Public Utilities 2023/07/26
CITY OF ANAHEIM
PUBLIC UTILITIES BOARD
MINUTES
July 26,2023
The agenda having been posted on Wednesday, July 19, 2023,theRegular Meetingof thePublic
Utilities Board(Board) wascalled to order by Chairperson Seymourat 5:01p.m. on Wednesday,
July26,2023,in the Gordon Hoyt Conference Center, 2nd floor, Anaheim West Tower, 201S.
Anaheim Blvd., Anaheim, California.
Board Members Present:Chairperson J. Seymour,Vice-Chairperson A. Abdulrahman, A. Pham,
A.McMenamin,T. Bilezikjian, T. Ibrahim
Board Members Absent:M. Lee
CityStaffPresent:D.Lee, T. Chen,P. Starr, J. Lehman,J. Lonneker, C. Parker,B. Beelner,
M.Seifen, T. Castaneda, A.Kanzler, A. Lee, P. Bogdanoff
Guest(s) Present:Jackie Filbeck,Theodore Roosevelt Elementary SchoolBoard President;
Jesse Chavarria, Assistant Superintendent of Administrative Services;
Anna Bae Kim,Principal;Maria Conferti,Vice Principal
AGENDA ITEMACTION TAKEN
1.PUBLIC COMMENTS.There being no electronic or
oral public comments,
Chairperson J. Seymour
closed the public comments
portion of the meeting.
2.RECOGNIZE WATERSMART LANDSCAPE AWARD PROGRAM
WINNERS.
J.Seymour, this item
was taken out of order and reviewed following Agenda Item 6to allow
invited guests to attend.
A.Kanzler, Senior Resource Programs Specialist, provided an
overview of the recognition and the selection process for the
WaterSmart Landscape Award. The Board recognized Theodore
Roosevelt Elementary School with Anaheim Elementary School
District for the commercial/institutional category for their drought-
tolerant landscape efforts.Resident Juan Irala was unable to attend the
meeting, and staff will provide his award at a later date.
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3. APPROVE THE MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING A. Abdulrahman moved the
FACILITIES INSPECTION OF THE ROBERT B. DIEMER WATER approval of the Minutes of
TREATMENT PLANT OF JUNE 23, 2023. * the Regular Meeting
Facilities Inspection of the
Robert B. Diemer Water
Treatment Plant of June 23,
2023. A. McMenamin
seconded the motion.
MOTION CARRIED: 6-0.
ABSTAINED: 0.
ABSENT: 1. \[M. Lee\]
4. APPROVE THE MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING OF T. Bilezikjian moved the
JUNE 28, 2023. * approval of the Minutes of
the Public Utilities Board
Regular Meeting of June 28,
2023. A. McMenamin
seconded the motion.
MOTION CARRIED: 6-0.
ABSTAINED: 0.
ABSENT: 1. \[M. Lee\]
5. APPOINTMENT OF UP TO THREE MEMBERS FOR THE
SUSTAINABILITY AWARDS AD HOC COMMITTEE.
Chairperson J. Seymour indicated that he was seeking up to three Board
members to serve on the Sustainability Awards ad hoc Committee. Board
Members A. Pham, T. Bilezikjian, and T. Ibrahim volunteered and agreed
to be appointed as members. Chairperson J. Seymour confirmed the
appointments to the Sustainability Awards ad hoc Committee.
6. PRESENTATION: OCV!BE OVERVIEW.
D. Lee, Public Utilities General Manager, presented an overview of the
ocV!BE development project. OcV!BE is a nearly 100-acre project that
will include mixed-use housing, commercial buildings, two hotels, rentable
office space, retail and restaurants, new parking structures, and mid-level
amphitheaters.
The project is scheduled to be completed in time for the 2028 Olympics,
tournament. The project is still in the preliminary design stage, and will
likely include new water mains, service connections for each building,
recycled water for landscaping, new electrical circuits, streetlights, and
solar paneled parking structures. Standard rates, rules, and regulations
allow Anaheim Public Utilities (APU) to recover costs.
The Board asked if the nearest electrical substation will be expanded to
accommodate the increased demand. D. Lee responded that other
development activities in the area must be taken into account when
assessing potential future demand on local substations. APU plans to
develop a new substation on existing APU property to meet increased
future demand for developments in the area.
2023 - 50
The Board inquired about the funding for the project. D. Lee indicated that
the ocV!BEdeveloper has committed to a $4 billion private investment in
this project, and the City of Anaheim (City) will provide municipal services
7. DISCUSSION ON ORANGE COUNTY GRAND JURY REPORT,
C. Parker, Assistant General Manager Water Services, presented a review
and summary of the Orange County Grand Jury (Grand Jury) past water
reports and most recent report, entitled
Remains.
future water supply in relation to climate change, including findings related
to availability of sufficient water in the future and future development that
will increase water supply needs.
The Grand Jury report had multiple recommendations: such as creating a
Climate Resiliency District, implementing a development moratorium, and
constructing desalination plants. The Grand Jury required responses by
some agencies, such as Orange County Water District (OCWD). C. Parker
stated that most water suppliers in Orange County, including Anaheim,
were only requested to provide a response. C. Parker stated that the
Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (MWD), who provides
imported water to most of Southern California, including Anaheim, is
currently addressing the report, as MWD is already preparing a Climate
Adaption Master Plan for Water. Staff therefore does not recommend
submitting a separate response by Anaheim.
The Board inquired if the Grand Jury is comprised of subject matter
experts, and staff responded that the makeup of the Grand Jury is unknown.
The Board inquired if the County of Orange has involvement in water
supplies as indicated by the recommended Climate Resiliency District.
