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[Committee on Emergency Preparedness on June 4, 2021]
TRY TO DO A COUPLE OF THINGS.IT'S GONNA BE A LITTLE DIFFERENT.
UH, NOW FOR FOLKS THAT ARE LISTENING AND FOR PEOPLE THAT WANNA WRITE ARTICLES, UM, UH, WHAT YOU'RE GOING TO HEAR TODAY IS SOMETHING IN PROCESS.
IF YOU WANNA WRITE AN ARTICLE OFF OF THIS, IT'S PROBABLY GONNA BE WRONG, BUT YOU CAN DO IT, UH, BECAUSE THIS STUFF IS ALL GONNA CHANGE.
UH, WE'VE MADE A COMMITMENT TO DO ALL OF OUR MEETINGS IN PUBLIC.
TYPICALLY, A WORKING SESSION LIKE THIS WOULD NOT BE IN PUBLIC BECAUSE PEOPLE ARE GONNA HAVE TO TALK ABOUT THINGS THAT ARE GONNA CHANGE.
BUT, UH, WE'RE GONNA DO IT ANYWAY.
UH, SO PLEASE BE, UH, WARNED THAT WHILE WE'RE WORKING ON SOME DRAFTS HERE, THEY ARE DRAFTS.
A DRAFT MEANS THAT IT'S SOMETHING THAT'S A WORKING DOCUMENT.
IT'S NOT A FINAL PRODUCT, AND IT WILL CHANGE.
SO IF YOU PICK SOMETHING UP OFF OF ONE OF THESE DRAFTS, UM, IT COULD CHANGE.
AND WE'RE GONNA, UH, RESERVE THE RIGHT TO CHANGE IT UNTIL WE ISSUE IT.
AND UNLESS WE DO THAT, WE CAN'T ALL TALK ABOUT HOW WE WANT TO PUT A COHERENT, UH, REPORT TOGETHER.
AND SO, THE FIRST THING WE'RE GOING TO BE DOING TODAY IS TALK ABOUT THE STRUCTURE OF THE REPORT.
WE NEED TO HEAR FROM EVERYONE ON THE COMMITTEE ON HOW THEY THINK IT'S GONNA BE BEST PRESENTED.
AFTER THAT, WE WILL START TALKING ABOUT THE INDIVIDUAL, THE THREE INDIVIDUAL SECTIONS OF THE REPORT.
WE WOULD PREFER, IF POSSIBLE, UH, OR I THINK IT'S PREFERABLE.
IT MIGHT NOT BE, I COULD BE OVERRIDDEN ON THAT.
I, IT'S PREFERABLE IF, UM, ALL OF THE SECTIONS KIND OF FOLLOW THE SAME FORMAT SO THAT, UH, A READER, UH, READS ONE SECTION DOESN'T HAVE TO SHIFT THEIR FOCUS OF UNDERSTANDING TO A NEW PROCESS.
NOW, IN THE BEGINNING, UH, WE STARTED LOOKING AT THIS ON A TIMELINE BASIS BECAUSE WE HAD TO UNDERSTAND WHAT HAPPENED AND WHEN IT HAPPENED AND WHY IT HAPPENED.
SO THE FOCUS IN THE ORIGINAL, AND WE, WE MIGHT OR MIGHT NOT STAY WITH THAT.
IT'LL BE UP TO DISCUSSION HERE WITH THE COMMITTEE.
BUT AGAIN, OUR CHARGE IS TO UNDERSTAND WHAT HAPPENED, EXPLAIN WHAT HAPPENED TO PEOPLE IN COMMON LANGUAGE, OKAY? AND THEN WHY IT HAPPENED, AND WHAT WE BELIEVE ARE SOME POSSIBLE, UH, OPPORTUNITIES, SOLUTIONS, WHATEVER WORD YOU WANNA PUT ON IT, THAT MIGHT BE TAKEN BY THE PEOPLE THAT ARE IN CHARGE OF THESE ENTITIES TO POTENTIALLY AND HOPEFULLY KEPT THIS FROM HAPPENING AGAIN.
SO, UH, WITH THAT, UH, IS THERE ANY GENERAL COMMENTS, UH, FROM THE GROUP? I'LL, I'LL START WITH ED HERE, AND THEN WE'LL JUST GO AROUND IF THERE'S JUST GENERAL COMMENTS ABOUT WHAT WE'RE GONNA DO TODAY.
AND THEN WE'LL GET INTO DISCUSSING THE STRUCTURE OF THE REPORT.
ANNA, MANNY, ANDREA, THAT WAS QUICK.
THAT'S ABOUT THE QUICKEST THING WE'VE DONE.
SO NOW LET'S TALK ABOUT THE STRUCTURE.
UM, AGAIN, BACK TO THE CONCEPT OF WHAT HAPPENED, WHY, AND THEN ONCE WE UNDERSTAND WHAT HAPPENED AND WHY, WHAT ARE SOME POTENTIAL SOLUTIONS? LET'S TALK ABOUT THAT AS A GENERAL OVER OVERVIEW.
I'M START OVER HERE ON THE LEFT WITH MANNY THIS TIME.
WITH REGARDS TO, REMEMBER OUR MANDATE WAS SAWS, RIGHT? RIGHT.
UM, AND SO WITH REGARDS TO WHAT HAPPENED, UM, YEAH.
AND, AND WHAT I WANT TO TELL YOU ABOUT, I'M GONNA LET CLAYTON GO FIRST AND I'LL TELL YOU WHY WE MADE A DEAL YESTERDAY.
CLAYTON GOES, CLAYTON GOES FIRST.
AND THEN, UH, CLAYTON, I DON'T WANNA STEAL YOUR THUNDER 'CAUSE I KNOW THAT YOU'VE BEEN WORKING ON THIS OPENING, UH, PREAMBLE.
JUST, JUST DO IT THE WAY YOU WANT.
UM, WE DID GIVE A SHOT AT, UM, THE STRUCTURE OF THIS.
I, I DON'T THINK WE WERE AT THAT POINT TO, I MEAN, WE PUT A DRAFT TOGETHER AND EVERYBODY HAS A COPY OF THAT.
IT, I DON'T THINK IT GOES, UH, INTO THE WHAT AND WHY RIGHT UP FRONT IN THE DOCUMENT.
UH, AND WE NEED TO FLESH THAT OUT A LITTLE BIT MORE TO YOUR POINT, TO GIVE AN OVERVIEW OF WHAT HAPPENED AND WHY IT
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SAWS.BUT THEN WE GO INTO THE ACTUAL RECOMMENDATIONS FOR WHAT WE SEE.
I I DON'T WANT THIS TO TURN INTO SUCH A HUGE, BIG DOCUMENT THAT NOBODY'S EVER GONNA LOOK AT.
I, I THINK WE NEED TO KEEP IT SHORT, CONCISE, GET TO THE POINTS, AND THEN MOVE ON AND SUBMIT THE REPORT, AND THEN WHATEVER HAPPENS AFTER THAT HAPPENS.
BUT, UM, I, I, I'D LIKE TO KEEP THIS AS SHORT AS POSSIBLE AND CONCISE, THAT, YOU KNOW, PEOPLE OPEN THIS THING UP AND SAY THIS, THIS IS TOO MUCH TO READ.
YOU KNOW, IT, IT'S, I'M NOT GONNA TAKE THE TIME TO GO THROUGH THIS ENTIRE DOCUMENT.
SO, UH, WE, WE PUT A SHORT INTRODUCTION TO WHAT OUR TASK WAS, BUT WE DIDN'T REALLY GET INTO THE WHAT AND WHY.
SO WE NEED, WE NEED TO WORK ON THAT A LITTLE BIT, BUT TO KEEP IT AS SHORT AND CONCISE AS POSSIBLE AND GET TO THE MEAT OF THE THING, WHICH, WHICH OUR TASK WAS, WAS TO, UH, UM, LOOK AT THE ISSUES.
AND I THINK ALL THE QUESTIONS ARE OUT THERE, AND THE ANSWERS ARE OUT THERE ALREADY.
I DON'T THINK WE NEED TO REPEAT THAT IN THE REPORT.
UH, THIS REPORT, WHAT THIS IS COMING UP WITH ARE THE RECOMMENDATIONS ON WHAT WE FEEL NEEDS TO BE DONE SO THAT THIS DOESN'T HAPPEN AGAIN IN THE FUTURE.
SO, I, I'M LOOKING AT THIS AS JUST A SHORT, AGAIN, INTRO AND THEN GETTING INTO THE RECOMMENDATIONS AND ALL THE REST OF THAT STUFF IS ALREADY ON THE PORTAL FOR PEOPLE TO GO IN AND TAKE A LOOK AT ALL THE QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS, UH, THAT HAVE BEEN GIVEN BY SAAS.
WELL, JUST, UH, BRIEFLY LOOKING AT Y'ALLS, YOU, YOU'VE ACTUALLY BROKEN IT DOWN INTO COMMUNICATIONS AND INFRASTRUCTURE AND THEN SOME ADDITIONAL CONSIDERATIONS.
SO, UM, I THINK IT'S WOULD BE PRETTY STRAIGHTFORWARD FOR YOU TO, UH, TALK ABOUT, UH, THE FAILURES IN INFRASTRUCTURE AND COMMUNICATION AND, AND WHAT HAPPENED, AND THEN PUT THESE RECOMMENDATIONS IN.
WE DON'T WANT A BIG LONG REPORT.
UH, IN SOME CASES THE REPORTS ARE GONNA BE DIFFERENT.
UH, YOUR REPORT, YOU'VE GOT THE BENEFIT OF BLACK AND VET'S WORK, IT'S ALREADY IN THERE.
PEOPLE THAT WILL AT SOME POINT IN TIME AFTER IT'S BEEN THROUGH THE BOARD, THAT'LL GET RELEASED IF THEY WANT MORE DATA.
SO I STILL BELIEVE IF WE CAN HAVE A SHORT, AND, AND I, AGAIN, THIS IS OUT FOR DISCUSSION, THAT IF WE HAVE A SHORT, UM, A PARAGRAPH OR TWO OF THIS IS WHAT HAPPENED.
OKAY? BECAUSE AGAIN, A LOT OF PEOPLE, AS ED HAS SAID, A LOT OF PEOPLE DON'T WANNA LOOK AT THE, HOW THIS WAS ALL MADE.
THEY JUST WANT TO KINDA LOOK AT, UM, AN INTRODUCTION OF THIS IS WHAT HAPPENED AND, AND A LITTLE BIT OF WHY IT HAPPENED, AND THEN THESE ARE THE SUGGESTIONS FOR KEEPING IT FROM HAPPENING AGAIN.
SO I, I THINK WE'RE, I THINK WE'RE, I THINK YOU'VE, YOU CAN DO THAT IN A VERY SHORT PERIOD, AND I AGREE WITH THAT, BUT I'M OPEN IF THERE'S ANYBODY ELSE HAS ANY.
AND IF I MAY FOLLOW UP ON, ON WHAT CLAYTON JUST LAID OUT, UM, WHAT CLAYTON, WHAT CLAYTON JUST LAID OUT FOR US, I, I, I THINK THERE'S NO MYSTERY, UM, THAT YOU CAN'T PUMP WATER WITHOUT ELECTRICITY, RIGHT? AND WE HAD THE SAWS FOLKS HERE.
UM, THERE REALLY WAS NO EQUIPMENT FAILURE ON A GRAND SCALE TO WHERE ONE CAN SAY, YOU KNOW, UM, SAWS WAS UNPREPARED FOR THIS, RIGHT? I MEAN, THERE'S ONLY ONE TECHNOLOGY THAT EXISTS ON THE PLANET FOR PIMPING, OR THERE'S TWO.
ONE IS GRAVITY AND THE OTHER ONE IS, UH, YOU KNOW, PUMPING.
RIGHT? AND AT, AT THIS STAGE, YOU KNOW, WE'VE GONE OVER IT AND OVER AND OVER IT AGAIN.
AND WHILE CERTAINLY HAS ROOM FOR OP, YOU KNOW, OPPORTUNITIES FOR IMPROVEMENT, LIKE ALL ORGANIZATIONS DO, UM, I THINK OUR REPORT IS GONNA BE SHORTER THAN THE REPORT THAT YOU'RE GONNA GET FROM, YOU KNOW, REGARDING THE C P S, UM, AREAS OF IMPROVEMENT, SIMPLY BECAUSE I THINK SAWS IS DEPENDENT UPON, UH, C P S, WHEREAS C P S IS NOT NECESSARILY DEPENDENT UPON SAWS IN ORDER TO OPERATE.
AND SO, UM, IF YOU'RE LOOKING FOR, UM, YOU KNOW, MYSTERIES TO BE UNCOVERED AND PALACE INTRIGUE OVER ITS SAWS AS FAR AS MANAGEMENT FAILURES AND ALL THAT, I THINK, I THINK YOU'RE GONNA BE DISAPPOINTED.
UH, AND, UH, YOU KNOW, I THINK THAT APPROPRIATELY, SO MOST OF THE ATTENTION IS GONNA BE PAID IN OUR REPORT, UH, TO E O C AND TO, UM, AND TO THE C P S FAILURES.
BUT, UM, AGAIN, NOT TRYING TO, UM, RIGHT, WELL, BUT NOT TRYING TO WIGGLE OUT OF NOT NOT TRYING TO WIGGLE OUT OF WHAT WE WERE TRYING TO DO.
UM, I MEAN, WE HAVE IDENTIFIED, AND I THINK MOST PEOPLE WILL LOOK AT OUR, AT OUR RECOMMENDATIONS.
WE HAVE IDENTIFIED, UM, YOU KNOW, AREAS OF IMPROVEMENT THAT I THINK ARE IMPORTANT TO MOST FOLKS AND THAT WOULD NOT HAVE, UM, RESULTED IN FAILURES OF WATER DELIVERY.
AND SO YOU'LL NOTICE FROM EVERYTHING THAT'S IN, IN OUR RECOMMENDATIONS, UM, THE WATER STILL WOULD'VE FAILED TO HAVE BEEN PUMPED.
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AT THE END OF THE DAY, UH, I THINK THAT'S GONNA BE ONE OF THE DIFFICULT RAW TRUTHS THAT YOU'RE GONNA SEE IN, IN, IN OUR REPORT.BUT ANYWAY, I HOPE THAT ANSWERED YOUR QUESTION.
YEAH, NO, THAT, THAT'S, I THINK THAT'S A FAIR STATEMENT.
IT, OR LISA, LISA IN, IN TERMS OF STRUCTURE, UM, I HAD PUT SOME THOUGHT BEHIND THAT BECAUSE AT THE END OF THE DAY, I KEEP REFLECTING BACK ON COMMENTS THAT ADRIANA MADE AND COMMENTS THAT DR.
MACKEY MADE ABOUT BEING ABLE TO GRAB THIS REPORT SOMETIME IN THE FUTURE.
SO THERE HAS TO BE AT LEAST A CERTAIN LEVEL OF CONTEXT TO THIS SO THAT SOMEONE WHO WASN'T INVOLVED UNDERSTANDS WHAT IT IS.
BUT I DO BELIEVE THAT CAN BE DONE VERY CONCISELY.
UM, AND THAT RESPONSIBILITY, BUT WOULD BE ON US.
BUT MY THOUGHT PROCESS WAS TO FOLLOW KIND OF A, A, A TYPICAL REPORT IN GIVING AN EXECUTIVE SUMMARY, BECAUSE SO MUCH IS HEAVY ON EITHER THE WEATHER, THE WINTER EVENT ITSELF, THEN C P S, THEN SAWS AND THE CITY THAT WE CAN TAKE THE BREVITY OF THE SAWS COMPONENT.
AND PERHAPS IN THAT OVERVIEW BACKGROUND SECTION, JUST DO THOSE TWO PARAGRAPHS OR WHAT IT TAKES TO LAY THAT OUT IN TERMS OF WHAT HAPPENED FROM A WHOLE CONTEXT.
BECAUSE WE'VE TALKED ABOUT PUTTING THIS IN THE BIG PICTURE OF UNDERSTANDING EVERYTHING.
UM, SO I THINK IF WE CAN LAY OUT THE FACTUAL BACKGROUND IN ONE CONTEXT, AND THEN HAVE EACH OF THE SEGMENTS THAT RE THAT ARE RESPONSIVE TO THE SEPARATE ENTITIES, THEN LAY OUT THOSE COM THOSE COMPONENTS AND THOSE REPORTS, BECAUSE SOME OF THEM ARE GONNA BE VERY DISTINCT.
WHAT THE E E O C HAS TO DISCUSS IS GONNA BE VERY DIFFERENT FROM WHAT C P SS SEGMENT IS GOING TO LOOK LIKE.
UM, SO I HAD JUST KIND OF RUN A SKELETAL, UM, FOR THOUGHT PROCESSES HERE.
UM, AND THAT WAS TO RUN WITH A BACKGROUND.
UM, WE'VE BEEN TRANSPARENT ABOUT THE METHODOLOGY THAT SHOULD ONLY TAKE ONE OR TWO SENTENCES TO SAY WHAT THE METHODOLOGY WOULD BE FOR THIS.
AND THEN THE FACTUAL INVESTIGATION ITSELF, IN TERMS OF WHAT WE'VE GATHERED AND LEARNED, WOULD BE THE SUM OF THE THREE DIFFERENT REPORTS BROKEN DOWN.
UM, AND IN MY MIND, IT WOULD PROBABLY HAPPEN THE WAY THAT EVENTS WERE TRIGGERED.
C P S FIRST SAW A SECOND E O C THIRD, UM, AND THEN WITH OUR RECOMMENDATIONS DETERMINATIONS AT THE END.
UM, SO I, YOU KNOW, I, I THINK THERE ARE MULTIPLE WAYS IN WHICH WE COULD STRUCTURE THIS THERE.
THERE'S MAYBE NOT A WRONG OR A RIGHT WAY.
THERE MIGHT BE A, YOU KNOW, A, A MORE EFFECTIVE WAY, UH, THAN ANOTHER WAY.
BUT I THINK THERE ARE MULTIPLE WAYS TO DO THIS.
AND I'M, AND I'M CERTAINLY, I'M CERTAINLY OPEN TO, YOU KNOW, WHAT, WHAT, UH, WHAT MAKES SENSE FOR THE GROUP.
UH, I WOULD SAY WITH RESPECT TO LISA'S COMMENTS THAT, UM, YOU KNOW, A, A BASIC DECISION ABOUT WHETHER, FOR EXAMPLE, WE COMPILE OR LIST ALL OF THE RECOMMENDATIONS AT THE END OF THE REPORT, WHICH IS WHAT I THINK I HEARD YOU SAY, OR EMBED THEM WITHIN EACH SUBSECTION.
EMBED, UM, I, I THINK, UH, I, I THINK IT, I, I WOULD SORT OF, UH, I WOULD, I THINK I WOULD LEAN MORE TOWARDS EMBEDDING THEM WITH EACH SECTION.
AGAIN, TRYING TO THINK ABOUT EASE OF USE OF THE REPORT.
THERE ARE PEOPLE WHO ARE ONLY INTERESTED MAYBE IN C P S, AND SO THEY COULD GO TO THE C P S SECTION AND THE C P S SECTION, IN MY JUDGMENT, SHOULD SORT OF TELL IT A MINI STORY HERE, RIGHT? TO YOUR POINT, THAT SOMEONE SHOULD BE ABLE TO GO TO EACH SECTION, HAVE THE CONTEXT OF WHAT HAPPENED, AND THEN BE ABLE TO PUT THE RECOMMENDATIONS IN THAT CONTEXT SO THAT THEY COULD WALK AWAY FROM THAT WITH, UH, YOU KNOW, A GENERAL UNDERSTANDING OF THE ISSUES.
I DO ALSO AGREE THAT WE'VE GOT ALL, YOU KNOW, THERE'S NO, THERE REALLY IS NO NEW, NEW HERE.
I DON'T THINK ALL OF THE DETAILS WE HAVE TALKED ABOUT EACH WEEK, UH, IN OUR SESSIONS BASED ON THE INFORMATION THAT WE HAVE GOTTEN FROM THE VARIOUS ENTITIES.
AND, AND THAT IS CONTAINED ON OUR WEBSITE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC.
AND SO, AS I THINK, UH, UH, CLAYTON SAID, I, THERE'S NO NEED TO SORT OF REGURGITATE THAT IN THE REPORT, BUT THE REPORT, AS LISA SAID, NEEDS TO BE A STANDALONE DOCUMENT THAT SOMEONE TODAY OR 10 YEARS FROM NOW COULD PICK UP AND READ AND DON'T, DOESN'T HAVE TO GO TO THE, UH, TO, TO THE WEBSITE TO, TO GET THE DETAIL.
IT, IT TELLS ITS OWN STORY AT A HIGH ENOUGH LEVEL, UM, THAT IT MAKES SENSE, BUT WITH ENOUGH GRANULARITY THAT IT, YOU KNOW, HAS HAS SOME, SOME HEF TO IT.
UM, AND, AND I THINK WE CAN DO THAT.
TO YOUR POINT, REID, I DON'T THINK THAT WE'RE FAR AWAY FROM THAT, UH, WITH RESPECT TO THE, THE INDIVIDUAL SECTIONS THAT HAVE BEEN WRITTEN.
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PUT ALL OF THIS TOGETHER, UH, I DO AGREE THAT UPFRONT WE SHOULD HAVE SOME SORT OF AN EXECUTIVE SUMMARY, UH, THAT TIES ALL THREE OF THE SECTIONS TOGETHER.THERE, THERE WAS A CASCADING SERIES OF EVENTS HERE.
SO I THINK WE NEED TO KIND OF DESCRIBE THE CONNECTION BETWEEN THOSE EVENTS.
IT, IT'S NOT, YOU KNOW, IT'S NOT, IT'S NOT, YOU KNOW, VERY COMPLEX.
BUT I, I DO THINK IN, JUST IN TERMS OF THE CONTEXT IN THE EXECUTIVE SUMMARY, WE NEED TO CONNECT ALL THREE OF THESE EVENTS TOGETHER.
UM, AND, YOU KNOW, I, I, YOU KNOW, UH, I, I THINK IT MAKES SOME SENSE TO COVER THE METHODOLOGY AS, AS LISA SAID, THAT'S PRETTY STRAIGHTFORWARD AND, AND SIMPLE AND ANY OTHER, YOU KNOW, SORT OF BACKGROUND INFORMATION THAT MIGHT BE RE RELEVANT.
AND THEN I THINK THAT EACH ONE OF THE SECTIONS, UM, AS YOU SAID, REED NEEDS TO HAVE SOME UPFRONT COMPONENT TO IT SO THAT IT PUTS THE RECOMMENDATIONS IN CONTEXT.
UM, AND I THINK IF WE DO THAT, THEN, THEN, YOU KNOW, WE'LL HAVE SERVED THE COMMUNITY.
WELL, UH, LEMME JUST ASK FOR CLARIFICATION HERE.
SO IF WE GO BACK TO THE, YEAH, IF WE GO BACK TO THE WHAT HAPPENED, WHY, AND WHAT WE'RE GONNA DO ABOUT IT, IF WE PUT THE, WHAT HAPPENED TO FOLLOW A LITTLE BIT ON WHAT CLAYTON AND LISA ARE SAYING, IF WE, IF WE PUT A, A CO A COMBINED WHAT HAPPENED, UM, UH, THAT MIGHT, THAT MIGHT SET THE CONTEXT, AND THEN WE COULD SHIFT TO EACH ONE OF THE DEALS AS TO WHY, OKAY, IT HAPPENED.
OKAY, THIS IS, THIS IS WHAT HAPPENED, THIS IS WHY IT HAPPENED IN EACH ONE OF THESE ENTITIES.
AND THEN WE COULD GO AND I LIKE EMBEDDING THE, THE, YOU KNOW, THE, THE RECOMMENDATIONS OR WHATEVER YOU WANNA CALL 'EM WITH THE WHAT HAPPENED, OR WE CAN KEEP 'EM SEPARATE IN A SEPARATE SECTION.
