* This transcript was created by voice-to-text technology. The transcript has not been edited for errors or omissions, it is for reference only and is not the official minutes of the meeting. [00:00:01] WELCOME, EVERYBODY. PLEASE TAKE A SEAT. OKAY. WELCOME TO A MEETING IN THE MUNICIPAL UTILITIES COMMITTEE. UH, TODAY IS OCTOBER 26TH, 10:00 AM AND WE'LL BEGIN BY CALLING THE ROLL. OKAY. HERE, COUNCIL MEMBER. HERE. HERE. COUNCIL MEMBER . HERE. COUNCIL MEMBER SANDAL HERE, CHAIR. COURAGE. PRESENT, SIR, WE HAVE A QUORUM. THANK YOU. A TECHNOLOGY REMINDED ME I DIDN'T HAVE A MIC ON, SO I'LL AGAIN, UH, WELCOME ALL OF YOU TO THE MEETING TODAY OF THE MUNICIPAL UTILITIES COMMITTEE, AND WELCOME TO ALL OF THE AUDIENCE THAT MAY BE WATCHING US, UH, FROM OTHER LOCATIONS. OKAY. TODAY'S AGENDA, UH, WAS, UH, WELL, [1. Approval of minutes from August 24, 2021 and September 29, 2021] THE FIRST THING WE HAVE ON THE AGENDA IS APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES. UH, AND SO I WILL ENTERTAIN A MOTION FROM ANY OF THE COMMITTEE MEMBERS FOR APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES FROM AUGUST 24TH AND SEPTEMBER 29TH. OKAY. I HAVE A MOTION FROM MEMBER CAB JDA AND SECOND FROM ROCHA GARCIA. ANY QUESTIONS OR CHANGES? OKAY, HEARING NONE. ALL IN FAVOR SAY AYE. AYE. ANY OPPOSED? OKAY. HEARING NONE. OKAY, THE MINUTES ARE APPROVED. I WANNA MAKE, UM, UH, A COMMENT HERE. WE HAD ORIGINALLY PUT OUT AN AGENDA THAT HAD A SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT, UH, ITEM NUMBER TWO, WHICH WAS TO HAVE, UH, A COMMITTEE REPORT FROM ONE OF THE SAS UH, COMMITTEES. UH, WE WEREN'T ABLE TO CONNECT WITH THE COMMITTEE CHAIRS OR VICE CHAIRS, SO WE'VE ELIMINATED THAT FROM THE CURRENT MEETING. SO IF YOU ARE EXPECTING TO SEE THAT, THAT'S WHY. ONE THING I WILL MENTION ABOUT THAT, THOUGH, ONE THING I DID HEAR IS THAT, UH, A LOT OF THE COMMITTEES THAT HAVE BEEN MEETING HAVE NOT BEEN, UM, WHAT I'M HEARING IS PEOPLE HAVE NOT BEEN FULLY HEARD BY THE DIFFERENT UTILITIES IN THAT, UH, THEY'VE BEEN TALKED TO A LOT, UH, BUT THEY HAVEN'T BEEN ABLE TO GIVE A LOT OF INPUT BACK TO THE UTILITY STAFF. AND SO I'M JUST OFFERING THIS AS CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM, IF YOU WILL, THAT, UH, I WOULD EXPECT THAT ALL THE CITIZENS WHO SERVE ON ALL OF THESE COMMITTEES WOULD CERTAINLY HAVE A SIGNIFICANT AMOUNT OF INPUT TO PUT IN RATHER THAN JUST ACCEPTING INPUT FROM THE, UH, UTILITY, UH, MANAGEMENT TEAM. SO HOPEFULLY, UH, AS WE BRING IN A MEMBER OF ANY OF THESE COMMITTEES TO TALK WITH US, THEY'LL BE ABLE TO SAY, UH, YES, WE'RE REALLY GETTING AN OPPORTUNITY TO HAVE INPUT IN THERE. THAT'S, THAT'S THE PURPOSE OF CITIZEN COMMITTEES. SO ANYWAY, I JUST WANTED TO MENTION THAT SINCE IT'S NOT ON THE AGENDA. OKAY, NEXT ITEM WE HAVE IS A BRIEFING, UH, OR EXCUSE ME, FOR PUBLIC COMMENT. WE HAVE NO PUBLIC COMMENT OR WRITTEN COMMENT. OKAY, THANK YOU. THEN NO ONE'S AVAILABLE FOR PUBLIC COMMENT. NO ONE'S SUBMITTED ANY WRITTEN COMMENT. SO LET'S GO [Items 2 - 4] [2. Discussion by the Municipal Utilities Committee on the scope and functions of the CPS Energy Citizens Advisory Committee, including public access to meetings [Ben Gorzell Jr., Chief Financial Officer; Troy Elliott, Deputy Chief Financial Officer] 3. Briefing by the San Antonio Water System (SAWS) and CPS Energy on the status of implementing the recommendations from the Committee on Emergency Preparedness’ Report [Ben Gorzell Jr., Chief Financial Officer; Troy Elliott, Deputy Chief Financial Officer] A) CPS Energy Staff will provide a status report on the utility’s actions implementing the recommendations from the Committee on Emergency Preparedness’ Report. B) SAWS Staff will provide a status report on the utility’s actions implementing the Briefing and Possible Action on the following items 2. Discussion by the Municipal Utilities Committee on the scope and functions of the CPS Energy Citizens Advisory Committee, including public access to meetings [Ben Gorzell Jr., Chief Financial Officer; Troy Elliott, Deputy Chief Financial Officer]] [3. Briefing by the San Antonio Water System (SAWS) and CPS Energy on the status of implementing the recommendations from the Committee on Emergency Preparedness’ Report [Ben Gorzell Jr., Chief Financial Officer; Troy Elliott, Deputy Chief Financial Officer] A) CPS Energy Staff will provide a status report on the utility’s actions implementing the recommendations