Meeting of Commissioners of
Public Utility District No. 1 of Clark County, Washington
August 4, 2020

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, August 4, 2020.

Present: President Jane Van Dyke, Secretary Nancy Barnes Commissioners, CEO/General Manager Lena Wittler and Assistant to CEO/General Manager Margaret Anderson.

Present via digital conference (phone or video): Vice President Jim Malinowski, Director of Finance Melissa Ankeny, Director of Energy Resources Dan Bedbury, Director of Information Services Mike Harris, Director of Engineering Cal Morris, Director of Operations, Director of Water Doug Quinn, Director of Communications Erica Erland, Director of Employee Resources Nichole Reitzenstein, Director of Customer Service Lisa Fix, Manager of Energy Planning and Operations Tom Haymaker, General Counsel John Eldridge, Customer Experience Manager Cameron Daline and Media Specialist Dameon Pesanti.

Press representatives: None

Others present via digital conference (phone or video): Randal Friedman, Don Steinke, Alona Steinke, Tracy Ceravolo, Eleanor Bastin and Rick Marshall

At 9:00 a.m., President Van Dyke called the meeting to order for the transaction of formal business. Commissioner Van Dyke noted a quorum was present and the agenda (Materials A) was approved.

Consideration of the Minutes of July 21, 2020
There were no changes.

Public Comment

Member of the public Don Steinke provided his thoughts on Clark Public Utilities needing to devote more staff to conservation, renewables, planning for smart charging and distribution upgrades. He also shared concern for the use of natural gas, and the self-monitoring of methane leaks.

Member of the public Alona Steinke provided comment regarding methane emissions and fossil fuel restrictions.

Member of the public Tracy Ceravolo provided comments regarding the use of electric vehicles and solar project to reduce the use of natural gas.

Member of the public Randy Freidman provided comments on Clark Public Utilities Integrated Resource Plan and concerns regarding integration of public input in the finalized plan.

Member of the public Rick Marshall provided his thoughts on the use of more local renewable energy for resiliency, the effect of the recent unexpected shut down of the River Road Generating Plant and noted that he would like to see commission meeting minutes, materials and written public comments available on our website.

Consideration of Accounts Payable
The board, by a unanimous vote, approved the following payment amounts as listed on the Letter of Transmittal dated August 4, 2020 from the District Auditor (Materials B):

Electric Revenue Fund – $13,636,062.68
Water Revenue Fund – $521,046.66
Generating System Fund – $490,235.01

For a total of $14,647,344.35

Consideration of Emergency Community Response Extension
CEO/General Manager Lena Wittler reviewed the memo dated August 4, 2020 (Materials C) requesting board approval to extend the temporary guidelines for the Operation Warm Heart, Senior Rate Credit and Guarantee of Service programs through October 15, 2020.

Commissioner Barnes moved to extend the Emergency Community Response measures under the Operation Warm Heart, Senior Rate Credit and Guarantee of Service programs through October 15, 2020. Commissioner Malinowski seconded the motion and it passed unanimously.

Consideration of Integrated Resource Plan
Manager of Energy Planning and Operations Tom Haymaker addressed the board regarding the Integrated Resource Plan (Materials D). Mr. Haymaker noted that there were no significant changes from the posted 2020 draft and thanked the public for their feedback and asked the board to adopt and approve the final plan as presented. Commissioner Barnes moved to adopt the final Integrated Resource Plan that was delivered to the board on July 24, 2020 via email for submission to the state of Washington as a means of compliance for 19.280 RCW by September 1, 2020. Commissioner Malinowski seconded the motion and it pass unanimously.

Mr. Haymaker went on the review a few next steps that include River Road Generating Plant flexibility, Bonneville Power Administration post-2028 contract, new solar programs, electric vehicle program development and Clean Energy Transformation Act Rulemaking.

Consideration of Electric System Revenue and Generating System Refunding Bond Sale
Director of Finance Melissa Ankeny provided the board with an overview of the upcoming Electric System Revenue and Generating System Refunding Bond sale (Materials E). Following the review, Ms. Ankeny asked the board to adopt Resolutions 7605 and 7606 authorizing the sale of the bonds and delegating authority to the General Manager and Director of Finance/Treasurer to sign the bond purchase agreement.

Commissioner Barnes moved to approve Resolution 7605 authorizing the sale of bonds for the Electric System Revenue and delegating authority to the General Manager and Director of Finance/Treasurer to sign the bond purchase agreement. Commissioner Malinowski seconded the motion and it passed unanimously.

Commissioner Malinowski moved to approve Resolution 7606 authorizing the sale of bonds for the Generating System Refunding and delegating authority to the General Manager and Director of Finance/Treasurer to sign the bond purchase agreement. Commissioner Barnes seconded the motion and it passed unanimously.

June Financials
Director of Finance Melissa Ankeny addressed the board (Materials F). June was warmer and wetter than normal which resulted in electric revenues above budget and off system sales below budget. June residential sales were 109.7% of budget, commercial sales were 86.3% and industrial sales were 94.2% of budget. June ended with a net income loss of $196,000 compared to a budgeted net income loss of $1.9 million. Year-to-date net income is $18.7 million compared to a budgeted net income of $13 million.

Ms. Ankeny provided a year-to-date update on the utility’s conservation and electric system capital spending.

The Water System ended June with 436 new customers year-to-date, which is a growth rate of 2.34%. There was a net income loss of $11,000 for June, compared to a budgeted net income of $37,000. Year-to-date net income loss is $621,000 compared to a budgeted net income loss of $969,000.

June Wholesale Operations
Manager of 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 by 18 aMW and above budget forecasts by 40 aMW. The utility’s monthly load was 5 aMW below budget. Power and gas prices were soft all month with many negative pricing days.

Mr. Haymaker provided a summary of the River Road Generating Plant return to load process; he thanked Energy Resource Manager Terry Toland and the GE team for all their hard work.

2020 First Half Customer Research
Customer Experience Manager Cameron Daline presented the customer research findings for the first half of the year (Materials H). Noting that across the board our customers continue to give us high ratings. In our quarterly survey, they gave us high marks for the first quarter of this year, and then even higher ones for the second quarter of the year.

Commissioner Reports and Comments
Commissioner Van Dyke reported on her attendance at the America Public Power Association Meeting and she thanked CEO/General Manager Lena Wittler for working with the County Auditor’s Office to install a ballot drop box at our Operations facility.

Commissioner Malinowski reported on his attendance at the Energy Northwest Board of Directors and Executive Board meetings.

Staff Reports
There were no staff reports.

Public Comment
There were no public comments.

Other Business before the Board
There being no further business to come before the Board, the meeting was adjourned at 11:10 a.m.