I STILL WANT TO HEAR FROM, FROM ANA AND RIHANNA.
I STILL WANNA HEAR FROM THEM, BUT I CAN SEE A A REAL, WE'RE SO FAMILIAR WITH IT.
WE LIVED THROUGH IT AND WE'VE BEEN SPENDING MONTHS HERE TALKING ABOUT IT.
WE MAYBE HAVE TO THINK ABOUT SOMEBODY THAT HASN'T AND WANTS TO PICK THIS, YOU KNOW, LET'S SAY 10 PAGE OR SO, DOCUMENT 15 PAGE DOCUMENT UP AND, AND READ IT AND SAY, OH, THIS IS WHAT HAPPENED AND, AND THIS IS WHY IT HAPPENED.
AND, UM, AND THEN, AND THEN THESE IS WHAT THEY RECOMMEND WE DO ABOUT IT.
I, I DON'T KNOW, BUT LET'S TALK ABOUT HAVING A UPFRONT SECTION TALKING ABOUT WHAT HAPPENED AS OPPOSED TO THREE SECTIONS AS TO WHAT HAPPENED.
I'LL GO START WITH ANNA AND THEN ADRIANA, YOU, ANNA, ANNA.
UH, I, I AGREE WITH SOME OF THE COMMENTS THAT WERE SAID THAT WE DO NEED TO SET, UH, CONTEXT.
YOU KNOW, AT SOME POINT, SOMEONE WHO IS NOT US WILL, WILL, WE HOPE WE'LL READ THIS REPORT AND MAYBE NOT JUST THIS YEAR, BUT MAYBE TWO OR OR THREE YEARS IN, IN THE FUTURE.
UH, SO PROVIDING THAT CONTEXT IS, IS IMPORTANT.
UM, I'M, I'M A LITTLE BIT HESITANT TO, TO JUST, UH, ASSUME PEOPLE WILL GO TO OUR WEBSITE AND FIND THE R F I.
SO I, I THINK MAYBE JUST A HAIR OF OF CONTEXT ON, ON EACH OF THOSE, IF WE ARE USING THEM TO BUILD OUR, OUR NARRATIVE OR OUR RECOMMENDATIONS, I THINK THAT MIGHT BE HELPFUL.
I, I THINK CITING 'EM YOU MADE THAT POINT YES.
SO IN OUR CASE, WE'RE GOING TO HAVE TO CITE CROSS-REFERENCE A LOT OF OUR FIS.
AND SO, AND I DON'T KNOW WHETHER IT'S THE CASE WITH THE OTHER TWO, BUT ON OURS, THE RFIS ARE GOT, HAVE GOT TO BE CITED.
I MEAN, WE JUST CAN'T REPEAT THOSE.
I MEAN, IF, IF I'M MAKING A STATEMENT, THEN WE'LL JUST SAY C R R F.
I MEAN, ARE YOU, ARE YOU TRYING TO REFERENCE THE QUESTION OR THE ANSWER? IT'S THE ANSWER TO THE R F I.
SO YOU'RE SAYING THAT THE ANSWER RESPONSE TO THE R F I PROVIDES ADDITIONAL INFORMATION THAT YOU'RE NOT GONNA PROVIDE? YEAH, BECAUSE IT'S PRETTY EXTENSIVE.
I MEAN, IF WE STARTED REPEATING ALL THE, ALL THAT SEND THE RESPONSES TO THE R F I, THE REPORT GETS WAY TOO LONG.
AND WE'D ALWAYS THOUGHT THAT WE'D HAVE THIS, THESE RFIS DISCLOSED ONLINE AND, AND NOW WITH OUR INDEX ABILITY OF 'EM.
THAT'S KIND OF WHAT I THINK, I DUNNO WHAT YOU WERE THINKING ABOUT.
IF, IF, IF THE READER WANTS A LITTLE BIT MORE INFORMATION.
I MEAN, WE, I THINK WE PROVIDE THE, IN THE DRAFT THAT, THAT YOU'LL SEE IN A FEW MINUTES.
WE PROVIDE ENOUGH CONTEXT, RIGHT? LIKE, UH, THIS PLANT WENT DOWN FOR THIS REASON, UH, BUT THERE'S MORE CONTEXT IN, IN, IN THE R F I.
SO, UH, I WAS THINKING THAT, UH, I WAS ALSO, I THINK IN TERMS OF WHAT HAPPENED, I THAT'S, THAT'S GOOD TO HAVE A COMPREHENSIVE
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WHAT HAPPENED, BUT THERE ARE MORE DETAILS ABOUT WHAT HAPPENED IN, IN, YOU KNOW, MAYBE INSIDE THE E O C OR, OR WHAT HAPPENED AT THIS C P S PLANT OR THAT C P S PLANT.SO, UH, I THINK IT'S STILL IMPORTANT TO GO INTO, UM, SOMETHING A LITTLE BIT MORE GRANULAR IN EACH OF THE REPORTS IF, IF THE AUTHORS CHOOSE.
UH, LASTLY, I THINK IT'S IMPORTANT FOR SOMEONE AND I, I GUESS I COULD VOLUNTEER MY, MY TEAM OR, OR MAYBE THOSE NICE GENTLEMEN SITTING ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE ROOM TO
I THINK IT'S IMPORTANT TO GO BACK AND INCLUDE THAT TIMELINE ABOUT KEY KEY ELEMENTS.
WE SAW IT FROM C P S, BUT WE DO NEED AN INTEGRATED ONE.
AND NUMBER TWO, WE WILL HAVE OVERLAPPING RECOMMENDATIONS.
AND I, I THINK WE SHOULD TALK ABOUT HOW TO, UH, ADDRESS THOSE AS, AS WELL.
SO CURIOUS TO HEAR WHAT, WHAT YOU GUYS THINK.
AND SO ONE OF THE, THE, AND BY THE WAY, THE SAS RECOMMENDATIONS, THE AFTER ACTION REPORT, I LIKE THE WAY THAT THEY, UM, SET UP THEIR INTRO, IF YOU WILL.
AND SO ANY, I I'M, I'M SURE WE HAVE TO HAVE ONE VOICE, RIGHT? AND I TELL MY STUDENTS THIS, ALL, ALL STUDENTS THIS ALL THE TIME, RIGHT? AND SO EVERYBODY'S WORKING ON SOMETHING, BUT AT THE END OF THE DAY, SOMEBODY HAS TO PUT IT TOGETHER.
AND, AND MANNY JUST REACHED OVER EARLIER AND HE'S LIKE, WHO, WHO'S GONNA WRITE THIS? AND SO, UM, AND THIS AS ONE VOICE.
AND SO THEN I THOUGHT, OKAY, WELL MAYBE STAFF, BUT THEN THAT WOULD BE KIND OF LIKE OURSELVES.
AND SO I DON'T KNOW THAT THAT SITS WELL WITH THE PUBLIC, RIGHT? AND SO THEN THE RECOMMENDATION OF, WELL, OUR STAFFS, UM, BECAUSE THEY'RE, UH, HIRED THROUGH THE L G C NOW COULD DO IT.
THAT DOESN'T SIT WELL WITH ME EITHER, BECAUSE IT'S STILL INTERNAL.
SO MY QUESTION, I GUESS IS, WELL, DO WE HAVE TO HAVE SOMEONE FROM THE OUTSIDE NOW? LIKE EVEN FROM OUTSIDE OF US, ALTHOUGH WE DID THE RESEARCH, OR IS IT OKAY FOR US TO WORK ON IT COLLECTIVELY? LIKE ALL OF US? I'M JUST REALLY, UM, TRYING TO MAKE SURE THAT WE ARE CAREFUL ABOUT WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE, RIGHT? WHAT THE PERCEPTION LOOKS LIKE, AND THEN A PROCESS QUESTION.
I HAVE A LOT OF, UM, QUESTIONS AND WE'RE, UH, ON THE SAW RECOMMENDATIONS.
SO ARE WE GONNA TAKE THESE INDIVIDUALLY IN A LITTLE BIT? OKAY, PERFECT.
SO, BUT WE'RE, WE'RE GONNA FIGURE OUT WHAT WE'RE PUTTING THEM IN FIRST.
THOSE ARE ALRIGHT, WE'LL TAKE MANNY AND THEN THANK YOU.
UM, BECAUSE A COUPLE OF COMMENTS.
ONE, I I DO THINK IT'S IMPORTANT AS WE, AS WE DRAFT WHATEVER, YOU KNOW, UH, FRONT, UH, SUMMARY OF, UH, OF WHAT HAPPENED THAT WE NOT FORGET THAT IT'S NOT JUST EQUIPMENT FAILURES OR SYSTEM FAILURES.
WHAT HAPPENED IS, IS THAT A LOT OF PEOPLE WERE HURT AND, UM, PEOPLE DIED.
UM, AND I DO THINK THAT THERE, WE NEED TO INCLUDE IN THERE RECOGNITION THAT REAL HUMAN BEINGS WERE HURT IN THIS ONE.
AND THAT, UM, YOU KNOW, A LOT OF PEOPLE SUFFERED THROUGH THIS, RIGHT? BECAUSE I DON'T WANT THIS TO BE SOME SORT OF ANTISEPTIC DOCUMENT THAT, YOU KNOW, IS FREE OF LIKE THE REAL, THE REAL THINGS THAT REALLY HAPPEN TO OUR MOST VULNERABLE TO, UM, I I I I SHARE YOUR CONCERN, RIGHT? OKAY.
SO WHO WRITES THIS PREAMBLE? WHO, WHO DOES, UH, YOU KNOW, WHAT'S INCLUDED, WHAT'S NOT? UM, THAT'S AN IMPORTANT DISCUSSION TO HAVE.
I, ALEX WE WERE, WE WERE JUST WHISPERING TO EACH OTHER THAT, YOU KNOW, WHO SHOULD DRAFT THIS THING? AND, YOU KNOW, SOMEBODY SAID, JUST GIVE IT TO ALEX.
SHE CAN WRITE THE COOL REPORT, RIGHT? BUT I, I THINK IT WOULD BE INAPPROPRIATE TO HAVE CITY STAFF WRITE A REPORT THAT, YOU KNOW, IS CRITICAL OF SOME CITY STAFF, YOU KNOW, UH, EXECUTION AND PLANS AND STRATEGIES, WHATEVER IT IS, RIGHT? UM, I CERTAINLY WOULDN'T ASK SAWS OR C P S TO WRITE THIS REPORT SO THAT IT THEN, YOU KNOW, THE CHOICE IS, WELL, WHICH ONE OF US DOES IT, RIGHT? WE'VE GOT SOME CHOICES, RIGHT? TO HELP WRITE THE PREAMBLE, WRITE THE REPORT, PUT IT ALL TOGETHER, AND SYNTHESIZE ALL THESE THOUGHTS.
AND, YOU KNOW, ONE OF 'EM WOULD BE TO HAVE THE FOUR CHIEFS OF STAFF, YOU KNOW, GET IN A ROOM AND COME UP WITH A GOOD DRAFT.
AND YET YOU, YOU KNOW, YOU EXPLAINED THE, THE SITUATION I KNOW OF, UH, ANOTHER OPTION, UH, FROM TIME TO TIME, WE, AT THE CITY OF SAN ANTONIO HAVE PAID, UH, TO HAVE A BRILLIANT ATTORNEY COME UP WITH REPORTS SYNTHESIZING THE RESULTS OF INVESTIGATIONS.
SHE JUST HAPPENS TO BE SITTING THERE.
UH, AND, UH, YOU KNOW, UH, I THINK, I MEAN, I, I HATE VOLUNTEERING YOU AND ASKING YOU TO DO MORE THAN YOU KNOW, YOU'VE BEEN ASKED TO DO.
BUT I'D LOVE IT IF YOU TOOK THE, THE LEAD ON SOMETHING LIKE THAT.
BUT, AND I JUST PUT THAT OUT THERE FOR DISCUSSION.
'CAUSE I MEAN, OF ALL OF US, YOU, YOU'RE PROBABLY THE SUBJECT MATTER EXPERT ON HOW TO DO SOMETHING LIKE THIS.
YOUR NAME'S BEEN INVOKED, SO PLEASE SPEAK.
MY NAME WAS INVOKED AT OUR FIRST MEETING.
SO, UM, I, I ACTUALLY ASKED THIS QUESTION, I THINK IN THE VERY, VERY BEGINNING OF THIS PROCESS.
UM, AND EXPRESSED THE CONCERN THAT THIS BODY WAS CHARGED WITH THIS RESPONSIBILITY, AND THE ONLY APPROPRIATE AUTHOR HAS TO BE THIS BODY.
[00:25:02]
I HAVE WARNED MY FAMILY AND AM RELUCTANT TO TAKE ON THIS CHARGE.UM, BUT I'M WILLING TO THROW DOWN A LITTLE BIT MORE TIME WITH THIS, WITH THIS CAVEAT BECAUSE IN ORDER TO REALLY UNDERSTAND THE PERSONALITY OF THE, OF OUR BODY, I NEED THE, UH, THE RESPECTIVE AUTHORSHIPS.
I THINK THAT THAT'S, IM IMPORTANT IN ORDER FOR THAT TO HAPPEN.
AND I'M NOT SAYING THAT I'M THE ONLY ONE WHO'S CAPABLE OF DOING THIS IN THIS ROOM.
UM, AND MANY OF YOU HAVE HEARD OF TRACK CHANGES, SO
BUT I WOULD, MY CONCEPT WAS TO TAKE SOME OF THESE PIECES AND GO AHEAD AND DO SOME DIVISION OF LABOR.
SO WE'VE GOT OUR SUBGROUPS FOR THE THREE PIECES AND ANGLES.
UM, I THINK THAT IT WOULD BE APPROPRIATE IF WE COULD GET STAFF ASSISTANCE ON THE TIMELINE.
TO ME, WE'VE, WE'VE TALKED ABOUT THE VALUE OF THAT ALL THE WAY ALONG.
THAT WOULD BE APPROPRIATE IN MY MIND AS AN EXHIBIT FOR CONSIDERATION, SO THAT YOU CAN MAKE THAT REFERENCE POINT.
SO WHATEVER YOU ARE CITING, IF SOMEBODY'S INTERESTED IN IT, THERE'S AN EXHIBIT TO THE REPORT WITHOUT PUTTING ALL OF THAT DEPTH INTO THE BODY OF WORK, WHICH WE WANNA KEEP AS CONCISE AS POSSIBLE.
UM, BUT IF WE CAN GET SOME DIVISION OF LABOR.
AND ACTUALLY, UM, ED, YOU AND I ARE ON THE, WE'RE ACTUALLY ON THE SAME VEIN.
I HAVE NEVER SEEN A REPORT WHERE YOU DIDN'T KIND OF BUILD IN YOUR RECOMMENDATIONS AS YOU GO.
IT'S JUST AN END SUMMARY TO GO WITH THE FRONT SUMMARY SO THAT THE ORGANIZATION THAT HAS THE RESPONSIBILITY OF ACTION ITEMS CAN GO STRAIGHT TO THE BOTTOM RATHER THAN PICK THEM ALL OUT FROM THE OTHER PARTS OF THE PAPER.
UM, BUT I, I THINK IT NEEDS TO HAVE, IT HAS TO HAVE THIS COMMITTEE'S VOICE TO IT, I THINK, TO HAVE THE CREDIBILITY OF WHAT YOU'VE BEEN DOING FOR THIS TRANSPARENCY THROUGH THIS WHOLE PROCESS.
UH, FROM WHAT ANNA HAVE DONE, ANNA AND I HAVE DONE IS, UM, WE HAVE A DOCUMENT THAT, THAT, UH, SOMEONE COULD TAKE AND, AND PROBABLY UNDERSTAND WHAT HAPPENED, UM, ALMOST ON A STANDALONE BASIS.
WE DID HAVE TO GO INTO SOME, UM, UH, SOME TIMELINE AREAS, UH, WHERE IT AFFECTED DECISIONS AND, AND CAUSED PROBLEMS. UH, BECAUSE, UH, USING AVERAGES AND, UH, PERIOD, UH, EVENT PERIOD, UM, SUMMARIES, UH, DOESN'T REALLY HIGHLIGHT WHAT HAPPENED WHEN AND WHAT COST US WHEN IT HAPPENED.
UH, SO IN OURS, IT'S, IT'S BY NATURE OF IT HAS GOT TO BE A LITTLE MORE DETAILED.
I BELIEVE IT'S INCUMBENT UPON ON, AND I AS THE FOLKS THAT ARE TWO THAT ARE WORKING ON THE C P S, THAT WE, WE PRESENT A DOCUMENT THAT CAN THEN BE TAKEN AND, AND WORKED INTO A OVERALL DOCUMENT.
I, I, I DON'T KNOW, DO YOU HAVE A COMMENT ON THAT? AM I SPEAKING OUT OF TURN HERE OR? OKAY.
SO, SO I THINK, WE'LL, WE'LL, AS SOON AS IT GETS PRINTED, IT, IT'S GOT A LOT OF, I GUESS THEY'RE GONNA BURN SOME PRINTER UP SOMEWHERE ON THIS THING.
BUT, UH,
AND, YOU KNOW, WE'VE HAD TREMENDOUS HELP FROM, FROM, UH, RUSSELL AND, AND HIS STAFF AND, AND JEFF OVER THERE HELPING US PULL ALL THESE NUMBERS TOGETHER.
'CAUSE THERE ARE A LOT OF NUMBERS, UH, THAT HAVE TO COME TOGETHER TO GET THIS UNDERSTOOD.
UM, SO I, I BELIEVE THAT WE CAN GIVE YOU AN AUTHORED DOCUMENT THAT YOU CAN WORK WITH, IF THAT'S WHAT YOU'RE ASKING FOR.
BUT PLEASE, I'M, I'M NOT PURPOSELY ASKING FOR ANYTHING
BUT I KNOW YOU, YOU'RE SAYING WHAT YOU NEED AND THAT'S FINE.
I NEED TO KNOW
UM, THAN ANY OTHER PIECE OF THIS.
UM, BUT THE THOUGHT PROCESS IS TO PUT SOMETHING TOGETHER AND THEN WITHIN THIS GROUP, UM, EVERYONE'S EYES ON THINGS, BUT MAYBE A SMALLER WORKING GROUP.
UM, SO TRY TO PUT THE MEAT ON IT.
BUT YOU HAVE A COUPLE OF KEY PEOPLE WHO ARE GONNA MAKE SURE THAT THEY HELP TIMELY LOOK AT A DRAFT.
SO I DON'T KNOW, ANNA, IF, YOU KNOW, LOOKING AT THAT AND, AND ED, I KNOW YOU DO INVESTIGATIONS ALL THE TIME AS WELL.
YOU KNOW, SOME, SOME OTHER FRESH EYES TO MAKE SURE THAT WHATEVER WE'RE SEEMING TOGETHER.
SO IF EVERY INDIVIDUAL GROUP IS BRINGING ITS BEST, BRINGING ITS BEST FINAL PRODUCT, THEN IT CAN BE BROUGHT TOGETHER.
WELL, I THINK YOU'RE, YOU'RE, YOU'RE REALLY HITTING ON SOMETHING THERE, BECAUSE WHEN I WROTE UP THE FIRST DRAFT AND, AND ANA HAD DONE SOME WORK ON HER PART OF IT, IT, YOU READ IT, YOU KNOW WHAT YOU'RE SAYING, IT DOESN'T NECESSARILY TRANSLATE TO OTHER PEOPLE.
SO IT HAS TO BE READ AND HAS TO BE REVIEWED BY OTHER PEOPLE THAT DIDN'T WRITE IT.
[00:30:01]
AND, AND THAT'S JUST PART OF THE PROCESS.SO, UM, I'M VERY COMFORTABLE WITH, WITH DOING THAT.
UM, IS THIS, YEAH, THIS IS, THIS IS IT.
OH, IT DIDN'T PRINT THE TITLE HERE.
I STILL GOT THAT SAME PROBLEM.
ANYWAY, WE'LL, WE'LL DEAL WITH THAT IN A MINUTE.
UM, SO IF WE, IF IF WE, EACH ONE OF THE THREE GROUPS PROVIDES A, A, A DOCUMENT THAT WE THINK IS FAIRLY COMPLETE FOR OUR SECTION, WOULD THAT THEN BE ABLE TO BE TAKEN AND INCORPORATED INTO A SINGLE DOCUMENT OR, OH, YES.
AND I MEAN, YOU KNOW, THE BEAUTY ABOUT TECHNOLOGY IS THAT, YOU KNOW, GETTING A SOFT COPY OF EVERYBODY'S WORK.
UM, AND THEN PERHAPS WHAT WE CAN DO FOR LIGHTNING THE LOAD IS ONCE WE'VE GOT OUR DRAFT AND WE'RE STILL WORKING ON REFINEMENT, WE CAN GET SOME SUPPORT FOR FORMATTING CLEANUP BECAUSE EVERYBODY'S PROBABLY GONNA BE USING SOMETHING SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT IN ORDER TO GET EVERYTHING CONFORMED IN THE SAME DOCUMENT.
BUT THAT, I MEAN, THAT'S, THAT'S A PROCESS.
UM, ONE, UM, IT, IT SEEMS TO ME WE'RE TALKING ABOUT THREE DIFFERENT ISSUES HERE.
WE'RE COMBINING THEM, BUT THEY'RE ALL CONNECTED.
UH, ONE IS, YOU KNOW, WHAT'S GONNA BE THE STRUCTURE OF THE REPORT.
TWO IS WHAT IS GOING TO BE THE CONTENT THAT GOES IN THE REPORT.
AND, AND THREE IS WHAT'S THE PROCESS BY WHICH WE ARE GOING TO COMBINE THOSE TWO INTO A REPORT? RIGHT.
UM, AND, AND I THINK WE HAVE TO MAKE, YOU KNOW, DECISIONS ON EACH ONE OF THOSE, RIGHT? UH, AND I THINK WE'RE, WE'RE, WE'RE GETTING CLOSE, RIGHT? SO, YOU KNOW, IF LISA IS WILLING TO SORT OF, YOU KNOW, LEAD THE PROCESS PIECE OF THIS WITH RESPECT TO HOW WE COMBINE ALL OF THIS WITH HELP FROM US, AND, UH, I THINK IT'S, YOU KNOW, I DO THINK THAT THERE'S A ROLE IF SHE NEEDS IT FOR SORT OF ADMINISTRATIVE STAFF HELP ON SOME OF THIS.
I MEAN, SHE SHOULD BE DOING ONLY THOSE THINGS THAT SHE NEEDS TO DO.
I I DO THINK WE SHOULD IDENTIFY SOME SORT OF ADMINISTRATIVE, YOU KNOW, SUPPORT FOR HER TO DO THAT.
AND, AND ALEX, YOU KNOW, IS, IS IS HAPPY TO DO THAT.
AND I PERSONALLY DON'T THINK THAT'S A CONFLICT OF INTEREST.
SHE'S BEEN OUR ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORT THE WHOLE TIME.
UH, AND I DON'T THINK ANYBODY, UH, YOU KNOW, IT, IT'S OUR REPORT.
AND AT THE END OF THE DAY, OUR NAMES WILL BE ON IT AND WE WILL CERTIFY THE CONTENT OF IT.
AND, AND I THINK ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORT TO HELP US GET THERE IS APPROPRIATE.
SO I, I WOULD, I WOULD ASK FOR THAT.
SO I THINK THE, THE PROCESS PIECE OF THIS IS, IS, IS ON TRACK.
I THINK THE STRUCTURE PIECE OF IT, AS I SAID IN THE BEGINNING, THERE, THERE ARE LOTS OF DIFFERENT WAYS TO COMPILE THE STRUCTURE.
UH, I THINK, UH, LISA HAS, OR, YOU KNOW, SORT OF PUT ON THE TABLE A REASONABLE STRUCTURE FOR THE REPORT.
