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 28th day of July at the hour of 9:00 a.m.
Present: President Jim Malinowski, Vice President Nancy Barnes, Secretary Jane Van Dyke Commissioners, CEO/General Manager Wayne Nelson, Director of Finance Rick Dyer, Directors of Energy Resources Dan Bedbury and Pat McGary, Director of Operations Dan Krebs, Director of Water Doug Quinn, Director of Communications Lena Wittler, Director of Information Services Mike Harris, Director of Engineering Cal Morris, Director of Customer Service Lisa Fix, and Assistant to CEO/General Manager Margaret Anderson.
Press Representatives: None
Others Present: Andrew Heath-J.D. Power, Mark Reddemann-Energy Northwest, Bradley Sawatzke-Energy Northwest, Carla Martinez-Energy Northwest, Steve Kern (Materials A)
The order of business recorded below reflects the published agenda (Materials B)
At 9:00 a.m., President Malinowski called the meeting to order for the transaction of formal business.
Consideration of the Minutes of July 14, 2015
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 July 28, 2015 from the District Auditor:
Electric Revenue Fund – $20,963,260.74
Water Revenue Fund – $1,002,148.80
Generating System Fund – $426,515.02
For a total of $22,391,924.56
Energy Northwest Presentation
Mark Reddemann, CEO of Energy Northwest addressed the board (Materials C). He first thanked the board for the opportunity to present today and offered his congratulations on the recent J.D. Power award. Mr. Reddemann went on to share some of the details about their efforts to continually improve the efficiency and safety of their operations and possible areas of collaborations with member utilities in the future.
Collectively the board thanked Mr. Reddemann and his staff for the improvements and budget reduction efforts made at Columbia Generating Station.
J.D. Power Presentation
Andrew Heath, J.D. Power Senior Director, Energy, addressed the board (Materials D). Mr. Heath gave an overview of the categories included in the study and discussed where Clark Public Utilities placed in each of those categories both in the West and nationally. He also shared industry trends as well as key learnings specific to our utility.
Mr. Heath congratulated the board on behalf of our participating customers on the results of the 2015 survey that again named the utility highest in customer satisfaction among mid-size utilities in the West, for the eighth year in a row.
June Financial Report
Director of Finance Rick Dyer addressed the board to report June financials (Materials E).
For the month of June, the Electric System reported net income of $1.6 million compared to a budgeted loss of $215,000. The increase in net income can be attributed to higher system sales and higher off system sales. To date the system is roughly $5.6 million ahead of budget for net income, a trend that is expected to continue with year-end net income projected at $6 million.
The Water System reported a net income of $190,000 in June compared to the budgeted net income of $125,000. To date the system is ahead of budget with losses year to date of $122,000, which is well below the budgeted year to date loss of $811,000.
Mr. Dyer also provided second quarter updates on conservation and capital spending; both areas are performing as budgeted.
June Wholesale Operations Report
Tom Haymaker addressed the board (Materials F). Slice results were below prompt month and budget forecast. Loads were well above month average forecast for budget, weather was record setting with temperatures well above normal, and June was the fourth driest since 1941.
The River Road Generating Plant was offline June 12-14 for unplanned repairs; the forward continued record market implied heat rates suggest the RRGP will remain online until May 2016.
Run-off forecasts at The Dalles for July were at 83% of normal and April through September is forecasting at only 68% of normal. These forecasts are the third worst in the last 55 years. Slice results are showing the impact of the low expected run off in the coming months.
Commissioner Reports and Comments
Commissioner Van Dyke reported on her attendance at the Columbia River Economic Development Council Board of Directors meeting.
Commissioner Malinowski reported on his attendance at the Washington PUD Association meetings.
The board asked that staff draft a letter to send to Mark Reddemann and his staff in recognition of their work to improve operations and the budget reduction efforts within Energy Northwest.
Staff Reports
There were no staff reports.
Other Business before the Board
There being no further business before the Board, the meeting was adjourned at 11:45 a.m.