Public Utilities 2020/11/18CITY OF ANAHEIM
PUBLIC UTILITIES BOARD
MINUTES
November 18, 2020
The agenda, including the Teleconference Notice, having been posted on Thursday, November 12, 2020,
the Regular Meeting of the Public Utilities Board (Board) was called to order by Chairperson E. Medrano
at 5:00 p.m. on Wednesday, November 18, 2020, in the 11 cn floor Large Conference Room, Anaheim
West Tower, 201 S. Anaheim Blvd., Anaheim, California.
Board Members Present: Chairperson E. Medrano, Vice -Chairperson J. Seymour (via teleconference),
A. Abdulrahman, R. Gaona (via teleconference), J. Showalter (via
teleconference)
Board Members Absent: V. Baroldi, R. Bhalla
City Staff Present: D. Lee, P. Oviedo, A. Kott, M. Moore, J. Lonneker (via teleconference), B.
Beelner (via teleconference), J. Lehman (via teleconference), S. Smith (via
teleconference)
Guest(s) Present: None.
AGENDA ITEM
ACTION TAKEN
PUBLIC COMMENTS.
There being no oral public
comments or public
comments submitted
pursuant to the
Teleconference Notice,
Chairperson E. Medrano
closed the public comments
portion of the meeting.
I. APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES OF THE PUBLIC
A. Abdulrahman moved
UTILITIES BOARD REGULAR MEETING OF OCTOBER
approval of the Minutes of
28, 2020. *
the Public Utilities Board
Regular Meeting of October
Vice -Chairperson J. Seymour made the Board aware of an
28, 2020, as amended. J.
attendance discrepancy on the October minutes. A motion was
Showalter seconded the
made for the approval of the minutes as amended.
motion.
MOTION VIA ROLL
CALL VOTE CARRIED:
4-0.
ABSTAINED: 1 [J.
Seymour].
2020 - 67
ABSENT: 2 [R. Bhalla &
V. Baroldi].
2. ADOPT THE PROPOSED PUBLIC UTILITIES BOARD Vice -Chairperson J.
MEETING SCHEDULE FOR THE 2021 CALENDAR YEAR. Seymour moved approval of
the proposed Public Utilities
Board Meeting Schedule for
the 2021 Calendar year. R.
Gaona seconded the motion.
MOTION VIA ROLL
CALL VOTE CARRIED:
5-0.
ABSTAINED: 0.
ABSENT: 2 [R. Bhalla &
V. Baroldi].
3. PRESENTATION: WATER SYSTEM RELIABILITY.
M. Moore, Assistant General Manager — Water Services, gave a
presentation on Anaheim Public Utilities Department's (APU)
Water System Reliability. M. Moore indicated that the annual
update looks at key metrics in the following areas: supply,
availability, and efficiency. M. Moore explained each of the
metrics in detail, noting that the metrics are compared against
several industry benchmarks for water system performance.
Availability for the Lenain Water Treatment plant was lower than
the typical goal due to the rehabilitation project that took the
facility offline during construction; and wells were below the goal
due to the ongoing water quality issues and a higher dependence
on imported water. The number of main breaks per 100 miles was
better than the industry average; however, aging infrastructure
remains a top priority for replacements. Therefore, an asset
management system has been implemented identifying key
pipelines that look beyond age and consider other key criteria.
Another area of improvement has been in reducing water loss.
New technologies and methods are being implemented such as
portable meter calibration, leak sensors and pressure management.
The Board asked if APU compared the results of this year's data to
previous results. Staff indicated that annual data is being
benchmarked, and will include a visual comparison in future
presentations to show reliability trends.
4. SET A PUBLIC HEARING DATE, TIME, AND LOCATION
Vice -Chairperson J.