Staff responded that the County has not expressed such a position, and that
water rights would likely lead to litigation if actions were taken that
infringed on those rights. Staff further commented that a prior year Grand
Jury report recommended consolidating wholesale agencies, while this
report made a conflicting recommendation to create a new agency.
8. QUARTERLY STATUS REPORT FOR PRE-QUALIFIED
PROFESSIONAL SERVICES, CONSTRUCTION, AND SPOT BID
ELECTRIC MATERIAL PURCHASES FOR THE QUARTER
ENDING ON JUNE 30, 2023.
J. Lonneker, Assistant General Manager Electric Services, shared with
the Board that several projects using the Design-Build Master Agreement
(DBMA) method are underway within the Electric Division. The DBMA is
a useful method for completing large scale infrastructure replacement
projects, such as transformer and direct buried cable replacement work, as
well as street lighting projects.
J. Lonneker informed the Board that for Fiscal Year 2023, capital
improvement projects reached 66% of the budget. There are concerns
regarding procurement of materials for projects due to supply-chain issues,
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particularly regarding overhead and underground transformers needed to
complete replacement projects. So far, APU has been able to utilize
existing inventory to meet outage and emergency-response project needs. J.
Lonneker noted that upcoming developments, such as ocV!BE, will require
additional infrastructure to address capacity needs, and material lead times
may impact schedules.
C. Parker briefed the Board on the status of the water capital improvement
program and stated that all the planned projects for the fiscal year have
been completed. C. Parker highlighted multiple projects, including the
Groundwater Treatment Program, which should be completed and
producing water by the first quarter of next year, as well as a pipeline
project and a vault rehabilitation project.
9. UPDATE ON ELECTRIC SYSTEM ITEMS.
J. Lonneker updated the Board regarding recent streetlight wiring thefts.
Cases of theft have increased over the past month, and most of these thefts
occur along the I-5 Freeway corridor. APU has installed tamper-proof bolts
on the existing pull-boxes at these locations, but it has not been effective,
as thieves have taken to breaking the lids. Temporary jumpers installed by
crews allow for streetlights to continue working in some cases until
materials arrive but lead times to fix these streetlights can be multiple
weeks.
10. UPDATE ON WATER SYSTEM ITEMS.
C. Parker presented an update on the water supply condition, which has
still been very strong since the heavy rain season last winter. Lake Mead
has risen to an elevation of 1,058 feet msl; it was at an elevation of 1,045
feet msl last year. It is expected to rise to the 1,once the
snow melts.
C. Parker showed a video of a fire dropping helicopter pulling water from
the Walnut Canyon Reservoir to fight a small fire in mid-July. Lastly, he
shared about two high school interns who spent time with staff over the
summer.
11. UPDATE ON FINANCE & ENERGY RESOURCES ITEMS.
B. Beelner, Assistant General Manager - Finance & Energy Resources,
discussed the monthly finance dashboard with the Board through June
2023. B. Beelner mentioned that year to date electric revenue was 10.3%
($39.8M) above budget due to higher than projected wholesale energy and
retail earlier in the fiscal year. Electric operating costs were below budget
by 5.3% ($23.8M), as the $48M budget amendment recommended by the
Board to the City Council was all accounted for in June.
B. Beelner then mentioned that the year-to-date water revenue was 4.7%
below budget ($4.7M) due to the drop in water consumption in response to
the drought coupled with the reduced outdoor water use following the
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recent significant rainfall. Water costs for the fiscal year were below
budget by 6.2% ($5.1M),causing a net positive budget variance of $0.4M.
B. Beelner then discussed: the power supply dashboard,
wholesale energy purchases in June due to the Canyon Power Plant
(Canyon) Unit One forced outage, and the continued curtailment of power
by Intermountain Power Plant (IPP) as it continues to work through fuel
supply constraints. B. Beelner mentioned that the Canyon Unit One turbine
is currently in Houston, being repaired by the General Electric Company
with an estimated repair completion date of late summer. B. Beelner also
mentioned that IPP has resumed full operations for summer, using fuel
supplies built up during the winter and spring. The resumption of
operations by Canyon and IPP should help APU provide sufficient power
supplies for the remainder of summer.
B. Beelner then discussed with the Board the recent increase in interest
rates by the Federal Open Market Committee and how that decision has no
has fixed interest rates. B. Beelner also informed the Board that APU will
release a Request for Proposals (RFP) to either renew or replace the $100
million line of credit (LOC) that APU currently has with Wells Fargo, NA.
to City Council for the new LOC in the fall.
12. UPDATE ON ADMINISTRATION & RISK SERVICES ITEMS.
J. Lehman, Assistant General Manager Administration & Risk Services,
shared that while the legislature was on recess, APU worked with one of its
industry groups to provide a tour for state legislative and regulatory
staffers. APU worked with the Southern California Public Power Authority
(SCPPA) to host a tour of the Port of Los Angeles, a power generation
plant in Colton, and , and presented on ocV!BE
and the efforts to provide service to that development.
J. Lehman also provided an update on the Administration and Risk
Services dashboard. She also highlighted three bills of interest: Senate Bill
(SB) 308, which would create a negative CO2 emission market to combat
greenhouse gases; Assembly Bill (AB) 755, which would require APU to
report the volume and dollar amounts used on high water users; and the
-, which would prohibit the use of potable water
in non-functional areas, such as medians, commercial properties, or the
common areas of homeowner associations (HOAs). J. Lehman concluded
by reviewing the safety metrics and stated that there was one injury in June
and three injuries in July.
13. ITEMS BY SECRETARY.
D. Lee shared agenda items planned for next month:
FY23 Utilities Success Indicators
Approval of Agreement for Overhead Electric System Inspection
Services
Electric General Services Agreements
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