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CITY OF ANAHEIM
PUBLIC UTILITIES BOARD
MINUTES
July 26, 2023
The agenda having been posted on Wednesday, July 19, 2023, the Regular Meeting of the Public Utilities Board (Board) was called to order by Chairperson Seymour at 5:01 p.m. on Wednesday, July 26, 2023, in the Gordon Hoyt Conference Center, 2nd floor, Anaheim West Tower, 201 S.
Anaheim Blvd., Anaheim, California.
Board Members Present: Chairperson J. Seymour, Vice-Chairperson A. Abdulrahman, A. Pham, A. McMenamin, T. Bilezikjian, T. Ibrahim
Board Members Absent: M. Lee
City Staff Present: D. Lee, T. Chen, P. Starr, J. Lehman, J. Lonneker, C. Parker, B. Beelner, M. Seifen, T. Castaneda, A. Kanzler, A. Lee, P. Bogdanoff Guest(s) Present: Jackie Filbeck, Theodore Roosevelt Elementary School Board President; Jesse Chavarria, Assistant Superintendent of Administrative Services; Anna Bae Kim, Principal; Maria Conferti, Vice Principal
AGENDA ITEM ACTION TAKEN
1. PUBLIC COMMENTS. There being no electronic or
oral public comments,
Chairperson J. Seymour
closed the public comments
portion of the meeting.
2. RECOGNIZE WATERSMART LANDSCAPE AWARD PROGRAM
WINNERS.
At staff’s request upon the agreement of Chairperson J. Seymour, this item was taken out of order and reviewed following Agenda Item 6 to allow invited guests to attend.
A. Kanzler, Senior Resource Programs Specialist, provided an overview of the recognition and the selection process for the WaterSmart Landscape Award. The Board recognized Theodore Roosevelt Elementary School with Anaheim Elementary School District for the commercial/institutional category for their drought- tolerant landscape efforts. Resident Juan Irala was unable to attend the meeting, and staff will provide his award at a later date.
ITEM # 03
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3. APPROVE THE MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING –
FACILITIES INSPECTION OF THE ROBERT B. DIEMER WATER
TREATMENT PLANT OF JUNE 23, 2023. *
A. Abdulrahman moved the
approval of the Minutes of
the Regular Meeting –
Facilities Inspection of the
Robert B. Diemer Water
Treatment Plant of June 23,
2023. A. McMenamin
seconded the motion.
MOTION CARRIED: 6-0.
ABSTAINED: 0.
ABSENT: 1. [M. Lee]
4. APPROVE THE MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING OF
JUNE 28, 2023. *
T. Bilezikjian moved the
approval of the Minutes of
the Public Utilities Board
Regular Meeting of June 28,
2023. A. McMenamin
seconded the motion.
MOTION CARRIED: 6-0.
ABSTAINED: 0.
ABSENT: 1. [M. Lee]
5. APPOINTMENT OF UP TO THREE MEMBERS FOR THE
SUSTAINABILITY AWARDS AD HOC COMMITTEE.
Chairperson J. Seymour indicated that he was seeking up to three Board members to serve on the Sustainability Awards ad hoc Committee. Board Members A. Pham, T. Bilezikjian, and T. Ibrahim volunteered and agreed to be appointed as members. Chairperson J. Seymour confirmed the appointments to the Sustainability Awards ad hoc Committee.
6. PRESENTATION: OCV!BE OVERVIEW.
D. Lee, Public Utilities General Manager, presented an overview of the ocV!BE development project. OcV!BE is a nearly 100-acre project that will include mixed-use housing, commercial buildings, two hotels, rentable office space, retail and restaurants, new parking structures, and mid-level amphitheaters.
The project is scheduled to be completed in time for the 2028 Olympics, when the Honda Center will host the men and women’s volleyball tournament. The project is still in the preliminary design stage, and will likely include new water mains, service connections for each building, recycled water for landscaping, new electrical circuits, streetlights, and solar paneled parking structures. Standard rates, rules, and regulations allow Anaheim Public Utilities (APU) to recover costs.
