F
rom: Lindell, Dawn
Sent: Wednesday, April 19, 2023 7:51 PM
To: Jim Barnfather .com>
Cc: City Council DL <[email protected]>; Hess, Justin <j [email protected]>; Wilke, Judie <[email protected]>; Aquino, Sea n <[email protected]> Subject: Increase in Water, Sewer and Refuse Rates.
D
ear Mr. Barnfather -
T
hank you for sharing your perspective. Rate increases are difficult for everyone and we do not take these lightly. I am glad that you asked the questions so that I could provide the relevant information.
I
nterestingly, a utility budget is different than the organizations you are referencing. Salaries account for on
ly 15% of the utilities' operating expenses - not the majority of these expenses. Salaries and benefits together account for 21% of the operating expenses.
I
f we include our capital program (and we should since BWP employees implement the capital program), the salaries drop all the w
ay to 12% for electric and water total expenses in the next year. With salaries and benefits this accounts for 18% of the cost of water and electric in the next two years. So, if we stopped paying our employees completely, we would still have 82% of the expenses in the budget.
W
hy are utilities so
different? We provide electricity and water. Both of these require significant investments in very expensive infrastructure - poles, wires, substations, power plants and utility scale renewables for electric while water requires pipes, pumping stations, treatment plants. Both require heavy duty vehicles like backhoes, digger derricks, bucket trucks. We have to buy our water from Metropolitan Water District because Burbank does not own any water rights. We have to buy natural gas to run our gas plant, coal to run our coal plant, and energy off of the energy market when the demand for energy is higher than planned.
T
here are 5 main reasons our costs are increasing:
1. I
nflation is causing increased costs of materials and goods. Examples include: cost of chlorine to treat the water is up 200% (tripled), cost of copper coils for water service has doubled, cost to build new renewable generation is up 100% - 200%, ductile iron pipe is up more than 50%, the cost to build a substation is up 67%.
2. V
olatility in energy prices, with some energy like natural gas recently tripling in cost. This table shows how much we have seen the price of natural gas and energy soar in the last three years:
Year Natural gas $/MMBTU Energy $/MWh
2020 $3.00 $47.61
2021 $7.10 $61.81
2022 $9.20 $96.28
P
rices have tripled for natural gas and doubled for energy. For the first two months of 2023, natural gas prices were at $15.30 and the cost of energy topped $100.
3 . A ging infrastructure that needs repair so we don’t experience service interruptions. On the electric side, we are upgrading the infrastructure to handle the increased load from electric vehicle charging and other electrification. On the water side, many pipes are nearing 100 years old or are over 100 years old. These become brittle and leak.
4. R
egulatory requirements that come with increased costs, but that must be completed to avoid fines.
5. A
dapting to climate change to help keep BWP resilient through environmental challenges including increased storms. We are required to be at 60% renewable energy by 2030 which requires building and buying renewable energy at double the cost of three years ago.
W
e do manage our operating expenses very closely and I am proud to report to you that BWP employees saved over $27 million in the last 12 months which helped to offset some of the higher prices we are experiencing. So not only have completed analysis and consideration of reducing operating expenses, we have done so. We have not been able to offset the inflationary costs which are much higher for our business than for the Consumer Price Index. We are not outsourcing lower paying jobs while adding more executives. We have added staff at different levels to meet the significant increase in regulations, city wide development, and sustainability requirements. If we do not meet our sustainability goals as required by the state legislature, we risk fines of up to $147,000,000 and we must still spend the dollars to meet these regulations.
A
ll salaries at every level of the organization, including senior leaders are paid at the middle of the market rate as our City Council has directed. We do salary and wage studies from many utilities and can see the range of salaries paid. Our highest pay is at the midpoint of the range. We cannot retain our staff and we will not be able to fill our job openings if we are paying at 2013 or 2003 rates. Competition for talent is difficult. Since the people who work at BWP account for only 18% of the expense (with salaries and benefits), it is critical that we have the best people willing to work at the midpoint of the range to manage the 82% of the expenses.
I
hope that this information and clarification helps.
W
arm regards,
Dawn Lindell
Dawn Roth Lindell
General Manager
(818) 238-35 54 office | (818) 391-8729 mobile
[email protected]
BurbankWaterAndPower.com
Always There for You!
