Meeting of Commissioners of
Public Utility District No. 1 of Clark County, Washington
March 21, 2023
A meeting of Commissioners of Public Utility District No. 1 of Clark County was held at Clark Public Utilities, 1200 Fort Vancouver Way, Vancouver, Washington, on Tuesday, March 21, 2023.
Present: President Jane Van Dyke, Vice President Jim Malinowski, Commissioners, Director of Energy Resources Dan Bedbury, Director of Finance Melissa Ankeny, Director of Operations Gene Morris, Director of Communications Erica Erland, Director of Information Services Jeff Groff, Director of Engineering Cal Morris, Director of Employee Resources Nichole Reitzenstein, Director of Customer Service Lisa Fix, General Counsel John Eldridge, Community Engagement Specialist Morgan Van Fleet, Power Manager Steve Andersen, Water Office Manager Sarah Robinson and Assistant to the CEO/General Manager Margaret Anderson.
Staff present via digital conference (phone or video): PIO/Media Specialist Dameon Pesanti and Energy Resource Project Manager Matt Babbitts.
Others present via digital conference (phone or video) or in person: Peter Harrison, Rick Marshall, Don Steinke, Cathryn Chudy, Bryan Kast, Becca Kempton and Thomas Gordon.
Press representatives: Lauren Ellenbecker
At 9:00 a.m., President Van Dyke called the meeting to order for the transaction of formal business, Commission Barnes was excused from the meeting and the agenda was approved (Materials B).
Public Comment
The following represents a brief summary of comments made by members of the public in attendance:
Don Steinke shared he is interested in hearing about the first auction for the Climate Commitment Act, how our Solar East meeting went and his thoughts on the City of Denver e-cargo bike program.
Rick Marshall provided his thoughts on the Primary Energy Fallacy, the miscalculations made when analyzing the electricity needs in the future with transportation electrification and updates to building codes. Mr. Marshall shared his thoughts on the utility’s calculations in a recent IRP.
If written comments are submitted, they may be obtained by contacting Margaret Anderson at [email protected] or 360-992-3378.
Consideration of the Minutes of March 7, 2023
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 March 21, 2023 from the District Auditor (Materials C):
Electric Revenue Fund – $31,555,116.75
Water Revenue Fund – $267,904.75
Generating System Fund – $651,895.16
For a total of $32,474,916.66
Consideration of Establishment of LUD Nos. 1436, 1441, 1442 and 1452
Director of Engineering Cal Morris addressed the board regarding the Establishment of Local Utility District Nos. 1436, 1441, 1442 and 1452.
Resolution No. 7775 – LUD No. 1436 – North Haven PH 4A
Resolution No. 7776 – LUD No. 1441 – North Haven PH 1B & 6
Resolution No. 7777 – LUD No. 1442 – North Haven PH 3 & 5
Resolution No. 7778 – LUD No. 1452 – Caldwell Estates
After the presentation by Mr. Morris, Commissioner Van Dyke opened the public hearing for comments. There being none, a motion was made by Commissioner Malinowski seconded by Commissioner Van Dyke and unanimously carried that Resolution Nos. 7775 – 7778 be adopted (Materials D).
Consideration of Resolution Establishing the District’s Swap Policy and Designating the Authorized Person for Swap Transactions
Power Manager Steve Andersen reviewed the presentation that outlined requested updates to the Utility gas and power trading documents (Materials E). These updates would allow Clark to purchase gas and power using financial instruments with more counterparties, which ultimately reduces credit risk. These updates would also allow The Energy Authority (TEA) to purchase environmental attributes on Clark’s behalf. Mr. Andersen provided the board with an overview of the proposed swap policy as well as an example of a swap transaction. Persons authorized to approve swap agreements would be the Director of Energy Resources, CEO/General Manager and the delegates as evidenced in writing.
Commissioner Malinowski moved for approval of Resolution No. 7774, which establishes the Clark Public Utilities Swap Policy and designates the authorized persons for swap transactions. Commissioner Van Dyke seconded the motion and it passed unanimously.
Mr. Andersen reviewed the proposed updates to the Risk Management Manual and Procedures as well as the TEA Resources Management Agreement updates. Commissioner Malinowski moved to allow the CEO/General Manager to execute the 2023 Amendment to Amend and Restate Exhibit A – Scope of Work of the Clark Public Utilities/TEA Resource Management Agreement. Commissioner Van Dyke seconded the motion and it passed unanimously.
January Financials
Director of Finance Melissa Ankeny addressed the board (Materials F). Weather was warmer and drier than normal, which resulted in electric revenues coming in below budget and off system sales coming in above budget. January residential sales were 98.2% of budget, commercial sales were 106.0% and industrial sales were 99.8% of budget. January ended with a net income of $1.2 million compared to budgeted net income of $5.1 million.
The Water System ended January with 63 new customers, which is a growth rate of 1.9%. January ended with a net income of $167,000 compared to a budgeted net income loss of $202,000.
January Wholesale Operations
Power Manager Steve Andersen addressed the board (Materials G). Mr. Andersen provided an update on power supply noting that Slice generation was 10 average MW below budget and loads in January were 6 average MW above budget.
Mr. Andersen reviewed volume run-off, Combine Hills production, January pricing and the benefits of Clark’s gas hedging program.
Commission Reports and Comments
Commissioner Malinowski reported on his virtual attendance at the Washington PUD Association meetings and congratulated Commissioner Van Dyke on her nomination to be Vice President of the Washington PUD Association Board.
Commissioner Van Dyke reported on her attendance at the Washington PUD Association meetings and congratulated Dameon Pesanti on the article about the River Road Generating Plant that was published in Northwest Public Power’s monthly magazine.
Staff Reports
CEO/General Manager shared that the power outage this morning affecting more than 15,000 customers in Downtown Vancouver was a result of a Bonneville Power Administration switching error.
Public Comment
There were no additional public comments.
Other Business before the Board
There being no further business to come before the Board, the meeting was adjourned at 10:11 a.m.