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HomeMy WebLinkAboutmin light comm 111507 "':lIt,_'- Q i:'" {\ f'~' ~:I " t"" '~, ,", ""' \. t, C. : / i- !} Mansfield Municipal Electric Department Minutes of Light Commissioners Meeting Public Rate Hearing November 15, 2007 ~ I' . Ul DEe 1/ r ?.. r:1 ~.:' '--,' '. \.i~) Present: Chairman David McCarter; Vice Chairman George Dentino; Clerk Ann Baldwin; Commissioner Lou Amoruso; Commissioner Sandra Levine; Director Gary Babin; Engineer Chris Cox; Business Manager Laurie Anderson and Town Manager John D'Agostino Light Commissioner Meeting The meeting was called to order at 7:05 PM followed by the Pledge of Allegiance. Motion: To open the Public Hearing (McCarter/Levine) Passes 5/0 Clerk Baldwin read the Public Hearing announcement that appeared in the Mansfield News on October 26th, November 2nd and November 9th and in the Sun Chronicle on November 8th and November 11th. Gary Babin and Mayhew Seavey gave a recap of the process that has led to the proposed rates being considered tonight. Director Babin gave the timeline of the process, which started in March 2007. He stated that it began with the presentation of the FY08 Operating Budget at the March 26, 2007 Light Commission meeting. The budget projected a 1.5% profit and at that time the Board questioned whether the rates were adequate. Chariman McCarter opened the discussion up to Light Commissioners. Vice Chairman Dentino questioned the $4.00 customer charge on residential bills. Director Babin stated that it covered metering and billing costs and remained unchanged in the proposed rates. Vice Chairman Dentino believes that it is excessive. Mr. Seavey stated that the residential customer charge should actually be slightly higher based on his cost of service analysis but it was close enough to keep it unchanged from the prior rates. He stated that if it were higher, it would have a disproportionate effect on small energy use customers. Director Babin pointed out that increasing the customer charge would dramatically increase the cost per kilowatthour for customers using small amounts of energy. Commissioner Levine asked if the rates were approved, when they would take effect. Director Babin answered January 1, 2008. He informed the Board that the staff is currently running parallel billing to ensure that there will be a seamless transition from the old rates to the new rates. Chairman McCarter asked if there were any questions from the public. There were no questions from the public. He asked Director Babin if he had received any verbal or written comments from the public. Director Babin answered that he had not received any comments from the public. .. Chariman McCarter reiterated to the public that this process to restructure the rates began in March and was driven by the need to produce a fair rate of return to cover operating and capital expenses. He went on the state that the rate adjustments had nothing to do with the recent court judgments and that this process had been ongoing since March. Motion: To close the Public Hearing (Amoruso/Baldwin) Passes 5/0 Vice Chairman Dentino stated that he has a problem with the fact that the new municipal rate is 8.6% lower than the current rate. This led to some discussion amongst the Board regarding whether it was a win/win situation. Director Babin pointed out that they should not lose sight ofthe fact that municipals were producing a 9.6% rate of return under the old rates and under the new rates they will still produce a 5.2% rate of return, the rate of return directed by the Board and enough to cover their cost contribution to capital. Motion: To accept proposed retail rates as set forth in the document dated November 15,2007. (Amoruso/Levine) Passes 5/0 Motion: To adjourn the Light Commission Meeting at 7:50pm (Amoruso/ Levine) Passes 5/0 Respectfully submitted: Laurie Anderson 12/10/07 1 \ r C-NI. ~. J'DC~]11~ Signature of C1er --BJ \ 0 \0 1'--'\ Date of Approval , .,-_.~.--<.