WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:11.800 Okay, it is 901 and we do have a quorum so we're called to order the public utilities 00:00:11.800 --> 00:00:16.040 board meeting for October 25th for the city of Denton. 00:00:16.040 --> 00:00:18.800 The first item is public comment. 00:00:18.800 --> 00:00:24.560 Is there anybody present that would like to speak to the board? 00:00:24.560 --> 00:00:25.920 Is there anybody on the phone? 00:00:25.920 --> 00:00:26.920 No, ma'am. 00:00:26.920 --> 00:00:27.920 There are no callers. 00:00:27.920 --> 00:00:28.920 All right. 00:00:28.920 --> 00:00:31.920 Then we'll go into our regular meeting. 00:00:31.920 --> 00:00:35.640 The first items are the consent agenda, items A through I. 00:00:35.640 --> 00:00:39.120 Does a board member wish to pull any of the items? 00:00:39.120 --> 00:00:46.800 Oh, yes, go ahead, Ben. 00:00:46.800 --> 00:00:52.200 Item H. Any other items? 00:00:52.200 --> 00:00:54.120 All right. 00:00:54.120 --> 00:01:04.320 Before we go on to item H, do we have a motion to approve items A through, sorry, A, B, C, 00:01:04.320 --> 00:01:09.120 D, E, F, G, and I? 00:01:09.120 --> 00:01:12.160 Move approval of those items. 00:01:12.160 --> 00:01:13.160 Second. 00:01:13.160 --> 00:01:14.560 All in favor say I. 00:01:14.560 --> 00:01:15.560 I. 00:01:15.560 --> 00:01:16.560 I. 00:01:16.560 --> 00:01:17.560 Carries. 00:01:17.560 --> 00:01:21.160 Item H, then. 00:01:21.160 --> 00:01:26.440 Okay, so talking about odor control for the landfill. 00:01:26.440 --> 00:01:31.320 As I recall, we had a similar topic recently, so I was wondering, what's the difference? 00:01:31.320 --> 00:01:32.960 Is this, in fact, the same thing? 00:01:32.960 --> 00:01:34.960 No, this is a different stuff. 00:01:34.960 --> 00:01:35.960 Okay. 00:01:35.960 --> 00:01:36.960 So how is it different, then? 00:01:36.960 --> 00:01:37.960 How is it different? 00:01:37.960 --> 00:01:38.960 Okay. 00:01:38.960 --> 00:01:42.920 The item we talked about, the Aeropure, a couple of months ago, it is direct application. 00:01:42.920 --> 00:01:44.320 It's loaded into our water truck. 00:01:44.320 --> 00:01:45.320 We spray it onto the roads. 00:01:45.320 --> 00:01:47.080 We spray it into the working face. 00:01:47.080 --> 00:01:50.280 This is actually a volatilization system. 00:01:50.280 --> 00:02:00.080 So it comes in a 250-gallon carboy, big plastic cube, hooked up to a very high, getting very 00:02:00.080 --> 00:02:04.760 technical here, but a very high-pressure air pump, and it's atomized into the air and basically 00:02:04.760 --> 00:02:09.720 makes a curtain along the southern wall, just like Febreze or a material like that, captures 00:02:09.720 --> 00:02:11.840 the odors, destroys it. 00:02:11.840 --> 00:02:18.680 So it's just another, basically, block in the wall to try to eliminate or mitigate any 00:02:18.680 --> 00:02:22.760 odors that could potentially result from our operations at the landfill. 00:02:22.760 --> 00:02:28.080 So what, I guess, give me an idea of how necessary that is. 00:02:28.080 --> 00:02:33.240 For the direct application, how many of the odors does that kill and how many escape, 00:02:33.240 --> 00:02:38.000 and then what will this help prevent? 00:02:38.000 --> 00:02:42.260 It's hard to say this percentage, this percentage, this percentage, but again, it's belts and 00:02:42.260 --> 00:02:44.800 suspenders is what it is. 00:02:44.800 --> 00:02:49.740 So ultimately, we've got a very, very close neighborhood right next door, and we want 00:02:49.740 --> 00:02:54.840 to try to make sure that we're as amenable to those neighbors as we possibly can. 00:02:54.840 --> 00:03:00.560 And additionally, we're required under our permit to enact whatever mitigation techniques 00:03:00.560 --> 00:03:03.560 are required to control odors, and this is one of the things that we've committed to 00:03:03.560 --> 00:03:04.560 do. 00:03:04.560 --> 00:03:05.560 Okay. 00:03:05.560 --> 00:03:06.560 All right. 