Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutLIGHTCOMM MIN05092011 ~~" T RECEIVEO OWN CLERKS OFFICE 1lJ11 JUN I ~ A fO: 02 ~ Present: Chairman Jess Aptowitz; Vice Chairman George Dentino; Clerk Oli~ ~lD Commissioner Douglas Armino; Commissioner Kevin Moran; Director Gar/Ral> ~~~€TTS Accountant Ken Thomson; Engineer Chris Cox and Financial Assistant Jacqueline Lee Mansfield Municipal Electric Department Minutes of Light Commissioners Meeting May 9, 2011 Light Commissioners Meeting The meeting was called to order at 7:00 PM followed by the Pledge of Allegiance. Chairman Aptowitz stated that this meeting was being televised and taped by Mansfield Cable Access. There was no one signed up for Questions and Comments. Motion: To approve the minutes of the April 11, 2011 Light Commissioner's meeting (Moran/Kozlowski) Passes 5/0 Financial Report for March 2011 - Director Babin presented the financial statements for March 2011. The net operating income year-to-date through March was $2,273,808. There is a receivable of $71 ,061 for monies owed from customers for under collection of the Generation Charge. Director Babin said that year-to-date energy sales were up 4.2% and also reported that the depreciation fund balance is $5,967,952. Staff Accountant Thomson reported that in the operating section of the profit and loss statement the operating expenses were $213,000, or 0.9%, below last year's amount and are also 5% below the FYll budget amount. In the non-operating section of the profit and loss statement, the $123,000 in non-operating revenue is made up of interest on the depreciation fund, interest on the MMWEC working capital fund, sales of scrap metal and miscellaneous jobbing projects which were mostly snow plowing for the DPW. Solar Installation at V AM Properties- V AM Realty Trust, located at 241 Francis Ave, has been having discussions with MMED staff about a solar installation at their facility. Rick Sousa, owner of 241 Francis Ave, told the Board that part of his problem is having a small building with low height and he is looking to reduce electrical costs. Jeff Wooten from Broadway Electrical was present and has designed a solar energy system for V AM Realty Trust. He told the Board that the concept in net metering the facility is that 160,000 excess kilowatt-hours will be produced by the solar panels and his proposal is to sell that energy back to MMED. Director Babin said that MMED is required to file a tariff with the State to buy the energy and that net metering in MMED's case would reimburse the customer at the cost of the Generation Charge, which is MMED's avoided cost. He said that a buyback arrangement would have to be made with the developer and said that a lot of discussions and conference calls have been held to discuss V AM's economic analysis, which was included in the Board package. Commissioner Moran wanted to know that if MMED's costs went up that MMED wouldn't go back to the ratepayer to make up the difference if they're locked into a lower rate. Director Babin said that MMED would lose distribution revenue for the kWh that MMED did not sell to the customer because they generate it themselves, but MMED wouldn't go back to the customer looking to make up the difference. Commissioner Moran wondered if this would be beneficial to every ratepayer. Director Babin believed it would not harm them. Clerk Kozlowski asked if the building is occupied and Mr. Sousa confirmed that it was. Clerk Kozlowski also asked if Building Inspector Nick Riccio had weighed in on this issue and Mr. Sousa indicated that he had. Commissioner Armino questioned whether four acres of solar panels requires Planning Board approval. Mr. Wooten said it did not. Vice Chairman Dentino questioned some of the information on the spreadsheet that the Board was given and Director Babin explained that it was V AM Realty Trust's analysis. Commissioner Dentino then asked what the benefit was for the customer and Director Babin said that MMED is not privy to that information. Director Babin said that as a utility, MMED is required to have a tariff in place in order to reimburse V AM for their energy export but the economics of what they do behind the meter is their own business. Vice Chairman Dentino indicated that he didn't understand why and said MMED should want to know what is being generated and what will be excess. Chairman Aptowitz made the point that if everyone had solar panels it may be good in principle but MMED still needs that lost revenue to maintain their infrastructure. Vice Chairman Dentino stated that MMED is losing money if they're no longer supplying someone's electricity because they are making their own. Director Babin explained that MMED would still make money on the customer's demand charge and said that this particular building would always have a demand charge close to its historical monthly peaks. He did point out that for customers on the commercial or residential rates MMED would lose money on the distribution charge because there is no demand charge. He reiterated that MMED will need a net metering tariff which will dictate how MMED would reimburse the customer for the kilowatt hours exported. He cautioned the Board that whatever tariff it approved would apply to all customers. Chairman Aptowitz asked Director Babin to run everything by Shaun Burke from the Planning Department and then send the Board an e-mail. Easement Authorization for Town Meeting- Director Babin provided for the Board a copy of Lou Amoruso's letter agreeing to void the existing easement for 51 Francis Ave and create a new one. He also said that Town Counsel provided a suggested motion, as shown in the Board package, which would void the existing easement and create a new easement which would then go to Town Meeting for approval. A copy of the new easement agreement was also provided to the Board. 