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ -----Original Message-----
From: Jim Barnfather < .com>
Sent: Wednesday, April 19, 2023 10:24 AM
To: [email protected]
Cc: Hess, Justin <[email protected]>; Lindell, Dawn <[email protected]> Subject: Increase in Water, Sewer, & Refuse
CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe.
Thank you for promptly providing information to the community concerning the proposed rate increases, effective July 1, 2023 & 2024.
As a former executive for a major Fortune 500 company I realize that increase in operating costs and expenses can only be offset one of two ways; increase cost to the consumer or decreasing operating costs.
Why is it that there has been no analysis or consideration of reducing operating expenses. In any organization the greatest operating expenses are salaries & benefits.
Sometime during the June 6th hearing I’d like to see an analysis of Senior Water & Power positions( GM, Asst GMs & Directors) salary & benefits with an organization chart comparing 2023 to 2013 to 2003.
During this time we, as a community, have experienced several rare increases. Also, during this time the number of senior positions have increased while the city is outsourcing many lower paying labor jobs.
More executives overseeing less people.
Looking forward to this analysis prior to the city counsel considering any future rate increases.
Respectly,
Jim Barnfather
75 year Burbank Resident
Burbank, CA 91506
Sent from my iphone
From: Sarkissian, Arineh
To: .net
Cc: Hess, Justin; Wilke, Judie; Kriske, David; Yu, Edward; Berkman, Ken; Ramirez, Fred; Lindell, Dawn; Aquino, Sean; Musich, Jeffrey; Wilson, Richard; Kramer, Bob; City Council DL
Subject: RE: Gary Haas Items
Date: Friday, May 26, 2023 11:29:35 AM
Attachments: image003.png
image004.png
Hi Mr. Haas,
Thank you for your email. I’ve included answers below to question number 2 and 3 related to our recent hold times:
2 Notice of increase in utility fees
How much of the increase in utility fees are caused by need to increase utilities for new appartment and condo buildings?
Your phone message says we are in a drouth and only water lawns twice a week for 15 minutes two days a week.
If we do not have enough water for the current residents why are new housing being built.
The Governor and California Legislature set housing policies at the state level and cities like Burbank must comply with those policies. A recent focus of state housing policy has been the lack of affordable housing and the legislature has tried to address this issue through a series of bills aimed at increasing the number and affordability of housing units and the accountability of localities (like Burbank) in addressing their needs.
These new housing units will be mixed-use developments and will be our most efficient residences since they will be required to use high efficiency fixtures and outdoor watering will be minimal because they do not have yards. Single family homes use the most water and approximately 60 percent of the water used in a single family residence is used to water lawns and outdoor landscaping.
A more thorough explanation of Burbank’s housing plan is in the “Burbank 2021-2029 Housing Element,” which is available here:
https://www.burbankhousingelement.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/Adopted-Burbank-Housing- Element clean.pdf
A list of the new state housing laws is on pages 1-2 and 1-3.
Water conservation will always be a key factor to ensure that we have sufficient supplies to meet our needs and to minimize the cost of our water purchases from the Metropolitan Water District. Water stored in the ground that was purchased at a lower cost will need to be replenished with water at a higher cost.
In short, we must build new housing through varying weather extremes and we plan our water purchases accordingly and conservation will always play an important role in water use.
Every year, Burbank Water & Power forecasts the amount of electricity and water that Burbank residents will need over the next 10 years and uses this forecast to determine what rates it will need to charge to recover its costs. The forecast incorporates expected increases in population and housing units that are driven by state policies. We also budget and plan for system upgrades to be able to meet new demand where it is expected. Encouraging water conservation is something that we do to ensure that as climate change continues to drive the aridification of our region, that we are able to meet the needs of current residents and
drop-off, bulky item drop-off, household hazardous waste drop-off, used oil drop-off, used antifreeze drop- off, electronic waste drop-off, mattress drop-off, waste issues in multifamily and business areas associated with private bins, weekly street sweeping, state mandated Senate Bill 1383 and Assembly Bill 341 reporting associated with private bins, and other similar programs and services.
In February of 2022, the City of Burbank adopted an ordinance in order to comply with Senate Bill 1383 (SB 1383).
SB 1383 mandates diversion of organics from the trash stream to reduce greenhouse gases produced by landfills. The ordinance requires that a property’s primary hauler provide source separated containers and collection of trash, recycling and organics.
