WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:07.160 So let's call the January 22, 2018 Public Utilities Board 00:00:07.160 --> 00:00:09.160 meeting to order. 00:00:09.160 --> 00:00:13.919 We have, first off, a regular meeting. 00:00:13.919 --> 00:00:17.800 We have a consent agenda with one item. 00:00:17.800 --> 00:00:20.559 And I would ask if there are any members who 00:00:20.559 --> 00:00:24.000 would like to pull this for individual consideration 00:00:24.000 --> 00:00:25.000 discussion. 00:00:25.000 --> 00:00:26.160 Yes, I would like to pull it. 00:00:26.160 --> 00:00:27.399 OK. 00:00:27.399 --> 00:00:28.280 All right. 00:00:28.280 --> 00:00:34.320 So we'll just take that as an individual item. 00:00:34.320 --> 00:00:36.560 So the first item we have then is 00:00:36.560 --> 00:00:39.880 item number A, which is considered 00:00:39.880 --> 00:00:42.079 recommending approval of a resolution of the city 00:00:42.079 --> 00:00:46.039 of Denton, Texas, approving the solid waste and watershed 00:00:46.039 --> 00:00:49.880 protection sponsorship program guidelines and application 00:00:49.880 --> 00:00:50.520 process. 00:00:56.200 --> 00:00:57.479 Good afternoon, members of PUB. 00:00:57.479 --> 00:01:00.079 So this is a resolution basically formally 00:01:00.079 --> 00:01:03.560 adopting the sponsorship suggestions and recommendations 00:01:03.560 --> 00:01:06.239 that the PUB and council weighed in on in late October, 00:01:06.239 --> 00:01:07.599 early November. 00:01:07.599 --> 00:01:10.750 If you'll recall, much like DME, Solid Waste and the Waters 00:01:10.750 --> 00:01:11.040 hed 00:01:11.040 --> 00:01:14.280 Protection Program have a sponsorship program. 00:01:14.280 --> 00:01:16.879 For ours, it is basically centered around a lot 00:01:16.879 --> 00:01:19.879 of the Keep Denton Beautiful programs, Great American 00:01:19.879 --> 00:01:24.000 Cleanup, the Rosebud Festival, things of that nature. 00:01:24.000 --> 00:01:27.319 In addition, we also have a $10,000 sponsorship 00:01:27.319 --> 00:01:28.319 through Solid Waste. 00:01:28.319 --> 00:01:30.640 The city is contractually obligated for KDB 00:01:30.640 --> 00:01:31.879 to provide that each year. 00:01:31.879 --> 00:01:35.040 And so by this resolution, we are basically 00:01:35.040 --> 00:01:36.680 adopting this year's budget. 00:01:36.680 --> 00:01:39.079 And as we go through the future budget processes, 00:01:39.079 --> 00:01:41.640 both solid waste and watershed, we'll call out specifically 00:01:41.640 --> 00:01:44.519 what we're recommending for a budget so the PUB and council 00:01:44.519 --> 00:01:46.239 can weigh in on that. 00:01:46.239 --> 00:01:48.640 And I'll stand for any questions if you have them. 00:01:48.640 --> 00:01:49.200 Questions? 00:01:54.439 --> 00:01:59.000 This mirrors as far as the criteria for what triggers 00:01:59.000 --> 00:02:01.319 an individual item, same dollar amounts 00:02:01.319 --> 00:02:06.120 we have throughout the utilities for donations. 00:02:06.120 --> 00:02:09.879 We really tailored this around the DME proposal 00:02:09.879 --> 00:02:13.120 that was presented to PUB and adopted in a similar fashion. 00:02:13.120 --> 00:02:14.639 And so the same criteria is going 00:02:14.639 --> 00:02:18.599 to apply in terms of accepting applications for that. 00:02:18.599 --> 00:02:21.520 Anything over $2,500 would come forward to PUB and council 00:02:21.520 --> 00:02:22.719 for formal approval. 00:02:22.719 --> 00:02:25.150 And we'll also circle back with you all on a quarterly 00:02:25.150 --> 00:02:25.280 basis 00:02:25.280 --> 00:02:27.710 to give you an update on anything that falls below those 00:02:27.710 --> 00:02:27.879 levels 00:02:27.879 --> 00:02:28.479 as well. 00:02:28.479 --> 00:02:29.599 OK. 00:02:29.599 --> 00:02:31.080 All right. 00:02:31.080 --> 00:02:32.080 I do have a question. 00:02:32.080 --> 00:02:32.580 Huh? 00:02:32.580 --> 00:02:33.560 I just remembered. 00:02:33.560 --> 00:02:36.159 And I remember going through the presentation and 00:02:36.159 --> 00:02:36.759 everything. 00:02:36.759 --> 00:02:39.800 But I don't remember why the $2,500, 00:02:39.800 --> 00:02:41.759 why is that the cutoff? 00:02:41.759 --> 00:02:44.680 That it has to go to the council and the PUB. 00:02:44.680 --> 00:02:46.719 Well, this is going to be a total cop-out answer. 00:02:46.719 --> 00:02:51.319 Again, we very much mirrored the DME approach. 00:02:51.319 --> 00:02:53.520 And so we didn't want to do anything that 00:02:53.520 --> 00:02:55.759 differed from that too greatly. 00:02:55.759 --> 00:02:58.319 Certainly, if that's PUB or council's pleasure, 00:02:58.319 --> 00:03:00.240 we could probably adjust those limits if we needed to. 00:03:00.240 --> 00:03:02.520 Now, I just remember reading through that and seeing it. 00:03:02.520 --> 00:03:05.240 And I couldn't remember what it was, what was that. 00:03:05.240 --> 00:03:06.960 So that's fine. 00:03:06.960 --> 00:03:08.520 I can give a little color to that. 00:03:08.520 --> 00:03:10.560 When we were looking at the DME sponsorships, 00:03:10.560 --> 00:03:13.719 we tried to find a good cutoff point where most of them 00:03:13.719 --> 00:03:16.199 were fairly small that we were doing. 00:03:16.199 --> 00:03:19.659 And $2,500, we looked at just the activity level that we 00:03:19.659 --> 00:03:19.840 had. 00:03:19.840 --> 00:03:22.000 And that's how we kind of arrived at that figure. 00:03:22.000 --> 00:03:22.520 OK. 00:03:22.520 --> 00:03:25.919 Most of the larger ones. 00:03:25.919 --> 00:03:27.599 Thank you for the save. 00:03:27.599 --> 00:03:29.599 OK. 00:03:29.599 --> 00:03:31.000 All right, any other questions? 00:03:33.560 --> 00:03:36.000 I have a comment. 00:03:36.000 --> 00:03:40.639 And that is that I support the programs 00:03:40.639 --> 00:03:44.159 that this program supports. 00:03:44.159 --> 00:03:49.719 But for the same reason that I voted against the DME 00:03:49.719 --> 00:03:57.039 sponsorship program, I'm going to vote no to this as well. 00:03:57.039 --> 00:03:59.469 I want to make sure Keep Denton Beautiful stays fully 00:03:59.469 --> 00:04:00.800 funded. 00:04:00.800 --> 00:04:06.879 So I don't want to think that the Keep Denton Beautiful 00:04:06.879 --> 00:04:11.319 program depends on this. 00:04:11.319 --> 00:04:16.209 And if that's the case, I'd like it to look into why that 00:04:16.209 --> 00:04:17.079 is. 00:04:17.079 --> 00:04:18.879 So this is not about Keep Denton Beautiful. 00:04:18.879 --> 00:04:24.439 It's just about my belief that public utilities should 00:04:24.439 --> 00:04:29.519 be for the ratepayers and that the ratepayers are the ones 00:04:29.519 --> 00:04:30.399 who 00:04:30.399 --> 00:04:33.839 need whatever extra additional revenue we have 00:04:33.839 --> 00:04:36.800 to go to keeping rates low. 00:04:36.800 --> 00:04:41.279 So anyway, I just wanted to specify no disrespect 00:04:41.279 --> 00:04:44.319 to the programs that this supports, or even 00:04:44.319 --> 00:04:45.240 the spirit of it. 00:04:45.240 --> 00:04:47.839 But just as a matter of principle, 00:04:47.839 --> 00:04:50.199 that's why I'm going to be voting no. 00:04:50.199 --> 00:04:52.439 But I appreciate your presentation 00:04:52.439 --> 00:04:56.319 and the spirit of the program. 00:04:56.319 --> 00:04:58.279 OK. 00:04:58.279 --> 00:05:00.839 All right, any other comments? 00:05:00.839 --> 00:05:02.920 Do we have a motion? 00:05:02.920 --> 00:05:04.240 So moved. 00:05:04.240 --> 00:05:05.360 Moved to-- 00:05:05.360 --> 00:05:06.399 To accept the-- 00:05:06.399 --> 00:05:07.319 To accept it? 00:05:07.319 --> 00:05:08.160 As-- yeah. 00:05:08.160 --> 00:05:08.839 OK. 00:05:08.839 --> 00:05:09.600 And a second? 00:05:12.600 --> 00:05:14.959 I had to ask. 00:05:14.959 --> 00:05:16.639 Second by Brendan. 00:05:16.639 --> 00:05:19.560 So any other discussion? 00:05:19.560 --> 00:05:20.680 All in favor say aye. 00:05:20.680 --> 00:05:21.600 Aye. 00:05:21.600 --> 00:05:22.759 Any opposed? 00:05:22.759 --> 00:05:24.720 Nay. 00:05:24.720 --> 00:05:26.160 OK. 00:05:26.160 --> 00:05:32.839 The motion passes for item A on the consent agenda. 00:05:32.839 --> 00:05:36.160 Moving into items for individual consideration, 00:05:36.160 --> 00:05:40.040 we have first item A, which is consider approval 00:05:40.040 --> 00:05:43.639 of the public utilities board meeting minutes of January 8, 00:05:43.639 --> 00:05:46.759 2018. 00:05:46.759 --> 00:05:54.160 Does anybody have any comments, questions, changes on that? 00:05:54.160 --> 00:05:58.319 I had one question on the-- 00:05:58.319 --> 00:06:02.959 I can't remember exactly where it was in the minutes. 00:06:02.959 --> 00:06:04.120 But there was a comment about-- 00:06:10.079 --> 00:06:11.360 Page two at the bottom. 00:06:11.360 --> 00:06:13.199 Let's see. 00:06:13.199 --> 00:06:14.399 You've already seen it. 00:06:14.399 --> 00:06:16.360 I'm sure you've seen it. 00:06:16.360 --> 00:06:17.839 Somehow or another, yeah. 00:06:21.319 --> 00:06:25.680 I don't know if that's where I had the question or not. 00:06:25.680 --> 00:06:30.000 There was actually a comment about that staff had made 00:06:30.000 --> 00:06:31.759 an effort to maximize costs. 00:06:35.759 --> 00:06:36.680 I questioned that. 00:06:44.199 --> 00:06:44.680 OK. 00:06:47.720 --> 00:06:49.720 No, I don't. 00:06:49.720 --> 00:06:59.800 It was in relationship to the underground versus overhead 00:06:59.800 --> 00:07:00.759 discussion we had. 00:07:12.560 --> 00:07:15.839 OK, item D. It's the very last paragraph of the item. 00:07:18.839 --> 00:07:23.680 Oh, it's on the purchase of the lubrication oil and coolant 00:07:23.680 --> 00:07:25.399 for the deck. 00:07:25.399 --> 00:07:31.920 And the last paragraph, which says, 00:07:31.920 --> 00:07:34.879 they will be filled with oil even if the engines do not run 00:07:34.879 --> 00:07:34.879 . 00:07:34.879 --> 00:07:36.319 The remainder is for maintenance. 00:07:36.319 --> 00:07:39.120 Staff maximize cost. 00:07:39.120 --> 00:07:42.639 There will be 10,000 gallons in the maintenance tank. 00:07:45.199 --> 00:07:47.480 Question, maybe maximize efficiency. 00:07:47.480 --> 00:07:49.600 I don't know what the intent was there. 00:07:49.600 --> 00:07:54.680 But that's kind of where I recall the discussion was. 00:07:54.680 --> 00:07:57.759 To maximize the efficiency of what we're buying, 00:07:57.759 --> 00:08:03.560 or recommended buying, that we get the purchase of 10,000 00:08:03.560 --> 00:08:04.079 gallons. 00:08:04.079 --> 00:08:06.680 So I just want to clarify that. 00:08:10.120 --> 00:08:12.399 We can go back and clarify that piece of the matter. 00:08:12.399 --> 00:08:14.279 Let's take a look at the comments 00:08:14.279 --> 00:08:16.920 and make sure we have that characterized correctly. 00:08:16.920 --> 00:08:19.279 OK, good. 00:08:19.279 --> 00:08:24.040 OK, any other comments, questions, changes? 00:08:24.040 --> 00:08:28.029 So I guess since we're changing the way these were 00:08:28.029 --> 00:08:29.199 published, 00:08:29.199 --> 00:08:32.080 is there a motion to approve with those changes 00:08:32.080 --> 00:08:35.399 to go back and make those changes? 00:08:35.399 --> 00:08:36.879 Motion? 00:08:36.879 --> 00:08:37.399 Second. 00:08:37.399 --> 00:08:38.519 And a second. 00:08:38.519 --> 00:08:40.159 Any discussion? 00:08:40.159 --> 00:08:41.480 All in favor say aye. 00:08:41.480 --> 00:08:42.240 Aye. 00:08:42.240 --> 00:08:42.799 Any opposed? 00:08:42.799 --> 00:08:44.320 Same sign. 00:08:44.320 --> 00:08:47.080 OK, motion carries. 00:08:47.080 --> 00:08:51.559 Next we have item B, which is consider recommending 00:08:51.559 --> 00:08:52.120 adoption 00:08:52.120 --> 00:08:55.320 of an ordinance, accepting competitive proposals, 00:08:55.320 --> 00:08:58.279 and awarding a contract for the supply of electric meter 00:08:58.279 --> 00:09:02.240 equipment for the city of Denton to be purchased 00:09:02.240 --> 00:09:09.919 on an as needed basis for an amount not to exceed-- 00:09:09.919 --> 00:09:18.879 a three year not to exceed amount of $4,289,250. 00:09:18.879 --> 00:09:20.320 Good evening, members of the board. 00:09:20.320 --> 00:09:21.480 My name is J.R. Richardson. 00:09:21.480 --> 00:09:23.720 I'm the metering superintendent for DME. 00:09:23.720 --> 00:09:28.240 I'm here today to talk to you about the invitation for BID 00:09:28.240 --> 00:09:30.799 6612, which is for our electric meters 00:09:30.799 --> 00:09:34.039 and associated equipment. 00:09:34.039 --> 00:09:34.960 I'm sorry. 00:09:34.960 --> 00:09:36.840 I'm happy there. 00:09:36.840 --> 00:09:42.039 Previously, we have had a three year bid with the RFP 5584, 00:09:42.039 --> 00:09:45.559 which expired in October 7, 2017. 00:09:45.559 --> 00:09:49.480 We put the information for BID 6612 out on the streets 00:09:49.480 --> 00:09:51.320 on October 16. 00:09:51.320 --> 00:09:55.159 All those proposals were brought back in on October 7. 00:09:55.159 --> 00:09:59.320 All the bids have been reviewed, tallied, and evaluated. 00:09:59.320 --> 00:10:02.559 Currently, we have 53,000 meters on our system. 00:10:02.559 --> 00:10:05.759 Roughly 30,000 of those are AMI meters 00:10:05.759 --> 00:10:07.720 with the remote disconnect. 00:10:07.720 --> 00:10:11.600 Just about 20,000 of those are non-disconnect meters 00:10:11.600 --> 00:10:15.240 for residential, and approximately 5,000 of those 00:10:15.240 --> 00:10:17.080 are for commercial AMI meters. 00:10:19.840 --> 00:10:23.759 The bid was broken up into six sections for proposal. 00:10:23.759 --> 00:10:25.840 We did that just so that we would 00:10:25.840 --> 00:10:30.240 get a better section of invitations or bids 00:10:30.240 --> 00:10:31.240 from our vendors. 00:10:34.080 --> 00:10:37.639 This is a picture of our residential tuning out 00:10:37.639 --> 00:10:41.080 residential meter with the remote disconnect. 00:10:41.080 --> 00:10:47.639 We also have a commercial meter that 00:10:47.639 --> 00:10:49.919 measures the KW consumption. 00:10:49.919 --> 00:10:52.600 And we also have meters-- 00:10:52.600 --> 00:10:54.399 the reason why we purchase our meters 00:10:54.399 --> 00:10:57.720 is for new installations, for damaged meters, 00:10:57.720 --> 00:11:01.080 and also for maintenance. 00:11:01.080 --> 00:11:04.919 This is our 13-turbinal meter base. 00:11:04.919 --> 00:11:07.919 This base is used for our three-phase customers whose load 00:11:07.919 --> 00:11:09.679 is greater than 200 amps. 00:11:09.679 --> 00:11:13.600 And we have to utilize instrument-rated transformers 00:11:13.600 --> 00:11:19.039 as PTs and CTs to measure the consumption. 00:11:19.039 --> 00:11:26.000 Here on the far edge is a primary metering set right here. 00:11:26.000 --> 00:11:28.279 This is your potential transformer 00:11:28.279 --> 00:11:29.679 and your current transformer. 00:11:29.679 --> 00:11:32.000 This set is normally mounted on the top of the pole 00:11:32.000 --> 00:11:35.799 to measure the primary voltage of a customer's load. 00:11:35.799 --> 00:11:37.759 Here we have current transformers 00:11:37.759 --> 00:11:40.559 that are normally used inside a transformer 00:11:40.559 --> 00:11:42.759 for the secondary load of a customer service. 00:11:45.480 --> 00:11:51.000 On this slide, we're showing you the equipment with our AMI 00:11:51.000 --> 00:11:52.159 system. 