UH, AND SINCE SHE'S GOING TO TAKE THE LEAD ON THE PROCESS PIECE, I'M HAPPY TO DEFER TO HER SORT OF, UH, FRAMEWORK, IF YOU WILL,
WELL, NO, I'VE SEEN IT BEFORE.
SO, I MEAN, I'M NOT, THIS IS NOT, I'M JUST TRYING TO MOVE US FORWARD HERE WITHOUT, YOU KNOW, HAVING A MILLION DIFFERENT IDEAS ABOUT SOMETHING THAT'S REALLY, I THINK AT THE END OF THE DAY GOING TO SERVE US WELL.
SO I THINK WHAT YOU HAVE SAID MAKES SENSE TO ME IN TERMS OF THE STRUCTURE OF THE REPORT.
UM, AND WE'LL TOUCH ALL OF THE, THE KEY BASES THAT WE NEED TO TOUCH ON AND, AND I THINK WE REALLY HAVEN'T COMPLETE, WELL, MAYBE WE HAVE, RIGHT? SO IF, IF, IF THE IDEA IS IN TERMS OF CONTENT TO ENSURE THAT EACH, YOU KNOW, THAT, THAT THERE IS AN, AN UPFRONT PIECE THAT PUTS THE WHOLE THING INTO CONTEXT, AND THEN EACH INDIVIDUAL SECTION CLEARLY EXPLAINS, YOU KNOW, SORT OF WHAT HAPPENED, UH, AND WHY, AND CONTAINS RECOMMENDATIONS TO ADDRESS THE, THE WHAT HAPPENED AND WHY, THEN I THINK THAT'S THE, THE CONTENT PIECE OF IT.
I GUESS THE ONLY OTHER QUESTION SLASH COMMENT I WOULD HAVE HAS TO DO WITH THE TIMELINE.
AND I PERSONALLY HAVE CHANGED MY PERSPECTIVE ON THE TIMELINE FROM WHEN WE STARTED THIS, WHERE I THOUGHT A TIMELINE WOULD BE IMPORTANT TO PUT EACH ONE OF THE SECTIONS IN A SORT OF CONNECTED CONTEXT.
UH, I'M NOT SURE THAT THAT'S, I, I, I THINK WE, LET ME PUT IT THIS WAY.
I THINK AN ALTERNATIVE APPROACH WOULD BE IN, IN THE UPFRONT EXECUTIVE SUMMARY, UM, TO, TO MAKE THAT CONNECTION IN A HIGH LEVEL SENSE, UH, UH, AND, AND SORT OF FOREGO THE ATTEMPT TO, IN A MORE DETAILED WAY, CONNECT, YOU KNOW, INDIVIDUAL EVENTS THAT HAPPENED IN THE THREE PLACES.
BECAUSE I'M NOT SURE THAT THAT REALLY HELPS PEOPLE TO UNDERSTAND WHAT HAPPENED
[00:35:01]
AND WHY.I MEAN, IT'S, IT'S ALMOST GONNA BE ALL OF THESE INDIVIDUAL EVENTS THAT ARE INTERESTING, BUT NOT NECESSARILY PROVIDE, UH, THAT THEY DON'T NECESSARILY PROVIDE UNDERSTANDING, UH, OF, OF THE, THE BIGGER PICTURE THAT WE COULD PROVIDE IN A NARRATIVE.
SO I, I THINK TRYING TO DO THE INTEGRATED TIMELINE IS GOING TO CREATE, UH, UH, TO GET IT RIGHT AND, AND TO DO IT IN, YOU KNOW, IN, IN AN ACCURATE WAY IS GOING TO NOT BE A, A SIMPLE TASK.
AND I'M JUST NOT SURE THAT THE JUICE WILL BE WORTH THE SQUEEZE FOR THAT PIECE AT THE END OF THE DAY.
I AGREE WITH THAT, UM, FOR A COUPLE REASONS, BECAUSE WHEN, WHEN A TIMELINE IS IMPORTANT, I THINK IT'S MORE RELEVANT INTO THE INDIVIDUAL, UH, GROUP.
SO IF, IF I HAD SOMETHING, FOR EXAMPLE, I'M SORRY WE HANDED THIS THING OUT, BUT JUST FOR AN EXAMPLE ON PAGE THREE, IF Y'ALL WANNA LOOK AT, THIS IS AN EXAMPLE ON PAGE THREE.
WE'VE GOT A CHART THERE, AND IT'S GOT THE TOP BOX.
THAT'S REALLY WHEN THE P U C PRICE ORDER WAS ON.
AND IT STARTED AT, AT, AT, UM, UH, AT 10, UH, 10:15 PM ON THE 15TH, AND IT ENDED AT 9:00 AM ON THE 19TH.
THAT'S THOSE TWO LINES AT THE TOP, SORRY.
FOR SOME REASON IT'S NOT PRINTING, WE DON'T KNOW.
BUT THEN IF YOU LOOK AT THE, THE DOTTED LINE, THAT'S A LOAD SHED REQUIREMENT.
AND, AND IT ENDED AT, AT 12:42 AM REAL EARLY IN THE MORNING ON THE 18TH.
THIS IS A VERY IMPORTANT TIMELINE, BUT IT, IF IT WAS SHOWN SOMEWHERE ELSE IN A TIMELINE, LIKE ED'S SAYING IT WOULDN'T BE IN CONTEXT AND PEOPLE JUST WOULDN'T BE ABLE TO PUT IT AND RELATED TO WHAT HAPPENED.
SO I THINK WE'RE, THERE IS A, A NEED FOR A TIMELINE.
UH, IT CAN BE WORKED IN THE INDIVIDUAL'S DEAL.
I DON'T KNOW WHAT Y'ALL THINK, BUT THAT'S KIND OF WHAT I'M, I'M THINKING.
AND, AND TO YOUR POINT ABOUT THE DOCUMENT, I AGREE WITH, WITH EACH OF YOU, MY, MY CHALLENGE WAS, AND THIS WAS A, A QUESTION THAT I HAD INTENDED TO POSE, WAS ABOUT, UM, A LARGER EXPECTATION AND UNDERSTANDING BEYOND THE PEOPLE WHO ARE GONNA BE TASKED WITH THE ACTION, BUT TO THE COMMUNITY, THAT'S LIKE, WHAT THE HECK HAPPENED? MM-HMM.
UM, AND TWO ASPECTS OF THAT COME TO MIND FOR ME.
I MAY BE INTERESTED IN THIS REPORT, OR I MAY NOT REALLY CARE ABOUT THE REPORT.
I'M GONNA WAIT AND SEE WHAT MY GOVERNMENT DOES, BUT I WANNA SEE WHAT HAPPENED IN THE TIMELINE MM-HMM.
UM, SO I'VE KIND OF LOCKED ON THE TIMELINE BASED ON THE QUESTIONS THAT CAME FROM THE COMMUNITY OF PROVIDING AN ANSWER.
UM, SO I, I DO NOT SEE IT AS BEING STRONG IN VALUE TO THE PURPOSE OF OUR CHARGE IN TERMS OF THE RESPONSE OF A DOCUMENT AND RECOMMENDATIONS.
BUT I'M TRYING TO BALANCE THAT AGAINST THE HIGH VALUE OF THE FEEDBACK WE GOT IN THE FIRST WEEK AND A HALF OF THE VALUE OF THAT TIMELINE AND WHERE THAT COMES INTO PLAY AND WHETHER OR NOT, UM, THAT WAS, UH, BEGINNING PROCESS FOR US, OR IF THAT WAS A RESPONSE TO, TO THE HUMAN NATURE OF WANTING TO UNDERSTAND THE, THE ENVIRONMENT AS A WHOLE.
MAY I, I, I WOULD JUST QUICKLY SAY, YOU KNOW, I, WE MAY BE TALKING PAST EACH OTHER A LITTLE BIT HERE.
I MEAN, THERE'S A TIMELINE AND THERE'S A TIMELINE, RIGHT? I MEAN, THERE, THERE'S A TIMELINE THAT, UH, SORT OF GOES INTO SEQUENCES OF EVENTS AT A, AT A FAIRLY HIGH LEVEL THAT SOMEONE COULD, COULD, COULD SORT OF LOOK AT AND, AND UNDERSTAND, YOU KNOW, WHEN THE PREPARATIONS FOR THIS BEGAN, WHEN THEY STARTED TO RAMP UP WHAT EACH ONE OF THE ENTITIES WAS DOING ALONG THOSE, YOU KNOW, THOSE SORT OF POINTS.
AND THEN BRINGS US TO THE TERMINATION OF THE EVENT.
THERE, THERE'S ANOTHER TIMELINE THAT GETS INTO, YOU KNOW, MUCH MORE DETAIL ABOUT WHAT WAS HAPPENING IN EACH ONE OF THOSE PLACES.
AND, AND I, I THINK THE FORMER IS, UH, IS, YOU KNOW, IS FINE, BUT I, I WOULD PUSH BACK ON THE LADDER.
GENERALLY SPEAKING, AND AGAIN, IN OUR, OUR WORK, I, I WERE WORKING ON, WE HAD TO KEEP EVERYTHING IN A TIMELINE, OKAY? WE DEFINED THE EVENT FROM THE NINTH AND 19TH, AND ALMOST ALL OF OUR WORK LOOKS AT WHAT HAPPENS BETWEEN THE NINTH AND THE 19TH.
UH, BECAUSE AGAIN, IF PEOPLE WANT TO UNDERSTAND, UM, THIS PART OF IT, IT, IT HAS TO BE TEMPORAL.
I MEAN, YOU CAN'T, UH, YOU, YOU CAN'T.
BUT BACK ON THE OTHER POINT, AND THEN I'LL PASS IT TO MANNY BACK ON THE OTHER POINT, SOME OF OUR WORK, ACTUALLY,
[00:40:01]
IF YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT A TIMELINE, IT STARTED BACK IN 1999, 2000 WHEN, WHEN THE LEGISLATURE CHANGED THE, THE GAME.OKAY? AND WE HAVE TO MENTION THAT BECAUSE WE HAVE TO, IN OURS, AND I DON'T KNOW WHETHER THIS GOES IN THE FIRST PART OR IT GOES IN THE INDIVIDUAL PART, BUT WE HAVE TO TALK ABOUT AND PUT IT IN CONTEXT, WHAT PLAYING FIELD MM-HMM.
AND THAT IS A MIXED, A MIXED FIELD OF SOME PEOPLE THAT ARE REGULATED, UH, UTILITIES LIKE OURSELVES AND THE RES AND SOME OF US THAT ARE, SOME OF THE FOLKS THAT ARE IN THERE THAT ARE JUST POWER PRODUCERS SELLING POWER, UM, TO ANYBODY THAT'LL BUY IT AT THE CHEAPEST PRICE THEY CAN GET IT.
SO IF YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND WHO'S THERE AND WHAT'S HAPPENING TO ERCOT AND THE RESERVE MARGIN, YOU CAN'T UNDERSTAND WHY WE STEPPED INTO THIS THING AND WHY IT MESSED UP SO BAD.
SO ON A TIMELINE BASIS, I DON'T KNOW WHERE THAT GOES, BUT WE CAN'T, WE CAN'T DO IT WITHOUT EXPLAINING WHERE WE WERE IN, IN AND WHAT WE WERE TRYING TO DO BECAUSE WE WERE SO GOVERNED BY WHAT ERCOT MADE US DO.
AND WHAT ERCOT AND THE P AND THE P U C THROUGH ERCOT DID TO THE PRICING SYSTEM.
SO THERE'S SOME THINGS THAT WITHOUT EXPLAINING THOSE ON A, ON A TIMELINE BASIS, VERY DETAILED, NOT ON A GENERAL ONE, LIKE TALKING ABOUT YOU JUST CAN'T UNDERSTAND WHAT HAPPENED.
I MEAN, IT'S JUST NOT, YOU KNOW, IT'S JUST HARD TO UNDERSTAND IT BECAUSE IF YOU DON'T PUT IT, THIS HAPPENED AND THEN THAT HAPPENED, THERE'S SOME CAUSE AND EFFECT, AND THE CAUSE IS OBVIOUSLY BEFORE THE EFFECT.
BUT IF YOU JUST TALK ABOUT THE EFFECT, YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND THE CAUSE.
AND THAT'S WHY IRIS HAS TO SO MUCH TIME.
IT, JUST LISTENING TO THIS CONVERSATION, IT SOUNDS TO ME LIKE, UM, ERRING ON THE SIDE OF MORE TIMELINE THAN LESS TIMELINE IS, IS MIGHT, UH, SERVE THE PUBLIC MORE.
UH, AND I, UH, I DON'T THINK WE'LL BE FAULTED FOR, YOU KNOW, GIVING, LOOKING AT MORE INFORMATION AND REPORTING ON MORE INFORMATION THAN LESS.
AND SO, UH, IT JUST MEANS A LITTLE EXTRA WORK ON OUR PART.
BUT, UM, I, I DON'T MIND HAVING AS ROBUST A TIMELINE AS POSSIBLE, UM, SO THAT, BECAUSE EVERYBODY'S GONNA COME TO THIS REPORT IS GONNA BE LOOKING FOR SOMETHING DIFFERENT, RIGHT? AND I DON'T WANT, AND I WANT THEIR INTERESTS REFLECTED, UH, IN THIS REPORT, I WANT THEM TO LOOK AT THE REPORT AND SAY, OKAY, LOOK, I'M THERE.
UM, AND THE REPORT IS SPEAKING TO ME.
AND, UH, I THINK THE REPORT SPEAKS TO EVERYBODY IF YOU DO A ROBUST TIMELINE, TIMELINE.
BUT, UM, ANYWAY, I'LL, I'LL LET YOU GUYS DISCUSS.
UH, AND, AND I'M, YOU KNOW, I'M FINE.
SO I'M EASY HERE IF WE WANT TO HAVE A TIMELINE.
UH, WHAT I WOULD SUGGEST AS A WAY FORWARD IS, IN MY VIEW AT THIS POINT, THERE'S AN ADMINISTRATIVE FUNCTION JUST TO SORT OF GATHER ALL OF THE, SO WE HAVE A TIMELINE FROM THE E O C, I KNOW WE HAVE ONE FROM C P S, YOU KNOW, SOMEONE, I THINK WHOEVER OUR ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORT IS, ALEX
AND IT'S GONNA REQUIRE SOMEBODY TO SIT DOWN WITH A PENCIL AND, UH, WEAR THAT PENCIL DOWN TO A NUB AND THEN RESHARPEN IT, RIGHT? AND, UH, IT'S GONNA BE A LOT OF WORK INTO THIS.
AND HE'S NOT HERE, WHICH MEANS THAT HE CAN'T THROW SOMETHING AT ME.
BUT, UM, I OFFER UP, UH, NOAH BAR SHOP, UH, ON MY TEAM TO HELP US DO THAT.
UM, AND IF THAT MEANS, YOU KNOW, SITTING DOWN WITH YOU AND SITTING DOWN WITH YOU AND SITTING DOWN WITH YOU AND MAKING SURE THAT, YOU KNOW, WHATEVER YOU WANNA POUR INTO THIS TIMELINE, I'M HAPPY TO, YOU KNOW, UH, HAVE HIM WORK ON THAT.
AND ALEX, IF YOU DON'T MIND HELPING HIM, UH, HELP YOU, MAKING SURE THAT, YOU KNOW, IT FITS, YOU KNOW, WHATEVER OUR STANDARD FORM FOR A REPORT, I'M, I'M, I'M HAPPY TO DO IT.
AND, UH, I'M GONNA SEE HIM AFTER THIS, AND I'M SURE HE'S GONNA WANNA STAB ME IN THE NECK FOR OFFERING HIM UP.
BUT, UH, THE, UH, I, I, I THINK THAT HE'S A GOOD CANDIDATE AND, UM, I INVITE MY OTHER COLLEAGUES TO, YOU KNOW, LEND US SOMEBODY ON THEIR STAFF, UH, TO, TO HELP DO THIS.
AND PAUL, YOU GOT ANYTHING TO DO?
'CAUSE THAT'S IMPORTANT, ACTUALLY, THE KIND OF TIMELINE I THINK ED AND I ARE THINKING ABOUT CAN BE DONE AFTER THE REPORT IS KIND OF PULLED TOGETHER, BECAUSE THE, IN THE REPORT, YOU'RE GONNA BE TALKING ABOUT CERTAIN THINGS HAPPENING, AND THAT'S GONNA GIVE YOU YOUR TIME POINTS.
AND IT MIGHT BE THAT THE, THAT THE TIMELINE, UH, ACTUALLY COMES OUT OF THE, THE REPORT THAT'S WRITTEN, AS OPPOSED TO DOING THE TIMELINE IN ADVANCE.
AND I ACTUALLY SEE IT IN BOTH DIRECTIONS, BECAUSE I'VE BEEN ASKING IF ANYBODY HAS BEEN LISTENING THIS WHOLE TIME ABOUT IS THERE
[00:45:01]
A WAY THAT WE CAN LAYER AND AT LEAST DO A ROUGH OF EVERYTHING THAT'S BEEN PUT TOGETHER? UM, AND FROM A WRITING PERSPECTIVE, IT'S ALWAYS EASIER TO CUT THINGS OUT THAN IT IS TO ADD THINGS IN.SO, UM, I WOULD BE INTERESTED IN HAVING SOME OF THAT WORK DONE ON THE FRONT SIDE SO THAT WHAT IS THE LOW HANGING FRUIT CAN BE PUT INTO A TIMELINE THAT EACH OF OUR GROUPS CAN BE ABLE TO HAVE AS A REFERENCE POINT IN CASE THERE'S SOMETHING THAT YOU REALIZE IN YOUR REPORT YOU NEED TO MAKE A SITE REFERENCE POINT TO.
UM, AND THEN PULLING OUT THE THINGS THAT ARE NOT, UM, AS HELPFUL OR THAT WE CAN'T PIN DOWN AS ACCURATE.
UM, AND ACTUALLY FOCUSING ON A, A REAL TIMELINE AFTER THE PRODUCT OF THE THREE SECTIONS HAVE BEEN COMPLETED.
I ALSO JUST, UM, WANNA REMIND US THAT WE HAVE THIS REALLY GOOD WEBSITE THAT HAS ALREADY BEEN CREATED, AND I, I DON'T KNOW IF IT JUST TAKES KIND OF LOOKING AT THE INFORMATION THAT'S ALREADY ON THERE AND ADDING IT, UM, UH, WITH A LIST OF, LIKE AN APPENDIX LIST PRETTY MUCH, RIGHT? AND SO WE HAVE A LOT OF IT THAT'S ALREADY BEEN DONE BY ALEX.
SO I THINK THAT, UM, GOING BACK TO LISA'S POINT EARLIER, WHO'S GOING TO BE THE AUDIENCE? AND SO, UM, DEPENDING ON WHO THE AUDIENCE IS, UH, WE MIGHT WRITE IT MORE IN, UM, EXECUTIVE SUMMARY FORMAT STYLE, RIGHT? AND SO, UM, BUT I, I JUST WANNA POINT OUT THAT WE'RE FORGETTING THAT THE, THE WEBSITE IS OUT THERE ALREADY.
SOME PEOPLE WILL NOT HAVE ACCESS TO THE WEBSITE.
SO I DO THINK THAT IT'S IMPORTANT TO STILL ADD SOME OF THE DOCUMENTS THAT WE HAVE ON THERE, INCLUDING SOME OF THE TIMELINES, THE COMMUNICATIONS TIMELINES.
IF PEOPLE WANTED THEM, WE COULD REFERENCE THEM IN THE REPORT.
BUT I, I THINK THAT THE INFORMATION IS ALREADY THERE.
SO JUST, UH, JUST A PLUG FOR THAT INFO.
OKAY, BACK, BACK TO ED'S TRIAGE OF THIS, UM, UM, I'M GONNA TRY TO SUMMARIZE HERE AND THEN GET PUSHED BACK.
IF, IF, UM, ON THE FIRST ONE ON THE FORMAT, WHAT I'M HEARING IS THAT WE WILL HAVE SOME TYPE OF INTRODUCTORY, UM, SECTION THAT WILL TALK ABOUT GENERALLY WHAT HAPPENED.
OKAY? AND THEN EACH ONE OF US WILL HAVE A SECTION THAT'LL DESCRIBE, IT'LL PICK UP WITH WHAT HAPPENED, IT'LL DESCRIBE WHY AND, AND WHAT THE RESULTS OF THAT WAS, OR THE IMPACT OF THAT WAS.
IN OUR CASE, THERE'S SOME FAIRLY SEVERE ECONOMIC IMPACTS, AND WE HAVE TO MAKE ASSUMPTIONS ON OPPORTUNITY COST AND, AND REPORT THOSE.
SO THEN IT WOULD GO FROM ONE TO THREE AND THEN BACK TO ONE, WHICH WOULD BE YOUR, YOUR SUMMARY, I ASSUME.
AND THAT WOULD IN ALSO TALK ABOUT YOUR TIMELINE OR, OR IN THE FRONT, IN THE TIMELINE IN THE BACK.
I, I DON'T KNOW, BUT DOES THAT, IS, THAT'S WHAT'S KIND OF IN YOUR THINKING, LISA, I'M, I'M KIND OF RELYING ON YOU HERE ON THIS BASICALLY.
AND, AND, AND THAT END SUMMARY IS MORE OF A, A, A, A, A TIGHT RECAP, RIGHT? THAT WOULD BE THE WALKAWAY.
AND IN MY MINDSET, AND I'M, I'M OPEN, AND I ALSO UNDERSTAND THAT IN THE DRAFTING PROCESS, THIS COULD CHANGE, UM, IS THAT THERE'S JUST SIMPLY A REFERENCE TO THE TIMELINE, UM, SO THAT FOLKS KNOW WITH THE BACKGROUND, IF YOU, YOU KNOW, PARENTHETICAL THAT SAYS, YOU KNOW, SEE EXHIBIT ONE OR WHATEVER THAT IS FOR THE TIMELINE.
UM, BUT THAT WE WOULDN'T NECESSARILY BE USING THAT IN ANY PROS ON THE FRONT OR THE END OF THE DOCUMENT.
IT WOULD JUST BE A GUIDANCE AND REFERENCE POINT SO THAT ANY SITE REFERENCES ARE MADE COULD GO BACK TO IT.
IS THERE ANY OTHER DISCUSSION ON THIS? NOW WE'VE GOT THE KIND OF THE STRUCTURE.
UM, I THINK, UH, IF I UNDERSTAND IT, LISA, YOU'RE GONNA KIND OF LEAD THIS AND TELL US WHAT YOU NEED FROM EACH PERSON.
AND YEAH, AND WE'LL, WE, WE WILL, WE WILL COMPLY WITH WHAT YOU DESIRE TO DO.
AND, AND IT WILL BE IMPORTANT TO HAVE ONE PERSON KIND OF SAYING WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE, UH, BECAUSE IT'S, IT'S GOTTA HAVE A SINGLE VOICE.
NOW, WHAT WAS YOUR THIRD POINT, ED, THAT WE NEED TO WORK ON? THAT WAS STRUCTURE, CONTENT, AND PROCESS.
WE'VE GOT PROCESS, WE'VE GOT THE STRUCTURE, AND WE'VE GOT THE CONTENT.
ALRIGHT, LET'S, LET'S MOVE INTO THE INDIVIDUAL JUST SO WE CAN KIND OF DISCUSS.
EVERYBODY WILL KNOW WHAT'S IN HERE.
UM, TO ME, UH, IT WAS A WEATHER EVENT THAT CAUSED A, UM, SHORTAGE OF POWER, WHICH THEN CHARGED A, UH, PROBLEM WITH, UH, THE WATER AS MANNY AND CLAYTON HAVE CLEARLY STATED.
SO, UH, AND THEN OVERLAYING ALL THIS, IT WAS THE HOPE COORDINATION COMMUNICATION WITH E E L C.
[00:50:01]
THE, UH, WE'LL TAKE THE C P S FIRST.ANNA, YOU WANT TO TAKE IT ON OUR, AND I THINK, UH, JUST THINKING ABOUT IT LAST NIGHT, I THINK TWO BECOMES, UH, ONE AND, AND, AND ONE BECOMES TWO.
