EWEB Board of Commissioners — December 5, 2023

0:07 the December 5 agenda check quickly facility is safety awareness and meeting Logistics briefing thank you for attending tonight's board meeting e management and subject Cent experts are present in the room and virtually the meeting is being live streamed and recorded please speak loudly and clearly so everyone can hear you public testimony is welcome sign up forms are available at the back of the room visitor access is limited to meeting room and restrooms through the story on the first floor just exit through and they're they're right across the hallway in the event of an emergency

0:53 such as a fire security incident follow all instructions given by the staff if evacuation is required please calmly proceed to their safe exit as identified and directed by staff evacuate away from the building to the farthest points in the parking lots to allow clear and immediate access from those responders now I'll do a quick agenda check any items okay all right then we'll move on to items from board M manager and also since he's online John do you have anything are you speaking to me I'm sorry I've had a little trouble hearing you yeah uh no the only thing I'd like to do is point out that uh I know our

1:39 workers the both in and outside the facilities work hard and everything but especially given the weather um that we've had this week and everybody out in the field I just want to acknowledge the tough job they've done and the great job they've done so uh hats off to every one of them the all the line Crews and the water workers and everybody else with it probably hasn't been easy so thank you um I attended the Kenzie wated Council this last month uh things are chling right along with some of the havat restoration that's going up up River one of the it's one of the council's biggest budgets they've ever had uh reing out more staff uh

2:26 which is a positive thing for our water shed and our clean drinking water which they're a valuable partner of ours with so forward to meeting with them possibly week I'm still nothing for me right well I will um quickly just say I had the pleasure of heing full wastewater treatment plant I also participated in the EB run to stay warm which seemed like a really positive event and there were same record numbers so that's a a big benefit for our low-income customers that really benefited from that event so I appreciate all those who were involved

3:12 in that and put that together thank you to Adam uh Frank and Jeremy who all helped with the rotary presentation that I did on Tuesday of last week appreciate the support putting the doer and being there to answer the really tough questions so thanks uh and then I just wanted to note a couple of dates that are coming up the celebration of business was noted as being January 30th I I guess the there hasn't been an announcement yet but they was mentioned at a recent chamber event so I hope that we if that is actually happening and they get the registration put up that we are be a part of that and then um as part of my uh role

3:57 representing e web through elk Cog the elog appreciation dinner is going to be held March 8th at the cottage Gro arm you all can save the date and yeah it for me okay nothing for me okay all right Frank yeah president Carlson Commissioners good evening U just a couple things we uh president Carlson we will follow up on the financial U returns for the rent to State warm that's something that will'll we do annually and that'll be included in in uh the next general manager report for for next month I did want to acknowledge one thing that was um reported to the

4:42 board and that was um two awards that our Communications Department received uh from the American public Power Association these were national awards for two videos that they produced one of them around the the history and the decision of associated with the leeberg project um and the other one was a video which tracks a person throughout the day and where their dollar goes when they're uh using energy and U if you haven't seen those i' provided the links to Commissioners but um both very well done uh well thought out and I wanted to acknowledge their work on that and and also separate

5:28 subject the the presentation that President Carlson did at the UT rotary I I I thought that was really well done but um um representing you know a number of different topics but talking about leeberg as well as energy and pricing and some other things and I just thought that went really well and you did a great job thank you thank you to staff that really well next up then we will move on to correspondence as Commissioners there were really three informational items in your correspondence uh um the first one

6:14 being really just um um a preparatory item for next month uh Commissioners um as you all know because your experienced Commissioners go through a process of creating Liaisons where appropriate um and this is a reminder of of who's in what role for planning for next month um the second item um was a followup um I believe from uh commissioner barovsky around local Banking and uh our investments in local Banking and the risks that uh local banking has relative to uh some of the larger Banks and pressures from interest rates and and other things making local Investments um it highlights some of the restrictions that we are under as well as some of the opportunities that we've taken advantage

7:00 of over the last few years and then the final one um is also an annual event um where we start preparing for our independent uh Financial audit um that's important to Commissioners because in that role the Auditors really report back to the Commissioners as well as Management on the the reliability and the confidence behind our financial statements uh which is important when we go out for financing and bonding and some of these other things and and that process starts in the late fall and eventually culminates when you get a report either in April or May depending on on the timing typically April I

7:45 believe and so those were all informational items we do have um subject matter experts in the room if you have questions on those um but really no specific uh feedback requested from Commissioners at this time but uh those were provided for information so you have any questions we' be happy to answer those I just like to say thank you for the memo at the local banking I appreciate that thank you deorah the only comment that I have is on the ladies on position I wanted to thr out there that current currently the vice chair vice president whatever that complete title is um for

8:32 elog and uh presumably we'll step into the the next Ro of January so love to stay in that position if you like somebody else they will actually be the president so that's fine too but up to you anyway uh wanted to say that your comments on L on positions or the other items on correspondence okay all right then we will move on to public input so like I said we are changing up the uh the way this process works a small amount and that the information that I would typically read is now um has been provided to potential speakers

9:18 or is up on the screen for you to see and I'm not going to read it so the part that I will read however is this welcome to the public input session before this meeting this portion of the agenda is dedicated to providing meeting members an opportunity to address the board about any topic or issue we respectfully request all speakers to adhere to the public inputs instructions and code of contact that are provided during this sign in sign up and speak up process sign up to speak process there we go um at this time we have two two people uh signed up to provide testimony uh one call caller and one in person is that same okay and we had uh I think six

10:06 written testimonies in advance of the meeting that were providing Commissioners meeting when your name is you have three minutes to provide your comments and now I will gabble in the public session and I will go to the telephone first and Mark Rabinowitz Mark Rabinowitz are you on the line hello uh can you hear me yes we can thank you okay um I wanted to call the board's attention to the recent Financial meltdown of the new scale smaller nuclear reactor company as you may know they were

10:52 planning to build new nukes at the Idaho National engineering lab along with utilities and Utah but the finances behind the project suffered a loss of coolant I mean loss of finances accident and it has been cancelled it's not the end of the smaller reactor concept but it is a significant setback while cost overruns are a concern with reactors their synthesis of ultrahazardous Isotopes incompatible with life that will remain dangerous for longer than civilization has existed is the primary problem uh you're considering utility legislative priorities this evening it's worth remembering that eweb was the only

11:38 utility in Oregon to speak in favor of resending the 1980 citizens initiative to prohibit new nukes unless a national nuclear dump is someday built eweb isn't the only pronuclear utility in the state but it was the only one to submit testimony in a bill last winter to overturn existing law in the current issue of the nation magazine there's an article titled the green New Deal is the opiate of the masses and it makes the obvious yet unpalatable point that solar panels electric cars and other techn fixes cannot sustain the unsustainable instead of hoping for

12:24 green growth we need to recognize that Earth is a sphere and not getting bigger and looming on the horizon Is Not Mere natural limits but political instability one would be foolish to make predictions about the consequences of the war in Gaza but it's obvious this could disrupt Global energy shipments perhaps more noticeably than in 1973 when only a few percent of global oil trade was disrupted so we need to move Beyond Collective denial and bargaining like pretending that new nukes is going to keep growth powered we need radical honesty but at this late date it will

13:09 probably be forced by circumstance not preemptively chosen thanks for considering thank you all right uh next up in the room we have Stacy my name is Stacy cous I'm a resident of Ward 8 I'm also a senior vice president at Summit Bank which is a commercial customer in Ward one and in reviewing this month's agenda we noticed that the local investment and banking relationships were being discussed tonight and I wanted to take this time to say thank you to eweb and the Commissioners for supporting local

13:54 Banking and by depositing with Summit Bank we wanted to not only express our sincere thank you but also wanted to share with you that now more than ever deposit dollars are so vital to Community Banks like Summit Bank as we continue to support the local economy this year $3 trillion has been siphoned off community bank balance sheets fleeing to National Banks government treasuries and large wealth management firms as deposit dollars continue to be funneled way Community Banks in particular are impacted with the amount of dollars we have on deposit and available to lend out to small businesses in our area Summit Bank is the only Bank

14:41 headquartered right here in Eugene and as a Eugene based Bank we were able to deploy e web's $3 million that they have on deposit with us that made us be able to make a significant impact in our local economy our average small small business loans range between $ 50,000 and $100,000 which means with your help we were able to lend those dollars back into this Community Helping more than 30 Eugene businesses our commitment to Eugene is demonstrated every day with help from our depositors and it is why it is so important for us to thank you for depositing with us we would appreciate any consideration for additional monies that eweb could direct to Summit Bank

15:27 keeping those dollars in this community we are local we employ 120 Eugene area residents many of which who are also eweb customers we are safe with FDIC Insurance available up to aund million through our Cedars and IC accounts and most importantly we are committed to continuing our support of our local small businesses so on behalf of Summit Bank and our employees we just wanted to say thank you that concludes our public testimony and now we've have time from Commissioners

16:13 and thank you both to both of the people who have testified this evening uh I will say that we have spoken about uh public dollars for eweb and have not had a local bank come and talk to us so I really appreciate you coming out and letting know that is it makes an impact in the community I think we have talked about that before but it's wonderful to hear it firsthand and and have real numbers for what the impact is thank you for doing that I was just G the thumbs up St all right thank you thank you again okay so next up we will move on to the

16:58 the approval of consent calendar a and I'm going to ask that we separate item two from the rest of the item so have a motion on move to approve consent calendar a minus two second all right so moved by commissioner schurg seconded by CR yes commer Brown I pulled item two so we're voting on item one and three okay my paperwork didn't make it so I'm kind of blind there so that's the one I asked okay thank you yeah I was trying to help out okay now you did you

17:44 did fine thank you okay wonderful okay so um any any comments on consent calendar a items one and three Carlson did we get a second yes okay yes thank you okay uh seeing none then all those in favor raise your hand and say I I any opposed I commissioner Brown was that an i it's a little delayed so it wasn't wasn't clear which one you were on okay all right okay moving on then um to item uh