TO CONSIDER PROPOSED MODIFICATIONS TO THE
Seymour moved approval to
WATER RATES, RULESAND REGULATIONS.
set a public hearing date,
time, and location to
B. Beelner, Assistant General Manager of Finance and
consider proposed
Administration, explained APU's financial situation, and discussed
modifications to the Water
the need for changes to various water rates to recover increasing
Rates, Rules, and
2020 - 68
costs due to changes in the City's water supply mix and to fund
continued investment in water infrastructure. B. Beelner
mentioned that the City Charter establishes that the Board conducts
all APU related hearings, and in order to comply with the
California Constitution, APU must send out a notice to all property
owners 45 days prior to any such water public hearing. B. Beelner
asked for approval to conduct a public hearing in accordance with
these requirements on January 21, 2021. B. Beelner mentioned
that APU would mail notices to all customers regarding the hearing
on December 8, 2020. B. Beelner then mentioned that in addition
to the detailed staff report provided to the Board this month, APU
would provide the Board a full presentation detailing the specific
need, cost drivers, and customer impacts of the proposed rate
changes at the December Board meeting.
The Board asked how much of APU's reserves are being used to
avoid higher rate increases. Staff indicated that reserves are being
utilized, and that minimum reserve levels must be held. The Board
asked if there was a possibility to delay the rate increases by at
least a year. Staff indicated that due to financial impacts, a delay
would have long-term and adverse consequences, and that
additional metrics would be provided during the presentation next
month.
5. UPDATE ON ELECTRIC SYSTEM ISSUES.
J. Lonneker, Assistant General Manager — Electric Services, made
the Board aware that APU staff gave a presentation at the State of
California Wildfire Safety Advisory Board (WSAB) workshop on
specific elements within the APU 2020 Wildfire Mitigation Plan,
which WSAB wished to positively emphasize to give guidance for
plans in the future. J. Lonneker indicated that APU was one of the
seven utilities requested to present out of the 50 Publicly Owned
Utilities in the State. J. Lonneker mentioned that APU presented
on the methods of asset inventory, power restoration after an
incident, and identifying risks. The WSAB will continue to
facilitate workshops intended to share best practices among
utilities to develop comprehensive wildfire mitigation practices
across the State.
6. UPDATE ON WATER SYSTEM ISSUES.
M. Moore indicated that the Lenain Water Treatment plant was
shut down for two weeks for bi-annual maintenance and cleaning
and that the plant was thoroughly cleaned and inspected. He
reported everything is in good working condition and that the plant
is operational. M. Moore mentioned that many of the groundwater
wells are offline, which has significantly increased the cost of
water supply. He made the Board aware that APU is taking action
to get the wells back online as quickly as possible in order to
Regulations. R. Gaona
seconded the motion.
MOTION VIA ROLL
CALL VOTE CARRIED:
5-0.
ABSTAINED: 0.
ABSENT: 2 [R. Bhalla &
V. Baroldil.
2020 - 69
minimize the cost impacts. M. Moore indicated that the first phase
of construction for groundwater treatment is being accelerated as a
design -build delivery and that the request for proposals was issued
and will be presented to Board for recommendation of approval in
Spring of 2021.
M. Moore noted that the water system is relying heavily on seven
imported water connections to Metropolitan Water District
(MWD) which are normally used as a backup source. APU's
Water Production staff is completing a thorough inspection and
maintenance of those interconnections to ensure they remain a
reliable source to Anaheim.
7. UPDATE ON FINANCE ISSUES.
B. Beelner discussed the monthly dashboard with the Board. He
indicated that the year to date electric revenue through October 31,
2020 was 2.7% above budget ($4.3M) due primarily to increased
residential demand and increased wholesale sales caused by
significant heat waves and shelter at home orders during the late
summer months. Electric costs for the fiscal year fell below
budget by 5.3% ($6.7M) causing a net positive budget variance of
$11M. B. Beelner then mentioned that year to date water revenue
was 3.8% ($1.4M) below budget due to weaker than anticipated
commercial and industrial demand as a result of continued
business restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Costs
were below budget as well by 5.3% ($1.5M) causing a net positive
budget variance of $0.1M.