00:03:06.560 --> 00:03:08.760 Do we have a motion to approve Item H? 00:03:08.760 --> 00:03:09.760 Oh, I'm sorry. 00:03:09.760 --> 00:03:10.760 Oh, go ahead. 00:03:10.760 --> 00:03:11.760 Mr. Taylor. 00:03:11.760 --> 00:03:19.220 Forgive me, I'm not very familiar with the recent items on odor control. 00:03:19.220 --> 00:03:20.220 Yes. 00:03:20.220 --> 00:03:25.280 Will this have any benefit for odors from the wastewater treatment plant, which is right 00:03:25.280 --> 00:03:26.280 next door? 00:03:26.280 --> 00:03:30.240 You know, that's a very good question, and something we consider always, you know, it's 00:03:30.240 --> 00:03:36.600 a few thousand feet further to the east, or excuse me, further to the north, but any odors 00:03:36.600 --> 00:03:40.160 that are within this pocket, you know, it has the potential of controlling. 00:03:40.160 --> 00:03:45.000 I'm not going to say it's fully 100%, but I would imagine that it would control any 00:03:45.000 --> 00:03:49.520 odors or capture or destroy any odors that would be coming from it, from this area. 00:03:49.520 --> 00:03:52.080 And this is, you said it's only along, basically the south? 00:03:52.080 --> 00:03:54.800 Yeah, southern and southeast portion, correct. 00:03:54.800 --> 00:03:58.400 And that's basically right next to the existing neighborhood, just to the south? 00:03:58.400 --> 00:03:59.400 The existing? 00:03:59.400 --> 00:04:00.400 The neighborhood. 00:04:00.400 --> 00:04:01.400 Correct. 00:04:01.400 --> 00:04:02.400 Correct. 00:04:02.400 --> 00:04:08.640 And so, are there any odor control facilities, either wastewater or landfill, on the north 00:04:08.640 --> 00:04:09.640 side? 00:04:09.640 --> 00:04:14.500 No, there's not, because we really have, we're our own neighbor at that point, we own basically 00:04:14.500 --> 00:04:22.480 all the property north for quite a bit, so as we move north, then we would anticipate 00:04:22.480 --> 00:04:27.800 potentially putting those type of systems in place, but right now it's not required. 00:04:27.800 --> 00:04:28.800 Thank you. 00:04:28.800 --> 00:04:29.800 Other questions? 00:04:29.800 --> 00:04:30.800 All right. 00:04:30.800 --> 00:04:36.680 Do we have a motion to approve Item H? 00:04:36.680 --> 00:04:38.680 Mr. Beck moved. 00:04:38.680 --> 00:04:39.680 Carver seconded. 00:04:39.680 --> 00:04:41.360 All in favor, say aye. 00:04:41.360 --> 00:04:42.360 Aye. 00:04:42.360 --> 00:04:43.360 Carries. 00:04:43.360 --> 00:04:44.360 Thank you. 00:04:44.360 --> 00:04:45.360 Thank you. 00:04:45.360 --> 00:04:49.760 The next item is consider approval of the October 11th minutes. 00:04:49.760 --> 00:04:53.800 Do we have any changes or corrections? 00:04:53.800 --> 00:05:04.360 Yes, Mr. Beck. 00:05:04.360 --> 00:05:07.720 On the minute, so when the information, when Kim sent out the information, I didn't see 00:05:07.720 --> 00:05:09.040 a link to look at those. 00:05:09.040 --> 00:05:14.560 I was just curious, not that I have anything, I just, was there a place where you could 00:05:14.560 --> 00:05:15.560 click on? 00:05:15.560 --> 00:05:16.560 Yes, there is. 00:05:16.560 --> 00:05:17.560 There... 00:05:17.560 --> 00:05:18.560 What did I miss? 00:05:18.560 --> 00:05:19.560 Yeah. 00:05:19.560 --> 00:05:20.560 This new technology is... 00:05:20.560 --> 00:05:21.560 Looking for a minute? 00:05:21.560 --> 00:05:22.560 Yeah. 00:05:22.560 --> 00:05:23.560 You should be able to click on the... 00:05:23.560 --> 00:05:24.560 Never mind, never mind. 00:05:24.560 --> 00:05:25.560 This is the first time I've operated. 00:05:25.560 --> 00:05:26.560 Okay. 00:05:26.560 --> 00:05:27.560 All right. 