Idaho Falls Utility Board Meetings

December 13, 2018 The City Council of the City of Idaho Falls met in Special Meeting (Idaho Falls Power Board), Thursday, December 13, 2018, at Idaho Falls Power Conference Room, 140 S. Capital, Idaho Falls, Idaho at 7:00 a.m. Call to Order, Roll Call, and Announcements: There were present: Mayor Rebecca L. Noah Casper Councilmember Thomas Hally Councilmember Jim Francis Councilmember Jim Freeman Councilmember John Radford Councilmember Shelly Smede Councilmember Michelle Ziel-Dingman Also present: Stephen Boorman, Assistant General Manager Randy Fife, City Attorney Ben Jenkins, Engineer Richard Malloy, Hydropower and Utility Regulatory Compliance Manager Jace Yancey, Operation Technology Manager Linda Lundquist, Deputy City Clerk Mayor Casper called the meeting to order at 7:02 a.m. with the following items: Calendar, Announcements, and Events Update: Mayor Casper began a brief discussion regarding the 2019 calendar. Upcoming events were discussed. Councilmembers Radford and Freeman will be attending ICUA. Councilmember Hally plans on attending UAMPS. Updates from Board Members: There were no updates. Locating Service Update: Assistant General Manager Boorman spoke about underground locating services. The City uses ELM Locating and has this service out-to-bid. Council would need to approve. He mentioned other services such as Digline Inc. and stated that maybe the City could provide in-house locating services. Based on the current contract, there are about 80,000 locates per year at $20 per locate. Mr. Fife stated that if locating services are in the budget, the procedure would be to go through Purchasing and then have it brought to council. Capital Plan Update: Mr. Jenkins presented slides reviewing the IF Power Capital Plan, 2019 Capital Assets and Grids. o Assets: Hydro Generating Plants – 4, Transmission Lines – 37 miles, Distribution Lines – 429 miles, Substations – 11, Transformers – 8350, Switches/Reclosers/Capacitors – 153, Street Lights – 4, 875, and Traffic Signals (Intersections) – 54. o Replacement Costs: Primary Poles – 7, 655 @ avg $4,250 = $32,500,000 w/40yr life expectancy – equates to an annual investment of $813,000, and Wire – 429 miles @ 32.5/ft = $73,600,000 w/50yr life expectancy – equates to an annual investment of $1, 470,000. o Bulbs Highlights: Water Barrier - $80,000, City Plant Retaining Wall - $75,000, Relicensing Consulting - $75,000, OLP Powerhouse Analysis - $70,000, Other – Camera; Crane; Concrete Repair; Rake Repair; Batteries; and Control Upgrade. o Gem State Highlights: Elevator - $250,000, Radial Gate Repair - $25,000, Other – Concrete Repair; Asphalt Repair; Pumps; and Control Upgrade. o Transmission Highlights: Sugarmill to Paine Construction - $11,770,000, Milligan Substation Breakers - $275,000, Paine Substation Design and Geotech - $250,000 (2020-21), York Substation Expansion Design - 1  December 13, 2018 $200,000 (Delayed), Sandy Downs Substation Prep - $100,000, Other – Batteries; LTCs; Tools; Security; and Protection Equipment. o Distribution Highlights: Line Extensions - $800,000, Heritage Park - $700,000, Pole Replacement and Reconductor - $370,000, Jackson Hole Junction - @242,000, Event Center Drive - $300,000 (Buried line main feeder), Milligan Substation Relays - $150,000, Other – Public Works Projects; UG Cable; Cameras; Switches; Street Lights; and Relays. o Customer Accounts: Remote Disconnect Meters - $500,000, Meter Data Management (MDM System - $300,000, Other: Comm Equipment and Materials. o Operations and Technology: System Control and Data System (SCACA) Upgrade - $200,000, Virtual Servers, Two Fiber Hubs - $75,000, and Security Assessment and Upgrades - $40,000. o Administration: Sink Holes and Parking Lot Repairs - $75,000, Bathroom Remodel - $60,000. o Traffic Highlights: Opticom Pre-emtion System - $400,000, Hawk Signals - $ 150,000, Public Works Projects - $100,000, School Zone - $50,000, Other: Audible Crossing; Battery Backup; Signals; and Improvements. 