I I THINK WE NEED TO, JUST FOR CONTEXT, PROBABLY REVERSE THOSE TWO.
SO, UM, IF YOU'LL INDULGE ME, UH, WHEN I WAS IN COLLEGE, UH, ONE OF
AND MY, UH, FOR THE SECOND PROJECT, MY PARTNER WAS A, A, A GUY NAMED TROY ESKI, AND HE WAS A BIG FOOTBALL PLAYER AND A BASKETBALL PLAYER.
AND, AND HE WAS THE HARDEST WORKER THERE WAS.
AND HE DID ALMOST ALL THE WORK ON OUR, ON OUR PROJECT.
AND WE GOT AN A AND I FEEL LIKE I AM IN COLLEGE AGAIN, AND I'VE GOT THE, I HAVE GOT THE FOOTBALL PLAYER AND THE HARDEST WORKER ON THIS COMMITTEE, UH, AS MY PARTNER.
SO THANK YOU REED FOR, OH MY GOD, HE'S BLUSHING.
I THINK HE WAS, I THINK HE WAS THE, THE QUARTERBACK.
SO WE, UH, IDENTIFIED, UH, FIVE, FIVE ISSUES, UH, AND YOU'LL SEE THOSE ON THE BACK OF THE FIRST PAGE.
SO, UM, UH, PRICING BY THE P U C AND HOW THAT AFFECTED, UH, HOW THAT AFFECTED US LOCALLY.
UM, THE, BASICALLY THE LOAD SHED SECTION IS NUMBER TWO.
THEN WE WENT INTO OPERATIONS AND, UH, THE, SORRY, TWO IS THE ENERGY SHORTAGE, BUT THAT'S MORE OF A STATEWIDE ISSUE.
AND THEN ON NUMBER FOUR, WE LOOK AT IT, UH, AT A VERY LOCAL ISSUE.
AND THEN, UH, WE, WE LOOK AT COMMUNICATIONS.
UH, SO IN TERMS OF, UM, THE PRICING, AS REID MENTIONED TO YOU, THERE WAS, UM, UH, THE ISSUE HAPPENING WITH THE ERCOT.
YOU CAN, YOU CAN READ INTO THAT, BUT, UH, THE, THE CASE THAT'S MADE HERE IS THAT, UH, THE, THE SETTING, THE ARTIFICIAL SETTING OF THE PRICE, UH, HAD ITS IMPACT.
AND, UH, AT THE END OF THIS SECTION, AFTER WE GO THROUGH THE, THE NARRATIVE, UH, WE SUMMARIZE THE CHALLENGE AS THE P U C ARTIFICIALLY INFLATED ELECTRICITY PRICE PRICES DURING THE STORM.
AND NATURAL GAS MARKETERS DROVE UP PRICES DURING THE STORM.
SO THE RECOMMENDATION IS, IS REALLY TO ACQUIRE ACCESS TO RELIABLE NATURAL GAS RESERVES, UM, SO THAT WE ARE NOT DEPENDENT ON THOSE PRICES.
SO HAVING, UH, OUR OWN SOLUTION TO THAT, UM, LET ME GO THROUGH IT AND THEN READ, IF YOU WANNA GO INTO MORE DETAIL INTO THAT.
UM, THE SECOND ISSUE WAS THE SHORTAGE ON THE STATEWIDE GRID.
AND THIS IS WHERE, UH, REED GOES INTO 2001
BUT BASICALLY WHAT, WHAT THE CHALLENGE COMES DOWN TO IS THAT THE CURRENT REGULATORY FRAMEWORK THAT WE WORK IN, DISINCENTIVIZES, SUFFICIENT RESERVE MARGINS FOR EMERGENCIES, AND WHO IS, AND THE MUNICIPAL UTILITIES LIKE C P S AND THE RURAL COOPERATIVES ARE, ARE PICKING UP THAT SLACK, UM, IN TERMS OF HAVING TO DO THE LOAD SHED, RIGHT? WE ARE REQUIRED TO DO THE LOAD SHED, WHEREAS THE PRIVATE COMPANIES ARE NOT IN OTHER AREAS.
AND THAT MEANS THAT OUR RATE PAYERS SUFFER, OUR CUSTOMERS SUFFER FROM THAT, BUT THEY ALSO HAVE TO PAY TO KEEP THOSE RESERVE MARGINS OPERATIONAL.
SO, UM, THIS IS, THIS BECAME EVIDENT DURING THE STORM.
THIS IS ALWAYS HAPPENING, RIGHT? BUT IT BECAME MORE EVIDENT DURING THE STORM.
SO, UH, REED CHOSE TO, TO HIGHLIGHT IT.
UH, SECTION THREE IS REALLY LONG AND IT'S, UH, WHAT CAME UP AT THE OPERATIONS DURING THE PLANTS.
UM, REID, REID GAVE IT TO ME ONE WAY, AND I SORT OF JUMBLED IT UP IN THE ORDER THAT I THOUGHT IT WOULD MAKE SENSE.
WE CAN GO BACK AND, AND REVIEW THAT.
UM, WE TALK ABOUT WIND AND SOLAR.
I, I NEED TO GO BACK AND FILL IN THE MEGAWATTS.
WHILE THEY DIDN'T PRODUCE, UH, AT THEIR A HUNDRED PERCENT CAPACITY, REALLY THE, THE AMOUNT ASSIGNED TO WIND AND SOLAR AND EXPECTED FROM WIND AND SOLAR WAS VERY SMALL.
SO THE FACT THAT IT DIDN'T PRODUCE, UM, YOU KNOW, AS MUCH AS SOME PEOPLE WERE SAYING DID, THAT WASN'T THE BIGGEST PROBLEM ON THE GRID.
UM, THERE WAS AN ISSUE AT, UM, THE SPRUCE FACILITY, UH, THAT BASICALLY BROUGHT US DOWN BY ALMOST 60,000 MEGAWATT HOURS IS, IS THE ESTIMATE.
AND IF YOU WERE TO MULTIPLY THAT BY THE PRICE ON THE ERCOT MARKET, THAT'S HALF A, IT'S NOT HALF A MILLION DOLLARS, IT'S HALF A BILLION
[00:55:01]
DOLLARS THAT WE COULD HAVE POSSIBLY SOLD.UH, BUT MORE IMPORTANTLY, THAT COULD HAVE SAVED US SOME OF THE LOAD SHED THAT WE HAD TO DO, AND IT COULD HAVE KEPT MORE HOMES POWERED.
SO REED, I'D ACTUALLY LIKE TO GO BACK AND, AND ESTIMATE HOW MANY HOMES WE MIGHT'VE BEEN ABLE TO POWER OR WHAT, HOW THE LOAD SHED WOULD'VE BEEN, UM, REDUCED.
UM, NEXT IS, UH, THE NATURAL GAS, SORRY, UH, S T P, THE NUCLEAR FACILITY.
AND WHAT HAPPENED THERE? UM, UH, THE NUCLEAR FACILITY ALSO HAD SOME ISSUES THAT BROUGHT US DOWN BY 41 MEGAWATT HOURS.
UM, AND THERE WAS AN ESTIMATE THERE OF WHAT THAT MEANT AT THE $9,000 A MEGAWATT HOUR, YOU CAN, YOU CAN SEE THAT YOURSELF, UM, NATURAL GAS HAD, WAS NOT ABLE TO PERFORM AT CAPACITY.
UM, AND THEN THERE'S A, A SUMMARY AT THE END.
SO THE, THE REALLY, THE CHALLENGE IS IF, IF WE WERE TO SYNTHESIZE THAT, IS THAT OPERATIONAL PROBLEMS AT C P S ENERGY GENERATION PLANTS RESULTED IN OVER 100 MEGAWATT HOURS OF LOST ELECTRICITY, UM, OF GEN LOST GENERATION CAPACITY DURING THE STORM.
UM, SO WE WOULD RECOMMEND, OF COURSE, REVISITING THE WINTERIZATION PROCEDURES.
AND, OH, I GUESS I DIDN'T FINISH, UM, THAT SENTENCE, UH, REVISITING THE WINTERIZATION PROCEDURES.
AND THAT'S NOT TO SAY C P S DID NOT HAVE ANY WINTERIZATION PROCEDURES.
AND THERE'S A, THERE'S A SECTION ON THAT HERE.
NONETHELESS, THE STORM WAS SO EXTREME THAT IT, UM, AND THERE WERE JUST STILL SO MANY VULNERABILITIES THAT THAT'S WHAT IT COST US.
UM, THEN WE, UH, OH, AND, UH, NOT ONLY REVISIT THOSE PROCEDURES, BUT ALSO ENSURE THAT, UM, YOU HAVE REALLY GREAT PEOPLE WHO KNOW OPERATIONS AT THE HELM, UH, LEADING THAT STUFF.
ALRIGHT, THIS IS THE, THE SECTION ON THE, ON THE LOAD SHED, UH, LOCALLY, UM, I THINK WE ALL KNOW WHAT HAPPENED.
THERE'S THE, THERE'S THE MAP THAT TELLS YOU WHAT AREAS WERE AFFECTED.
UM, SO THE CHALLENGE IS THAT THE PROCEDURES FOR ONE OF THE CHALLENGES, THERE WERE MANY HERE,
ALL ELIGIBLE CIRCUITS WERE NOT AFFECTED EQUALLY.
SO, UH, WE HAVE A FEW RECOMMENDATIONS HERE.
UM, NUMBER ONE IS, UH, OH SHOOT, I DIDN'T INCLUDE IT HERE, IS WE NEED TO REVISIT THAT ROTATING, THAT AUTOMATED ROTATING, UH, PROCEDURE BECAUSE IT DIDN'T FUNCTION AT, AT THIS LEVEL.
SO THAT NEEDS TO BE UPGRADED SO THAT IT CAN MANAGE THE LOAD.
SHE THAT WAS REQUIRED THIS TIME.
UM, MY UNDERSTANDING IS THAT THE LOAD SHED REQUIRED EXCEEDED WHAT IT WAS DESIGNED FOR.
THE AUTOMATED PROCEDURE, UH, NUMBER NUMBER TWO, THERE IS NO FORMAL DEMAND RESPONSE.
UH, YOU GUYS KNOW THAT PEOPLE'S THERMOSTATS DO FUNNY THINGS.
IF THEY SIGN UP FOR A PROGRAM, UH, WE NEED TO CONSIDER DOING SOMETHING EITHER AT THAT LEVEL OR EVEN, UH, LESS FORMALLY, MAYBE SOME EMERGENCY AGREEMENTS WITH HIGH, UH, ELECTRICITY USERS THAT WILL ALLOW US TO, UM, REDUCE THE DEMAND ON THE GRID WITHOUT HAVING TO GO INTO MANDATORY OUTAGES.
SO IF YOU RECALL, UM, LAST WEEK WHEN, UH, I THINK RUDY GARZA WAS HERE SAYING THAT THEY WORKED WITH, UM, THE MILITARY, THE MILITARY REDUCED, UM, UH, TURNED OFF SOME THINGS RIGHT TO, TO CREATE EXTRA CAPACITY ON, TO FREE UP CAPACITY ON THE GRID.
I, THAT NEEDS TO BE FORMALIZED IN, IN SOME WAY.
WHO ARE THE PEOPLE YOU GO TO WHEN, UH, WHEN YOU HAVE THAT NEED IN IN THE WINTER? UM, UH, THE OTHER CHALLENGE, AND WE ALL EXPERIENCE THIS AND, AND THE WHOLE REASON, PART OF THE REASON WE'RE HERE, IS THAT CRITICAL, UH, INFRASTRUCTURE WAS SHUT OFF.
SO OBVIOUSLY THOSE CIRCUITS NEED TO BE REVISITED THE WAY THEY'RE, THEY'RE DESIGNED.
UH, C P SS IS ALREADY DOING THAT, BUT WE NEED TO ENSURE THAT, UH, THINGS LIKE WATER PUMPING STATIONS, FIREHOUSES, UH, THE EMERGENCY SHELTERS, UH, HOSPITALS, UH, THAT KIND OF STUFF REMAIN ON, ON CRITICAL CIRCUITS.
AND REID HAS MORE WONDERFUL DETAILS ABOUT HOW THAT CAN BE.
I'M JUST SAYING WHAT ALL THE WORK REID DID RIGHT NOW.
UH, COMMUNICATION DURING THE OUTAGE.
UM, SO FIRST BIGGEST CHALLENGE IS THAT WHEN POWER IS OUT, YOU CAN'T COMMUNICATE BY YOUR STANDARD MODES OF, OF COMMUNICATION, RIGHT? UM, THE PHONE LINES MAY BE DOWN, YOUR CELL PHONE MAY NOT BE POWERED.
SO WE NEED TO BE PREPARED TO COMMUNICATE IN AN EVENT LIKE THAT.
[01:00:01]
WE DO THAT? WELL, NUMBER ONE IS WE ABSOLUTELY HAVE TO HAVE MORE ADVANCED NOTIFICATION ABOUT THE POSSIBILITY OF ROLLING OUTAGES.WE HAD A LOT OF COMMUNICATION FROM C P S ABOUT CONSERVATION GREAT MESSAGES.
THERE WAS NEVER A MESSAGE THAT SAID UNTIL IT WAS HAPPENING, RIGHT? A MESSAGE THAT SAID, PREPARE FOR ROLLING OUTAGES.
UM, SO I, I RECOMMEND THAT THOSE MESSAGES BE PERSONALIZED BY ACCOUNT, SO THAT IF YOU ARE ON A GRIT ON A CIRCUIT THAT WILL BE SHUT OFF, THAT IS ELIGIBLE FOR SHUTTING OFF.
SO, UM, SO THAT YOU CAN MAKE ARRANGEMENTS TO GO SOMEWHERE ELSE.
NOT THAT YOU HAVE TO GO LOOK IT UP ON A, ON A MAP SOMEWHERE OR TYPE IN YOUR ADDRESS.
YOU ARE TOLD, YOU'RE, YOU'RE, UM, YOU ARE AT A RISK OF BEING SHUT OFF.
NOW, THE CHALLENGE WITH THAT IS THAT ERCOT DIDN'T TELL US THAT UNTIL ABOUT AN HOUR BEFORE WE, YOU KNOW, HALF AN HOUR BEFORE, RIGHT? AND IT WAS IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT.
SO NO ONE WOULD'VE BEEN ABLE TO MAKE PLANS TO, TO, TO, NO ONE WOULD'VE BEEN ABLE TO REACT TO THAT IN A TIMELY FASHION.
SO I BELIEVE C P SS NEEDS TO ESTABLISH, UM, BASICALLY A RISK THRESHOLD AT WHICH THEY'RE WILLING TO NOTIFY THE PUBLIC THAT THAT MAY BE POSSIBLE.
SIMILAR TO WHEN WE'RE GOING TO HAVE A HURRICANE IN THE AREA, IT MAY NOT EXACTLY HIT US, BUT WE STILL ENCOURAGE EVACUATION, RIGHT? UM, NEXT IS, UH, DEVELOPING AND UTILIZING ALTERNATIVE COMMUNICATION METHODS.
THIS IS SOMETHING THAT CAN BE DONE WITH THE CITY WHEN THIS IS FOR, WHEN THE POWER IS ACTUALLY OUT AND DOWN AND DURING THE EVENT.
SO THIS IS EXTREMELY RUDIMENTARY.
IT MEANS HANDING OUT, UH, RADIOS THAT YOU POWER YOURSELF, UM, HAVING BLOCK CAPTAINS, UH, UM, BROADCASTING ON EMERGENCY FREQUENCIES.
SOMETHING LIKE THAT NEEDS TO ALSO BE, UH, AVAILABLE.
UM, AND THAT WOULD AGAIN, BE DONE IN, IN COORDINATION WITH, UH, THE CITY AND OTHER PARTNERS.
UM, LASTLY IS, AND, AND AGAIN, THIS CAN, SHOULD ALSO BE DONE WITH OTHER PARTNERS, IS THE PUBLIC ISN'T NECESSARILY PREPARED FOR EXTENDED OUTAGES OR EMERGENCIES OF THE TYPE.
SO I WOULD, UH, RECOMMEND DEVELOPING AND IMPLEMENTING AN EMERGENCY READINESS YEAR ROUND CAMPAIGN.
HOUSTON HAS SOMETHING LIKE THIS.
IF YOU GO TO HOUSTON READY TX DOT.GOV, YOU'LL SEE THERE ARE THINGS LIKE, YOU KNOW, HAVE A KIT, UH, HAVE YOUR, I DON'T KNOW, EMERGENCY PHONE NUMBERS OR, OR WHATEVER THE CASE IS.
AND, UH, THAT'S, THAT'S SOMETHING THAT WE SHOULD, UH, REVISIT NOT JUST FOR, FOR A STORM, BUT FOR OTHER POSSIBLE, UH, EMERGENCIES.
UM, I AM SURE THERE ARE MANY OTHER RECOMMENDATIONS THAT YOU GUYS MIGHT HAVE, UH, FOR US, AND WE'RE HAPPY TO INTEGRATE THOSE.
THIS IS OUR FIRST PASS, UH, FOR TODAY.
UM, BUT I, I THINK THE C P S SECTION COULD BE, UH, VOLUMINOUS.
UH, JUST A COUPLE OF OTHER THINGS TO, TO THINK ABOUT WHEN Y'ALL ARE HELPING US WITH THIS REPORT.
AND I DO THINK WE WILL TALK ABOUT THE, UH, THE, THE REGULATORY CONTEXT FIRST.
UH, I JUST CAN'T, UH, EMPHASIZE ENOUGH, WHEN THIS WAS HAPPENING BACK IN 99, UH, EVEN SOME OF US THAT WERE ON THE INDUSTRIAL SIDE CLEARLY SAW THAT, THAT THIS WAS GOING TO BENEFIT LARGE COMMERCIAL INDUSTRIAL FOLKS, GIVE THEM OPPORTUNITY TO ACCESS MAYBE CHEAPER POWER AND THEN, UH, INSTALL BACKUP CAPACITY IF THE, THE POWER THAT THEY HAD, UH, CONTRACTED FOR DIDN'T MATERIALIZE FOR SOME REASON.
UH, SMALLER BUSINESSES, HOMES, UH, PARTICULARLY DISADVANTAGED FOLKS JUST DON'T HAVE THAT OPPORTUNITY.
AND THAT'S WHERE, UH, THE MUNICIPALITIES AND THE RES HAVE STEPPED IN.
AND, UH, WHEN, WHEN ANNA WAS MENTIONING THAT, THAT WE'VE GOT RESERVE CAPACITY, IT'S BECAUSE, UH, WE BUILT A LOT OF THESE PLANTS WAY BEFORE WE WENT INTO THIS CURRENT, UH, REGIME OF, OF REGULATION.
UH, WE HAD A LOT OF EXCESS CAPACITY.
I THINK YOU'VE HEARD IN THE PRESENTATIONS ABOUT C P S THAT A LOT OF THESE PLANTS ARE AGING OUT.
AND, AND THE REAL CHALLENGE IN FRONT OF A MUNICIPAL UTILITY LIKE US IS, DO WE, UH, REQUIRE OUR RATE PAYERS, UH, TO PAY, UH, TO REPLACE, UH, CAPACITY TO KEEP A CERTAIN RESERVE? BECAUSE IF YOU THINK ABOUT IT ON AN OVERALL PERSPECTIVE, WHAT WHAT YOU HAVE IS YOU HAVE SOME PEOPLE THAT AREN'T PAYING FOR THAT.
AND WE MIGHT BE ASKING OUR FOLKS TO PAY FOR THAT.
CLAYTON, THAT WAS A QUESTION YOU ASKED.
AND YOUR PEOPLE ARE ASKING, DO WE HAVE ENOUGH CAPACITY? WELL, WE HAVE IN THE PAST, AND WE'RE LIVING ON OUR
[01:05:01]
OLD INVESTMENTS, AND TO THIS POINT, OUR CITIZENS HAVE BEEN VERY WILLING TO PAY THE OPERATING EXPENSES TO KEEP THESE UP.THE QUESTION IS GONNA BECOME TOWARDS THE COUNCIL AND OTHER, OTHER PARTIES IN OVER AT C P S ARE, ARE YOU GONNA ASK TO BUILD MORE RESERVE CAPACITY? AND, AND IF, IF THE FOLKS THAT HAVE HAD IT IN THE PAST AND IT AGES OUT AND THE REGULATED UTILITIES CANNOT GET THAT PAID FOR BY THEIR RATE PAYERS, THEN YOU KNOW, WE'RE, WE'RE AROUND 9% RESERVES IN IN 2019.
UH, THAT'S MUCH BELOW THE OTHER TWO BIG GRIDS.
AND, AND ARE WE JUST GOING TO CONTINUE TO, UM, TO DROP OUR CAPACITY IN ON THE GRID? AND THAT PUTS ALL OF US IN VULNERABILITY.
AND ONE OF OUR RECOMMENDATIONS THAT CERTAINLY WE NEED Y'ALL'S INPUT ON IS THAT, IS THAT I THINK THERE, FOR THE NEXT LEGISLATIVE SESSION, SOMEONE'S GONNA HAVE TO START TALKING ABOUT, UM, A BILL THAT WILL SAY, EVEN IF YOU ARE A, AN, UH, A POWER PRODUCER, YOU, YOU'RE NOT A REGULATED, EVERYONE NEEDS TO START BEING REQUIRED TO PROVIDE EITHER THROUGH CONTRACT OR THROUGH INVESTMENT IN THEIR OWN FACILITIES, A CERTAIN LEVEL OF RESERVE CAPACITY.
IF WE DON'T DO THAT, WE'RE ON A DECLINING CURVE, WE'RE GOING INTO A, A DECLINE BECAUSE AS THE OLDER PLANTS AGE OUT, PEOPLE AREN'T GONNA WANT TO SPEND THE MONEY FOR THAT.
I JUST WANNA ADD ON SOMETHING THAT'S, THAT'S RELATED TO THAT.
AND I KNOW WE'RE, WE'RE ACTUALLY GETTING TO THE MEAT OF SOME OF THE, THE FINDINGS HERE THAT I DON'T THINK WE, WE HAVE TALKED ABOUT YET.
UM, SO, SO THANK YOU FOR, FOR INDULGING US WITH THAT.
THE PRICING SIGNALS AND, AND SOMETHING THAT I DIDN'T MENTION, UM, WERE DESIGNED, OR SORRY, INTENDED TO CREATE AN INCENTIVE TO PUT MORE ELECTRICITY ON THE MARKET.
AND WHAT YOU FIND BY LOOKING AT WHAT'S ACTUALLY GETTING TO THE MARKET IS THAT IT'S NOT, IT DIDN'T WORK, RIGHT? WE, AND WE ALL KNOW THAT WE EXPERIENCED THAT IT, IT DIDN'T WORK, BUT IT, IT DOESN'T WORK BECAUSE YOU CAN'T GO BACK AND WEATHERIZE
YOU CAN'T GO BACK AND CREATE RESERVE CAPACITIES AT THAT POINT.
AND SO THAT, THAT REALLY TIES IN WITH, WITH REED'S POINT ABOUT HAVING THAT BE, UH, REQUIRED IN CAPA IN, IN, IN LEGISLATION.
THE ONLY THING THAT THE PRICE SIGNAL DOES IS IF YOU DO HAVE ACCESS TO SOMETHING, YOU CAN TURN IT UP.
NOBODY, NOBODY HAD THAT AT THAT POINT.
SO IT WAS, IT WAS REALLY NOT USEFUL.
AND, AND AGAIN, I, I KNOW THIS IS GETTING INTO A LOT OF, OF OF DETAIL, BUT IT'S IMPORTANT, UH, IF YOU REMEMBER, THERE WAS A LEGISLATION THAT WAS, WAS PUT FORWARD TO REQUIRE THE RENEWABLES TO HOLD A CERTAIN AMOUNT OF RESERVES.