00:05:27.560 --> 00:05:37.440 At the risk of appearing completely naive with this stuff. 00:05:37.440 --> 00:05:38.440 Thank you. 00:05:38.440 --> 00:05:39.440 All right. 00:05:39.440 --> 00:05:42.320 Do we have a motion then to approve the minutes? 00:05:42.320 --> 00:05:43.320 So moved. 00:05:43.320 --> 00:05:44.320 Mr. Denton. 00:05:44.320 --> 00:05:45.320 And Barbara seconded. 00:05:45.320 --> 00:05:46.320 All in favor, say aye. 00:05:46.320 --> 00:05:47.320 Aye. 00:05:47.320 --> 00:05:48.320 Opposed? 00:05:48.320 --> 00:05:49.320 Carries. 00:05:49.320 --> 00:05:50.320 Okay. 00:05:50.320 --> 00:05:55.200 Consider the adoption of an ordinance for the City of Denton authorizing the expenditure 00:05:55.200 --> 00:06:05.840 of funds for the payment of wholesale transmission charges in the total amount of $6,654,159.68. 00:06:05.840 --> 00:06:06.840 Good morning. 00:06:06.840 --> 00:06:09.600 I'm Nancy Ogden, Director of Finance. 00:06:09.600 --> 00:06:10.600 Here to present... 00:06:10.600 --> 00:06:11.600 Oops. 00:06:11.600 --> 00:06:16.920 It looks like I'm on the wrong side. 00:06:16.920 --> 00:06:20.160 Transmission cost of service expenses. 00:06:20.160 --> 00:06:25.600 So this is a routine expense every year for our electric fund. 00:06:25.600 --> 00:06:29.160 We bring these to you for really transparency. 00:06:29.160 --> 00:06:34.880 They are approved as part of a budget expense item, but we're seeking your expenditure approval 00:06:34.880 --> 00:06:37.480 today. 00:06:37.480 --> 00:06:42.880 So just really quickly, these charges reimburse other transmission service providers within 00:06:42.880 --> 00:06:44.080 ERCOT. 00:06:44.080 --> 00:06:48.040 So it's basically our share of their transmission assets. 00:06:48.040 --> 00:06:59.040 And you can see on the chart all of the transmission providers were paying this year a little over 00:06:59.040 --> 00:07:02.680 $6.6 million. 00:07:02.680 --> 00:07:08.920 And then just for informational purposes, these are all the payments from last fiscal 00:07:08.920 --> 00:07:09.920 year. 00:07:09.920 --> 00:07:13.360 So $6.2 million altogether. 00:07:13.360 --> 00:07:18.560 And again, we did bring these to PEB and council last year as well. 00:07:18.560 --> 00:07:28.800 So with that, I'll stand for any questions. 00:07:28.800 --> 00:07:30.940 We are paying them. 00:07:30.940 --> 00:07:37.440 So we also receive money from our transmission assets, but this is actually payments to other 00:07:37.440 --> 00:07:41.080 transmission providers. 00:07:41.080 --> 00:07:45.960 I'm sorry. 00:07:45.960 --> 00:07:52.220 So obviously what we're producing here isn't enough to generate what we need for the City 00:07:52.220 --> 00:07:53.220 of Denton? 00:07:53.220 --> 00:07:54.680 Is that why we're... 00:07:54.680 --> 00:07:57.720 I'm going to hand that over to Terry. 00:07:57.720 --> 00:07:58.720 Okay. 00:07:58.720 --> 00:08:03.440 Well, no, sir, I'll try to answer it. 00:08:03.440 --> 00:08:09.120 So these are assets that are owned and investments that are made by other operators in the ERCOT 00:08:09.120 --> 00:08:10.120 grid, right? 00:08:10.120 --> 00:08:13.180 It's a joint uniform grid that everybody uses. 00:08:13.180 --> 00:08:18.520 And so this is our share or our piece that we have to pay for the use of everybody's 00:08:18.520 --> 00:08:23.200 assets, just like they pay for our share of the assets as well. 00:08:23.200 --> 00:08:31.280 And so just for your information, currently, our share that we get back is about $54 million. 00:08:31.280 --> 00:08:37.820 So it's a pretty good trade-off from our standpoint, but yeah, that's what that is, and it's based 00:08:37.820 --> 00:08:41.240 on an annual, what's called a 4CP. 00:08:41.240 --> 00:08:47.920 So it's four particular days in the year where that's calculated, and then it's pro-ratted 00:08:47.920 --> 00:08:50.320 out based on everybody's approved rates. 