00:11:52.159 --> 00:11:56.039 It's composed of gateways, extender bridges, power supply 00:11:56.039 --> 00:11:57.679 units, and repeaters. 00:11:57.679 --> 00:11:59.240 On this picture here at the top here 00:11:59.240 --> 00:12:01.360 is one of our extender bridges. 00:12:01.360 --> 00:12:03.840 These are what are used to collect the reads 00:12:03.840 --> 00:12:05.159 from the meters as they come up. 00:12:05.159 --> 00:12:07.320 And then from there, they go to the two gateways. 00:12:07.320 --> 00:12:08.320 We have two gateways. 00:12:08.320 --> 00:12:12.279 One is located at our radio tower site at McKenna Park. 00:12:12.279 --> 00:12:13.960 And the other one's located on the tower 00:12:13.960 --> 00:12:18.309 that we'd lease space with the Denton EOC off of Teasley 00:12:18.309 --> 00:12:19.799 Lane. 00:12:19.799 --> 00:12:21.840 Funding for these electric meters and equipment 00:12:21.840 --> 00:12:25.200 are broken out over the four project numbers. 00:12:25.200 --> 00:12:27.320 These are the project numbers for the three-phase, 00:12:27.320 --> 00:12:31.240 single-phase, instrument-rated equipment, and AMI and WAN 00:12:31.240 --> 00:12:33.440 equipment. 00:12:33.440 --> 00:12:37.679 The staff recommends that we approve the lowest bid 00:12:37.679 --> 00:12:41.559 for IFB 6612 and a not-to-exceed bid 00:12:41.559 --> 00:12:46.679 amount of $1.4 million for the three years. 00:12:50.360 --> 00:12:52.600 Any questions? 00:12:52.600 --> 00:12:53.559 Questions? 00:12:53.559 --> 00:12:54.840 Yeah. 00:12:54.840 --> 00:12:57.720 What is a meter socket? 00:12:57.720 --> 00:12:59.480 I mean, I read that. 00:12:59.480 --> 00:13:00.919 Is that like a meter base? 00:13:00.919 --> 00:13:01.720 Yes, it is. 00:13:01.720 --> 00:13:03.759 I thought a customer owned the base. 00:13:03.759 --> 00:13:05.840 They do, except the only ones that we purchase 00:13:05.840 --> 00:13:08.960 are the 13 terminal bases and the six terminal bases. 00:13:08.960 --> 00:13:11.440 And those are only used with our instrument-rated equipment 00:13:11.440 --> 00:13:11.440 , 00:13:11.440 --> 00:13:13.759 like the PT's and CT's. 00:13:13.759 --> 00:13:15.519 Any self-contained meter, the customer 00:13:15.519 --> 00:13:17.000 purchased those bases. 00:13:17.000 --> 00:13:20.919 This base right here, the meter would actually-- 00:13:20.919 --> 00:13:23.120 this is what-- oh, I didn't do that. 00:13:23.120 --> 00:13:25.200 I promised. 00:13:25.200 --> 00:13:27.639 Right here is our 13 terminal socket. 00:13:27.639 --> 00:13:29.840 And this is where the meter would actually plug in. 00:13:29.840 --> 00:13:30.840 And then there would be a cover. 00:13:30.840 --> 00:13:32.759 Down here, we have our test switches. 00:13:32.759 --> 00:13:37.799 These switches here are for the potentials transformers. 00:13:37.799 --> 00:13:40.799 And here, you'll have a current, and then a current return, 00:13:40.799 --> 00:13:42.240 a current, and a current return. 00:13:42.240 --> 00:13:44.919 Those will be associated with your current transformers. 00:13:44.919 --> 00:13:46.840 And that was in this picture here. 00:13:46.840 --> 00:13:49.440 So right here, you have a potential transformer 00:13:49.440 --> 00:13:50.799 on the primary side. 00:13:50.799 --> 00:13:52.360 And this is the current transformer 00:13:52.360 --> 00:13:53.840 on the primary side. 00:13:53.840 --> 00:13:56.120 These here are just current transformers. 00:13:56.120 --> 00:13:59.639 And they're usually put inside the transformer or CT can. 00:13:59.639 --> 00:14:01.679 They're only measuring the secondary voltage 00:14:01.679 --> 00:14:05.879 opposed to the primary voltage, which is this. 00:14:05.879 --> 00:14:06.519 Thank you. 00:14:06.519 --> 00:14:07.879 You bet. 00:14:07.879 --> 00:14:09.320 Yes, ma'am. 00:14:09.320 --> 00:14:12.679 Could you please explain-- could you go to page three? 00:14:17.240 --> 00:14:21.039 And could you explain the difference 00:14:21.039 --> 00:14:25.879 between the non-disconnect and the disconnect? 00:14:25.879 --> 00:14:28.639 Does non-disconnect-- my assumption 00:14:28.639 --> 00:14:31.070 is that that simply means it has to be disconnected 00:14:31.070 --> 00:14:31.559 manually? 00:14:31.559 --> 00:14:32.320 That is correct. 00:14:32.320 --> 00:14:33.320 That's correct. 00:14:33.320 --> 00:14:37.159 When we initially rolled out the MI program, 00:14:37.159 --> 00:14:40.080 we only focused the disconnect meters 00:14:40.080 --> 00:14:41.919 on our multifamily dwellings. 00:14:41.919 --> 00:14:44.960 So a lot of the residential single-family homes 00:14:44.960 --> 00:14:47.679 just have a regular AMI meter without the remote disconnect 00:14:47.679 --> 00:14:47.879 . 00:14:47.879 --> 00:14:49.720 So we do still have to have a technician 00:14:49.720 --> 00:14:52.399 go out to disconnect that meter or to turn that meter on. 00:14:52.399 --> 00:14:52.919 OK. 00:14:52.919 --> 00:14:59.320 So why-- could you explain why it is primarily 00:14:59.320 --> 00:15:04.399 multifamily residents that have the remote disconnect? 00:15:04.399 --> 00:15:05.679 Is there a reason for that? 00:15:05.679 --> 00:15:08.759 At that time, we were targeting the apartment complexes 00:15:08.759 --> 00:15:10.639 because we have the two universities. 00:15:10.639 --> 00:15:14.440 And we have such a flux each spring and fall of residents 00:15:14.440 --> 00:15:15.919 moving in and moving out. 00:15:15.919 --> 00:15:19.240 So we thought we would get our bigger bang for our buck. 00:15:19.240 --> 00:15:21.120 Also, at the time that we began this, 00:15:21.120 --> 00:15:25.399 the remote disconnect meter was considerably more 00:15:25.399 --> 00:15:26.960 than just the regular meter. 00:15:26.960 --> 00:15:29.600 So we were trying to spend those dollars wisely. 00:15:29.600 --> 00:15:31.320 The remote disconnect costs more. 00:15:31.320 --> 00:15:32.080 Yes, ma'am. 00:15:32.080 --> 00:15:32.759 Yes, ma'am. 00:15:32.759 --> 00:15:35.120 So that was going to be my next question about the 00:15:35.120 --> 00:15:35.159 difference 00:15:35.159 --> 00:15:35.659 in cost. 00:15:35.659 --> 00:15:37.480 And what's the difference in cost? 00:15:37.480 --> 00:15:39.399 Right now-- well, at that time, it 00:15:39.399 --> 00:15:42.360 was probably a difference of about $70 or $80 00:15:42.360 --> 00:15:43.600 between the two. 00:15:43.600 --> 00:15:45.039 Now that price has come down. 00:15:45.039 --> 00:15:48.320 So in this proposal, all the meters we purchase 00:15:48.320 --> 00:15:49.639 will have the remote disconnect. 00:15:49.639 --> 00:15:51.080 We will no longer purchase a meter 00:15:51.080 --> 00:15:52.519 without the remote disconnect. 00:15:52.519 --> 00:15:53.120 OK. 00:15:53.120 --> 00:15:53.720 OK. 00:15:53.720 --> 00:15:55.879 They will all now have the remote disconnect. 00:15:55.879 --> 00:15:56.440 Yes, ma'am. 00:15:56.440 --> 00:15:57.759 OK. 00:15:57.759 --> 00:16:01.200 So the thinking in the past was because the multifamily 00:16:01.200 --> 00:16:03.879 accounts-- and I've seen before in our customer service 00:16:03.879 --> 00:16:04.840 data 00:16:04.840 --> 00:16:13.120 that multifamily accounts are overall more likely to get 00:16:13.120 --> 00:16:15.639 their power shut off statistically. 00:16:15.639 --> 00:16:16.440 Yes, yes. 00:16:16.440 --> 00:16:17.799 At the time, though, we were just 00:16:17.799 --> 00:16:20.080 looking at the workload of actually doing the connects 00:16:20.080 --> 00:16:22.159 and disconnects and rolling the trucks. 00:16:22.159 --> 00:16:24.559 So we're just cutting down on the number of truck rolls. 00:16:24.559 --> 00:16:27.279 Yeah, so now everybody will have those. 00:16:27.279 --> 00:16:27.919 Moving forward. 00:16:27.919 --> 00:16:28.440 Yes, ma'am. 00:16:28.440 --> 00:16:31.120 As we're doing it now, any time that we have a maintenance 00:16:31.120 --> 00:16:34.480 ticket or we have to turn on a meter or turn off a meter, 00:16:34.480 --> 00:16:38.360 we'll-- especially if it's a residential meter 200 amp, 00:16:38.360 --> 00:16:41.879 we'll replace that meter with a remote disconnect meter. 00:16:41.879 --> 00:16:46.919 So really, the remote disconnect is primarily 00:16:46.919 --> 00:16:51.799 for higher turnover type meters. 00:16:51.799 --> 00:16:55.559 I mean, because you have basically multifamily, 00:16:55.559 --> 00:16:59.600 you may have a six month or 12 month lease, 00:16:59.600 --> 00:17:02.399 and then it changes over in tenants. 00:17:02.399 --> 00:17:03.120 Yes. 00:17:03.120 --> 00:17:04.960 That was the thought initially. 00:17:04.960 --> 00:17:07.559 Now the reason why we're going to all remote meters 00:17:07.559 --> 00:17:09.720 is because we're trying to position ourselves 00:17:09.720 --> 00:17:13.039 to be ready for, first of all, our prepaid metering 00:17:13.039 --> 00:17:14.759 that we may roll out this summer. 00:17:14.759 --> 00:17:17.680 And then also, if we ever go to a time of use metering, 00:17:17.680 --> 00:17:19.880 that would be essential as well. 00:17:19.880 --> 00:17:21.279 OK. 00:17:21.279 --> 00:17:22.720 All right. 00:17:22.720 --> 00:17:25.000 Question, Charlie. 00:17:25.000 --> 00:17:28.119 Do you know or can you conject why we only 00:17:28.119 --> 00:17:30.799 had one bidder for the meters? 00:17:30.799 --> 00:17:32.640 One bidder for the meters? 00:17:32.640 --> 00:17:36.599 Actually, we have-- I think there's-- 00:17:36.599 --> 00:17:40.480 Are you only showing prices for the winning bids 00:17:40.480 --> 00:17:41.799 on your bid sheet? 00:17:41.799 --> 00:17:42.839 On the tabulation sheet? 00:17:42.839 --> 00:17:43.119 Yeah. 00:17:43.119 --> 00:17:44.839 Sorry, I don't have that in front of me. 00:17:44.839 --> 00:17:47.960 You're talking section A and section B. 00:17:47.960 --> 00:17:50.480 There's only one bidder. 00:17:50.480 --> 00:17:52.480 Was that the annex here? 00:17:52.480 --> 00:17:54.559 Yes. 00:17:54.559 --> 00:17:58.200 I don't understand why we only had one. 00:17:58.200 --> 00:17:59.400 Brandon, do you know? 00:17:59.400 --> 00:18:01.900 No. 00:18:01.900 --> 00:18:05.319 Brandon, this is Brandon Hamby, our electric meter manager. 00:18:05.319 --> 00:18:07.400 He was in on the process. 00:18:07.400 --> 00:18:08.279 OK. 00:18:08.279 --> 00:18:10.759 We sent the bid out, and we gave them 00:18:10.759 --> 00:18:14.599 the criteria of what we wanted for our electric meters. 00:18:14.599 --> 00:18:17.920 They had an opportunity to bid or pass on that section. 00:18:17.920 --> 00:18:20.279 And the most vendors passed on that section 00:18:20.279 --> 00:18:22.640 except for that one bidder. 00:18:22.640 --> 00:18:25.839 So we sent it out to-- 00:18:25.839 --> 00:18:28.720 I can't remember how many companies we sent to-- over 200. 00:18:28.720 --> 00:18:30.640 We had about six or seven respond. 00:18:30.640 --> 00:18:32.880 Of those six or seven that did respond to the bid, 00:18:32.880 --> 00:18:41.559 only one of them responded for that section A. 00:18:41.559 --> 00:18:42.599 OK. 00:18:42.599 --> 00:18:43.880 Other questions? 00:18:43.880 --> 00:18:44.880 Pardon? 00:18:44.880 --> 00:18:46.119 Aren't we happy he did? 00:18:46.119 --> 00:18:46.839 Yeah. 00:18:46.839 --> 00:18:48.240 Well, yeah, at least we got a bid. 00:18:48.240 --> 00:18:50.640 That's true. 00:18:50.640 --> 00:18:52.920 Any other questions? 00:18:52.920 --> 00:18:54.759 OK. 00:18:54.759 --> 00:18:58.519 Is there a motion then for item B? 00:19:01.200 --> 00:19:03.279 I recommend approval. 00:19:03.279 --> 00:19:06.160 Motion approves or second? 00:19:06.160 --> 00:19:08.559 Second. 00:19:08.559 --> 00:19:11.119 Further discussion? 00:19:11.119 --> 00:19:13.119 If not, all in favor say aye. 00:19:13.119 --> 00:19:13.920 Aye. 00:19:13.920 --> 00:19:16.160 Any opposed? 00:19:16.160 --> 00:19:18.480 Motion passes. 00:19:18.480 --> 00:19:22.359 Item C is to consider recommending adoption 00:19:22.359 --> 00:19:24.359 of an ordinance of the city of Denton 00:19:24.359 --> 00:19:27.400 approving an easement and right of way agreement 00:19:27.400 --> 00:19:32.319 granting 0.857 Area Easement Encore Electric Delivery 00:19:32.319 --> 00:19:37.279 Company located in the Moreau Forest Survey 00:19:37.279 --> 00:19:44.160 for the purchase price of $49,630, 00:19:44.160 --> 00:19:47.559 which is also known as the ARCO substation. 00:19:47.559 --> 00:19:48.059 Yes, sir. 00:19:48.059 --> 00:19:51.240 Good evening, Chairman Robinson and Public Utilities Board. 00:19:51.240 --> 00:19:54.200 I'm Brent Heath, Executive Manager for Energy Delivery. 00:19:54.200 --> 00:19:57.039 Here tonight to talk about the ARCO substation and an eas 00:19:57.039 --> 00:19:57.319 ement 00:19:57.319 --> 00:20:03.160 that we need for two of Encore's transmission lines. 00:20:03.160 --> 00:20:05.960 You might recall ARCO was located on the northeast side 00:20:05.960 --> 00:20:12.119 of town at the northeast corner of Black Road and Giesling. 00:20:12.119 --> 00:20:14.440 ARCO substation, the new one, has been built 00:20:14.440 --> 00:20:17.920 and was energized in June of 2016. 00:20:17.920 --> 00:20:19.319 And so we're trying to convert-- it 00:20:19.319 --> 00:20:22.160 was built adjacent to the old ARCO substation. 00:20:22.160 --> 00:20:24.279 So everything is getting moved from the old site 00:20:24.279 --> 00:20:25.160 to the new site. 00:20:25.160 --> 00:20:27.920 And Encore has one transmission line now, 00:20:27.920 --> 00:20:30.480 and they're adding a second one into that. 00:20:30.480 --> 00:20:32.640 And so there needs to be an easement across the city 00:20:32.640 --> 00:20:37.519 of Denton property for Encore to legally have the rights 00:20:37.519 --> 00:20:40.319 to cross the land to tie into the substation. 00:20:40.319 --> 00:20:42.960 And so they've agreed to pay the city of Denton the exact 00:20:42.960 --> 00:20:43.240 same 00:20:43.240 --> 00:20:46.319 price per square foot that we paid the landowner originally 00:20:46.319 --> 00:20:48.519 when we bought the site, which was, I believe, 00:20:48.519 --> 00:20:51.160 $1.33 per square foot. 00:20:51.160 --> 00:20:53.119 And so we thought that was pretty good, 00:20:53.119 --> 00:20:55.559 because we actually bought the land and owned the land, 00:20:55.559 --> 00:20:57.519 and they're just going to be getting an easement. 00:20:57.519 --> 00:20:58.480 Here's a visual diagram. 00:20:58.480 --> 00:21:01.839 On the left-hand side shows the ARCO substation, the old 00:21:01.839 --> 00:21:02.039 one 00:21:02.039 --> 00:21:04.359 down in the bottom section. 00:21:04.359 --> 00:21:07.480 And this is the outline of where the new station went. 00:21:07.480 --> 00:21:09.559 The reason it got larger is because it does have 00:21:09.559 --> 00:21:11.359 multiple transmission lines. 00:21:11.359 --> 00:21:12.440 I'm kind of like JR. 00:21:12.440 --> 00:21:16.119 I'm not sure why it's cutting out up on the screen. 00:21:16.119 --> 00:21:18.079 Multiple transmission lines that come into that. 00:21:18.079 --> 00:21:20.920 Presently, there's three transmission lines, one here 00:21:20.920 --> 00:21:26.559 that comes from the Denton North to ARCO line. 00:21:26.559 --> 00:21:28.599 There's another one here that goes down Black Road 00:21:28.599 --> 00:21:29.920 to the west. 00:21:29.920 --> 00:21:32.319 And there's this Encore line that 00:21:32.319 --> 00:21:34.200 comes down to the old station. 