2019 CIP - Totals FY2019 TTL Asset FY 2019 FY 2019 Capital Project Value Depreciation Investment Bulb Turbines $66,011,808 $1,547,131 $386,500 Gem State $50,720,962 $1,188,328 $323,000 $1,235,500 Transmission $25,302,405 $500,938 Excluding SM - Paine Distribution $78,941,049 $2,055,480 $3,470,000 Customer Accounts $870,000* Operations Technology $390,000** Administrative & General $17,156,398 $770,497 $135,000 Traffic $12,166,104 $320,996 $782,000 TOTAL: $250,298,726 $6,383,370 $7,592,000 Excluding MERF * Customer Accounts Assets Were Recently separated From Distribution ** Operations Technology Capital Improvement is divided between 9001,9002,9004 and 9005 Dam Safety Inspections: Mr. Malloy presented slides reviewing Dam Safety based on Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s (FERC’s) Standardization Document. o All three bulbs and old lower plant are designated low hazard by the FERC o The GEM State Project, P-2952 – Designated a high hazard structure by the FERC o Emergency Action Plan (EAP) for GEM State – Annual Test and 5-Year Table Top and Functional Exercise o FERC Inspections – Annual Field Inspection and Report o PFMA and Part 12D (Gem State Project) – Potential Failure Modes Analysis, 5-Year Part 12D o Event Triggered Inspections for the Gem State Project – Post Seismic Event Dam Safety Inspection & Checklist 08-GEN-08, Dam Safety Inspections for Extreme Flood Flows 08-GEN-09 o IFP Dam Safety Program 12-GEN-16 Rev. 1 – Weekly inspections of both projects with checklists 07-GEN- 01, Quarterly measurements at monitoring wells (GEM State Project) 07-GEN-02, Bi-Annual GEM State Dike Toe Drain Camera Inspections) 08-GEN-11, Floatable Debris (Drift Wood) Inspection Procedure 10- GEN-15, Annual Monument Survey at GEM State Project, and Event Triggered Inspections. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC): 2  December 13, 2018 Mr. Malloy presented slides reviewing reliability standards and violations of the standards. He stated that there is a large burden and responsibility as generator and transmission owners. The Policy and Procedure Manual presented is our policy that addresses the standards of FERC and how they apply to us as generator and transmission owners. o Mandated by the Federal Power Act of 2005 for protection of the Bulk Electric System (driven by east coast outage in 2003). Standards were enforceable in 2007. o Standards or operating rules that are applicable to utilities based upon registered category thresholds. o 28 standards with 208 requirements applicable to IFP requiring policies, prescriptive actions and reporting, periodic training, delegation agreements with UAMPS/BPA and an internal compliance program. o Audited for compliance every 6 years (may change). o Violations can result in $1 million per day penalties. o Most standards are in their 3rd-7th reiteration. o Defining Violation Risk Factors & Violation Severity Levels o FERC > NERC (ERO) > WECC (RE) Delegation of Standards o Defining what comprises the Bulk Electric System (BES); Risk based registration o Cyber and Physical Security Sugarmill to Paine Transmission Project Update: Mr. Malloy presented an update of the project and spoke to the messaging around the transmission project and pointed out on the map the 5 acre parcel for a future IFP sub station. Assistant General Manager Boorman stated that partnering with Rocky Mountain is a win win situation. Mayor Casper provided some back story of the project and Mr. Fife concurred, offering some talking points when filing jointly with Rocky Mountain. Mr. Malloy stated that the City will own 51% of the line and will be a three year project from the engineering/design phase through procurement and one year of construction. The service date will be in 2021. Fiber Update: Mr. Yancey presented an update on the Fiber project, displaying photos of the Fiber Hut installation. While the construction piece is complete, the hut still needs to be spliced in and providers need to be lined up for customers. The goal is to the have the first online customer by the beginning of January, but will most likely be toward the end of January or beginning of February. Press releases will go out with IF Fiber branding and phone numbers. Most of the customer questions have been about price point and fees. Assistant General Manager Boorman stated how crews have been pushed to the limits this year and space for administrative staff is limited. Mr. Yancey expressed