00:08:50.320 --> 00:08:59.240 And as you may know, we're going through that process now to set our annual rate going forward 00:08:59.240 --> 00:09:00.240 with the PUCT. 00:09:00.240 --> 00:09:01.240 So... 00:09:01.240 --> 00:09:02.240 Okay. 00:09:02.240 --> 00:09:03.240 Thanks, Tony. 00:09:03.240 --> 00:09:04.240 Eventually, I'll catch up with all this. 00:09:04.240 --> 00:09:05.240 So thank you. 00:09:05.240 --> 00:09:06.240 Oh, thank you. 00:09:06.240 --> 00:09:13.800 My question is, you mentioned fiscal year, and I hate to be unknowledgeable, but what 00:09:13.800 --> 00:09:15.280 is the city's fiscal year? 00:09:15.280 --> 00:09:18.440 So our fiscal year runs from October 1st to September 30th. 00:09:18.440 --> 00:09:21.760 We just started a new fiscal year. 00:09:21.760 --> 00:09:23.000 Thank you. 00:09:23.000 --> 00:09:27.800 And Madam Chairman, I apologize for being late today. 00:09:27.800 --> 00:09:32.000 Thank you. 00:09:32.000 --> 00:09:38.180 So these are based on 4CP for basically the past four months, and this is a one-time annual 00:09:38.180 --> 00:09:44.960 payment based on previous year, or current calendar year, previous fiscal year. 00:09:44.960 --> 00:09:51.560 And I'm curious, the shares seem pretty much the same as last year, like kind of the ratios. 00:09:51.560 --> 00:09:56.880 Are these all of the transmission providers in ERCOT, or are these just the transmission 00:09:56.880 --> 00:10:00.920 providers from which we get a transmission benefit? 00:10:00.920 --> 00:10:07.240 It's the ones that we have transmission benefit, and again, those rates, the rates that they 00:10:07.240 --> 00:10:10.640 charge are set whenever they do a full rate filing. 00:10:10.640 --> 00:10:14.320 And just for your information, for Denton, the last rate filing that we had a full rate 00:10:14.320 --> 00:10:16.200 filing was in 2005. 00:10:16.200 --> 00:10:18.840 We're going through that process now. 00:10:18.840 --> 00:10:23.320 And that's pretty standard, I think, for municipally owned utilities and co-ops. 00:10:23.320 --> 00:10:27.080 Private IOUs actually do those a little bit more frequent than we do, just because of 00:10:27.080 --> 00:10:33.600 how their calculations are completed through the PHCT process. 00:10:33.600 --> 00:10:42.280 And then, is the rate per megawatt fixed based on that, and then the 4CP makes what the megawatts 00:10:42.280 --> 00:10:43.720 are vary, or is it? 00:10:43.720 --> 00:10:49.160 So the 4CP sets the volume at which that rate is calculated, correct? 00:10:49.160 --> 00:10:50.160 Okay. 00:10:50.160 --> 00:10:51.160 Thank you. 00:10:51.160 --> 00:10:52.160 Second. 00:10:52.160 --> 00:10:53.160 All in favor say aye. 00:10:53.160 --> 00:10:54.160 Aye. 00:10:54.160 --> 00:10:55.160 And opposed. 00:10:55.160 --> 00:10:56.160 Thank you. 00:10:56.160 --> 00:11:18.120 All right, so Madam Chair and members of the PUB, so we have a couple of reports set to 00:11:18.120 --> 00:11:19.120 you here. 00:11:19.120 --> 00:11:27.160 The first one is the DME or the Dent Energy Center dashboard for the month of August. 00:11:27.160 --> 00:11:30.920 That represents 11 months out of the year, and certainly if you have questions, we can 00:11:30.920 --> 00:11:31.920 go through those. 00:11:31.920 --> 00:11:37.720 And then, I think, you know, Member Ryabek had asked for this winter preparedness plan, 00:11:37.720 --> 00:11:43.720 and so Terry Nolte's here, and we've prepared that for you, and certainly if you have questions, 00:11:43.720 --> 00:11:46.360 we certainly can respond to this. 00:11:46.360 --> 00:11:51.240 I'll just mention, you know, that PHCT and ERCOT are going through some market redesign 00:11:51.240 --> 00:11:53.880 changes and some requirements that they have to be met. 00:11:53.880 --> 00:11:58.680 Obviously, you may have heard of some of those in the news here recently, and so we're working 00:11:58.680 --> 00:12:05.280 through that process as well, and I hope that here by, I think by December 1st, they'll 00:12:05.280 --> 00:12:11.120 kind of set what those requirements may be for us, and we'll have a better feel for where 00:12:11.120 --> 00:12:12.120 we need to be going. 