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HomeMy WebLinkAboutLight Comm. 02/26/2024Mansfield Municipal Electric Department Minutes of Light Commissioners Meeting February 26, 2024 V E[) Present: Chair Michael Trowbridge, Clerk Maureen Doherty, Commiss` e"V! �Vbridan Roche a Light Department Manager Joseph Sollecito. l i� 1) Open Meeting — Call to Order & Pledge of Allegiance. The meeting was held IY;`t& Matlsfeld Town Hall Room 3AB and called to order at 5:36 PM followed by the Pledge of Allggian ce:•..'' A complete copy of the Board packet containing all documents that are referenced in the minutes is on file at the Mansfield Municipal Electric Department office. 2) Review and consideration to approve Board Minutes of November 20, 2023 Motion to approve Board Minutes of November 20, 2023. (Doherty/Roche) Passes 3/0. 3) General Manager's Report a) Review MMED's Emergency Notification System/Agent 511 Mr. Sollecito provided an overview of the unique needs of MMED's notification system. He explained that there are three different places where the data needed for the system resides. He first explained about the GIS system which shows locations of assets in Town. Then Joe Pereira explained the NDS database, which is where all the customer information resides, and how that information has been updated. Finally, Mr. Sollecito explained about Choice Connect and how that system manages the meters and other assets related to metering. He then gave an overview of how all that information gets to MPower. Jay Malin and Ravipal Arora of Agent 511 then gave an overview of their product. They explained how Agent 511 integrates with the MPower outage management system. There is a template editor that allows customization of messages, giving a high level of personalization. Mr. Arora then gave a brief demo of how the software works. Mr. Trowbridge asked if there would be an outage map available, and Mr. Sollecito explained that it already exists through MPower. b) Review Power Supply/Risk Management Update with Mayhew Seavey, PLM Mr. Sollecito introduced Mayhew Seavey and explained that they wanted to discuss the hedging process and how MMED has varying resources and how to fill in the open position. Mr. Seavey discussed MMED's risk management strategy. Prior to 2017 MMED purchased all incremental energy requirements from a single supplier for a five-year term. Since then, the market position is reviewed quarterly and forecast energy requirements are compared to contracts already in place. Those needs are then covered according to the spot market, according to the market volatility. Overall MMED ends up hedging about 70% annually. He then presented a chart that shows a typical week of how much energy is being hedged per day, with the balance of about 10% to be purchased on the spot market. Mr. Sollecito then mentioned that locking in 100% of power needs ends up being wasteful, with some energy going back to the market. The spot market is the cheaper power under normal circumstances. Mr. Seavey then explained two buying triggers. One is a price trigger, whereby when the price is below the four-year average, then you buy. And the lower the price goes, the more you buy. The second is a time trigger, where the closer you get to the purchase date, the more you buy to protect against spot market volatility. Much of this is forecasting needs based on historical usage so the correct amount is purchased. Mr. Seavey also explained that the risk management strategy is designed to reduce MMED's exposure to extreme swings in the price of energy and not necessarily to get the lowest price. Finally, he provided a market update. The forward market shows large variations, but by buying power on an annual basis MMED is managing to smooth that out. Winter market rates have come down from over $200 in 2022 to just over $100 now. The summer market did not fluctuate as much and kept a fairly narrow range of prices. Prices for the next four years are within value range, and the January purchase included volumes through 2027, purchased on price triggers. Finally, the present market position is within the proper ranges, showing that the risk management program is working. Mr. Sollecito also mentioned that the fact that MMED has a small ownership in facilities such as Seabrook and Stony Brook helps keep our costs low. c) Review Fiber GIS Mapping survey memo from Hamid Jaffari Mr. Sollecito explained that MMED installed the fiber network, but that there has been some confusion as to who owns it. It has been determined that MMED owns the fiber optic cable system, but works closely with the Town MIS department to keep it running. However, when there is a break, MMED is not able to respond in a timely manner since we do not possess individual fiber records. Historically, the mapping records had been kept by the vendor, but the contact there retired and the records were incomplete. MMED will begin a multi -year project to map the fiber network in order to be able to maintain it properly. d) Review and consideration to approve revised AFSCME (American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees), AFL-CIO, Council 93, Local 1702 Job Descriptions i) Electric Maintenance Supervisor ii) Electric Maintenance Worker iii) Electric Maintenance Worker Apprentice (1st Class) iv) Electric Maintenance Worker Apprentice (2nd Class) Mr. Sollecito explained that meter reading positions are going away because new technology does not require in -person reading. MMED negotiated with the AFSCME union to have the meter functions absorbed into the electric maintenance positions. As such, job descriptions needed to be rewritten. The union and MMED agreed on these four positions. Motion to approve revised AFSCME (American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees), AFL-CIO, Council 93, Local 1702 Job Descriptions. (Doherty/Roche) Passes 3/0. e) Review MMED Safety Committee and Charter Mr. Sollecito stated that the committee had not been active for many years, and having a safety committee is very helpful and useful. He then reviewed the members of the committee, and stated that engineer Hamid Jaffari is the chair. He gave a summary of the committee charter and a brief overview of safety standards and partners that MMED works with for training and maintaining safety standards. Through this the hope is to create and maintain best practices. f) Review Financials (December 2023) Joe Pereira reviewed the January 2024 financial statements. Lower sales have been offset by the retirement of higher paid employees as well as lower power expenses. Net income is $1.5 million to date compared to $991,000 last year. The cash position is better compared to last year. The depreciation fund is about $4.5 million, which the highest in a long time. This is due to some projects being delayed and therefore not spending that money. g) Review Project Updates i) Gate and Garage Door Project Mr. Sollecito stated they are working with the vendor to put together the submittals that have to be approved by the consultant. There are 11 doors and five gates that will need to be tied into a security access system. This is expected to be ready in the next two weeks and the project will move forward in the spring. ii) Office Renovations A new plan was just received on how best to install a women's shower. It will be about a month for the architect to get the bid documents together. Mr. Trowbridge asked Mr. Sollecito to send the new layout to the board. Mr. Sollecito stated that the bid process will probably begin in early April. h) Review Electrical Safety Program for First Responders MMED provided training for Police and Fire, with the main trainers being Anthony from NEPPA and MMED's line supervisor Ralph Bellavance. M i) Notice of appointment of General Manager (J. Sollecito) to MEAM President (Municipal Electric Association of Massachusetts) 4) Citizens Questions & Comments None 5) Commissioners Questions & Comments Mrs. Doherty asked if the First Responder safety training was recorded so they could review it. Mr. Sollecito said it was not, but that they were given the Power Point presentation which also included videos. Mrs. Doherty also asked if MMED would participate in Senior Safety day on May 1. Mr. Sollecito responded in the affirmative. Mr. Trowbridge noted that it was time for Mr. Sollecito's evaluation. The commissioners will receive a template, and Mr. Sollecito will put together some information regarding the accomplishments through the year. Mr. Trowbridge asked the commissioners to return their forms within two weeks of receipt. 6) Any items not anticipated by the Chair 48 hours prior to this meeting None 7) Motion to Adjourn 6:52 PM (Doherty/Roche) Passes 3/0. Respectfully submitted: Katherine Duggan Sight •eofClerk ate of Ap roval