For further information regarding the City’s recycling programs feel free to visit our website https://www.burbankca.gov/web/public-works/recycle-center .
Thank you,
JOHN MOLINAR
Assistant Public Works Director – Street and Sanitation (818) 238-3800 office
BurbankCA.gov
From: Kramer, Bob <[email protected]>
Sent: Tuesday, May 23, 2023 12:42 PM
To: Gary D Haas < net>; City Council DL <[email protected]> Cc: Hess, Justin <[email protected]>; Wilke, Judie <[email protected]>; Kriske, David <[email protected]>; Yu, Edward <[email protected]>; Berkman, Ken <[email protected]>; Ramirez, Fred <[email protected]>; Lindell, Dawn <[email protected]>; Aquino, Sean <[email protected]>; Musich, Jeffrey <[email protected]>; Molinar, John <[email protected]>; Wilson, Richard <[email protected]> Subject: RE: Gary Haas Items
Gary
Thank you for your email. I have forwarded it to appropriate staff in several departments.
Sincerely
BobK
Bob Kramer
I look forward to hearing from you.
Gary Haas
Sent from Mail for Windows
From: Sarkissian, Arineh
To: .com
Cc: Lindell, Dawn; Aquino, Sean; Kramer, Bob
Subject: RE: Vote
Date: Tuesday, May 30, 2023 10:11:07 AM
Attachments: image002.png
Hello Erich,
Thank you for your email regarding the proposed rate increases. BWP takes changes to our rates for our water and electric services very seriously. The proposed increase in rates reflects the rising cost of providing water and electric services and the need to create lasting transformations that make our energy and water infrastructure more reliable and sustainable.
At BWP we are committed to low rates. As a not-for-profit community-owned utility, we set our rates to recover the cost of providing reliable water and electric services to our customers – nothing more.
Our proposed rates will be among the lowest in California for both water and electricity. For example, for a typical residential home compared to our neighbors, our proposed electric rates will be 8% less than LADWP’s, 12% below Glendale’s, and as much as 24% less than Pasadena’s.
Our proposed water rates will by far be among the lowest in California, by an average of 20% lower compared to Pasadena and Glendale, and more than 50% lower than Los Angeles and San Diego.
We work hard to keep the rates low, with efficient operations, and careful management of our resources.
At BWP we care for our community. At an award-winning 99.999% reliability, experiencing less than 5 minutes of electrical outage last year, no outage during the August 2022 heat event, and a watering schedule that gave Burbank residents an extra day of watering when most of LA County was forced to adapt to one-day watering through the heat of summer 2022, hands down and dollar-for-dollar Burbank Water and Power gives you the best value and service in Southern California.
But even with the best management of resources and proactive planning, we cannot absorb price increases of 100% to 300% due to inflation for the materials we need to deliver water and electricity to our community.
When natural
gas prices soared above 350% in December and January and residents saw their heating bills quadruple overnight, at BWP we kept our rates the same, with no change.
In the meantime, the cost to generate and
purchase energy went up the same as your gas bill.
We are also faced with the daunting challenge of dealing with extremes in weather, amplified by climate change and preparedness for major events such as an earthquake.
In addition, we must prepare for a carbon-neutral
future as required by state regulation to build sustainable and renewable sources of energy for future Burbank generations.
We will overcome these challenges, but we need to prepare now by updating our aging water and power infrastructure, securing additional carbon-neutral sources of energy, and establishing conservation programs benefiting the Burbank community today and in the future.
Regards,
BWP_Logo ARINEH SARKISSIAN
MANAGER CUSTOMER SERVICE OPERATIONS
(818) 238-3720 office | (818) 303-4304 mobile
BurbankWaterAndPower.com
Always There for You!
From: "Kramer, Bob" <[email protected]>
Date: May 27, 2023 at 4:07:31 AM PDT
To: Erich Whiteside < com>, City Council DL <[email protected]> Cc: "Hess, Justin" <[email protected]>, "Wilke, Judie" <[email protected]>, "Aquino, Sean" <[email protected]>, "Lindell, Dawn" <[email protected]> Subject: RE: Vote
Erich
Thank you for your email. I am going to send it on to appropriate staff.