The Board asked if the nearest electrical substation will be expanded to accommodate the increased demand. D. Lee responded that other development activities in the area must be taken into account when assessing potential future demand on local substations. APU plans to develop a new substation on existing APU property to meet increased future demand for developments in the area.
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The Board inquired about the funding for the project. D. Lee indicated that the ocV!BE developer has committed to a $4 billion private investment in this project, and the City of Anaheim (City) will provide municipal services at the developer’s cost.
7. DISCUSSION ON ORANGE COUNTY GRAND JURY REPORT,
“HISTORIC RAIN, YET DROUGHT REMAINS”.
C. Parker, Assistant General Manager – Water Services, presented a review and summary of the Orange County Grand Jury’s (Grand Jury) past water reports and most recent report, entitled “Historic Rain, Yet Drought Remains.” C. Parker stated that the current report expresses concerns about future water supply in relation to climate change, including findings related to availability of sufficient water in the future and future development that will increase water supply needs.
The Grand Jury report had multiple recommendations: such as creating a Climate Resiliency District, implementing a development moratorium, and constructing desalination plants. The Grand Jury required responses by some agencies, such as Orange County Water District (OCWD). C. Parker stated that most water suppliers in Orange County, including Anaheim, were only requested to provide a response. C. Parker stated that the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (MWD), who provides imported water to most of Southern California, including Anaheim, is currently addressing the report, as MWD is already preparing a Climate Adaption Master Plan for Water. Staff therefore does not recommend submitting a separate response by Anaheim.
The Board inquired if the Grand Jury is comprised of subject matter experts, and staff responded that the makeup of the Grand Jury is unknown.
The Board inquired if the County of Orange has involvement in water supplies as indicated by the recommended Climate Resiliency District.
Staff responded that the County has not expressed such a position, and that water rights would likely lead to litigation if actions were taken that infringed on those rights. Staff further commented that a prior year Grand Jury report recommended consolidating wholesale agencies, while this report made a conflicting recommendation to create a new agency.
8. QUARTERLY STATUS REPORT FOR PRE-QUALIFIED
PROFESSIONAL SERVICES, CONSTRUCTION, AND SPOT BID
ELECTRIC MATERIAL PURCHASES FOR THE QUARTER
ENDING ON JUNE 30, 2023.
J. Lonneker, Assistant General Manager – Electric Services, shared with the Board that several projects using the Design-Build Master Agreement (DBMA) method are underway within the Electric Division. The DBMA is a useful method for completing large scale infrastructure replacement projects, such as transformer and direct buried cable replacement work, as well as street lighting projects.
J. Lonneker informed the Board that for Fiscal Year 2023, capital improvement projects reached 66% of the budget. There are concerns regarding procurement of materials for projects due to supply-chain issues,
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particularly regarding overhead and underground transformers needed to complete replacement projects. So far, APU has been able to utilize existing inventory to meet outage and emergency-response project needs. J.
Lonneker noted that upcoming developments, such as ocV!BE, will require additional infrastructure to address capacity needs, and material lead times may impact schedules.
C. Parker briefed the Board on the status of the water capital improvement program and stated that all the planned projects for the fiscal year have been completed. C. Parker highlighted multiple projects, including the Groundwater Treatment Program, which should be completed and producing water by the first quarter of next year, as well as a pipeline project and a vault rehabilitation project.
9. UPDATE ON ELECTRIC SYSTEM ITEMS.
J. Lonneker updated the Board regarding recent streetlight wiring thefts.
Cases of theft have increased over the past month, and most of these thefts occur along the I-5 Freeway corridor. APU has installed tamper-proof bolts on the existing pull-boxes at these locations, but it has not been effective, as thieves have taken to breaking the lids. Temporary jumpers installed by crews allow for streetlights to continue working in some cases until materials arrive but lead times to fix these streetlights can be multiple weeks.
