Public Utilities 2021/06/23CITY OF ANAHEIM
PUBLIC UTILITIES BOARD
MINUTES
June 23, 2021
The agenda, including the Teleconference Notice, having been posted on Thursday, June 23, 2021, the
Regular Meeting of the Public Utilities Board (Board) was called to order by Vice -Chairperson J.
Seymour at 5:00 p.m. on Wednesday, June 23, 2021, in the Gordon Hoyt Conference Center, 2nd floor,
Anaheim West Tower, 201 S. Anaheim Blvd., Anaheim, California.
Board Members Present: Vice -Chairperson J. Seymour, A. Abdulrahman, N. Campos Kurtz,
V. Baroldi, R. Gaona
Board Members Absent: R. Bhalla
City Staff Present: D. Lee, P. Starr, A. Kott, M. Moore, J. Lonneker, B. Beelner, J. Lehman
M. Avelino -Walker, M. Seifen, V. Tran, J. Wei
Guest(s) Present: Laura Pham, Scholarship Recipient; Larry Pham, Parent; Kaylee Barkley,
Scholarship Recipient; Craig and Katrina Barkley, Parents; Brooke Nguyen,
Scholarship Recipient; Richard Nguyen, Parent
AGENDA ITEM ACTION TAKEN
1. RECOGNITION: ANAHEIM PUBLIC UTILITIES 2021
HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT SCHOLARSHIP RECIPIENTS
RECOGNITION.
The Board recognized Laura Pham, Kaylee Barkley, and Brooke
Nguyen, winners of the 2021 Anaheim Public Utilities (APU) High
School Scholarships.
2. PUBLIC COMMENTS. There being no oral public
comments and no submitted
public comments pursuant to
the Teleconference Notice,
Vice -Chairperson J.
Seymour closed the public
comments portion of the
meeting.
3. APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES OF THE PUBLIC R. Gaona moved approval of
HEARING/PUBLIC UTILITIES BOARD REGULAR the Minutes of the Public
MEETING OF MAY 26, 2021. * Hearing/Public Utilities
Board Regular Meeting of
May 26, 2021. N. Campos
Kurtz seconded the motion.
2021-45 ITEM # 05
4. ELECTIONS FOR PUBLIC UTILITIES BOARD
CHAIRPERSON AND VICE -CHAIRPERSON. * *
A. Kott, Assistant City Attorney, opened the floor for nominations
for Chairperson. A. Abdulrahman nominated J. Seymour, who
accepted the nomination. By voice vote, the Board members
unanimously voted to close the nominations and elect J. Seymour
to the position of Chairperson of the Public Utilities Board.
A. Kott then opened the floor for nominations for the Vice -
Chairperson. Chairperson J. Seymour and R. Gaona nominated V.
Baroldi, who accepted the nomination. By voice vote, the Board
members unanimously voted to close the nominations and elect V.
Baroldi to the position of Vice -Chairperson of the Public Utilities
Board.
5. APPOINTMENT OF THREE MEMBERS AND ONE
ALTERNATE FOR THE PUBLIC UTILITIES HEARING
BOARD AND THREE MEMBERS FOR THE AD HOC
LEGISLATIVE WORKING GROUP. **
Chairperson J. Seymour indicated he was seeking three members
and one alternate to volunteer to serve on the Public Utilities
Hearing Board. Chairperson J. Seymour, Vice -Chairperson V.
Baroldi, and A. Abdulrahman volunteered. R. Bhalla was
appointed to be the alternate. Chairperson J. Seymour confirmed
their appointments to the Public Utilities Hearing Board.
Chairperson J. Seymour indicated he was seeking three volunteers
to serve on the Ad Hoc Legislative Working Group. Chairperson J.
Seymour, N. Campos Kurtz, and A. Abdulrahman volunteered.
Chairperson J. Seymour indicated he would serve and confirmed
the others' appointment to the Ad Hoc Legislative Working Group.
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MOTION VIA ROLL
CALL VOTE CARRIED:
5-0.
ABSTAINED: 0.
ABSENT: 1 (R. Bhalla).
By voice vote, the Board
closed the nominations and
elected J. Seymour as
Chairperson of the Public
Utilities Board.
MOTION VIA ROLL
CALL VOTE CARRIED:
5-0.
ABSTAINED: 0.
ABSENT: 1 (R. Bhalla).
By voice vote, the Board
closed the nominations and
elected V. Baroldi as Vice -
Chairperson of the Public
Utilities Board.
MOTION VIA ROLL
CALL VOTE CARRIED:
5-0.
ABSTAINED: 0.
ABSENT: 1(R. Bhalla).
