HomeMy WebLinkAbout2018-01-17 RMLD Citizens Advisory Board Minutes N OFR
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RMLD Citizens Advisory Board 2010 AR J3:, -AM 10: 30
Date: 2018-01-17 Time: 6:30 PM
Building: Reading Municipal Light Building Location: Winfred Spurr Audio Visual Room
Address: 230 Ash Street Session: Open Session
Purpose: General Business Version: Final
Attendees: Members - Present:
Mr. George Hooper, Chair (Wilmington); Mr. Jason Small, Vice Chair (North
Reading); Mr. Vivek Soni (Lynnfield)
Members - Not Present:
Mr. Dennis Kelley, Secretary (Wilmington); Mr. Neil Cohen (Reading)
Others Present:
Mr. Thomas O'Rourke, Board of Commissiners
Ms. Coleen O'Brien, Mr. Hamid Jaffari, Ms. Joyce Mulvaney, s. Ja
Parenteau, Ms. Kathleen Rybak
Minutes Respectfully Submitted By: Mr. George Hooper, Chair
Topics of Discussion:
1. Call Meeting to Order - G. Hooper, Chair
Chair Hooper called the meeting of the Citizens' Advisory Board to order at 6:30 PM
and noted that the meeting was being audio recorded.
2. Approval of Minutes - G. Hooper, Chair
Chair Hooper noted that Mr. Cohen was not present at the May 24th meeting, however,
was noted as seconding the motion to adjourn. Mr. Small had seconded the motion.
Mr. Small made a motion that the Citizens' Advisory Board approve the minutes of the
May 24, 2017, meeting (as corrected), August 16, 2017, and October 25, 2017,
meetings as written, seconded by Mr. Soni. Hearing no further discussion, motion
carried 3:0:2 (3 in favor, 0 opposed, 2 absent).
3. General Manager's Update - C. O'Brien, General Manager
Storm Report: Ms. O'Brien noted that there were no significant outages during the
recent snow storm.
Genera/: Following up on questions raised at the January Commissioners meeting, Ms.
O'Brien noted that RMLD is in strict compliance with NERC (North American Electric
Reliability Corporation) standards for Cyber Security. In reference to storm/outage
communication, RMLD currently uses Twitter for outage updates and utilizes a liaison
phone (unpublished number) for town officials to call for outage updates. This number
will be forwarded to CAB members. Mr. Jaffari will now give a brief update on
customer information/communication.
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Mr. Jaffari reported that RMLD is putting an Outage Management System (OMS) in
place which will manage the outage operation. OMS will work with the SCADA system
through integration with the customer information system and AMI mesh network, to
report when a customer's power has gone out. We will see on the area map how many
customers are out, where the outage is, and then issue a trouble ticket to dispatch
crews to exactly where the trouble is located. Additional modules will be added to the
OMS to improve communication to the public during outages. The Customer Portal
module allows the public access to the area map on their personal devices to see
which areas are out. The Dashboard module shows us how many customers are out,
records the reliability indices (SAIDI, CAIDI, and SAIFI), and allows RMLD to estimate
restoration time, determine the cause of an outage, and enable customer messaging.
The system will integrate with IVR to accommodate direct messaging to individuals or
groups of customers regarding outages at their location. This system will provide the
capability to better manage outages, restoration activities, and communication.
4. Proposed Rate for Solar Choice Program - J. Parenteau, Director of Integrated
Resources.
Handout: Solar Choice Rate Filing for MDPU#278
Ms. Parenteau noted that the Solar Choice Program was developed for community
shared solar projects. RMLD currently has two projects on line (one at 326 Ballardvale
in Wilmington; and the second is at 40-50 Fordham Road., Wilmington). For the Solar
Choice Program, we initially estimated a $5 monthly fee (for the first twelve months)
as the difference between the fuel charge and the PPA associated with solar project.
IRD tracks any value for the annual peak and monthly transmission peaks, and based
on the actual production, Solar Choice is achieving more savings than we had
forecasted. Therefore, we have the opportunity-to adjust that initial $5 rate down to
$1 for enrolled customers. The $5 cost per month per share, was imbedded into the
Solar Choice rate, but we have allowed some flexibility in terms of truing up with
actual production.
RMLD would like to open Solar Choice to commercial customers. Solar Choice
Business (SCB) and SCB Plus will allow commercial customers to purchase commercial
shares (equivalent to five times one Solar Choice share), or multiple commercial
shares with SCB Plus. SCB Plus customers will be limited to purchasing shares
equivalent to no more than 25% of any project (as available), and the combination of
all commercial customers cannot exceed 50% of any one project.