from the Committee on Emergency Preparedness’ Report. B) SAWS Staff will provide a status report on the utility’s actions implementing the recommendations from the Committee on Emergency Preparedness’ Report.] [4. Briefing by the San Antonio Water System (SAWS) and CPS Energy on Plans for Addressing Past Due Customer Receivables [Ben Gorzell Jr., Chief Financial Officer; Troy Elliott, Deputy Chief Financial Officer]: A) CPS Energy Staff will provide a briefing on plans for addressing the past due customer receivables B) SAWS Staff will provide a briefing on plans for addressing the past due customer receivables] AHEAD NOW AND MOVE ON TO OUR BRIEFING OR POSSIBLE ACTION ITEMS. SO THE FIRST ITEM WE HAVE TODAY IS ITEM NUMBER TWO, DISCUSSION BY THE MUNICIPAL UTILITIES COMMITTEE ON THE SCOPE AND FUNCTIONS OF BOTH C P SS ENERGY, UH, UH, AND THE WATER SYSTEM. AND, EXCUSE ME, IT'S ITEM NUMBER THREE, AND IT'S ON, UM, THE STATUS OF THEIR WORK ON IMPLEMENTING THE RECOMMENDATIONS FROM THE COMMITTEE ON EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS AND THAT REPORT THAT WAS PRESENTED. AND I WILL REITERATE SOMETHING THAT I MENTIONED LAST MEETING, AND THAT WAS THAT WE HAD ASKED PEOPLE TO COME AND EXPRESS TO US WHAT THEY'RE DOING AS FAR AS MEETING THOSE RECOMMENDATIONS. BUT AS I, AS I TRIED TO IMPRESS, WE DON'T WANNA JUST HAVE NA NUMBERS LIKE, OKAY, WE'VE, WE'VE DONE ONE, TWO, AND THREE OFF OF OUR LIST. WHAT WE'D LIKE TO HEAR IS, WE'VE DONE THIS RECOMMENDATION, WE FOUND A RESOLUTION OR A SOLUTION TO IT. THIS IS A SOLUTION. THIS IS WHAT WE THINK IT'LL DO. AND EVEN THIS IS WHAT WE THINK IT'S GOING TO COST. BECAUSE I THINK IT'S IMPORTANT FOR THE PUBLIC TO UNDERSTAND THAT WE'RE ADDRESSING THESE RECOMMENDATIONS. WE'RE GOING TO GO AHEAD AND RESOLVE THEM, BUT IT DOES COST, UH, YOU KNOW, SIGNIFICANT RESOURCES TO DO THAT. AND ALSO, THIS IS WHAT WE THINK WILL BE RESOLVED BY THIS PARTICULAR RESOLUTION TO THIS PARTICULAR RECOMMENDATION. SO, HOPEFULLY THAT IS MORE OF WHAT WE HEAR AS WE HEAR THESE PRESENTATIONS, UH, FROM BOTH OF THESE UTILITIES. AND I [00:05:01] WILL MENTION ONE OTHER THING. I KNOW BOTH UTILITIES HAVE DONE ADDITIONAL INTERNAL RESEARCH ON HOW THEY RESPONDED OR HOW THEY COULD RESPOND BETTER TO, UH, WINTER STORM URI. UH, I UNDERSTAND THAT, UH, THERE WERE UP TO AN ADDITIONAL 129 FINDINGS THAT C P S LOOKED AT THAT ARE ACTION ITEMS THAT THEY WANT TO PURSUE. I KNOW THERE'S A CERTAIN NUMBER THAT SAWS FOUND THE SAME FROM THEIR INTERNAL REVIEW, AND I THINK IT'S IMPORTANT FOR US TO ALSO ADDRESS THOSE OR TO UNDERSTAND THOSE ARE BEING ADDRESSED IN FUTURE MEETINGS. BUT TODAY, LET'S GO AHEAD AND SEE WHAT WE GET IN THE WAVE REPORTS ON THE, UH, RECOMMENDATIONS FROM THE, UH, EMERGENCY, UH, PREPAREDNESS REPORT. SO, I'D LIKE TO BEGIN TODAY WITH C P S ENERGY. THEY DIDN'T GET A CHANCE TO, UH, ADDRESS US THE LAST MEETING. AND SO WHOEVER WOULD LIKE TO, UH, GIVE US A REPORT FROM C P S STEP UP. GOOD MORNING. I THINK A, UH, SLIDE DECK WAS, UH, PROVIDED. THERE IT IS. MORNING, I'M PAUL BORUM. ALL RIGHT, I THINK I CAN GREEN AND RED. THAT MAKES IT EASY. UH, GOOD MORNING, PAUL BORUM. I AM THE CHIEF GRID OPTIMIZATION AND RESILIENCY OFFICER. SO THAT IS ESSENTIALLY THE GUY WHO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR ALL THE WIRES IN THE SYSTEM, TRANSMISSION DISTRIBUTION. I'M GONNA, UH, GO THROUGH, UH, A HIGH LEVEL OVERVIEW OF OUR ACTIVITIES, UH, BUT I HAVE, UH, A NUMBER OF MY PEERS HERE AS WELL AS AS OUR C E O, UH, PAULA. AND, UH, WE'LL BE GLAD TO ANSWER ANY, UH, UH, DETAILED QUESTIONS Y'ALL MAY WANT TO, UH, GIVE US ON ANY OF THE PARTICULAR ITEMS. AND, UH, UH, THANK YOU COUNCILMAN COURAGE FOR BEING WITH US AT THE BOARD MEETING YESTERDAY. SO, SOME OF THE, UH, HIGH LEVEL COMMENTS, UH, YOU'RE ALREADY FAMILIAR WITH. BUT, UH, LET ME STEP THROUGH THIS. SO, UH, REALLY, UH, UH, OBVIOUSLY WE WANT TO GIVE Y'ALL A BROAD OVERVIEW OF ALL THE ACTIVITIES WE'RE PURSUING. AND, UH, YOU MENTIONED THE LESSONS LEARNED THAT WE HAVE INTERNALLY IDENTIFIED, AND WE ARE WORKING ON A, A COMBINED LIST THAT WE WILL BE PROVIDING Y'ALL ON A MONTH, MONTHLY BASIS WITH ALL THOSE ITEMS THAT WE'RE PURSUING, UH, ALONG WITH THE SPECIFIC RECOMMENDATIONS AND, AND WHERE WE'RE AT ON THOSE. UH, I WILL SAY AT A HIGH LEVEL, OUR, UH, OUR GOAL IS TO HAVE ALL THOSE, UH, IMPLEMENTED EFFECTIVELY, UH, BY THE END OF THE YEAR FOR THIS WINTER SEASON. NOW THEY'RE IN THESE RECOMMENDATIONS AND IN OUR LESSONS LEARNED, THERE