Sincerely
BobK
image001.jpg Bob Kramer
Community Assistance Coordinator
275 East Olive Ave Burbank CA 91502
P: 818.238.5795| F: 818.238.5757 | [email protected]
From: Erich Whiteside com>
Sent: Friday, May 26, 2023 3:19 PM
To: City Council DL <[email protected]>
Subject: Vote
CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe.
City Council,
I do not approve the propose rate as I feel it is becoming to big of an expense for Burbank residence.
Much appreciated,
Erich
From: Sarkissian, Arineh
To: .net
Cc: Lindell, Dawn; Aquino, Sean; Kramer, Bob
Subject: RE: PROPOSED RATE INCREASE
Date: Thursday, May 25, 2023 10:43:08 AM
Attachments: image003.png
Hello Kennia,
Thank you for your email regarding the proposed rate increases. BWP takes changes to our rates for our water and electric services very seriously. The proposed increase in rates reflects the rising cost of providing water and electric services and the need to create lasting transformations that make our energy and water infrastructure more reliable and sustainable.
At BWP we are committed to low rates. As a not-for-profit community-owned utility, we set our rates to recover the cost of providing reliable water and electric services to our customers – nothing more.
Our proposed rates will be among the lowest in California for both water and electricity. For example, for a typical residential home compared to our neighbors, our proposed electric rates will be 8% less than LADWP’s, 12% below Glendale’s, and as much as 24% less than Pasadena’s.
Our proposed water rates will
by far be among the lowest in California, by an average of 20% lower compared to Pasadena and Glendale, and more than 50% lower than Los Angeles and San Diego.
We work hard to keep the rates low, with
efficient operations, and careful management of our resources.
At BWP we care for our community. At an award-winning 99.999% reliability, experiencing less than 5 minutes of electrical outage last year, no outage during the August 2022 heat event, and a watering schedule that gave Burbank residents an extra day of watering when most of LA County was forced to adapt to one- day watering through the heat of summer 2022, hands down and dollar-for-dollar Burbank Water and Power gives you the best value and service in Southern California.
But even with the best management of resources and proactive planning, we cannot absorb price increases of 100% to 300% due to inflation for the materials we need to deliver water and electricity to our community.
When natural gas prices soared above 350% in December and January and residents saw their heating bills quadruple overnight, at BWP we kept our rates the same, with no change. In the meantime, the cost to generate and purchase energy went up the same as your gas bill.
We are also faced with the daunting challenge of dealing with extremes in weather, amplified by climate change and preparedness for major events such as an earthquake.
In addition, we must prepare for a
carbon-neutral future as required by state regulation to build sustainable and renewable sources of energy for future Burbank generations.
We will overcome these challenges, but we need to prepare now by updating our aging water and power infrastructure, securing additional carbon-neutral sources of energy, and establishing conservation programs benefiting the Burbank community today and in the future.
Regards,
ARINEH SARKISSIAN
MANAGER CUSTOMER SERVICE OPERATIONS
(818) 238-3720 office | (818) 303-4304 mobile
BurbankWaterAndPower.com
Always There for You!
BWP_Logo
From: Kramer, Bob <[email protected]>
Sent: Thursday, May 25, 2023 4:19 AM
To: Kennia Escobar < net>; City Council DL <[email protected]> Cc: Hess, Justin <[email protected]>; Wilke, Judie <[email protected]>; Lindell, Dawn <[email protected]>; Aquino, Sean <[email protected]> Subject: RE: PROPOSED RATE INCREASE
Kennia
Thank you for your email. I am going to send it on to appropriate staff.
Sincerely
BobK
Bob Kramer
Community Assistance Coordinator
275 East Olive Ave Burbank CA 91502
P: 818.238.5795| F: 818.238.5757 | [email protected]
From: Kennia Escobar < .net>
Sent: Wednesday, May 24, 2023 3:45 PM
To: City Council DL <[email protected]>
Subject: PROPOSED RATE INCREASE
CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe.
Dear Burbank City Council,
I disagree with the rate increase for 2023 - 2024.
A rate increase July 1, 2023 and July 1, 2024 will only put more financial stress on Burbank residents.
