Massena Electric Department

Approved by the MEUB 9/20/2022 Page |1 MASSENA ELECTRIC UTILITY BOARD MINUTES of Thursday August 18, 2022 Town of Massena Electric Department – 71 East Hatfield Street Present: James Shaw Andrew McMahon, Superintendent Rene Hart Jeffrey Dobbins, Treasurer Richard Maginn Matt Gray, Deputy Superintendent John Bogosian-via Zoom Margo Rochefort, Deputy Treasurer Charles Raiti Patrick Facteau, Town Liaison Eric Gustafson, Attorney Debra Willer, Town Liaison Chairman Shaw opened the meeting at 1:01p.m. 1) APPROVAL OF MINUTES: RESOLUTION: The Massena Electric Utility Board hereby approves the minutes of the regular meeting of July 21, 2022 as presented. Moved by Charles Raiti - Seconded by Richard Maginn - All in Favor 2) OPERATIONS UPDATE: by Matt Gray, Deputy Superintendent A. Safety: MED has been 53 days since our last lost time accident. The Employee that was injured on June 8th was able to return to work on July 25th, with no limitations, following a release from their Doctor. Please note: The number of days without a lost time accident is not correct on the MED Safety Report provided in the Board Packet. The amount of days without a lost time accident should read 53, not 23. There were no reportable injuries in June. This brings the number of days without a reportable injury to 416 days B. Customer Impact Chart: MED experienced 54,794 Customer Impact Minutes throughout the month of July. The largest Customer Impact was due to a tree contact on State Highway 420 during a rain and wind event. July’s CIM total is the largest amount of Customer Impact Minutes that we have seen in the last 13 months. Even though we saw an above normal amount of CIM in July, our 12-month average has increased slightly to 13,937, which is still well below the top- quartile average. C. Reliability: MED Crews responded to fifteen calls in the month of July. Of the calls received, two calls affected no Customers, five calls affected only one Customer and eight calls affected more than one Customer. Eight of the calls received contributed to the monthly CIM total. The largest Customer Impact was the previously mentioned outage on State Highway 420 and the surrounding area that affected 608 Customers for 1 hour. The other large contributors to last month’s CIM were an animal contact on State Highway 131 that affected 220 Customers on SH 131 and Wilson Hill for 46 minutes as well as a failed insulator on Cr 39 in Louisville that affected 103 Customers for 65-minutes. The remainder of the CIM contributing calls were relatively small in duration and impact and are mostly attributed to weather related issues, tree contacts or animal contacts. Approved by the MEUB 9/20/2022 Page |2 D. Work Schedule: Crews have begun the Dennison Road underground project. This project calls for the conversion of approximately 500 feet of overhead primary to underground primary in the vicinity of the NYPA 230kV Right-of-way. This work is being completed at the request of NYPA, in support of the NYPA Smart Path Project. Crews have begun a six-pole change-out near the S Main St railroad crossing. This work will allow for more vertical clearance over the railroad and allow for future considerations such as the addition of a second circuit to the southern portion of the district. Crews have completed their work to replace original equipment on Perkins Rd. Crews have completed the LED lighting upgrade at Bushnell Field. 3) FINANCIAL REPORTS: by Jeffrey Dobbins, Treasurer A. Write-Offs: RESOLUTION: The Massena Electric Utility Board hereby authorizes the write-off of bad debt totaling $14,728.00 as audited by Mr. Rene Hart. Moved by Rene Hart - Seconded by Charles Raiti - All in Favor B. Power Comparison Graph: Power cost for July totaled $303,000. Supplemental Power costs were over $212,000, 3,800 MWh of incremental energy purchased. Incremental Energy rate was $55.72/MWh, higher than previous months and compared to July 2021. Transmission costs were a credit for July. 2nd consecutive month transmission costs were a credit. Zone D price was $20/MWh, less than Zone A/Niagara ($38.70 vs $58.61). Credit projected for July as well, Zone A price was over $71/MWh. Impact to customers - PPAC credit projected for September. Peak Demand for July was 31,310 kW. Peak set July 20th at 4:00pm, during warm stretch in July. MWh purchased, over 15,600. C. Cash Flow: The Operating Fund increased by $95,000 during July. The Operating Fund at month end was over $6.5 MM. July receipts were $851,300. Customer payments remain steady. Some L1-HEAP and other assistance programs payments continue as applications filed before the closure dates of these programs are processed. July expenditures totaled over $755,990, most expenditures were less than budgeted for the month, including Salaries & Benefits. Chairman Shaw inquired if any specific customers were materially impacting the Department’s financial health in 2022. Treasurer Dobbins reported the biggest impact in 2022 has been an increase in usage by existing customers. The previous two years, 2020 and 2021, the Department reported losses due to lower sales during those years. Mild winters and the pandemic contributed to lower MWh sold. Treasurer Dobbins reported MWh sold were below 200,000 in 2020 and 2021, which was also below the values used to set rates during the Department’s last rate proceeding in 2015. MWh sold are projected at closer to 205,000 for 2022 due to the cold winter that extended into the spring. 