Meeting of Commissioners of
Public Utility District No. 1 of Clark County, Washington
January 7, 2025
A meeting of Commissioners of Public Utility District No. 1 of Clark County was held at 1200 Fort Vancouver Way on Tuesday, January 7, 2025.
Present: President Nancy Barnes, Vice President Jane Van Dyke, Secretary Sherry Erickson Commissioners, CEO/General Manager Lena Wittler, Director of Communications and Corporate Citizenship Erica Erland, Director of Finance Melissa Ankeny, Director of Employee Resources Nichole Reitzenstein, Director of Energy Resources Steve Andersen, Director of Engineering Cal Morris, Director of Operations/Interim Director of Water Gene Morris, General Counsel John Eldridge, Director of Information Services Jeff Groff, Director of Customer Service Lisa Fix, Public Information Officer/Corporate Communications Manager Dameon Pesanti, Strategic Communications Manager Morgan Van Fleet, Energy Resource Manager Terry Toland, Materials and Purchasing Manager Cathy Wannamaker and Assistant to CEO/General Manager Margaret Anderson.
Others present in person or via digital conference (phone or video): Peter Harrison, Jim Malinowski, Liz Anderson, Nicolas Garcia, Brandon Erickson, Debra Lester, Susan Schultz and Stefany Zelepuza
At 10:00 a.m., President Barnes 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 comments.
Full written comments, if provided, are available upon request – please email [email protected] for a copy.
Consideration of Resolution Reorganizing the Board of Commissioner Chairs for 2025
Commissioner Van Dyke moved to nominate Commissioner Barnes as President, Commissioner Van Dyke as Vice President and Commissioner Erickson as Secretary effective January 7, 2025. The motion was seconded by Commissioner Erickson and passed unanimously (Materials C).
Consideration of the Minutes of December 17, 2024
The minutes were approved as presented.
Consideration of Accounts Payable
The board, by unanimous vote, approved the following payment amounts as listed on the Letter of Transmittal dated January 7, 2025 from the District Auditor (Materials D):
Electric Revenue Fund – $25,298,529.32
Water Revenue Fund – $2,326,583.36
Generating System Fund – $952,751.07
For a total of $28,577,863.75
Consideration of 2025 Committee Assignments
Commissioners reviewed current committee assignments and following discussion, Commissioner Van Dyke moved for the following assignments (Materials E):
| Organization | Primary Representative | Alternate |
|---|---|---|
| America Public Power Association | Jane Van Dyke | Nancy Barnes Sherry Erickson |
| CREDC | Sherry Erickson | Jane Van Dyke Nancy Barnes |
| NWPPA | Nancy Barnes | Jan Van Dyke Sherry Erickson |
| Energy Northwest | Nancy Barnes | Jane Van Dyke Sherry Erickson |
| Washington PUD Association | Jane Van Dyke | Nancy Barnes Sherry Erickson |
| Columbia Springs | Sherry Erickson | Jane Van Dyke Nancy Barnes |
Commissioner Van Dyke seconded the motion, and it passed unanimously (Materials E).
Consideration of Resolution for Sole Source Designation with Mechanical Dynamics & Analysis LLC for the River Road Generating Plant
Materials and Purchasing Manager Cathy Wannamaker reviewed the sole source request memo dated January 7, 2025 (Materials F) and Commissioner Van Dyke moved to approve the sole source designation for the purchase of a Generator Field Vault from Mechanical Dynamics & Analysis LLC. Commissioner Erickson seconded the motion, and it passed unanimously.
November Financials
Director of Finance Melissa Ankeny addressed the board (Materials G). The weather was warmer and wetter than normal, which resulted in electric revenues above budget and off system sales below budget. November residential sales were 104.6% of budget, commercial sales were 108.2% and industrial sales were 88.3% of budget. November ended the month with a net income of $8.9 million compared to a budgeted net income of $2.2 million and a year-to-date net income of $4.0 million compared to a budgeted loss of $2.7 million.
The Water System ended November with 724 new customers, which is a growth rate of 1.91% year-to-date. November ended with a net income of $88,000 compared to a budgeted net income loss of $19,000 for a year-to-date net income of $3.6 million compared to a year-to-date budgeted net income of $1.8 million.
November Wholesale Operations
Director of Energy Resources Steve Andersen addressed the board (Materials H). Mr. Andersen provided an update on power supply noting that November Slice generation was 1 aMW above budget and loads in October were 14 aMW above budget. October Slice production was 176 aMW, nearly equal to the budget of 175 aMW and 4% less than The Energy Authority forecast of 182 aMW.
Combine Hills I generation was 10.6 aMW, which was 11% less than the budgeted 11.8 aMW. Generation was 0 MW approximately 36% of all hours. Combine Hills II generation was 23.4 aMW, 31% more than the budgeted 17.9 aMW, and generation was 0 MW approximately 36% of all hours.
November net metering was 1.3 aMW, which was a capacity factor of 7.7%. There are 3,298 net metering customers, which is a 10.5% increase over November 2023, and there have been 167 battery systems installed by net metering customers.
Washington PUD Association Update
Commissioner Van Dyke, current Washington PUD Association (WPUDA) President introduced the Executive Director Liz Anderson and reported on the importance of the WPUDA across the state, providing members with legislative support, training and development, and coordination of resources and information related to public utility district issues.
Ms. Anderson introduced Commissioner Debra Lester from Kitsap PUD who thanked Clark Public Utilities for supporting customers, the community and WPUDA.
Ms. Anderson introduced Nicolas Garcia, WPUDA Policy Director and Stefany Zelepuza, Senior Policy Specialist. Mr. Garcia provided an update on 2025 legislative priorities related to reliability, energy assistance and wildfire liability. Ms. Zelepuza covered priorities related to utility locates, the public works assistance account and the education of lawmakers on challenges related to growing demand for water service. Ms. Anderson wrapped up with a review of WPUDA goals for 2025 and thanked the board and Clark Public Utilities for continued participation and support.
Commissioner Reports and Comments
There were no Commissioner Reports or Comments
Staff Reports
CEO/General Manager Lena Wittler commented on the recent article in the Seatle Times and its reference to the senate energy committee session that Director of Energy Resources Steve Andersen attended as a presenter on resource adequacy issues. Ms. Wittler also reminded the board that the legislative session would be ramping up later in January and staff would be reporting on items as necessary.
Final Board Comments
There being no further board comments, the meeting was adjourned at 12:00 p.m.