00:12:12.120 --> 00:12:16.920 We certainly have some plans that we've already made preemptively to try to be prepared for 00:12:16.920 --> 00:12:17.920 this coming winter. 00:12:17.920 --> 00:12:19.120 So, I'll stop there. 00:12:19.120 --> 00:12:23.640 So, if you have any questions, if there's any questions on the dashboard or the memorandum 00:12:23.640 --> 00:12:28.040 that you received from Mr. Nolte. 00:12:28.040 --> 00:12:33.960 Thank you, Chair. 00:12:33.960 --> 00:12:42.520 I have a couple of questions, one on the DEC Energy dashboard. 00:12:42.520 --> 00:12:51.640 So, the dashboard has monthly revenue, but then all the costs are just year-to-date. 00:12:51.640 --> 00:12:56.080 It's very challenging because of February, because there's this overwhelming number at 00:12:56.080 --> 00:12:58.240 the beginning of the year. 00:12:58.240 --> 00:13:02.280 It's hard to tell kind of the monthly costs and so forth. 00:13:02.280 --> 00:13:07.280 I know that natural gas has basically doubled in cost in the last year. 00:13:07.280 --> 00:13:14.320 Is that, and we're still in August where our net selling or average selling sales price 00:13:14.320 --> 00:13:17.320 was $81 a megawatt. 00:13:17.320 --> 00:13:23.480 Has the gas price impacted the floor at which the DEC can operate? 00:13:23.480 --> 00:13:25.480 Good morning. 00:13:25.480 --> 00:13:29.600 Terry Nolte, Assistant General Manager in DME. 00:13:29.600 --> 00:13:35.440 So, the gas price does determine when the units are dispatched. 00:13:35.440 --> 00:13:45.420 We convert natural gas to electricity at a set rate, it's called the heat rate. 00:13:45.420 --> 00:13:49.160 So when the natural gas price goes up, that heat rate remains the same. 00:13:49.160 --> 00:13:51.920 The cost to produce then goes up as well. 00:13:51.920 --> 00:13:57.480 But the market reacts to that because all generators in the market are using natural 00:13:57.480 --> 00:14:01.740 gas and so the whole market price has gone up. 00:14:01.740 --> 00:14:08.240 So from a gross margin perspective for the DEC, which gross margin meaning revenues less 00:14:08.240 --> 00:14:13.920 variable operating costs, the gross margin is about the same. 00:14:13.920 --> 00:14:23.120 So the ERCOT market has in fact been doing a number of things after Yuri to try to make 00:14:23.120 --> 00:14:26.680 sure we don't have price excursions. 00:14:26.680 --> 00:14:32.060 And that's dampened it a little bit, but as you can see from that report, we're well ahead 00:14:32.060 --> 00:14:38.160 of budget on gross margin and net income for the DEC, primarily because of what happened 00:14:38.160 --> 00:14:40.280 in February. 00:14:40.280 --> 00:14:45.360 And then my next question is about the winterization report. 00:14:45.360 --> 00:14:53.240 Not directly to the winterization report but to new legislative requirements where instead 00:14:53.240 --> 00:15:02.520 of what DME needs to do to prepare the DEC, what customers of DME need to notify DME about 00:15:02.520 --> 00:15:04.040 critical loads. 00:15:04.040 --> 00:15:11.640 And I know that there's been talk that there might be so many critical loads identified 00:15:11.640 --> 00:15:16.600 that there won't be enough circuits that can be shed. 00:15:16.600 --> 00:15:19.800 And I know you don't have like that those filings are required by November 1st, so you 00:15:19.800 --> 00:15:21.600 don't quite have them all yet. 00:15:21.600 --> 00:15:28.300 Do you anticipate any effect on the distribution side or the city side, not the generation 00:15:28.300 --> 00:15:31.320 side of DME from the legislation? 