CT Municipal Electric Energy Cooperative CMEEC

SUBJECT TO BOARD APPROVAL MINUTES OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF CONNECTICUT MUNICIPAL ELECTRIC ENERGY COOPERATIVE September 24, 2020 The Regular Meeting of the Board of Directors of Connecticut Municipal Electric Energy Cooperative (“CMEEC”) was held on Thursday, September 24, 2020 telephonically and via Zoom. The meeting was legally noticed in compliance with Connecticut General Statutes and all proceedings and actions hereafter recorded occurred during the publicly open portions of the meeting. The following Member Representatives / Alternate Member Representatives / Municipal Representatives participated telephonically or via Zoom Groton Utilities: Ronald Gaudet, Jeffrey Godley, Esquire Groton Municipal Representative: Mark Oefinger Norwich Public Utilities: Christopher LaRose, Stewart Peil Norwich Municipal Representative: David Eggleston Bozrah Light & Power: Scott Barber, Richard Tanger South Norwalk Electric and Water: Alan Huth, Eric Strom, David Westmoreland Third Taxing District, East Norwalk: Kevin Barber, Michele Sweeney East Norwalk Municipal Representative: Pete Johnson Jewett City Department of Public Utilities: Louis Demicco, Kenneth Sullivan, Richard Throwe Jewett City Municipal Representative: George Kennedy, Esquire The following CMEEC Staff participated telephonically or via Zoom Dave Meisinger, CMEEC CEO Robin Kipnis, Esquire, CMEEC General Counsel Bella Chernovitsky, CMEEC Director of Business Intelligence Justin Connell, CMEEC Director of Sustainability & Services Michael Cyr, CMEEC Director of Portfolio Management Patricia Meek, CMEEC Interim Director of Finance and Accounting Joanne Menard, CMEEC Controller Michael Rall, CMEEC Director of Asset Management Gabriel Stern, CMEEC Director of Technical Services Heidi Winnick, CMEEC Treasury Analyst Scott Whittier, CMEEC Director of Enabling Services Margaret Job, CMEEC Executive Assistant / Paralegal Ellen Kachmar, CMEEC Office and Facility Manager Other participants Timothy Blodgett, President & CEO, Hometown Connections David Silverstone, Esquire, Municipal Electric Consumer Advocate Chair Kevin Barber called the meeting to order at 10:01 a.m. He stated for the record that today’s meeting is being held telephonically and via Zoom. Chair Barber walked the Board through the conduct of today’s meeting stating that all participants’ audio should remain on mute unless speaking to eliminate confusion and background noise. He requested that those present state their name and where they are from when speaking for clarity of the record. Standard Agenda Items A Public Comment Period No public comment was made. B Conduct Voting Roster / Roll Call Ms. Job conducted roll call with each member responding individually as their names were called. Following roll call, Ms. Job identified the voting persons at today’s meeting. Chair Barber confirmed a quorum was present. C Approve Minutes of the CMEEC Special September 17, 2020 Board of Directors’ Meeting A motion was made by Groton Municipal Representative Mark Oefinger, seconded by East Norwalk Municipal Representative Pete Johnson to approve the Minutes of the CMEEC Special September 17, 2020 Board of Directors’ Meeting, with Member Representative Stewart Peil abstaining. Motion passed. 2020-09-03 D Review of 2020 Strategic Planning Mr. Meisinger explained that the Board had met in June for a special meeting to conduct a Strategic Planning kickoff workshop with Tim Blodgett of Hometown Connections. Since that time, the Strategic Planning Committee has met monthly, and staff has met regularly, with and without facilitation by Mr. Blodgett. He further explained that the original plan was to seek approval of the Strategic Plan by the full Board at today’s meeting, however the Committee agreed to provide a run through of the Strategic Plan today to solicit any questions from the full Board. He added that the Strategic Plan would be further developed based on feedback and brought to the October meeting of the full Board for approval. Groton Municipal Representative Oefinger, Chair of the Strategic Planning Committee, added that the full Board had been invited to, and some Board members did, participate at each Strategic Planning Committee meeting. He acknowledged CMEEC staff’s work on the Strategic Plan stating that it was greatly appreciated by the Committee. Mr. Meisinger noted that Mr. Blodgett will be leading the discussion today and he encouraged the Board to ask