Mr. Soni made a motion that the Citizens'Advisory Board recommend to the RMLD
Board of Commissioners the adoption of the Solar Choice Rate, MDPU #278, dated to
be effective February 1, 2018, on the recommendation of the General Manager,
seconded by Mr. Small. Hearing no further discussion, motion carried 3:0:2 (3 in
favor, 0 opposed, 2 absent).
5. Reliability Study Update - H. Jaffari, Director of Engineering & Operations
Materials: Booth and Associates - 2015 Reliability Study- Recommendations Summary
Spreadsheet
Mr. Jaffari reported since the last CAB presentation on the Reliability Report that items 29,
35, 53, 54, 55, and 56 have been completed. These items include improvements made at
Station 3, as well as automation improvements at Station 3 and 4.
6. Organizational Study Update - C. O'Brien, General Manager
Materials: Leidos -2015 Organization Study Summary Spreadsheet
Ms. O'Brien noted that most items are either completed, in progress, or are continuing
initiatives, and suggested that moving forward, rather than reporting on all items, the
report include only those items that have not yet been completed. Ms. O'Brien asked
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Chair Hooper if this abbreviated update would be sufficient moving forward;
consolidating the report to include only the items that we are working on or that are
not yet completed, and provide updates on those items. Chair Hooper agreed that
that would be fine.
Updates were provided as follows:
Item 2.5 - Hire additional HR personnel: Ms. O'Brien reported that the Executive
Assistant will be trained to cover some of the functions in Human Resources, as the
succession plan for the HR Manager is evaluated and developed to accommodate both
HR process and talent management.
Item 11.1 Conduct customer satisfaction surveys: This item is pending completion of
the Strategic Vision Roadmaps for each division, which are being addressed now.
Once they are completed and implemented, and OMS and IVR are completed, we will
be in a better position to communicate our vision to customers. We can then plan a
survey for later next year. Mr. O'Rourke noted that the frequency of customer
surveys should also be considered. The group discussed industry standard surveys,
the frequency of surveying, the content, and the timing of surveys. Ms. O'Brien
noted that employee surveys have been delayed while staff adjust to changes
implemented around job descriptions and responsibilities.
7. Next Meeting - G. Hooper, Chair
Future CAB meetings were scheduled for February 28, March 21, and April 11 and
April 18 (for Budget review).
8. Executive Session - G. Hooper, Chair
Mr. Small made a motion that the Citizens'Advisory Board go into Executive Session
based on Chapter 164, Section 47D exemption from public records and open meeting
requirements in certain instances, to discuss competitively sensitive issues, and
return to regular session for the sole purpose of adjournment, seconded by Mr. Soni.
Hearing no further discussion, motion carried 3:0:2 (3 in favor 0 opposed, 2
absent) by poll of members present: Mr. Small, aye, Chair Hooper aye, Mr. Soni,
aye. Mr. Kelley and Mr. Cohen were not present.
9. Adjournment - C. Hooper, Chair
Mr. Small made a motion to adjourn the Citizens'Advisory Board meeting, seconded
by Mr. Soni. Hearing no further discussion motion carried 3:0:2 (3 in favor, 0
opposed, 2 absent).
The Citizens'Advisory Board Meeting adjourned at 7:20 pm.
As approved on February 28, 2018.
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Handout for Agenda Item#4: Proposed Rate for Solar Choice Program
January 17,2018 Meeting
Town of Reading,Massachusetts MDPU#278 supersedes
Municipal Light Department and cancels MDPU#264
Solar Choice
Available in:
Reading, Lynnfield Center, North Reading, and Wilmington
Applicable to:
The Solar Choice Program is RMLD's implementation of the Community Shared Solar
model which meets Mass DOER eligibility criteria to qualify as a Community Shared
Solar Generation Unit as defined under 225 CMR 14.02.
The Solar Choice(SC)Rate is available to all customers of good credit standing
receiving service under any rate schedule of the Department, subject to availability of
the Solar Choice Program capacity.
This rate will be an additional charge to the existing RMLD rate.
The Solar Choice Business (SCB) Rate and Solar Choice Business Plus is available to all
commercial, industrial and municipal customers of good credit standing, subject to
availability of Solar Choice Program capacity.
SCB will be equal to 5 times the amount of Solar Choice.
SCB Plus will be equal to multiples of SCB not to exceed 25% of project capacity,
subject to availability.
The initial SC Rate shall be $5.00/month and the initial SCB Rate shall be
$25.00/month. The SC/SCB Rate will be adjusted every six months based on actual
project performance. The SC/SCB Rate will be the net total of SC/SCB Component
Charges and Credits calculated prior to each six-month period based on budgeted
expenses/savings from the SC/SCB Programs and will be trued up to actual
expenses/savings,with any adjustment being carried forward to the next six-month period
using the formulas defined below.