18:29 uh consent calendar a item number two uh can I get a motion for that one can I can I speak to that yes I'll let you speak and then we'll we'll have a motion okay I I just wanted for the abstain from voting I do work for LR braam State world and I think for I mean I don't see a conflict but just for Optics I think it' be best if I not vote on this or abstain from voting okay commissioner Brown is abstaining from voting this particular item okay duly noted for the record okay can I have a

19:23 motion great commissioner McCrae moves and seconded by schlosberg hey all those in favor say I okay and round OB saats passes okay moving on to consent calendar fee are there any items that like to pull okay all right can I have a motion for consent calendar B move consent calendar B I have second second all right motion moved by commissioner barowski seconded by McCrae um any discussion on okay uh saying none then we will go to vote all those in favor say

20:09 I I okay all right motion passes unanimously thank you okay next proposed budgets and prices we welcome deah har Aaron Falmer and El

21:03 proceed when you're ready thank you um good evening president Carlson and Commissioners for the record I'm Deborah Hart the CFO and with me at the table are Aon Balmer the inter room finance manager and Alicia bores our budget and rates supervisor our rates manager Adam R and Senior analysts Janice Le and Daniel Davidson are here as well uh should you have any questions for for them so on the screen behind me is is an overview of the stages of our financial planning calendar and we're here in December at the final stage of the process last month we reviewed the proposed budget some prices and sof board Direction on the detailed draft

21:48 budget um along with the 2024 price proposals each utility following the presentation this evening there is a public public hearing scheduled and then we'll be seeking board action on the 2024 budgets and price proposals so board policy does establish each utility will have its own operations in maintenance and capital budget each budget is the maximum level of expenditure authorized by the board during this process on the slide is a grid that represents uh these four budget areas figures noted on the screen correspond

22:34 to the line items in attachment one of the 2024 proposed budget document these are the same budgeted figures that we showed you last month they have not changed uh there are updates to attachment four and five to refine our urine projections on reserves and uh and with that I'm going to to Aaron to talk about breaks thank you Deborah good evening Commissioners so looking to the water utility as it positions for flexibility building resilient foundational pieces enabling ongoing source to tap Effectiveness is vital the needs exist

23:19 to support Capital Investments renewing aging infrastructure plan and position for the will treatment plan modernize our meters and our Legacy Information Systems as well as address inflationary pressures in ongoing operations meet these challenges the proposed pricing changes by customer class are shown on the slide they are the same as was presented in November similarly for the electric utility positioning for flexibility is key to delivering a reliable and resilient future strategic and operational guidance incorporated into 2024 planning includes sustaining and

24:04 improving existing operations inclusive of purchase power costs largely from the Bonville power Administration refunding leeber decommissioning efforts renewing aging infrastructure including substations and Carmen Smith understanding and responding to grid modernization efforts continued monitoring ation of our meters and replacement of Legacy information systems and addressing inflationary pressures in ongoing operations there's a lot in there so to accomplish this pricing pricing changes are needed and proposed prices by customer class are shown on the slide again same price proposal as was

24:49 presented in November as we look to to affordability we remain in the wake of inflation headlining economic news and the natural tension between our Port values is clearly felt as we seek to uphold affordability while maintaining safe reliable operations and Steward of pledge to the environment and our community the graph on the left of the slide assesses residential customer affordability as a measure of median household income average annual Water and Electric costs are shown for Eugene and compareed to cities in the Northwest ber web's average residential customer combined electric and water

25:34 bills equate to 3 and a half% median household income this measure has shown improvement over many years indicating increasing affordability to for customers continue to look for opportunities to control costs and operate efficiently given the economic pressures facing our community and for 2024 Customer Care Program funding has increased and will continue to be evaluated to support customer needs graphs on the right present average residential water and electric bill amounts among comparator utilities these graphs reflect current pricing as of today fully anticipate other utilities

26:21 will raise rates in the near term and have seen headlines indicating as much as similar pressures to utility operation exist across the region for an average single family residents proposed rate increases translate to an estimated $3 increase on the water bill and an $111 increase on the electric bill terms of communicating the change yearr round effort to inform customers about the budget and rate setting process goal is to help customers understand how price changes

27:06 will affect their bill we seek to raise awareness about how rates are being used to provide safe and reliable Services maintain utility infrastructure and invest in system improvements to make Services better award-winning Communications team manages a myriad of communication channels as shown on the slide also prepared a detailed rates communication and information package it was provided to both staff and Commissioners and will be updated following final approval of the budget with that uh we are prepared uh for the final public hearing on 2024 budgets and prices and happy to answer any questions that you may have and so I

27:52 pass it back to you president Carlson thank you do we have anybody you signed up okay I will open the public hearing I will note that we are about 40 minutes ahead of time on time that was noted in the agenda um we didn't have any other indication signing up though so it sounds like we'll keep an eye out and if somebody else comes we'll welcome up um at 6:40 but guys I'll close the public hearing and we will move on with the rest of the comment period And if there's if there is somebody that shows up at 640 I'll just keep an eye on

28:44 itent Carlson I I would know that if the board wants to have discussion and delay the actual vote until past 640 that would I think that's what you're saying um so that if there is any public input it would be before the board takes action okay but at this point we can move on to any questions or comments from Commissioners unless you have other information that you want to share commissioner mcra yeah just a quick comment as always you provide is super helpful and the couple of um opportunities to engage in this content over the last couple months is really

29:30 helpful for me so thank you as always and um I would endorse the idea that we wait till vote till 640 or after another head nods from that plan okay all right so the plan then is to uh move to item 11 I just had some discussion as well oh you have discussion okay yes um yeah thank you for all the information over the past few months uh it's a complex issue that we're dealing with uh as was alluded there's a lot of pressures that are being put on us all at once what with increased prices from bonnaville refunding leeberg uh some of all aging

30:18 infrastructure that it's all come to it's all kind of coming due at once um anytime that that there's a rate increase uh I I myself and I I know all the rest of our commissioners take it very seriously we know how how that our utility bills impact our customers and so any time that we have to raise rates just know that we we do it with a with a heavy heart we know that it impacts that you know it's disproportional to some of our lower income customers um but yet we still have to keep moving forward and making sure that we have the the funds we need to to make operation move on so um you

31:07 know it's average out to a $14 a month increase for for the Medan household and you know some people that doesn't seem like a lot but to other people it can be uh significant amount so just know that we have I myself and I know that my the other Commissioners feel it pretty much the same way that when we have to raise rates like this we do it with looking at all options and trying to make sure that our staff has sharpened their pencils in every way they can to try and make it as uh least impactful as

31:53 possible um Commissioners I just wanted to make a note um to thank you for for your input along the way first of all but also specifically I wanted to acknowledge um probably as one maybe one of the most proud moments I've had of working with a board was when you decided that you had this big leeberg decision that you weren't going to push the financing decisions off to a future board that you decided that this was something that you made a decision you set a course now all the courses were expensive granted um but you owned the decision and you directed staff to start that process under your tenure and and I

32:40 just wanted to thank you for that um because it is so easy in today's society to make a decision that impacts somebody else indirectly or directly and push off the difficult decision to somebody else and so I I just wanted to acknowledge you for that and and thank you for that I think that takes a lot of courage to do that um and it it really makes me proud to work for you and represent you um under those kinds of circumstances and so so thank you very much for that um I also just wanted to point out that um we do have lots of tensions and pressures when it comes to affordability uh we value that in in the

33:25 context of all of our values and we know Commissioners do as well um it is important to note that year over-year next year's budget is actually lower than this year's budget um the reason that the rates are going up is that it's prudent financially to prepare and position the organization for some of these large upcoming Investments and we need to have and be in a good financial position to be able to to leverage those Necessities when they they come our Direction and so so um some of that is we do have really strong budgetary controls and and we know that the Commissioners expect us to adhere to those uh but we also want to position the utility and the organization going

34:10 forward so um I wanted to thank staff for really highlighting and daylighting that but also thank Commissioners for your input along the way especially related to the difficult decision uh around bber so thank you for that John Brown do you have anything yeah I do I'm I'm sorry I'm not able to use the raise hand function here so I've been waving but anyhow um yeah I just want a question of staff I know several months ago when we went over this you had an eight about an 8% uh rate increase and then uh tell me if I'm wrong but wasn't it 5.7 and now it's 6.3 is that is that correct does that number come out uh I mean when we

34:56 started this process it was eight and then it it went down to I think 5'7 now it's up to 63 the when we presented in July we were looking at a 7 3/4% increase for the electric utility uh overall Revenue requirement and we um uh sharpened those pencils and we um came back with 5.7% overall Revenue requirement the 6.3 that you're citing is the uh specific rate for residential customers so then we take that and we uh plug it into our cost of service analysis framework and so that is the rate that would that is the

35:41 revenue requirement we would need from that particular customer CL okay so I well I'm sorry because that kind of confused me because it when you say electric rates are 8% and then 5.7 and now 6.3 that kind of I'm wondering why we're why we're deviating so much I guess it's a refinement process but um thank you you you just reaffirmed that I wasn't making stuff up in my head so thank you okay Char yeah commissioner Brown um I think through the course of when we start to look at Capital in July we do some some forecasting that's what came out at roughly seven and three4 we are still at 5.7 um from an overall Revenue

36:26 requirement perspective so that that has not changed the the 6.3 is the portion of that that was allocated to residential so um you did see a a seven and 3/4 drop to 5.7 overall some of that is just when we start to look at the details and when we go back to various divisions and departments and try to balance the needs that we have versus the the know what we know is important to you Commissioners around aord ability uh that uh in this case was dropped um as we went through that process but we are still at 5.7 from an overall Revenue requirement the the 6.3 is just the portion of that that was allocated to