questions. He added that once approved by the Board at its meeting on October 22, 2020, the Plan will continue to be an ongoing process of development, implementation and execution. Mr. Blodgett walked the Board through the Strategic Planning slide deck provided to the Board in advance of today’s meeting. He reviewed the Vision, Mission and Values developed by CMEEC staff. Mr. Meisinger added that the Vision, Mission and Values will be incorporated into the written Strategic Plan and shared with the public, new employees, etc. Mr. Blodgett reviewed each of the steps in the development of a strategic plan with Mr. Meisinger providing background on the development of each of the Strategic Priorities. Discussion ensued in connection with an inquiry from Mr. Silverstone regarding the Strategic Priority of Growth. In response to Mr. Silverstone’s inquiry regarding focus on future projects, Mr. Meisinger stated that the Growth slide would be edited to clarify that it pertains to modifying the due diligence process both for potential future projects as well as existing and ongoing projects. Discussion followed in connection with the Possible Board Goals developed by staff working on the Workforce & Board Strategic Priority. Member Representative Ronald Gaudet addressed the second bullet stating that the Governance Committee is working on a self-evaluation form now that will be rolled out to the full Board. He offered another goal for the Board to review the monthly meeting package and agenda to determine if some of the monthly reporting or topics could be moved to a monthly, bi-monthly, or quarterly time frame. Mr. Blodgett added that the review could reveal whether the information provided to the Board is appropriate and whether the frequency with which it is reported is adequate. Member Representative Gaudet added that the information could be separately uploaded to the SharePoint portal rather than incorporated into the monthly package. Mr. Meisinger explained next steps stating that the Strategic Plan will be brought to the October 22, 2020 Board meeting for approval. He stated that additional Board comment would be welcome and he and Groton Municipal Representative Oefinger agreed comments should be provided to him or Mr. Meisinger by October 2, 2020. A meeting of the Strategic Planning Committee will be scheduled prior to the October Board meeting at which the full Board will be encouraged to participate. Mr. Blodgett will be invited to attend the meeting. The Committee will run through the final slides that will be presented to the Board. The Board convened for a short break at 12:30 p.m. and reconvened at 12:35 p.m. E August 2020 Objective Summary Mr. Meisinger stated that the month of August Regional Competitiveness came in at 35% which was better than the target of 34%. He explained that this reflected a continued trend of a relatively strong Project and Portfolio performance despite Covid-19 load levels and the impact of the 2019 transmission true-up. He added that year-end remains on target. Mr. Meisinger reported on All-In Customer Fulfillment stating that numbers compared to the budget set last year, are still below budget for August coming in at $71/MWh versus a target of $73/MWh, primarily reflecting relatively strong Project and Portfolio performance noted above. Despite reduced load and other factors, year-end projection remains at $81/MWh, just above the original target of $80/MWh. F August 2020 Project Portfolio Performance Michael Rall, CMEEC Director of Asset Management, reported on the Project Portfolio Performance stating that it came in at slightly below budget. He noted that MicroGen came in well under budget due to higher than budgeted peak load reduction and lower fuel cost. He added that MicroGen units successfully optimized the monthly peak load stating that the monthly peak occurred on August 12 in the hour ending 18:00. Pierce actual net benefit came in lower than budget due to lower than budgeted Summer LFR payment rate. Hydro Quebec actual net benefit was lower than budget due to higher than budgeted support and staff expenses for the month, which were related to the issuance of the Use Right RFP and associated award. Community Solar Garden actual net benefit was lower than budget due to RECs not being sold in the month of August. As explained in prior reporting, budgeting was based on RECs being sold each month when in fact they are sold less frequently. Transmission Project #1 actual net benefit was higher than