6. ELECTIONS FOR THREE UNDERGROUND CONVERSION
SUBCOMMITTEE MEMBERS. **
A. Kott opened the floor for nominations of three Underground
Conversion Subcommittee members. Chairperson J. Seymour
nominated Vice -Chairperson V. Baroldi, A. Abdulrahman, and R.
Gaona. The Board members accepted their nominations. By voice
vote, the Board members unanimously voted to close the
nominations and elect Vice -Chairperson V. Baroldi, A.
Abdulrahman, and R. Gaona to the Underground Conversion
Subcommittee.
7. PRESENTATION: PHYSICAL SECURITY PLAN.
J. Wei, Electric Systems Planning Manager, presented to the Board
the APU 2021 Physical Security Plan (Plan) explaining the Plan
was developed in compliance with Senate Bill (SB) 699 that was in
response to a physical attack that took place in northern California
in 2013 damaging critical substation equipment. J. Wei indicated
that the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) issued a
physical security decision requiring both investor-owned and
municipally -owned utilities to develop and implement plans to
mitigate physical attacks on certain electrical distribution assets
that serve high priority facilities with regional implications. The
Board inquired if the plan addresses cyber security and staff
explained that this plan is about physical security and that cyber
security is addressed separately.
J. Wei explained that upon review of identified screening factors,
the Metro Net Fire Dispatch center that handles emergency calls
for multiple cities was deemed as a high priority facility in APU's
service territory. He noted that the result of the risk assessment
determined that APU's electrical infrastructure, backup provisions,
and operating procedures which enable re-routing of power, such
that physical threats can be adequately mitigated. J. Wei also
explained APU's existing resiliency measures including the recent
addition of a new mobile substation. The Board inquired where
the mobile substation is housed, and staff explained that it is
stationed at one of the substations when not in use.
J. Wei indicated that the Plan was reviewed by a qualified
independent consulting firm with utility and military security
expertise who determined the existing mitigation measures are
comprehensive and more than adequate and an additional
secondary level review was performed by the Anaheim Police
Department (APD).
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By voice vote, the Board
closed the nominations and
elected Vice -Chairperson V.
Baroldi, A. Abdulrahman,
and R. Gaona to the
Underground Conversion
Subcommittee.
MOTION VIA ROLL
CALL VOTE CARRIED:
5-0.
ABSTAINED: 0.
ABSENT: 1 (R. Bhalla).
8. APPROVAL OF MASTER AGREEMENT FOR ELECTRIC
UTILITY CONSTRUCTION, MAINTENANCE, REPAIR
AND IMMEDIATE RESPONSE PROJECTS BETWEEN THE
CITY OF ANAHEIM (CITY) AND CONTRACTORS PRE-
QUALIFIED BY THE CITY FOR A FIVE-YEAR PERIOD
BETWEEN 2021 AND 2026 AND A ONE-YEAR EXTENSION
FOR WORKS IN PROGRESS IN A NOT -TO -EXCEED
AWARD AMOUNT OF $500,000 PER WORK ORDER
PACKAGE OR REQUEST FOR IMMEDIATE RESPONSE
SERVICES, PLUS CHANGE ORDER AUTHORIZATION IN
AN AMOUNT NOT -TO -EXCEED 10% PER CHANGE
ORDER AND $100,000 IN TOTAL CHANGE ORDERS FOR
EACH WORK ORDER PACKAGE OR REQUEST FOR
IMMEDIATE RESPONSE SERVICES; AND DETERMINE
SUCH PROJECTS TO BE PERFORMED UNDER THE
MASTER AGREEMENT SHALL BE CATEGORICALLY
EXEMPT FROM THE CALIFORNIA ENVIRONMENTAL
QUALITY ACT (CEQA) PURSUANT TO SECTIONS 15301,
15302,15303, AND/OR 15304 OF TITLE 14 OF THE
CALIFORNIA CODE OF REGULATIONS. *
J. Lonneker, Assistant General Manager — Electric Services, went
over the general purpose of the Electric Master Agreements
between APU and pre -qualified contractors for electrical projects
to maintain and install electric facilities, and for repairs with a
work order cost limit of $500,000. J. Lonneker indicated that the
pre -qualification ensures that contractors have utility -specific
experience and awards are therefore based on lowest bid. J.
Lonneker noted the Agreements would be in place for a 5 -year
term and that there is a $3,000,000 limit on work awarded to a
single contractor per year. The limit was increased from
$2,000,000 due to the reduced number of bids and lack of
competition to control pricing on work orders resulting from the
limit that was initially set in the previous Electric Master
Agreement.
The Board asked if there is a limit on how many contractors would
be pre -qualified. J. Lonneker indicated that there is no limit, and
on average 12 to 15 contractors are typically pre -qualified based on
the criteria that includes an evaluation of the contractor's
experience and resources.