MAY BE SOME LONGER TERM EFFORTS THAT WE'LL BE PURSUING, UH, THAT WILL OBVIOUSLY COULD GO ON FOR, UH, SOME TIME. BUT, BUT, UH, ALL THE, UH, I'LL SAY THE CORE OF ALL THE RECOMMENDATIONS AS WELL AS OUR INTERNAL FINDINGS, THE INTENT IS THOSE WILL BE, UH, WRAPPED UP AND IN PLACE, UH, FOR THE END OF THE YEAR. UH, SO AGENDA, SO NOT, UH, GONNA SPEND REALLY ANY TIME ON THE NUMBERS HERE. BUT, UH, JUST TO SAY THAT, UH, ALL THE, UH, 37, UH, ITEMS THAT, UH, HAVE OUR NAME ON 'EM SOMEWHERE ARE ALL IN PROGRESS. UH, OKAY. LET ME, UH, GIVE YOU, UH, UH, SOME HIGH LEVEL INFORMATION ON A LOT OF OUR ACTIVITIES. UH, THESE FIRST TWO HAVE TO DO WITH, UH, INFRASTRUCTURE. SO STARTING WITH, UH, THE POWER PLANTS AND, UH, THERE WAS SOME RECOMMENDATIONS AROUND, UH, ESSENTIALLY WEATHERIZATION AND THE THINGS THAT WE NEED TO DO THERE. UH, THERE ARE, UH, PROGRAMS IN PLACE WHERE WE ARE ADDRESSING, UH, WEATHERIZATION ISSUES. I WILL SAY THAT WE ARE ALSO WATCHING THE STATE P U C AND RECOMMENDATIONS THAT MAY COME OUT OF THERE. UH, AND I'LL ALSO MENTION THAT, UH, THERE'S ACTIVITIES AT THE FEDERAL LEVEL AS WELL, WHICH, UH, ALSO COULD GENERATE, UH, OTHER THINGS THAT WE MAY HAVE TO ADDRESS, UH, IN THESE AREAS. BUT, UM, AND, UH, WE HAVE FRANK ALMAREZ WHO, UH, IS OVER THE POWER GENERATION AND ESMO AREA, WHO CAN GO INTO DETAILS. UM, WE'VE ALSO PUT IN PLACE, UH, SOME THINGS TO, UH, REALLY, UH, FIRM UP OUR GAS SUPPLIES AND STORAGE SO THAT, UH, UH, WE'RE IN A MUCH BETTER POSITION ON, UH, THE NATURAL GAS SUPPLY COMING INTO, UH, THE WINTER. THE OTHER INFRASTRUCTURE PIECE HAD TO DO WITH LOAD SHED. AND SO THIS WAS, YOU KNOW, ERCOT GAVE US DIRECTIONS TO REDUCE, UH, UH, ALL UTILITIES TO REDUCE THEIR, UH, LOAD BY CERTAIN AMOUNTS. AND SO THAT WAS THESE ROLLING OUTAGES THAT WERE, UM, WE WERE, UH, HAVING TO, UH, [00:10:01] TO DO ACROSS THE CITY. WE HAVE MADE SIGNIFICANT IMPROVEMENTS THERE. AND, UH, WE WILL BE GETTING OUT, UM, UH, SOME KIND OF FINAL REPORTING THERE. UH, WE HAVE HAD A THIRD PARTY ASSESSMENT THAT IS WRAPPING UP NOW. UH, BUT WE HAVE, UH, GOTTEN OURSELVES TO A PLACE WHERE WE ARE COMFORTABLE THAT WE HAVE A PROGRAM THAT WOULD HANDLE THE SAME SIZE EVENT, UH, PLUS A MARGIN AS WE EXPERIENCED, UH, WITH YURI. AND REMEMBERING THAT THE AMOUNT OF LOAD SHED WE EXPERIENCED WITH YURI WAS, UH, JUST WAS FIVE TIMES WHAT, UH, THE STATE HAD EVER SEEN BEFORE. SO THAT WAS, UM, YOU KNOW, HOPEFULLY A VERY RARE EVENT. UH, BUT AS I SAY, WE, WE DO HAVE A LOAD SHIP PROGRAM IN PLACE NOW, UH, THAT WE ARE COMFORTABLE ADDRESSES THE ISSUES, UH, MISSION, THIRD PARTY ASSESSMENT, UH, AND ONE OF THOSE LONGER TERM ITEMS, UH, THAT I MENTIONED EARLIER, HAS TO DO WITH, UH, TECHNOLOGY. WE, WE BELIEVE THERE ARE WAYS THAT WE CAN APPLY, UM, UH, ADVANCED, UH, INFRASTRUCTURE AND TECHNOLOGIES THAT WOULD GIVE US EVEN MORE FLEXIBILITY, UH, TO FURTHER REDUCE THE IMPACT ON ANY ONE CUSTOMER IF WE ARE CALLED FOR, UH, TO DO THIS IN ANOTHER EMERGENCY EVENT. SO WE ARE ALSO PURSUING THAT. AGAIN, THAT WILL BE A, A LONGER TERM EFFORT. UH, ALSO, I WILL MENTION HERE, UH, AND ON THIS SLIDE, WE HAVE, UH, SPENT A LOT OF TIME COLLABORATING WITH, UH, A LOT OF OUR PARTNERS, SAS IN PARTICULAR. UH, STEVE AND I ARE, ARE, UH, GOOD BUDDIES NOW. SO WE, UH, UH, OUR TEAMS HAVE SPENT, UH, A GOOD BIT OF TIME WORKING TOGETHER. OUR OPERATIONS FOLKS AND THEIR OPERATIONS FOLKS, UH, ARE ROUTINELY COMMUNICATING, WHICH I THINK, UH, WAS, UH, PROBABLY A BIG, UH, IMPROVEMENT, UH, FOR BOTH OF OUR OPERATIONS TO BETTER INTEGRATE, UH, WHAT WE DO. AND SO I THINK, UH, SOME BIG GAINS THAT ARE IN PLACE THERE. UH, WE HAVE, UM, I'LL SAY, UH, A COMBINED LOAD SHED PROCESS NOW THAT, UH, IS IN PLACE NOW WITH, WITH SAWS. UH, WE CONTINUE TO WORK WITH SAWS ON AND OTHERS, UH, ON, UH, WHAT THEIR BACKUP PLANS MAY BE, SAWS HAS, AND THEY'LL TALK ABOUT THEIR BACKUP GENERATORS AND WHAT THEY HAVE TO DO. UH, BUT WE ARE SUPPORTING THEM AS WELL AS OTHER ENTITIES IN THAT SAME, UH, EFFORT. COLLABORATION WISE. UH, WE ARE WORKING WITH, UM, YOU KNOW, NOT ONLY SAWS, BUT, UH, E O C AND VARIOUS, UH, ENTITIES THAT ARE REPRESENTED IN E O C. I THINK, UH, WE HAVE, UH, THE SAN ANTONIO FIRE DEPARTMENT, UH, COMING TO VISIT, UH, AND TOUR OUR OPERATIONS CENTER THIS WEEK. SO, UH, SIMILAR AS WE DID WITH SAWS, UH, REALLY TALKING TO THEM REALLY ON A MORE TACTICAL LEVEL ON HOW WE CAN, UH, BETTER BE, UH, TIED AND, AND WORKING TOGETHER IF, IF THESE TYPES OF EVENTS HAPPEN AGAIN. UM, WE'VE, UH, SO WE HAVE