37:24 you then we will uh move on to item number 11 and we will pull this back up so we can do the hearing and uh do the vote after we have the public hearing president Carlson can I just make well you can keep jumping up I was U just gonna know you did receive one public feedback that if water goes up 6% or water goes up 8% and electric goes up 6% that means it's going up 14% that's actually not how percentages work they're of different content and so um it would actually because of the weight of it it be more geared toward the electric side because of the size of that budget so just it's not going up 133% or 14% it's not an additive um kind

38:12 of math in that case I I just GNA point that out so and we'll respond accordingly to that six or eight% on $42 versus 100 right yeah welcome Jason good evening uh glad I got here on time um for the record I'm Jason huser I'm the public affairs public policy and government Affairs director at eweb uh I'll be here this evening to uh unveil for you our 2024 legislative agenda you'll recall that I was here in September uh and I describ the upcoming legislative session to be a classic short session that is H very narrow and

38:59 short in scope um that doesn't stop uh various interest groups from trying to pass bills though and as it happens um ewe will actually be one of those uh entities uh in a little bit of a surprise um there's one item that I'll start with that we didn't talk about in September although it's not totally unknown to you you'll probably recognize this from our 2023 legislative agenda so it is a repeat item um the first uh Topic in our legislative agenda is a legislative remedy for hydro hydroelectric water rights conversions and some of the ambiguity that's in the law as a result of a court case so water rights in Oregon have to be put to beneficial use if they're not for an

39:44 extended period of time the water right holder can face risk of conversion and forfeiture of that water right A Time tested method for a hydro hydroelectric facility that wasn't in operation for some period of time for example a per directive ordering them not to generate a way to toll the statute would be a temporary lease for to use the water for another beneficial use there was a Supreme Court case in 2021 around Christmas of 2021 so people didn't quite take note of it for a couple of months um but that court case upended the status quo and it essentially um took the leasing tool off the table and create some ambiguity in

40:29 the law um it did include a footnote a very extended footnote that described a administrative alternative that a hydro El electric facility and water rights holder could pursue to preserve their water right and to that end we have actually EB has actually filed paperwork with the Oregon water resources department to Avail ourselves to that administrative option for leberg uh we have every reason to believe believe that administrative alternative will be successful however in the wake of this court case in the ambiguity There's an opportunity for the legislature to revisit the law and provide the clarity that I think would all would cause all of us to sleep a lot better at night and so to that end uh we have requested

41:15 legislation be drafted um certainly it's incumbent upon your approval of the legislative agenda we could certainly withdraw that request from the legislature that sponsored it for us but because of the filing deadline uh we did have to get some paperwork filed um for this coming session uh our our legisla remedy is uh has two approaches one is a very straightforward one that would create an exemption to uh water rights forfeiture for any Hydro electric facility that has been ordered by firk not to generate for a period of time that's the straightforward simple approach Plan B would be that the legislature explicitly ctif the administrative alternative that was described by the Oregon Supreme Court so

42:01 that's um that's our top priority for the session and I consider this a two for one we expect that the length and time for decision to be made on this administrative alternative would allow us to pursue the same legislative remedy in the 2025 session if we were unsuccessful and because this is a short session it is a high degree of difficulty to get a bill passed in a in a very compress time period moving along to the next topic Regional transmission organizations we did talk about this in September I believe I probably had it in the monitor category we expected informational hearings and discussion about rtos um which again represent an overall trend away from bilateral Market

42:48 transactions and Market functions towards this more centralized uh multilateral um organized approach to to markets and transmission planning uh we thought there would just be hearings but there's going to be a bill and just so two elements of that bill that are concerning as far as what we know is going to be in the bill number one the bill would dictate criteria that eweb would be required to consider and demonstrate before joining an RTO uh we don't think that's appropriate um we feel that uh any determination on that criteria is best handled by this eweb elected board in consultation with EB staff it's not necessary to have a legislative mandate uh or directive uh

43:33 secondly this bill would require EB to report to the legislature on efforts to join an RTO or organized markets uh first off it's an unusual um step to include eweb in the scope of who would report we are not a balancing Authority in the Pacific Northwest we do not have um sub substantive longdistance electric transmission uh it's very unusual I don't know what exactly we would report we're in the balancing authority of the bond build power Administration they're a federal entity the state cannot compel them to do anything so the request is odd in that regard and and even if there were some way for us to join an an RTO

44:18 again we're not sure what that would mean but um I think uh it's it's unnecessary to report this formally we're happy I think to send any EB subject matter expert from the top of the organization on down to me to talk to the legislature we think it's great that they're engaged on this topic but really the formulation of organized markets or an RTO these transcend the political boundaries of the state of Oregon these are multi-state things again the Bonville power Administration cannot be compelled to do anything and they' control probably 2third of the regional electric trans transmission so um we think it's great that the legislature is engaged we hope they keep holding informational hearings um but

45:03 the legislation is not necessary at this time in our view that's our recommendation and finally one that really is just a monitor uh there will be more informational hearings to discuss uh the large electric growth in Oregon that's resulting from the sighning at data centers and crypt miners in Oregon I'm very confident that will be information only um the one thing that could happen is the legislature might make a recommendation to form a workg group to uh come up with recommendations to the 2025 legislative uh session and if so I'm sure you would be happy to volunteer our services uh to serve on kind Advisory Group that would form so that's the agenda um and I'm happy to take any

45:54 questions I have a question about the RTO um topic who is behind that bill who I mean not specifically the legislator but like what what group yeah behind that bill great great question commissioner um there is a there's at least two legislators I I think I could say have put themselves on the record uh one is Senator Kathleen Taylor from Portland uh as well as representative Mark Gamba from wuke U next to Portland uh and I would say uh there is a um a group of interests they care very deeply about climate change they feel we're running out of time that Oregon is going to be hard pressed even just to meet our own Regional adopted greenhouse gas

46:39 reduction goals and they believe that organized markets and regionalization are intrinsically important to the success of deep deep carbonization in the region and and that's probably true and so I think the the motivations come from a really good place and I think we understand that and and we agree with the overall sentiment it's just that I don't think there's anything Oregon can can unilaterally do to help it may inadvertently even be a little bit of a distraction if individual states um start to insert themselves into these Regional discussions but but I think that's the motivation um for for groups to bring this forward and I think they can accomplish their goals without uh legislation like this there's there's a

47:24 big role I think for I cheerleading sounds a little dismissive I I I I don't know exactly the adjective to use but I there's definitely a role for the state legislature to Advocate within the region um even through the Western Governor Association there I believe there is a western state legislator Association or some kind of body um of that sort and and those are um organizations that can help um be Advocates uh for these Regional Solutions all right any utilities that are publicly supporting this uh you know that's that's a good question I I I might lean on Frank a little bit I'll take a stab at it um I think most utilities acknowledge we can't re reach

48:09 the regional goals for decarbonization reliability and affordability something's going to give unless we come up with better tools than the toolkit we have today and I think most people agree um that the this future of organized Regional um system it makes sense there's a strong value proposition but I think also people would acknowledge if we rush into it headlong there are things we could get wrong and whether it's you know the memories of the western power crisis uh 20 years ago or just the idea that um fairness matters too you everyone's going to be affected differently by these these regionalized approaches and markets um different winners and losers so to speak um even

48:54 if Society at large and the environment overall benefited there's a lot of fairness issues to to work through and it it takes the time that it takes to do that there's a lot of signs that show we're making progress we have a Western Regional ad adequacy program that's now in place um the energy Western Energy imbalance Market's in place and a successor uh day Ahad Market is already on the table for consideration so there's a a variety of examples to show we are making steady progress everyone would love to get get there sooner but uh we're making steady progress but it's also going to take the time it takes to get it

49:39 right yeah just a quick question can you remind us who's uh introducing the legislation on the hydro rights that yes uh local Eugene uh representative Paul HBY has filed that uh that legislation topic are the items that we're opposed to kind of uh essential parts of that idea or concept or if they or could they be removed and then we might be supportive of it uh that's a good question I I would say the criteria part I I do think that's one that we materially would want to object to I think it's really taking um away the Judgment of this board um

50:26 and and I don't think that's the right call I think um UAB is best uh situated to make that call to the extent where we actually have standing again you that we're not a balancing Authority but um I would answer that um that's something that that criteria is definitely best determined by this C web board and not uh Slater yeah president Carlson I I would the hard thing for our for us to understand is jurisdictional issues here and the fact that we don't see any value to what's being proposed other than you could say that from an IOU perspective they are actually regulated by state of Oregon they have a different regulator than than we do most utilities I know of are

51:12 ultimately in favor of an organized market and also an RTO for different reasons those are different things by the way when we talk about Market a regional transmission organization is the transmission portion a market is actually how how we the mechanism for which we buy and sell electricity um we are not you know what a balancing Authority is regul is is required by regulation to balance the inflows and the outflows within its assigned area we we are not a balancing Authority we operate under bonab Bill along with a lot of other utilities so the applicability and the value that we see here is is difficult uh to to see

52:00 now we along with most utilities have been supportive and think it's necessary to move toward both an RTO and an organized Market we think that's essential to leveraging the diversity of the region to meet all of our climate goals as well as a number and most utilities say at this point it's not a matter of if it's a matter of when um and most think it's within the next few years that that's going to move that direction pacificor already announced that they're going to join the California day ah Head Market so usually when the big players in the region move then a lot of the others follow on so um I think these are very valid questions um but the jurisdictional piece is just hard for us to get a grip around

52:46 especially because it's a regional issue it's not a state you're Frozen I'm good I don't I don't have anything to say okay all right just want to check so Frank you may be able to help me understand this a little bit better so if you're saying that most utilities are heading that direction towards it RTO and a other back that alludes me at the Point um do you see this legislation