The Board asked if a contractor outside of California is able to be
pre -qualified, and staff explained that if they have the requisite
experience and staffing they may be pre -qualified. The Board
inquired if a contractor could be removed from the pre -
qualification list, and staff explained that a contractor may be
removed if there's safety or other performance issues.
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A. Abdulrahman moved
approval of the Master
Agreement for Electric
Utility Construction,
Maintenance, Repair and
Immediate Response
Projects. N. Campos Kurtz
seconded the motion.
MOTION VIA ROLL
CALL VOTE CARRIED:
5-0.
ABSTAINED: 0.
ABSENT: 1 (R. Bhalla).
9. PRESENTATION: 2021 POWER SUPPLY SUMMER
OUTLOOK.
B. Beelner, Assistant General Manager — Finance and Energy
Resources, provided the Board with an annual update for APU's
Power Supply Summer Outlook. B. Beelner discussed the issues
surrounding the August 2020 California Independent System
Operator (CAISO) stage 3 emergencies and subsequent rotating
outages and the steps that the CAISO has taken to remedy the
energy shortfalls that befell California. B. Beelner noted the steps
include the addition of battery storage, increasing resource
adequacy requirements on Investor Owned Utilities (IOU's) from
115% to 117.5%, and improving communication strategies to
energy users in the state to help reduce demand in anticipation of
any extreme heat event.
B. Beelner mentioned that the CAISO and APU both assessed
summer peak loads that would affect Anaheim and the state. B.
Beelner noted these assessments included, the increased
probability for a warmer than normal summer during the beginning
of the season, an update on available resources, impacts of the
drought on California's hydropower resources, wildfire risk, and
mitigation planning should there be an issue meeting electrical
load in the area.
B. Beelner indicated that overall, the summer assessment issued by
the CAISO has sufficient generation resources to meet the
forecasted peak electrical loads. B. Beelner then mentioned APU
has the resources to meet its customers' needs and should there be
high electrical loads, is also prepared with procedures in place for
mitigation.
The Board asked if a higher than normal residential demand due to
shelter in place orders during the COVID-19 pandemic contributed
to the emergencies. B. Beelner mentioned that it might have been
a contributing factor statewide, but in Anaheim, this was not the
case. B. Beelner indicated that APU's peak during the heat event
reached 559 megawatts (MV) which was lower than APU's
system wide historical peak of 593. B. Beelner explained the
concern with the higher than normal residential demand was the
failure of transformers in APU's distribution system causing
outages unrelated to the rolling blackouts, but still deleterious to
APU customers. D. Lee, Public Utilities General Manager,
mentioned the importance of the transformer replacement program
to address this situation going forward. The Board inquired about
how demands are modeled and B. Beelner explained that APU
utilizes computer modeling that incorporates statistical data to
forecast customer demands.
Lastly, B. Beelner discussed the MyPower program made available
to customers to help them reduce their usage during times of
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potential energy shortages as a way to contribute to system
reliability.
10. APPROVAL OF PROPOSED FIVE-YEAR UNDERGROUND
CONVERSION PLAN FOR FISCAL YEAR 2021/22. *
V. Tran, Principal Electrical Engineer, presented the Fiscal Year
2021/22 Proposed Underground Conversion Five -Year Plan (Plan)
to the Board for consideration. V. Tran provided background
information about the Plan, the process to add a new project, and
the status of projects that are completed and currently in progress
within each district in Anaheim. V. Tran concluded the
presentation by summarizing that the proposed Plan includes
adding the Wildfire Mitigation Underground Project in Fire Threat
Zones as a new project. The project has received grant funding
from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for the
design phase, and that additional funding would be sought for the
construction phase, and is consistent with the APU Wildfire
Mitigation Plan.
The Board asked why APU will be undergrounding Oak Canyon
line as it is not in use. Staff indicated that although the line is not
currently energized, it will still need to be used periodically and
during emergencies.
11. UPDATE ON ELECTRIC SYSTEM ITEMS.
J. Lonneker shared photos of a power outage, which occurred on
June 10, 2021 with the Board. She indicated that the outage
impacted approximately 2,200 customers. J. Lonneker described
the outage which was caused by a street racing incident where one
driver lost control of the vehicle and hit the power pole causing
significant damage. J. Lonneker mentioned APD was first to
respond and issued a police report which APU will utilize to
recover the cost of repairs from the driver's insurance carrier.