THIS, UH, UH, TEAKS EXERCISE THAT WE PARTICIPATED IN, UH, THAT, UH, WAS SPONSORED BY THE CITY. I THINK, UH, A VERY GOOD EXERCISE, BUT I'LL SAY THAT'S JUST, UH, UH, PROBABLY THE LARGEST, BUT NOT THE ONLY EXERCISE THAT WE HAVE, UH, PARTICIPATED IN. SO WE HAVE, UH, SAWS AND, AND C P S HAVE DONE SOME EXERCISES OUR OWN, WE'VE DONE SOME INTERNAL EXERCISES, UH, ALL IN, YOU KNOW, GETTING OUR PEOPLE THINKING ABOUT AND READY FOR, UH, IF SUCH AN EVENT WERE TO OCCUR THAT WE ARE READY TO GO, UH, WITH THOSE THINGS. UH, LET'S SEE. I THINK A LOT OF WORK ON FIELD PROCEDURES, UM, AND THAT'S IN A LOT OF THE LESSONS LEARNED, UH, PROBABLY A LOT OF DETAILS THERE, BUT, UH, ON, YOU KNOW, HOW WE MIGHT ADDRESS, UH, D DIFFERENT SITUATIONS BETTER IN A FUTURE EVENT. UM, YOU KNOW, SUCH AS Y'ALL PROBABLY HEARD, ONE OF THE NIGHTS WE ENDED UP WITH, UH, CREWS HAVING TO SLEEP IN THEIR TRUCKS BECAUSE THEY WERE STRANDED, UH, ON, ON JOB SITES. SO PUTTING IN PLACE, UH, PROCEDURES ON BETTER BEING PREPARED, UH, FOR HOW WE GET AROUND THE CITY IN, IN SUCH AN EVENT, AND MAKING SURE THAT WE'VE THOUGHT THROUGH, UH, HOW WE TAKE CARE OF OUR PEOPLE IN THE BEST POSSIBLE WAY IN THOSE EVENTS. SO THIS SLIDE IS ALL IN COMMUNICATION AND, UH, THERE ARE NUMEROUS FACETS OF COMMUNICATION THAT WE HAVE, UH, DUG INTO AND WORKED ON AND MADE IMPROVEMENTS TO. AND, UH, WE HAVE RUDY GARZA AND, UH, SOME OF HIS TEAM HERE WHO WILL BE GLAD TO [00:15:01] GO INTO DETAILS ON A LOT OF THOSE PROGRAMS. UH, BUT WE HAVE TAKEN, UH, COUNCILOR UR YOU MENTIONED TAKING INPUT. WE HAVE, UH, CONTINUED TO SEEK AND TAKE INPUT, UH, FROM NUMEROUS ORGANIZATIONS. UH, WHEN WE MEET WITH, UH, CUSTOMERS, UH, YOU KNOW, YURI TYPICALLY COMES UP AND WE ARE, YOU KNOW, UH, ALWAYS, UH, OPEN TO TAKING THAT FEEDBACK AND, AND HEARING WHAT, UH, THOSE DIFFERENT CUSTOMER GROUPS MAY HAVE EXPERIENCED AND, AND MAKING SURE THAT THE PLANS WE'RE PUTTING IN PLACE ARE ADDRESSING ALL THOSE ISSUES TO THE EXTENT POSSIBLE. UM, BUT, UH, COMMUNICATIONS AT ALL LEVELS, BOTH, UH, WITH OUR STAKEHOLDERS, WITH THE COMMUNITY, THE PUBLIC, WITH MEDIA, WITH THE CITY, UH, BOTH OPERATIONALLY AND FROM, UH, THE STANDPOINT OF GETTING INFORMATION OUT TO CUSTOMERS. UM, ONE THING I'LL, UH, THINK IT'S ON THE PREVIOUS SLIDE, ONE THING WE DID DO IS PUT IN PLACE, UH, AN EXECUTIVE WHO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR OPERATIONAL COMMUNICATION WITH THE E O C. UH, MELISSA GUTIERREZ IS, UH, UH, WE, UH, UH, MADE HER AN EXECUTIVE AND, UH, PUT IN A, A NEW JOB DESCRIPTION WHERE THAT IS ESSENTIALLY HER JOB ONE, IF WE ARE IN ANY TYPE OF EMERGENCY EVENT. SHE REPORTS TO MY, UM, UH, SYSTEM OPERATIONS GROUP. AND SO SHE IS PART OF THAT GROUP. SHE IS TIED IN WITH THE OPERATION OF THE GRID. UH, SHE WILL GO TO THE E O C AND OPERATE OUT OF THAT TO BE ABLE TO PROVIDE THAT DIRECT CONNECTION INTO OUR GRID OPERATIONS AREA. UM, SHE WAS THERE DURING URI, BUT WE HAVE, UH, ELEVATED THAT POSITION AND CONTINUE TO GIVE HER MORE TOOLS, UH, AND ACCESS TO, UH, REAL-TIME INFORMATION SO THAT SHE CAN PROVIDE GOOD INFORMATION, UH, TO ANYONE AT THE U F C WHO NEEDS THAT AT AN OPERATIONAL LEVEL. AND I THINK, UH, THIS WAS THE LAST SLIDE. THERE'S A NUMBER OF THE RECOMMENDATIONS THAT HAD TO DO WITH, UH, THINGS THAT, UH, REALLY ARE GONNA HAPPEN AT, UH, A REGULATORY LEVEL, THE LEGISLATURE WITH THE P U C, WITH ERCOT, WE ARE INVOLVED IN, UM, UH, NUMEROUS, UH, UH, EFFORTS THAT ARE GOING ON AT, AT THAT LEVEL AS WELL. AS I MENTIONED, THE, AT THE FEDERAL LEVEL. UH, WE HAVE A TEAM THAT DOES THAT. UH, I THINK WE'RE TRACKING, UH, AT THE MOMENT, SOME 36 DIFFERENT, UH, TOPICS THAT ARE BEING, UH, DISCUSSED AND, AND PURSUED AT THE STATE AND FEDERAL LEVEL. AND I ASSURE YOU THAT WE ARE, UH, IN THE MIDDLE OF THAT. WE ARE, UM, UH, WITH OUR OTHER, UH, PUBLIC POWER PARTNERS ARE MAKING SURE OUR VOICE IS HEARD, AND OUR ISSUES ARE, ARE CONSIDERED AS, UH, THOSE, UH, PROCEEDINGS, UH, MOVE FORWARD. AND THERE WILL PROBABLY CONTINUE TO BE A LOT OF ACTIVITY, UH, IN THAT AREA FOR SOME TIME. I WILL MENTION THAT, UH, UH, UH, NERC ISSUED, UH, THEIR PRELIMINARY FINDINGS. AND IF YOU'RE INTERESTED, WE CAN PROVIDE, UH, THAT REPORT OR INFORMATION ON THAT, UH, OF THE 18 THAT, UH, WILL HAVE SOME IMPACT ON, UH, C P SS ENERGY. UH, 10 OF THOSE, I BELIEVE, ARE ALREADY, WE'VE ALREADY COMPLETED EIGHT OF THOSE. WERE ALREADY IN PROGRESS, SO THERE'S NO REAL SURPRISES, UH, FROM, FROM THAT LEVEL. BUT, UH, JUST TO SAY, WE ARE CONTINUING TO WATCH, UH, BOTH AT