00:21:34.200 --> 00:21:36.599 On the right-hand side shows the new station 00:21:36.599 --> 00:21:39.839 after we energized it in June of 2016. 00:21:39.839 --> 00:21:43.240 This clouded area is the easement that's being asked for. 00:21:43.240 --> 00:21:45.720 Encore kept their line coming in, 00:21:45.720 --> 00:21:47.259 but instead of coming through here, 00:21:47.259 --> 00:21:49.119 because that's not used now, they're 00:21:49.119 --> 00:21:52.319 coming across up to this location for the first line 00:21:52.319 --> 00:21:54.279 that they already have. 00:21:54.279 --> 00:21:56.119 There is a second line that's going 00:21:56.119 --> 00:22:00.079 to be going to their NAVO substation out east of town. 00:22:00.079 --> 00:22:02.759 This bay is going to be used in the substation, which 00:22:02.759 --> 00:22:06.240 we did not have the capability to have an interconnection 00:22:06.240 --> 00:22:08.720 with them in the past, but we knew to have 00:22:08.720 --> 00:22:11.079 the room available to do that. 00:22:11.079 --> 00:22:13.480 It also will come down in that same easement 00:22:13.480 --> 00:22:15.319 and tie along the same transmission line. 00:22:18.480 --> 00:22:25.880 The copy of the easement is right here. 00:22:25.880 --> 00:22:27.640 It's 100-foot wide, easement width 00:22:27.640 --> 00:22:30.880 across the very eastern portion of the city of Denton side. 00:22:30.880 --> 00:22:34.160 From here over to the top left-hand corner 00:22:34.160 --> 00:22:37.960 is the substation property where it's built. 00:22:37.960 --> 00:22:39.599 So the easement in question is right here 00:22:39.599 --> 00:22:44.480 that was shown in the clouded area on the previous slide. 00:22:44.480 --> 00:22:48.000 So DME recommends the approval of the Encore easement 00:22:48.000 --> 00:22:50.720 to get to the new Arco substation. 00:22:50.720 --> 00:22:52.839 And I stand for any questions that you all may have. 00:22:55.319 --> 00:22:57.680 Is aerial easement just for the line, 00:22:57.680 --> 00:23:03.440 or they need a road, a physical road as well or something? 00:23:03.440 --> 00:23:06.680 There's two poles that are actually out here right now 00:23:06.680 --> 00:23:10.759 that have been placed in this one span. 00:23:10.759 --> 00:23:12.839 So no poles across here from here down 00:23:12.839 --> 00:23:15.400 to where their existing transmission line is at. 00:23:15.400 --> 00:23:17.440 So just a single span. 00:23:17.440 --> 00:23:19.559 And so they will have to be able to drive underneath it 00:23:19.559 --> 00:23:21.279 if something should happen. 00:23:21.279 --> 00:23:23.640 But the easement allows them the right to access and 00:23:23.640 --> 00:23:23.759 maintain 00:23:23.759 --> 00:23:25.000 that transmission line. 00:23:25.000 --> 00:23:28.079 The actual poles outside the fence on the city of Denton 00:23:28.079 --> 00:23:31.640 property is the point of demarcation. 00:23:31.640 --> 00:23:33.640 So the substation, the city of Denton, 00:23:33.640 --> 00:23:36.640 DME owns out to the poles. 00:23:36.640 --> 00:23:38.599 And then from the pole all the way down here 00:23:38.599 --> 00:23:42.730 would be Encore's line heading out to the east side of town 00:23:42.730 --> 00:23:43.079 . 00:23:43.079 --> 00:23:44.079 Thank you. 00:23:44.079 --> 00:23:45.680 You're welcome. 00:23:45.680 --> 00:23:49.559 Other questions? 00:23:49.559 --> 00:23:52.119 Is there a motion then for item number C? 00:23:55.839 --> 00:23:56.720 Second. 00:23:56.720 --> 00:24:02.160 We have a motion and a second to approve recommending 00:24:02.160 --> 00:24:08.559 adoption of the ordinance for item C. Any discussion? 00:24:08.559 --> 00:24:10.400 If not, all in favor say aye. 00:24:10.400 --> 00:24:11.319 Aye. 00:24:11.319 --> 00:24:11.880 Any opposed? 00:24:11.880 --> 00:24:13.279 Same sign. 00:24:13.279 --> 00:24:15.240 Motion passes. 00:24:15.240 --> 00:24:18.200 Thank you, Brent. 00:24:18.200 --> 00:24:21.279 OK, item D is to consider recommending 00:24:21.279 --> 00:24:23.880 formal adoption of a renewable resource plan 00:24:23.880 --> 00:24:25.559 for Denton Municipal Utility. 00:24:33.319 --> 00:24:37.359 Good evening, chairman and board members. 00:24:37.359 --> 00:24:39.279 George Morrow, general manager of DME, 00:24:39.279 --> 00:24:43.759 here to present kind of a conclusion of the resource 00:24:43.759 --> 00:24:46.559 planning process for DME. 00:24:46.559 --> 00:24:49.440 As you recall, Enterprise Risk Consulting 00:24:49.440 --> 00:24:53.039 prepared a draft renewable resource plan 00:24:53.039 --> 00:24:57.130 and presented it to the PUB and the city council in October 00:24:57.130 --> 00:24:57.519 . 00:24:57.519 --> 00:24:59.799 Their purpose at that time was to get some direction 00:24:59.799 --> 00:25:03.000 on some key questions and to present preliminary study 00:25:03.000 --> 00:25:04.240 results. 00:25:04.240 --> 00:25:07.759 Purpose today is to get your support or recommendation 00:25:07.759 --> 00:25:11.000 to adopt formally this resource plan 00:25:11.000 --> 00:25:13.839 as the results have been finalized. 00:25:13.839 --> 00:25:16.119 Those key questions I referred to were, one, 00:25:16.119 --> 00:25:18.839 should Denton accelerate renewable resources? 00:25:18.839 --> 00:25:21.279 The answer we received back, the consultants received back, 00:25:21.279 --> 00:25:22.039 was yes. 00:25:22.039 --> 00:25:24.519 Should Denton move forward the date of the 100% renewable 00:25:24.519 --> 00:25:25.920 goal? 00:25:25.920 --> 00:25:28.559 Answer came back to us, yes. 00:25:28.559 --> 00:25:30.480 Should Denton delay solar purchases because 00:25:30.480 --> 00:25:32.359 of a potential solar tariff? 00:25:32.359 --> 00:25:35.319 I think we heard no. 00:25:35.319 --> 00:25:39.279 And we're hoping to hear some outcome on the solar tariff 00:25:39.279 --> 00:25:42.200 legislation or rules pretty soon. 00:25:42.200 --> 00:25:45.000 And lastly, should Whitetail, which is our wind resource, 00:25:45.000 --> 00:25:46.640 be counted as a renewable resource? 00:25:46.640 --> 00:25:49.519 And we heard no. 00:25:49.519 --> 00:25:52.640 So those are the guidance that went back to ERC 00:25:52.640 --> 00:25:55.720 as they pull things together. 00:25:55.720 --> 00:25:58.150 I just wanted to give another snapshot of our existing 00:25:58.150 --> 00:25:58.319 power 00:25:58.319 --> 00:26:02.000 resources as of January 2019. 00:26:02.000 --> 00:26:06.480 We've got the Whitetail, Bluebell, solar, Santa Rita 00:26:06.480 --> 00:26:08.599 wind, and the landfill. 00:26:08.599 --> 00:26:10.599 And the point of this slide basically 00:26:10.599 --> 00:26:13.160 is that excluding Whitetail, our portfolio 00:26:13.160 --> 00:26:16.640 will be 44% renewable as of 2019. 00:26:16.640 --> 00:26:19.240 Therefore, if you're looking to go to 100%, 00:26:19.240 --> 00:26:21.559 we've got a little ways to go. 00:26:21.559 --> 00:26:24.480 This snapshot assumes the retirement of Gibbons Creek 00:26:24.480 --> 00:26:26.559 on September 30, 2018. 00:26:26.559 --> 00:26:30.279 We're moving diligently toward that goal. 00:26:30.279 --> 00:26:32.880 But that's still an open question. 00:26:32.880 --> 00:26:34.640 We've got other partners in that project 00:26:34.640 --> 00:26:39.119 that we're trying to get lined up with our expectations. 00:26:39.119 --> 00:26:46.240 So with that direction, ERC evaluated 00:26:46.240 --> 00:26:50.440 what made sense to get to the 100% by 2020. 00:26:50.440 --> 00:26:52.119 And they have some key findings. 00:26:52.119 --> 00:26:55.240 And you heard this several times during their presentation. 00:26:55.240 --> 00:26:57.480 And I'm trying not to be too redundant today. 00:26:57.480 --> 00:27:00.039 That solar in a relatively low congestion zone 00:27:00.039 --> 00:27:01.279 would be preferred. 00:27:01.279 --> 00:27:03.319 So that's our number one priority. 00:27:03.319 --> 00:27:05.160 Coastal wind rated second best. 00:27:05.160 --> 00:27:08.160 And you heard why that was, the profiles and so forth. 00:27:08.160 --> 00:27:10.799 And that Western wind is a lower rated option 00:27:10.799 --> 00:27:13.480 since we've already got a large tranche of Western wind. 00:27:13.480 --> 00:27:16.759 And the location is a bit problematic sometimes 00:27:16.759 --> 00:27:18.039 from a congestion standpoint. 00:27:18.039 --> 00:27:22.960 So their final recommendation that came out of the report 00:27:22.960 --> 00:27:26.519 that you have before you tonight is that we 00:27:26.519 --> 00:27:30.680 moved toward 200 megawatts of solar. 00:27:30.680 --> 00:27:31.920 And you know what? 00:27:31.920 --> 00:27:34.079 I have somehow a little typo creeped in here. 00:27:34.079 --> 00:27:35.799 You can't really get good help sometimes. 00:27:35.799 --> 00:27:37.119 And 100 megawatts of wind. 00:27:37.119 --> 00:27:39.039 So originally, their preliminary-- 00:27:39.039 --> 00:27:40.079 and I did this myself. 00:27:40.079 --> 00:27:45.519 So you got to have a sense of humor, I think. 00:27:45.519 --> 00:27:48.440 So originally, they thought maybe 150 megawatts of wind 00:27:48.440 --> 00:27:48.960 made sense. 00:27:48.960 --> 00:27:50.759 But in the final analysis, kind of pushed up 00:27:50.759 --> 00:27:52.759 the solar a little bit, the wind down. 00:27:52.759 --> 00:27:54.960 So we're looking at 200 megawatts of solar 00:27:54.960 --> 00:27:56.720 and 150 megawatts of wind as being 00:27:56.720 --> 00:27:59.160 the preferred recommendation. 00:27:59.160 --> 00:28:01.400 And it's going to depend on the bids that come back. 00:28:01.400 --> 00:28:07.200 So we have an existing RFP out on the street, 00:28:07.200 --> 00:28:12.079 kind of in the final conclusions of deciding which of those 00:28:12.079 --> 00:28:14.359 offers we're going to pursue. 00:28:14.359 --> 00:28:16.599 And there were, as was presented earlier, 00:28:16.599 --> 00:28:19.799 a lot of different projects out there, a lot of firms that 00:28:19.799 --> 00:28:20.640 bid. 00:28:20.640 --> 00:28:23.160 In fact, 40 firms, 84 unique projects 00:28:23.160 --> 00:28:24.660 with a whole lot of iterations when 00:28:24.660 --> 00:28:30.039 you look at the time periods, the locations, the amounts. 00:28:30.039 --> 00:28:35.960 So we'll be moving forward on one of those 00:28:35.960 --> 00:28:39.400 and probably coming back to you in the next two months 00:28:39.400 --> 00:28:42.880 with a recommendation following negotiation of a contract 00:28:42.880 --> 00:28:45.480 with the preferred vendor. 00:28:45.480 --> 00:28:48.440 And next, we'll have some additional renewable RFPs. 00:28:48.440 --> 00:28:53.440 So probably two will focus solar, will focus wind. 00:28:53.440 --> 00:28:56.559 And one thing I wanted to mention today, 00:28:56.559 --> 00:28:58.359 I think you heard it at the last presentation, 00:28:58.359 --> 00:29:00.599 is there's a possibility of including others 00:29:00.599 --> 00:29:02.240 in with our project. 00:29:02.240 --> 00:29:04.720 Some of the sizes that it takes to make a project happen 00:29:04.720 --> 00:29:06.279 are pretty large. 00:29:06.279 --> 00:29:09.319 Sometimes it makes sense to diversify and not put 00:29:09.319 --> 00:29:10.680 of all of our eggs in one basket. 00:29:10.680 --> 00:29:13.779 So we're looking at the possibility of partnering 00:29:13.779 --> 00:29:16.359 with some other agencies, maybe even getting involved 00:29:16.359 --> 00:29:18.160 in some of their RFPs. 00:29:18.160 --> 00:29:20.279 We had one agency talk to us about, hey, 00:29:20.279 --> 00:29:21.880 they're putting an RFP on the street, 00:29:21.880 --> 00:29:24.200 and would we like to consider joining their project? 00:29:24.200 --> 00:29:29.880 So if you have any input or perspective on that now 00:29:29.880 --> 00:29:31.039 or later, let me know. 00:29:34.440 --> 00:29:36.759 I wanted to talk briefly, one of the large subjects 00:29:36.759 --> 00:29:39.839 in the renewable plan was the Denton Energy Center. 00:29:39.839 --> 00:29:41.119 I wanted to give you an update. 00:29:41.119 --> 00:29:43.559 It's 89% complete. 00:29:43.559 --> 00:29:46.559 We're staffing that plan as we speak. 00:29:46.559 --> 00:29:50.650 Anticipate that operating early summer on a commercial 00:29:50.650 --> 00:29:51.359 basis. 00:29:51.359 --> 00:29:54.160 And I think the plan was very fair about its treatment 00:29:54.160 --> 00:29:54.640 of the deck. 00:29:54.640 --> 00:29:59.579 It will provide a hedge against the price spikes that you 00:29:59.579 --> 00:29:59.680 'll 00:29:59.680 --> 00:30:00.799 see in the air-cut market. 00:30:00.799 --> 00:30:03.200 In fact, we saw some large price spikes in the last week 00:30:03.200 --> 00:30:06.720 as the cold front kind of swept through our area. 00:30:06.720 --> 00:30:08.519 And it's possible. 00:30:08.519 --> 00:30:10.720 You've heard about some of the retirements out there 00:30:10.720 --> 00:30:14.119 of the big coal units, some of the larger, older natural 00:30:14.119 --> 00:30:14.319 gas 00:30:14.319 --> 00:30:15.359 units. 00:30:15.359 --> 00:30:19.440 As they get retired, it may dramatically increase in value. 00:30:19.440 --> 00:30:21.200 And that's going to be staff's objective, 00:30:21.200 --> 00:30:24.519 is to look at all options to try to enhance 00:30:24.519 --> 00:30:28.160 the value of the deck to the citizens of Denton. 00:30:30.720 --> 00:30:34.960 Whitetail, I wanted to talk briefly about Whitetail. 00:30:34.960 --> 00:30:38.680 It was an original 2009 contract. 00:30:38.680 --> 00:30:41.640 Initially started with-- well, it was 30 megawatts 00:30:41.640 --> 00:30:44.920 with an additional 30 megawatts of REX. 00:30:44.920 --> 00:30:48.160 Of course, the first 30 megawatts also came with REX. 00:30:48.160 --> 00:30:49.559 It's around the clock power. 00:30:49.559 --> 00:30:52.079 It's firm power. 00:30:52.079 --> 00:30:54.279 And in the resource plan, the one 00:30:54.279 --> 00:30:55.880 that we're asking you to approve today, 00:30:55.880 --> 00:31:00.880 it's not considered as a renewable resource. 00:31:00.880 --> 00:31:03.519 That has kind of intrigued me as I came on board here. 00:31:03.519 --> 00:31:06.440 And I'm doing some additional research on that. 00:31:06.440 --> 00:31:08.000 So if I find anything interesting, 00:31:08.000 --> 00:31:09.579 I've kind of found a few things that 00:31:09.579 --> 00:31:12.400 intrigue me about the nature of this transaction going back 00:31:12.400 --> 00:31:16.039 to 2009, and whether it is or it isn't renewable, 00:31:16.039 --> 00:31:18.039 and also based on my experience in California, 00:31:18.039 --> 00:31:22.079 where we've done a lot of this firmed and shaping with wind 00:31:22.079 --> 00:31:22.079 . 00:31:22.079 --> 00:31:24.640 Doesn't necessarily mean it's not renewable. 00:31:24.640 --> 00:31:26.559 It just means sometimes it's very complex 00:31:26.559 --> 00:31:29.049 to schedule wind that's so transient through the 00:31:29.049 --> 00:31:29.599 transmission 00:31:29.599 --> 00:31:32.039 network and through the control systems 00:31:32.039 --> 00:31:36.720 that we negotiate these a little bit flatter, a little more 00:31:36.720 --> 00:31:40.039 manageable delivery points. 00:31:40.039 --> 00:31:43.640 But sometimes they're still considered as renewable. 