53:31 as people in Salem trying to jumpstart that process saying hey we want we want you guys to go down this way and found somebody kicking Us in the but it's not going to happen is that kind of what this legislation is trying to do I mean you say it's a regional thing and a lot of people are waiting but somebody has to jump in first you're saying that Pacific Source or Pacific Power was one of the ones that's jumping in first is it just is this kind of a Kickstart I actually don't see it as necessary commissioner B that not only is Pacific or doing it there are a number of different proposals on the table including a group of State

54:18 Regulators um groups from the Oregon Public Utility Commission along with a a number of other states who are talking about second and third options for organized markets um I'm I'm not exactly sure of the the logic behind this I'm not sure if Jason knows something that I don't um we were part of an organiz a group The I don't know what group I what would you call that group I was Chason uh it was Cal 538 task force um the Oregan legislature in 2021 created a work group to develop a report to the legislature it's a really good document by the way I'll make sure that it gets emailed out Frank did a really nice job on The Advisory Board

55:04 that's what you're referring to Frank yeah and and we showed that there's benefit both potentially financially as well as environmentally for this Regional concept um the grid does not operate state by state and so um now some states such as Nevada have passed law laws that require their investor owned utilities the ones that they regulate to join an organized Market by 2030 um that would be an effort to Kickstart uh something um this one because it's reporting it's criteria it's difficult to actually see the value in it from my perspective Jason may see value that I don't yeah I think I could correct I think the intent is to be

55:51 supportive and and cheerlead or even jump start but it won't in reality it will it's not additive or have efficacy to the regional efforts and then you have to worry well inadvertently do some harm and that's where the criteria uh is makes us a little nervous I believe the Colorado law for example and I think there was a law in um Nevada as well that was similar there's no no kind of criteria it just said you will join one there's no criteria to consider or be satisfied and you know in our situation we're in Bond's balancing Authority Bondville spans multiple States is is Washington going to put criteria in uh would it would be a shame if any individual utilities located within

56:37 bpa's balancing Authority were prohibited from participating because of these criteria that states put in um when Bonville decides to join and no one can tell Bon about what to do so I I think it's one of those things where the legislature could be just as a effective with their intent by holding these informational hearings and then they can do advocacy without legislation that that would be our I think our analysis yeah and and I didn't have any problem with the with the legislative intent that you you're moving forward I just wanted to get my mind around the issue we'll get we'll get you some of that feedback as as well as kind of what what we see across the region thank you follow question do we ever when

57:24 you're opposing something like this do you ever re um redirect and say hey we'd be supported of something that just required us all to join an RTO by 2030 or do you just well say no thanks and leave it back that's a great question I I don't know what we would say uh we probably need to huddle up as staff I I think the bottom line though is one thing we're very confident is the legislature can help without legislation and I think that's probably the the safest recommendation we we can make um would another bill uh another legislative approach be acceptable um I think we'd have to see what it looks like see the language to answer your questions we have redirected on other things in the

58:10 past out different our our position has been a little bit more nuanced we're in favor of this because of this reason so we have done that in the past thanks and this is an action item so on resolution 2326 McCrae moves schlosberg seconds any other discussion seeing none all those in favor of resolution 2326 r hand say I okay passes unanimously all right thank

58:55 you very much Jason anything else thank you I'll just say uh we can always do eweb Lobby day at the capital um I'll I'll be in touch with you all I'll have uh hly or an or both of them uh follow up with you about your availability to some time in Salem we don't have to Ru out a virtual option too if it's difficult to to calendar so thanks appreciate it thanks okay so we are at 6:29 we're still 10 minutes ahead of what we going to do the public hearing um I see that the next item is the annual Dam safety program update and that's a 30 minute item so think we should go to that and we can

59:46 revisit sitting over there over there going good evening Commissioners um Lisa cren generation manager as a first order of business tonight it is my sincere pleasure to introduce Laura Elman she is our new Chief Dam safety engineer and Dam safety program supervisor uh Laura joined EAB nearly 14 years ago as an engineer in the generation Division and for most of that time has been working on the Carmen Smith implementation project team and through that work has gained a significant amount of experience in Dam safety and program management so we're absolutely thrilled to have uh Laura in this new position uh uh Daniel Fong who

1:00:33 was our previous Chief damp safety engineer um retired at the beginning of this year so we had that um position vacant for about six months before Laura joined and so before I move on I also wanted to express my sincere thanks to Mark ziner who was serving uh double duty as the acting Chief Dam safety engineer in addition to his other role so and I do believe is joining us tonight remotely um did he need to F in on anything right so Laura and I will be providing um an update on our dam safety program this evening I will go over just uh real briefly our our program in general and then we'll spend most of the time talking about significant and notable Dam safety issues at our hydroelectric projects and um some projects that we've got coming

1:01:20 up as a brief reminder eweb owns um three three hydroelectric projects two of those are located in the McKenzie river project Smith project you're weing the number both of them both of these project contain facilities that are classified as high Hazard um by the Federal Energy Regulatory commitment and so they are subject to Stam safety program requirements as a brief reminder U also owns the Stone Creek Hydro uh plant which located on the Clackamus River um you don't hear lot about this project um reasons one there's not a lot of notable Dam safety issues and two it's not classified as high Hazard so we won't be focusing on Stone Creek tonight right just a a quick bit about

1:02:07 our regulatory environment so our our regulator for Dam safety is the Federal Energy Regulatory commission's division of dam safety and inspections that's also called d2i uh we work very closely with the Portland regional office but FKS Washington DC Dam Safety Office is also um highly engaged in in many of our projects there are M multiple facets to the um oversight of our dam safety program uh first the owner Dam safety program you'll see that um also called the ODSP uh that is our FK requirement and it includes um the owner so EB in this case to conduct inspections on daily weekly monthly quarterly and an annual basis then in addition to that FK

1:02:53 themselves also um comes to the projects annually to do their own inspections and then every five years we're required to do have an independent consultant come and do a dam safety review including an on-site inspection you have seen contracts come through for those called part 12d inspections those are the the required every fiveyear inspections and then we also have um the requirement to do an independent audit of our owner Dam safety program every 5 years to identify areas for improvement all right so the um the current ODSP or the owner Dam safety program um it came out of a 2012 fir requirement that was really a result of a 2005 um Dam failure at Tom sock Dam

1:03:41 now our um owner Dam safety program has evolved considerably over the last decade most significantly as a result of the independent audit that was conducted in uh in 2019 by the Association of State Dam safety officials out of that audit we received a number of recommendations um that included uh forming an independent Dam safety department um that was separate from the other generation groups and we've more than doubled um the FTE that is dedicated to supporting our gamp safety program uh our current Department uh consists of four full-time FTE um positions in the engineering discipline Laura um and then in addition to that we have

1:04:27 um on the books plans to hire a regulatory specialist in 2024 so early next year to help um manage and support some of the the regulatory requirements and tracking that we have which are significant for this program uh the ODSP itself as required by FK has a number of minimum of minimum requirements those include an organizational policy the board um approved an organizational policy a couple of years ago in of 2020 2 we also have a requirement to have stated goals and objectives um stated responsibilities for um staff at all levels of the or organization uh including line level staff and all the way up to management uh we have a requirement to have a DM safety program for all eweb

1:05:12 staff that are engaged in the operation M maintenance of our hydroelectric facilities including engineering and management and then there are um required internal and external um communication protocols reporting uh data management Etc and then finally the the program also requires that we have an eye towards continuous Improvement to continually um out where we can do better from a dam safety perspective that might look like things like Staffing and organizational structure continuing to develop um Dam safety expertise and then striving ultimately to be more proactive rather than reactive when it comes to Dam safety issues with that I'm going to hand it over to Laura to talk about some of our specific um projects okay great thanks

1:05:58 Lisa good evening Commissioners um we're going to start with the Carmen Smith project that is uh it consists of three dams three reservoirs two powerhouses we regulates the MacKenzie River at the trailbridge PowerHouse which is at the bottom of the screen there slide and we're going to start with the board of Consultants so you might have seen the contracts come through um what is it why do we have one for Carmen Smith um Board of Consultants is a team of four independent Consultants who are experts in the field of dam safety they review infrastructure designs such as fish passage and Dam safety improvements assembling a board of consultants for the Carmen Smith project was a FK requirement given to us in July 2021 which was shortly after a discovery of

1:06:43 the S holes at trailbridge we identified the members and contracted by n November of 2021 since then we've had two meetings per year for a total of four meetings each meeting has uh is three days in duration and requires several weeks of preparation and uh ahead of the meeting and also followup after the meeting each meeting is an opportunity to discuss damp safety topics in depth and attendees include EB staff Consultants work staff and board of Consultants the advantages to this process is that this process allows for Dam safety experts to review our project designs and provide guidance and on additional studies and considerations

1:07:28 related to Dam safety the boc meetings also provide an opportunity to work with FK staff FK staff get earlier and more frequent review of project designs or investigations and these meetings allow for FK input and greater familiarity with the projects and with the designs because of having more opportunities to review and discuss the project and proposed EXs this process potentially ially helps to facilitate F's review and approval of design documents which is required prior to the start of any Dam safety Rel project next slide trailbridge sinkhole investigation we discovered sink holes and trailbridge Reservoir in May of 2021 upon Discovery we immediately

1:08:13 started an investigation um we implemented risk reduction measures such as lowering the reservoir operation level and increased surveillance and monitoring next slide so in support of the singho investigation a geotechnical drilling program was initiated started in2 finished it in 2023 this work included installation of additional monitoring instruments and Equipment which provides us with real-time data and the results of this geotechnical drilling has been drafted and were a primary Topic in our most recent boc meeting so after preliminary review and discussion between eweb our Consultants

1:08:59 the board of consultants and fer the preliminary finding is that the sink holes are unlikely to progress in a way that will cause failure of the dam so what we think is happening is that um the site geology and the sink Poes are providing a path for water to travel under the dam but we believe that the water is not picking up so particles from the dam and allowing them to travel um therefore the structural Integrity of the dam is likely not being impacted um however we do need to continue to monitor this condition and to ensure that this is the case and we also need to confirm other possible scenarios are not likely to