WELL, AND THEY'RE SAYING THAT BECAUSE THEY'RE SAYING, WELL, THE RENEWABLES WHEN THEY'RE, WHEN THEY'RE GENERATING, ARE VERY CHEAP.
AND SO THEREFORE, UH, WE NEED, NEED THEM TO PROVIDE RESERVES.
I THINK WE NEED EVERYBODY TO PROVIDE RESERVES NO MATTER WHAT, WHAT GENERATION CAPACITY YOU'RE USING.
BECAUSE IF WE DON'T, IF WE DON'T REQUIRE FOLKS THAT ARE PLAYING IN THE ERCOT GAME ON THE GRID TO ALL BE PLAYING THE SAME GAME, WE'RE GONNA GET PEOPLE SUBSIDIZING OTHER PEOPLE.
AND, AND THERE'S BEEN A CASE MADE THAT AT THIS POINT IN TIME, UH, YOUR RURAL ELECTRIC AUTHORITIES AND, AND YOUR RES, YOUR CO-OPS AND YOUR MUNICIPALITIES AT, AT SOME POINT COULD BE SUBSIDIZING THE POWER ONLY PRODUCERS THAT ARE GOING TO LARGER INDUSTRIAL CUSTOMERS AND TO SOME INDIVIDUALS THAT, THAT BUY, UH, ON THAT WAY.
AND THAT'S, THERE'S QUITE A FEW OF THOSE.
AND PERHAPS THEY'VE SEEN SOME OPPORTUNITY TO THAT BECAUSE POWER, POWER PRICES HISTORICALLY FOR THE LAST FEW YEARS HAS BEEN PRETTY LOW.
SO WE GOTTA REALLY THINK ABOUT THE CONTEXT WE'RE IN.
AND THEN WE GOT TO, TO ANNA'S POINT ON THE PRICE SIGNALS, I CAN'T EMPHASIZE ENOUGH, UM, THE CHART THERE.
I'M SORRY THAT DIDN'T PRINT ALL OF THE LEGEND THERE, BUT I'M SORRY.
IT'S, WE'VE HAD THIS, AND, AND RUSSELL'S BEEN TRYING TO HELP US WITH IT.
BUT IF YOU LOOK AT THAT CHART, AND IT'S IMPORTANT BECAUSE ON THE, ON THE 15TH, THE MORNING OF THE 15TH, UH, THEY STARTED SHEDDING LOAD AT, AT ONE, AT 1 23.
AND, AND WITHIN 47 MINUTES, UH, ERCOT HAD REQUESTED THAT FOLKS SHED, UH, 10,500 MEGAWATTS.
AND SO, TO, TO ANNA'S POINT, YOU'RE NOT GONNA ALWAYS HAVE CHANCE TO NOTIFY.
SO WE DO BELIEVE, AS WE GET INTO IT FURTHER, YOU'RE GOING TO HAVE TO LET PEOPLE KNOW IF THEY'RE ON INTERRUPTABLE CIRCUITS, SO THEY CAN, IF IT HAPPENS, THEY'VE MADE SOME PROVISIONS IN ADVANCE.
THERE'S BEEN A LOT MADE WITH THE, WITH THE, WITH THE, UH, POINT THAT
[01:10:01]
THE LOAD SHED WAS OVER EARLY IN THE MORNING ON THE 18TH, BUT THEY KEPT THE, THE PRICE ORDER ON UNTIL, UH, 9:00 AM ON, ON THE 19TH.AND THAT WAS VERY, THAT ACTUALLY WAS A VERY EXPENSIVE TIME FOR C P S 'CAUSE WE WERE TRYING TO BRING EVERYBODY BACK ON, AND WE STARTED TO HAVE TO BUY IN THAT AREA.
AND WE ALL NEED TO REMEMBER THAT THERE'S TWO WAYS THAT MAN DEMANDS MANAGE.
THERE'S SOME PEOPLE THAT'LL, THAT'LL VOLUNTARILY BECAUSE THEY'RE GETTING PAID FOR IT.
THEY'LL WITHDRAW THEIR, THEIR DEMAND FROM THE GRID.
AND THEN THERE'S PEOPLE THAT LIKE THE, LIKE THE HOMEOWNERS, THE SMALL BUSINESS PEOPLE, THEY'RE JUST SHUT OFF.
AND SO THERE'S, THERE'S TWO DIFFERENT ONES.
AND, AND SO WE, WE NEED TO LOOK AT THAT.
AND, AND IF YOU LOOK AT THAT CHART, WHEN, WHEN, UH, ERCOT SAID THAT WE NEEDED TO RESTRICT WHAT WE WERE PROVIDING TO OUR LOCAL NATIVE DEMAND, THAT MADE IT TO WHERE WE WOULD HAVE TO PUT IT INTO THE GRID, AND YOU'RE ACTUALLY SEEING PRICE RESPONSE THERE.
AND DURING THE DAY ON 15 OF THE PRICE COMING DOWN, NOW, I'VE WATCHED PRICE CHARTS, YOU KNOW, THE WHOLE TIME I WAS IN MY CAREER.
AND, AND THIS CHART TELLS ME THAT THE PRICE SIGNALS COMING TO THE FREE MARKET WAS THAT IT WAS JUMPING AROUND, IT GOT DOWN AS LOW AS SOMEWHERE AROUND 2000 AT SOMETIMES IT JUMPED UP TO 9,000.
THAT IS A VERY VOLATILE MARKET, BUT THAT HAS A MARKET THAT CAN BE VOLATILE BOTH WAYS.
AND, AND, BUT EVEN THOUGH THEY WERE SEEING THOSE PRICE SIGNALS, THEY DECLARED THAT THERE WAS ANOMALY.
AND BECAUSE THERE'S ANOMALY, THEY'RE GONNA PEG IT AT 9,000.
AND THE NEXT SECTION CLEARLY TELLS WHAT IT DID TO US.
BECAUSE IF YOU LOOK AT THAT CHART ON THE NATURAL GAS PRICES AND WHEN IT HIT, THAT WAS A VERY DAMAGING COST TO US.
IT SENT A SIGNAL THAT THE GAS MARKETERS COULD REALLY RAISE THEIR PRICE.
AND, AND THAT, THAT'S BEEN AN IMPORTANT DEAL NOW ON THE GENERATION.
AND I'VE, I'VE HEARD C P S, UH, QUOTE THAT THEY WERE RUNNING AT 85%.
AND, AND I DON'T KNOW WHAT TIME PERIOD THAT IT WAS, BUT WE'VE BEEN VERY, I HOPE CAREFUL AND WE'LL MIGHT STAND CORRECTED ON THIS, UH, TO LOOK AT, UH, THE WIND AND SOLAR.
THERE'S AN R F I, THEY, THEY SHOWED US THEY WEREN'T EXPECTING MUCH FOR THAT.
BUT I THINK IT'S INTERESTING TO LOOK AT THE WIND AND SOLAR CHART BECAUSE WHAT YOU REALLY SEE THERE IS THE SOLAR WENT DOWN WHEN THE SNOW WAS THERE, AND SOON AS THE REAL COLD GOT THERE, THE WIND WENT DOWN, BUT THE SOLAR CAME BACK.
SO WE ARE GETTING SOME FROM THAT, BUT NOBODY COUNTED ON THAT.
SO THE GENERATION CAPACITY OTHER THAN RENEWABLES, IS ON THAT CHART OF GENERATION VERSUS CAPACITY.
AND, AND ON THAT CHART, YOU CAN VERY CLEARLY SEE THAT, UH, C P S IS DOING A GOOD JOB RAMPING UP ON THE NINE 10TH, 11TH 12TH.
UH, AGAIN, THIS IS THE TIMELINE STUFF WE'RE TALKING ABOUT.
BY THE, BY THE 22ND, THEY WERE UP TO 85% AND 13, THEY WERE HOLDING TO 83%.
AND, AND INTERESTINGLY ENOUGH, THAT DROP IS DUE, UH, TO THE COAL PLANT.
AND THEN ON THE 15TH, UH, THEY DROP AGAIN.
AND THAT'S, THAT'S DUE TO THE, TO THE NUCLEAR DROP.
SO THOSE TWO EVENTS HAVE TO BE LOOKED AT.
YOU CAN'T JUST LOOK IN GENERAL.
AND THEY CAN MAKE A VERY GOOD CASE.
AND I UNDERSTAND IT THAT A LOT OF THE CAPACITY ON THE NATURAL GAS WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN AVAILABLE, UH, BECAUSE WE COULDN'T BUY THE GAS.
'CAUSE IF WE BOUGHT MORE GAS, WE'D HAVE A BIGGER PROBLEM ON THE GAS PRICE.
OKAY? SO YOU CAN SET THE NATURAL GAS ASIDE, BUT WE HAD FUEL FOR THE NUCLEAR PLANT.
WE HAD FUEL FOR THE COAL PLANT AND BOTH.
AND IN BOTH CASES, WE HAD SIGNIFICANT FAILURES THAT I BELIEVE, UH, IN ONE WAS A FROZEN, UH, SENSOR LINE, AND THE OTHER ONE WAS A P L C THAT, THAT DIDN'T CONTROL A FAN, UH, ON THE, ON THE FIREBOX.
AND I BELIEVE BOTH OF THOSE HAD TO BE WEATHER RELATED.
BUT IN THAT, IN BOTH OF THOSE CASES, THAT IS OPERATIONAL, THAT'S UNDER OUR CONTROL.
AND AT ANY TIME YOU'RE IN AN INDUSTRIAL SITUATION WHERE IT'S A REFINERY OR A POWER PLANT, YOU HAVE TO FOCUS ON WHAT YOU CAN CONTROL.
THERE'S A LOT OF THINGS YOU COULDN'T CONTROL.
WE CAN'T CONTROL HOW THE LEGISLATION IS.
WE CAN'T CONTROL HOW THE, HOW THE, UM, UH, PRICING IS DONE.
OBVIOUSLY WE'RE A PRICE TAKER, BUT WE CAN CONTROL PLANTS.
AND TO ME, THAT'S, THAT'S REALLY AN IMPORTANT POINT THAT WE'RE MAKING THERE.
I'M, I KNOW THAT WE'VE ASKED, AND I'LL SKIP NOW TO THE DEMAND MANAGEMENT.
I KNOW WE'VE ASKED FOR A CHART THAT'S GOT MORE DIFFERENTIATION THAN THE THREE WE HAVE, BUT I THINK EVEN WITH THIS DIFFERENTIATION, AND WE'VE ASKED FOR THE CHART TO BE REWORKED SO THAT THE GRAY AREA DOESN'T GET CONFUSED WITH THE MILITARY AREA.
THE GRAY AREA IS AREAS THAT ARE OBVIOUSLY SERVED BY, BY, UH, CRITICAL CIRCUITS ARE CIRCUITS THAT ARE, UM, UH, WHAT THEY CALL THE LOW FREQUENCY CIRCUITS THAT ARE CONTROLLED, UM, BY THE RELAYS TO, TO KEEP THE SYSTEM FROM FAILING.
BUT IF YOU LOOK AT THAT, I, I, YOU KNOW, THERE'S BEEN A LOT OF CASES, AND I'D LIKE FOR PEOPLE TO, TO WEIGH IN ON THIS, BUT TO ME, IT, I DON'T SEE THAT,
[01:15:01]
THAT THE, UM, TRADITIONALLY DISADVANTAGED AREAS WERE MORE DISADVANTAGED THAN OTHER AREAS.BUT OTHER PEOPLE CAN HAVE OTHER TAKES ON THIS.
WE ASKED FOR THIS INFORMATION ON A CENSUS TRACK SO WE COULD TIE IT BACK TO SOCIOECONOMIC, UM, INDICATORS.
WE DO HAVE IT BY ZIP CODE, SO EVERYBODY CAN MAKE THAT.
AND I THINK THAT'S GONNA BE AN IMPORTANT THING WHEN WE WRITE THIS UP.
LISA, I JUST, I JUST, UH, I THINK ANNA DID AN EXCELLENT JOB ON THE COMMUNICATION, BUT ONE OF THE THINGS WE DID ASK ON THE DISTRIBUTION THAT PEOPLE BE ALLOWED TO KNOW IF THEY ARE ON AN INTERRUPTABLE CIRCUIT, UH, I THINK YOU, YOU HAVE A RIGHT TO KNOW.
UH, AND, AND YOU SHOULD BE ABLE, IF YOU NEED TO FOR MEDICAL REASONS OR SOME OTHER REASONS BECAUSE OF THE HOUSING STOCK YOU'RE IN, YOU NEED TO MAKE PREPARATIONS TO EITHER MOVE OR GO SOMEWHERE ELSE.
UH, THOSE, THOSE YOU NEED TO MAKE IN ADVANCE.
'CAUSE WE COULD GET ANOTHER EVENT LIKE THIS, THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT, NO WAY THAT YOU'RE, YOU'RE ASLEEP.
THERE'S NO WAY YOU'RE GONNA GET, UH, UH, THE NOTIFICATION PROBABLY.
AND IF IT HAPPENS, YOU'RE GONNA HAVE TO, YOU'RE GONNA HAVE TO TAKE CARE OR SOMEONE'S GONNA HAVE TO HELP YOU TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF.
SO THAT, THAT, JUST MORE QUESTIONS.
IS THERE ANY COMMENTS OR QUESTIONS ON THAT FROM THE, FROM THE GROUP? YEAH.
UM, YOU ALL, I THINK HAD THE MOST COMPLEX AREA TO WORK IN AND TO TRY TO SORT OF MAKE SENSE OUT OF IT AND TO THEN MAKE IT UNDERSTANDABLE TO NOT ONLY THE PUBLIC, BUT US ON THIS COMMITTEE WHO ARE LOOKING AT IT MORE IN DEPTH.
UM, JUST A COUPLE OF QUESTIONS.
SO JUST SORT OF THINKING ABOUT THE EVENT, UH, AND I, I'M, I'M SURE IT'S EMBEDDED IN HERE, BUT JUST SORT OF THE, THE, THE, THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE WEATHER EVENT THAT AFFECTED CAPACITY BECAUSE A, A CERTAIN PORTION OF THE SYSTEM WAS NOT WEATHERIZED TO BE ABLE TO PROVIDE, UH, GENERATION CAPACITY.
AND SO CAPACITY WENT DOWN AT THE SAME TIME, THE WEATHER EVENT INCREASED THE DEMAND BECAUSE IT'S COLD AND PEOPLE WANNA USE MORE ENERGY.
UM, AND THEN RESERVES THAT SHOULD COME ONLINE WHEN THE DEMAND GOES UP.
BUT SOME OF THAT RESERVE CAPACITY WAS ALSO DIMINISHED BASED ON, ON THE WEATHER AND THEN THE COST OF, OF WHAT WAS LEFT.
AND THAT WE WERE ABLE TO BUY THE, THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THOSE.
SO IF WE HAD, FOR EXAMPLE, UH, WEATHERIZED OUR SYSTEM, LIKE WE WERE IN MINNESOTA, I'M MAKING THAT UP, BUT SOMEPLACE WHERE, YOU KNOW, THEY'RE USED TO DEALING WITH THE TYPES OF WEATHER EVENTS THAT WE HAD THAT, YOU KNOW, THAT SUMMER FOR THEM, UM, WOULD WE, WE WOULDN'T HAVE GOTTEN IN, WOULD WE HAVE NOT GOTTEN INTO THE RESERVE ISSUE? WOULD WE HAVE NOT SORT OF HAD TO DEAL WITH THE COST ISSUE? I, FOR ALL OF THESE, THERE'S SORT OF A SERIES OF CASCADING EVENTS IN MY JUDGMENT, RIGHT? AND IN THIS CASE, I'M JUST TRYING TO UNDERSTAND A LITTLE BETTER HOW THE SYSTEM WAS DESIGNED TO FUNCTION, RIGHT? SO THAT, WELL, THAT'S, THAT'S A GREAT QUESTION.
IT SO, YOU KNOW, AROUND A REFINERY IN ALASKA, IT WAS, UH, CLEARLY WINTERIZED DIFFERENT THAN THE ONE I HAD IN CZO SPRINGS.
AND IF YOU ACTUALLY PUT THE ENCLOSURES, UH, THAT YOU WOULD, IN A REALLY COLD CLIMATE HERE, YOU'D HAVE COOLING PROBLEMS FOR THE PEOPLE WORKING IN THE SUMMER.
AND, BUT IN THE CASE OF THE NUCLEAR, IT WAS A SMALL DIAMETER SENSOR LINE, UH, CENSORING THE PRESSURE GOING INTO THE SUCTION SIDE OF, OF A PUMP HEADER THAT WAS FEEDING THE, THE STEAM GENERATOR.
AND, AND THAT, THAT WOULD'VE JUST BEEN AN INSULATION ISSUE.
THE P L C, UH, WAS PROBABLY, UH, UH, EXPOSED TO SOME EXTENT, AND IT, IT MIGHT'VE, I, WE CAN GET MORE CLARIFICATION, BUT, UH, COLD WEATHER AND, YOU KNOW, ELECTRONICS DON'T WORK WELL IN THIS KIND OF COLD WEATHER UNLESS THEY'RE PROPERLY PROTECTED.
IT WAS SUPPOSED TO REDIRECT TO A SECOND BACKUP P L C, AND IT DIDN'T.
AND THAT WAS JUST A, A FAN CONTROL PROBLEM.
AND ONCE YOU HAVE THAT, YOU'VE GOTTA DO THAT.
SO IT, IT'S HARDER TO, TO SET, UH, UP PROPER WEATHERIZATION FOR EXTREME EVENTS, WHETHER THEY'RE COLD OR HOT.
I MEAN, IN, IN SOME CASES WHEN WE WOULD HAVE VERY HOT TEMPERATURES IN, IN AREAS WE WERE USED TO COLD TEMPERATURES, WE WOULDN'T HAVE ENOUGH COOLING.
AND WE'D BE USING THINGS CALLED OKLAHOMA COOLERS, WHICH IS BASICALLY A HOSE ON SOMETHING.
SO IT, IT'S, IT IS HARDER AND IT DOES TAKE MORE WORK.
I, I, I THINK WHAT YOU'RE ASKING IS, DOES IT MEAN WE NEED MORE INVESTMENT? BUT I THINK WHAT REID IS SAYING IS WE NEED TO BE A LITTLE BIT MORE METICULOUS WHEN WE DO IT BECAUSE C B S DID, DID MAKE THE INVESTMENT YEAH.
THE INSULATION AT, BUT FOR SOME REASON, THESE TWO LITTLE SECTIONS IN THESE TWO DIFFERENT PLANTS DIDN'T GET COMING OUT.
[01:20:01]
TO DISCOUNT ALL THE WORK, UH, C P S DID, 'CAUSE IT WAS EXTENSIVE.YOU CAN SEE THAT IN THE RESPONSE TO THEIR R F I EIGHT, I THINK, I CAN'T REMEMBER THE NUMBER, BUT ANYWAY, THEY DID EXTENSIVE WORK.
BUT WHEN YOU'VE GOT AN EVENT LIKE THIS, THIS ABNORMAL EVENT, YOU ALMOST FROM AN OPERATING STANDPOINT, HAVE TO EXPECT ARE ABNORMAL REACTIONS TO YOUR PLANT.
COLD TEMPERATURES, VERY, VERY DI VERY, VERY HARD ON EQUIPMENT.
I MEAN, YOU KNOW, YOU JUST, YEAH.
AND I, I'M NOT DISCOUNTING HOW HARD A PROBLEM IT WAS.
I'M JUST SAYING THAT THAT WAS A PROBLEM THAT WAS QUOTE UNQUOTE UNDER WHAT I WOULD CONSIDER THE CONTROLLABLE.
AND I, I, WHAT I'M SCRATCHING AT HERE IS, YOU KNOW, IF I'M, IF I'M JOE Q CITIZEN AND I SAY, OKAY, YOU KNOW, MOVING FORWARD, UH, YOU KNOW, IF WE INVEST MORE IN WINTERIZATION, DOES THAT MEAN THEN THAT WE DON'T HAVE TO DEAL WITH THE LOAD SHEDDING BECAUSE THE SYSTEM, YOU KNOW, WILL BE MUCH MORE RESILIENT IN A, IN A, IN A COLD WEATHER ENVIRONMENT OR IF WE, IT'S ACTUALLY MUCH MORE COST EFFECTIVE TO FIX THE LOAD SHEDDING PIECE BECAUSE I'M WILLING TO, YOU KNOW, GO FOR A COUPLE HOURS WITHOUT POWER, BUT COUPLE DAYS IS A DIFFERENT MATTER.
SO IF IT WORKS IN THE WAY IT'S DESIGNED WHERE YOU ONLY HAVE TO, YOU KNOW, I'M, I'M WILLING TO INVEST SOME MORE IN THAT VERSUS A HUGE AMOUNT IN WINTERIZATION OR NO, THE REAL ISSUE WAS THERE WAS CAPACITY, ET CETERA.
IT WAS THE COST, YOU KNOW, THAT, THAT WE ACTUALLY NEED TO ADDRESS.
I KNOW IT'S ALL A COMBINATION OF ALL THREE OF THEM, BUT YEAH, IT, IT'S BOTH BECAUSE THE, THE COST WAS ON THE NATURAL GAS.
AND SO THE REASON THAT WE'RE LOOKING AT THESE TWO PLANTS IS THE, THAT THOSE TWO PLANTS ARE NOT AFFECTED BY THE COST.
SO WE ISOLATED THAT EVENT, AS YOU PROPERLY POINT OUT, WE ISOLATE THE PROBLEM ON THE NATURAL GAS PRICE, AND WE, AND WE LOOK AT TWO PLANTS THAT ARE JUST OPERATIONALLY, UH, OPERATIONAL ISSUES, BUT NOT MARKET ISSUES.
THAT'S WHAT WE TRY TO DO ON THAT.
I WOULD, I WOULD SAY, AND, AND THIS IS JUST FROM WHAT I KNOW RIGHT NOW, IS THE LOWEST HANGING FRUIT IS TO MAKE SURE THOSE VULNERABILITIES ARE COVERED, BECAUSE THAT'S INFRASTRUCTURE THAT WE ALREADY HAVE.
AND WHEN IT'S NUCLEAR CAPACITY, IT'S NOT GOING TO BE SUBJECT TO MARKET VARIABILITY.
AND, AND, AND, AND THAT'S WHAT YOU'RE SAYING HERE.
AND, AND WE'RE, WHAT WE'RE SAYING IS THAT, THAT THE OPERATION, THE C P SS HAS A LONG HISTORY OF OPERATIONAL EXCELLENCE MM-HMM.
AND THE OTHER JUST COMMENT OR QUESTION I HAD WAS ON THIS CHART THAT SHOWS THE TOTAL HOURS WHERE WE'RE TALKING ABOUT THE IMPACT.
UM, SO YOU SAID THAT WE CAN'T REALLY SAY BY LOOKING AT THIS, THAT THERE WAS ANY INEQUITABLE SORT OF, YOU KNOW, DISTRIBUTION REED.
I WANTED US TO TALK
UM, BY LOOKING AT IT, HONESTLY, YOU CAN'T DRAW THAT CONCLUSION WITHOUT RUNNING SOME NUMBERS.
UM, BUT VISUALLY IT DOES NOT APPEAR THAT AREAS THAT WE KNOW OF AS TRADITIONALLY UNDERSERVED, EXPERIENCED, UM, YOU KNOW, THE REDDEST SECTION, IN FACT, YOU SEE THE REDS SECTION IN THE NORTH SIDE, AND, AND THE, AND THE DIFFERENCE IN THE COLORS WERE A FUNCTION OF WHAT TIME.
AND IT'S KIND OF HARD TO SEE THERE, ED, BUT IT'S THE TIME THEY TOTAL TIME THEY WERE OUT, YOU NO, I'M ASKING A DIFFERENT QUE I MEAN, I'M SAYING, UM, WHAT, WHAT CAUSED THE TIME TO BE LONGER OR SHORTER? THAT IS, THAT'S A GREAT QUESTION BECAUSE AS FAR AS WE KNOW, THERE WERE ONLY TWO DIFFERENT TYPES OF CIRCUITS THAT WERE ON OR OFF, YET THE RANGE OF TIME IS SIGN IS SIGNIFICANT.