00:15:31.320 --> 00:15:32.320 Sure. 00:15:32.320 --> 00:15:40.080 So the legislation is focused on natural gas critical infrastructure. 00:15:40.080 --> 00:15:46.680 And so that was to identify those compressor stations, those natural gas processing units 00:15:46.680 --> 00:15:52.240 that lost power during the winter storm and therefore could not pressurize the gas or 00:15:52.240 --> 00:15:57.840 process the gas, leading to the shortage of gas. 00:15:57.840 --> 00:16:03.660 So we have in fact, I've reached out to those facilities on our system that we know are 00:16:03.660 --> 00:16:05.900 part of that infrastructure. 00:16:05.900 --> 00:16:15.080 And they have in fact filed with us for that status as a critical load. 00:16:15.080 --> 00:16:20.560 To your question, though, when we look at our loads that we serve that are critical, 00:16:20.560 --> 00:16:26.720 that might be, you know, medical loads, hospitals, police stations, fire departments, things 00:16:26.720 --> 00:16:28.640 that are critical. 00:16:28.640 --> 00:16:35.040 As of last week, we have only had an increase of about 10 facilities from where we were 00:16:35.040 --> 00:16:37.100 at the time of the storm. 00:16:37.100 --> 00:16:45.200 So we are proactively reaching out to some facilities that we knew experienced problems 00:16:45.200 --> 00:16:48.520 during the storm. 00:16:48.520 --> 00:16:53.760 So the only thing that I will add to that, and we certainly saw this during winter storm 00:16:53.760 --> 00:17:02.720 URI, is that even though we had critical load facilities, the grid was in such a position 00:17:02.720 --> 00:17:07.960 that we actually had to start rolling even some of those kind of, what I would say, kind 00:17:07.960 --> 00:17:11.520 of tier three or tier four critical load facilities. 00:17:11.520 --> 00:17:17.400 And so we had places, you know, like a nursing home, a couple of terms, that we had to include 00:17:17.400 --> 00:17:20.960 in that rolling just because of where the grid stood at that time. 00:17:20.960 --> 00:17:26.000 And so yes, there's a designation as critical load, but when things get critical, right, 00:17:26.000 --> 00:17:28.840 then you have to look at potentially rolling those. 00:17:28.840 --> 00:17:35.240 And certainly if the grid had collapsed as there was fear, then all of that would have 00:17:35.240 --> 00:17:40.280 been out the window and even the critical load facilities would have been out of power. 00:17:40.280 --> 00:17:41.280 But it's a plan. 00:17:41.280 --> 00:17:49.200 It's a plan that we look at every year, and we have to file with the PUCT and to ERCOT. 00:17:49.200 --> 00:17:59.240 And so it's something that our staff has diligently worked on ever since winter storm URI. 00:17:59.240 --> 00:18:01.640 Morning. 00:18:01.640 --> 00:18:09.480 So I know you love reeducation questions, but where are we with our ECA right now? 00:18:09.480 --> 00:18:12.520 I mean, energy cost adjustment. 00:18:12.520 --> 00:18:18.400 I don't recall seeing one come through here recently unless I missed the meeting or something. 00:18:18.400 --> 00:18:24.080 So you still, does the ECA, energy cost adjustment still come through the PUB before it goes 00:18:24.080 --> 00:18:25.840 to city council? 00:18:25.840 --> 00:18:31.020 So we have not, Mr. Cheek, we have not adjusted the ECA in quite some time. 00:18:31.020 --> 00:18:36.440 It's been a matter of a couple of years, actually two and a half, three years. 00:18:36.440 --> 00:18:40.600 But yes, to the extent that we would make a recommendation on a change to the ECA, it 00:18:40.600 --> 00:18:44.640 would come to PUB first and then ultimately be approved by council. 