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HomeMy WebLinkAboutStaff Report 2304-1334Item No. . Page 1 of 1 Utilities Advisory Commission Staff Report From: Dean Batchelor, Director Utilities Lead Department: Utilities Meeting Date: May 3, 2023 Staff Report: 2304-1334 TITLE Approval of the Minutes of the Utilities Advisory Commission Meeting Held on April 12, 2023 RECOMMENDATION Staff recommends that the UAC consider the following motion: Commissioner ______ moved to approve the draft minutes of the April 12, 2023 meeting as submitted/Amended. Commissioner ______ seconded the motion. ATTACHMENTS Attachment A: 04-12-2023 UAC DRAFT Minutes AUTHOR/TITLE: Jenelle Kamian, Program Assistant I UTILITIES ADVISORY COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES OF APRIL 12, 2023 SPECIAL MEETING CALL TO ORDER Chair Segal called the meeting of the Utilities Advisory Commission (UAC) to order at 6:02 p.m. Present: Chair Segal and Commissioners Croft, Forssell, Mauter, Metz, Phillips and Scharff Absent: Chair Segal welcomed new Commissioners Rachel Croft, Meagan Mauter and Robert Phillips. AGENDA CHANGES, ADDITIONS AND DELETIONS None PUBLIC COMMENT None NEW BUSINESS ITEM 1: ACTION: Staff Recommends the Utilities Advisory Commission Review and Approve the Utilities Advisory Commission's FY 2023-2024 Annual Work Plan, and Recommend the City Council Review the Work Plan and Provide Feedback Chair Segal invited comments on the Annual Work Plan. The Current Commissioners section needs to be updated. Mission Statement: Suggestions included adding resource acquisition in the third line after wastewater collection. In the top line of Packet Page 7, change energy efficiency to efficiency (delete energy). In first item of bulleted list, change any major utility to any utility (delete major). Prior Year Accomplishments: Commissioner Forssell noted that fiber was not included. Mr. Batchelor agreed. Staff will add fiber. Standing Topic 1: Commissioner Metz commented that fair treatment of ratepayers, compliance with laws and regulations, especially regarding equitable rates and CPAU financial solvency are the main ingredients of budgets. He suggested that the Measure of Success could note some impact beyond getting our plan approved. Commissioner Phillips thought Commissioner Metz’s wording could fall under Beneficial Impacts and tie a specific goal to it. If the goal is the community having a better understanding, there should be a way of measuring it. Commissioner Scharff stated his metric of success was comparing how we do versus other agencies. He suggested for Measure of Success to keep our rates where they have historically been. Commissioner Croft wanted to include solvency. Chair Segal suggested continuing to strive for lower rates based on comps where appropriate. A second sentence added to Standing Topic 1 Beneficial Impacts: Fair treatment of ratepayers, compliance with laws and regulations with equitable rates. Tabatha Boatwright, Utilities Administrative Assistant, remarked that legally she could not include fair treatment of ratepayers. What is fair treatment to one commissioner may be not fair to another, so she will use another phrase. Standing Topic 1 Measure of Success: Council approval of rate changes, Utilities budget and City of Palo Alto Utilities financial solvency. Maintain rates historical differences to other public agencies. Commissioner Scharff believed it was important for government to let citizens know what is going on and be transparent. He wants citizens of Palo Alto to understand our basis for making decisions. Standing Topic 1 Beneficial Impacts: The community will have a better understanding of the rates and why they are set at the levels they are being charged. Maintain a compliance of the laws and regulations with equitable rates. Commissioner Croft suggested for Beneficial Impacts, the community would have an understanding of the rates (delete better). Standing Topic 2: Commissioner Metz suggested safety and hygiene of the City of Palo Alto under normal circumstances and emergency preparedness. We have reservoirs for emergencies. That is a benefit. That is how we could measure if we are doing a good job with water supply. Commissioner Mauter wondered if there was a timeline for reviewing the One Water Plan and providing input. Mr. Batchelor replied that staff would bring it to the UAC first. The timeline is open. There is no date set for going to Council with the One Water Plan. Chair Segal suggested the Timeline be year-round and multi-year effort. She suggested under High