00:31:43.640 --> 00:31:47.559 So not ready to come forward yet with all the things 00:31:47.559 --> 00:31:49.119 that I'm finding in that research, 00:31:49.119 --> 00:31:52.200 but probably in the next month or so I'd like to do that, 00:31:52.200 --> 00:31:56.240 provided that I have some feeling that a different-- 00:31:56.240 --> 00:31:59.039 that maybe ERC didn't have perhaps all of the information 00:31:59.039 --> 00:32:01.559 that would make sense in that particular evaluation. 00:32:01.559 --> 00:32:02.960 Yes. 00:32:02.960 --> 00:32:04.400 I have a question, and the answer 00:32:04.400 --> 00:32:07.880 might be that you don't feel quite ready to answer. 00:32:07.880 --> 00:32:11.960 But just to clarify, so are you looking 00:32:11.960 --> 00:32:19.799 into the question of whether or not whitetail actually 00:32:19.799 --> 00:32:25.119 has more physical generation than was previously thought, 00:32:25.119 --> 00:32:28.680 or are you looking into reconsidering 00:32:28.680 --> 00:32:38.160 the definition of renewable energy credits as not 00:32:38.160 --> 00:32:40.519 counting as renewables? 00:32:40.519 --> 00:32:42.039 Does that make sense, my question? 00:32:42.039 --> 00:32:42.880 Well, I think so. 00:32:42.880 --> 00:32:45.240 So the physical part of the whitetail project, 00:32:45.240 --> 00:32:47.440 which is the 30 megawatts around the clock, 00:32:47.440 --> 00:32:53.400 I think that's what I'm reviewing as being potentially 00:32:53.400 --> 00:32:55.400 a renewable resource. 00:32:55.400 --> 00:33:00.599 The additional 30 megawatts of recs that we get, no. 00:33:00.599 --> 00:33:01.759 OK, OK. 00:33:01.759 --> 00:33:02.400 Clearly not. 00:33:02.400 --> 00:33:04.480 OK, so you're looking at that 30%-- 00:33:04.480 --> 00:33:06.720 The physical 30 megawatts. 00:33:06.720 --> 00:33:08.759 I'm going back to 2009. 00:33:08.759 --> 00:33:11.680 What were the party's intentions at the time? 00:33:11.680 --> 00:33:15.119 Why did it become a firm transaction versus a run 00:33:15.119 --> 00:33:18.559 of the wind kind of project? 00:33:18.559 --> 00:33:21.470 And there were some reasons that I think I found behind 00:33:21.470 --> 00:33:22.400 that. 00:33:22.400 --> 00:33:25.680 There were some representations made by Nextera, 00:33:25.680 --> 00:33:29.880 the entity who built that project that I 00:33:29.880 --> 00:33:32.559 want to get some second and third opinions on that I 00:33:32.559 --> 00:33:35.640 think you'd find interesting. 00:33:35.640 --> 00:33:47.240 And so yes, I think it's worth another discussion perhaps. 00:33:47.240 --> 00:33:50.640 And I'm part way up the slope, and I'd 00:33:50.640 --> 00:33:53.400 like to kind of save all the ammunition until I get there, 00:33:53.400 --> 00:33:56.160 keep the powder dry for the moment. 00:33:56.160 --> 00:33:58.200 And I have a kind of follow-up question to that, 00:33:58.200 --> 00:34:03.359 unless anybody else has any questions about whitetail. 00:34:03.359 --> 00:34:04.440 While we're on whitetail-- 00:34:04.440 --> 00:34:06.799 Yeah, yeah. 00:34:06.799 --> 00:34:11.000 Yeah, I think-- well, no. 00:34:11.000 --> 00:34:14.320 The direction or whatever that-- 00:34:14.320 --> 00:34:19.440 stated intention both by PB and council 00:34:19.440 --> 00:34:21.760 is that when we call it renewable, 00:34:21.760 --> 00:34:23.400 it needs to be renewable. 00:34:23.400 --> 00:34:26.559 And not be-- I'm not saying there's-- 00:34:26.559 --> 00:34:29.119 it's not a bait and switch, but what maybe 00:34:29.119 --> 00:34:33.639 seemed like renewable in 2009 may not be now. 00:34:33.639 --> 00:34:41.239 But yeah, if the firm part is actually renewable, 00:34:41.239 --> 00:34:43.960 then that's great. 00:34:43.960 --> 00:34:47.559 If there's some gray area there, it 00:34:47.559 --> 00:34:49.840 means more to me to be-- 00:34:49.840 --> 00:34:50.400 Correct. 00:34:50.400 --> 00:34:54.519 Correct, as opposed to another percentage point. 00:34:54.519 --> 00:34:56.440 When you say firm, you mean physical? 00:34:56.440 --> 00:34:58.679 Physical, yeah, physical energy. 00:34:58.679 --> 00:35:01.960 Got it, got it. 00:35:01.960 --> 00:35:05.000 So and then my other question about this 00:35:05.000 --> 00:35:09.800 was when you say that staff is working on it, 00:35:09.800 --> 00:35:14.480 do you mean DME staff in addition to the consultants 00:35:14.480 --> 00:35:17.599 or DME staff plus you're looking at-- because you had said 00:35:17.599 --> 00:35:22.320 something a moment ago about second and third opinions 00:35:22.320 --> 00:35:24.360 from other sources? 00:35:24.360 --> 00:35:27.079 So the process I think I'd like to undertake 00:35:27.079 --> 00:35:31.000 is I'm heading up the review for myself. 00:35:31.000 --> 00:35:33.800 I'm the new person here, and I want 00:35:33.800 --> 00:35:36.079 to get a little more data on that, 00:35:36.079 --> 00:35:38.719 because I'm used to firmed and shaped wind as being 00:35:38.719 --> 00:35:39.239 renewable. 00:35:39.239 --> 00:35:40.840 So that was kind of my starting point. 00:35:40.840 --> 00:35:43.400 So when I saw a firm that would call firm and shaped 00:35:43.400 --> 00:35:43.840 resource 00:35:43.840 --> 00:35:46.679 here from the Wolf Ridge Wind Project, 00:35:46.679 --> 00:35:49.679 and I think, hey, it's worth a little more. 00:35:49.679 --> 00:35:54.000 Before I come to the utility board and council, if I do, 00:35:54.000 --> 00:35:58.159 if it meets what I think you'd be interested in, 00:35:58.159 --> 00:36:01.989 I'll work with ERC and see if we can get a meeting of the 00:36:01.989 --> 00:36:02.320 minds 00:36:02.320 --> 00:36:04.679 a little bit different than what was presented to you 00:36:04.679 --> 00:36:05.360 earlier, 00:36:05.360 --> 00:36:07.960 or at least get their perspective. 00:36:07.960 --> 00:36:11.000 And their perspective may not change. 00:36:11.000 --> 00:36:12.480 If I have a different perspective, 00:36:12.480 --> 00:36:14.199 I'm just going to tell you what I think, 00:36:14.199 --> 00:36:16.159 and we kind of go from there. 00:36:16.159 --> 00:36:17.039 Thank you. 00:36:17.039 --> 00:36:22.960 And I was wondering, since we have our enterprise 00:36:22.960 --> 00:36:23.559 consultants 00:36:23.559 --> 00:36:26.480 here, if it would be appropriate, 00:36:26.480 --> 00:36:32.920 if they would feel prepared to speak to this issue. 00:36:32.920 --> 00:36:36.199 I sense that they're probably aware of the kind of debates 00:36:36.199 --> 00:36:40.039 about whether this 30% should count or not. 00:36:40.039 --> 00:36:44.039 Well, I mean, I heard what they had to say. 00:36:44.039 --> 00:36:47.920 And I'm taking that into account. 00:36:47.920 --> 00:36:51.440 I watched the PUB meeting, and I watched the city council 00:36:51.440 --> 00:36:53.480 meeting related to Whitetail. 00:36:53.480 --> 00:36:55.440 And I heard the perspectives, and I 00:36:55.440 --> 00:36:57.039 heard their expressions. 00:36:57.039 --> 00:37:00.719 So I think my opinion is there might be some information 00:37:00.719 --> 00:37:04.449 relevant to that decision, even support some of the 00:37:04.449 --> 00:37:04.840 statements 00:37:04.840 --> 00:37:09.960 I heard from ERC that would make this a renewable resource. 00:37:09.960 --> 00:37:12.440 Why am I pursuing that? 00:37:12.440 --> 00:37:14.639 First off, it's got to be renewable. 00:37:14.639 --> 00:37:16.719 We'd have to all agree that that's really 00:37:16.719 --> 00:37:18.800 what's going on here, and that we're 00:37:18.800 --> 00:37:21.840 credible in that conclusion if we get to that point. 00:37:21.840 --> 00:37:26.039 But there's a lot of cost at stake 00:37:26.039 --> 00:37:28.000 if that is not a renewable resource. 00:37:28.000 --> 00:37:32.719 Now, that's 30 megawatts around the clock, 00:37:32.719 --> 00:37:35.599 262,000 megawatt hours that basically 00:37:35.599 --> 00:37:38.030 are going to be over and above what we need to serve our 00:37:38.030 --> 00:37:38.360 load 00:37:38.360 --> 00:37:40.840 that we'll have to put out to the market. 00:37:40.840 --> 00:37:44.159 We'll have to liquidate it, and we'll liquidate it 00:37:44.159 --> 00:37:46.000 at some sense on the dollar. 00:37:46.000 --> 00:37:49.119 So that kind of also got me interested. 00:37:49.119 --> 00:37:51.199 It's worth, in my opinion, for me 00:37:51.199 --> 00:37:53.039 to spend a little more time on that 00:37:53.039 --> 00:37:55.960 to see if I come to the same conclusion. 00:37:55.960 --> 00:37:58.199 I could give you some additional information right now, 00:37:58.199 --> 00:38:01.880 but I'd kind of like to save it and open it up another time 00:38:01.880 --> 00:38:02.119 . 00:38:02.119 --> 00:38:04.559 And that was my guess that it probably 00:38:04.559 --> 00:38:08.760 was about the cost issue, that there was already 00:38:08.760 --> 00:38:10.719 a commitment to this. 00:38:10.719 --> 00:38:12.440 No, cost did not factor in. 00:38:12.440 --> 00:38:13.800 It cost got me interested. 00:38:13.800 --> 00:38:16.480 Oh, OK, I see. 00:38:16.480 --> 00:38:18.480 OK. 00:38:18.480 --> 00:38:19.760 That was why you-- 00:38:19.760 --> 00:38:21.280 it was a little bit intriguing to me. 00:38:21.280 --> 00:38:24.679 There's a lot at stake from that standpoint. 00:38:24.679 --> 00:38:29.039 And then again is my experience with firm to shape 00:38:29.039 --> 00:38:29.599 resources 00:38:29.599 --> 00:38:36.559 in the West that these are considered as renewable. 00:38:36.559 --> 00:38:41.309 The recs we do get for that 30 megawatts come from Wolf 00:38:41.309 --> 00:38:42.280 Ridge. 00:38:42.280 --> 00:38:44.639 When you look at the scale and the size of that Wolf Ridge 00:38:44.639 --> 00:38:47.599 project, it is very similar to that 30 megawatts. 00:38:47.599 --> 00:38:49.960 If you were to collapse it down to a straight delivery, 00:38:49.960 --> 00:38:52.360 it would roughly equal that, maybe a tiny bit more. 00:38:54.840 --> 00:38:57.760 I think initially it was going to be a run 00:38:57.760 --> 00:39:01.440 of the mill type resource. 00:39:01.440 --> 00:39:06.639 We had a third party at that time managing our QSE. 00:39:06.639 --> 00:39:10.119 That wasn't what I hear, and again, I 00:39:10.119 --> 00:39:12.079 want some more verification. 00:39:12.079 --> 00:39:14.760 They weren't able to deal with that transit 00:39:14.760 --> 00:39:17.869 nature of that resource at that time way back in those days 00:39:17.869 --> 00:39:18.079 . 00:39:18.079 --> 00:39:20.480 And so out of that discussion came, well, 00:39:20.480 --> 00:39:23.400 maybe we should just modify the schedules, 00:39:23.400 --> 00:39:24.639 take it around the clock. 00:39:24.639 --> 00:39:28.039 But the intention would be it was a resource 00:39:28.039 --> 00:39:29.719 from that location. 00:39:32.400 --> 00:39:35.159 Clearly today some folks have abuse recs. 00:39:35.159 --> 00:39:36.639 The prices have gotten very cheap. 00:39:36.639 --> 00:39:40.840 And you can make yourself look more green probably 00:39:40.840 --> 00:39:43.760 than you deserve by saying, hey, I'm 00:39:43.760 --> 00:39:46.360 going to take a natural gas resource 00:39:46.360 --> 00:39:52.119 and pair it up with some low price recs and call it green. 00:39:52.119 --> 00:39:53.800 And there's some of that happening, 00:39:53.800 --> 00:39:58.719 but that isn't what happened with this resource. 00:39:58.719 --> 00:40:01.280 They're not $0.50 or $1 recs, which 00:40:01.280 --> 00:40:03.039 is kind of what the market is today. 00:40:03.039 --> 00:40:06.079 These are expensive recs and consistent 00:40:06.079 --> 00:40:08.599 with the value, the renewable value of that resource 00:40:08.599 --> 00:40:09.360 back in those days. 00:40:09.360 --> 00:40:12.079 We still pay a lot for the recs associated 00:40:12.079 --> 00:40:15.429 with that, consistent again with what the cost was at the 00:40:15.429 --> 00:40:15.760 time. 00:40:23.159 --> 00:40:25.840 So I'd like to pull a little more pieces together. 00:40:25.840 --> 00:40:31.039 I think it's not just a spiritual issue. 00:40:31.039 --> 00:40:35.199 I think there's some serious professional technical reasons 00:40:35.199 --> 00:40:39.119 why maybe we ought to at least have one more discussion. 00:40:39.119 --> 00:40:40.159 Thank you so much. 00:40:40.159 --> 00:40:40.679 Thank you. 00:40:40.679 --> 00:40:41.159 Thank you. 00:40:41.159 --> 00:40:43.280 Thank you. 00:40:43.280 --> 00:40:44.960 Other questions? 00:40:44.960 --> 00:40:47.159 What's the term of that contract? 00:40:47.159 --> 00:40:50.460 It expires at the end of 2023, so we're looking at another 00:40:50.460 --> 00:40:50.639 five 00:40:50.639 --> 00:40:53.159 or six years. 00:40:53.159 --> 00:40:55.440 And you can see-- the reason I put this back up there 00:40:55.440 --> 00:40:58.760 is to show sort of what that resource does for us. 00:40:58.760 --> 00:41:05.039 You can see our load in the purple here, if that's purple. 00:41:05.039 --> 00:41:09.840 And this piece up here represents the white tail. 00:41:09.840 --> 00:41:12.679 So that's well above our load. 00:41:12.679 --> 00:41:16.679 And it would basically all have to be sold to the market. 00:41:16.679 --> 00:41:19.719 And if it could be considered renewable, 00:41:19.719 --> 00:41:22.960 that would be legitimately considered. 00:41:22.960 --> 00:41:25.239 Then that would be a benefit and help 00:41:25.239 --> 00:41:28.679 us get to our goals a little bit quicker if we can do that. 00:41:28.679 --> 00:41:31.000 So like I said, I mentioned I thought 00:41:31.000 --> 00:41:33.800 it was worth my time to spend a little bit of work on that, 00:41:33.800 --> 00:41:36.840 being kind of the new person in town. 00:41:36.840 --> 00:41:40.530 And I don't know if I'll get to the top of the mountain or 00:41:40.530 --> 00:41:42.280 not. 00:41:42.280 --> 00:41:43.199 I agree. 00:41:43.199 --> 00:41:45.280 I think the real-- 00:41:48.480 --> 00:41:55.480 the risk reward here is if they can be considered renew 00:41:55.480 --> 00:41:57.280 ables. 00:41:57.280 --> 00:42:04.760 Because if they can't be considered, then we have a-- 00:42:04.760 --> 00:42:10.079 I noted there's like an 18% over purchase 00:42:10.079 --> 00:42:13.639 to make up to that to do the early adoption plan. 00:42:13.639 --> 00:42:17.400 And so obviously, you've got to weigh the cost of that 00:42:17.400 --> 00:42:20.949 versus the risk of, OK, we don't do the early adoption plan 00:42:20.949 --> 00:42:20.960 . 00:42:23.679 --> 00:42:25.719 So we're not 100% in 2020. 00:42:25.719 --> 00:42:29.159 But what is the risk of waiting for the market 00:42:29.159 --> 00:42:30.239 for that period of time? 00:42:30.239 --> 00:42:33.480 So I'm curious to see what you come up with there. 00:42:33.480 --> 00:42:39.239 And we can make that decision when we need to. 00:42:39.239 --> 00:42:39.840 Got it. 00:42:39.840 --> 00:42:44.639 Yeah, there's that piece also on the economics. 00:42:44.639 --> 00:42:48.280 So I think ERC did answer the question, 00:42:48.280 --> 00:42:50.760 what is the impact economically of that? 00:42:50.760 --> 00:42:54.239 And I recall a number in the six or seven or eight million 00:42:54.239 --> 00:42:56.920 per year for that period that we're talking about. 00:42:56.920 --> 00:42:58.639 And that's roughly what I calculate, too. 00:42:58.639 --> 00:43:02.039 It's almost $0.06 resource selling in a market that's 00:43:02.039 --> 00:43:03.320 not even $0.03. 