1:09:45 occur um and so again these results are preliminary more work is needed to boost our confidence in these findings and to verify what risks we do have at trailbridge and what can be done to migrate risks this includes work um we will continue to work with the board of consultants and with FK to get concurrence and also to answer any questions related to this next slide um so next steps the sinkhole investigation will be finalized and submitted to FK for formal review in the first half of 2024 this will be followed by development of remediation designs as applicable um early discussions of

1:10:31 remediation include a solution which plugs the sink holes however a discussion of this concept at our boc meeting raised concerns whether this would lead to new sinkholes in other locations so therefore potential Concepts will be thoroughly developed by our consultant and then they will be discussed uh with the boc and F prior to determining the path forward another outstanding question is what is the impact of the sink holes have on the proposed trap and Hall facility which is part of the Upstream fish passage requirement of the FK license early Concepts there include a robust seepage and monitoring system within the Trap and Hall design and this

1:11:16 would allow us to Monitor and identify if there's a change in the dam that needs intervention these Concepts will again will be thoroughly developed and presented to the board of consultants and for for concern concurrence Mardis analysis update um this is applicable to both projects the Carmen Smith project and the leeberg leeberg Walterville project UF has submitted updated site specific seismic Hazard analysis report to F in November of 2022 we received initial FK comments from uh from FK in October of 2023 and we're currently working with our consultant to respond to those

1:12:01 comments I do anticipate updates to the report will be necessary and therefore the timing of F's final approval is uncertain at this time once we do have final approval the resulting design criteria will have an impact on designs at both Carmen Smith and Liber Walterville and therefore this item is critical path to much of our improvement work uh at at both projects next slide um the libber canal has been shut down for power generation since 2018 um it does still serve as storm water conveyance specifically Cogswell and Johnson Creeks as such it is important to provide a low-level outlet for those Flows In order to keep the

1:12:47 water level low in the canal we have a project in place uh to create a lowlevel Outlet by removing a runner in the PowerHouse next slide there's a couple of photos of the work here my contractor mobilized on octo uh excuse me November 20th and work is expected to progress rapidly now with its substantial completion by the end of the year next slide at Walterville um we are doing stability analyses that's in progress for the high Hazard Canal sections and that does include the forb in order to evaluate the stability a Geotech drilling program was completed in March of 2023 those results were compiled and sent to FK in October of

1:13:34 2023 um and the next steps there is that the consultant will be providing interpretation recommendations and incorporating those into the stability analysis next slide Walterville 4bay there is a seep located at the Walterville 4bay which we are actively monitoring um we collect and evaluate the seepage data um in real time and have had success managing the seep to acceptable Levels by managing the forway water level and the Geotech investigations that I just mentioned will help us evaluate this issue slide um as Lisa mentioned FK inspects our hydroelectric projects annually this year we performed a firk annual

1:14:20 inspection at leeber Walterville in September and we completed our part 12d periodic inspection with an independent consultant at Carmen Smith in November um that was rescheduled from September due to the lookout fire slide so uh upcoming work we will continue to work on our ODSP we are providing an update to perk on that document by the end of the year in 2024 our emergency action plan functional exercise will be scheduled and that's where we were with local emergency managers to test the functionality of our emergency action plan and then at Carmen Smith we'll continue to work on the trail SLE investigation as I mentioned um we also

1:15:05 are working on the Smith Spillway expansion and flow release structure project that's approaching a 60% design uh we have scheduled a Spillway inspection at the Carmen diversion Spillway and then next slide oh same slide sorry um at leeber Walterville um world ceed with the Geotech drilling at Lieber Canal that's in support of the leeber decommissioning action plan that is pending for approval at this time and we will continue evaluation of the Geotech data at Walterville in support of the stability analysis that I mentioned earlier lot of work coming up and back to you Lisa thank you Laura H so the evening would not be complete if we didn't discuss some of the many challenges that our program is

1:15:51 um is facing and will continue continue uh to face the regulatory environment as you all know has changed dramatically over the last um particularly The Last 5 Years but but started prior to that in large part due to the industry's advancing knowledge of what seismic RIS actually looks like um so for example at kmen Smith there is a fault up there that we did not know existed uh a handful of years ago um so you know as we as we know more uh the the challenges um grow larger um there's also been some notable Dam failures across the country uh and um that's all coupled with um a time when infrastructure is aging many of the you know dams have been uh you

1:16:36 know kmen was built you know 50 plus years ago right and and Lan Walterville much um much before that so it's a perfect storm as you will um and all of it has resulted in increased increased uh scrutiny and focus on damp safety and more stringent regulatory requirements and we expect that Trend to continue over time um the increase in the workload industry has been industrywide so web is not the only um entity that's facing sort of this you know balloon of dam safety related work that has resulted in a significant uh labor shortage that's that impacts everyone it's impacted eweb it impacts FK it impacts the Consultants that we work with um uh and that's all also happening

1:17:22 in a time when Dam safety professionals are at the end of their careers and are retiring so I guess all of this to say I'm trying to put a plug out there for um folks who want career opportunities and stability to get into the DM safety field it's a great time to do it um so uh anyway this results in um just significant challenges increased costs schedule and uh urgencies and constraints uh that uh that really have impacted eweb and and will continue to as you know for example we have many license requirements at our kmen Smith project that um are delayed primarily due to Dam safety reasons and we find ourselves in a situation where um the

1:18:08 required schedule for our license um required projects is in direct conflict with our dam safety requirements and we're doing our best to navigate through these issues um but it has been and will continue to be a challenge over time and I'd hate to end on a sour note but um but that's the last slide for the for the formal presentation and we move to questions and discussion you can end on a really good note and say you know welcome to Laura now we have Laura here to solve all of our problems we have Laura but we have you know we have a a a full team uh now of some really incredible folks who are doing great work and so I feel like we are set up for um for

1:18:54 Success yeah so that's good I I'd like to end on a higher note I know I saw a an announcement one of the communications about congratulations and congratulations to mark for uh not having to do double duty anymore thank you okay uh any questions then and uh commissioner Brown let you go first thank you um a question and a comment um Melisa didn't we have a sink holes in either Carman or Smith that emerged several years ago and if so what did we do about that yeah we um so there are sink holes in kmen diversion Reservoir those were discovered um a number of years prior to the trailbridge

1:19:39 reservoir sink holes they don't have um Laura or Mark can can give an update they don't have the same sort of public safety risk or concern that those at trailbridge Reservoir do um so you know we have been prioritizing Trail bridge but Laur do you want to give a brief update on the Caron diversion sinkles or defer to Mark yeah um yeah basically what we did there is we are are monitoring by doing frequent Beth themetry surveys um and we've brought the water surface elevation in that Reservoir down we've also closed it to the public uh due to public safety reasons while we're investigating and and um it it doesn't change our operation actually and so therefore our proposal to Burke is that we could leave

1:20:26 it as um uh at lower water elevations the geology in that area was known when they built the project um so this isn't we were able to see that this has been known since since the beginning it's just that they have they are changing and so therefore we are monitoring and have to pay careful attention to make sure that we're on top of the public safety aspect of it okay and my comment is at what point if there is a point Point does this board um look into the financial feasibility of continuing operations because it seems like we're putting a new wooden leg on a 9y old guy um this thing is is is going to kill us a death by a thousand cops because not only do we have a Dan safety regulations then we have compliance with fish and all these

1:21:11 other things and we've got all this really aging infrastructure and that to me it's it's starting to paint a picture we may want to look at a you know Financial feasibility of continuing to operate these versus not because uh it's not going to get any easier it's not going to get any less expensive and you know if we're going to I mean if we could buy all our power from Bonville like lane or or sub does um it seems like that's a lot less uh it's a more cost-effective way to do business I don't know if others have that same concern but I think that it looks like we're on the path to a very very expensive resource can I just comment real quickly on that it's it's a fair question commissioner Brown and you know we are

1:21:56 updating our financial analysis for the Carmen Smith project um and you know costs have increased over time uh that's just one piece of the picture though um when anytime you look at a resource you also have to look at what the alternative is and so you know what we do plan to be um working with our power Planning Group they have and finance group they have already started looking into those questions to see not only what is the current Financial estimate for Carmen Smith but what is the alternative should we choose to do something different and I think that will be enlightening thank you and uh commissioner Brown I would just add that um we also have to have that discussion in the context of our resources at large

1:22:44 um Herman Smith for example bringing certain attributes to our our resource portfolio is important but we have to have that conversation in the context of all of our resources and all of our values and how we're going to balance those I do think it's appropriate for this board to take a look at that at some time in the next year or so and um I have talked to power planning and some others about how we would want to tee up some kind of discussion around that so um we should expect to have some broader conversation around that issue within the next year thank

1:23:33 you um couple two or three questions here first one is uh when is the next fiveyear audit scheduled for next year or the year after yep it's 2024 doing early 25 I believe okay um you also mentioned the fact that there is a hierarchy of responsibility that is goes throughout the organization what responsibility do we have as far as board uh members yeah well you're fulfilling one of your responsibilities tonight by listening to an annual update on our Jam safety program and we will be doing this every year um you know one of your responsibilities is to stay you know um open and apprised of major issues which which we do over time and then uh

1:24:20 provide governance to the organization as a whole um if you if you would like to see more details on the roles and responsibilities happy to send that to you our organ Dam State or our owner Dam safety program document itself is classified as critical energy infrastructure so that's why we did not provide it as part of this um correspondence but we certainly can under a separate cover um that's great I think um this is a important part of our of our our duty here as as board board members and I don't know if if yearly is is uh sufficient right especially with with some of the issues that you've