2022 revenue and income projections are projected to be higher than budgeted as a result of the return of sales related to heating load from existing customers. Treasurer Dobbins reported that sales related to the customer served under Service Class 8, Individual Service Agreement, have also added to the projected income for 2022. The actual impact is uncertain since the customer’s operations have declined in recent months.  Approved by the MEUB 9/20/2022 Page |3 Mr. Dobbins reminded the Board that all incremental power costs are directly passed through to this customer. In 2022 the cost per kWh for incremental power is up significantly from 2020 and 2021, resulting in the developer choosing to curtail their operations. Mr. McMahon reminded the board that unlike customers served under the other Service Classifications of our Tariff, who are billed a blended rate that includes low cost hydroelectric power, customers served under SC-8 are not allocated hydroelectric power and receive a direct price signal when incremental costs increase. Mr. McMahon also noted that MED earns revenue from this customer through a facilities use charge and the customer is utilizing unused capacity on our system while not impacting the rates of our traditional customers. Board Member Raiti asked if the budget included revenue related to this customer. Treasurer Dobbins indicated that the 2022 budget did not, since the customer was not operational when the Department approved the budget in 2021. The 2023 budget will likely include some estimate for this customer. Based on actual operations of this customer in 2022, Treasurer Dobbins reported that anything included will be a conservative estimate. D. Approval of Bills: RESOLUTION: The Massena Electric Utility Board hereby approves the bills as audited by Mr. Rene Hart totaling $638,048.68. Moved by Rene Hart – Seconded by John Bogosian - All in Favor 4) COMMITTEE REPORTS: by Andrew McMahon, Superintendent A. Personnel: 1. Staff Update: There was one case of covid among the staff but there was no known exposure to other staff members. Lori Pryce retired early in 2020 during covid and we were never able to have a get together in her honor. We hope to do something prior to the next board meeting. 2. Summer Intern: Summer intern Aidan MacKenzie has completed his work with us. He did a variety of projects with us. Particularly supporting grant work on EV'S, doing background work on the proposed geothermal project as well as basic tasks that needed to be done. 3. Security Update: There will be an active shooter drill in September with the town. We will also do a table top at the end of September with the village PD. B. Finance & Economic Development: 1. Payment and Delinquency: Nothing to report 2. Energy Efficiency Programs: Nothing to report 3. Communication: Mr. McMahon was on WMSA with Jeff Loomis of energy answers. Mr. Loomis was describing what an energy audit looks like, how much it costs, etc. Mr. McMahon emphasized that this could be another sever winter and now is the time to do improvements.  Approved by the MEUB 9/20/2022 Page |4 C. Engineering & Energy: 1. Cybersecurity: No significant updates but we remain vigilant. 2. Forward Energy Procurement: Our work with both Nextera and NYPA is nearing conclusion as lawyers hash out details. 3. Arbor Program: We have projects lined up at the schools which will be completed by the time schools reopen. We have also been offered an additional grant by Alcoa. We are looking to do a number of bare root trees in back yards. 4. NYSERDA submittals: We submitted 3 proposals and have not received a response yet on whether any of them were selected. 5. IIJA and Inflation Reduction Act: We are still awaiting guidance on the limitations for how this money can be used. We have a variety of resiliency projects in mind. Most importantly would be the disposal of Ash trees that either have been or are vulnerable to the Emerald Ash Borer. We have been advised that one of the challenges is that the US DOE is short 1,000 employees who are needed to help manage the money identified in the IIJA let alone the new money from the Inflation Reduction Act. 5) LEGAL ISSUES: by Eric Gustafson, Attorney: RESOLUTION: The Massena Electric Utility Board hereby authorizes Attorney Eric Gustafson to attend the APPA Legal Conference. Moved by Rene Hart - Seconded by Richard Maginn - All in Favor 6) UNFINISHED BUSINESS: 7) NEW BUSINESS: RVRDA Mr. McMahon explained that the contract with the RVRDA would be a 3year extension of the existing contract. * Attached Hometown Hero Banners Mr. McMahon has been approached by Mayor Paquin about putting up "Hometown Heroes" banners to celebrate both veterans and active service members. Numerous surrounding communities have put these up in recent years and the Village is thinking about doing something similar. Mr. McMahon will get more details on this initiative and report back. The Board discussed the amount of work involved in putting up banners for graduating seniors during Covid but also noted the importance of service members.  Approved by the MEUB 9/20/2022 Page |5 8) ARTICLES OF INTEREST: 9) SCHEDULE OF EVENTS: Next regular meeting, Tuesday September 20, 2022 10) PUBLIC COMMENT: 11) EXECUTIVE SESSION: Motion to move into executive session at 1:59 p.m. Moved by Rene Hart – Seconded by Richard Maginn, All in Favor Motion to move out of executive session at 2:20 p.m. Moved by Richard Maginn– Seconded by Charles Raiti All in Favor Motion to adjourn at 2:21 p.m. Moved by Charles Raiti – Seconded by John Bogosian, All in Favor