2 - Commissioner Moran reminded everyone that he filed a disclosure two years ago with the Ethics Commission when this issue was first brought up because he has a relative who works at 51 Francis Ave. Vice Chairman Dentino said there is another easement, a utility easement that runs parallel with the street and he believes that should be included here. Director Babin said that this easement includes only what is on private property and not the public way. Vice Chairman Dentino said that he didn't like the sketch that was included with the easement and reiterated that he remembers seeing a utility easement. Engineer Cox stated that it is the same sketch that had been used for the initial easement except for the removal of the secondary lines in this particular sketch. Motion: MOVED, that the Mansfield Municipal Light Commission delegate to the Mansfield Municipal Electric Department Manager the authority and power, on behalf of the Commission, to accept, amend and release an easement for the transmission of electricity at the property known as 51 Francis Avenue, including executing an easement agreement for such purposes. (KozlowskiIMoran) Passes 4/1 (Dentino against) Resident Amos Robinson of 178 Mill Street, who was not present when citizen comments were solicited, was invited to the podium and thanked the Board for the lights on the East Mansfield Common during the last holiday season. He offered that in the future if the Town couldn't pay the electric bill for these particular lights then to send it to him and he will take care of it. Mr. Robinson then questioned if there was any checking of the streetlights being done. He said he knows that every other light has been turned out but sometimes there are three or four in a row that are out. He said this is not a big deal at this time of year but in the winter it will be. Mr. Robinson said he was also at this evening's meeting because he wanted to know the status ofthe residential three phase services. Chairman Aptowitz suggested that a MMED crew drive around Mansfield at night to check out streetlights. He said he has noticed 6 or 7 out on Ware and Branch Streets. He also asked the public to call the Light Department if they notice a streetlight is out. Proposed Policy Language for Three Phase Services in Residential Areas- Director Babin told the Board that the purpose of this policy is to provide a check and balance for any three phase service proposed for installation on a residential property. Motion: To accept the following language into MMED's Information and Requirements for Electric Service; 406 - Three Phase Service to a Single Residential Customer - No single residential dwelling in zoning districts R-I, R-2 and R-3 shall be served by a three-phase electric service without approval of the permitting authority and without the express 3 - authorization of the Mansfield Municipal Electric Department Commission. All applications for the Board's consideration of this type of service must include load calculations, service size and a one-line diagram prepared by a Registered Professional Engineer. The requirement to provide professional engineering services may be waived by the MMED Commission based upon review of the particular circumstances relating to an installation. (Annino/Kozlowski) Passes 5/0 MMED Retail Rate Comparison- Director Babin gave the Board a retail rate comparison for residential customers with four different levels of usage; 250 kWh, 500 kWh, 750 kWh and 1000 kWh and for different size commercial customers, which shows how the 45 utilities in Massachusetts compare with one another. For the 250 kWh residential comparison MMED has one of the lowest rates and overall, out of the 45 utilities MMED is right in the middle of the pack for commercial comparison. Director Babin also put together a table of how much the average (750 kWh) MMED residential customer has paid by quarter since the Generation Charge was instituted in 2008, which is generally around $100. Commissioner Moran pointed out that in the comparison of small businesses in the 3000 kWh commercial rate, MMED is really lagging. It bothers him because it's the small businesses that are struggling. Vice Chairman Dentino thinks that MMED did really well in the residential comparison. He believes North Attleboro is MMED's best comparison. Proposed Tax on Millstone Nuclear Plant Energy Output- Director Babin told the Board that Connecticut is in a dire fiscal situation. He said that the Legislature's Energy Committee approved a two cent surcharge on every kWh generated in order to raise tax revenue. He stated that MMED has an entitlement to the Millstone nuclear power plant through MMWEC and that the two cent charge would cost MMED about $308,000 annually. The Governor of Connecticut has dismissed this proposal in favor of limiting ~he tax to 2 years and making it 0.25 cents per kWh and not 2 cents. Director Babin said the owner of the plant is indifferent because it is a pass-through for them but those entities representing the ratepayers are up in arms. He said it is still in the discussion phase but if the Governor's proposal passes it will be a $38,000 cost per year for MMED for 2 years. East Mansfield Substation - Director Babin told the Board that the DPU came through with approval for construction of the National Grid transmission line installation. He said Engineer Cox is moving forward on preparing the specifications with PLM. Materials will be bid first then contractor's specifications will go out to bid for the station construction. He also noted that front end contract language was sent to Town Counsel for review. Old and New Busines.s - Director Babin reported that last week MMWEC dedicated their wind turbine facility on Brody Mountain and are expecting commercial operation this week. He stated that Governor Patrick was at the dedication and that the installation doubles the amount of wind power in Massachusetts. 4 - Vice Chairman Dentino questioned whether all MMED employees are working the hours of 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM. Director Babin said that it is temporarily in place subject to collective bargaining. When asked what hours he keeps, he indicated that he begins at 8:00 AM or 8:15 AM and usually works until 4:30 PM or 5:00 PM and did not want to go into any more detail than that. Vice Chairman Dentino believes that management should be there when the help is there. Vice Chairman Dentino asked if Director Babin is the only exception for the 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM schedule. Director Babin said the line crew works 7:00 AM to 3:00 PM and everyone else works from 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM. Chairman Aptowitz made the suggestion that this discussion should be held between Town Manager Ross and Director Babin as he is Director Babin's direct supervisor. The next Light Commissioners meeting was set for June 6 and Director Babin wi11let Town Manager Ross know. Chairman Aptowitz reminded everyone that tomorrow is Election Day and as Chairman of the Light Commissioners he thanked Director Babin, the MMED staff and his fellow commissioners for their cooperation and their input during his term as chairman. Motion: To adjourn the Light Commissioners meeting at 8:50 (Kozlowski) Respectfully submitted: Jacqueline Lee 6/l3/11 ~ S~ture of Clerk ~.._.._.- ~._~".. ~ ------ (;;'- (3 - ( ( Date of Approval 5 ....