1:25:05 identified seems to be that at least a memo or a correspondence more often than once a year would be appropriate I don't know if the other board members agree with that but for me these are these are important issues um the last question that I have is um with the recommendations on on trail bridge kind of figured it out does that mean we're going to be able to refill Trail bridge and what effect does the lowering of the level of Trail bridge have on the generation so you know I I don't know how to answer that quite yet you know Mark might have

1:25:51 he might and I so I can take a stab at the um the operational issue so um keeping uh the our elevation of Trail bridge lower as we have been since the sinkles were discovered does um change operations for a portion of the year when when it's overlapping with the time that we also have minimum Reservoir elevation requirements for bull trout passage into Sweetwater Creek so we have a time period from I think it's August 15th to October 31st might be off by a a week or two there where it really does the limit um you know we we basically are trying to maintain a flat Reservoir which is operationally difficult to do and our trading floor has done an exceptional job at that um so and Mark can chime in um if he's

1:26:38 got anything else to to add um we don't anticipate the ability to raise Reservoir elevation any time soon there's still a lot more to work through on what the impact of the sink holes are and what remediation might might look like one theory is that the reduction in elevation of the reservoir has actually helped keep the the sinkles from progressing because it has taken some of the pressure off which was the point of reducing Reservoir elevation so um Mark anything you want to add on that if you're on the phone sure just a couple of elaborations those were great responses um the that period of time during August 15th to October 31st when we do have to operate

1:27:23 the reservoir at a uniform uh steady level impacts our ability to to Peak with the uh carbon power plant so that has been a um pretty significant operational disruption associated with the sink holes we did feeli from uh the board of Consultants during our October meeting um openness to uh considering changes in our um operating level the current limit of 2083 is uh 7t below where we formerly had the maximum and even gaining um a couple of feet of operational flexibility would um ease a lot of our operational constraints and and and and uh allow us

1:28:09 to resume some of the peaking production that we could do during that fish uh uh fish condition um but that would need to go through a Bor Consultants careful review process before we um made any any changes to the current restrictions BR I I was going to add at the kman project water management is the constraining piece to this not the size of the generator and so that particular elevation curtails our ability to ramp up and ramp down um at peak times during the day versus more of a steady state condition so it attenuates our ability

1:28:55 to do that the generating capacity is higher than that so it's this water management that's the limiting factor but I think we're working that into all of our financial analysis and other things as well thank you yeah I I have a few thank you um uh I'm curious is them managing uh the dams with the advice of a board of Consultants is that a requirement is that something that we're so at first actually uh Daniel Wayne the previous Chief Dam safety engineer was in was considering it it as an optional uh tool because of the complexities of the project and because of the fish passage designs forthcoming

1:29:41 but then um then FK did make it a requirement a couple months after starting to think through this process so it is a requirement that fer gave to us in July of 2021 we work through this process so it's and it's very prescribed process of how we interact with the board and um whose participation is uh is present and things like that okay thanks that's helpful it seems like uh I'm sure it's cumbersome just because there's so many parties involved but also seems given the stakes it seems like a really valuable asset to be working with so many experts um I'm curious uh I think I read there that the approval of the seismic evaluation is um crucial to FK um

1:30:26 enabling us to continue the license at Cur meth do do you know when we'll get that approval from them we don't um so right now we just received uh a month ago we received their their first initial comments and so we're responding to those right now and so what will happen is we'll respond to those comments and then they may come back with additional and so we'll go back and forth until their questions are exhausted and addressed and then we'll finalize that report and um uh excuse me the the report is finalized but if there's any updates that need to be made that those will be made and then F will make their final approval of that document okay but given the questions they've given us there's no concerns that they're G to say you're gonna have to shut down this

1:31:12 project no the seis mcard analysis isn't I we're not concerned about it it causing a shutdown of our project what it does is significant impact the designs of all the infrastructure for fish passage and other improvements and without knowing what that seismic criteria needs to be can't move forward with um designing it sense so I also wanted to comment on that I understand the complexities between fish passage and seismic issues and sink holes and all the deal the issues we're dealing with um at Carmen Smith and I just want to say um thank you for the materials that help us understand those better and I appreciate all the work that the team is doing to manage all of that and while that was a

1:31:58 compelling recruitment to join a damn safety team I think I'm gonna stay out yeah failure right there I know I'm sorry and then I'm just going to agree with barovsky that I think a communication once more than once a year is appropriate but I also think we're getting that right I think we've had a couple of written Communications updating us on B safe I think that should continue yeah one of the things we we you know we're happy to do whatever works best for the board you know we have been providing damp safety updates related to lork through the entire Lor process um we can continue to provide more additional Carmen Smith updates you know when anything notable happens or you know whatever frequency uh you'd prefer but we won't let

1:32:43 something happen that's notable without you finding out about it having to be anxious about it too thanks one thing that that we are evaluating along those lines is is the quarterly reporting that we do now is is sort of massive and there's just a lot of stuff there um and Rod and I are talking with staff about how we refine that into certain things that are are more meaningful to the board which could include things like this so we do quarterly updates on these issues but it's lost in the sea of stuff that we do relative to just standard operations and so looking at ways to highlight things

1:33:29 that are important on a quarterly basis seems like it it would be more relevant more useful to the board than to just bombard you with an 80 page report of stuff now I'm not saying that I mean everything in there is important in some way but we also need to be able to highlight the things that are important either through separate memos attachment reports or through the quarterly reporting process and we're having some of those discussions right now one question how how will all this new data that you got on trail bridge um the opening of the campgrounds and access to Smith for the River Reservoir I don't well I'm just off the

1:34:16 top of my head saying I don't think it should impact it at all I don't think so either yeah so those are still scheduled for 25 oh I'd have to double check that date um but that sounds right in right well thank you both very much appreciate your time over here I will not be joining the team anytime soon app people the expertise knowledge know how that we can trust to take care of it and do it on our so thank you thank you very much it's a great opportunity you're missing out I could do it with that we got I can start the business for damp

1:35:02 safety and Transformers Transformers there you go okay all right well we are now at 7:05 have we had anybody come in okay so uh let's open the public comment period for the proposed budgets and to close the propos the public hearing on proposed budgets and prices then we will move to um item number 10 which is resolutions approve resolution 2323 2324 and

1:35:47 2325 um can we do are there any objections to that okay we're good okay no objections um do we have a second okay uh motion moved by barovsky and seconded by schlosberg any discussion I just want to Echo um barsky's comments from earlier that you know this for me is only the second time I think that we've had to raise rates and we actually were fortunate enough to lower rates during one of the some years that I've been here so this is definitely something that we do not take lightly and that's on customers and appreciate that it's the right thing to

1:36:33 do so appreciate us going through this process and being on this board is that all those in favor say I I I passes unanimously thank you and now um we are still a little bit ahead of schedule but I'm wondering if we want to take the break okay yes we will take a 10-minute break we'll come back at

1:47:29 order and our item up is the 2024 organizational goal development right openers and Carlson Commissioners good evening um just wanted to start off D this is more of a work session type format so our objective here is to um try to tease out uh from you what uh you think the priorities um should be for 2024 um there's a few just questions to think about relative to things that you might see either operationally or aspects of the Strategic plan excuse me the Strategic plan that you would like to see develop further um issues or concerns or opportunities that you see could be driven either internally or externally of which you would like us to

1:48:15 consider um our process here is a little bit different than last year last year I think we approached the board in December with some specifically stated goals and you helped us to modify those kind of tweak those a little bit did some word smithing this year we'd like to understand a little bit more from a theme perspective from a priorities perspective and then we'll take your your input and ideas and thoughts and try to craft those into measurable objectives for 2024 and present those next month where we are and how this process works on an annual basis we have a number of different forms of feedback that we rely

1:49:00 on the board is one of them we also look at our own observations and measurements uh for our continuing operations we do want to continue to maintain and improve our operations um as well as we uh have worked with the board over the past number of years on the Strategic plan and some of the key initiatives and projects related to the Strategic plan and we'll talk about some of those um a little bit later in the presentation here um the typically what we come out of on the other side of this when we talk about stated goals is there's usually a few different types of of goals that we create um one of them is

1:49:46 some of them have to do with sort of perennial requirements um in other words we want to keep the business on track U what are the things that we do or want to emphasize to keep on track there's certain things that relate to our own ongoing 247 365 operations sometimes we have cultural objectives that might fall into that category as well these are things that you kind of see repeat over and over again uh part of the the concept there is that you really want to make sure that your own operations are are good enough um and and allow you the opportunity to pursue strategic uh opportunities and so it's really hard to be strategic if your daily operations are falling off the rails is kind of the

1:50:31 the concept and and philosophy there sometimes we will also have just a discrete goal which has to do with either an opportunity we see or a weakness that we would like to to improve on some of those can kind of come and go as well as the Strategic milestones some of those as you accomplish those those tend to move on or off but are part of a a longer term theme if you want to call it that uh we do have some areas that we would identify as as themes that um I think the Commissioners are aware of because of your work on the Strategic plan in that concept um we do have really three primary business priorities

1:51:18 um one of them is business continuity um this is really and there's some contingencies here compliant with regulatory the regulatory environment statutes policies policies that the board has placed on on us you tell us how to run our our organization based on the policies that you create and then within that environment our ongoing operations uh need to maintain and improve their performance as as we go forward the other two are the two big ones that have been identified in the strategic plan one we just refer to as energy delivery optimization sometimes we refer to the synchronizing of supply and demand um the the thought there is over time the better we align um

1:52:06 consumption with Supply the more value we're going to add to our community the more uh affordable we're going to be the more efficient and reliable we're going to be from an energy delivery perspective and then the third one is resiliency and this consistent with the policy that you passed last year is how we can reduce the likelihood the magnitude um and the duration of either slow moving sudden sudden issues such as an ice storm or an earthquake how do we prepare for that at the same time dealing with longer term issues such as climate change and be resilient under a number of different threats that um that we have to be able to respond to as we go forward um pandemic was not the first

