Utility Consolidation
Water ● Sewer ● Natural Gas
Consolidation Proposal
26/14/2022
If approved by voters, this proposal would:
• Establish a single City Charter article
governing water, sewer and gas
• Combine the gas portions of Article XV with
Article XIV of the City Charter, governing all
Long Beach utilities
• Provide oversight by a Board of Long Beach
Utilities (currently the Board of Water
Commissioners)
Customer Benefits
3 • Improved customer service
• Reduced impacts to streets and
neighborhoods with better coordination
of utility pipeline street repairs
• Increased efficiency and reduced costs
by consolidating duplicative operations
taking advantage of economies of scale
• Increased transparency and public input
in utility budgets and rate setting
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Research
4 • Long Beach is the only large
California city that operates its
multiple utilities separately
• Other cities achieve efficiencies
and cost savings through utilities
being within one department
• A 2020 independent feasibility
study concluded a Long Beach
utility consolidation would
greatly benefit both the
customers and the utilities
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Legislative History
5 • May 12, 2022 – Water
Commission unanimously
requested the City Council
consider referring the proposal to
the City Charter Amendment
Committee
• May 17, 2022 – City Council
voted to refer the proposal to the
City Charter Amendment
Committee
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Frequently Asked Questions
6 What is driving this consolidation effort?
• Efforts to continuously improve customer service to ratepayers is driving this consolidation effort.
• The City Charter currently allows water and sewer to be managed together, and efficiencies on those utilities have taken hold; however, because the City Charter separates out gas, gas service collaborations with water and sewer have been left behind, putting Long Beach ratepayers at a disadvantage.
• The proposed consolidation is intended to provide all three public utilities with greater operational flexibility to improve customer service, operational efficiencies, and achieve additional cost savings. 6/14/2022
Frequently Asked Questions
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Pipeline
installation
Customer Service
Call Welding Conservation Engineering Call Center Leak Detection Industry
Organizations SCADA Systems Inspection
Services Accounting Executive
Administration GIS Equipment
Purchases
Electrical Personnel Construction
Crews 24/7 Dispatch Quality Control Payroll Purchasing
Emergency
Response
24/7 Systems
Control Meter Installs Utility Rate
Setting Safety Pipeline Repair Commodity
Procurement
Meter Testing Regulatory
Compliance Security Customer
Turn-Ons
Meter
Reading/AMI
Pipeline
Maintenance Training
Marketing Customer Turn-
Offs Utility Billing Budgeting Temporary Paving Legislative Affairs Equipment Maintenance
Regulatory Affairs Accounts Payable Permanent Paving Cathodic Protection Warehouse Planning Fleet Services
What is driving this consolidation effort?
Frequently Asked Questions
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What can customers expect to see?
• Continued commitment to maintain low and affordable utility rates • Coordinated street work to minimize impacts to local streets • A single point of contact for customer service to address customers' Long Beach public utility questions
• Quality street paving at all Long Beach public utility pipeline repair locations
Frequently Asked Questions
9 Is this proposal related in any way to the recent Measure M action?
• No. This proposed consolidation is entirely unrelated to the recent Measure M action
• All current water customers have, or will very soon, receive significant Measure M-related credits on their water bills, and water rates no longer reflect any Measure M collection
• The current ability, as well as restrictions, permitted under Measure M to transfer from the Gas Fund would continue
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Frequently Asked Questions
10 Will the accounting of revenues change with a consolidation? • No, the Water, Sewer, and Gas funds will continue to be separately accounted for as they are today, and as legally required. There will be no co-mingling of funds.
• The current ability, as well as restrictions, to transfer from the Gas Fund would continue
• No adverse financial impacts to the General Fund are expected from this proposal
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Frequently Asked Questions
11 How will cost savings be used?
• The benefits realized by cost savings will accrue to the customers • The Board of Long Beach Utilities, with public input, will incorporates those savings into budget and rate setting priorities, including:
o Setting low rates to ensure water affordability for all income levels of rate payers
o Reinvestment into water quality improvements and pipeline infrastructure
o Ensuring reliability, sustainability, and resiliency in water supply availability
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Frequently Asked Questions
12 How will a consolidated utility department be managed? • Currently, the City Manager selects the Director who manages the gas utility. The Board of Water Commissioners selects the General Manager of the water/sewer utilities.
• If all utilities were consolidated, it is desirable to ensure a continued strong relationship and communication with the City Manager. • With the new consolidated utility department, the new General Manager would be jointly selected by the Board of Long Beach Utilities (currently the Board of Water Commissioners) and the City Manager. Thereafter, the General Manager will report solely to the Board.
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Frequently Asked Questions
13 Labor considerations
• All meet and confer discussions with the impacted labor groups have successfully been completed.
• No current employee would lose their job due to the consolidation. Personnel costs savings would be achieved over time through streamlining of positions through natural attrition opportunities.
• The Department of Energy Resources would continue as a department under the City Manager, including the existing oil operations and the energy-from- waste power plant (SERRF)
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Frequently Asked Questions
14 Has such a consolidation ever successfully occurred before? • Yes, in the 1980’s, the voters of Long Beach approved a similar City Charter amendment to consolidate the sewer utility within the Water Department
• This consolidation occurred seamlessly for the customer, resulting in nearly forty years now of shared resources, staffing, and equipment, lowered operational costs, and much greater efficiencies 6/14/2022
Frequently Asked Questions
15 What is the timeline for implementation?
• If approved by voters, the implementation process would begin immediately with changes to the organization and to the operations strategically developed over the next few months
• Inherent differences in the operations of the utilities would be respected and left intact
• Overlapping operations and services would be targeted to take advantage of efficiencies, cost savings, and improvements in the delivery of services to the customer
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Charter Amendment Timeline
16 Action Deadlines (2022)
City Council refers item to Charter Amendment Committee May 23 Public notice of first Charter Amendment Committee meeting May 24 First Public Hearing June 14
Public notice of second Charter Amendment Committee meeting June 28 Second Public Hearing July 19
City Council consideration of Charter Amendments for Nov 2022 ballot August 9 Election Date November 8
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Working Together
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