Priority, understanding the sources and maintenance of the City’s water supply. Standing Topic 2 Timeline: This is not a single effort or project; however, a year-round and multi-year effort. Standing Topic 2 Measure of Success: Council approval of the One Water Plan, which includes adaptable, dynamic water supply portfolios. Safe and hygienic water supply under normal circumstances and sufficient resources in an emergency situation. No changes for Standing Topics 3 and 4. Standing Topic 5: Commissioner Metz would like to add to Measure of Success, within the timeline and within budget. Standing Topic 6: Commissioner Metz suggested for Measure of Success to enhance reliability in the CPAU grid and in the generation transmission that supplies our grid. Standing Topic 7: Commissioner Metz was concerned that Measure of Success stated this is a non-measurable project. We can measure success in terms of whether legislation is in CPAU’s favor. Commissioner Mauter wondered if CPAU actively reviewed funding opportunities. There were several funding initiatives under the Inflation Reduction Act and IIJA. Staff should track those opportunities and identify ways to use federal funds to augment some of our other objectives. Ms. Boatwright responded that staff tracks those throughout the year. Utilities actively seeks and applies for federal, state and local grants. Commissioner Mauter suggested incorporating legislative and funding initiatives to the title for Standing Topic 7. Chair Segal suggested for Measure of Success to include participation in relevant legislation and funding opportunities. Mr. Batchelor remarked that staff could provide an informational report whenever they apply for funding and provide a follow-up on the outcome. No comments on Standing Topic 8. Chair Segal suggested adding wastewater as a standing topic. Mr. Batchelor stated fiber should be added to FY 2024. Standing Topic 9: Ms. Boatwright stated that Sanitary Sewer 30 was finished. They are working on Sanitary Sewer 31. That is going to Council in May. It is a CIP project but staff can break it out separately. Chair Segal left it to staff’s discretion for wording. FY2024 Topic 1: Commissioner Croft suggested including reducing demand for power, water, etc. in the title. Mr. Abendschein recommended adding energy efficiency or demand management. Commissioner Metz suggested adding CPAU providing the grid of the future. Mr. Abendschein noted that Council assigned that topic to the S/CAP Committee Work Plan. Mr. Batchelor remarked that the UAC would be involved, so they could add language around grid modification. Chair Segal suggested adding and future technologies for sustainability, resilience and reliability at the end of the description. FY2024 Topic 2: Commissioner Phillips asked if AMI was expected to be installed everywhere in the city by CYQ4-2024. Mr. Batchelor replied yes, all meters (water, gas and electric) will be in by the end of 2024. Chair Segal suggested deleting “discuss the” from the title and start the sentence with launch and deployment. No comments for FY2024 Topic 3. FY2024 Topic 4: Commissioner Mauter commented that One Water supply would likely significantly increase electric load consumed by the water utility. She is curious about pathways to demand flexibility within the utility sectors and whether recognizing the grid impacts to some of these upgrades should be included. She also pointed out that there is often a lot of connectivity between utilities. Mr. Batchelor stated they could add language to include synergies. FY2024 Topic 5: Commissioner Metz suggested having a set of guiding principles to make decisions on when we underground and when we do not. Mr. Batchelor remarked that staff needs to make a concentrated effort at rebuilding some of the underground areas nearing end of the life as well as expand undergrounding in new locations. Upgrading our grid will be extremely costly. Undergrounding and adding fiber into the ground at the same time will help share costs. Commissioner Phillips pointed out that transparency is important. More outreach to the community about what is going on with undergrounding would be useful. Mr. Batchelor stated their number one goal is to change out old equipment (transformers, switches, etc.) with new equipment into an existing underground system. The secondary wire, the power that comes from the pole into our homes, seems to be the problem. Nobody wants the transformer box in front of their home, so that has been a challenge. The other challenge is the cost to the customer. They have to change their