00:43:03.320 --> 00:43:06.760 So that's your cost and that's your recovery 00:43:06.760 --> 00:43:07.840 for that resource. 00:43:07.840 --> 00:43:10.079 But again, I'm not thinking economics necessarily. 00:43:10.079 --> 00:43:14.119 It's like a little extra incentive maybe 00:43:14.119 --> 00:43:15.920 to at least do the research. 00:43:15.920 --> 00:43:16.420 Sure. 00:43:26.519 --> 00:43:27.880 So that's whitetail. 00:43:27.880 --> 00:43:30.360 [LAUGHTER] 00:43:30.360 --> 00:43:32.079 And thank you for letting me bring that up 00:43:32.079 --> 00:43:33.039 and have that discussion. 00:43:33.039 --> 00:43:33.539 Absolutely. 00:43:33.539 --> 00:43:36.480 And catch your thoughts. 00:43:36.480 --> 00:43:39.800 So just going to roll this up here. 00:43:39.800 --> 00:43:43.400 Renewable resource plan has been developed for Denton. 00:43:43.400 --> 00:43:45.280 You had a very detailed conversation 00:43:45.280 --> 00:43:47.639 about that in October. 00:43:47.639 --> 00:43:51.800 Again, the goal is to achieve 100% renewable no later 00:43:51.800 --> 00:43:54.800 than 2020. 00:43:54.800 --> 00:43:59.519 The highest rated renewable is solar in the right location, 00:43:59.519 --> 00:44:01.760 followed by coastal wind. 00:44:01.760 --> 00:44:05.760 And I totally agree with those findings. 00:44:05.760 --> 00:44:12.480 We're evaluating the existing RFPs offers for renewable 00:44:12.480 --> 00:44:15.760 and planning some additional RFPs in the future 00:44:15.760 --> 00:44:18.800 for solar and wind, perhaps in conjunction 00:44:18.800 --> 00:44:21.199 with some other cities. 00:44:21.199 --> 00:44:23.960 And what I'm asking for is that you 00:44:23.960 --> 00:44:25.840 consider recommending formal adoption 00:44:25.840 --> 00:44:30.719 of the renewable resource plan by the Denton City Council 00:44:30.719 --> 00:44:36.079 and whether we consider whitetail renewable or not. 00:44:36.079 --> 00:44:37.760 And this time frame is not critical, 00:44:37.760 --> 00:44:41.719 because we have time before we really 00:44:41.719 --> 00:44:44.639 get the full commitment in that second round of renewable. 00:44:44.639 --> 00:44:48.480 So we have a little bit of time if we come forward again 00:44:48.480 --> 00:44:50.199 for that discussion. 00:44:50.199 --> 00:44:54.360 So the RFPs we have out now we'll 00:44:54.360 --> 00:44:59.800 be able to look at at what point do you think? 00:44:59.800 --> 00:45:05.960 So we're at the pinnacle of choosing the low bidder, 00:45:05.960 --> 00:45:09.639 very complex evaluation, a lot of offers and matrices. 00:45:09.639 --> 00:45:11.880 We want to be correct. 00:45:11.880 --> 00:45:14.719 We're getting ready to engage that low bidder 00:45:14.719 --> 00:45:17.440 and have a discussion about contract terms 00:45:17.440 --> 00:45:20.960 and confirming that that offer is still available. 00:45:20.960 --> 00:45:23.840 Maybe it's gotten better or maybe not. 00:45:23.840 --> 00:45:26.679 So we'll find out if they can stand with their proposal. 00:45:26.679 --> 00:45:29.159 I'm hoping that they can, and I suspect they will. 00:45:29.159 --> 00:45:31.760 And then closing up that contract and bring it back. 00:45:31.760 --> 00:45:38.360 So I'm guessing we're out another possibly 45 days or so. 00:45:38.360 --> 00:45:39.480 OK, that's fine. 00:45:39.480 --> 00:45:40.840 So in the near future. 00:45:40.840 --> 00:45:42.679 And we'll probably wait right around that time 00:45:42.679 --> 00:45:44.920 before we issue that next tranche, 00:45:44.920 --> 00:45:48.639 see what we have under our belt, and go forward 00:45:48.639 --> 00:45:49.559 with some others. 00:45:49.559 --> 00:45:57.679 So we're going to get contracts committed to do the 100% 00:45:57.679 --> 00:45:58.480 sometime this year. 00:45:58.480 --> 00:46:00.679 That's kind of the plan. 00:46:00.679 --> 00:46:02.840 Some of those projects won't get built or operating 00:46:02.840 --> 00:46:04.320 for another year or two. 00:46:04.320 --> 00:46:06.400 It could be into 2020 for some of the projects 00:46:06.400 --> 00:46:07.920 actually get constructed. 00:46:07.920 --> 00:46:10.079 But we'll have that contract in hand. 00:46:10.079 --> 00:46:14.579 That's the expectation this calendar year, this fiscal year 00:46:14.579 --> 00:46:15.239 . 00:46:15.239 --> 00:46:17.840 OK. 00:46:17.840 --> 00:46:20.280 Other questions? 00:46:20.280 --> 00:46:26.440 Yeah, in the full 86 page report, 00:46:26.440 --> 00:46:28.840 there was one question. 00:46:28.840 --> 00:46:32.400 So most of the questions that are listed in that report 00:46:32.400 --> 00:46:33.320 got touched on. 00:46:33.320 --> 00:46:36.719 There was one-- I was wondering if you could elaborate 00:46:36.719 --> 00:46:38.519 on a little bit more. 00:46:38.519 --> 00:46:45.280 And this is on page 20 in the full report. 00:46:45.280 --> 00:46:46.719 Are you able to put that on there, 00:46:46.719 --> 00:46:48.559 or would that take too much time? 00:46:48.559 --> 00:46:50.559 Is that complicated? 00:46:50.559 --> 00:46:53.199 I could probably do it. 00:46:53.199 --> 00:46:54.000 Never mind that. 00:46:54.000 --> 00:46:55.239 If it would take any more time. 00:46:55.239 --> 00:46:57.079 If it was just a press of button, that's fine. 00:46:57.079 --> 00:46:58.000 I'll just read it. 00:46:58.000 --> 00:46:59.280 We have a copy of the presentation 00:46:59.280 --> 00:47:01.280 that you saw last time, but I didn't have the-- 00:47:01.280 --> 00:47:02.159 The full report. 00:47:02.159 --> 00:47:02.679 Yeah. 00:47:02.679 --> 00:47:03.760 Well, so it's on page-- 00:47:03.760 --> 00:47:05.199 I mean, the rest of PUB can see it. 00:47:05.199 --> 00:47:06.239 It's on page 20. 00:47:06.239 --> 00:47:07.199 So you're back up. 00:47:07.199 --> 00:47:10.199 Yeah, in the back. 00:47:10.199 --> 00:47:12.079 Exhibit two-- I mean, the public can see it too. 00:47:12.079 --> 00:47:14.280 It's exhibit two, Denton Renewable Resource Plan. 00:47:14.280 --> 00:47:17.360 But on page 20, the second to last question 00:47:17.360 --> 00:47:20.480 was, should Denton purchase additional renewable supplies 00:47:20.480 --> 00:47:23.239 above its target levels because of the annual variance 00:47:23.239 --> 00:47:24.880 in production amounts? 00:47:24.880 --> 00:47:27.320 I was wondering if you could speak to that a little bit 00:47:27.320 --> 00:47:36.039 because that was one of the questions that we haven't 00:47:36.039 --> 00:47:40.800 already been over, at least not in that iteration. 00:47:40.800 --> 00:47:44.000 Yes, I'm happy to give you some thoughts. 00:47:44.000 --> 00:47:48.280 So to me, achieving 100% means that we've 00:47:48.280 --> 00:47:52.360 contracted for renewables, renewable energy, 00:47:52.360 --> 00:47:54.559 equal to our annual load. 00:47:54.559 --> 00:47:58.119 So if our annual load was, if you recall, 00:47:58.119 --> 00:48:00.880 1.5 million kilowatt hours, I think, 00:48:00.880 --> 00:48:03.800 was the projection for 2019. 00:48:03.800 --> 00:48:08.909 If we contract for 1.5 million kilowatt hours of renewables 00:48:08.909 --> 00:48:09.199 , 00:48:09.199 --> 00:48:15.480 that is what is typically considered as 100% renewable. 00:48:15.480 --> 00:48:17.480 So we match up those two numbers. 00:48:17.480 --> 00:48:22.920 Now, will there be some hours of the year that we're over? 00:48:22.920 --> 00:48:25.079 Yes, and we'll have to liquidate that. 00:48:25.079 --> 00:48:27.079 Will there be some hours of the year we're under? 00:48:27.079 --> 00:48:30.639 Yes, and we'll have to purchase some additional. 00:48:30.639 --> 00:48:34.280 But I think the one way to calculate that, the one 00:48:34.280 --> 00:48:37.039 that I would think makes the-- 00:48:37.039 --> 00:48:42.800 one that I'm most familiar with is energy versus energy, 00:48:42.800 --> 00:48:44.840 1.5 million versus 1.5 million. 00:48:44.840 --> 00:48:47.880 So where it gets complicated, you 00:48:47.880 --> 00:48:49.239 start talking about capacity. 00:48:49.239 --> 00:48:50.659 And then you say, oh, did you take 00:48:50.659 --> 00:48:53.559 into account that that megawatt is not going to really give 00:48:53.559 --> 00:48:53.800 you-- 00:48:53.800 --> 00:48:56.960 it's not going to really operate 8,000, 760 hours 00:48:56.960 --> 00:48:58.039 and all that kind of stuff. 00:48:58.039 --> 00:49:00.800 So it's easier to just go to the energy associated 00:49:00.800 --> 00:49:03.239 with those contracts and match that with the energy 00:49:03.239 --> 00:49:04.280 you're serving customers. 00:49:04.280 --> 00:49:07.639 So every single kilowatt hour we sell in Denton 00:49:07.639 --> 00:49:09.639 is intended to be matched up with a kilowatt hour 00:49:09.639 --> 00:49:10.559 of renewable. 00:49:10.559 --> 00:49:14.360 And that's how we would, in my opinion, define 100%. 00:49:14.360 --> 00:49:15.079 OK, thanks. 00:49:15.079 --> 00:49:16.920 So this is just so it-- 00:49:16.920 --> 00:49:19.039 that confirms my sense that this is just enough. 00:49:19.039 --> 00:49:22.000 This is not something-- this is not a brand new question. 00:49:22.000 --> 00:49:26.320 This is a just kind of slightly different wording of issues 00:49:26.320 --> 00:49:31.039 that we've already been over with the consultants. 00:49:31.039 --> 00:49:31.539 Right. 00:49:31.539 --> 00:49:32.719 And I should have mentioned that-- 00:49:32.719 --> 00:49:33.280 So that's great. 00:49:33.280 --> 00:49:35.239 Our great consultants are here today. 00:49:35.239 --> 00:49:38.239 And they'd be happy to get up and talk at length 00:49:38.239 --> 00:49:41.360 and follow up on some of the other things. 00:49:41.360 --> 00:49:42.960 And I thought it was a great dialogue 00:49:42.960 --> 00:49:44.960 that the board had with them. 00:49:44.960 --> 00:49:47.320 And it was educational for me. 00:49:47.320 --> 00:49:51.199 And hopefully it was interesting for the public and for you 00:49:51.199 --> 00:49:51.880 at the same time. 00:49:55.039 --> 00:49:57.760 OK. 00:49:57.760 --> 00:49:59.719 We do have a motion and a second. 00:49:59.719 --> 00:50:01.440 Any other discussion? 00:50:01.440 --> 00:50:03.800 Mr. Chairman, before you go on your vote, 00:50:03.800 --> 00:50:06.639 I wanted to let you all know the board. 00:50:06.639 --> 00:50:08.920 About 3 o'clock today, just before 3 o'clock, 00:50:08.920 --> 00:50:11.960 Mr. James Ornstein from Duncanville, Texas 00:50:11.960 --> 00:50:14.280 had emailed me and asked me to pass some information 00:50:14.280 --> 00:50:15.480 onto the board. 00:50:15.480 --> 00:50:16.840 I apologize for the late hour. 00:50:16.840 --> 00:50:18.960 But I just wanted to pass this information on 00:50:18.960 --> 00:50:23.960 as you look to the proposal you have in front of you. 00:50:23.960 --> 00:50:25.559 I just wanted to pass this-- 00:50:25.559 --> 00:50:26.059 [INAUDIBLE] 00:50:26.059 --> 00:50:27.159 --to the board. 00:50:30.159 --> 00:50:34.119 James Ornstein, he's from Duncanville, Texas. 00:50:34.119 --> 00:50:36.619 And-- 00:50:36.619 --> 00:50:37.119 Sir? 00:50:37.119 --> 00:50:39.400 [INAUDIBLE] 00:50:39.400 --> 00:50:41.639 Well, he asked me to pass it onto the PUB. 00:50:41.639 --> 00:50:43.400 So I'm doing so-- 00:50:43.400 --> 00:50:45.480 Yeah, that's the way to-- 00:50:45.480 --> 00:50:50.559 Actually, I've read-- there are some suggestions in here. 00:50:50.559 --> 00:50:52.880 A lot of things we're doing already 00:50:52.880 --> 00:50:56.760 in our overall energy program. 00:50:56.760 --> 00:51:04.599 And so since it came so late in the day, it couldn't be-- 00:51:04.599 --> 00:51:06.360 it looks like he may be in the industry. 00:51:06.360 --> 00:51:07.360 I don't know. 00:51:07.360 --> 00:51:08.119 I have no idea. 00:51:08.119 --> 00:51:09.679 But anyway-- 00:51:09.679 --> 00:51:11.880 This is something, by the way, that I 00:51:11.880 --> 00:51:14.440 would encourage for any public watching 00:51:14.440 --> 00:51:19.320 that if you want to communicate with the PUB, 00:51:19.320 --> 00:51:22.159 our individual emails aren't on the website. 00:51:22.159 --> 00:51:24.719 And we don't have official city emails. 00:51:24.719 --> 00:51:28.800 But through contacting the assistant city manager, 00:51:28.800 --> 00:51:32.599 I would think any staff and just requesting-- 00:51:32.599 --> 00:51:34.440 and if it's deemed appropriate, then it 00:51:34.440 --> 00:51:38.400 would go to all of public utility board. 00:51:38.400 --> 00:51:43.079 So I had some-- 00:51:43.079 --> 00:51:43.760 Oh, that's right. 00:51:43.760 --> 00:51:44.719 We were about to-- 00:51:44.719 --> 00:51:45.599 We didn't make a vote. 00:51:45.599 --> 00:51:50.320 We didn't make an actual-- make a motion for discussion. 00:51:50.320 --> 00:51:50.880 Actually-- 00:51:50.880 --> 00:51:52.760 Or have discussion before making a motion. 00:51:52.760 --> 00:51:54.239 We do have a motion in a second. 00:51:54.239 --> 00:51:56.480 So-- 00:51:56.480 --> 00:51:57.639 Yeah, no, no. 00:51:57.639 --> 00:51:58.760 We didn't-- 00:51:58.760 --> 00:51:59.960 OK, then I will call. 00:51:59.960 --> 00:52:03.599 Is there a motion for item-- 00:52:03.599 --> 00:52:04.880 To vote? 00:52:04.880 --> 00:52:05.599 To vote? 00:52:05.599 --> 00:52:08.159 We have a motion for approval. 00:52:08.159 --> 00:52:10.480 I thought we were going to have discussion before-- 00:52:10.480 --> 00:52:11.039 Well, we will. 00:52:11.039 --> 00:52:13.000 After we have a first motion in a second. 00:52:13.000 --> 00:52:14.760 Yes, just checking. 00:52:14.760 --> 00:52:16.119 A second. 00:52:16.119 --> 00:52:19.280 OK, motion in a second. 00:52:19.280 --> 00:52:20.280 Discussion. 00:52:23.800 --> 00:52:24.840 It's now. 00:52:24.840 --> 00:52:25.639 No, I know. 00:52:25.639 --> 00:52:26.880 I was waiting. 00:52:26.880 --> 00:52:28.360 I want to see if any-- be gracious, 00:52:28.360 --> 00:52:30.280 see if anybody else wants to speak. 00:52:30.280 --> 00:52:32.119 Obviously, I have some-- 00:52:32.119 --> 00:52:34.360 [INAUDIBLE] 00:52:34.360 --> 00:52:37.840 Yeah, so several things, both for my colleagues on PUB 00:52:37.840 --> 00:52:40.400 and also for the public that I wanted 00:52:40.400 --> 00:52:44.719 to point out about the full report, 00:52:44.719 --> 00:52:46.320 because it's 86 pages. 00:52:46.320 --> 00:52:50.159 And most people in the public wouldn't 00:52:50.159 --> 00:52:51.679 have the time to read that. 00:52:51.679 --> 00:52:53.119 But there were a number of points 00:52:53.119 --> 00:52:55.039 that I found really interesting that I wanted 00:52:55.039 --> 00:52:57.599 to call people's attention to. 00:52:57.599 --> 00:53:00.119 And for anyone in the public following along, 00:53:00.119 --> 00:53:03.360 it's on the agenda exhibit too. 00:53:03.360 --> 00:53:08.559 So one, this is about the Denton Energy Center. 00:53:08.559 --> 00:53:19.440 And this is on pages 10 and 11 and 13 in the full report. 00:53:19.440 --> 00:53:23.360 And I'm just calling attention to what's already 00:53:23.360 --> 00:53:25.840 here in the report. 00:53:29.519 --> 00:53:34.159 So on page 10, this is right under the bottom of page 10, 00:53:34.159 --> 00:53:36.960 right under reporting and summary analysis. 