budget due to not operating during the monthly peak in July. G August 2020 Energy Market Update Michael Cyr, Director of Portfolio Management, provided a high-level review of the Energy Market Analysis for August, highlighting that loads were 3% higher in August and that CMEEC was 95% hedged for the month and did not purchase or sell any additional resources. He explained that Actual Loads were 83,877 MWh which was 2,373 MW higher than budget. Actual Energy Cost came in at $31.68/MWh which was $3.57/MWh lower than budget. Weighted Average Energy Cost at LMPs came in at $24.89/MWh and Actual Average Daily Hub Day Ahead LMPs were $23.79/MWh, ranging from $14.96/MWh to $38.95/MWh. Mr. Cyr walked the Board through the other materials included in the Board package. H Budget & Finance Committee Report Member Representative Christopher LaRose, Chair of the Budget & Finance Committee, provided a brief review of the activities of the Budget & Finance Committee conducted at its meeting on September 18, 2020. He stated that the Committee reviewed the CMEEC Capital Policy and made suggestions for edits which will be brought to a future meeting. He added that the Committee reviewed the proposed Transco 2021 Budget stating that the Committee voted to recommend this budget to the full Board for their approval at its meeting on October 22, 2020. The Committee next reviewed the proposed CMEEC 2021 Budget for Salary and Benefits and agreed to make certain edits suggested by the Committee and Mr. Silverstone for review at its meeting on October 2, 2020. I Coronavirus Update – or MEU Roundtable Mr. Meisinger suggested this item will be renamed “MEU Roundtable” on future agendas. Mr. Meisinger provided an update on CMEEC Covid-19 activities noting that staff continue to work from home with some staff coming into the office on a voluntary basis. Staff entering the building adhere to established Covid-19 protocols. He added that CMEEC will continue remote working until at least the end of 2020. Zoom format will continue to be utilized for meetings for the rest of the year, if not indefinitely. Mr. Meisinger noted that at each month’s meeting of the Board, the General Managers provided an update on the impact of Covid-19 at their respective utilities and invited them to do the same today. Discussion followed with each General Manager providing a further update. J New Business Mr. Meisinger provided a reminder that the Board Onboarding session occurred on September 17, 2020. He stated that the Onboarding book created and distributed in October 2019 was updated and saved to SharePoint along with a PowerPoint slide deck noting that the 2020 Onboarding book can be used as companion material to the slide deck. Robin Kipnis, Esquire, CMEEC General Counsel, provided a brief overview of the recent NEPPA Virtual Fly-In that took place on September 15 and 16, 2020. The topics discussed were ISO NE Capacity Market; hydro power current cost of relicensing and impact on small scale hydropower; transmission incentives; and pole attachments which discussion urged legislators to sign on to legislation that would return pole control to municipalities. Chair Barber entertained a motion to amend the agenda to add an executive session. He stated that the basis for executive session is pursuant to Connecticut General Statutes 1-200(6)(B), 1- 200(8) and 1-210(b)(10) to discuss attorney-client privileged materials regarding confidentiality provisions as well as discussing an issue relating to an employment matter. A motion was made by Member Representative Jeffrey Godley, seconded by Member Representative LaRose to amend the agenda to add an Executive Session pursuant to the above. Motion passed unanimously. 20-09-04 A motion was made by Member Representative Jeffrey Godley, seconded by Member Representative LaRose to enter Executive Session with instructions to the Board of Directors to re-enter Public Session upon completion of their discussion in Executive Session. Motion passed unanimously. 20-09-05 All Members of the Board remained. Also remaining were Mr. Meisinger, Ms. Kipnis and Ms. Job. The Board entered Executive Session at 1:20 p.m. The Board re-entered Public Session at 2:00 p.m. There being no further business to come before this Board, Chair Barber entertained a motion to adjourn. A motion was made by Member Representative Gaudet, seconded by East Norwalk Municipal Representative Pete Johnson to adjourn. Motion passed unanimously. 20-09-06 The meeting was adjourned at 2:00 p.m.