Idaho Falls Utility Board Meetings

November 12, 2020 The Idaho Falls Power Board of the City of Idaho Falls met Thursday, November 12, 2020, at the Idaho Falls Power Energy Center, 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 Board Member Michelle Ziel-Dingman Board Member Thomas Hally Board Member Jim Francis Board Member Jim Freeman (via Zoom) Board Member John Radford (via Zoom) Absent: Board Member Shelly Smede Also present: Bear Prairie, Idaho Falls Power (IFP) General Manager Stephen Boorman, IFP Assistant General Manager Randy Fife, City Attorney Linda Lundquist, IFP Board Secretary Mayor Casper called the meeting to order at 7:05 a.m. and made some brief announcements about upcoming strategic planning meetings and the 2021 calendaring meeting. She said that NuScale and Utah Associated Municipal Power Systems (UAMPS) announced an option for an uprated power output module option in the Carbon Free Power Project (CFPP) and mentioned an article worth reading in the latest issue of Power Magazine about nuclear energy. She reminded the Board to make edits in the board evaluation survey and return them to her in December before the January board meeting. Board Member Updates and Announcements Board Member Radford announced that the Policy Maker’s Council meeting would occur later in the day and reiterated the importance of receiving board evaluation survey comments and feedback. Idaho Falls Power Strategic Plan GM Prairie reviewed the timeline of the originally created strategic plan, pointed out when it was refreshed in 2018 and mentioned how timely it is to be updating the plan as the city reviews its own strategic plan. He said that the IFP senior leadership team reviewed and updated the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT) analysis and its key points earlier in the month. GM Prairie reviewed the updates with the Board beginning with the strengths section. The Board discussed the elements of the plan and made some minor revisions. GM Prairie noted that the customer satisfaction survey goes out every 18 months and is planned again for February 2021. The weaknesses section was reviewed and there was a discussion on how the utility interfaces with the changing dynamics of its customers. Board Member Ziel-Dingman commented that she has now signed up three times for the autopayment plan as the treasurer’s office continues to switch their providers. She voiced frustration with the ease of getting utility services signed up and paid for at the city. There was a discussion on the billing software and how it doesn’t currently meet the needs of the utility like pre-pay, mobile app, customer outage information and general two-way interaction with the utility through mobile devices. Board Member Radford talked about the size of the Board and how boards are traditionally formed and commented that if board members were paid a part- time salary, there may be a larger pool of interest in board positions and someone like him in his current 1  November 12, 2020 position could potentially focus on IF Power and city council business full time and not have to work another job. Mayor Casper reminded the Board that in fact their council salary was already in a major part paid for by IF Power through annual transfers. There was some discussion on how the coronavirus has been impacting the utility. As the Board moved through the plan, Board Member Radford said that he sees the capabilities of battery storage as an opportunity for customers and views the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) as a potential threat. There was a discussion about onboarding in the areas of focus section for the utility and Board Member Francis commented on how helpful it was to him to have outgoing board members sit in on a few initial meetings. GM Prairie updated the Board on the status of the American Public Power Association’s (APPA) RP3 application and stressed the significance of the designation for the utility. Mayor Casper said she would like to bring the strategic plan to the utility’s organizational membership annual summer meetings and conferences as a reference tool to refer back to during those discussions and training. GM Prairie reminded the Board that all materials are on their Dropbox digitally and can be accessed anywhere they have their city issued iPad. Standing Reports Fiber – GM Prairie reviewed the November fiber statistics and mentioned that fiber is close to celebrating its 1000th customer and said that staff is working on a press release to accompany a large public relations event. Organizational Membership Reports Utah Associated Municipal Power Systems (UAMPS) – GM Prairie gave an update on the CFPP. He recapped the project’s timeline and Board Member Hally asked where the current subscription was at. GM