City Council Memorandum
TO: HONORABLE MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL DATE: NOVEMBER 19, 2024 FROM: PUBLIC UTILITIES DEPARTMENT WARD(S): ALL
SUBJECT: MUTUAL AID AGREEMENT WITH SAN MANUEL UTILITY AUTHORITY ISSUE:
That the City Council approve the Mutual Aid Agreement with San Manuel Utility Authority RECOMMENDATION:
That the City Council:
Approve the Mutual Aid Agreement with San Manuel Utility Authority; Designate the Public Utilities Assistant General Manager/Energy Delivery, as the primary Agreement Administrators for the Mutual Aid Agreement with San Mauel Utility Authority; and, Authorize the City Manager, or designee, to execute the contract document for the Mutual Aid Agreement with San Manuel Utility Authority.
BOARD RECOMMENDATION:
On October 28, 2024, the Riverside Board of Public Utilities approved unanimously, with Board Members Polichetti and Montgomery absent, the recommendation that the City Council approve the mutual aid agreement with San Manuel Utility Authority.
BACKGROUND:
The San Manuel Utility Authority (SMUA) approached Riverside Public Utilities (RPU) to request mutual aid during a crisis. The main objective of this agreement is to facilitate short-term deployment of support before, during, and after an incident or emergency. A signed agreement does not obligate the provision or receipt of aid but rather provides the understanding of how parties will assist, receive reimbursement for assistance, and assign liability.
DISCUSSION:
SMUA wants to leverage RPU’s experience and proximity in times of need. This collaboration can help streamline operations, reduce downtime, and ensure more consistent service delivery.
RPU and SMUA desire to enter into an aid agreement, to provide direct assistance, given the proximity of our systems. An agreement between SMUA and RPU would be advantageous in providing faster emergency assistance by creating direct access to RPU resources in case of a service disruption or emergency that impacts SMUA to provide electric service to its customers.
STRATEGIC PLAN ALIGNMENT:
This item contributes to Strategic Priority No. 6 Infrastructure, Mobility and Connectivity and Goal 6.2 – Maintain, protect, and improve assets and infrastructure within the City’s built environment to ensure and enhance reliability, resiliency, sustainability, and facilitate connectivity.
This item aligns with each of the five Cross-Cutting Threads as follows:
Community Trust – RPU is committed to the highest quality water and electric services at the lowest possible rates to benefit the community. RPU is working with agencies, organizations, and jurisdictions to enhance the reliability and resiliency of the overall electric system, demonstrating RPU’s commitment to its customers and building community trust.
Equity – RPU endeavors to provide safe and reliable electric service to its customers. Improving RPU’s resiliency against natural and manmade incidents improves the overall safety and reliability of the electric system, providing an equitable benefit to all customers Fiscal Responsibility – Mutual aid agreements offer the safety net of accessing additional resources other agencies provide when needs overwhelm existing RPU resources. In addition, mutual aid can provide a financial hedge against competing with other entities for limited resources during a significant emergency or regional disaster. Riverside is a prudent steward of public funds and ensures responsible management of the City’s financial resources while providing quality public service Innovation – Riverside is inventive and timely in meeting the community’s and the environment’s changing needs and prepares for the unexpected through collaborative partnerships and adaptive processes.
Sustainability & Resiliency – Having mutual aid agreements in place helps improve RPU’s resiliency and ability to respond and restore electric service to its customers after an emergency or natural disaster.
FISCAL IMPACT:
There is no fiscal impact to entering into the Mutual Aid Agreement with San Manuel Utility Authority. If RPU were to respond to a request for mutual aid under any section of this agreement, personnel, equipment, and material and supply costs would be reimbursed by the San Manuel Utility Authority under the terms of the mutual aid agreement.
Prepared by: David A. Garcia, Utilities General Manager Certified as to
availability of funds: Kristie Thomas, Finance Director/Assistant Chief Financial Officer Approved by: Rafael Guzman, Assistant City Manager
Approved as to form: Jack Liu, Interim City Attorney
Attachment: Mutual Aid Agreement
Mutual Aid Agreement SMUA ● Page 2