THE LOCAL, STATE, AND FEDERAL LEVELS. SO NEXT STEPS REALLY, UH, IS AROUND, UM, CONTINUING TO REPORT TO Y'ALL, UH, AS WELL AS OUR BOARD. AND AS, UH, YOU POINTED OUT, WE WANT TO BE TELLING Y'ALL ABOUT, UH, HOW WE ARE WRAPPING THESE THINGS UP. UH, AND I THINK ONE THING WE NEED TO DO IS PROBABLY, UH, GIVE Y'ALL, UH, A MORE, UH, MAYBE DEFINITIVE DOCUMENTATION ON HOW THESE THINGS ARE WRAPPED UP SO THAT THAT'S, UH, CLEAR, UH, IN, IN WHAT WE'RE PROVIDING TO Y'ALL. SO WE'RE LOOKING AT THAT. UM, AND, UH, AS I SAID, OUR, OUR GOAL IS TO EFFECTIVELY HAVE ALL THE RECOMMENDATIONS, UH, TIED UP IN SOME MANNER BY THE END OF THE YEAR, UH, WORKING ON, UH, ON A, A REPORTING THAT WILL PROVIDE, UH, NOT JUST THE STATUS OF THE RECOMMENDATION FROM THE C E P, BUT ALSO THE BROADER SET OF, UH, UH, LESSONS LEARNED THAT WE ARE WORKING ON. SO WE WILL BE, UH, GIVING Y'ALL THAT REPORTING, UH, AS WELL AS, UH, WHAT WE GIVE OUR BOARD. UH, AND THEN AS WE'RE WORKING THROUGH THESE THINGS, OBVIOUSLY THERE ARE, UH, SOME BUDGETING AND [00:20:01] FUNDING THINGS WE'RE HAVING TO WORK OUT, UH, FOR, WHETHER IT'S ADDITIONAL COSTS, BUT WE'RE WORKING THROUGH THOSE AS WELL. AND THAT IS MY COMMENTS, BUT, UH, UH, GOT, UH, MYSELF AND, UH, UH, MY, UH, PHONE OF FRIENDS OVER HERE WHO WILL BE GLAD TO, UH, ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS Y'ALL MAY HAVE. THANK YOU, MR. BARNUM. UH, I APPRECIATE WHAT YOU SAID NEAR THE END OF YOUR PRESENTATION, AND THAT IS THAT YOU UNDERSTAND THAT WE WOULD EXPECT, UH, THE NEXT REPORT TO BE MUCH MORE SPECIFIC AND DETAILED ABOUT WHICH RECOMMENDATIONS HAVE BEEN ADDRESSED. I, I HEARD AT THE VERY BEGINNING, YOU SAID A LOT OF THESE ARE IN PROGRESS. THAT'S FINE. YOU KNOW, IF YOU TELL US, UH, THESE RECOMMENDATIONS ARE IN PROGRESS, THAT'S GOOD. UH, IF YOU SAY, THIS RECOMMENDATION HAS BEEN RESOLVED, WE'D LIKE TO KNOW WHAT IT, WHAT WAS THE SOLUTION, AS I SAID, HOW IT RESOLVES THE SITUATION, UH, YOU KNOW, HOW IT'S BEING IMPLEMENTED. BECAUSE I THINK THESE WERE VERY SPECIFIC RECOMMENDATIONS. THEY WEREN'T NECESSARILY GENERAL, AND I THINK THE PUBLIC WOULD LIKE TO KNOW VERY CLEARLY THAT WE ARE MEETING THOSE RECOMMENDATIONS, WHETHER IT'S FROM C P S OR SAWS OR EVEN THE CITY. WE HAVE OUR OWN RESPONSIBILITY TO MEET THOSE RECOMMENDATIONS THAT WE NEED TO FULFILL. AND I DON'T BELIEVE THE COMMITTEE JUST WANTS TO HEAR OVERVIEWS. I THINK WE'D LIKE TO KNOW SPECIFICS SO THAT WHEN WE GO BACK INTO OUR COMMUNITY, WE CAN SAY, THIS IS SOMETHING C P SS DID, OR THIS IS SOMETHING THAT SAS DID, AND THIS IS HOW IT'S GONNA HELP RESOLVE THIS PART OF THE PROBLEM THAT WE FACED AT THAT TIME. I KNOW THERE'S A LOT OF THEM. THERE'S, UH, LIKE 60, BUT ALSO I THINK IT'S IMPORTANT FOR US TO KNOW, AS, AS BOTH OF YOU HAVE INDICATED, YOU'VE DONE A LITTLE BIT OF YOUR OWN INTERNAL LOOKING. YOU'VE FOUND OTHER THINGS THAT PROBABLY, UH, CAN HELP GOING FORWARD TO, UH, IMPROVE THE SYSTEM WHEN IT COMES TO, UH, READINESS FOR, FOR BAD WEATHER AGAIN. AND I THINK, YOU KNOW, WE'D, WE'D LIKE TO BE ABLE TO HEAR ABOUT THAT. UH, AND SO WE MAY ASK QUESTIONS ABOUT THAT WHEN WE RECEIVE THAT INFORMATION JUST TO MAKE SURE WE'RE COVERING ALL OUR BASES FOR THIS. THE ONE THING I THOUGHT YOU WERE PRETTY SPECIFIC ABOUT, AND I APPRECIATE THAT, WAS COMMUNICATIONS. AND AS YOU KNOW, THAT WAS ONE OF THE MORE CRITICAL THINGS THAT I THINK WE HEARD, THAT THERE WASN'T, UH, EFFICIENT, EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION BETWEEN THE UTILITIES, BETWEEN THEMSELVES WITH THE CITY, AND THEN WITH COUNCIL MEMBERS KNOWING WHAT WAS GOING ON, OR CITIZENS UNDERSTANDING WHAT WAS GOING ON. AND I HEAR WHAT YOU'RE SAYING, YOU'VE GOT A DESIGNATED PERSON, YOU'VE GOT A, A LOT MORE IN PROGRESS. SO IT WOULD BE EASY TO SAY ON, ON THIS, UH, ISSUE OR THIS RECOMMENDATION ON COMMUNICATION, THIS IS WHAT WE'VE DONE, AND THIS IS HOW WE THINK IT'D BE HELPED. SO THAT'S AN EXAMPLE I THINK, OF WHAT WE'D LIKE TO SEE, UH, IN FUTURE PRESENTATIONS. AND THIS COMMITTEE'S GONNA CONTINUE TO MAKE THIS A NUMBER ONE PRIORITY UNTIL WE FEEL THAT WE FULFILL ALL OF THOSE RECOMMENDATIONS AS, AS WELL AS WE CAN, UNDERSTANDING THERE ARE SOME THAT ARE OUT OF OUR CONTROL, UH, MAYBE NEEDING MORE FROM ERCOT OR THE P U C. BUT THAT BRINGS UP, UH, A QUESTION THAT MAYBE YOU OR SOMEONE ELSE CAN ANSWER. AND THE P U C JUST CAME OUT WITH SOME NEW REGULATIONS ON STORM READINESS. CAN ANYBODY TELL US WHAT THOSE ARE OR HOW WE THINK THOSE ARE GONNA IMPACT, UH, EITHER