00:18:44.640 --> 00:18:54.640 So we are doing a cost of service study now, and we anticipate bringing back the results 00:18:54.640 --> 00:18:59.140 of that cost of service study sometime after the first of the year, probably in the first 00:18:59.140 --> 00:19:00.480 quarter. 00:19:00.480 --> 00:19:06.320 And part of that finance is indicated we'll be looking at the ECA and base rate. 00:19:06.320 --> 00:19:13.320 Yeah, I do remember the last time we approved it, we were over collecting for a while, but 00:19:13.320 --> 00:19:16.840 it probably ended up being a good thing, it stayed at a steady rate, and then we had the 00:19:16.840 --> 00:19:20.520 whole winter storm thing hit, and of course that's a whole different adjustment with the 00:19:20.520 --> 00:19:21.520 winter storm. 00:19:21.520 --> 00:19:36.320 Okay, I wanted to make sure, because I know I hadn't seen it come through here in a while. 00:19:36.320 --> 00:19:37.320 That's it. 00:19:37.320 --> 00:19:46.560 There were two line items in the weatherization report, the extreme cold weather prep and 00:19:46.560 --> 00:19:49.640 procedures and cooling water system and frequent operations. 00:19:49.640 --> 00:19:53.920 Now, they're not included with this document, and I don't know if it's appropriate in this 00:19:53.920 --> 00:19:57.680 current session, but I would like at least a thumbnail sketch of what those are. 00:19:57.680 --> 00:19:58.680 Sure. 00:19:58.680 --> 00:20:01.400 If it's not appropriate at this time, another time will be fine. 00:20:01.400 --> 00:20:12.800 So Mr. Rybak, so those documents are restricted from public dissemination under NERC requirements. 00:20:12.800 --> 00:20:19.280 But basically, during the storm, what happened was when we lost natural gas, we lost the 00:20:19.280 --> 00:20:24.680 heat source that was heating the cooling water, and the cooling water then circulates out 00:20:24.680 --> 00:20:28.720 through the radiators and back into the engines. 00:20:28.720 --> 00:20:33.960 What we could not do at that point in time was we were not able to drain the liquid, 00:20:33.960 --> 00:20:41.400 the cooling fluid, from all the generating units rapidly enough to avoid freezing it 00:20:41.400 --> 00:20:42.400 in the pipe. 00:20:42.400 --> 00:20:48.640 And just like a pipe burst in your home, you know, when the water froze up, glycol and 00:20:48.640 --> 00:20:55.160 water froze up, it expanded, and we had some tube ends that blew out. 00:20:55.160 --> 00:21:02.320 So what we've done is we've effectively plumbed in a drain system that the operators can now 00:21:02.320 --> 00:21:11.240 go out, and if they lose natural gas pressure and natural gas supply during weather conditions 00:21:11.240 --> 00:21:18.720 that are below design, and the deck is designed to operate below freezing for some period, 00:21:18.720 --> 00:21:25.640 for extended periods of time, they can go out and through a series of valve positions 00:21:25.640 --> 00:21:34.700 drain all those engines very, very rapidly, and we can avoid that damage that occurred, 00:21:34.700 --> 00:21:37.040 that freeze-up that occurred. 00:21:37.040 --> 00:21:39.440 So that's effectively what we do. 00:21:39.440 --> 00:21:45.200 The two procedures are very detailed, and, you know, they deal with the specific valve 00:21:45.200 --> 00:21:52.480 positions, timing, there's logs that have to be entered in that type of thing. 00:21:52.480 --> 00:21:53.480 Gotcha. 00:21:53.480 --> 00:21:57.960 If the generators had been running at full capacity rather than the gas pressure problem, 00:21:57.960 --> 00:22:01.400 even at sub-freezing temperatures, there would have been enough heat in the radiator to 00:22:01.400 --> 00:22:02.400 keep going. 00:22:02.400 --> 00:22:07.400 As far as our engineering analysis, we do the heat transfer analysis, yes, we'd have 00:22:07.400 --> 00:22:08.400 been in fine shape. 