8. UPDATE ON POWER SUPPLY ISSUES.
S. Smith, Integrated Resources Manager, provided an update on
the Power Supply Portfolio for October. He mentioned that the
Canyon Power Plant Unit 4 repairs occurred in October and the
unit quickly returned to service on October 23, 2020. Canyon
Power Plant was heavily relied upon during the summer and
having it available is critical for APU and regional reliability.
S. Smith then discussed the Bowerman Power Plant (Bowerman)
outage, which occurred on October 26, 2020 due to the Silverado
fire. He noted that Bowerman remains offline due to the resulting
outage, but that the generation equipment was not damaged.
Lastly, S. Smith discussed the increase in wholesale sales
compared to budget due to the residual heat wave and Silverado
fire.
2020 - 70
9. UPDATE ON ENTERPRISE RISK AND COMPLIANCE.
J. Lehman, Chief Risk Officer, discussed the 2020 Legislative
Wrap-up Report with the Board. J. Lehman indicated that several
key bills passed that were beneficial to APU customers, including
Assembly Bill (AB) 2560 that establishes a transparent process to
set drinking water notification and response limits for unregulated
water contaminants, as well as Senate Bill (SB) 1386 that
reinforces the authority in existing law that allows public water
suppliers to include the costs associated with fire hydrants in their
property -related service charges. She then mentioned that several
troubling bills did not proceed, including two bills related to very
expensive pumped hydro projects which could have potentially
cost APU customers millions of dollars.
J. Lehman noted that next year will likely be an active year due to
the August blackouts and other utility issues. J. Lehman indicated
that water bills related to the development of formal water quality
standards for PFAS (Per and polyfluoroalkyl substances) are likely
to be introduced. J. Lehman also shared that electric bills are
likely to be related to legislation having to do with reforms for
energy resource planning and resource adequacy, and possibly
accelerating the adoption of zero -emission vehicles and the
deployment of supporting infrastructure to implement the
Governor's recent Executive Orders.
10. ITEM(S) BY SECRETARY.
D. Lee shared with the Board the items scheduled for the following
Board meeting include:
• Presentation on Rates and Rules
• Biomethane Management Agreement
• Underground Electric Inspection Agreement
D. Lee discussed the student mentoring program that is normally
held in person has moved to a virtual format this year, and that 13
high school students from various campuses are participating with
utility managers serving as mentors. Lastly, D. Lee shared pictures
of employees who will be retiring through the City's Accelerated
Separation Program.
11. ITEM(S) BY BOARD MEMBERS.
J. Showalter indicated that her appointment as a Board member may
be ending soon due to the election of a new councilmember for
District 1. Staff provided clarification regarding future
appointments and timeframe.
The Board inquired about
personnel plans given the
number of retirements, and
D. Lee explained that at a
future meeting, a
presentation will be
provided to the Board.
2020 - 71
R. Gaona wished everyone Happy Holidays.
J. Seymour thanked APU for the mask depicting a student's artwork.
E. Medrano thanked APU retirees for their work and years of
service.
12. ADJOURNMENT: (NEXT REGULAR MEETING ON
DECEMBER 16, 2020 AT 5:00 P.M. PLEASE BE ADVISED
THAT SOME BOARD MEMBERS WILL PARTICIPATE IN
THIS MEETING REMOTELY.)
Respectfully - Lmitted,
Dukku Lee
Public Utilities General Manager
Vice -Chairperson J.
Seymour moved to adjourn
the Regular Meeting at 6:25
p.m. to the Board's Regular
Meeting date of December
16, 2020 at 5:00 p.m. A.
Abdulrahman seconded the
motion.
MOTION VIA ROLL
CALL VOTE CARRIED:
5-0.
ABSTAINED: 0.
ABSENT: 2 [R. Bhalla &
V. Baroldi].
* 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.
2020 - 72