SO I, I HAD LIKE TO SIT DOWN WITH THE FOLKS WHO MADE THE MAP.
SO WHEN, WHEN, WHEN THEY WERE HERE, WE, WE ASKED, DID YOU USE ALL OF THE INTERRUPTABLE CIRCUITS? AND THE ANSWER WAS YES.
AND IN FACT, THEY ANSWERED THAT THEY USED SOME OF THE INTERRUPTABLE CIRCUITS AND A FEW OF THE LOW FREQUENCY CIRCUITS.
I DON'T KNOW HOW THEY USED THEM.
THESE WERE EITHER DONE WITH THE AUTOMATIC OR WHEN THEY STARTED DOING IT MANUAL.
AND THEY, BY DAY, IF YOU LOOK AT THAT RESPONSE TO R F A, THEY PUT EACH CIRCUIT AND THE NUMBER OF HOURS THEY WERE DOWN EACH DAY AND TOTAL 'EM UP.
DID IT ANSWER THAT QUESTION THERE? WELL, I, I ALMOST THINK IT GOES BACK TO SYSTEM DESIGN.
SO IN THE, IN THE ACTUAL EXECUTION OF IT, IT MAY NOT HAVE BEEN EQUITABLE JUST BECAUSE OF THE WAY THE SYSTEM, YOU KNOW, WHAT CIRCUITS WERE, WERE OPERATING AND WHICH WEREN'T.
AND, AND SO YOU GET A CHART THAT MIGHT EVEN LOOK LIKE CERTAIN AREAS WERE, WERE NOT GIVEN AS MUCH POWER AS OTHERS, BUT
[01:25:01]
IT WASN'T BECAUSE THE SYSTEM WAS DESIGNED TO DO THAT RIGHT.AND SO I THINK JUST, I THINK AT LEAST SEEMS TO ME THAT IF, YOU KNOW, PART OF THE ANSWER TO THIS QUESTION IS, WAS THIS, WAS THE SYSTEM DESIGNED EQUITABLY OR WAS THERE SOMETHING EMBEDDED IN THE DESIGN OF THE SYSTEM THAT, YOU KNOW, MADE A, A, A, A PREFERENCE FOR ONE AREA OVER THE OTHER? AND I THINK, YOU KNOW, I HOPE THE ANSWER IS NO, BUT, BUT I THINK WE ACTUALLY SHOULD, SHOULD ANSWER THAT.
AND WE'VE TALKED TO 'EM ABOUT THAT TO, TO ANSWER THAT.
SO WHEN YOU'RE, WE, WE'VE PUT A COUPLE RECOMMENDATIONS IN ONE NARROW DOWN THE SIZE OF THE CRITICAL CIRCUITS, TAKE SOME OF THAT AND PUT ON INTERRUPTABLE CIRCUITS.
SO NOW YOU NEED MORE INTERRUPT, YOU HAVE MORE INTERRUPTABLE CIRCUITS TO USE.
IF YOU LOOK AT THE WAY THE SYSTEM WAS DESIGNED, YOU HA IN MAY OF A YEAR, THEY WILL FIND CIRCUITS THAT ARE ON, AND THOSE CIRCUITS THAT ARE ON, THEY USE THOSE AS THE LOW FREQUENCY CIRCUITS THAT ARE AUTOMATICALLY TRIPPED IF YOU GET BELOW THE 59 3 OR 59.4.
SO YOU TAKE THOSE AND YOU SET THOSE ASIDE, AND THEN YOU TAKE THE CRITICAL CIRCUITS AND YOU SET THOSE ASIDE.
AND THEN WHAT'S LEFT IS THE INTERRUPTIBLE CIRCUITS.
THAT'S, AND THE INTERRUPTIBLE CIRCUITS OVER THE YEARS TALKING WITH C P S, THOSE HAVE GROWN AND THEY'VE GOTTEN BIGGER.
SO TO THE EXTENT THAT YOU HAVE A CIRCUIT THAT'S VERY LARGE SERVING AN AREA, WHEN YOU TRIP THAT CIRCUIT, OR YOU TAKE THAT CIRCUIT OUT, YOU TAKE MORE PEOPLE OUT.
SO I KNOW THAT C P S IS IN THE PROCESS OF RE-LOOKING THEIR DESIGN, AS YOU TALK ABOUT, AND THERE'S TWO THINGS THAT WE TALKED ABOUT WHEN WE'RE TALKING ABOUT EQUITY.
WE WERE TALKING ABOUT EQUITY WITHIN THE INTERRUPTABLE CIRCUITS, WHICH WE CAN CLEARLY SEE IT WASN'T.
AND THEN WE'RE TALKING ABOUT EQUITY ON A GEOGRAPHIC BASIS.
WHICH IS WHAT ANNA WAS ANSWERING.
SO THERE'S TWO EQUITY ISSUES THERE, HOPEFULLY THAT ANSWERED.
UH, NO, I, I THINK HE, HIS QUESTION IS DIFFERENT, AND WE DON'T HAVE THE ANSWER TO THAT.
UH, C P S UH, HAS TOLD US THAT THE WAY THE CIRCUITS, IT'S EQUITABLE AMONG THE INTERRUPTIBLE CIRCUITS, UNLESS YOU KNOW WHICH ONES WERE THE INTERRUPTIBLE CIRCUITS, AND WE DON'T, WHAT WE HAVE IS A WHOLE MAP OF ALL THE CIRCUITS.
SO I COULDN'T TELL YOU IF IT WAS EQUITABLE AMONG THOSE OR, OR NOT.
THIS MAP IS JUST THE, IS WE ASKED THAT QUESTION.
THE MAP AND THE COLORS THAT YOU SEE THERE, I'M TOLD ARE ALL THE INTERRUPTIBLE CIRCUITS PLUS A FEW OF THE LOW FREQUENCY CIRCUITS, THESE WERE THE CIRCUITS THAT WERE TURNED OFF C CORRECT.
THERE'S JUST, SORRY, I KNOW WE'RE GETTING INTO THE WEEDS HERE.
THERE'S, BUT THERE'S THREE CATEGORIES AND THE ONLY, THE ONLY ONES YOU CAN PULL OUT, YOU CAN'T PULL OUT FOR SURE WHICH ONES WERE IN ANY OF THE THREE CATEGORIES BY LOOKING AT THIS MAP.
SO YOU CAN'T EVEN VISUALLY TELL IF IT WAS EQUITABLE.
NOW, C P S CLAIMS THAT THE CIRCUITS WERE SORRY, TELLS US THAT THE CIRCUITS WERE BUILT ORGANICALLY AND, YOU KNOW, WITHOUT ANY CONSIDERATION.
AND THAT'S, THAT'S AS MUCH AS WE KNOW.
WELL, AND, AND WE'VE CONTINUED TO DRILL DOWN ON THEM WITH THE DOWN ON THIS, WITH THEM.
AND THE BEST THAT I CAN TELL YOU IS THAT IF YOU LOOK AT THAT MAP AND YOU SEE SOMETHING THAT HAS A COLOR, UH, IT IS, IT IS EITHER, IT'S ALL THE INTERRUPTIBLE CIRCUITS AND A FEW OF THE LOW CIRCUITS.
AND, AND THE WHITE AREA IS NOT COUNTING THE MILITARY, THE WIDE AREA ARE INTER, UH, ARE CRITICAL CIRCUITS AND LOW FREQUENCY CIRCUITS.
THAT MEANS, WHAT WE DON'T KNOW IS WHY SOME, UH, HOW THEY CHOSE SOME OF THE LOW FREQUENCY CIRCUITS.
AND, AND AGAIN, I I'M, I DIDN'T EVEN KNOW THEY COULD DO IT UNTIL I WAS ORALLY TOLD THAT.
BUT, BUT, BUT REMEMBER THEY GAVE US A, AN, AN ORDINAL, AN ORDINAL CHART, AN OFF ON CHART FIRST WITH THIS, WHICH IS THE YELLOW CHART WE SHOWED EARLIER.
AND THAT JUST SAID, THESE WERE THE CIRCUITS THAT WERE INTERRUPTED.
AND THEN WE SAID, NO, WE NEED TO KNOW HOW LONG THESE CIRCUITS WERE AND THE INTENSITY BETWEEN AREAS FOR INTERRUPTABILITY.
AND, AND, AND THEN WE HAVE TO INFER OFF OF THAT CHART THAT IF IT'S A WHITE AREA, IT WASN'T AN INTERRUPTABLE CIRCUIT, IT WAS EITHER ONE OF THESE LOW FREQUENCY CIRCUITS TO PROTECT THE GRID, OR IT WAS ONE OF THE CIRCUITS THAT THEY CALL CRITICAL CIRCUITS.
WE HAVE TO, WE HAVE TO MAKE THAT ASSUMPTION OFF OF THE CHART.
AND I, AND I'VE ASKED HIM ABOUT THAT, AND I THINK I'VE GOT IT CONFIRMED.
ANY OTHER QUESTIONS? WE'LL MOVE ON.
I THOUGHT THAT YOU ALL DID AN EXCELLENT JOB ON THE RECOMMENDATIONS ON
[01:30:01]
PAGE.OH, ON PAGE 13, UM, YOU ALL HAVE ABOUT THE RECENT ELEVATION OF OPERATIONAL PERSONNEL TO TOP MANAGEMENT, AND THEN SPECIFICALLY AFTER THAT, IT SAYS, IF NOT THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES MUST YEAH, WE'LL, WE'LL, WE'LL REVIEW THAT.
SO I WAS JUST, WELL, LET'S, LET'S HOLD ON THAT.
SO I WAS WORRIED ABOUT THAT ONE, AND ANDY'S IN THE ROOM, SO I JUST WANTED TO MAKE SURE.
AND THEN ON PAGE 14, IN CONCERT WITH LOCAL GOVERNMENTS, UTILITIES, AND OTHER PARTNERS REGULARLY REVIEW CIRCUITS.
AND SO, UM, I HAD ASKED BOTH C P S AND SASS WHEN THE LAST TIME THAT WE UPDATED THE PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION WAS FOR, FOR THESE CRITICAL CIRCUITS.
UM, AND THEY DIDN'T, THEY DIDN'T HAVE LIKE AN ANSWER RIGHT OFF THE TOP OF THEIR HEAD.
IS THERE ANY WAY THAT WE CAN RECOMMEND THAT WE DO IT QUARTERLY OR TWICE A YEAR OR SOMETHING INSTEAD JUST KIND OF LIKE, LEAVE IT UP TO THEM, UM, SAYING IN CONCERT, ARE THESE THE LOW FREQUENCY YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT? OR WHICH, UH, WELL, IN GENERAL, THE CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE FACILITIES CRITICAL, YES.
WELL, I THINK THEY'RE GONNA REVIEW THOSE IN TALKING WITH, WITH, UM, PAUL MM-HMM.
AND, AND, AND I KNOW OTHER UTILITIES HAVE SPENT A LOT OF MONEY ON THIS SPLITTING UP CIRCUITS.
YOU KNOW, THERE WAS, THAT CAME UP WHEN WE WERE TALKING ABOUT THE SAWS ISSUE ABOUT, YOU KNOW, FEEDING, UH, CRITICAL PUMPS OFF OF TWO CIRCUITS, SO YOU COULD KEEP SOME OPERATION GOING IF YOU BROUGHT ONE CIRCUITS DOWN.
SO SHE'S ASKING US TO INTEGRATE THAT RECOMMENDATION.
SO I THINK WE CAN, YEAH, YEAH.
JUST KIND OF TO HAVE A LITTLE BIT MORE, BUT AGAIN, I, I, THE, THE LOWER THE LOW FREQUENCY ONES ARE SET BY OKAY.
I WOULD, I WOULD SAY WE FOLDED INTO, UH, SOMETHING THAT YOU DO DURING THE WEATHERIZATION THAT THEY DO IN THE FALL, THOSE PROCEDURES THAT THEY GO THROUGH.
YEAH, JUST KIND OF TO FORMALIZE IT.
I CAN'T REMEMBER IF SOMEONE IN HERE USED EARLIER THE, THE WORD TO FORMALIZE A, A PROCESS.
UM, AND THEN ON THE LAST PAGE, ON PAGE 18, UM, THERE IS THE EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS PROTOCOL SHOULD BE DEVELOPED WITH CONTRIBUTIONS FROM LOCAL COMMUNICATIONS PROFESSIONALS, SUCH AS, AND THEN THERE'S A BLANK.
ARE WE ALLOWED TO GIVE INPUT? LIKE, OR, OR IS, WAS THERE A REASON IT WAS LEFT BLANK? I DON'T KNOW.
IT WAS LEFT BLANK BECAUSE I DID NOT FINISH.
THERE IS, UM, PUBLIC RELATIONS SOCIETY OF AMERICA.
THAT'S THE ONE THAT'S, I COULDN'T REMEMBER THE NAME OF THAT ORGANIZATION.
I THINK THE A M A WOULD BE GOOD, BECAUSE THEN THEY KNOW ALL ABOUT DIGITAL, UM, MEDIA, AND THEN WOMEN IN COMMUNICATIONS IS ANOTHER REALLY GOOD ONE.
BUT ANYWAY, SO, SO I WANT TO MAKE THOSE RECOMMENDATIONS.
AND THEN THE LAST ONE IN CONCERT WITH THE CITY, THEN I NEED TO WRITE THOSE DOWN.
UNLESS YOU'RE GOING TO EMAIL THEM TO ME LATER, OR UNLESS LISA'S
WE'RE, WE'RE, UH, I'LL SEND THEM TO YOU, COUNCILMAN.
AND THEN IN CONCERT WITH CITY AND OTHER LOCAL AGENCIES, DEVELOP AND IMPLEMENT AN EMERGENCY READINESS YEAR ROUND CAMPAIGN.
AND COUNCILMAN PERRY ON, UM, FEBRUARY THE 25TH ASKED ME TO ASSIGN A C C R.
AND IT COVERED, I THOUGHT SOME REALLY GOOD THINGS.
AND SO, UM, IT, IT, IT, IT WAS SPECIFICALLY ABOUT, UM, HOW TO PREPARE PEOPLE.
IT WAS A PREPAREDNESS GUIDE AND IT WAS FOR FOOD, WATER, AND SHELTER.
JUST IN CASE PEOPLE, UH, EMERGENCY RESPONDERS CAN'T GET TO THEM FAST ENOUGH.
AND SO I WOULD MAYBE RECOMMEND THAT WE ADD THIS AS WELL AS JUST THE, THE EMERGENCY READINESS IN, IN THERE, THAT WE HAVE SOMETHING LIKE THAT IN THE PUBLIC UTILITIES CODE.
IT SAYS THAT WE HAVE IT SOMEWHERE.
I DON'T KNOW IF IT'S READY TEXAS OR, YOU KNOW, THERE'S AN APP, UM, SOUTH TEXAS READY, SOUTH TEXAS.
BUT I DO THINK WE NEED TO BE MORE DELIBERATE ABOUT IT.
COUNCILMAN PERRY HAD, UM, MENTIONED IN ENGLISH AND A S L AS WELL.
AND SO I DEFINITELY THINK THAT IS IMPORTANT.
AND THEN, UM, IN ADDITION TOO, I THINK THAT WE SHOULD ALSO HAVE, I HAD WORKED ON A C C R AND ANDY SEGOVIA WOULD PROBABLY BE ABLE TO HELP ON THIS, BUT, UM, I THINK THAT IN GENERAL, AND THIS WOULD BE ACROSS THE BOARD FOR SAWS OR C P S OR US THAT WE SHOULD HAVE, UH, WE KNOW WHEN WE'RE GONNA HAVE THESE, UM, WEATHER, YOU KNOW, ISSUES TYPICALLY, RIGHT? IF WE'RE LOOKING AT, UM, THE REPORTS THAT ARE COMING THROUGH THE E O C AT LEAST.
UM, SO I DON'T KNOW IF THERE'S AN OPPORTUNITY TO HAVE A PLACEHOLDER FOR A SPECIAL SESSION.
UM, I'M TALKING ABOUT FOR A COUNCIL SPECIAL SESSION TO BE UPDATED ON PLANS.
AND I DON'T KNOW THAT WE CAN KIND OF HAVE THAT ALREADY BUILT IN, SO THAT WAY COUNCILMAN PERRY KNOWS HE SHOULDN'T BE OUT OF TOWN ON, YOU KNOW, NEXT TUESDAY, BECAUSE THERE MIGHT BE A STORM THAT COULD AFFECT OUR AREA, ET CETERA.
AND JUST AS A PLACEHOLDER, BUT I DIDN'T KNOW WHERE THAT WOULD GO.
I DIDN'T THINK THAT IT WAS STANDARD TO C P SS OR SAUCE OR THE E O C.
SO I WANTED TO BRING THAT UP AS WELL.
I THINK WE HAVE LISA, HELP US FIGURE
[01:35:01]
THAT ONE OUT BECAUSE IT, IT, UH, CORRESPONDS TO ALL OF THEM.NOBODY AT THIS TABLE'S GOING ANYWHERE.
AND PART OF MY QUESTIONING, UH, UH, TO C P S ABOUT WHETHER WE HAVE ENOUGH CAPACITY AND WHERE, WHERE THOSE LINES ARE GONNA BE CROSSING AT TO WHERE WE HAVE TO BUILD ANOTHER PLANT, UH, I GOT A LOT OF QUESTIONS FROM, UM, MY NEIGHBORS IN DISTRICT 10 ABOUT ERCOT, WHO IS ERCOT, WHY DO THEY HAVE AUTHORITY OVER US? WHO GIVES 'EM THAT AUTHORITY? AND IF WE DISCONNECTED, IF WE JUST PROVIDED C P S POWER TO THEIR CUSTOMERS, COULD WE HAVE MADE IT THROUGH THE STORM WITHOUT ERCOT DEMANDING THAT WE LOAD SHED AND GIVE AWAY, OR, YOU KNOW, TAKE AWAY SOME OF OUR CAPACITY? WOULD WE HAVE BEEN OKAY HERE IN SAN ANTONIO AND THE CUSTOMERS THAT C P S SERVES, HAD WE NOT HAD THAT DEMAND PUT ON US? AND, UH, I, I HAVE NOT BEEN ABLE TO ANSWER THAT QUESTION.
UH, I, IT'S, I DON'T KNOW IF C P SS CAN GIVE THAT TO US OR IF THAT WAS EVER ADDRESSED.
I DON'T REMEMBER SEEING THAT IN THE RFIS OR ANYTHING.
UH, UM, TO ANSWER THAT QUESTION, WHO IS ERCOT? WELL, WHY, WHY DO THEY, WHY DID THEY DO THAT? IF WE HAD NOT, IF WE WERE DISCONNECTED, WOULD WE HAVE BEEN? OKAY, WELL, THAT'S IN THE PRIMER AS TO WHAT ERCOT IS THAT Y'ALL VERY APPROPRIATELY ASKED.
AND IT'S GOT THE DEFINITIONS IN THE PRIMER TALKS ABOUT WHAT ERCOT WE CAN'T DISCONNECT FROM ERCOT.
IT, IT'S, IT'S PART OF THE STATE RULES.
I MEAN, WE ARE PART OF THE GRID.
AND FROM MY PERSPECTIVE, UM, AND I, I COULD DO SOME MORE NUMBERS ON THIS, BUT JUST ON A ALLEGORICAL BASIS, JUST LOOKING AT HOW MUCH WE PURCHASED FROM ERCOT, AND THAT'S IN THERE.
THE PURCHASE AND SALES ARE IN THERE.
UH, I WOULD SAY THAT, UM, WE PROBABLY, YOU CAN ALWAYS MAKE IT OKAY, 'CAUSE YOU JUST GOT MORE PEOPLE OUT AND YOUR QUALITY BUSINESS, WOULD WE MAKE IT WITHOUT ANYBODY BEING OUT OF, OUT OF POWER? AND I'M NOT SURE WE WOULD'VE, YOU'RE JUST LOOKING AT HOW MUCH WE PURCHASED.
BUT THAT WOULD BE A MUCH DEEPER STUDY ON A LOT OF WHAT IFS IF WE HAD, BECAUSE YEAH, WE COULD HAVE MADE IT IF WE WANTED TO BUY MORE GAS AT A HIGH PRICE OR, OR, UH, WE DIDN'T HAVE THESE TWO EVENTS.
I MEAN, THERE'S, THERE'S A LOT OF WHAT IFS, BUT I WOULD, I WOULD SAY THAT, UH, THE ANSWER IS WOULD WE HAVE DONE BETTER IF WE'D NOT BEEN CONNECTED THAN WE DID? IT'S NOT, WOULD WE MADE IT WITHOUT ANY, I DON'T KNOW THAT WE WOULD'VE DONE ANY BETTER.
IT'S JUST MY, JUST MY LOOKING AT IT.
I'VE BEEN WRONG A LOT, SO, WELL, I'D SAY NO.
THAT WAS A LOT OF QUESTIONS THAT I, I GOT DURING THAT TIME, AND THOSE ARE GOOD QUESTIONS.
BUT THE, THE, THE PROBLEM BEHIND THOSE QUESTIONS IS, IT'S, IT'S, IT'S A QUESTION THAT WE CAN'T, WE CAN'T DO
WE CAN'T LEAVE OUR CO WE'RE PART OF THE GRID.
WELL, AND, AND REMINDING YOUR FOLKS THAT SOMETIMES WHEN WE EXCESS POWER, WE SELL THAT TO THE GRID, AND WE WOULDN'T WANT TO BE ON OUR OWN.
'CAUSE THEN WE GIVE UP ALL OF THAT OPPORTUNITY WE MIGHT HAVE AT OTHER TIMES.
AND THAT, THAT COMES INTO THE, THE RESERVE QUESTION, RIGHT? AND WHERE, WHEN ARE WE GONNA HAVE TO INVEST IN A NEW YEAH.
AND THAT, THAT'S A BIG CONCERN OF MINE TOO.
AND, AND IT'S NOT JUST US, IT'S THE WHOLE GRID.
AND WE FORGET THAT WE ALSO MADE A RECOMMENDATION THAT WE CONNECT TO THE OTHER TWO GRIDS.
WE'RE GIVING UP, UH, SOME GREAT OPPORTUNITIES IN WEST TEXAS TO SELL POWER INTO THE WESTERN GRID BECAUSE THERE'S TIMES WHEN THE WIND AND SOLAR IS ALMOST GOING FOR NOTHING.
AND IT COULD BE SOLD TO MAYBE A BETTER MARKET.
SO, YOU KNOW, FROM A STANDPOINT OF, OF, UM, JUST BEING A STATE THAT EXPORTS ENERGY, UH, YOU'D THINK WE KIND OF WANT ALL TO THINK ABOUT EXPORTING ELECTRICITY LIKE WE DO, YOU KNOW, PRODUCTS, NATURAL GAS AND CRUDE OIL.
WELL, I WANNA REMIND EVERYBODY THAT THIS IMPORTANT TOPIC WAS NOT ADDRESSED BY THIS LEGISLATIVE SESSION.
OH, THERE, THERE ARE ADDITIONAL SESSIONS COMING UP THAT I HOPE THAT THIS IS GONNA BE ADDRESSED BY THE STATE.
UM, AND I, I'VE BEEN TOLD IT WILL BE, I DON'T KNOW.
I'M CERTAINLY GONNA SEND SOMETHING UP TO MY REPRESENTATIVES SAYING, WE NEED THIS ADDRESSED AND WE NEED IT FIXED TO OUR LEGISLATORS HERE IN TEXAS.
SO JUST PUTTING THAT OUT THERE FOR FOLKS TO PAY ATTENTION.
AND, UH, UM, HEY, SEND A LETTER.