UTILITY? UH, AND I, I HEARD THEY JUST CAME OUT IN THE LAST COUPLE OF DAYS WITH THAT. YES. THOSE ARE PRETTY FRESH, SO, RIGHT, RIGHT. SO THERE'S TWO PHASES EXPECTED. UM, AND PHASE ONE IS, UH, THANK YOU. AND AS, AS, UH, PAUL SAID, THEY'RE PRETTY FRESH. SO I, I DON'T HAVE AS MUCH DETAILS I'D LIKE NOW, BUT I WOULD SAY THAT THERE'RE, UM, UH, THE SORTS OF NO REGRETS TYPES ACTIONS THAT WE WOULD'VE IDENTIFIED OURSELVES. SO WHAT I DO KNOW IS THAT OUR TEAM WHO'S REVIEWED THOSE FRESH, UH, RESULTS, PRETTY, UH, UH, THOROUGHLY HAVE SAID THAT WE ARE WITH OUR CURRENT PLAN, THE, UH, LONG LIST OF, UH, ACTIONS THAT WE ARE TAKING, WE'RE WELL COVERED. IN FACT, UH, A LOT OF THOSE WERE KIND OF, UH, THINGS THAT WERE, UH, DONE, YOU KNOW, THAT WE'VE DONE IN ADVANCE OF THAT LIST. SO THERE'S A, THE, THE RULEMAKINGS THAT WILL FOLLOW WILL BE THE ONES THAT WILL ESTABLISH NEW STANDARDS THAT WOULD, UH, HAVE THE POTENTIAL TO HAVE IN, UH, SIGNIFICANT INCREASED DOLLARS, UH, THAT WE HAVE TO INVEST. BUT THE FIRST PHASE, I THINK WE WERE WELL COVERED, RUDY MAY HAVE BORN COUNCILMAN. UH, I WOULD BE GLAD TO, UH, PROVIDE AN OVERVIEW TO THE COMMITTEE OF WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT THE, THE RULES THAT WERE PASSED, UH, TO GIVE YOU A LITTLE BIT MORE CONTEXT ABOUT THE DETAILS. SO IF IT'S OKAY, I'LL FOLLOW UP WITH YOU, UH, UH, UH, FOR THE COMMITTEE TO, TO GIVE YOU KIND OF A WRITTEN SUMMARY OF WHAT THOSE, UH, WHAT THOSE DECISIONS WERE. OKAY. SURE, [00:25:01] SIR. I UNDERSTAND. YES, SIR. AND I JUST WANTED TO SEE IF WE HAD ANY KIND OF INFORMATION RIGHT NOW THAT WE CAN LOOK AT, BUT IF IT'S GOING TO TAKE A LITTLE BIT OF TIME TO DO THAT, WE UNDERSTAND. IT JUST CAME OUT. THANK YOU. OKAY. THANK YOU. UH, I'LL OPEN THIS UP TO ANY OTHER, UH, THE COMMITTEE MEMBERS WHO MAY HAVE A QUESTION. REMEMBER, WE'LL BE HEARING FROM SAS RIGHT AFTER THIS. SO COUNCILWOMAN AND THEN COUNCILWOMAN. THANK YOU. AND THANK YOU FOR THE PRESENTATION. UM, AND MY, MY FIRST QUESTION IS SPECIFICALLY ON SLIDE NUMBER FOUR, CAN YOU MAYBE GIVE ONE EXAMPLE OF, OF SOMETHING THAT WAS MAYBE LOW HANGING FRUIT THAT YOU ALL, UM, ALREADY IMPLEMENTED ON THE, UH, THE, THE PLAN? NO, THAT WAS, THAT WAS THE RIGHT ONE, THE ONE WITH THE PIE CHART. OH, OKAY. I'M SORRY. UH, SOMETHING LOW HANGING FRUIT THAT WAS ALREADY IMPLEMENTED, I THINK. UM, WELL, SO ON THE, ON THE, YEAH. WELL, YEAH, THE LOAD. SHE, UH, I THINK WE, UH, WHAT I CALL IT LOW HANGING FRUIT, I'M NOT SURE 'CAUSE THE, THE TEAM PUT IN A SIGNIFICANT EFFORT, BUT, UH, IT IS SOMETHING THAT WE DID GET ACCOMPLISHED, UH, RELATIVELY QUICKLY, UH, YOU KNOW, ALL THINGS CONSIDERED. SO THAT'S PROBABLY ONE OF OUR BIGGEST ACCOMPLISHMENTS THAT, THAT WE MADE HAPPEN, UH, PRETTY QUICKLY. OKAY. I THINK, UH, ONE OF THE THINGS I WAS GONNA MENTION ALSO, UH, RUDY'S MENTIONING ONE OF MINE, AND I'M GONNA MENTION ONE OF RUDY'S, UH, . WE HAVE, UH, PRETTY QUICKLY PUT IN, IN PLACE, UH, SOME COMMUNICATIONS THAT WE'RE SENDING OUT, UH, TO ALL STAKEHOLDERS AND, AND CUSTOMERS ON WHEN WE SEE, UH, A STORM ACTIVITY COMING, UH, THAT KIND OF WORK ON THAT STUFF INTERNALLY. AND WE'RE GETTING OUR THINGS READY. UH, AND I THINK ONE OF THE LESSONS LEARNED OUTTA THIS WAS TO GET, LET'S PUSH MORE OF THAT INFORMATION OUT. UH, YOU KNOW, I THINK OUR HISTORICALLY WE, UH, KIND OF HAD THE ATTITUDE, WELL, YOU KNOW, IF, UH, PEOPLE DON'T REALLY WANNA KNOW ABOUT THE POWER COMPANY UNTIL THEIR LIGHTS DON'T COME ON, BUT WE'RE TRYING TO GET MORE PROACTIVE IN, UH, AND THANK YOU FOR THAT. AND I SAW THE, THE BILL INSERTS AND EVEN THE ENVELOPE, SO THAT WAS, UM, PRIME PLACEMENT. SO, UM, SO THANK YOU FOR THAT. UM, AND THEN, SO I JUST KINDA WANTED TO LEARN A LITTLE BIT, AND WE CAN HAVE A DISCUSSION OFFLINE IF YOU ALL WANT TO GIVE SOME MORE EXAMPLES. BUT THEN THE OTHER THING IS, I REMEMBER IN ONE OF THE, UH, SPREADSHEETS, THERE WAS A SPECIFIC ACTION THAT YOU ALL REFERENCED, AND IT WAS IN REGARD TO SUBCONTRACTORS, AND APPARENTLY THERE WAS SOME, SOME, IT WAS LITERALLY NUTS AND BOLTS, AND SO ONE OF THEM HAD MELTED. AND SO, UM, IT, IT WAS, IT SOUNDED LIKE IT WAS A CONTRACTOR ISSUE, AND I WAS JUST MAKING SURE THAT YOU ALL WERE ALSO ADDRESSING THOSE TYPE OF THINGS, RIGHT. UM, AND, AND, AND LOOKING AT THAT AND, AND MAKING SURE THAT, THAT, THINGS LIKE THAT, RIGHT? SOMETHING LIKE EASY. UM, AND SO THANK YOU. AND I SEE SOMEONE COMING UP AND, AND WHILE HE'S, UH, HE'S DOING THAT ALSO, DO YOU ALL HAVE AN R AND D TEAM? DO YOU HAVE AN INNOVATION