00:22:08.400 --> 00:22:09.400 Okay. 00:22:09.400 --> 00:22:10.400 Yeah. 00:22:10.400 --> 00:22:11.400 Thank you. 00:22:11.400 --> 00:22:15.800 I have a question, Tony mentioned the tier three, tier four loads, critical loads, hospitals, 00:22:15.800 --> 00:22:16.800 that sort of thing. 00:22:16.800 --> 00:22:22.000 Now my presumption is they have their own emergency power, stand-alone emergency power 00:22:22.000 --> 00:22:23.200 for their critical operations. 00:22:23.200 --> 00:22:28.040 Is that generally correct, or are there some glaring deficiencies out there? 00:22:28.040 --> 00:22:31.880 Somewhat generally, what I would say is that, you know, what we found during winter storm 00:22:31.880 --> 00:22:36.040 yuri is that a lot of these generators that some of these facilities have, you know, the 00:22:36.040 --> 00:22:40.840 fuel type that they have, whether it was gasoline or even diesel, had problems, either it was 00:22:40.840 --> 00:22:45.120 freezing and gelling of those, and they just weren't operable. 00:22:45.120 --> 00:22:49.520 We had the same challenges in our own water utility as well, and so those are things that 00:22:49.520 --> 00:22:50.840 people are working on. 00:22:50.840 --> 00:22:54.860 The hospitals were actually in pretty good shape, I think they do pretty good testing 00:22:54.860 --> 00:23:00.960 of other generators, and we were in very close communication with both of the major hospitals 00:23:00.960 --> 00:23:03.160 here in the city. 00:23:03.160 --> 00:23:09.520 So the answer is yes and no, but, you know, I think certainly winter storm yuri has brought 00:23:09.520 --> 00:23:13.040 a whole different level of attention to some of those facilities, and they've made some 00:23:13.040 --> 00:23:18.560 improvements on their own, not required, just to be prepared in the event that something 00:23:18.560 --> 00:23:19.960 like that would happen again. 00:23:19.960 --> 00:23:27.160 Yeah, we do have, we have identified a few facilities that are long-term care facilities 00:23:27.160 --> 00:23:32.440 that really should have their own self-generation, did not during the storm, we're working with 00:23:32.440 --> 00:23:41.000 them to try to help them figure out how to meet that requirement. 00:23:41.000 --> 00:23:47.400 All right, guess not, new business action item. 00:23:47.400 --> 00:23:52.040 So Madam Chair, sorry, just, so the last item that we have on here was just a new business 00:23:52.040 --> 00:23:56.840 action item, and so again, obviously we had this request on the emergency preparedness, 00:23:56.840 --> 00:24:02.000 we've fulfilled that, we are currently working on getting an update to you on this 00:24:02.000 --> 00:24:05.960 legislative update, I think we've narrowed that down, I hope to get that out to you here 00:24:05.960 --> 00:24:09.640 in the next week or so, but then the other items are items that we're still kind of working 00:24:09.640 --> 00:24:13.860 on and have forgotten, but they're still on the list, and certainly if you have any questions 00:24:13.860 --> 00:24:17.800 on these or if there's anything else that we need to add to the list, certainly happy 00:24:17.800 --> 00:24:20.440 to address that now if you'd like. 00:24:20.440 --> 00:24:27.720 Doesn't look like there's any questions, all right, thank you Tony. 00:24:27.720 --> 00:24:32.680 Moving items, does any board member wish to have something added to a future agenda or 00:24:32.680 --> 00:24:35.920 have some comments to be made to the public? 00:24:35.920 --> 00:24:41.560 I see none, all right, your favorite time Mr. Cheek. 00:24:41.560 --> 00:24:43.000 Do we have a motion to adjourn? 00:24:43.000 --> 00:24:44.000 That's me. 00:24:44.000 --> 00:24:45.000 925. 00:24:45.000 --> 00:24:46.520 Okay, we're adjourned.