[01:40:01]
WELL, THE CITY AND THE COUNTY, UM, DEFINITELY THE SOLID IN MY MIND SHOULD BE ON THEIR LEGISLATIVE AGENDA, WHATEVER THEY WANT TO CALL THAT, BECAUSE, UM, WE'RE LIVING ON, WE'RE LIVING ON BORROWED TIME AND BARRED, BARRED OLD, OLD UNITS.WE GOT THE CHAIRMAN SITTING RIGHT HERE AT THIS TABLE.
LET'S, LET'S, LET'S, LET'S MOVE, LET'S, LET'S MOVE ON.
IF THERE'S NO OTHER QUESTIONS ON THIS, AND LET'S, SORRY THIS TOOK SO LONG.
BUT LET'S GO ON INTO, UM, UH, SAWS AND THEN WE'LL HIT THE E O C.
WELL, MY, OURS IS A LOT MORE SIMPLE WHEN TALKING ABOUT FORMAT.
I'M NOT GONNA GO INTO THE, UH, INTRODUCTION HERE.
IT JUST KIND OF GOES INTO WHAT OUR TASK WAS AND, UM, UH, WHAT WE DID.
SO I'M GONNA SKIP OVER THERE THAT, BECAUSE WE REALLY DIDN'T GET INTO AN OVERALL SUMMARY OF WHAT HAPPENED AND WHY, AND WHAT THE, WHAT THE IMPACT WAS.
AND WE'LL WORK ON THAT TO GET THAT UPDATED.
BUT WE DID, UH, GO INTO WHAT I THINK THE, THE HEART OF THE MATTER IS, IS THE RECOMMENDATIONS ON WHAT, UH, WE CAME UP WITH AND WHAT WE HAVE ACTUALLY, UH, ALREADY SENT TO SAS, UH, FOR THEIR INFORMATION AT THIS POINT.
BUT THESE CAN CERTAINLY BE ADDED TO OR CHANGED.
THIS IS A DRAFT, AND THIS IS A WORKING SESSION HERE.
I'VE GOT FOLKS TAKING COPIOUS NOTES BACK HERE, AND WE CAN, UH, WE CAN MAKE THOSE CHANGES OR EDITS.
BUT, UH, I'LL JUST GO THROUGH THESE, UH, VERY QUICKLY AND SHARE, SHARE IT WITH, UH, MANNY FOR HIM TO, UH, CHIME IN AS WELL.
BUT, UH, RIGHT UP FRONT, UH, COMMUNICATIONS, UH, WE START UP WITH, UH, DEVELOPING SYSTEMS AND PROTOCOLS TO, UH, HAVE ONE COORDINATED MESSAGE CHANNEL BETWEEN THE E O C SAWS AND C P S, UH, FOR EMERGENCIES.
UH, WE HEARD TIME AND TIME AGAIN ABOUT THE LACK OF COMMUNICATION AND LACK OF COORDINATED COMMUNICATION FROM ALL THREE ENTITIES.
SO THIS IS ONE OF THOSE OVERALLS BETWEEN ALL THREE ENTITIES.
BUT, UH, SAWS IS A PART OF THAT AS WELL.
UM, UH, ASSIGNING A TEAM TO ASSESS, IMPLEMENT, AND TRACK THE PROGRESS OF CURRENT RECOMMENDATIONS FROM THE EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS PLAN AND UPDATE THE PLAN REGULARLY.
AND THAT'S SOMETHING THAT, UH, ADRIANA, YOU WERE TALKING ABOUT ALSO, UH, TO ACTUALLY LOOK AT IT, IMPLEMENT THE RECOMMENDATIONS AND, UH, GIVE UPDATES ON IT.
THE NEXT ONE WAS TO ESTABLISH AMER AGENCY PREPAREDNESS COORDINATION COMMITTEE MEETINGS BETWEEN SAS, C P S, BAYER COUNTY, COSA, E O C, AND OTHER RELEVANT STAKEHOLDERS.
REPORT ON THE PROGRESS IN EMERGENCY, PRE PRE PREPAREDNESS IMPLEMENTATION MEASURES, AND TO PROVIDE BRIEFINGS TO THE COUNCIL ON A QUARTERLY BASIS.
AGAIN, GETTING EVERYBODY IN THE ROOM SPEAKING THE SAME LANGUAGE, PREPARING AND, UM, UH, EXERCISING OUR PLANS FOR EMERGENCY TYPE OF OPERATIONS.
UM, PROVIDE UPDATES TO THE COUNCIL OFFICES ON A TIMELY BASIS, AND ESTABLISH A SINGULAR SAWS POINT OF CONTACT TO ACT AS A COUNCIL LIAISON DURING EMERGENCY SITUATIONS.
UPDATES, SAWS, FACILITY STAFF HIERARCHY.
UH, AGAIN, UM, I WAS MAKING MULTIPLE CALLS TO DIFFERENT PEOPLE AND NOT REALLY GETTING ANY RESPONSES, UH, DURING THIS TO, YOU KNOW, IT WASN'T JUST SAWS, UH, BUT THAT WAS OUR CHARGE.
AND, AND YEAH, WE WERE, IT WAS A LACK OF INFORMATION THAT WAS COMING BACK OUT FROM SAWS.
UM, INCREASE IN NUMBER OF AGENTS AVAILABLE TO TAKE CALLS DURING AN EMERGENCY IN LIEU OF AN AUTOMATIC AUTOMATED MACHINE.
IDENTIFY CRITICAL STAFF TO COMMUNICATE WITH THE PUBLIC AND CONSIDER THIRD PARTY LIVE CHAT SERVICES THAT CAN BE PROVIDED CRITICAL MESSAGING AND, AND PROVIDE BASE INTAKE TASKS FOR CUSTOMER CONCERNS.
UH, THEY WERE INUNDATED WITH CALLS, AND AGAIN, SAWS WASN'T THE ONLY ONE, AND THEY HAD NO WAY OF EXPANDING OR BRINGING ADDITIONAL PEOPLE ON BECAUSE ELECTRICAL OUTAGES, WHAT HAVE YOU, ON THEIR REMOTE SERVICES.
AND REMEMBER, WE WERE STILL IN A COVID ENVIRONMENT WHERE PEOPLE WERE NOT ALL CENTRALLY LOCATED AND BEING ABLE TO REACH, TO REACH OUT TO 'EM.
UM, A LOT OF PEOPLE WORKING AT HOME AND COULDN'T GET IN TOUCH WITH THEM, OR THEY COULDN'T RESPOND.
THEY COULDN'T GET INTO A CENTRAL LOCATION TO, UM, HELP WITH TAKING CALLS.
[01:45:01]
PLAN TOGETHER, IDENTIFY THOSE RESOURCES AND, AND BE READY FOR AN EMERGENCY.YOU KNOW, GRANTED, IF THEY HAVE ENOUGH TIME TO RESPOND, BUT HAVE SOME OTHER MEANS OF BRINGING ON ADDITIONAL PEOPLE TO DO THAT.
NOT JUST A RECORDING THAT YOU GET, UH, WHEN YOU CALL IN ON SERVICE CALLS.
UM, CREATE A DASHBOARD THAT REFLECTS REAL TIME OUTAGES AND INFRASTRUCTURE FAILURES, WATER PRESSURE ISSUES, AND AREAS UNDER BOIL, BOIL WATER NOTICES.
UH, THIS WAS ALSO, I IDENTIFIED IN THE BLACK AND VEATCH REPORT.
VERY SIMPLE TO SET THIS UP THAT'S AUTOMATED AND READILY AVAILABLE TO CUSTOMERS OUT THERE.
UM, AND, YOU KNOW, WHEN AN OUTAGE IS, HAS OCCURRED, WHAT THE EXPECTATION OF IT BEING REPAIRED.
UM, YOU KNOW, IF WE GO INTO A BOIL WATER NOTICE, UH, AGAIN, THIS WAS, UM, A BIT OF, WELL, IT WAS A LOT OF CONCERN FROM PEOPLE ALL OVER THE CITY ABOUT, ESPECIALLY WHEN THEY KICKED IN THE BOIL WATER, WE WERE GETTING MIXED MESSAGES.
AND THEN ALL OF A SUDDEN IT CAME OUT, YES, YOU HAVE TO, AND, UH, UH, CAUSED A LOT OF, LOT OF, UH, ANGST IN THE COMMUNITY ABOUT, IS OUR WATER SAFE TO DRINK? UH, INTEGRATE SAWS FULLY INTO THE E O C WITH AN ONSITE DECISION MAKER, UH, CENTRALIZED, CONTROLLED, DECENTRALIZED EXECUTION.
UM, THERE, INSTEAD OF HAVING JUST A REP THERE TO COMMUNICATE BACK AND FORTH BETWEEN, UH, SAWS AND THE E O C, WE NEED TO HAVE DECISION MAKERS RIGHT THERE IN THE E O C TO MAKE ON THE SPOT DECISIONS AND WORK WITH THE OTHER DECISION MAKERS WITHIN THE E O C TO OPERATE DURING A A, AN EMERGENCY SITUATION.
UM, AND SO I, I THINK THAT GOES TO A C C R THAT I SUBMITTED ALSO, TO GET THOSE PEOPLE LOCATED IN THE E O C SO THAT THEY CAN WORK TOGETHER AS A TEAM TO GET OUR, UH, TROUBLESHOOTING DONE AND OPERATIONS GOING BACK TO AN, A NORMAL BASIS OR AS FAST AS POSSIBLE IN COORDINATION WITH EVERYBODY SITTING AROUND THE TABLE.
UM, THEN WE GO INTO, UM, INFRASTRUCTURE.
MANNY, WHY DON'T YOU TAKE THE INFRASTRUCTURE? THANK INFRASTRUCTURE.
SO AS FAR AS INFRASTRUCTURE IS CONCERNED, UM, FIRST AND FOREMOST, WE'RE ASKING SAW TO IDENTIFY CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE, UM, AND TO WORK WITH, UH, C P S TO CREATE A REAL TIME AND MAINTAIN A REAL TIME, UH, LIST OF, UH, CRITICAL FACILITIES, HOSPITALS, SENIOR CENTERS.
UM, WE ALSO WANT THEM TO, UM, WORK WITH C P S TO, UH, IDENTIFY, UM, ESSENTIAL EQUIPMENT AND THEN SEE IF WE CAN EXEMPT THOSE ESSENTIAL EQUIPMENT FROM, UM, YOU KNOW, LOAD SHEDDING AT A, YOU KNOW, WHEN LOAD SHEDDING IS CALLED FOR, WE WANT THEM TO COORDINATE WITH C P S TO STRATEGIZE, UM, WHERE WE GENERATORS ARE GONNA BE APPROPRIATE.
UM, WE ARE ASKING FOR THEM, UH, TO BOLSTER INFRASTRUCTURE AND WEATHERIZATION, UM, AND THEIR EMERGENCY RESPONSE EQUIPMENT, JUST EXAMPLES, HEAT STRIPS, INSULATION, UH, DRAINING PORTS ABOVE PIPING, AND, UM, I'M GONNA INCLUDE IN HERE LATER ON, UM, YOU KNOW, UPDATED IN IT INFRASTRUCTURE, UH, TO KEEP UP WITH BEST PRACTICES.
WE'RE RECOMMENDING PERFORM ROUTINE DISASTER SCENARIO TRAINING, NOT JUST TABLETOPS, BUT ALSO IN PERSON OUT IN THE FIELD, UH, ESTABLISHING EMERGENCY WATER FILL STATIONS, UH, FOR THE PUBLIC, UH, TO MAKE SURE AND ALSO COMMUNICATE TO THE PUBLIC WHERE THOSE STATIONS ARE.
UH, WE ARE RECOMMENDING, UM, THAT, UM, THEY DEVELOP A, A MANUAL, UH, WITH COSA, UH, AND WITH OTHER AGENCIES TO INCREASE READINESS, UH, WHEN IT COMES TO DISTRIBUTION OF BULK, BULK, UH, WATER.
AND WE ARE ASKING THEM ALSO TO PROVIDE, UM, SEASONAL AND RELEVANT EMERGENCY PREPARATION INFO FOR TAXPAYERS RATE PAYERS, UM, TO HELP THEM PREPARE FOR WINTER AND, UM, OTHER, UM, OTHER WEATHER, UH, AND EMERGENCY CONTINGENCIES.
UH, ADDITIONALLY WE WANT, UM, CITY COUNCIL OFFICES TO BE INCLUDED IN, UH, PREPARATION READINESS AND TRAINING.
AND, UH, WE WANT A STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURE, UM, MANUAL, UM, AS FAR AS HOW TO ACTIVATE THE, UH, COMMUNITY PIPE REPAIR PROGRAM.
UM, AND I THINK IT'S, UM, IT'S HIGH TIME FOR SAS TO PARTICIPATE WITH C P SS AND SA AND CSOSA IN THE CREATION OF AN EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS COMMUNITY GUIDE AND IN THE FORM OF VIDEOS AND PSSAS TO HELP PEOPLE, YOU KNOW, PREPARE AND BE READY FOR, YOU KNOW, EVENTS SUCH AS THESE.
[01:50:01]
SURE.SORRY, WHILE EVERYBODY ELSE, UM, PREPARES I THE FIRST RECOMMEND, OR IN THE FIRST AREA IN COMMUNICATIONS, ASSIGN A TEAM TO ASSESS, IMPLEMENT, AND TRACK THE PROGRESS.
UM, WHAT WOULD THE RECOMMENDATION BE FOR THE TEAM? AND, AND THE REASON THAT I'M ASKING IS BECAUSE I HAD SUBMITTED A C C R, WELL, ACTUALLY I DIDN'T SUBMIT IT BECAUSE I WAS ASKED TO HOLD UNTIL THE RECOMMENDATIONS FROM THE COMMITTEE CAME FORWARD TO CREATE A COUNCIL COMMITTEE.
AND THAT WAY THAT COUNCIL COMMITTEE WAS ABLE TO LOOK AT SOME OF THESE RECOMMENDATIONS.
BUT I'M WONDERING IF YOU ALL HAVE IDEAS AS TO LIKE, IS IT A CITY TEAM? IS IT A JOINT TEAM? JUST A LITTLE BIT MORE EXPLANATION ON, ON THAT WOULD BE HELPFUL.
I, I THINK THE MOST PRUDENT ROUTE WOULD THIS RECOMMENDATION TO BE BAKED INTO ALL THE RECOMMENDATIONS AND THAT IT'D BE A CROSS-DISCIPLINARY CROSS AGENCY OKAY.
SO MAYBE WE COULD BE MORE EXPLICIT ABOUT THAT AND, AND SAY, AND MAYBE EVEN RECOMMEND WHICH AGENCIES SHOULD BE REPRESENTED.
UM, AND THEN I'LL, I'LL STOP YOU THERE.
AS FAR AS YOU KNOW, OUR NOTE TAKING, I'VE SEEN CLAYTON'S CHICKEN SCRATCHING AND MINE'S EVEN WORSE 'CAUSE I HAVE, I HAVE HANDS THE SIZE OF GORILLAS.
AND SO WE'VE, WE'VE GOT STAFF PAUL HUMANEZ.
YEAH, WE'VE GOT STAFF MONITORING AND TAKING THESE NOTES.
UM, AND THEN ALSO THE ESTABLISHED THE EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS, UM, CO COORDINATION COMMITTEE MEETINGS BETWEEN ALL OF US.
SO, UM, YOU WILL HEAD OUT, REPORT OUT ON A QUARTERLY BASIS.
I HAD PROPOSED ON A YEARLY REPORT OUT, LIKE AT A B SESSION FROM SASS AND ANOTHER B SESSION FROM C P S.
CAN YOU HELP ME UNDERSTAND WHY THE RECOMMENDATION TO GO QUARTERLY? I, I MEAN, AS FAR AS I'M CONCERNED, SEEMED LIKE A GOOD IDEA AT THE TIME.
YEAH, IT WAS, IT WAS ONE OF THOSE, WE JUST KIND OF PICKED THAT OUT OF THE AIR, BUT YOU KNOW, THAT AND QUARTERLY MIGHT, MIGHT BE TOO, TOO FREQUENT.
I WAS AFRAID OF THAT JUST, AND, AND YOU'RE EXACTLY RIGHT.
WHEN YOU GET SOMETHING LIKE THIS AND YOU DO IT TOO FREQUENTLY YEAH.
YOU, IT BECOMES, I DON'T KNOW, BLASE OR WHATEVER YOU WANT TO CALL IT YEAH.
UH, IN DOING IT SO FREQUENTLY.
SO YEAH, THAT'S, THAT'S WAY OPEN FOR OKAY.
'CAUSE BOTH OF Y'ALL HAD SIGNED MY C C R ON THAT, SO I JUST WANTED TO SEE IF THERE WAS A, A REASON FOR THE CHANGE.
UM, THE COMMUNICATIONS PLANS DEFINITELY BY COUNCIL DISTRICT OFFICE WOULD BE, UM, IMPORTANT FOR ME.
SO I KNOW THAT MARIA SHOULD KNOW SHE'S MY E L T MEMBER.
MARIA WILL KNOW EVERYTHING ABOUT DISTRICT FOUR BECAUSE SHE'S MY A L T AND THAT'S KIND OF WHAT I'D LIKE TO SEE.
EVEN IN LAST WEEK'S STORM, I HAD TO GO IN AND TYPE IN ALL OF MY ZIP CODES INDIVIDUALLY TO FIGURE OUT HOW MANY PEOPLE WERE OUT OF POWER.
AND SO I DON'T KNOW IF THERE'S A, AN EASY WAY.
I'M SURE THERE IS BECAUSE IT'S TECHNOLOGY THAT WE CAN, UM, DIVIDE IT UP BY DISTRICT.
SO THEN WE AUTOMATICALLY GET ALERTED THAT THERE'S 35 HOMES IN DISTRICT FOUR WITHOUT ELECTRICITY OR, OR WHATEVER IT IS.
SO, SO THANK YOU FOR THAT RECOMMENDATION.
I THINK THAT THAT E L T MEMBER FOR SAWS SHOULD BE RESPONSIBLE FOR LIKE THAT SPECIFIC AREA.
UM, I LOVE THE CONSIDER THE THIRD PARTY LIVE CHAT SERVICES.
I THINK IT'S A GREAT OPPORTUNITY.
I DON'T KNOW IF WE CAN INCORPORATE 3 1 1 AS WELL INTO THAT MM-HMM.
UM, BUT THEN ALSO IN CASE OF EMERGENCY SO THAT OUR OWN CENTERS DON'T GO DOWN, CAN WE CONSIDER HAVING LIKE, SOME SORT OF OUT OF TOWN SUPPORT AS WELL? UM, SO THAT WAY WHEN WE GO DOWN AS A CITY, NOT EVERYBODY IS DOWN.
SO JUST SOME RECOMMENDATION HERE.
UM, ON THE NEXT ONE, UM, OH, SORRY, ACTUALLY I ADDRESSED THAT ONE ALREADY 'CAUSE I, I MENTIONED LIKE C P S, BUT BY DISTRICT, UM, YOUR NEXT, UH, AREA SAYS INTEGRATES SAUCE FULLY INTO THE E O C WITH ANS ONSITE DECISION MAKER.
IT SOUNDS LIKE THEY'VE C P S ALREADY ELEVATED ONE DECISION MAKER, SO I'M ASSUMING THAT SAUCE WILL BE DOING THE SAME THING.
UM, I KNOW THAT THERE'S STILL SOME QUESTION, AND, AND AGAIN, I, I THINK OF STAYING IN MY LANE BECAUSE OF WHAT ANDY TELLS ME.
SO I, I KNOW THAT WE'RE GONNA PROBABLY HAVE TO DISCUSS THAT A LITTLE BIT FURTHER, BUT THEN THE, THE LAST PAGE YOU HAVE PERFORM ROUTINE DISASTER SCENARIOS.
UM, YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT TABLETOP EXERCISES, UM, IN-PERSON FIELD EXERCISES.
I DO THINK THAT THAT SHOULD BE DONE LEADER QUARTERLY AND WITH DIFFERENT LEADERSHIP.
SO THAT WAY THROUGHOUT THE YEAR, WE KNOW THAT CITY COUNCIL WAS TRAINED ON THIS OR, UM, L G C STAFF WAS TRAINED ON THIS, OR DEPARTMENT DIRECTORS, ET CETERA.
SO I THINK THAT, THAT THERE'S AN OPPORTUNITY, OPPORTUNITY TO, TO DO THAT, ESTABLISH EMERGENCY WATER PHILLIPS STATION.
SO IN THE PUBLIC UTILITIES CODE, IT SAYS THAT WE HAVE THAT PLAN.
I HAVEN'T SEEN IT MYSELF, BUT I DON'T THINK THAT WE HAVE TO RECREATE IT.
I DON'T THINK ANY OF US HAS ACCESS TO THAT.
BUT SAS IS SUPPOSED TO SUBMIT THIS, SO WE ALREADY HAVE IT.
CAN WE JUST GIVE SOME ADDITIONAL INPUT AS A RESULT OF WHAT HAPPENED IN FEBRUARY? YEAH, I, I DIDN'T EVEN KNOW THAT THEY'RE SUPPOSED TO HAVE THAT PLANT.
I'LL SHARE THE, BUT EVEN MORE, MORE IMPORTANTLY,
[01:55:01]
IT DOESN'T DO US ANY GOOD TO NOT EVEN KNOW, BUT THE COMMUNITY NOT EVEN KNOW WHERE TO GO TO, TO, TO FILL UP WATER BOTTLES OR, OR CANISTERS OR WHATEVER.SO, UH, THAT, THAT IS IMPORTANT TO GET THAT IN.
AND THAT COULD GO IN THAT COMMUNITY GUIDE YEAH.
WE WERE TALKING ABOUT EARLIER.
WELL, WELL, EVERY TEXAS CITY IS SUPPOSED TO SUBMIT THAT TO THE PUBLIC UTILITIES CODE.
AND SO, UM, SO IT'S ALREADY OUT THERE, BUT WE JUST NEED TO BE ABLE TO, TO KNOW ABOUT IT.
UM, THEN ALSO, UM, QUARTERLY THE TRAINING CURRICULUM.
LISTEN, I KNOW WE ALL HAVE TO GO THROUGH THIS TRAINING FOR CYBERSECURITY ATTACKS AND WE HAVE TO DO LIKE ONE A MONTH.
UM, SO I THINK THAT MAYBE WE CAN DO THAT AND REQUIRE SOME QUARTERLY EXERCISES OF SOME SORT, GET CREATIVE WITH SOME OF THE VIDEOS.
UM, UH, I DON'T KNOW IF THERE'S SOMETHING EXISTS ALREADY IN ANOTHER CITY, BUT DEFINITELY SOMETHING TO CONSIDER.
AND THEN, UM, FINALLY, I, I THINK THAT WE SHOULDN'T FORGET ABOUT T V S A CHANNEL 21 AND MAYBE USING SOME INFORMATIONAL VIDEOS.
I THINK MANNY PUT TOGETHER A REALLY GOOD VIDEO AT THE BEGINNING OF THE PANDEMIC ABOUT WHAT SIX FEET AWAY MEANT.
RIGHT? AND SO, UM, SOMETHING LIKE THAT WOULD BE JUST, YOU KNOW, TO KIND OF KEEP ROLLING.
I KNOW THAT MY PARENTS WATCH, UH, T V S A 21 ALL THE TIME, AND SO I KNOW THAT THERE'S OTHER PEOPLE THAT, THAT WATCH IT.
BUT THOSE ARE MY RECOMMENDATIONS.
APPRECIATE THOSE COMMENTS, OTHERS.
ALRIGHT, MOVING ON TO THE E O C AND IF FOLKS WANT TO EAT, THERE'S FOOD OVER THERE FOR YOU.
UM, GOING ALONG OUR, OUR RECOMMENDATIONS, I, I THINK I CAN GET THROUGH THIS FAIRLY QUICKLY.