10. UPDATE ON WATER SYSTEM ITEMS.
C. Parker presented an update on the water supply condition, which has still been very strong since the heavy rain season last winter. Lake Mead has risen to an elevation of 1,058 feet msl; it was at an elevation of 1,045 feet msl last year. It is expected to rise to the 1,060’s elevation once the snow melts.
C. Parker showed a video of a fire dropping helicopter pulling water from the Walnut Canyon Reservoir to fight a small fire in mid-July. Lastly, he shared about two high school interns who spent time with staff over the summer.
11. UPDATE ON FINANCE & ENERGY RESOURCES ITEMS.
B. Beelner, Assistant General Manager - Finance & Energy Resources, discussed the monthly finance dashboard with the Board through June 2023. B. Beelner mentioned that year to date electric revenue was 10.3% ($39.8M) above budget due to higher than projected wholesale energy and retail earlier in the fiscal year. Electric operating costs were below budget by 5.3% ($23.8M), as the $48M budget amendment recommended by the Board to the City Council was all accounted for in June.
B. Beelner then mentioned that the year-to-date water revenue was 4.7% below budget ($4.7M) due to the drop in water consumption in response to the drought coupled with the reduced outdoor water use following the
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recent significant rainfall. Water costs for the fiscal year were below budget by 6.2% ($5.1M), causing a net positive budget variance of $0.4M.
B. Beelner then discussed: the power supply dashboard, APU’s reliance on wholesale energy purchases in June due to the Canyon Power Plant (Canyon) Unit One forced outage, and the continued curtailment of power by Intermountain Power Plant (IPP) as it continues to work through fuel supply constraints. B. Beelner mentioned that the Canyon Unit One turbine is currently in Houston, being repaired by the General Electric Company with an estimated repair completion date of late summer. B. Beelner also mentioned that IPP has resumed full operations for summer, using fuel supplies built up during the winter and spring. The resumption of operations by Canyon and IPP should help APU provide sufficient power supplies for the remainder of summer.
B. Beelner then discussed with the Board the recent increase in interest rates by the Federal Open Market Committee and how that decision has no immediate impact on APU’s interest costs as all current debt owed by APU has fixed interest rates. B. Beelner also informed the Board that APU will release a Request for Proposals (RFP) to either renew or replace the $100 million line of credit (LOC) that APU currently has with Wells Fargo, NA.
B. Beelner mentioned that APU would seek the Board’s recommendation to City Council for the new LOC in the fall.
12. UPDATE ON ADMINISTRATION & RISK SERVICES ITEMS.
J. Lehman, Assistant General Manager – Administration & Risk Services, shared that while the legislature was on recess, APU worked with one of its industry groups to provide a tour for state legislative and regulatory staffers. APU worked with the Southern California Public Power Authority (SCPPA) to host a tour of the Port of Los Angeles, a power generation plant in Colton, and of APU’s Park Substation, and presented on ocV!BE and the efforts to provide service to that development.
J. Lehman also provided an update on the Administration and Risk Services dashboard. She also highlighted three bills of interest: Senate Bill (SB) 308, which would create a negative CO2 emission market to combat greenhouse gases; Assembly Bill (AB) 755, which would require APU to report the volume and dollar amounts used on high water users; and the ‘Non-Functional Turf’ Bill, which would prohibit the use of potable water in non-functional areas, such as medians, commercial properties, or the common areas of homeowner associations (HOAs). J. Lehman concluded by reviewing the safety metrics and stated that there was one injury in June and three injuries in July.
13. ITEMS BY SECRETARY.
D. Lee shared agenda items planned for next month:
• FY23 Utilities Success Indicators
• Approval of Agreement for Overhead Electric System Inspection Services
• Electric General Services Agreements