that the yard space for trucks and equipment is filled to the brim and what is needed from public officials is help conveying the importance of public/private partnerships. Pilot Projects: o 323 Customers Aerial Pilot with – Construction is complete with first customers connected o 311 Customers Existing Underground Pilot – Installed just under 27,000 feet of micro duct, saving approximately $225,000 with construction underway. Less than 10% of area didn’t work for various reasons such as transformers being in the way, etc. These areas will get moved to the New Construction Pilot. o 630 Customers New Construction Pilot – Largest area and most expensive piece of the pilot. Construction will start March 15 and will entail installing conduit for electrical and a future path for fiber. The goal is to use the existing meter box and conduit. City Clerks, administrative staff and Fiber administrative staff will be trained to handle incoming calls. Next Steps: o Provider agreements o Migration plan for providers o Finalize website for customer sign ups o Splicing contractors o Underground contractors o Connect customers Meter Usage Reporting Issue Update: 3  December 13, 2018 Mr. Yancey reported that a malfunctioning meter was replaced and 32 faulty meters were removed from the field and that they’re working with Utilities to define a process to identify 0 KWH readings. He stated that IFP is currently waiting on a response from a vendor. Mutual Aid and Other Similar Work Agreements: Assistant General Manager Boorman gave a presentation on Light Up Navajo, an initiative where public power utilities would provide mutual aid, free of charge, to work with Navajo Tribal Utility Authority’s (NTUA) crews to electrify Navajo homes. The American Public Power Association (APPA) teamed up with NTUA to launch Light Up Navajo. The project is unique, since normally mutual aid is provided to rebuild lines and reconnect electricity to homes after natural disasters, and not to build new lines and connect homes to the grid for the first time. He noted that this call for mutual aid is the first of its kind and the success of this pilot program is imperative in paving the way to bridge the gap of need in the Navajo Nation. The goal is to connect as many homes of Navajo families as possible to the grid during this 6-week pilot project. Background: o Navajo Tribal Utility Authority (NTUA) was created in 1959. o NTUA is a nonprofit enterprise of the Navajo Nation. o NTUA’s service territory is 27,000 square miles with 7 district offices; 43,000 electrical customers; 38,000 water customers; 16, 000 waste water customers; and 15,000 customers w/o electricity. o NTUA has identified 14 initial electrification projects and 198 scattered projects to bring electricity for the first time to 327 Navajo customers. Logistics: o Timeframe – Spring of 2019 (April 6 – May 18) o Line workers/Crews – Target 3 - 4 crews per week for 6 weeks, standard crew size is 1 foreman, 1 journeyman lineman and 2 apprentices o Project funding – NTUA will provide food and lodging but not compensation for labor o 2 Types of Projects – Overhead single phase line and Lateral off an existing line to a home (houses are expected to be wired and ready for connection) Equipment Requirements: o Equipment per construction crew – 60-ft bucket truck, backhoe with trailer (if needed), 2 utility trucks, digger derrick, pole trailer, and pressure digger. o Units equipped with 4-wheel drive is necessary and automobile insurance is required. o Crews are responsible to bring their own PPE o APPA and NTUA will send out – A finalized list of equipment/materials needed for projects, an equipment/materials survey for utilities to indicate what they are able to bring/donate, and information on how to send monetary or material donations. o NTUA will provide equipment/materials that volunteer crews are not able to bring. o 6-week volunteer schedule from April 6 – May 18 Utility Reports: Assistant General Manager Boorman reported that Bonneville has announced an initial rate increase of approximately 3% (2-year rate increase). There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 10:29 a.m. s/ Linda Lundquist s/ Rebecca L. Noah Casper DEPUTY CITY CLERK MAYOR 4