Prairie replied that there are about 100 megawatts (MW) subscribed now after the latest off-ramp a few weeks ago. In the previous phase, there was over 200 megawatts subscribed, but a number of large cities dropped out of the project. Mayor Casper asked if this next phase will focus on subscription and the combined operating licensing agreement (COLA) and GM Prairie stated that UAMPS asked the Department of Energy (DOE) if they’d fund at a higher rate because UAMPS didn’t have their match and explained that if the COLA slips, then the entire project slips back. He continued to say that UAMPS’ focus is on finding new subscription and trying to expand this phase with more money and subscription to keep it on track. The current phase is funded now at roughly $4 million in total, which was short of the desired funding of $13.2 million as originally planned in the CFPP budget resolution. Board Member Hally asked if subscription sales were why Mark Gendron was hired by UAMPS and GM Prairie answered yes. GM Prairie added that Mr. Gendron has been focusing on the Northwest for the past year on selling the project but has not yet signed any subscription. He also said that there continues to be discussion of “promising leads and discussions of buyers” at CFPP meetings. Board Member Francis asked if UAMPS is suggesting that we move to a four or six-pack? GM Prairie clarified that because of plant design changes and subscription shrink back, NuScale is working to move the CFPP to a smaller capital investment project and explained that a six-pack option would bring a lower project cost hopefully, and will also keep the project under $55 dollars in the LCOE model in 2020 dollars. He explained that these are all new developments and ideas that are undergoing analysis by NuScale and Fluor. Board Member Radford commented on an article he’d read that suggested how the modular project isn’t really an untested concept and that the technology had actually been demonstrated already on a smaller scale. He said how encouraged he was that they are working to scale down to a more affordable project and at a much lower financial risk. Mayor Casper pointed out that when a plant tour at Corvallis gets rescheduled, the Board should be able to ask more questions. GM Prairie said that the CFPP project committee was encouraged to hopefully find a way to make the economics work and said that the funding schedules and development cost reimbursement agreement (DCRA) will be revised. He reviewed the Schedule I and pointed out that the city’s spending cap is highlighted at $900,000. He explained that the ratio of the cost share is based on the lowest subscribed amount and that the city’s 2  November 12, 2020 portion is about 4.9 percent (4.9%) of the project, which is roughly a $200,000 investment, and not the $900,000 because UAMPS ratios everything based upon the lowest percentage subscriber in which everyone pays the same ratio share based upon their subscription level. Northwest River Partners (NWRP) – GM Prairie showed some slides from NWRP’s annual meeting. He mentioned the Kintama Research that was recently published in the Scientific Journal that contradicts some environmental group’s narratives on the impact that ocean conditions are having on fish returns. He noted that some regional survey results tended to show that millennials don’t view hydropower as a renewable energy source and mentioned the importance of IFP’s engagement with NWRP and their efforts to educate the public about clean and affordable hydropower in the region. GM Prairie said that conversations with regional governors tend to focus on science and what changes can be made to the dams to help get better fish returns. Public Power Council (PPC) – GM Prairie said they held their annual meetings last week. He noted that Idaho Power plans to exit the Jim Bridger coal plant sooner than originally planned. Announcements GM Prairie asked the Board to mark their calendars for a virtual nuclear discussion to be hosted by the Center for Advanced Energy Studies (CAES) on Dec. 3 at 3:30 p.m., where he will be speaking about the economics of nuclear in evolving power markets. He asked the Board to bring their board books to the next meeting for updating. Mayor Casper reminded the board that there will be a kit available later in the day for tomorrow’s city strategic planning meetings. She mentioned that in the Dec. 7, 2020 work session, she will pause the discussion to participate in a 30-minute virtual reception, which will welcome the incoming director of the Idaho National Laboratory. There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 10:54 a.m. s/ Linda Lundquist__________________________ s/ Rebecca L. Noah Casper_______________ Linda Lundquist, BOARD SECRETARY Rebecca L. Noah Casper, MAYOR 3