1:52:51 on our list but it was the first to appear in front of us um that we we had to navigate quick reminder as to the Strategic plan um there uh none of these phases actually go away uh we started with a lot of work around trying to facilitate customer uh confidence I would I would actually supplement that by saying board confidence and staff confidence is part of that as well that was through um really our performance on a day-to-day basis as well as looking at opportunities to improve that we thought were impactful we are now in the second phase of our strategic plan which is really putting together the the nuts and bolts the bits and pieces relative to

1:53:37 both resiliency as well as that energy delivery optimization the expanded list um we called it the mid game but really the and you can see they're build building the foundational pieces there were a number of different elements to that those really occurring over a number of years not all of those are things that you uh would expect to see in a particular year um but those can come and go over a number of years as we progress uh through the strategy and and um in particular through building of the pieces to allow us to be a more resilient and B work on the the energy delivery op optimization

1:54:22 piece this was really uh when we kind of sat down um as staff and started to think about what we saw were some of our priorities um this is how we laid it out um and you can see along the the right side there um which category whether business continuity energy optimization or resiliency uh these various themes um occurred in um the uh the EES project is is really foundational uh to the utility not just relative to oh it's a new customer system or new Financial system it also is significant from a cultural impact perspective being able to have the flexibility to be able to advance

1:55:09 our technology uh not just through a big project once every 20 years but how do we get into more of a continuous Improvement mode in that kind of of environment um you do see major capital projects across these areas those those tend to focus on one or the other as opposed to EES which is impactful um all across the the the business priorities um raid design is a key piece of of both the resiliency as well as as um sorry business continuity as well as the energy optimization and you can see there's a number of these that we viewed as priorities in the organization I think these were listed in your background

1:55:54 materials as well one of the things I will point out um our compliance obligations are increasing dramatically and this next year we'll have some significant um compliance obligations that we have to meet as an organization um you know some of them you know just in even the last conversations around Dam safety and the F requirements uh we do have Oregon Public Utility Commission requirements within our distribution system um this next year we will have um an onsite nerk audit um which is a significant event for the utility curs five years was the last one we had Rod um every five years it's an audit of

1:56:41 things such as our processes to set and calibrate our safety equipment on our distribution system for example this is an electric um compliance obligation um Oregon Health Authority you know about I also put um the wmp which stands for water Master planning um that's a statutory obligation that we have to fulfill every 10 years um and that's due in 2025 so significant amount of work goes into that in 2024 so the compliance obligations we have just as an organization facing Us in 2024 pretty substantial um um just um and and have to be a priority for us from a ongoing operational perspective some of those

1:57:28 also relate to our strategic work but um just from a business continuity perspective U being able to run the organization and be compliant and and and and legal and being meet our regulatory obligations is pretty significant for us and then there's a few you know we we do have some new board policies um finding ways to implement those in our daily operations is important that's that's why you've created them um I think when we had those discussions we said that we would talk about how we demonstrate those so um that's in response to priorities that we see and consistent hopefully with with what you see as priorities and then finally there were a number of actions that came out of the integrated resource

1:58:15 planning um process um not all those go into 2024 but some of them do go into 2024 and and will um Cipher those out and so this was really an opportunity to maybe tease your brains a little bit on some of the things that we were seeing hopefully trying and extract some of um either things that you feel strongly you're consistently supportive of or or see or else Identify some some gaps from your perspective or things that that you may see that you would like to to um identify as priorities that maybe we have not so with that I'm going to kind of turn it back um to you president Carlson U with returning to the original slide

1:59:02 which is we're looking for feedback from Commissioners as to what you see as priorities as we go into this next year either things that you see as opportunities or things that you see as gaps or or want to have discussion with um with or with each other about and um these were questions just listed to kind of inspire some thought but really this is this is a work session and so president Carlson I'll turn it back to you and be happy to discuss or or listen either way thank

1:59:49 you and if we don't get any feedback we're just going to run with what we think we want and you we'll come back next month and you'll you'll get a chance to go after it then um thanks uh you know I think that you've identified a lot of things that you see internally um for me one of the things that jumps out meeting after meeting after meeting this Workforce and the fact you know we heard it tonight D safety we need we need more people on damn safety you just lift it off all the compliance things we hear that the the meter shop is is low on things where linan is low on things so for me making sure that we have the

2:00:35 bodies in the building to do this work is something that I keep hearing over and over and over again and I know it's a struggle but I think for me that's one of the areas that is you know it's a peren it's one of the perennial ones but how can we is there a better way to do this are we are we competitive in these areas what whether that's wages benefits remote work whatever looking at looking at all of that those areas to say how can we get the bodies that we need to do the work that needs to be done because it almost in every presentation we hear we hear that that

2:01:21 is one of the uh challenges that that our our staff are are bumping up against so for me that would be something to look forward to as a as something to identify and I don't you know you said identify track and and see if there's ways for approval so for me that that's the one that just jumps out to me from sitting in a meeting once a month and hearing that's where you guys hear it all day every day but if there's a way to look at it and and measure it and see if we are doing the best we can to get the people to do the

2:02:08 work building off of that I am curious the LCC building that's going in and school will that help get other students to us I mean has a component of believe but potentially um I think the first step to um commissioner bov's comments is that um getting a a good assessment of both the labor market as well as the internal need is something that actually we're in process Rod um has been working with with Lena on a and and her staff on a more detailed assessment of in particular of our hardto fill positions it may provide an

2:02:54 opportunity um or it may be a requirement that as we go forward we have to develop talent in some ways as opposed to acquire Talent those are those are two things as you realize and there may be opportunities to work with an LCC or other potential Partners on that the first step I think is is to address um what commission barovsky which is do kind of I'll call it the Gap analysis but really look at more detail and um segment this into into chunks that we can make Pro feel like we can make progress on because I think it does tend to be a bit of a perennial issue so it it could

2:03:40 potentially and I think we'll be based on what I'm hearing from Rod and and Lena are Chief Workforce officer is there's will likely be in a better position to develop some goal around that between now and and January sh GNA said yes so outside of that I mean when when I think about the goals and I look at where we're at in our strategic plan for me it feels like we set up this plan we're marching down the plan and we have a number of very large projects in place and in play that kind of need to keep following and

2:04:25 doing the things that we've been doing um we don't have anything really new to add to it it's really you know continuing to look at okay we made this decision on Leber Dam how are we doing you know we Ved to um implement this the customer service system and you know with that the the smart meter implementation is really more for me kind of a look back at somewhat of what um commissioner Brown was mentioning earlier and looking back at the effectiveness of our decisions and where we're at with them and what it will still take to move it forward or was is it still the right direction I think it is um but we're kind of Midway through

2:05:12 that plan on a lot of projects and they still the right projects and I that's what sticks out to me um I would also say we are in terms of the business priorities um I noticed a distinct lack of water in there and maybe there was a reasoning around that but we still have just electricity we also have water and thinking about that as major portion of what we do and we have very many projects that relate to it in terms of more storage projects and such so me that's what I think of as look at the gos my masters will be very happy with that that comment our water manager smiling away as well as as well as car

2:05:57 now now resiliency is is water um as well as electric and business continuity is also a really there's a lot of aspects related to water in that it it doesn't have the market transformation that the energy division has relative to um just a an entire C chain shift in in the market um but it's definit our intent with business continuity as well as the resiliency business priorities can I just comment one more time I I do think that um the Strategic pieces that come and go

2:06:44 um for example Ami uh we need to to to finish that out there's some things that we're in in Midstream of and one of the there's a couple one in particular is something we really haven't addressed it's an important strategic piece which is the rate design piece that's that's one that's likely going to take a plan and then a number of years to develop um so that's very strategic there's portions of it that could be in one year and maybe that's the laying out of the process to to do that um and then there's a a non-strategic one that I think was on the list which had to do with the fact that our operating environment includes both the investment reduction act as well as the INF

2:07:31 infrastructure investment and jobs act which is uh a look at alternative financing um and what opportunities that we can leverage there relative things that also align with with our strategy so are there opportunities here that are created by external environment but still align with our strategy and putting together a bit of a more formal process to be able to evaluate and execute on those opportunities and that was something I think was listed in there that's something that's new um and hasn't been in our strategy um driven by an external condition are we at a place now my my my recollection we talked about smart meter implementation and the Cs

2:08:18 system is that both of those needed to be pretty much in place before we really address the rate design is that accurate or are there some places where we overlap that we could start that work well they those are are necessary components to be able to execute changes in rate design the actual design of the rates should start sooner rather than later even even without those all right um I I think that um I like it when you suggest what the what the priorities and should be just because you are running the organization and and you um have the bigger picture um and there are

2:09:04 certainly things that jump out at me that are of more interest but um I don't know that I should be the one specifically saying that we should shift and go in this direction um but I agree with Sonia that we're kind kind of um we're in a place where in the past few years we've done a lot of work um proving things or or voting on things and like setting things in motion and right now we're kind of like in that motion so it doesn't seem like a year to come up with big new priorities or or new things because we still are really working on the things that we've um uh just implemented in the past couple years um but the one that really stands out for me is great design like you just

2:09:51 said I think that um there's so many reasons I mean tonight we just go into increase our rates we talk about um wanting more conservation like all the things where it comes together I feel like rate design is so many things and um I think that should be a huge priority for us um and then in terms of the other things I guess I I trust your leadership to to suggest to us where you think we should be we'll find things that you're interested in the way interested in the other things but you know some things are just of more interest than others and so I don't want to say like yes we should do these three things because these three you know

2:10:37 don't make me catch my interest they're all important I I I think it's a great observation that that you made and and president Carlson made we are in the middle of the strategy we're we're in fact right in the middle of the strategy it was a 10-year strategy and we're five years through it so the fact that there's certain things that are in motion that we need to see through some things are kind of coming and going within that environment I I think is um is a great observation some things will continue because the work is continuing maybe with different Milestones other things will say great we're we're done with that one now that builds on onto something and then there's some things that that may emerge um we also in the

