Meeting of Commissioners of
Public Utility District No. 1 of Clark County, Washington
December 2, 2025
A meeting of the Commissioners of Public Utility District No. 1 of Clark County was held at 1200 Fort Vancouver Way on Tuesday, December 2, 2025.
Present: President Nancy Barnes, Vice President Jane Van Dyke, Secretary Sherry Erickson Commissioners; CEO/General Manager Lena Wittler, Director of Finance Melissa Ankeny, Director of Engineering Cal Morris, Director of Employee Resources Nichole Reitzenstein, Director of Energy Resources Steve Andersen, Director of Information Services Jeff Groff, Director of Operations/Interim Director of Water Gene Morris, Director of Communications and Corporate Citizenship Erica Erland, General Counsel John Eldridge, Energy Services Manager Debbie DePetris, Strategic Communications Manager Morgan Van Fleet, Corporate Communications Manager Dameon Pesanti, Security Supervisor Steve O’Neal, Accounting Manager Jackie Maddux, Construction Services Manager Dana Allen, Customer Service Manager Chiharu Russell, and Assistant to CEO/General Manager Margaret Anderson.
Staff present via digital conference (phone or video): Director of Customer Service Lisa Fix.
Others present in person or via digital conference (phone or video): Jim Malinowski, Cathryn Chudy, Rick Marshall, Tom/Diane Gordon, Allison Kinney, Julie Balas, Peter Pressman, Mark Leed, Carol Matthews, Columbia Springs, Tm D., Daphne Hughes, Art Unger, Jeff Combe, Kristine Jacobs, Tony Romanji and Gordan Matthews.
Members of the press: Sarah Wolfe, The Columbian
At 9:00 a.m., President Barnes called the meeting to order for the transaction of formal business, and the agenda was approved as presented (Materials B).
Public Comment
Rick Marshall praised a line crew that relocated an overhead line to underground as professional and courteous as well as getting the work done a week early.
Consideration of the Minutes of November 18, 2025
The minutes were approved as submitted.
Consideration of Accounts Payable
The board, by unanimous vote, approved the following payment amounts as listed on the Letter of Transmittal dated December 2, 2025, from the District Auditor (Materials C):
Electric Revenue Fund – $21, 917,884.23
Water Revenue Fund – $343,783.86
Generating System Fund – $340,483.49
For a total of $22,602,151.58
Consideration of Resolutions to Approve the 2026 Electric, Generating and Water Budgets
Director of Finance Melissa Ankeny provided the board with an overview of the proposed 2026 budgets for the Electric, Generating and Water Systems (Materials D), and reviewed the staff recommended use of the low income tax credit and the use of Climate Commitment Act Limited Income Assistance Fund/Regulatory Revenue.
Commissioner Barnes opened the public hearing for comments, hearing no comments Commissioner Barnes closed the public hearing.
Commissioner Barnes shared concerns regarding budgeted funds for the Vancouver Trout Hatchery and the Salmon in the Classroom program, administered by Columbia Springs. Following discussion the board agreed to continue the funding in 2026 and asked staff to work with the Executive Director at Columbia Springs to obtain consistent financial data and improved Salmon in the Classroom program outlines and updates. CEO/General Manager Lena Wittler suggested a workshop with Columbia Springs to give the board a full understanding of the programs supported by Utility funding.
Commissioner Van Dyke moved to allocate the $181,121 low income tax credit as follows:
• Emergency Heat Repair – $40,000
• Weatherization Related Repairs – $40,000
• Miscellaneous Energy/Water Related Repairs – $20,000
• Operation Warm Heart – $81,121
Commissioner Erickson seconded the motion and it passed unanimously.
Commissioner Van Dyke moved to approve the resolution adopting the 2026 Operating and Capital Budgets for the Electric Utility system, including use of Climate Commitment Act Limited Income Assistance Fund/Regulatory Revenue of up to $1.25 million. Commissioner Van Dyke seconded the motion and it passed unanimously.
Commissioner Erickson moved to approve 2026 Operating and Capital Budgets for the Generating system. Commissioner Van Dyke seconded the motion and it passed unanimously.
Commissioner Erickson moved to approve the 2026 Operations and Capital Budgets for the Water Utility system including the use of up to $1.8 million of regulatory revenue. Commissioner Van Dyke seconded the motion and it passed unanimously.
The board thanked staff for all the hard work on the budget for 2026.
Consideration of Resolution for an Adjustment to Unmetered Small Cell Antenna Service Schedule 40 (Action)
Director of Engineering Cal Morris reviewed the memo outlining the proposed adjustments to the Schedule 40 (Materials E). If approved the proposed adjustments would take effect on January 1, 2026 and will be revised automatically with any future updates to Schedule 34 and be consistent with the rates therein.
