Members Present: Mr. Jibben,
Mr. Bourgeois, Mr. Utz, and Mr. Hunziker
Absent: Mr. Landwehr
Board President Pro
Tem Utz called the meeting to order at
1. Mr. Bourgeois moved to approve the
minutes of the
2. Mr. Hunziker
moved to approve the accounts payable report, seconded by Mr. Bourgeois. All voting “AYE”
3. Mr. Smith, RPU Key Account & Energy
Services Manager, appeared before the Board to discuss establishing a fund for
energy efficiency improvements. The fund
would fit RPU’s need under state law to fund a
Conservation Improvement Program (CIP) and would also help businesses upgrade
and reduce energy waste. This would also
have a positive impact on the community.
He stated that lighting improvements could save customers 30% on their
lighting costs. Mr. Bourgeois stated
that installing energy efficient lighting worked for the
BE IT RESOLVED by the
Public Utility Board of the City of Rochester, Minnesota, to authorize the use
of Conservation Improvement Program (CIP) budgeted money in the amount of
$250,000.00 to finance Demand Side Management energy efficiency projects.
4. Mr. Rovang, RPU Senior
Civil Engineer, presented the proposed revisions to RPU’s
Water Services Rules and Regulations to the Board. He said the revisions included the City of
BE IT RESOLVED by the
Public Utility Board of the City of Rochester, Minnesota, to approve the Water
Service Rules and Regulations (Revised July, 2003) to be effective
5. Mr.
Lorber discussed the payment to People’s Cooperative Services for electric
service rights for the Celestica property which was
approved by the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission in June 2003. This is a budgeted item. Mr. Bourgeois moved to approve payment to
People’s Cooperative Services for the Celestica
property, seconded by Mr. Jibben. All voting “AYE”
BE IT
RESOLVED by the Public Utility Board of the City of Rochester, Minnesota, to
approve payment of compensation to People’s Cooperative Services for
Acquisition of Electric Service Rights to a 35.37
Acre Plat in ORD 3320,
A Location Currently Occupied by Celestica, Inc.
Compensation
to be $0.013 per kilowatt-hour for associated retail electricity sales in the
area during a ten-year period beginning August 18, 2000, with the lump-sum
payment for sales through May 20, 2003 to be FOUR HUNDRED FIFTY-EIGHT THOUSAND,
NINE HUNDRED SIXTY-EIGHT AND 30/100 DOLLARS ($458,968.30).
6. Ms.
Tompkins, RPU Manager of Customer Service, provided a six month update on
customer service activity covering topics such as customer contacts, write-offs
and survey statistics. RPU provides
service to 75,000 water and electric customers.
Staff handles up to 6,000 calls per month. They also process 50 Web payments per day and
1,500 credit card customers per month.
7. Mr.
Koshire, General Manager, provided the following report:
a. Mr. Koshire
said the Board had been invited to an event for local government officials and
b. An appeal has been filed to the Minnesota
Pollution Control Agency decision to grant a construction permit for the
proposed steam project.
c. A regional transmission planning
meeting was held at RPU with various utilities in attendance to discuss long-term
transmission plans for the southeast area of
d. Mr. Koshire
stated no action was taken by the Southern Minnesota Municipal Power Agency (SMMPA) Board on the issue of rates and reserves. Mr. Koshire would like to see SMMPA, RPU’s wholesale power
supplier, reduce its rates by 2% to its members. In addition, the savings from SMMPA’s recent bond refinancing will begin in 2004. The RPU Board directed Mr. Koshire to notify
the SMMPA Board that RPU would like SMMPA to lower its cost to its members.
8. The
management/financial reports were discussed.
9. Other
Business:
Ms.
Lynn Keeler, member of the Rochester Energy Future Coalition (REFC) and Eastside Neighborhood Association asked the Board
to consider having an item on each agenda for citizen input similar to what the
School Board and Council do. She
suggested having a time limit for each speaker with a sign in sheet. She also asked RPU staff to consider putting
the names and phone numbers of RPU managers on the Web site. Another member of the audience requested that
the agenda be e-mailed to the REFC group with an
electronic copy of the board packet.
Board Secretary Kathleen Wilson stated that both the current agenda and
approved Board minutes have been posted on RPU’s Web
site for several years now. She normally
posts the information to the Web on the Friday before the board meeting. The
issue of furnishing an electronic copy of the board packet was taken under
advisement. Currently if the public
requests copies of documents, they are charged for multiple pages.
Mr.
Ward Lutz, REFC member, addressed the Board to
request that the monthly General Manager’s report to the RPU Board include an
overview of the past month’s work done on the Silver Lake Plant (SLP) emission reduction study. He also stated that the REFC
would like to participate in a discussion and review of the Conservation
Improvement Programs planned for 2004.
Finally, he said the REFC has been in contact
with the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency’s Assistant Commissioner regarding
the suggestion that a “Citizen’s Advisory Board” representing a broad cross
section of the community be formed to work toward building mutual
understanding, trust and problem resolution.
REFC requested time and feedback from the
Board regarding their requests at the next Board meeting.
Mr.
Terry Larson, REFC member, asked if the MPCA’s air quality index could be posted on RPU’s Web. He also
said that the REFC would like to help with promoting
wind energy and that the RPU brochure and newspaper ad on this topic were
excellent.
10. Mr. Hunziker
moved to adjourn the meeting, seconded by Mr. Jibben.
All voting “AYE” The meeting was adjourned at
Approved by the Board: