MINUTES OF REGULAR MEETING
BOARD OF ELECTRIC COMMISSIONER
Wednesday, July 11, 2007 – 5:30 p.m.
The regular meeting of the Board of Electric Commissioners was convened at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday, July 11, 2007 at the Burlington Electric Department, Burlington, Vermont.
Commissioners Jennifer Wallace-Brodeur, Scott Johnstone, Sarah Judd, and Bob Herendeen were present. Commissioner Harris was absent for this meeting. Staff members present included: Barbara Grimes, Munir Kasti, and Tom Buckley. Other staff members present included: Ken Nolan. Patricia Crowley, Clerk, was present.
Ms. Crowley called the meeting to order at 5:30 p.m.
1. Organization: (Elect Chair and Vice-Chair; Appoint Clerk and Assistant Clerk)
The first item of business was to elect a Chair and Vice-Chair, and to appoint a Clerk and Assistant Clerk. Ms. Crowley asked the Commission for their nominations for Chair and Vice-Chair.
Commissioner Judd nominated Jennifer Wallace-Brodeur as Chair for the 2007-2008 term. There being no other nominations, the motion was seconded by Commissioner Herendeen and Jennifer Wallace-Brodeur was chosen by all Commissioners present to serve as Chair of the Commission.
Commissioner Judd nominated Scott Johnstone as Vice-Chair for the 2007-2008 term. There being no other nominations, the motion was seconded by Commissioner Herendeen and Scott Johnstone was chosen by all Commissioners present to serve as Vice-Chair of the Commission.
Commissioner Johnstone nominated Patricia Crowley as Clerk of the Board and Helen Coombs as Assistant Clerk of the Board. The motion was seconded by Commissioner Wallace-Brodeur and approved by all Commissioners present.
2. Agenda
Commissioner Herendeen had one question on Consent Agenda Item #6.01, May Financial Report, so this was removed from the Consent Agenda and renumbered as agenda item #5.01 immediately following the General Manager’s updates.
3. Minutes of the June 13, 2007 meeting
Commissioner Johnstone moved to accept the minutes for the June 13, 2007 meeting. The motion was seconded by Commissioner Herendeen and approved by all Commissioners present.
4. Public Forum
No one was present from the public.
4.5 Commissioners’ Corner
The Commissioners had no updates.
5. General Manager/Commission Information Items
Mrs. Grimes asked Tom Buckley to inform the Commission of the reasons that BED is in support of the program to support energy efficiency. Mr. Buckley informed the Commission of the work that has been done thus far to provide energy efficiency programs to our customers. Mrs. Grimes stated that even on BED’s customer and industrial side in a larger business where they have people that are in charge of the facilities, BED has heard that their day-to-day jobs are so busy that focusing on this one piece is difficult, even though they know they need to do something but all of the work that Mr. Buckley has outlined isn’t a natural part of what they do from day to day, so for us to be able to come in and provide this service really helps provide BED with the energy savings over the years that would not have occurred without our assistance and this is what is so worthy of supporting this bill.
Mrs. Grimes stated that finishing up our fiscal year at BED is always a very busy time and the good news financially is that BED ended up about $500,000 cash-wise ahead of where we thought we would be. She stated that power supply is the biggest part of our expenditures. Mrs. Grimes gave Ken Nolan and his staff credit because it has been our hedging strategy that they have implemented so well. She stated that clearly included in this is the additional run time for the McNeil Station. Mrs. Grimes informed the Commission that to be able to have these kinds of numbers means that we have been able to take advantage of the market on a rolling basis.
Mrs. Grimes reminded the Commission that on July 1, 2007, the second part of the Public Service Board Order to increase residential rates and to lower commercial and industrial rates based on their cost of service requirement will go into effect. She stated that it was to be an average of a five percent increase for the second piece and there will be some customers that see less than a five percent increase and some customers that will see more than a five percent increase. Mrs. Grimes encouraged the public via Channel 17 to call BED at 658-0300 (ask for Energy Services) to take advantage of our energy services.
5.01 May Financial Report
Commissioner Herendeen had one question regarding an item in the May Financial Report. He asked Mrs. Grimes if the cost of the postage mail machine for $36,000 is a one-time hit and was informed that it is only a one-time cost. Mrs. Grimes informed the Commission that when the postal service increased the amount of stamps, BED had purchased a machine five years ago. The machines last an average of 10 to 15 years. She stated that the timing of the announcement by the United States Postal Service and the notification from Pitney-Bowes informing us that they were no longer supporting and would not do the upgrade that would allow it to process different size pieces of mail. Mrs. Grimes did speak with the congressional delegation because there are only three suppliers of postage machines in the United States with Pitney-Bowes being the largest. It was decided that if another change is made, we understand from Pitney-Bowes that they will support this version.
6. Proposed Meeting Schedule 2007-2008 (Discussion)
The proposed meeting schedule for regular Commission meetings is based on the 2nd Wednesday of each month at 5:30 p.m. in BED’s Auditorium at 585 Pine Street. It was agreed upon by all Commissioners present that the proposed meeting schedule for 2007-2008 would be in effect for the meetings scheduled through June, 2008.
7. Memorandum of Understanding (Discussion & Vote)
Mrs. Grimes explained to the Commission how the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) came to be. She informed the Commission that the MOU goes back to prior to the Mayor’s appointment and the General Manager. She stated that this was basically a contract between how the General Manager and the Burlington Board of Electric Commissioners operated. Mrs. Grimes stated that it was jointly agreed upon by the General Manager and the Commission as to the content of the MOU and that this would be carried forward. After a brief discussion, Commissioner Wallace-Brodeur suggested to the Commission that this MOU be adopted.
Commissioner Johnstone moved that the Board of Electric Commissioners readopt the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU). The motion was seconded by Commissioner Herendeen and approved by all Commissioners present.
8. Update on Docket #7081 (Discussion)
Ken Nolan was present for the discussion of Docket #7081. He explained to the Commission that this was the docket created by the Public Service Board (PSB) as a result of Act 61 in the legislature. Mr. Nolan stated that there was about a two-year negotiation trying to reach agreement amongst all of the utilities and a number of interveners as to how transmission planning would occur into the future. Mr. Nolan stated that approximately six months ago, the Commission approved the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that came out of this docket and that was filed with the PSB and a technical hearing was scheduled because the Conservation Law Foundation (CLF) took exception with the MOU and they had a counter proposal that they wanted the PSB to consider. Mr. Nolan informed the Commission that the order on this docket just came out on June 20, 2007 and in the order, the PSB adopted the MOU essentially as it was approved but they did have two changes to it and since the Commission had approved the original MOU, he wanted to make sure that the Commission was aware of these changes. Mr. Nolan informed the Commission that they are minor issues but BED is required by the order to certify whether BED is in agreement with the changes by July 20, 2007. He stated that the two minor changes are 1) a new Committee was created amongst the utilities and several public participants that the PSB will appoint called the Vermont System Planning Committee (VSPC). He stated that there was no provision in the agreement as it was adopted by the petitioners to pay the public members for their time. Mr. Nolan thought this was inappropriate because the people involved were going to devote a day at a time for these meetings and should be compensated for it. The MOU was changed to include a per diem and mileage reimbursement that will be equal to what the State Commissions get. Mr. Nolan stated that the second change is 2) The PSB was concerned that in order to change this MOU, they would have to open a full docket (litigated process) if they wanted to modify anything in the future so they asked questions during the testimony and ultimately, in the order they have changed the MOU to say that if they decide at any time in the future they want to make modifications, they can do so simply by giving parties notice and an opportunity to request a hearing. Mr. Nolan stated that if someone requests a hearing, a litigation process will be started at that point. He informed the Commission that they wanted the structure change so that if there were minor tweaks that everyone could agree with, they would not be bound to open a docket and go through the whole formal process.
Mr. Nolan stated that Bill Ellis has reviewed this document and is comfortable with it and BED is protected.
There being no further business to discuss, Commissioners Johnstone and Judd moved to adjourn at 6:13 P.M., which was approved by all Commissioners present.
Attest:
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Patricia J. Crowley, Clerk