12. UPDATE ON WATER SYSTEM ITEMS.
M. Moore, Assistant General Manager — Water Services, provided
an update on APU's water supply. M. Moore indicated that the
drought conditions are continuing throughout the western United
States. M. Moore mentioned the Governor has declared a State of
Emergency in many parts of the State, but not southern California
as of yet. M. Moore then noted that imported water supply is
being affected by the drought; however, water storage levels are
adequate and the groundwater basin is 79% full. M. Moore
indicated that APU will continue to monitor the regional storage
levels and increase water conservation messaging.
M. Moore then discussed the post -pandemic increased activity in
the economy which has affected many supply chains, including
chlorine. He mentioned there is an overall chlorine shortage in the
2021-50
A. Abdulrahman moved
approval of the Proposed
Five -Year Underground
Conversion Plan for Fiscal
Year 2021/22. N. Campos
Kurtz seconded the motion.
MOTION VIA ROLL
CALL VOTE CARRIED:
5-0.
ABSTAINED: 0.
ABSENT: 1 (R. Bhalla).
water treatment industry. M. Moore indicated that APU's chlorine
supplies are not seeing any price or supply impact at this time.
M. Moore indicated that the City operates approximately over 50
flow control facilities that move water between pressure zones. M.
Moore explained that these facilities are critical to supplying water
to customers. M. Moore mentioned that a current program
includes rehabilitating five of the facilities that are buried below
streets in Anaheim. Lastly, M. Moore shared pictures of the Rio
Vista facility, which show the improvements made to one of the
sites.
13. UPDATE ON FINANCE & ENERGY RESOURCES ITEMS.
B. Beelner discussed the monthly finance dashboard with the
Board indicating that the year to date electric revenue through May
2021 was 1.9% below budget ($7.OM) due primarily to decreased
commercial and industrial demand. He noted that electric costs for
the fiscal year (FY) fell below budget by 7.7% ($26.5M) causing a
net positive budget variance of $19.5M. B. Beelner then
mentioned that the year to date water revenue was 2.9% ($2.5M)
below budget due to weaker than anticipated commercial and
industrial demand because of continued business restrictions
related to the COVID-19 pandemic. B. Beelner explained costs
were below budget as well by 6.3% ($4.5M) causing a net positive
budget variance of $2.OM.
B. Beelner went over the monthly Power Supply Dashboard. He
mentioned that APU had all resources at its disposal; however,
with the typically low springtime market energy prices APU ran its
resources less than normal in order to purchase lower cost energy
available on the wholesale market. B. Beelner then discussed
wholesale revenue budgeted for FY2021.
The Board asked if the scarcity of hydropower will increase market
energy prices this summer, and if those higher prices will help
affect APU's wholesale revenue. B. Beelner replied that it
potentially would increase wholesale prices.
14. UPDATE ON ADMINISTRATION & RISK SERVICES
ITEMS.
J. Lehman, Interim Assistant General Manager — Administration
and Risk Services, provided a brief update to the Board. J.
Lehman discussed the dashboard and highlighted several
legislative bills that APU was tracking, and mentioned that, at this
time, some of the more onerous bills had become "two-year" bills
and would not likely come up again until 2022. J. Lehman then
went over the key safety metrics for APU that are used to monitor
the effectiveness of the safety program.
2021-51
The Board inquired about a proposed solar development in
Anaheim. D. Lee explained that the development is by a private
developer and state law requires that APU allow interconnection
with the local grid.
15. ITEM(S) BY SECRETARY.
D. Lee shared with the Board the items scheduled for the following
Board meeting include:
• Declaration of Intent to Reimburse certain Water and
Electric expenditures from Bond proceeds
• Metropolitan Water District Site Lease Agreement
• Presentation from California State University, Fullerton
Interns
D. Lee shared feedback from small businesses affected by COVID-
19 who were appreciative of the bill credit program.
Lastly, D. Lee thanked the Board for their participation and
partnership in the High School Student Scholarship program.
16. ITEM(S) BY BOARD MEMBERS.
A. Abdulrahman mentioned he missed last month's meeting and
was unable to say goodbye to E. Medrano, former Chairperson, and
wished him well.
17. ADJOURNMENT: (NEXT REGULAR MEETING ON JULY
28, 2021 AT 5:00 P.M.)
Respectfully s bmitted,
Dukku Lee
Public Utilities General Manager
R. Gaona moved to adjourn
the Regular Meeting at 7:00
p.m., to the Board's Regular
Meeting date of July 28,
2021 at 5:00 p.m. Vice -
Chairperson V. Baroldi
seconded the motion.
MOTION VIA ROLL
CALL VOTE CARRIED:
5-0.
ABSTAINED: 0.
ABSENT: 1 (R. Bhalla).
* Indicates item(s) that will be forwarded to City Council for action upon recommendation by the
Board.
** Indicates item(s) that will be forwarded to City Clerk and City Council for informational purposes.
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