DEPARTMENT? I, I CAN'T REMEMBER IF I ASKED THIS. OKAY. SORRY, GO AHEAD. YEAH, THANK YOU. AND I DIDN'T, UH, SAY MY NAME AT THE BEGINNING. SO FRANK ALMARAZ, I'M THE CHIEF POWER SUSTAINABILITY AND BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT OFFICER FOR C P S ENERGY. AND AMONG OTHER THINGS, I HAVE RESPONSIBILITY FOR OUR POWER PLANTS. UM, THE ITEM THAT YOU'RE REFERENCING WAS A, UH, MELTED WIRE NUT, AND IT WAS, UH, SHOULD HAVE BEEN A HEAT RESISTANT WIRE NUT, BUT IT WAS NOT. AND SO IT MELTED AND, AND WAS A CONTRIBUTING CAUSE TO, YOU KNOW, SOME OF OUR ISSUES. UM, SO WE HAVE, UH, MADE SURE THAT THAT LESSON LEARNED HAS PROLIFERATED THROUGH OUR CONTRACTORS. AND, UM, WHEN THERE'S A, A HUMAN PERFORMANCE EVENT LIKE THAT, WE MAKE SURE THAT, UM, FOLKS ARE MADE AWARE AND SEPARATELY THAT DOES GO AGAINST THEIR RECORD, YOU KNOW, WHEN THEY WANT TO EARN ADDITIONAL WORK, UH, IN FUTURE RFPS. SO WE CONSIDER, UH, THE RECORD OF THE, OF THE, UH, OF THE CONTRACTOR AS TO THE INNOVATION. UM, WE'LL ALL HAVE SOMETHING TO SAY ABOUT THAT, BUT I'LL BE BRIEF. UH, THERE'S AN INNOVATION COUNCIL, UM, THAT BRINGS, UH, EXECUTIVES FROM THE DIFFERENT AREAS OF THE ORGANIZATION TO LOOK AT THINGS THAT ARE INTERESTING THAT COULD DELIVER REAL VALUE FOR OUR COMPANY. UM, WE KICK OUT THINGS THAT ARE INNOVATION FOR INNOVATION'S SAKE, UM, BUT LEAVE THE ONES THAT HAVE POTENTIALLY HIGH VALUE, AND WE TRY TO, UH, PUT THOSE INTO LIMITED DEPLOYMENT, UM, TO THE EXTENT WE POSSIBLY CAN. WELL, AND, AND ON THAT NOTE, AND, AND I'LL WRAP UP MY COMMENTS, UM, COUNCILMAN, BUT, SO I, I, I RAN THE WASHINGTON POST, OBVIOUSLY, THIS IS THE, THE OUTAGES NATIONWIDE. UM, SO, SO THEY'RE GROWING LONGER, RIGHT? AND SO THERE'S AREAS THAT HAVE HAD NOW, UM, OUTAGES LIKE FIVE TIMES WITHIN THE LAST FOUR YEARS, ET CETERA. UM, BUT, UM, I WAS SPECIFICALLY LOOKING TO, SPECIFICALLY LOOKING TO SEE IF YOU ALL HAVE DONE ANY WORK ON MICROGRIDS, UM, HERE IN SAN ANTONIO. AND I ATTENDED A TEXAS Y C M, UH, CONFERENCE, AND I'LL SHARE WITH MY COLLEAGUES THE POLICY BRIEF FROM TEXAS TECH. UM, AND THEY WERE LOOKING SPECIFICALLY AT INTELLIGENT INVESTMENTS, UH, IN, IN THIS AREA. AND SO THE, THE FACT THAT WE COULD HAVE MULTIPLE GRIDS WITHIN NEIGHBORHOODS, ET [00:30:01] CETERA, I THOUGHT IT WAS SOMETHING REALLY INTERESTING. AND ANOTHER THING THAT THEY TALKED ABOUT WAS, UH, SMALL MODULAR REACTORS. AND SO I'M WONDERING HOW YOU ALL ARE WORKING ON THAT. THAT MIGHT BE ONE OF THOSE LONG TERMS THAT YOU THOUGHT, BUT I, I'M JUST HOPING THAT YOUR R AND D TEAM OR YOUR INNOVATION TEAM IS LOOKING AT THINGS LIKE THIS. YES, YES. SO MICROGRIDS IS, IS AN AREA OF FOCUS FOR US. OKAY. UM, AND, UH, THE, WE HAVE, UH, DONE A PILOT WITH ONE. UM, ACTUALLY ALL THE MICROGRID ACTIVITY, UH, TO DATE HAS BEEN WITH THE BASIS. UM, SO THERE, YOU KNOW, KIND OF SOME MILITARY THINGS, UH, UH, THAT, UH, INCENT THAT. UM, BUT, UH, WE ARE LOOKING AT IT, UH, BEYOND THAT. UM, YOU KNOW, WE, UH, ACTUALLY THE AIRPORT HAS TALKED ABOUT, UH, BEING INTERESTED IN THAT. THAT WOULD BE A GREAT APPLICATION. SO WE'RE LOOKING INTO THOSE, UH, TECHNOLOGIES AND WAY WE MIGHT APPLY THOSE. THAT'S WONDERFUL. THANK YOU. COUNT HAN FOR, FOR ANY OF THOSE PILOTS TO TOGETHER. ALL RIGHT. THANKS. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. COUNCILWOMAN. COUNCILWOMAN, KIBERA. HAVADA. THANK YOU, CHAIR. THANK YOU FOR THE PRESENTATION. UM, YOU, YOU TALKED, I THINK ON ONE OF THE SLIDES ABOUT THREE PLANT WEATHERIZATION INITIATIVES. CAN YOU TALK MORE ABOUT THAT ? THAT WOULD BE FRANK. THANK YOU. YEAH. UM, THERE'S A, UH, SO THERE ARE A NUMBER OF RECOMMENDATIONS, AND THEN WE CAN GO INTO A LOT OF DETAIL. BUT IN GENERAL, THERE ARE, UM, FREEZE PROTECTION IS ONE, AND THAT INCLUDES INSULATION AND HEAT TRACING. THAT IS A WIRE THAT WARMS WHEN IT'S, UH, YOU PUT, UH, ELECTRICITY ON IT AND CAN, UH, REDUCE THIS RATE AT WHICH THAT PIPE LOSES WATER, THEREBY IMPROVING ITS FREEZE PROTECTION. SO THERE'S HEAT TRACING AND INSULATION, UH, IS ONE CATEGORY OF THINGS. THERE'S IMPROVEMENTS TO THE, UH, CONTROL SYSTEM THAT RUNS THE HEAT TRACE PROGRAM. UM, THERE IS BETTER TRAINING AMONG OUR OPERATORS IN HOW TO MANAGE THOSE THINGS AND HOW TO, UH, INTEGRATE STEPS INTO THEIR WALK DOWN PROCEDURES THAT WE DO SORT OF HOURLY WHEN IT'S INCLEMENT WEATHER, PUTTING CHECKS ON THERE THAT WE DIDN'T HAVE BEFORE THAT WE LEARNED WERE, UH, EXPOSURE POINTS IN PREVIOUSLY. WE'VE ADDED, UM, BETTER ENHANCED FREEZE PROTECTION TEMPORARY ENCLOSURE PLANS. WE'VE