Thank you,
Kennia Escobar
From: Sarkissian, Arineh
To: .com
Cc: Aquino, Sean; Lindell, Dawn; Kramer, Bob
Subject: RE: Vote No on rate increases by BW&P
Date: Monday, May 22, 2023 11:44:46 AM
Attachments: image002.png
Hello Kim,
Thank you for your email regarding the proposed rate increases. BWP takes changes to our rates for our water and electric services very seriously. The proposed increase in rates reflects the rising cost of providing water and electric services and the need to create lasting transformations that make our energy and water infrastructure more reliable and sustainable.
At BWP we are committed to low rates. As a not-for-profit community-owned utility, we set our rates to recover the cost of providing reliable water and electric services to our customers – nothing more.
Our proposed rates will be among the lowest in California for both water and electricity. For example, for a typical residential home compared to our neighbors, our proposed electric rates will be 8% less than LADWP’s, 12% below Glendale’s, and as much as 24% less than Pasadena’s.
Our proposed water rates will
by far be among the lowest in California, by an average of 20% lower compared to Pasadena and Glendale, and more than 50% lower than Los Angeles and San Diego.
We work hard to keep the rates low, with
efficient operations, and careful management of our resources.
At BWP we care for our community. At an award-winning 99.999% reliability, experiencing less than 5 minutes of electrical outage last year, no outage during the August 2022 heat event, and a watering schedule that gave Burbank residents an extra day of watering when most of LA County was forced to adapt to one- day watering through the heat of summer 2022, hands down and dollar-for-dollar Burbank Water and Power gives you the best value and service in Southern California.
But even with the best management of resources and proactive planning, we cannot absorb price increases of 100% to 300% due to inflation for the materials we need to deliver water and electricity to our community.
When natural gas prices soared above 350% in December and January and residents saw their heating bills quadruple overnight, at BWP we kept our rates the same, with no change. In the meantime, the cost to generate and purchase energy went up the same as your gas bill.
We are also faced with the daunting challenge of dealing with extremes in weather, amplified by climate change and preparedness for major events such as an earthquake.
In addition, we must prepare for a
carbon-neutral future as required by state regulation to build sustainable and renewable sources of energy for future Burbank generations.
We will overcome these challenges, but we need to prepare now by updating our aging water and power infrastructure, securing additional carbon-neutral sources of energy, and establishing conservation programs benefiting the Burbank community today and in the future.
Also, to help with the increasing costs of utility bills, BWP offers a variety of rate assistance and conservation programs and rebates which will help reduce your future bills. Please see the below link for more information.
https://www.burbankwaterandpower.com/financial-help
https://www.burbankwaterandpower.com/conservation/residential-programs-rebates
Regards,
BWP_Logo ARINEH SARKISSIAN
MANAGER CUSTOMER SERVICE OPERATIONS
(818) 238-3720 office | (818) 303-4304 mobile
BurbankWaterAndPower.com
Always There for You!
From: Kramer, Bob <[email protected]>
Sent: Sunday, May 21, 2023 4:19 AM
To: Kim < com>; City Council DL <[email protected]> Cc: Hess, Justin <[email protected]>; Wilke, Judie <[email protected]>; Lindell, Dawn <[email protected]>; Aquino, Sean <[email protected]> Subject: RE: Vote No on rate increases by BW&P
Kim
Thank you for your email. I am going to send it on to appropriate staff.
Sincerely
BobK
Bob Kramer
Community Assistance Coordinator
275 East Olive Ave Burbank CA 91502
P: 818.238.5795| F: 818.238.5757 | [email protected]
From: Kim < .com>
Sent: Saturday, May 20, 2023 10:26 AM
To: City Council DL <[email protected]>
Subject: Vote No on rate increases by BW&P
CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe.
To the Burbank City Council Members,
I live in Burbank with my 91 year old mother, I’m her full time caregiver. We live on a very limited fix income and struggle every single month to meet all the increases of the cost of living. I am asking to ask that you vote not to increase our rates for water, sewer and refuse services. As I stated before, we are barely able to pay
our rent increase and the increase for food. I do everything I can to pinch pennies, but we live month to month with the fear that we will not have enough money to pay our bills. These increases will impact us
significantly, meaning that we will be in danger of not being able to pay our monthly expenses.
Please do not vote for these increases, please consider that people in this city are struggling financially, especially elderly people who are on limited
incomes. Thank you for your understanding in this matter and I hope you put people first.
Sincerely,
Kim Bonaccorso