00:53:36.960 --> 00:53:40.519 The statement, the Denton Energy Center 00:53:40.519 --> 00:53:44.079 will play a role in Denton's renewable resource portfolio 00:53:44.079 --> 00:53:48.920 as a cost hedge during certain super high priced hours. 00:53:48.920 --> 00:53:52.440 This is not necessarily new to us, 00:53:52.440 --> 00:53:55.920 because we've heard this from the presentations 00:53:55.920 --> 00:53:57.960 from enterprise consulting. 00:53:57.960 --> 00:54:03.199 But it's really important to get this information out here 00:54:03.199 --> 00:54:10.440 to the public, because in relatively recent memory, 00:54:10.440 --> 00:54:16.000 there have been some misinformation 00:54:16.000 --> 00:54:20.119 disseminated about this and what the purpose was of the gas 00:54:20.119 --> 00:54:22.960 plant. 00:54:22.960 --> 00:54:29.679 So they say, and I'm just reading here, 00:54:29.679 --> 00:54:34.000 an example of when the DEC would be dispatched rather than 00:54:34.000 --> 00:54:34.400 using 00:54:34.400 --> 00:54:39.719 DAM purchases to hedge a supply shortfall is in figure ES3. 00:54:39.719 --> 00:54:43.239 And there's a really helpful illustration of that. 00:54:43.239 --> 00:54:46.039 During a peak demand month such as August, the DEC, 00:54:46.039 --> 00:54:50.170 that's the gas plant, might be dispatched about half the 00:54:50.170 --> 00:54:50.840 time. 00:54:50.840 --> 00:54:53.000 So it might be dispatched half the time. 00:54:53.000 --> 00:54:55.920 So that just underscores-- 00:54:55.920 --> 00:55:02.559 in my reading of this is how little the gas plant is needed 00:55:02.559 --> 00:55:02.559 . 00:55:02.559 --> 00:55:08.519 And it is, in my view, reading this, 00:55:08.519 --> 00:55:10.519 it's a bittersweet feeling, because I really 00:55:10.519 --> 00:55:12.599 appreciate this information, which 00:55:12.599 --> 00:55:15.599 makes a lot of sense to me. 00:55:15.599 --> 00:55:18.320 But it's also sad that we've made this financial commitment 00:55:18.320 --> 00:55:18.320 . 00:55:18.320 --> 00:55:26.320 And I'm looking forward to looking into ways 00:55:26.320 --> 00:55:30.800 that we can minimize the gas plant and its impact 00:55:30.800 --> 00:55:38.000 and eventually get rid of it, because of it's just really 00:55:38.000 --> 00:55:38.320 not 00:55:38.320 --> 00:55:43.400 being hardly useful at all. 00:55:43.400 --> 00:55:44.800 That's not in the report, by the way. 00:55:44.800 --> 00:55:45.719 That's your opinion? 00:55:45.719 --> 00:55:47.840 Oh, absolutely, which is why I stated-- 00:55:47.840 --> 00:55:49.039 I just want to make sure that was-- 00:55:49.039 --> 00:55:50.880 Which is why I stated that this is my-- 00:55:50.880 --> 00:55:51.519 For the public. 00:55:51.519 --> 00:55:52.280 That was my reading. 00:55:52.280 --> 00:55:53.000 For the public. 00:55:53.000 --> 00:55:54.719 I want them to know that was what that was. 00:55:54.719 --> 00:55:56.039 Oh, absolutely, which is why I said 00:55:56.039 --> 00:55:57.039 that's my interpretation. 00:55:57.039 --> 00:55:58.039 So I'm trying to be clear. 00:55:58.039 --> 00:55:59.280 So thank you for clarifying that. 00:55:59.280 --> 00:56:01.960 Yeah. 00:56:01.960 --> 00:56:02.679 Let's see. 00:56:02.679 --> 00:56:06.079 And then it goes on into a difference in pricing. 00:56:06.079 --> 00:56:08.840 On page 13, and this is under takeaway, 00:56:08.840 --> 00:56:11.840 the DEC will serve a role as a cost supply hedge 00:56:11.840 --> 00:56:15.519 to firm debt and renewable resource portfolio. 00:56:15.519 --> 00:56:18.440 But based on the financial evaluation in this resource 00:56:18.440 --> 00:56:22.360 plan, the majority of firming the supply portfolio 00:56:22.360 --> 00:56:24.480 will be more economically efficient 00:56:24.480 --> 00:56:27.159 through purchases in the dam. 00:56:27.159 --> 00:56:29.119 Denton should look for opportunities to sell 00:56:29.119 --> 00:56:32.480 a portion of the DEC forward during national gas or heat 00:56:32.480 --> 00:56:33.800 rate spikes and for opportunities 00:56:33.800 --> 00:56:36.400 to sell firming services, et cetera, et cetera. 00:56:36.400 --> 00:56:38.519 So this is just reiterating for the public. 00:56:38.519 --> 00:56:41.920 And I know those of us in PUB, we've been over this a lot 00:56:41.920 --> 00:56:43.719 with the consultants. 00:56:43.719 --> 00:56:49.840 But just to make sure that that's clear to people. 00:56:49.840 --> 00:56:53.119 Another thing, only because, number one, 00:56:53.119 --> 00:56:55.519 so much money went into the gas plant, 00:56:55.519 --> 00:56:58.360 and also so much great effort went into this report, 00:56:58.360 --> 00:57:00.559 I feel like it's worth the time to just call attention 00:57:00.559 --> 00:57:04.480 to some aspects of it. 00:57:04.480 --> 00:57:07.719 On item-- let's see. 00:57:11.719 --> 00:57:16.280 It's from that same-- oh, shoot. 00:57:19.719 --> 00:57:21.119 Can we call the vote? 00:57:21.119 --> 00:57:22.119 Yeah. 00:57:22.119 --> 00:57:25.480 This really-- I know this is-- 00:57:25.480 --> 00:57:27.679 you want to get these things out from the report. 00:57:27.679 --> 00:57:28.280 I know that. 00:57:28.280 --> 00:57:32.239 But I don't know what the relevance is, 00:57:32.239 --> 00:57:34.000 whether we're going to adopt this or not. 00:57:34.000 --> 00:57:39.880 Well, if I may, I just have just a few things 00:57:39.880 --> 00:57:43.840 that I would like to say that I believe are relevant, 00:57:43.840 --> 00:57:45.920 because they're actually coming from the report. 00:57:45.920 --> 00:57:47.800 And then there are a couple things from this, 00:57:47.800 --> 00:57:51.559 which was also sent to me that I want to reiterate, 00:57:51.559 --> 00:57:53.519 since this just came to us. 00:57:53.519 --> 00:57:55.719 But this isn't on the agenda, though. 00:57:55.719 --> 00:57:56.199 No, no, no. 00:57:56.199 --> 00:58:02.400 But it's a member of the public responding to this report. 00:58:02.400 --> 00:58:05.119 From somebody who lives in a completely different city. 00:58:05.119 --> 00:58:06.800 So is that not allowed? 00:58:06.800 --> 00:58:08.599 I'm just saying it's not on the agenda 00:58:08.599 --> 00:58:10.800 to discuss it in this meeting. 00:58:10.800 --> 00:58:13.360 And it's from somebody who doesn't even live in the city. 00:58:13.360 --> 00:58:17.159 So I'm not sure how much time we need to give it. 00:58:17.159 --> 00:58:20.159 So public-- so just to clarify. 00:58:20.159 --> 00:58:23.880 So public input from somebody who doesn't live in Denton 00:58:23.880 --> 00:58:26.079 is not considered relevant? 00:58:26.079 --> 00:58:28.320 Certainly not on the agenda to discuss it 00:58:28.320 --> 00:58:30.079 during this meeting, right? 00:58:30.079 --> 00:58:35.960 I'm asking the chair, our assistant city manager. 00:58:35.960 --> 00:58:40.840 Well, I think some information we receive at the meeting, 00:58:40.840 --> 00:58:43.880 I don't know that it's-- 00:58:43.880 --> 00:58:46.480 we really need to stick with what our backup says. 00:58:46.480 --> 00:58:48.239 OK, well, this is-- 00:58:48.239 --> 00:58:52.320 If at some point in time, I think 00:58:52.320 --> 00:58:54.750 somebody would take the time to write an email and give 00:58:54.750 --> 00:58:55.159 input, 00:58:55.159 --> 00:58:59.039 I think we owe it to look at it and listen to it. 00:58:59.039 --> 00:59:01.519 I do think that had we had this-- 00:59:01.519 --> 00:59:04.960 had this been part of the backup prior to-- 00:59:04.960 --> 00:59:06.519 that was published. 00:59:06.519 --> 00:59:08.800 OK, so members of the public should 00:59:08.800 --> 00:59:11.719 make sure to get their comments in on the backup. 00:59:11.719 --> 00:59:14.639 It's not enough for them to just communicate with us. 00:59:14.639 --> 00:59:16.360 Is that what you're saying? 00:59:16.360 --> 00:59:17.719 I'm not sure members of the public 00:59:17.719 --> 00:59:19.920 have direct access to our agenda. 00:59:19.920 --> 00:59:23.360 I think we have to agree to allow something on our agenda 00:59:23.360 --> 00:59:24.639 to be discussed. 00:59:24.639 --> 00:59:26.880 If you just-- we don't know who this gentleman is. 00:59:26.880 --> 00:59:28.280 We don't know that this-- 00:59:28.280 --> 00:59:29.519 We're representing the-- 00:59:29.519 --> 00:59:30.719 sorry to drag this up. 00:59:30.719 --> 00:59:32.320 We're representing the public. 00:59:32.320 --> 00:59:35.320 We're representing the city of Denton Public, not 00:59:35.320 --> 00:59:38.400 the Duncanville guy that works for a solar company. 00:59:38.400 --> 00:59:45.480 But it just so happens, OK, that this information that I 00:59:45.480 --> 00:59:45.880 saw 00:59:45.880 --> 00:59:50.119 is actually important to me and to other members 00:59:50.119 --> 00:59:52.159 of our Denton public. 00:59:52.159 --> 00:59:54.400 I'm a member of the Denton public. 00:59:54.400 --> 00:59:56.840 I have also been speaking to members of the Denton public 00:59:56.840 --> 00:59:58.800 and communicating with them about these issues. 00:59:58.800 --> 01:00:00.840 And I have some things that I wanted to share. 01:00:00.840 --> 01:00:03.199 And I can appreciate that, but what we typically do 01:00:03.199 --> 01:00:05.840 is we get backup information on Friday. 01:00:05.840 --> 01:00:07.880 We have an opportunity to look over it, 01:00:07.880 --> 01:00:09.639 to be prepared to discuss it. 01:00:09.639 --> 01:00:11.760 That didn't happen with this particular item. 01:00:11.760 --> 01:00:13.639 So I don't think we should really bring it up. 01:00:13.639 --> 01:00:15.239 It doesn't happen with any-- 01:00:15.239 --> 01:00:16.840 I don't mind sitting listening to what 01:00:16.840 --> 01:00:18.920 you think about the report that we got, 01:00:18.920 --> 01:00:22.320 because it's actually on our agenda. 01:00:22.320 --> 01:00:25.119 OK, OK, so this is what I think about the report then. 01:00:25.119 --> 01:00:28.599 I really appreciate the paragraph 01:00:28.599 --> 01:00:30.599 about customer satisfaction. 01:00:30.599 --> 01:00:34.159 And I would encourage members of the public to read that. 01:00:38.760 --> 01:00:42.719 And I would urge the new DME general manager 01:00:42.719 --> 01:00:46.960 to gauge residential customer satisfaction at all income 01:00:46.960 --> 01:00:49.199 levels and type without privileging 01:00:49.199 --> 01:00:52.420 any one class of customers and see what we can do to 01:00:52.420 --> 01:00:52.800 improve 01:00:52.800 --> 01:00:55.199 customer service. 01:00:55.199 --> 01:00:58.159 If you read the report, there's really good-- 01:00:58.159 --> 01:01:00.519 I'm talking about-- this is in the report that you were-- 01:01:00.519 --> 01:01:05.679 yeah, about how, yes, we have no competition, 01:01:05.679 --> 01:01:07.800 but it's still important to keep rates-- 01:01:07.800 --> 01:01:11.440 to keep our rates competitive and to factor that in when 01:01:11.440 --> 01:01:16.400 we're looking into our renewable plan in any aspect of DME, 01:01:16.400 --> 01:01:18.440 because people are coming in from elsewhere 01:01:18.440 --> 01:01:21.800 and they're making comparisons between our rates 01:01:21.800 --> 01:01:22.639 and other rates. 01:01:22.639 --> 01:01:26.119 So I really appreciated having that in the presentation. 01:01:26.119 --> 01:01:30.280 I just wanted to thank staff and the consultants 01:01:30.280 --> 01:01:31.920 for that. 01:01:31.920 --> 01:01:36.199 And so finally, I just wanted to say 01:01:36.199 --> 01:01:41.800 that I would like to see us set targets for decommissioning 01:01:41.800 --> 01:01:46.840 the debt and energy center, because the evidence 01:01:46.840 --> 01:01:49.960 in this report and the evidence that we've seen before 01:01:49.960 --> 01:01:53.059 seems to suggest that could we go back in time, which we 01:01:53.059 --> 01:01:53.800 can't? 01:01:53.800 --> 01:01:55.599 It wouldn't have been the best purchase. 01:01:55.599 --> 01:01:59.920 So I would like to see this being factored in 01:01:59.920 --> 01:02:08.980 as we move forward, and also to look into purchasing and 01:02:08.980 --> 01:02:09.519 setting 01:02:09.519 --> 01:02:12.960 up some actual renewable generation, 01:02:12.960 --> 01:02:16.000 either here in Denton or simply owned-- 01:02:16.000 --> 01:02:20.159 actually owned by Denton, including the possibility 01:02:20.159 --> 01:02:22.719 of converting part of the gas plant 01:02:22.719 --> 01:02:27.840 into the future into renewable generation, which 01:02:27.840 --> 01:02:30.199 is something that I'm not going to pretend to be an expert 01:02:30.199 --> 01:02:30.480 in that, 01:02:30.480 --> 01:02:32.800 but I know that that technology is out there. 01:02:32.800 --> 01:02:34.000 So thank you for your time. 01:02:34.000 --> 01:02:35.719 And hearing that, I know that took a while, 01:02:35.719 --> 01:02:38.760 but this gas plant, the most expensive purchase 01:02:38.760 --> 01:02:40.719 in all of Denton history, this renewable stuff 01:02:40.719 --> 01:02:42.920 is really exciting and a big deal. 01:02:42.920 --> 01:02:45.480 People put a lot of time into making this report. 01:02:45.480 --> 01:02:48.679 Anyway, and I truly appreciate all of the public input 01:02:48.679 --> 01:02:49.239 that I got. 01:02:49.239 --> 01:02:52.320 So I thank the members of the public 01:02:52.320 --> 01:02:54.559 for communicating with us. 01:02:54.559 --> 01:02:56.719 So anyway, thank you. 01:02:56.719 --> 01:02:59.079 Apologies for taking so much time with that. 01:02:59.079 --> 01:03:02.239 It's not necessarily to apologize, but you know what? 01:03:02.239 --> 01:03:04.440 I actually take a little bit of offense 01:03:04.440 --> 01:03:11.360 at you pushing an agenda to decommission something that 01:03:11.360 --> 01:03:14.280 isn't even running yet that everybody in this room 01:03:14.280 --> 01:03:17.679 has spent hours and hours and hours discussing. 01:03:17.679 --> 01:03:19.800 And you use almost every opportunity 01:03:19.800 --> 01:03:23.119 you can to talk about how you want to stop something. 01:03:23.119 --> 01:03:28.159 And at the same time, you also provide a little bit 01:03:28.159 --> 01:03:33.320 of misinformation when you do-- 01:03:33.320 --> 01:03:35.159 even what you just said. 01:03:35.159 --> 01:03:36.199 There was misinformation. 01:03:36.199 --> 01:03:37.360 So what misinformation? 01:03:37.360 --> 01:03:39.559 That misinformation was provided. 01:03:39.559 --> 01:03:40.719 What misinformation? 01:03:40.719 --> 01:03:41.280 You said it. 01:03:41.280 --> 01:03:43.679 You said that in the past, provided misinformation. 01:03:43.679 --> 01:03:45.440 Yeah, when they were talking about firming, 01:03:45.440 --> 01:03:48.340 when they had said that the gas plant was necessary for fir 01:03:48.340 --> 01:03:49.119 ming. 01:03:49.119 --> 01:03:50.360 Could we vote? 01:03:50.360 --> 01:03:50.880 Yes. 01:03:50.880 --> 01:03:51.559 Yes, we can. 01:03:51.559 --> 01:03:53.840 So I'm sorry that you're offended, Brandon. 01:03:53.840 --> 01:03:55.239 And yes, you're absolutely right. 01:03:55.239 --> 01:03:58.679 I have been trying to-- 01:03:58.679 --> 01:04:00.719 And I don't think anybody on this board 01:04:00.719 --> 01:04:04.719 has a personal agenda except you. 01:04:04.719 --> 01:04:08.000 I don't think it's a personal agenda. 01:04:08.000 --> 01:04:10.440 I'm going to call the vote. 01:04:10.440 --> 01:04:12.039 We have a motion and a second. 01:04:12.039 --> 01:04:14.039 We've been through discussion. 