Meeting of Commissioners of
Public Utility District No. 1 of Clark County, Washington
August 6, 2024
A meeting of Commissioners of Public Utility District No. 1 of Clark County was held at 1200 Fort Vancouver Way on Tuesday, August 6, 2024.
Present: President Jim Malinowski, Secretary Jane Van Dyke Commissioners, CEO/General Manager Lena Wittler, Director of Finance Melissa Ankeny, Director of Operations/Interim Director of Water Gene Morris, Director of Customer Service Lisa Fix, Director of Energy Resources Steve Andersen, Director of Employee Resources Nichole Reitzenstein, General Counsel John Eldridge, Director of Information Services Jeff Groff, Director of Engineering Cal Morris, Materials and Purchasing Manager Cathy Wannamaker, Engineering Manager – Water Russ Knutson, Technical Innovations Project Manager Julie Landry, PIO/Media Specialist Dameon Pesanti, Community Engagement Specialist Morgan Van Fleet, Security Manager Greg Eckhart, and Assistant to the CEO/General Manager Margaret Anderson
Staff/Commissioners via digital conference (phone or video): Commission Vice President Nancy Barnes, Energy Resource Manager Terry Toland
Others present in person or via digital conference (phone or video): Peter Harrison, Gordon Matthews, Sherry Erickson, Don Steinke, Rick Marshall, Judi Malinowski and Tom Gordon.
At 9:00 a.m., President Malinowski called the meeting to order for the transaction of formal business and the agenda was approved as presented (Materials B).
Public Comment
There were no public comments.
Full written comments if provided are available upon request – please email [email protected] for a copy.
Consideration of the Minutes of July 16, 2024
The minutes were approved as presented.
Consideration of Accounts Payable
The board, by a unanimous vote, approved the following payment amounts as listed on the Letter of Transmittal dated August 6, 2024 from the District Auditor (Materials C):
Electric Revenue Fund – $23,134,725.12
Water Revenue Fund – $894,513.24
Generating System Fund – $3,428,966.75
For a total of $27,458,205.11
Consideration of Resolutions of Establishment of LUD Nos. 1476, 1482 and 1484
Director of Engineering Cal Morris addressed the board regarding the Establishment of Local Utility District Nos. 1476, 1482 and 1484.
Resolution No. 7859 – LUD No. 1476 – NE 109th Street Subdivision
Resolution No. 7860 – LUD No. 1482 – Highlands at Whipple Creek
Resolution No. 7861 – LUD No. 7484 – Stevens Glen
After the presentation by Mr. Morris, Commissioner Malinowski opened for public comment. There being no comment, a motion was made by Commissioner Van Dyke, seconded by Commissioner Barnes, and unanimously carried that Resolution Nos. 7859 – 7861 be adopted (Materials D).
Consideration of Bid Award No. 671 – Distribution Transformers
Materials and Purchasing Manager Cathy Wannamaker reviewed the memo dated August 6, 2024 detailing the bid results (Materials E). Commissioner Van Dyke moved to recommend that Bid No. 671 be awarded to the low evaluated bidder General Pacific, Inc., for single-phase and three-phase padmount transformers manufactured by ERMCO for an estimated three-year contract amount of $5,371,407.00 plus applicable taxes. Commissioner Barnes seconded the motion and it passed unanimously.
Consideration of Bid Award No. 676 – Well 36 – Well House Building & Site Work
Materials and Purchasing Manager Cathy Wannamaker reviewed the memo dated August 6, 2024 detailing the bid results (Materials F). Commissioner Van Dyke moved to recommend that Bid No. 676 be awarded to the low evaluated bidder KKLA Contractors, in the amount of $435,366.00 plus applicable taxes. Commissioner Barnes seconded the motion and it passed unanimously.
Consideration of Interlocal Agreement with Clark County – LIHEAP/SHEAP Administration
Director of Customer Service Lisa Fix review the memo dated August 6, 2024 outlining the interlocal agreement with Clark County for the administration of and delivery of energy assistance in accordance with the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Act (Materials G). Clark Public Utilities will administer both Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) and the State Energy Assistance Program (SHEAP). Ms. Fix shared the guidelines for the State Home Energy Assistance Program (SHEAP) and some historical assistance details from the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP).
Commissioner Van Dyke moved to approve the participation in the interlocal agreement with Clark County in order to administer and deliver the low-income programs, Commissioner Barnes seconded the motion. It passed unanimously.
Grid Modernization Project Update
Technical Innovations Project Manager Julie Landry provided the board with an update on the Grid Modernization Project (Materials H). Ms. Landry provided an updated timeline of the project, shared that Request for Information documents have been received from multiple vendors and four onsite demonstrations have been scheduled for later this month. A Request for Proposals and vendor selection should be completed by the end of 2024.
Ms. Landry also shared a projected budget for the next three years for the Electric System Advanced Infrastructure that includes the electric meters, network/system integrations and advanced metering infrastructure integrations. The funding will come from surplus cash, rates and bonds.
The board thanked Ms. Landry for the thorough update and looks forward to additional information as the project progresses.
June Financials
Director of Finance Melissa Ankeny addressed the board (Materials I). Residential customer growth was 2%. The weather was drier and warmer than normal, which resulted in both electric revenues and off system sales above budget. June residential sales were 101% of budget, commercial sales were 100.8% and industrial sales were 92.3% of budget. June ended the month with a net income loss of $3.4 million compared to a budgeted net income loss of $4.9 million and a year-to-date net income of $1.9 million compared to a budgeted year-to-date net income loss of $4.9 million.
The Water System ended June with 408 new customers, with an annual growth rate of 1.99% year-to-date. June ended with a net income of $327,000 compared to a budgeted net income of $8,000 for a year-to-date net income of $160,000 compared to a year-to-date budgeted net income loss of $1.5 million.
June Wholesale Power Operations
Director of Energy Resources Steve Andersen addressed the board (Materials J). Mr. Andersen provided an update on power supply, noting that June Slice generation was 32 aMW below budget and loads in June were 5 aMW above budget. June Slice production was 178 aMW, 18% less than the budget of 210 aMW and 9% less than The Energy Authority forecast of 195 aMW. With a year-end projection of 157 aMW which matches 2023 annual Slice generation.
Combine Hills I generation was 10.4 aMW, which was 20% less than the budgeted 13.1 aMW. Generation was 0 MW approximately 38% of all hours. Combine Hills II generation was 19.3 aMW, 3% less than the budgeted 19.8 aMW, and generation was 0 MW approximately 34% of all hours.
Net metering customer count is 3,166 which is a 13% increase over June 2023, average system size is 7.3 kW and generation for June was 5.2 aMW with a capacity factor of 22.6%
Commissioner Reports and Comments
Commissioner Barnes reported on her attendance at The Energy Authority meeting.
Commissioner Malinowski reported on his attendance at the Washington PUD Association meetings and the Energy Northwest meetings.
Staff Reports
CEO/General Manager Lena Wittler provided an update on her attendance at The Energy Authority meetings and community events.
Other Business before the Board
There being no further business to come before the Board, the meeting was adjourned at 10:31 a.m.