Operations Tom Haymaker, Key Accounts Manager Bart Hansen, Energy Services Project Manager Matt Babbitts, Marketing Communications Coordinator Maxie Lofton and Assistant to CEO/General Manager Margaret Anderson.
Press Representatives: Dameon Pasanti – Columbian staff writer
Others Present: Carl Lepper – J.D. Power, Dan Tracy – Premier Solar, Jordan Weisman – Sunbridge Solar, Dan Brunty (Materials A)
At 9:00 a.m., President Van Dyke called the meeting to order for the transaction of formal business.
Consideration of the Meeting Agenda
There were no changes or corrections (Materials B).
Public Comment on Non Agenda Items
There were no comments.
Consideration of the Minutes of August 1, 2017
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 August 15, 2017, from the District Auditor:
Electric Revenue Fund – $4,953,562.87
Water Revenue Fund – $197,845.52
Generating System Fund – $296,552.49
For a total of $5,447,969.88
August Service Award Presentation
Director of Water Doug Quinn introduced Oscar Maciel, Water Operations Manager. Oscar was recognized for 25 years of service.
Director of Information Services Mike Harris introduced Matt Hieter, Desktop Support. Matt was recognized for 25 years of service with the utility (Materials C).
J.D. Power Presentation
Carl Lepper, J.D. Power Industry Analyst addressed the board (Materials D). Mr. Lepper gave an overview of the categories included in the 2017 Electric Utility Residential Customer Satisfaction Study and discussed where Clark Public Utilities ranked in each of those categories both in the West and nationally. He congratulated the utility on having some of the top scores in the industry and the rebound in corporate citizenship, second in the country.
Mr. Lepper noted that Clark Public Utilities still has some opportunities in the outage communication area but despite those opportunities, Clark was again named the utility highest in customer satisfaction among mid-size utilities in the West, for the tenth year in a row.
Consideration of Engrossed Substitute Senate Bill 5939 and Net Metering
Energy Services Project Manager Matt Babbitts and Key Accounts Manager Bart Hansen addressed the board (Materials E). Mr. Babbitts and Mr. Hansen provided a detailed overview of the key aspects of ESSB 5939, its impacts on existing and future distributed generation customers, the impacts to current and future community solar projects and the potential effects to net metering governance. Of note, the incentives for the new program are reduced for new solar installations, but the program does raise the threshold for available state funds and provides some cost recovery up to 50 percent of system cost. The new state incentive program begins October 1, 2017; utilities across the state are required to notify Washington State University Energy Program if they plan to participate in the new program by September 8, 2017.
Staff requested that the board, 1) Release the utility’s current hold on new renewable energy system registrations for the Renewable Energy Cost-Recovery Program, 2) Authorize the sale of the remaining units in the utility’s Community Solar Program at $75 per solar unit, 3) Authorize the utility’s participation in the new Washington State Production Incentive Program, and 4) Increase the energy capacity limit on the utility’s Net Metering Program to one percent.
Commissioner Malinowski moved to approve staff’s recommendation as stated and, after further discussion and input from staff and members of the public, Commissioner Barnes seconded the motion and it passed unanimously.
July Financials
Director of Finance Rick Dyer addressed the board (Materials F). July had warmer and drier weather resulting in electric revenue above forecast. Mr. Dyer reported that both system sales and off system sales were above budget for the month. July residential sales were 108.1% of budget, commercial sales were 99.7% and industrial sales were 102.6% of budget. July ended with $341,000 in net income, compared to a budgeted loss of $1.8 million.
The Water System has added 595 new customers year-to-date, resulting in a growth rate of nearly 3%. The net income was $685,000 ahead of budget for the month of July, ending with a net revenue of $973,000 against a budgeted net income of $288,000. To date, the Water System is showing an annual net income of $1.55 million compared to a budget net loss of $549,000.
July Wholesale Operations
Manager of Energy Planning and Operations Tom Haymaker addressed the board (Materials G). Mr. Haymaker updated the board on power supply, noting that Slice performed below prompt month and but above budget forecasts. Loads continued to remain above budget for the month of July, for the eighth month in a row. Power prices in July were volatile due to high temperatures, a new summer peak load was set in early August.
River Road Generating Plant went back on line July 7 due to economics. This an all over cost savings for the time that RRGP was down for economic purposes was $773,000.
Mr. Haymaker provided a high-level overview of the impact of the Bonneville Power Administration rate increase to Clark and the utilities across the state.
Commissioner Reports and Comments
Commissioners Barnes and Van Dyke reported on their attendance at the Public Power Council meetings.
Commissioner Malinowski reported on his attendance at the Energy Northwest meetings.
Staff Reports
CEO/General Manager Wayne Nelson reported that 13 members of the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) staff are on site conducting an audit. The audit should be completed this week.
Other Business before the Board
There being no further business before the Board the meeting was adjourned at 12:05 p.m.