SC/SCB Energy Component Charge:
SC/SCB Energy Component, in$/kWh/Month=(SC/SCB Project PPA Rate) —
(Fuel Charge Rate)
Monthly SC/SCB Project Solar Production per SC/SCB share=(The total
monthly solar production, in kWh,produced by the SC/SCB Project)/(Total
number of SC/SCB shares for that SC/SCB Project)
SC/SCB Energy Component Charge, in S/Month=(SC/SCB Energy
Component)x (Monthly SC/SCB Project Solar Production per SC/SCB share)
Rate Filed: TBD
Effective: On Billings on or After February 1,2018
Filed By: Coleen M. O'Brien, General Manager
Handout for Agenda Item#4: Proposed Rate for Solar Choice Program
January 17,2018 Meeting
Town of Reading,Massachusetts MDPU# 278 supersedes
Municipal Light Department and cancels MDPU#264
Note: For any month where the Fuel Charge Rate is greater than or equal to
the SC/SCB Project PPA Rate, the SC/SCB Energy Component Charge will
be a Credit for that month.
SC/SCB Capacity Component Credit:
For each six-month period, the SC/SCB Capacity Component Credit will be calculated
based on the actual solar production output of the SC/SCB Project for that period and any
Capacity Payment savings earned as a result of the SC/SCB Project output will be paid out
as credits during the following six-month period.
The SC/SCB Capacity Component Credit will be calculated as follows:
SC/SCB Capacity Component Credit per SC/SCB share, in $ _ (The total
Capacity Payment or other Program savings, in $, earned for that period as a
result of the solar power produced by the SC/SCB Project during the Capacity
Peak Hour)/ (Total number of SC/SCB shares for that SC/SCB Project)
SC/SCB Transmission Component Credit:
For each six-month period, the SC/SCB Transmission Component Credit will be
calculated based on the actual solar production output of the SC/SCB Project for the
completed six-month period and any Transmission Payment savings earned for that
period as a result of the SC/SCB Project output will be paid out as credits during the
following six-month period.
The SC/SCB Transmission Component Credit will be calculated as follows:
SC/SCB Transmission Component Credit per SC/SCB share, in $ _ (The total
Transmission Payment savings, in $, earned for that period as a result of the
solar power produced by the SC/SCB Project during Transmission Peak
Hours) / (Total number of SC/SCB shares for that SC/SCB Project)
SC/SCB Rate:
The SC/SCB Rate will be the total SC/SCB Charge/Credit, calculated as shown
below. This Charge or Credit will be added to each participating customer's
monthly bill.
SC/SCB Rate=(SC/SCB Energy Component Charge, in$)—(SC/SCB
Capacity Component Credit, in$)—(SC/SCB Transmission Component Credit,
in$)
Note: For any specific month, this total bill adjustment may be positive
(cost to the customer) or negative(savings to the customer).
Rate Filed: TBD
Effective: On Billings on or After February 1, 2018
Filed By: Coleen M. O'Brien, General Manager
Handout for Agenda Item 44: Rroposed Rate for Solar Choice Program
January 17,2018 Meeting
Town of Reading,Massachusetts MDPU#278 supersedes
Municipal Light Department and cancels MDPU#264
Terms:
A customer electing to be billed under this rate must be of good credit standing and
shall remain on this rate for a minimum of ten years. After ten years on this rate a
customer may elect to remain on this rate or discontinue it. If the RMLD does not
receive an SC/SCB Rate termination request from the customer, it will be assumed
that the customer elects to continue to be billed under this rate.
A thirty-day notice is required from customers who will no longer be able to
participate in the SC/SCB Rate.
Since the number of participants/SC/SCB shares are limited for each SC/SCB Project,
shares will be issued on a "first come/first served" basis and/or through a "lottery"
system at the discretion of the RMLD. The RMLD will maintain a "waiting list" which
will be used to replace any customers who must leave the program and/or for new
SC/SCB Projects as they become available.
Any customers signing up for the SC/SCB Rate after the initial twelve months are
subject to a one-time enrollment fee equal to the total first year payments made by the
initial participants. After that enrollment fee has been paid, they will then begin
receiving the current monthly SC/SCB Rate program billing adjustment.
This rate will be subject to termination in the event that the RMLD is unable to
procure power from the SC/SCB Project, or costs become prohibitive.
General Terms and Conditions:
Service hereunder is subject to the General Terms and Conditions which are incorporated
herein and are a part of this rate schedule.
Rate Filed: TBD
Effective: On Billings on or After February 1, 2018
Filed By: Coleen M. O'Brien, General Manager