01:04:14.039 --> 01:04:19.800 All in favor of item D, which is to consider 01:04:19.800 --> 01:04:23.880 recommending formal adoption of the renewable resource plan 01:04:23.880 --> 01:04:25.280 for Denton Municipal Utility. 01:04:25.280 --> 01:04:26.239 Say aye. 01:04:26.239 --> 01:04:27.079 Aye. 01:04:27.079 --> 01:04:27.679 Any opposed? 01:04:27.679 --> 01:04:29.639 Same sign. 01:04:29.639 --> 01:04:30.280 Thank you. 01:04:30.280 --> 01:04:33.280 Thank you very much. 01:04:33.280 --> 01:04:36.760 OK, next item we have is item E, which 01:04:36.760 --> 01:04:38.519 is to consider recommending adoption 01:04:38.519 --> 01:04:40.760 of an ordinance of the city of Denton, Texas, 01:04:40.760 --> 01:04:44.559 providing for the schedule of miscellaneous fees, deposits, 01:04:44.559 --> 01:04:48.000 billings, and procedures for administrative services 01:04:48.000 --> 01:04:51.519 to city utility customers, providing for repealer, 01:04:51.519 --> 01:04:54.559 providing for severability clause, 01:04:54.559 --> 01:04:56.159 providing for an effective date. 01:04:58.920 --> 01:05:00.639 Thank you. 01:05:00.639 --> 01:05:03.239 George Morogh and DME general manager. 01:05:03.239 --> 01:05:07.159 I wanted to introduce this item and introduce again 01:05:07.159 --> 01:05:09.960 JR Richardson, who's the DME supervisor 01:05:09.960 --> 01:05:13.480 for electric metering. 01:05:13.480 --> 01:05:15.119 The item we're trying to address here 01:05:15.119 --> 01:05:19.099 is that we've installed smart meters on almost all the 01:05:19.099 --> 01:05:19.599 homes 01:05:19.599 --> 01:05:21.840 and businesses in Denton, with the exception of just 01:05:21.840 --> 01:05:24.480 a very small number of customers. 01:05:24.480 --> 01:05:28.639 And we're looking at implementing a policy 01:05:28.639 --> 01:05:30.079 on how to address that. 01:05:30.079 --> 01:05:32.039 We'd like everybody to have a smart meter. 01:05:32.039 --> 01:05:34.039 It offers them a lot of advantages 01:05:34.039 --> 01:05:36.440 that maybe they can't even recognize at this point, 01:05:36.440 --> 01:05:38.960 and also offers the utility a number of advantages. 01:05:38.960 --> 01:05:41.400 And I think JR is going to talk about that. 01:05:41.400 --> 01:05:44.719 And he's come up with-- did some research 01:05:44.719 --> 01:05:47.760 and has crafted a policy that-- 01:05:47.760 --> 01:05:51.440 a rate for opting out of our smart meter program 01:05:51.440 --> 01:05:54.280 that would be part of our fees and charges 01:05:54.280 --> 01:05:57.079 that we'd ask you to adopt, along 01:05:57.079 --> 01:05:59.719 with some additional changes that have already 01:05:59.719 --> 01:06:01.679 been gone through the process and been approved 01:06:01.679 --> 01:06:03.360 by the board and the city council. 01:06:03.360 --> 01:06:05.199 So from a customer service standpoint. 01:06:05.199 --> 01:06:09.039 So JR, if you want to come up and take it away. 01:06:13.480 --> 01:06:14.800 Thank you, George. 01:06:14.800 --> 01:06:16.559 Members of the board. 01:06:16.559 --> 01:06:18.880 Today, as George stated, we're going 01:06:18.880 --> 01:06:23.159 to talk about some of the topics of offering the opt-out 01:06:23.159 --> 01:06:23.599 program 01:06:23.599 --> 01:06:26.199 for our citizens of Denton. 01:06:26.199 --> 01:06:30.960 And at the end, we'll have time for questions. 01:06:30.960 --> 01:06:35.320 Currently, as I stated earlier, we have roughly 53,000 01:06:35.320 --> 01:06:36.840 electric meters in the city. 01:06:36.840 --> 01:06:41.000 And as George stated, 99.9% of those are AMI meters. 01:06:41.000 --> 01:06:44.599 We have less than 40 customers who, at the time of rollout, 01:06:44.599 --> 01:06:48.719 made their wish known not to have an AMI meter. 01:06:48.719 --> 01:06:51.599 Some of that was the concerns that they have over the RF 01:06:51.599 --> 01:06:55.079 signal that is emitted by the meter. 01:06:55.079 --> 01:06:57.840 There have been several institutions 01:06:57.840 --> 01:07:02.000 that have done studies on the RF signal of the meter. 01:07:02.000 --> 01:07:03.679 And based on those studies, the FCC 01:07:03.679 --> 01:07:10.440 has come out to say that the radio output exposure has 01:07:10.440 --> 01:07:13.960 no negative health or safety impacts to the public. 01:07:13.960 --> 01:07:18.480 AMI meters don't continuously transmit. 01:07:18.480 --> 01:07:20.559 Our meters, we get all of our data 01:07:20.559 --> 01:07:24.079 in less than six minutes of a total day. 01:07:24.079 --> 01:07:28.400 So that's pretty small. 01:07:28.400 --> 01:07:31.440 Here, we want to talk about some of the disadvantages 01:07:31.440 --> 01:07:34.000 for customers whenever they don't participate 01:07:34.000 --> 01:07:35.519 with the AMI meter. 01:07:35.519 --> 01:07:37.599 One is they won't be eligible for the prepaid 01:07:37.599 --> 01:07:39.360 that we talked about earlier. 01:07:39.360 --> 01:07:40.920 I think one of the biggest points here 01:07:40.920 --> 01:07:44.559 is that they're not available to be part of our outage 01:07:44.559 --> 01:07:45.920 management system. 01:07:45.920 --> 01:07:50.800 Currently, our AMI meters, whenever there's an outage, 01:07:50.800 --> 01:07:54.880 they send a last gas to our outage management system. 01:07:54.880 --> 01:07:57.679 So a lot of times, a customer will be out of power, 01:07:57.679 --> 01:08:00.119 and our system operator has the ability 01:08:00.119 --> 01:08:02.119 to dispatch a truck before we even receive 01:08:02.119 --> 01:08:04.000 a call from the customer. 01:08:04.000 --> 01:08:06.280 I think that's a big point. 01:08:06.280 --> 01:08:08.840 Some of the disadvantages for the utility, of course, 01:08:08.840 --> 01:08:12.519 is not being able to monitor those meters 01:08:12.519 --> 01:08:15.119 to know when they're out of power. 01:08:15.119 --> 01:08:18.319 Another big part that touches on safety 01:08:18.319 --> 01:08:21.239 is not being able to monitor the meter that 01:08:21.239 --> 01:08:24.079 may have either a diversion or have 01:08:24.079 --> 01:08:27.439 an illegal generation system connected. 01:08:27.439 --> 01:08:30.560 We have had at least four or five different instances 01:08:30.560 --> 01:08:33.239 where a customer has gone out and bought 01:08:33.239 --> 01:08:38.279 some type of a solar panel and connected it to their system 01:08:38.279 --> 01:08:38.279 , 01:08:38.279 --> 01:08:41.760 not legally the way we do with a disconnect device. 01:08:41.760 --> 01:08:43.600 So therefore, if we ever have an outage 01:08:43.600 --> 01:08:46.560 and that thing is connected, it poses safety potential 01:08:46.560 --> 01:08:49.159 for our alignment when they go out to work on that service. 01:08:49.159 --> 01:08:51.239 But if we have an AMI meter, we'll 01:08:51.239 --> 01:08:55.279 be able to notice that on our reverse flow report 01:08:55.279 --> 01:08:57.239 and be able to go out and talk with that customer 01:08:57.239 --> 01:09:02.520 and get them on board with the proper installation. 01:09:02.520 --> 01:09:06.119 This slide here shows some of the utilities in Texas 01:09:06.119 --> 01:09:09.239 that now offer an opt out program. 01:09:09.239 --> 01:09:11.920 All of the programs begin with a fee, 01:09:11.920 --> 01:09:14.479 one time fee for a nonstandard meter or a meter 01:09:14.479 --> 01:09:16.479 without that communication board. 01:09:16.479 --> 01:09:18.399 And then primarily all of them also 01:09:18.399 --> 01:09:23.239 have a monthly fee to recruit the cost of having someone 01:09:23.239 --> 01:09:26.159 go out and manually read that meter and also the billing 01:09:26.159 --> 01:09:28.039 process that goes along with that. 01:09:28.039 --> 01:09:30.159 I will point out on this slide as well 01:09:30.159 --> 01:09:34.840 that Bryan utilities do have an AMI program, 01:09:34.840 --> 01:09:37.319 but they currently do not offer an opt out program. 01:09:37.319 --> 01:09:41.119 All their customers will have an AMI meter. 01:09:41.119 --> 01:09:42.800 Georgetown? 01:09:42.800 --> 01:09:46.270 Georgetown is in the process of rolling out their AMI 01:09:46.270 --> 01:09:46.720 system 01:09:46.720 --> 01:09:48.199 at this time. 01:09:48.199 --> 01:09:50.079 I'm sorry, Brendan. 01:09:50.079 --> 01:09:50.560 Come on. 01:09:55.279 --> 01:09:58.319 When I spoke to Georgetown, they do have an AMI system, 01:09:58.319 --> 01:10:02.359 but they're in the same process as Denton is on creating 01:10:02.359 --> 01:10:04.680 an opt out fee program. 01:10:04.680 --> 01:10:07.800 So they're doing the same thing that we're doing right now, 01:10:07.800 --> 01:10:14.039 going through their public utility board and city council 01:10:14.039 --> 01:10:15.600 doing the same thing currently. 01:10:22.079 --> 01:10:24.319 On January the 9th, the city council 01:10:24.319 --> 01:10:27.560 did approve a credit and collection policy ordinance. 01:10:27.560 --> 01:10:30.680 DME has taken the opportunity to draft an opt out fee 01:10:30.680 --> 01:10:31.079 schedule 01:10:31.079 --> 01:10:32.840 that would be added to the utility rates 01:10:32.840 --> 01:10:35.479 if the recommendation was to move forward with that 01:10:35.479 --> 01:10:38.760 and the city council was to approve that. 01:10:38.760 --> 01:10:40.720 Our two options is one, of course, 01:10:40.720 --> 01:10:44.119 is not to have an option and do similar to Bryan 01:10:44.119 --> 01:10:46.000 and have every customer have an AMI meter 01:10:46.000 --> 01:10:47.880 to make the system more whole. 01:10:47.880 --> 01:10:50.199 Or two, to have an opt out program 01:10:50.199 --> 01:10:53.439 where we will have a one time fee for a non-standard meter 01:10:53.439 --> 01:10:57.720 and a $30 monthly fee for reading the meter manually 01:10:57.720 --> 01:10:59.159 and doing the billing process. 01:11:02.039 --> 01:11:04.319 And on here we have that staff recommends the option 01:11:04.319 --> 01:11:07.899 to provide an opt out program so the customer would have a 01:11:07.899 --> 01:11:09.880 choice. 01:11:09.880 --> 01:11:11.079 Any questions? 01:11:11.079 --> 01:11:11.680 Questions? 01:11:15.239 --> 01:11:19.159 Yeah, so I found it interesting that-- 01:11:19.159 --> 01:11:21.520 so less than 40 people opt out. 01:11:21.520 --> 01:11:22.319 Is that correct? 01:11:22.319 --> 01:11:22.920 That's correct. 01:11:22.920 --> 01:11:24.239 Out of 53,000. 01:11:24.239 --> 01:11:27.319 And it's not that they opt out whenever we went to set the 01:11:27.319 --> 01:11:27.800 meter. 01:11:27.800 --> 01:11:30.159 They just made their wishes known not to have a meter set 01:11:30.159 --> 01:11:30.640 at that time. 01:11:30.640 --> 01:11:31.840 And we respected that wish. 01:11:31.840 --> 01:11:34.359 Yeah, so because-- and it wasn't called opting out 01:11:34.359 --> 01:11:36.399 because that wasn't an option. 01:11:36.399 --> 01:11:37.520 That is correct. 01:11:37.520 --> 01:11:41.439 So I definitely prefer the-- 01:11:41.439 --> 01:11:45.640 I prefer the opt out option to no opt out option. 01:11:45.640 --> 01:11:48.680 And I'm wondering-- and this is generally a question, 01:11:48.680 --> 01:11:54.199 an open question, because my mind's not quite-- 01:11:54.199 --> 01:11:55.239 not entirely made up. 01:11:55.239 --> 01:11:59.960 Is it-- in charging, since it's less than 40 people, 01:11:59.960 --> 01:12:03.600 charging them this extra and making sure they pay it, 01:12:03.600 --> 01:12:09.840 is it worth that extra charge to them 01:12:09.840 --> 01:12:18.479 and making sure they pay it to charge them that? 01:12:18.479 --> 01:12:20.920 In other words-- sorry, that was awkwardly worded. 01:12:20.920 --> 01:12:23.119 In other words, what about-- 01:12:23.119 --> 01:12:25.550 and again, I'm not saying I think that this is an ideal 01:12:25.550 --> 01:12:25.920 option. 01:12:25.920 --> 01:12:29.920 But what about a third option of let them opt out 01:12:29.920 --> 01:12:34.840 and they don't have to pay extra for it? 01:12:34.840 --> 01:12:36.239 That's probably not a good idea. 01:12:36.239 --> 01:12:38.800 But I'm just curious in terms of risk analysis. 01:12:38.800 --> 01:12:43.319 Is it-- from a financial perspective. 01:12:43.319 --> 01:12:45.479 I think JR noted it on one of his slides, 01:12:45.479 --> 01:12:47.000 but he didn't mention it. 01:12:47.000 --> 01:12:49.640 There's special handling that we have to do for these 01:12:49.640 --> 01:12:50.399 customers. 01:12:50.399 --> 01:12:51.880 There's special meter reads. 01:12:51.880 --> 01:12:54.800 We've got the-- there's a little extra cost. 01:12:54.800 --> 01:12:55.479 Oh, yeah, absolutely. 01:12:55.479 --> 01:12:57.079 A little extra time going out there. 01:12:57.079 --> 01:12:59.560 And we're having to do special handling for the billing. 01:12:59.560 --> 01:13:01.039 It's manual billing. 01:13:01.039 --> 01:13:02.680 It doesn't feed into our billing system 01:13:02.680 --> 01:13:06.159 quite as efficiently as our AMI meter reads. 01:13:06.159 --> 01:13:08.840 So-- 01:13:08.840 --> 01:13:10.199 This covers that. 01:13:10.199 --> 01:13:11.920 The fees would cover that, yes. 01:13:11.920 --> 01:13:12.680 So that's why-- 01:13:12.680 --> 01:13:13.680 And nothing extra. 01:13:13.680 --> 01:13:15.319 So that's the background for the cost. 01:13:15.319 --> 01:13:21.960 And it just seems that we're incurring the cost 01:13:21.960 --> 01:13:25.279 and that we should pass that along to those. 01:13:25.279 --> 01:13:27.840 And hopefully, we could-- out of that process, 01:13:27.840 --> 01:13:30.920 if the board and the council were inclined to adopt this 01:13:30.920 --> 01:13:31.880 policy, 01:13:31.880 --> 01:13:34.560 maybe out of that, we could enhance our discussions 01:13:34.560 --> 01:13:36.760 and our communications with the residents. 01:13:36.760 --> 01:13:38.800 They're essentially all residential customers 01:13:38.800 --> 01:13:40.119 that haven't opted in. 01:13:40.119 --> 01:13:42.079 And see if we couldn't do a better job maybe 01:13:42.079 --> 01:13:46.920 at explaining the benefits of going with a smart meter. 01:13:46.920 --> 01:13:49.819 And part of the benefits will be, hey, there's no fees and 01:13:49.819 --> 01:13:50.119 cost 01:13:50.119 --> 01:13:51.479 that you might have to deal with. 01:13:51.479 --> 01:13:52.159 Yeah. 01:13:52.159 --> 01:13:55.449 It just gives us a little bit of something to discuss 01:13:55.449 --> 01:13:56.199 further. 01:13:56.199 --> 01:13:57.039 Yeah. 01:13:57.039 --> 01:13:59.880 Well, that's really sensible to me. 01:13:59.880 --> 01:14:02.439 I just wanted to ask that and just to make clear. 01:14:02.439 --> 01:14:03.279 And I think-- 01:14:03.279 --> 01:14:04.159 Mike, I'm sorry. 01:14:04.159 --> 01:14:04.600 No, no, no. 01:14:04.600 --> 01:14:05.880 Go on. 01:14:05.880 --> 01:14:09.159 My question is going to be, have we already done that? 01:14:09.159 --> 01:14:10.800 To avoid going through this process, 01:14:10.800 --> 01:14:13.000 why didn't we reach out to them and say, OK, 01:14:13.000 --> 01:14:14.640 you can keep your meter, but there's going 01:14:14.640 --> 01:14:17.399 to be an extra charge, maybe? 01:14:17.399 --> 01:14:19.199 We have had calls come in. 01:14:19.199 --> 01:14:20.840 And what we've been telling the customers 01:14:20.840 --> 01:14:23.640 is that we've been trying to work on this type of a program 01:14:23.640 --> 01:14:23.880 . 