2:11:25 context of strategy want to make sure that things aren't emerging that will distract from our strategy from an operational perspective we we have a really important role in the community that's a 247 365 kind of obligation to keep the lights on the water flowing the information flowing the response to customers the money flowing um the flow is important on a day-to-day basis um doing that well gives us the right to do these strategic things that we're in the middle of so while our goals want to um recognize the fact that we're progressing through a strategy we also want to make sure that we're dealing

2:12:10 with these perennial issues and Workforce being one of them that will not ultimately change our ability to pursue or position ourselves strategically so it's a balance that we're going to have to look at and then there's some things that have to do with everything and and that's why I wanted to call out the the EES project it's essential to daily operations at the same time it positions us for our strategic Endeavors so that's that's one where there it's that's why really foundational and it's important so it's it's a balance that we have to look at and I have one more thing which is more of a question and not necessarily A organizational priority but it's the question of what

2:12:56 is the future of a midsize utility um you know we just voted to decommission Leber tonight we talked about Carmen Smith and how expensive it is and what the issues are around that we have our IRP discussions ongoing and just the nature of things changing I just I don't know how this becomes a priority or whatever but how do we address that issue or have a discussion about that issue in general and how do we use that information to inform many of the decision decisions that we are going to be making it's a pretty fundamental decision or or I'll say decision it's it's a path

2:13:42 that I do think needs to be evaluated I know that within the organization we've started to think about how we would I'll call it a business model decision how we would frame up the elements to be able to evaluate our business model going forward there are tradeoffs between on both the water side and the electric side we are completely vertically integrated utility we we have the the sources we have transmission we have distribution we have customer relationships so we're completely vertically inte ated does that make sense going forward um based on what we see the future to be um and what are the components that we need to identify to

2:14:28 evaluate that and um I'm just going to in my notes call that the business model evaluation um but um it's certainly on our mind and if it's on commissioner minds I think we'll have to find a way to um start to get those discussions on the table there there are definitely a lot of trade-offs to be evaluated when you look at changes to the business model um you I think it was mentioned by commissioner Brown earlier around Carmen Smith and some of those I mean if you if you start to go down that road there's a different risk profile that you start to create as well and those are just it has to be a very conscious discussion um and and likely there's got

2:15:14 to be a number of different um analyses and and data uh that we need to identify that we need to get and then um re-evaluate and all the things that we had to do with even just a simp okay a simple leeberg decision is simple relative to some of the things that you're talking about but it's been on our radar and since you mentioned it we'll see if other Commissioners have that same interest because it's it has been something that's been in our mind Brown do you have [Music] anything no I'm good I I thought with everything it was said and um I think a lot of good things have been said but

2:15:59 I'm I'm good with the way it's proposed and I look forward to discussion in January one other item to just bring up quick and then um wrong has I I'm curious about so we have contracts are expiring 2020 some of which I think um there's a probably a public perception piece we need to get out in front of and for me how how we do that and bring the public along during that time so that when we get to that place in 2025 I don't know exactly when it is in 25 I don't know it's at the beginning of the end but I'd be curious to you know think about when that work happens and

2:16:45 how it happens next and and that is that comment is consistent with our strategic plan which in phase two we talk about the renewal or the potential renewal of contracts and there are um couple in the 2025 2026 um time frame um senica being one of I'll call it senica Sierra Pine Sierra Pacific CR Pacific mixing them up than CR Pacific being one of those it's in that time frame so how we daylight that and I think is what

2:17:30 I thank you okay and ra you had did you have comments or um I just thought i' had to brought maybe a different way to to think about it maybe a little reverse engineering um um and you kind of triggered my mind Mr sber which is as the public representa you know um sometimes it's helpful to understand what's important to you and so a couple examples U maybe from the last board meting is around charging infrastructure for instance and so there's not going to be an organizational goal around charging infrastructure next year because that's right but how does that tie back in to work that we're trying to do in these these themes and and business priorities so charging infrastructure has a lot to

2:18:17 do with our our energy and our consumption kind of things so sometimes if you think about the details that are important to you any public another one you know the DDI conversation where we've been talking about revamping even our Preamble right and how the board has some Dei to that policy that they just that's an example of implementing that policy so you start with that you can sort of back into your Mr MCC sure thanks um I will say the first thing that came to my mind uh along with Browski was the workforce feel like a it's I don't know it's a low simmer like just kind of

2:19:02 right at the edges but constantly something that um makes me a little bit anxious too so I think um focus there would be well placed um I agree that rate design getting started on that soon is a good idea think that in our work plan for the next year anyway so I think that's in line um I welcome the conversation that Mindy suggested that's a great question of what is the future of a midsize utility that might be a youo master's class but but it' be also interesting for us to to chew on a little bit and just think about in the context of our strategic plan um so I appreciate you bringing up that question that's a 300 level course I it's for

2:19:49 okay definitely it's above my level but I want to audit that class um I do think it's a priority to continue investing in our Dei assessment and EST establishing Dei goals um uh I also think be Valu valuable to evaluate the funding that we have so asde right now for Source protection I know um this board before I joined the board put a sech charge on water bills and that has been really significant in providing additional resources to support Source protection activities at River and I just a little concerned that when that goes away there's a bit of a cliff and we find

2:20:34 ourselves maybe we should have hung on to some portion of that so I don't know where that falls but I think it' be worth evaluating at a board level at some point before we get to the end of that um and then the last one is uh we made a bunch of size investments in seismic upgrades to our water infrastructure which is fantastic and just a great investment all it's no surprise that I'm also concerned about um the seis of performance of the buildings that our staff are in um it is equally or maybe more important that we have staff that are able to and have space to work out of and and so I'm not sure if we've done a seis assessment of our buildings

2:21:19 um this one yeah this one I mean this really is the the main one but we have others T we used to have another one downtown we got rid of that we solved that problem but there are certainly um others scattered around our service territory that would be worth looking at and then um to the extent that there are Grant funds I I know there are Grant funds available for um for facilities like ours because it is is an essential facility and I think it'd be worth putting our brain into that under the the umbrella of resilience all together that's all I have

2:22:06 than I was to say commiss McCrae I think that one of the things that important for us in what you said was there are certain things that we've committed to to the board de I being in one of resiliency being another one um and we also see that where we there's a potentially opportunities relative to external finance that align with resiliency objectives rely on water there's infrastructure related to water and and electricity there's also some related to climate um um Federal climate objectives as well so our intent there would be to have an evaluation of what's available on an ongoing basis how does that align with the

2:22:53 things that the board has already directed us to do all we have identified in the strategy um and also have things that are designed ready or project ready that we could leverage those when they do um they sort of they it's a little bit of a following the bouncing balls um relative to some of those things but be ready to be able to take advantage of those um I think it's also you know the comment about the Watershed um either side of that same coin that that you mentioned what are we going to oh if the funds dry up is there this clip that we fall off of the flip side of that is how efficient are we being with what we've already have and and I

2:23:39 think so there's an assessment that's needed there to ensure the validity of those funds being spent in a way that aligns with with what you and our customers believe are important so it that's an assessment that has to be done with with both of those perspectives in mind well L of time on this topic I don't see any others raising their hands so you have what you need Frank well you'll find out next month you know surprise surprise we'll we'll see what comes but appreciate your your thoughts and comments and um this this was helpful so yes I think okay thank you all right then we

2:24:27 will move to future board agendas do you want to stay there or I'll just stay here okay you you have the board Agenda Report um I think that we have a number of things in in January the couple things related to what we just talked about also we want to do a a little bit more of a deep dive into to how we deploy board policies so there's a policy review that we would usually do in December um we decided it was okay to push it to January this um this year because we have the same board there's no board turnover um which is important in that when you're talking about the impact of policies but we also want to give the board some feel for when you

2:25:12 pass a policy how does the organization Implement that policy and so that's something that not just a policy review but how do we handle those things as as a management team and as an organization um as well as we will have uh an update on the leeberg decommissioning action plan um in January which I know there's some public interest around so and that was all just off the top of my head without looking at the agenda so is there anything I missed R you've got the the notes for January I think that's it um other than that it seems weird that 2024 is this is the

2:25:58 last meeting of 2024 um has been a really substantial year I will put a plug in that we have sent you comments for your own evaluation um I think we also did we attach the various board accomplishments that we saw throughout the year was that an attachment attach the signif items so thank you for all of those signific connection items well it certainly I guess we'll move on to board wrapup it it certainly has been a productive year I wanted to say thank you know thank you to all of you for allowing me to preside over our

2:26:43 meetings and get through this work appreciate what we do together geted never know I just wanted to recogniz Sonia for doing such a great job as president this year um you have done a fantastic job leading us through these meetings and um I really appreciate all of your leadership skills so thank you one quick comment I was actually up River today um sure some staff went up there too as we had really high water and uh the finrock project which uh full disclosure my wife works for Mackenzie R

2:27:29 tress so I'm you know involved in it that way too but um it was designed to spread out flood water across a flood plane that formerly was not really being activated and um it's really powerful to see that that whole flood plane working the way it's intended to and the fast water coming off the river spreading out across the flood plane and slowing down and um and I guess one thing that I've heard a lot about is concerns about some those logs that were in there getting dislodged and running down river and it's just doesn't look like that's happening they're all staying put because the water's moving very slowly through that whole area um I know McKenzie river trust is um bring up a

2:28:14 video um so people can see that themselves shot yesterday or the day before it's really FY to see which the the flood waters that we had last few days so I just want to acknowledge e web's involvement in projects like that that are um you know they're fundamental to what we do but they're also like most utilities aren't engaged in blood plane restoration and I think it's just really um significant that this utility takes that series sharing that I look forward to seeing that video that's sounds fascinating to see I'll grab it and share it with you okay all right everyone 2023 it's almost a WRA