electrical panels and some customers have difficulty paying for upgrades. Chair Segal advised the UAC that when staff is discussing an item on the agenda and does not mention synergies, one of the UAC’s responsibilities is to bring it up. FY2024 Topic 6: Commissioner Phillips asked if physical security should be included with cybersecurity. Chair Segal thought it was okay to expand the topic to physical security and cybersecurity. FY2024 Topic 7: Commissioner Metz asked about High Priority N/A. He thought water quality was a high priority. Ms. Boatwright explained how staff determines high and low priorities. A high priority means we have to take care of it right now to address an issue and there will be a problem if we do not take care of it. Water quality is a year-round thing, so it is a low priority meaning we do not need to do anything immediate because it is constantly a priority. Commissioner Scharff heard from many people in the community concerned about water quality. He would like to know what the testing showed. Under Measure of Success, he suggested changing it to CPAU customers will or should have access to high-quality water, not are fortunate to have. Commissioner Forssell noted that we do not test for suspended solids, which is one of the community’s concerns. We only test for dissolved solids. Commissioner Mauter remarked that as Palo Alto considers moving toward a stronger water reuse component, it is incredibly important to be proactive about communicating the benefits or changes in water quality associated with water reuse plans. She would like to include that in the One Water Plan discussion or the water quality topic. Mr. Batchelor stated that One Water discusses recycling. Topic 7 is about testing at different points throughout the system. Commissioner Mauter suggested changing the Measure of Success. You would like to diversify the source of supply to advance resiliency. In diversifying that source of supply, she thinks a conversation about the impacts on water quality is imperative. No changes suggested for Topics 8, 9 or 10. Topic 11: Commissioner Metz suggested addressing the hydro adjustor. Mr. Abendschein stated he includes the hydro rate adjustor as part of the electric rate design review. Ms. Boatwright suggested rewording it to electric rate design review including the hydro adjustor. Topic 12: Commissioner Phillips believed the topic title made it sound like we have decided on hedging. He thought it should have a weaker verb such as discuss or analyze. He also suggested changing the title from in the winter months to for the winter months. Topic 13: Commissioner Mauter thought since the plan was to phase out gas long term, maybe it was worth talking about present and future gas rate design review. Mr. Batchelor responded they have not looked at that and it was not part of cost-based. They could add it as something they need to do but it is in the S/CAP overall plan to look for consultants. Commissioner Forssell would like to include an additional FY2024 topic to the work plan. She wants the UAC to come to Council with a policy suggestion to replace the customer-paid policy for transformer upgrades triggered by a resident attempting to electrify. Commissioner Scharff supported Commissioner Forssell’s suggestion but would like to include all of the customer-paid things. Mr. Batchelor replied that staff is looking at all of the paid procedures. Ms. Boatwright noted that topic was included in the electric design review. Mr. Batchelor will add it to the work plan as another topic with its own timeline and measure of success. Mr. Batchelor stated that the work plan is going to Council in May. Staff will likely bring it back to the UAC as a discussion or an informational report in June. ACTION: Commissioner Scharff moved to approve the UAC 2023-2024 annual work plan as amended. Seconded by Commissioner Phillips. Motion carries 7-0 with Chair Segal and Commissioners Croft, Forssell, Mauter, Metz, Scharff and Phillips voting yes. COMMISSIONER COMMENTS and REPORTS from MEETINGS/EVENTS None. FUTURE TOPICS FOR UPCOMING MEETING None. Tabatha Boatwright, Utilities Administrative Assistant, reminded the UAC that in May the agenda will include selecting the chair, vice chair and subcommittee members in addition to the usual full agenda. NEXT SCHEDULED MEETING: May 3, 2023 Commissioner Metz moved to adjourn. Commissioner Phillips seconded the motion. The motion carried 7-0 with Chair Segal and Commissioners Croft, Forssell, Mauter, Metz, Scharff and Phillips voting yes. Meeting adjourned at 8:08 p.m.