01:14:23.880 --> 01:14:26.439 We actually started late last summer working on this. 01:14:26.439 --> 01:14:29.199 But then there were some changes in management 01:14:29.199 --> 01:14:31.920 that caused us to delay the process. 01:14:31.920 --> 01:14:34.600 I've recently spoke with a couple of the customers 01:14:34.600 --> 01:14:37.720 here recently and told them that we were coming today 01:14:37.720 --> 01:14:39.319 and that we also have on the agenda 01:14:39.319 --> 01:14:43.880 to go to the city council on February the 6th. 01:14:43.880 --> 01:14:46.239 And we still want to keep them. 01:14:46.239 --> 01:14:47.000 So-- 01:14:47.000 --> 01:14:49.199 They're not sure yet. 01:14:49.199 --> 01:14:52.520 It actually kind of sounds like you anticipate additional 01:14:52.520 --> 01:14:52.960 people 01:14:52.960 --> 01:14:55.880 wanting to opt out. 01:14:55.880 --> 01:14:57.239 Kind of some of both. 01:14:57.239 --> 01:14:58.319 Some of both. 01:14:58.319 --> 01:14:59.760 Also, when you put this in place, 01:14:59.760 --> 01:15:02.600 some people may see some of the disadvantages 01:15:02.600 --> 01:15:04.039 that they have by not having it. 01:15:04.039 --> 01:15:06.800 For one, not being able to go online and see 01:15:06.800 --> 01:15:09.680 your historical data, not being able to participate 01:15:09.680 --> 01:15:14.159 in the prepaid metering, and also the fact 01:15:14.159 --> 01:15:16.840 that if you're out of town, for instance, and your power 01:15:16.840 --> 01:15:17.119 goes 01:15:17.119 --> 01:15:19.159 out, and say you're at the end of the line, 01:15:19.159 --> 01:15:20.800 and we get it back on, but there's 01:15:20.800 --> 01:15:22.600 a tree that's falling against your service. 01:15:22.600 --> 01:15:24.439 So everyone else on your street is on, 01:15:24.439 --> 01:15:26.079 but your service is still out. 01:15:26.079 --> 01:15:29.199 With the AMI meter there, our system operators 01:15:29.199 --> 01:15:31.159 may have to know that without you having 01:15:31.159 --> 01:15:32.520 to make that phone call. 01:15:32.520 --> 01:15:35.880 And we would send someone out to make those repairs. 01:15:35.880 --> 01:15:37.880 Yeah, that's a good feature of that. 01:15:37.880 --> 01:15:38.439 Yes, sir. 01:15:38.439 --> 01:15:41.319 Just to have that available. 01:15:44.000 --> 01:15:51.760 I did have one question on the solar panel. 01:15:51.760 --> 01:15:52.600 Yes. 01:15:52.600 --> 01:15:56.840 If somebody's got a solar panel, it 01:15:56.840 --> 01:15:58.680 seems like part of the permit process, 01:15:58.680 --> 01:16:02.720 they would have to have an AMI meter as part of that. 01:16:02.720 --> 01:16:03.279 They do. 01:16:03.279 --> 01:16:08.039 So this would be somebody who installed without a permit? 01:16:08.039 --> 01:16:08.920 That is correct. 01:16:08.920 --> 01:16:09.600 That's correct. 01:16:09.600 --> 01:16:12.239 And we've had that happen, Chairman Robinson. 01:16:12.239 --> 01:16:14.319 We've had customers go out and just-- actually, 01:16:14.319 --> 01:16:16.000 one of the installations we found, 01:16:16.000 --> 01:16:19.119 they had just plugged it into their outlet on the patio. 01:16:19.119 --> 01:16:20.920 And the only reason we were able to find it 01:16:20.920 --> 01:16:24.319 was because Brandon and his group-- we have an AMI group. 01:16:24.319 --> 01:16:27.319 He was recently the supervisor, but now he's the manager. 01:16:27.319 --> 01:16:29.640 And what they do is they have a report that comes out. 01:16:29.640 --> 01:16:31.960 And there's a reverse flow report that comes out. 01:16:31.960 --> 01:16:33.760 So we were able to determine that. 01:16:33.760 --> 01:16:36.399 And when we went out to this customer's home, 01:16:36.399 --> 01:16:37.680 they too were out of town. 01:16:37.680 --> 01:16:39.439 So we weren't able to contact them. 01:16:39.439 --> 01:16:41.039 But with everything down low, there 01:16:41.039 --> 01:16:43.600 was just enough power going back onto our system 01:16:43.600 --> 01:16:45.399 that we could see that reverse flow. 01:16:45.399 --> 01:16:47.199 And looking over the fence, they had panels 01:16:47.199 --> 01:16:49.399 that were just laying in the backyard. 01:16:49.399 --> 01:16:52.119 So we left the notification there. 01:16:52.119 --> 01:16:54.659 And whenever they did come back, they contacted our 01:16:54.659 --> 01:16:55.520 department. 01:16:55.520 --> 01:16:57.520 And we had them go through the proper process 01:16:57.520 --> 01:16:59.319 to get a proper installation installed. 01:16:59.319 --> 01:17:01.800 OK. 01:17:01.800 --> 01:17:02.880 All right. 01:17:02.880 --> 01:17:05.159 One question, a clarification. 01:17:05.159 --> 01:17:08.760 The heading says, we're providing for a repealer. 01:17:08.760 --> 01:17:10.239 Could you tell me what that is? 01:17:10.239 --> 01:17:11.199 Providing for-- 01:17:11.199 --> 01:17:11.699 Repealer. 01:17:14.840 --> 01:17:16.760 And that was in this slide. 01:17:16.760 --> 01:17:18.520 It's on the ordinance. 01:17:18.520 --> 01:17:19.520 Oh, OK. 01:17:19.520 --> 01:17:22.000 [INTERPOSING VOICES] 01:17:22.000 --> 01:17:25.920 No, what we're doing is we're repealing prior ordinances. 01:17:25.920 --> 01:17:30.000 And this is replacing what was in effect in the past. 01:17:30.000 --> 01:17:32.279 Nothing to do with electricity. 01:17:32.279 --> 01:17:33.279 Nothing I'm aware of. 01:17:36.640 --> 01:17:40.199 OK, any other questions? 01:17:40.199 --> 01:17:41.520 Thank you for your presentation. 01:17:41.520 --> 01:17:44.119 Thank you, sir, for your time. 01:17:44.119 --> 01:17:50.039 Do we have a motion in reference to item E, which 01:17:50.039 --> 01:17:56.479 is consider putting an opt out fee in our utility rates? 01:17:56.479 --> 01:17:57.520 Yes. 01:17:57.520 --> 01:17:58.479 Motion? 01:17:58.479 --> 01:17:59.479 Second. 01:17:59.479 --> 01:18:00.840 And a second. 01:18:00.840 --> 01:18:03.199 Further discussion? 01:18:03.199 --> 01:18:04.640 All in favor say aye. 01:18:04.640 --> 01:18:05.159 Aye. 01:18:05.159 --> 01:18:06.279 Any opposed? 01:18:06.279 --> 01:18:09.000 Same sign. 01:18:09.000 --> 01:18:11.000 OK, ACM update. 01:18:11.000 --> 01:18:13.279 Yes, members of the board, in your packet, 01:18:13.279 --> 01:18:18.000 there is a memo from PS Aurora regarding the Texas 01:18:18.000 --> 01:18:21.720 Commissioner of Environmental Quality Wastewater Quality 01:18:21.720 --> 01:18:22.960 Fee. 01:18:22.960 --> 01:18:25.359 That was an item that was approved by the city council 01:18:25.359 --> 01:18:26.800 last Tuesday. 01:18:26.800 --> 01:18:29.640 And it was just informational for the board. 01:18:32.800 --> 01:18:34.800 And then-- I'm sorry. 01:18:34.800 --> 01:18:38.640 Oh, and then you've got your future agendas as well. 01:18:38.640 --> 01:18:48.359 And then we have the new business matrix for 2018. 01:18:48.359 --> 01:18:51.920 OK, questions? 01:18:51.920 --> 01:18:53.600 Hearing none. 01:18:53.600 --> 01:18:54.960 Just comment. 01:18:54.960 --> 01:18:56.600 We're at that stage. 01:18:56.600 --> 01:18:59.000 We can-- we'll move into concluding items. 01:18:59.000 --> 01:19:01.000 OK. 01:19:01.000 --> 01:19:03.840 This memo we received, could we get that addressed 01:19:03.840 --> 01:19:13.039 in our extraneous business in the ACM area? 01:19:13.039 --> 01:19:16.239 I think most of these things have been discussed 01:19:16.239 --> 01:19:17.479 and considered. 01:19:17.479 --> 01:19:21.159 Just maybe a recap for those questions that were posed. 01:19:21.159 --> 01:19:22.640 And I think that would cover it. 01:19:22.640 --> 01:19:23.680 OK. 01:19:23.680 --> 01:19:24.199 Very good. 01:19:24.199 --> 01:19:25.560 If not, a presentation. 01:19:25.560 --> 01:19:27.880 Maybe do. 01:19:27.880 --> 01:19:30.760 OK. 01:19:30.760 --> 01:19:34.920 Any other member of the utilities board 01:19:34.920 --> 01:19:39.319 who would like to place something on future agendas? 01:19:42.840 --> 01:19:44.439 Yes. 01:19:44.439 --> 01:19:47.600 Yes. 01:19:47.600 --> 01:19:50.239 Several things. 01:19:50.239 --> 01:19:52.800 One, let's see. 01:19:52.800 --> 01:19:58.680 Customers have gotten in touch with me about an issue 01:19:58.680 --> 01:20:00.119 that I was not yet aware of. 01:20:00.119 --> 01:20:03.479 It's a customer service issue, I guess. 01:20:03.479 --> 01:20:08.439 And that-- and this is something that might just 01:20:08.439 --> 01:20:11.600 involve being confirmed or looked into by staff. 01:20:11.600 --> 01:20:17.159 Or it might necessitate a discussion as a committee. 01:20:17.159 --> 01:20:21.399 So I'll just ask for more information from staff on this. 01:20:21.399 --> 01:20:26.479 But there was-- apparently, if you 01:20:26.479 --> 01:20:32.079 want to pay your bill over the phone-- 01:20:32.079 --> 01:20:34.239 or I should say this one customer 01:20:34.239 --> 01:20:37.600 said that she had to, for various reasons, 01:20:37.600 --> 01:20:41.880 pay her bill over the phone instead of on the internet. 01:20:41.880 --> 01:20:45.239 And she was charged $10 to pay over the phone, 01:20:45.239 --> 01:20:48.520 and then $6 to change her credit card. 01:20:48.520 --> 01:20:51.880 So apparently, there's a $6 credit card fee. 01:20:51.880 --> 01:20:54.279 And this was on an internet discussion. 01:20:54.279 --> 01:20:56.319 I forget what site, but this was one of these things 01:20:56.319 --> 01:20:58.079 where someone commented. 01:20:58.079 --> 01:21:00.600 And it was on some Facebook page. 01:21:00.600 --> 01:21:02.640 And then someone tagged me. 01:21:02.640 --> 01:21:05.609 And then a bunch of other people started commenting, me too 01:21:05.609 --> 01:21:05.840 . 01:21:05.840 --> 01:21:09.319 And I was very interested, because I didn't know this. 01:21:09.319 --> 01:21:12.560 So both an extra charge, apparently, 01:21:12.560 --> 01:21:16.920 for paying your bill over the phone instead of via internet 01:21:16.920 --> 01:21:16.920 . 01:21:16.920 --> 01:21:20.239 And then a $6 charge, or some extra charge, 01:21:20.239 --> 01:21:23.159 to change your credit card if you get a new credit card. 01:21:23.159 --> 01:21:26.640 So I just had a question, just wanted to look into that. 01:21:26.640 --> 01:21:27.520 Is that the case? 01:21:32.119 --> 01:21:35.600 I think we could bring up maybe an ACM update on our fee 01:21:35.600 --> 01:21:36.439 schedule. 01:21:36.439 --> 01:21:36.920 Yes, sir. 01:21:36.920 --> 01:21:38.319 I'll be glad to do that. 01:21:38.319 --> 01:21:39.079 Next time. 01:21:39.079 --> 01:21:42.079 Yeah, that would be wonderful. 01:21:42.079 --> 01:21:45.880 And then two more things. 01:21:45.880 --> 01:21:50.600 One-- and this would probably be best around the time 01:21:50.600 --> 01:21:54.399 when we talk about the permanent gas supply for the debt 01:21:54.399 --> 01:21:57.039 and energy center. 01:21:57.039 --> 01:22:01.319 But I would like to see us look into, in addition to-- 01:22:01.319 --> 01:22:07.920 and this was something I brought up in a close session 01:22:07.920 --> 01:22:08.399 discussion. 01:22:08.399 --> 01:22:14.079 I'm mentioning it because it was my comment about looking 01:22:14.079 --> 01:22:19.479 into trying to leverage for more transparency 01:22:19.479 --> 01:22:25.439 in finding out which gas companies, the gas supplier 01:22:25.439 --> 01:22:31.520 and enterprise is purchasing their gas from that they give 01:22:31.520 --> 01:22:35.199 us, kind of looking into to what extent we 01:22:35.199 --> 01:22:38.359 could get more transparency, both for us, for council, 01:22:38.359 --> 01:22:42.399 and for the public on that. 01:22:42.399 --> 01:22:45.000 So that would be-- 01:22:45.000 --> 01:22:48.000 so I want to reiterate that and mention it 01:22:48.000 --> 01:22:49.560 for the first time publicly. 01:22:49.560 --> 01:22:51.520 And in addition to that, I'd like 01:22:51.520 --> 01:22:55.159 to request that we consider the possibility of joining 01:22:55.159 --> 01:22:58.800 the Natural Gas Supply Collaborative, which the city 01:22:58.800 --> 01:23:00.000 of Austin has joined. 01:23:00.000 --> 01:23:08.479 And it's just about looking into more responsible ways 01:23:08.479 --> 01:23:14.479 of getting natural gas for the gas plant. 01:23:14.479 --> 01:23:21.000 And yeah, I think I will stop at that, 01:23:21.000 --> 01:23:23.119 because there are some others under that umbrella. 01:23:23.119 --> 01:23:27.520 And then the final thing is just about the vote 01:23:27.520 --> 01:23:30.840 that we had in close session on test gas. 01:23:30.840 --> 01:23:34.560 And that's how it was described in the agenda posting. 01:23:34.560 --> 01:23:39.439 So I'm not revealing anything just as a vote on a test gas. 01:23:39.439 --> 01:23:41.039 I just wanted to say that I had assumed 01:23:41.039 --> 01:23:43.960 when we made that vote to recommend 01:23:43.960 --> 01:23:46.920 that it would be followed up with a public vote 01:23:46.920 --> 01:23:50.159 since we were voting to recommend a contract. 01:23:50.159 --> 01:23:52.199 And it turned out that I was mistaken. 01:23:52.199 --> 01:23:56.000 I was very pleased that council or councilperson Briggs 01:23:56.000 --> 01:23:59.720 had caught that at the council level, 01:23:59.720 --> 01:24:01.239 because council was supposed to be 01:24:01.239 --> 01:24:04.520 voting to approve the contract in closed session. 01:24:04.520 --> 01:24:07.600 So then that ended up being open session. 01:24:07.600 --> 01:24:09.520 Anyway, I thought that handled really well. 01:24:09.520 --> 01:24:13.800 And I'm sorry that I wasn't able to catch that. 01:24:13.800 --> 01:24:18.560 But I would just request that in the future, we follow up-- 01:24:18.560 --> 01:24:24.840 if we do recommend a contract in closed session 01:24:24.840 --> 01:24:27.840 and have a discussion with legal about that, 01:24:27.840 --> 01:24:30.199 that we follow that recommendation up 01:24:30.199 --> 01:24:34.359 with a public vote without the confidential legal advice. 01:24:34.359 --> 01:24:36.960 Does that make sense? 01:24:36.960 --> 01:24:40.439 So that's just a matter of policy. 01:24:40.439 --> 01:24:44.960 And I don't know if you want to have a staff report on that 01:24:44.960 --> 01:24:44.960 , 01:24:44.960 --> 01:24:47.079 or maybe a memo from staff to-- 01:24:47.079 --> 01:24:50.920 I don't quite see us having a discussion on that. 01:24:50.920 --> 01:24:52.039 I don't know. 01:24:52.039 --> 01:24:54.199 But I did want to mention that publicly, 01:24:54.199 --> 01:24:56.680 largely for the members of any members of the public 01:24:56.680 --> 01:24:57.079 watching 01:24:57.079 --> 01:24:57.960 this. 01:24:57.960 --> 01:24:58.760 But that was all. 01:24:58.760 --> 01:24:59.239 Thank you. 01:25:03.279 --> 01:25:06.960 Anybody else have anything? 01:25:06.960 --> 01:25:08.920 No? 01:25:08.920 --> 01:25:12.640 We have a motion to adjourn. 01:25:12.640 --> 01:25:14.079 So moved. 01:25:14.079 --> 01:25:15.520 Motion? 01:25:15.520 --> 01:25:16.039 A second. 01:25:16.039 --> 01:25:17.079 I see a head nod. 01:25:17.079 --> 01:25:18.640 That's a second. 01:25:18.640 --> 01:25:20.000 I'll take that for a second. 01:25:20.000 --> 01:25:21.000 All in favor say aye. 01:25:21.000 --> 01:25:22.000 Aye. 01:25:22.000 --> 01:25:23.560 Any opposed? 01:25:23.560 --> 01:25:25.319 Thank you.