HomeMy WebLinkAboutLighrt Comm. 10/21/2024Mansfield Municipal Electric Department
Minutes of Light Commissioners Meeting
October 21, 2024
Present: Chairman Brendan Roche, Clerk Maureen Doherty, Commissioner Diana Bren, Commissioner Michael
Trowbridge, General Manager Joe Sollecito. Commissioner Walter Wilk arrived at 6:04pm
1) Open Meeting — Call to Order & Pledge of Allegiance. The meeting was held at the Mansfield Town Hall
Room 3AB and called to order at 5:32 PM followed by the Pledge of Allegiance.
2) Motion to enter into Executive Session for the following reasons and to return to open session:
a) Review and consideration to approve minutes of August 19, 2024 Executive Session where Exemptions 3 & 10
were declared
b) Pursuant to M.G.L. Ch. 164, Section 47D and M.G.L. Ch. 30, Section 21, Exemption 3, to discuss strategy with
respect to collective bargaining (1BEW Local 104 Financial Assistants and Professional units and AFSCM Local
1702) if an open meeting may have a detrimental effect on the bargaining position of the public body and the
chair sodeclares.
c) Pursuant to M.G.L. Ch. 164, Section 47D and M.G.L. C. 30, Section 21, Exemption 10, to discuss trade secrets
or confidential, competitively -sensitive or other proprietary information provided, in the course of activities
conducted by a governmental body as an energy supplier under a license granted by the department of public
utilities pursuant to section IF of chapter 164 and when such governmental body, municipal aggregator or
cooperative determines that such disclosure will adversely affect its ability to conduct business in relation
to other entities making, selling or distributing electric power and energy and the chair so declares.
(Doherty/Trowbridge) Roll Call vote: Doherty -Yes, Bren — Yes, Trowbridge — Yes, Roche — Yes. Motion
passes 4-0. —'
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The meeting returned to open session at 6:15 PM. Commissioner Michael Trowbridge Igt#-the meeting'
3) Review and consideration to approve Board Minutes w m C-)
a) August 19, 2024 meeting -'-CL: ° ,�
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b) September 25, 2024 meeting r— D
Motion to approve Board Minutes. (Doherty/Bren) Passes 4/0. o � CD
4) General Manager's Report — m
a) Review and consideration to approve Office Renovations bid award (A. Jefferies of TBA Architects)
Manager Sollecito gave an overview of the bid project. The low bid was by Howard Construction Finish Remodel
from Blackstone, MA, at a price of $200,900. This is under the budget, and the other four bids came in over estimate.
References were checked by Justin Humphries and Aislimn Jefferies of TBA Architects. Commissioner Bren asked if
there would be a contingency to protect against increased costs. Manager Sollecito replied that there is a contingency
built in to the contract, as well as the amount being under budget, so that should cover any issues. Clerk Doherty gave
a brief overview of how changes are allowed or not under public bidding, stating that she felt comfortable with the low
bid.
Motion to award the office renovation contract to Howard Construction Finish Remodel for a total
price of $200,900 (Doherty/Bren) Passes 4/0.
b) Review H. Jaffari memo regarding Justin Drive Underground Construction Project
General Manager gave background on the reason for this project. In 2017 there was a major storm that took out the three
overhead circuits on Jewell Street. There was a great effort to repair, so a conscious decision was made to not put three
circuits on overheads anymore, especially in a highly treed area. The previous engineer, Chris Cox, in 2022 proposed an
alternative plan to save money by bringing an overhead circuit along Balcom Street, rather than continue the underground
project through Jewell Street to Tremont St. This would save approximately $1.2 million. In order to do this a new
manhole and ductwork will need to be installed at Justin Drive and Balcom Street to allow for the integration of the
overhead circuit. This can be done for a cost of about $120,000. The Town's underground contractor, Lopes, will be
used. This needs to be done so that the cable can be pulled during the winter. Commissioner Wilk asked about the reason
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to continue overhead and not underground for further storm protection. Manager Sollecito replied that with the area,
overhead is more than adequate and much cheaper.
c) Review and consideration to approve recommendations for 2025 rebate program (L. Anderson
memo)
A chart shows a review of the rebate expenses from 2024. A second chart shows a comparison to rebate levels
at other municipals as well as the recommendations for changes to MMED's program for 2025. Central AC will
be removed because it has been made obsolete by electric heat pumps. Scaling back EV chargers because the
market has moved and costs are lower. The changes to heat pumps are because the State has a new clean heat
standard for heat pumps, and this follows that.
Motion to accept the energy conservation program as outlined on the Mansfield Electric
ENERGY STAR Appliance Rebate Program Analysis for 2025, to begin January 1, 2025. (Doherty/Wilk)
Passes 4/0.
d) Review financials of August 2024
Net income is $874,000 as compared to prior year of $684,000. The generation charge payable is $2.6 million, the same
as prior year. Cash position is $13.8 million, up from $12 million prior year. Energy sales are up by 7.8%, up for all rates
except medium commercial.
e) Review proposed State environmental regulations and its impact on municipal light plants
There are several regulatory issues that are problematic for MLP's. MLP's have autonomy, and therefore can keep rates
low. The first issue is the Department of Energy Protection has come up with a standard for the reporting the usage of
large industrial customers to the State. Because we treat that information as proprietary, it requires permission from the
account owner to provide this. It then puts a burden on the department to use ratepayer money to provide that
information.
The second issue is the new Clean Heat Standard. The legislation names distribution electric companies, which MLP's
are not, and therefore does not apply. This regulation requires distribution electric companies to convert a certain
percentage of customers to a purely electric load by removing oil tanks and gas lines and to convert everything to electric
If this regulation is implemented, there is concern that overall electric grid system would not be able to provide enough
power. Additionally, this would be cost prohibitive and rates would have to be raised significantly.
A third new standard is to convert diesel trucks to all electric. Electric trucks would not work well as work trucks because
they would run out of power too quickly. This regulation has been pulled back for a year and is being re-evaluated.
Police and fire are exempt, but electric utilities are not.
f) Update on Eversource bid to purchase Chester Municipal Light Plant
Eversource made a bind to buy the Chester MLP. Manager Sollecito and former Chair Michael Trowbridge went to a
meeting in Chester, along with representatives from other MLP's, to explain the value of having an MLP to the residents.
In the end the residents voted to keep the MLP.
9) MMED participation in Welcome to Mansfield Night on October 23,d and Safety Luncheon at
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COA on October 25
5) Citizens Questions & Comments - none
6) Commissioners Questions & Comments - none
7) Any items not anticipated by the Chair 48 hours prior to this meeting - none
8) Motion to Adjourn (Doherty/Wilk) passes 4-0
Respectfully submitted: Katherine Duggan
Sigq t (e of Clerk ate of Approval