SO AS YOU KNOW, WE SORT OF, UH, PRESENTED, UH, THESE RECOMMENDATIONS IN AN EARLIER MEETING.
SO I WON'T GO THROUGH THEM, UH, IN, IN DETAIL.
WHAT I PREFER TO DO IS JUST SORT OF TALK ABOUT THE, THE PROCESS OR THE, THE, THE FRAMEWORK THAT WE USE TO PRESENT THE RECOMMENDATIONS.
AND THE GENERAL IDEA IS, YOU KNOW, WHEN WHEN YOU'VE GOT SOMETHING THAT THAT DOESN'T GO RIGHT, UH, YOU DON'T, YOU KNOW, MAKE YOUR OBJECTIVES, THEN YOU, YOU ASK YOURSELF THREE QUESTIONS.
DID WE HAVE A BAD STRATEGY? DID WE HAVE A BAD PLAN, OR DID WE HAVE BAD EXECUTION? UM, AND THE POINT WE'RE TRYING TO MAKE HERE, THE SORT OF STORY WE'RE TRYING TO TELL IS THIS REALLY BEGAN WITH OUR STRATEGY AND THE ASSUMPTIONS THAT WENT INTO THE STRATEGY, UM, THAT, THAT REASONABLE PEOPLE MADE BASED ON THE INFORMATION THAT THEY HAD, THAT PROVED WRONG, RIGHT? AND SO WE MADE AN ASSUMPTION THAT THIS KIND OF AN EVENT WOULDN'T HAPPEN, AND THEREFORE OUR PLANS DIDN'T INCORPORATE THIS TYPE OF AN EVENT, AND THEREFORE WE DIDN'T TRAIN AND EXERCISE TO EXECUTE, UH, VERY WELL IN THIS TYPE OF EVENT.
AND SO WE HAD THIS CASCADING EFFECT THAT BEGAN WITH THE ENTERING ASSUMPTIONS.
AND SO WE, WE, THROUGH THIS TALKED, UH, ABOUT, UH, THE PROCESS BY WHICH THE CITY GOES ABOUT PREPARING FOR AN EVENT LIKE THIS AND THE, THE, UH, THE, THE PLAN THAT, UH, THAT HELPS US, UH, PREPARE TO, UH, BE ABLE TO EXECUTE IN ANY KIND OF A CONTINGENCY AND THE PLAN THAT HELPS US, UH, PREPARE BY MITIGATING, UH, CERTAIN PHYSICAL FACTORS THAT WILL HELP US BE RESILIENT IN, IN AN OPERATION.
AND THEN THE COMMAND AND CONTROL, UH, THAT HAS TO BE IN PLACE IN ORDER TO, YOU KNOW, ACTUALLY, UH, SUCCESSFULLY MAKE IT THROUGH AN INCIDENT, AN ACCIDENT, OR AN AN EMERGENCY.
AND SO WE THOUGHT IT WAS IMPORTANT TO JUST LAY THAT CONTEXT FOR THE READERS IN THE COMMUNITY SO THAT WHEN THEY GOT TO THE RECOMMENDATIONS, THEY COULD THEN POINT BACK TO, YOU KNOW, WAS THIS PART OF THE MITIGATION STRATEGY THAT WASN'T, YOU KNOW, CORRECTLY, UH, OR WASN'T CORRECTLY ASSESSED, OR WAS THIS PART OF THE, UH, OPERATIONS, UH, PLAN, UH, OF HOW WE WERE GOING TO EXECUTE? OR WAS THIS A COMMAND AND CONTROL ISSUE? AND SO YOU SHOULD BE ABLE TO REALLY CONNECT ALL OF THESE BACK TO EACH ONE OF THOSE.
UM, AND, AND SO, YOU KNOW, THERE, IN MY VIEW, THERE ARE SORT OF TWO MAJOR TAKEAWAYS FROM THIS.
ONE IS, AND, AND IT HOPEFULLY WILL COME OUT IN, IN THE NARRATIVE THAT WE'VE CRAFTED HERE.
ONE IS, IS THAT I'VE ALREADY TALKED, WE, WE DIDN'T SET OURSELVES UP FOR SUCCESS BECAUSE WE, WE DIDN'T HAVE THIS EVENT WITHIN THE PLANNING PARAMETERS, UH, THAT, THAT WE USED FOR PREPARING THE CITY.
AND SO WE SET OUR, WE WERE BEHIND THE POWER CURVE WHEN IT HAPPENED BECAUSE WE HAD NOT PLANNED FOR THIS.
UH, AND SO WE WERE BOUND TO HAVE CHALLENGES, AND WE DID.
AND SO WE'VE ARTICULATED THOSE IN THE REPORT AND SOME RECOMMENDATIONS FOR HOW TO, UH, DO THAT BETTER.
BUT THE MAIN ONE IS INCORPORATE THIS INTO THE PLAN.
IF YOU DO, THEN YOU WILL CHANGE THE
[02:00:01]
WAY YOU EXERCISE.YOU WILL CHANGE THE WAY YOU TRAIN, YOU WILL CHANGE THE WAY YOU PRE-POSITION, UH, UH, RESOURCES.
YOU WILL CHANGE THE, THE WAY THAT YOU STRUCTURE YOUR E O C TO MAKE SURE THAT YOU HAVE CERTAIN PEOPLE THERE WHO ARE PREPARED TO EXECUTE DECISIONS, ET CETERA.
THE OTHER MAJOR TAKEAWAY IS THIS ISSUE THAT WAS TOUCHED ON IN, I THINK THE SAS REPORT, UH, AND PROBABLY IN THE C P S, I DIDN'T PULL IT OUT SPECIFICALLY, BUT I DO THINK WE WANNA HAVE A CONSISTENT WAY OF TALKING ABOUT IT IS, IS THIS IDEA OF COMMAND AND CONTROL AND AUTHORITY AND RESPONSIBILITY, AND THE FACT THAT, UH, YOU KNOW, THIS IS A COMPLEX, UH, THIS WAS A COMPLEX EMERGENCY, WE WILL FACE OTHER COMPLEX EMERGENCIES, UH, MAYBE EVEN MORE, UH, INTENSE IN THEIR SCOPE IN THE FUTURE.
AND EVEN IF WE HAD HAD THE RIGHT PLANNING ASSUMPTIONS HERE, IF WE DON'T FIX THIS COMMAND AND CONTROL PIECE, WE, WE COULD RUN INTO DIFFICULTIES BECAUSE PEOPLE WILL NOT HAVE THE RIGHT AUTHORITIES TO EXECUTE ACROSS FUNCTIONS IN A WAY THAT WILL OPTIMIZE THE OUTCOME FOR OUR COMMUNITY.
AND SO THERE'S A RECOMMENDATION IN HERE THAT SAYS, YOU KNOW, WITHOUT TELLING THEM HOW TO DO IT, BECAUSE I, I'M A STRONG BELIEVER THAT THAT'S, YOU KNOW, LEADERS NEED TO DESIGN THIS IN A WAY THAT'S MOST EFFECTIVE BASED ON HOW THEY'RE GOING TO, TO, TO, TO EXECUTE IT.
BUT, BUT THE FACT IS, IS THAT THE CURRENT ARCHITECTURE, I, I, WE BELIEVE IS WEAK, UH, IN TERMS OF THE AUTHORITIES THAT NEED TO BE, HAVE, NEED TO BE RESIDENT IN ORDER TO HAVE EFFECTIVE COMMAND AND CONTROL CONTROL.
AND SO THAT NEEDS TO BE REVIEWED AND, AND A A, A STRONGER, UNDER CERTAIN CIRCUMSTANCES, A, A STRONGER, UH, LEVEL OF AUTHORITY GIVEN TO THE LEADERSHIP OF THE E O C TO EXECUTE A ACROSS, ACROSS, UH, ACTIVITIES AND ACTIONS.
UM, I THINK THE OTHER THING I WOULD POINT OUT IS THAT IT IS PART OF THIS PROCESS.
WE TRIED TO PULL OUT THAT, UH, THAT THAT BEGINNING PIECE, THAT RISK ASSESSMENT, UM, IT'S, YOU KNOW, SORT OF FORMS THE BASIS FOR A COMMUNITY TO DECIDE HOW THEY WANT TO DEPLOY THEIR RESOURCES.
AND YOU, YOU HAVE TO MAKE CHOICES.
THERE'S NO PERFECT WORLD WHERE YOU CAN DO EVERYTHING TO THE LEVEL THAT YOU WANT.
AND SO THAT'S WHY YOU HAVE THIS PROCESS.
AND THIS COMMUNITY WENT THROUGH A VERY EXTENSIVE PROCESS OF ASSESSING THE RISK OF ALL THE POTENTIAL HAZARDS THAT WE THINK THAT MIGHT BEFALL OUR COMMUNITY.
AND THIS POTENTIAL HAZARD FILL OUT FAIRLY LOW ON THE LIST.
AND THEREFORE WE DIDN'T PUT A LOT OF SORT OF RESOURCES AGAINST TRYING TO MITIGATE OR PREPARE FOR IT.
AND NOW THAT WE'VE HAD THIS EVENT, WE, WE KNOW THAT IT, THE, THE RISK ASSESSMENT WAS NOT ACCURATE.
AND SO WE'LL HAVE TO GO BACK THROUGH AND, AND, UH, REASSESS THE RISK, AND THAT WILL THEN PRECIPITATE, UH, A DIFFERENT, UH, SORT OF LEVEL OF RESOURCE ALLOCATION, UH, TOWARDS THIS TYPE OF CONTINGENCY IN THE FUTURE.
AND SO, MR. CHAIRMAN, I'M HAPPY TO, TO SORT OF GO THROUGH THE INDIVIDUAL RECOMMENDATIONS, BUT I DON'T RECOMMEND IT AGAIN, BECAUSE WE, WE'VE ALREADY COVERED THEM ALL AND, AND YOU ALL WILL SEE THEM.
AND, AND I THINK AS WE, THE ONLY OTHER COMMENT I'LL MAKE IS THERE'S, THERE'S CLEARLY SOME REDUNDANCY AND OVERLAP AND RECOMMENDATIONS IN THE SECTION.
SO I THINK AS WE PUT THIS TOGETHER, WE'LL SORT THAT OUT AND, AND, UH, WE DON'T, YOU KNOW, I THINK WE COME UP WITH 1, 1 1 SORT OF RECOMMENDATION AT THE SAME WITH THE SAME LANGUAGE.
ANYWAY, THAT MIGHT BE REPEATED.
UH, AND I'D ASK EITHER LISA OR, UH, ADRIANA, IF YOU HAVE ANYTHING YOU WANT TO ADD? I ACTUALLY DON'T HAVE ANY.
WELL, I, I DON'T KNOW IF Y'ALL HAD A CHANCE TO READ THIS, BUT I HAVE WELL, O VERY BRIEFLY, AND I THINK IT'S, I THINK IT'S REALLY GOOD.
IT'S, IT'S READABLE, IT'S UNDERSTANDABLE, AND IT HITS THE POINT.
SO THIS IS, UM, TOP-NOTCH WORK, AND I REALLY APPRECIATE IT.
SO LET'S JUST SEE IF WE HAVE COMMENTS OR QUESTIONS.
UM, AND I HAVEN'T HAD A CHANCE TO, TO READ IT.
AND, AND, AND MAYBE THIS IS, UH, HOW, HOW DO WE WORK IN, YOU KNOW, THIS ISN'T JUST THE CITY OF SAN ANTONIO, YOU KNOW, C P S PROVIDES POWER TO OUTSIDE THE CITY LIMITS SAWS PROVIDES WATER AND SEWER SERVICES OUTSIDE THE CITY LIMITS.
AND, UM, WE'VE GOT A NUMBER OF OTHER COMMUNITIES, GOT THE COUNTY, YOU KNOW, HOW, HOW DO, ARE, ARE WE GONNA COME UP WITH A RECOMMENDATION ON WHO TO INCLUDE IN THAT? OR IS THE RECOMMENDATION FOR THEM TO FIGURE THAT OUT ON WHO SHOULD BE INCLUDED IN
[02:05:01]
THE E O C, FOR EXAMPLE, IN COORDINATING RESPONSES TO SYSTEMS OR FAILURES, THAT KIND OF THING? NO, THAT, WELL, YOU KNOW, UH, IN MY JUDGMENT, HAVING READ HOW THE E O C OPERATES, THEY, THEY HAVE COORDINATION ALREADY WITH THE COUNTY, WITH STATE AGENCIES AND, AND THE ABILITY TO TAP INTO FEDERAL AGENCIES.SO THAT'S ALREADY A PART OF THEIR PROCESS AND PROCEDURES BY MANDATE.
SO THERE ARE CERTAIN FEDERAL REQUIREMENTS, THERE ARE CERTAIN STATE REQUIREMENTS, AND THEN THEY HAVE TO, YOU KNOW, BUILD ON THAT TO BUILD A LOCAL PLAN.
AND ALL THOSE REQUIRE THEM TO BE ABLE TO HAVE, UH, CONNECTIONS, UH, LIAISON, UH, YOU KNOW, WITH, WITH ALL OF THOSE ENTITIES AND OTHER ONES THAT, THAT YOU HAVEN'T MENTIONED.
SO I, I DON'T, I DIDN'T SEE A NEED TO HAVE A, A RECOMMENDATION TO DO THAT BECAUSE IT, IT, IT'S ALREADY EXISTS.
LISA, YOU MAY HAVE A DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE, BUT NO, ACTUALLY, I, I DO AGREE WITH YOU.
BUT IN TERMS OF PLACEMENT, AND, AND THIS GOES BACK TO WHAT THE PROCESS WILL END UP BEING, IS THERE HAS TO BE SOME TYPE OF TRANSITION FOR US FROM GETTING FROM THE THREE INDIVIDUAL REPORTS.
AND I THINK THAT PART OF THE WAY THAT WE GET THERE IS MUCH OF WHAT ED HAD JUST TALKED ABOUT IN HOW WE TAKE WHAT THESE RECOMMENDATIONS ARE AND PASS THEM OVER TO THE FOLKS WHO HAVE TO MAKE THE DECISION.
SO THERE SHOULD PROBABLY BE A VERY BRIEF DISCUSSION ON EXACTLY WHAT CITY STAFF HAS MENTIONED TO US BEFORE, WHICH IS THIS REALIZATION ABOUT WHAT REALLOCATION, WHAT ASSESSMENT, UM, HAVE A DISCUSSION ABOUT WHAT THAT IS, AND IN THERE, BE ABLE TO MAKE THE COMMENTARY ABOUT THE SCOPE OF WHICH IMPACTED SERVICE DELIVERY IS THAT IT'S BROADER THAN THAT.
AND THAT'S PART OF WHAT EACH ONE OF THESE INDIVIDUAL ENTITIES COLLECTIVELY AND INDIVIDUALLY ARE GOING TO HAVE TO LOOK AT IN TERMS OF ASSESSMENTS WHEN WE TALK ABOUT THE BUDGETARY IMPACTS AND THE, THE TOUGH DECISIONS THAT THEY'RE GONNA HAVE TO MAKE OFF OF THESE REPORTS.
SO I THINK THAT THERE'S A WAY TO MAKE THAT SEGUE MUCH LIKE WE'RE GONNA MAKE A TRANSITION FROM A HIGHLY TECHNICAL PERSPECTIVE IN SOME PIECES TO, UM, MANNY'S POINT, SOME OF THE HUMANITY OF IMPACT THAT IS TIED TO COMMUNICATIONS AND WHAT E O C DOES.
SO I THINK WE CAN BRING IT IN, BUT IT WOULD BE HELPFUL, UM, YOU'VE ARTICULATED THIS A COUPLE OF TIMES.
I MAY HAVE SOME NOTES ON IT, BUT SOME PROS SO THAT WE CAN START LOOKING AT HOW THAT FITS TO HELP LAUNCH THE HANDOFF, WHICH IS THE END OF THE REPORT, WHAT CLAYTON IS TALKING ABOUT, I'VE, I'VE ALSO ENCOUNTERED TOO, AND THAT IS THAT, UH, I ACTUALLY, UH, LIVE IN A COMMUNITY THAT'S SEPARATE.
AND I DON'T THINK THE COMMUNICATIONS WHILE ED'S DEAD ON AND THAT IT'S IN THERE, I THINK THERE PROBABLY, UM, SOMEWHERE NEEDS TO BE SOME EMPHASIS THAT THERE'S OTHER, UH, GOVERNMENTAL ENTITIES.
AND IF THEY'RE NOT INCLUDED OR IF THEY HAVEN'T BEEN ACTIVE, WE NEED TO GET 'EM ACTIVE.
UH, IT'S, IT'S STRUCTURE, IT'S STRUCTURED FOR THEM TO BE ACTIVE AS I UNDERSTAND IT.
BUT, UH, MAYBE THEY HAVEN'T BEEN.
AND SO I DON'T KNOW WHETHER IT'S, WHETHER IT'S THE DESIGN IS WRONG OR THE EXECUTION IS WRONG.
I, I, BUT I THINK THAT'S SOMETHING THAT WE CAN ALL BRING UP TO HIM MM-HMM.
YOU'RE SO, I'M IN A DIFFERENT COUNTY.
YOU'RE IN A DIFFERENT COUNTY, BUT HE'S IN A COUNTY THAT'S SERVED.
I'M, I'M IN A CITY THAT'S DIFFERENT THAN SAN ANTONIO.
SO I THINK THIS WHOLE CONCEPT OF NOT BEING ABLE TO COMMUNICATE ACROSS THE WHOLE SPECTRUM HAD, DID CAUSE SOME, SOME, SOME PROBLEMS. I MEAN, UH, SO I THINK IT IS MORE COMPLICATED THAN JUST DEALING WITH THREE ENTITIES.
AND, AND THAT'S CLEAR FROM THE RULES.
I THINK ED, IS THAT NOT RIGHT? UM, WELL, YEAH, I'M NOT, WHEN YOU SAY DEALING WITH THE RULES, WHAT, WHAT DO YOU MEAN? WELL, UNDER THE STRUCTURE THAT YOU JUST TALKED ABOUT, AND I'VE KIND OF BRIEFLY LOOKED AT SOME OF IT TOO, THE E O C HAS A, HAS A STATE RESPONSIBILITY THAT'S, THAT IS PROBABLY BROADER THAN JUST THE CITIZENS OF SAN ANTONIO, OR IS THAT NOT RIGHT? CORRECT ME IF I'M WRONG.
I, I'M, IT'S BECAUSE OF THE COUNTY, SO IT'S BEYOND, AND THEN IT WORKS WITH LIKE CASTLE HILLS AND ALL OF THE SURROUNDING AREAS.
SO I THINK IT'S, I THINK IT'S SET UP TO DO THAT WELL, BUT I HEARD YOU SAYING SOMETHING VERY DIFFERENT THAN, OH, NO, NO, NO.
I, I HAD COMPLAINTS FROM OTHER COMMUNITIES OUT THERE
[02:10:01]
THAT, YOU KNOW, THE WATER GOT TURNED OFF, WE DIDN'T EVEN KNOW IT, OR THE ELECTRICITY WENT OFF, WE DIDN'T EVEN KNOW IT.AND, AND THEY ARE CUSTOMERS JUST AS I'M A CUSTOMER IN SAN ANTONIO, THEY'RE A CUSTOMER OF THOSE UTILITIES AS WELL.
WE NEED TO BRING THAT COMMUNICATION INTO IT AS WELL.
IT'S NOT JUST ABOUT THE CITY, IT'S NOT JUST ABOUT BAYER COUNTY, BUT THERE'S OTHER COMMUNITIES OUT THERE AS WELL.
UM, I THINK THAT THE BAYER COUNTY, BY NATURE OF BEING THERE, I CAN'T REMEMBER WHERE EXACTLY I READ IT, COUNCILMAN, BUT THE COUNTY THEN HAS THE RESPONSIBILITY TO CONNECT WITH THE SURROUNDING, UM, AREAS.
HOWEVER, I THINK THAT YOU'RE ONTO SOMETHING, AND SO, AND I WAS GONNA MENTION THIS EARLIER, BUT EVEN LIKE THE, UH, WIRELESS ALERT SYSTEM, I DON'T KNOW THAT THE UTILITIES ARE ABLE TO ACCESS THAT WITHOUT SOME SORT OF APPROVAL.
AND I DON'T KNOW WHAT THE APPROVAL PROCESS IS.
SO I THINK THAT IT'S FORMALIZING ALL THOSE RELATIONSHIPS.
SO I, I MISUNDERSTOOD YOUR QUESTION.
I, I UNDERSTAND IT NOW IN THE SHORTER ANSWER IS I, I NEED TO DO SOME MORE INVESTIGATION TO UNDERSTAND EXACTLY WHAT THE SORT OF LINES ACROSS COUNTY ARE, FOR EXAMPLE, OR CUSTOMER, YOU KNOW, I MEAN, IT'S, YOU KNOW, I, DEPENDING ON HOW WE WANT TO SORT OF STRUCTURE THIS, IS IT THE SERVICE AREAS OF THE UTILITIES? IS THAT WHAT WE'RE TALKING ABOUT? YOU KNOW, THAT'S FOR THIS EMERGENCY.
WELL, BUT THERE MAY BE OTHER EMERGENCIES.
WELL, IT COULD BE THERE, IT COULD BE, BUT YOU KNOW, WHAT, WHAT IS LAID OUT AS THEIR RESPONSIBILITY? THE E O C, AND THEN WHAT'S TO YOUR POINT, WHAT'S THE COUNTY'S RESPONSIBILITY? WHAT, YOU KNOW, RESPONSIBILITY IS IT TO NOT ONLY COMMUNICATE, BUT ALSO HAVE RECOVERY ACTIONS, THAT KIND OF THING.
AND HOW DOES THAT ALL WORK TOGETHER? AND I'M ASSUMING THAT IT SHOULD BE IN THE E O C BECAUSE, UH, THAT'S THE HUB OF A LOT OF THESE OPERATIONS, BUT WHO'S DOING THAT? YEAH, I THINK THAT IS RESPONSIBILITY.
YEAH, IT'S A, IT'S A GOOD QUESTION.
WE'LL, WE'LL DO SOME MORE DIGGING ON THAT.
AND I JUST WANNA ADD THAT WHEN I WAS DOING THE INVESTIGATION FOR WHO'S COMMUNICATING WITH THE SMALLER SURROUNDING CITIES DURING THE VACCINATION DISTRIBUTION STUFF, AND DURING THE WHOLE COVID THING, LIKE I WAS COUNTING THE COUNTY JUDGES THAT I, THAT I KNOW FROM ACOG, RIGHT? AND SO I JUST WANTED TO MAKE SURE THAT THEY WERE COVERED OR THAT THEY HAD ACCESS TO WHATEVER PLANS WE WERE USING SO THAT THEY COULD DRAFT THEIR OWN.
UM, AND I WAS TOLD THE COUNTY JUDGE IS THE ONE THAT WORKS WITH ALL OF THE SURROUNDINGS.
SO THAT'S WHY I, I, AND I JUST REMEMBERED, SO I JUST WANNA MAKE SURE, BUT I HAVEN'T EXPLICITLY SEEN IT.
SO, BUT THAT'S KIND OF WHAT I WAS TOLD.
OH, THE JUDGE WORKS WITH THAT ANSWER.
WHAT, WHAT? I DON'T SEE BEN HERE TODAY, BUT, UM, CAN I, I SUGGEST MR. CHAIRMAN THAT WE, WE, WE PUT AN R F I TO THE CITY TO ANSWER, YOU KNOW, PROVIDE INFORMATION ON THAT QUESTION BECAUSE IT'S, IT'S, UH, IT'S, IT'S AN IMPORTANT ONE AND ONE THAT I DON'T, YOU KNOW, I DON'T THINK WE'VE ADDRESSED.
SO WHO'S EVER HERE FOR THE CITY? I THINK ALEX CAN HELP IF YOU TAKE THAT PLEASE.
UH, IF NOTHING ELSE, THEN I BELIEVE AT THIS POINT WE'RE ADJOURNED.