Commissioner Barnes opened the public hearing for comments, hearing no comments Commissioner Barnes closed the public hearing.
Commissioner Van Dyke moved to approve the proposed adjustments to the Unmetered – Small Cell Antenna Service Schedule 40 as presented. Commissioner Erickson seconded the motion and it passed unanimously.
Consideration of Resolution of Rate Schedule Adjustments for Street Lighting Schedules 94, 95, and 96 (Action)
Construction Services Manager Dana Allen reviewed the proposed changes to the rate schedule language, noting the changes better reflect current practices, and lighting energy rates remain unchanged (Materials F). Ms. Allen outlined the current rate schedule and the current rate table and shared the proposed updates to both.
Commissioner Van Dyke moved to approve Rate Schedule Adjustments for Street Lighting Schedules 94, 95, and 96 as presented. Commissioner Erickson seconded the motion and it passed unanimously.
Consideration of Resolutions of Establishment of LUD Nos. 1493, 1500 and 1504
Construction Services Manager Dana Allen addressed the board regarding the Establishment of Local Utility District Nos. 1493, 1500 and 1504.
Resolution No. 7918 – LUD No. 1493 – NE 58th Ave. Cottages
Resolution No. 7919 – LUD No. 1500 – Emerald Grove
Resolution No. 7920 – LUD No. 1504 – Schnell Farms
After the presentation by Ms. Allen, Commissioner Barnes opened the public hearing for comment. There being no comment, a motion was made by Commissioner Erickson, seconded by Commissioner Van Dyke, and unanimously carried that Resolution Nos. 7918-7920 be adopted (Materials G).
Consideration of Resolution Authorizing the Execution of a Solar Power Purchase Agreement with Passage Solar Oregon LLC and Four Mile Oregon LLC (Action)
Director of Energy Resources Steve Andersen addressed the board (Materials H). Mr. Andersen reviewed the power purchase agreement with Scout Clean Energy which includes the project locations, start date, contract terms and capacity projections. Transmission agreements, potential prices adjustments and compensable curtailment parameters were also outlined.
Mr. Andersen noted that reaching this agreement has been a long process and given the increased difficulty in acquiring renewable resources with transmission services, staff recommends moving forward with the proposed solar power purchase agreement.
Following discussion and comment from a member of the public Mr. Matthews, Commissioner Van Dyke moved to approve the Power Purchase Agreement and authorize the CEO/General Manager to execute the agreement on behalf of the Utility and to execute any other documents that may be required to make the Agreement effective. Commissioner Erickson seconded the motion, and it passed unanimously.
October Financials
Director of Finance Melissa Ankeny addressed the board (Materials I). The weather was colder and wetter than normal, which resulted in electric revenues being below budget and off-system sales being above budget. October residential sales were 96.2% of budget, commercial sales were 94.8% and industrial sales were 96.3% of budget. October ended the month with a net income of $2.7 million compared to a budgeted net income of $1.5 million for a year-to-date net income of $19.1 million compared to $5.6 million in the budget.
The Water System ended October with 678 new customers year-to-date, which is a growth rate of 1.6%. October ended with a net income of $79,000 compared to a budgeted net income loss of $18,000 for a year-to-date net income of $2.9 million compared to a budgeted net income of $1.3 million.
October Wholesale Power Operations
Director of Energy Resources Steve Andersen addressed the board (Materials J). Mr. Andersen provided an update on power supply noting that October average daily load was 502 aMW which was 22 aMW below budget.
Combine Hills I generation was 6.4 aMW, which was 40% less than the budgeted 10.6 aMW. Generation was 0 MW approximately 55% of all hours. Combine Hills II generation was 6.58 aMW, 59% less than the budgeted 16.1 aMW, and generation was 0 MW approximately 73% of all hours.
Commissioner Reports and Comments
Commissioners Barnes, Erickson and Van Dyke all attended the Business and Community Leader Summit, which for the first time combined the annual Key Accounts Forum and Community Leader Session audiences. All three enjoyed the program and saw great value in combining these audiences to hear updates from utility subject matter experts all together.
Commissioner Van Dyke mentioned the tree lighting in Ester Short Park that the Utility participated in, and thanked the Downtown Rotary for the $10,000 donation to Operation Warm Heart made in exchange for employee volunteers assisting in the lighting installation.
Commissioner Erickson shared the easy way on our public website to report a streetlight being out and noted that in her experience the response was very quick.
Staff Reports
There were no staff reports, however CEO/General Manager Lena Wittler thanked staff for all the work on the 2026 budget that will now allow the Utility to move forward with work toward the strategic goals for next year.
Final Board Comments
There were no additional comments and the meeting was adjourned at 11:25 a.m.