ALSO ADDED, UH, UM, PORTABLE SPACE HEATING. WE HAD SOME BEFORE, BUT WE'VE ADDED AND DIVERSIFIED THE TYPE SO THAT WE DON'T HAVE OUR EMPLOYEES CARRYING VERY HEAVY LIQUID FUEL UP AND DOWN, ESSENTIALLY LADDERS FOR STORIES AND STORIES, UH, IN A, IN AN INCLEMENT WEATHER EVENT, BUT HAVE ADDED ELECTRICAL DROPS FOR THOSE PORTABLE HEATERS. WE'VE ADDED PROCEDURES TO BEGIN TO CIRCULATE FLUIDS, UH, AND EXERCISE VALVES AND PUMPS AND MOTORS AND FANS BEFORE EVENTS START SO THAT THEY ARE WARM, YOU KNOW, AND KEPT WARM DAYS BEFORE. UM, THOSE ARE SOME SPECIFIC EXAMPLES, BUT IN GENERAL, IT'S A COMPREHENSIVE PLAN TO, UH, ADDRESS, YOU KNOW, KEEPING THINGS FROM LOSING THE HEAT IN THE FIRST PLACE, KEEPING THEM MOVING, UM, SO THAT THEY DON'T EVER BECOME LOCKED OR, OR FROZEN. AND THEN A WHOLE PEOPLE SET OF PROCEDURES AND TRAINING THAT, UM, WE'VE ADDED AS WELL. I'D LIKE TO READ MORE ABOUT THAT, IF YOU HAVE ANYTHING THAT I CAN, UM, READ UP ON, JUST, UH, I THINK THAT'S PROBABLY A GOOD OVERVIEW, BUT I'D LIKE TO LEARN MORE SPECIFIC INFORMATION. ABSOLUTELY. AND I MEAN, I, I JUST WANNA MAKE SURE THESE PREVENTED, THESE ARE DESIGNED TO PREVENT OUTAGES IN THE EVENT OF ANOTHER WINTER STORM, RIGHT? SO WE HAD FIVE FREEZE PROTECTION, UH, EVENTS. THEY WERE ALL SORTS OF THINGS THAT, YOU KNOW, THEY'RE SMALL LINES OR IN SOME CASES, YOU KNOW, YOU HAVE A SMALL SECTION OF A SMALL LINE THAT WAS NOT PROPERLY, UH, INSULATED, UH, THAT HAVE NEVER FROZEN BEFORE. WE'VE NEVER ENCOUNTERED THAT BEFORE. OR IN SOME CASES WE SHOWED PICTURES OF A SIX INCH WATER LINE WITH MOVING WATER THAT REALLY SHOULDN'T FREEZE AND NEVER HAS BEFORE, BUT WE'VE IDENTIFIED THOSE IN AND ADDRESSED THEM. SO OF THOSE FIVE THINGS, THOSE WERE THINGS THAT ACTUALLY IMPACTED OUR GENERATION PERFORMANCE. UM, BUT THEY WERE OTHER THINGS THAT WE, YOU KNOW, LEARNED FROM. AND YOU ASK YOURSELF, WELL, IF THAT HAPPENED HERE, WHERE ELSE COULD IT HAPPEN? WE NEVER JUST SAY LIKE, LET'S FIX THAT ONE THING. WE ALSO SAY, WELL, THERE'S 20 OTHER PLACES IN OUR PLANT THAT LOOK SOMETHING LIKE THAT. WE'RE GONNA FIX ALL THOSE TOO. AND SO WE CAN ABSOLUTELY GET YOU MORE DETAIL ON THOSE PLANS. THANK YOU. AND I'M ENCOURAGED TO HEAR THAT BECAUSE, YOU KNOW, THERE'S, THERE'S ONLY ONE TIME THAT WE CAN CLAIM WE GOT CAUGHT OFF GUARD. IF ANOTHER WINTER STORM HAPPENS HERE IN A FEW MONTHS, WE CAN'T CLAIM THAT AGAIN, RIGHT? WE HAVE TO HAVE DONE SOMETHING. AND SO I'M GLAD TO HEAR THAT THERE ARE, UM, THESE, THESE INITIATIVES IN PLACE. UH, MY, MY NEXT QUESTION IS, I THINK IT WAS SLIDE SIX, UM, THE, THE, THE GRID OPERATION AND SUPPORT. UM, WHAT ARE, CAN YOU TALK A LITTLE BIT MORE ABOUT THOSE PLANS? THE, UH, WHICH, WHICH ONES THE, THE TOP POINT, THE TOP ONE, MM-HMM. . YEAH. SO, UM, I TALKED ABOUT, UH, OUR COLLABORATION WITH SAWS [00:35:01] AND E O C, UH, AND WE HAVE THIS NEED TO BE BY THE MIC. UH, WE HAVE SPENT, I WOULD INVESTED A LOT OF TIME WITH, UH, I MEAN, WE KNEW, UH, I KNEW STEVE AND, AND WE KNEW THE STAFF OVER THERE, UH, YOU KNOW, PRIOR TO THE EVENT. BUT OPERATIONALLY WE PROBABLY DID NOT HAVE, UH, A GOOD, GOOD CONNECTION WITH THEM. UH, SO THAT IS PROBABLY, I'M GONNA SAY ONE OF THE, ONE OF THE BIG IMPROVEMENTS, UH, WITH THE OTHER BIG UTILITY HERE IN TOWN IS REALLY CONNECTING OUR, OUR TWO OPERATIONS CENTERS. SO MY, UH, MANAGER, WHO'S OVER OUR OPERATIONS, UH, UH, CENTER FOR, UH, C P S, UH, IS NOW ON A FIRST NAME BASIS WITH, UH, HIS COUNTERPART OVER AT SS. AND IF WE SEE SOMETHING COMING UP, YOU KNOW, THEY'RE CALLING AND TALKING. UH, SO I THINK, YOU KNOW, THIS IDEA OF COLLABORATION AND, UH, BETTER INTEGRATING OUR OPERATIONS WITH OTHER ENTITIES, SAWS BEING THE BIG ONE, BUT THEY'RE NOT THE ONLY ONE WE'RE HAVING CONVERSATIONS WITH, UH, NOW WITH ALL THE SUBURBAN CITIES. AND SOME OF THEM HAVE WATER SYSTEMS AS WELL. SO, YOU KNOW, HOW DO WE, HOW DO WE WORK WITH ENTITIES LIKE THAT? UM, WE ARE GONNA BE, UH, UH, AT, UH, TALKING WITH STRAC, UH, WHO COORDINATES ALL THE, UM, YOU KNOW, UH, HOSPITALS, TRAUMA CENTERS, UH, LATER THIS WEEK, UH, TALKING WITH THEM. SO I THINK, UH, A LOT OF THE OPERATIONAL PIECE HERE IS REALLY AROUND THAT COLLABORATION AND BETTER INTEGRATING OUR OPERATIONS, UH, WITH THOSE OF, UH, OF, UH, THE OTHERS WHO, WHO WE MAY DEPEND ON OR MAY BE, UH, YOU KNOW, DEPENDING ON US. OKAY. THANK YOU. DO WE GET, ARE WE GONNA BE ABLE TO CHIME BACK IN AGAIN? I JUST HAVE ONE MORE QUESTION. DO YOU WANNA, I JUST HAVE ONE MORE QUESTION ON SLIDE SEVEN. UM, WHAT INPUT DID YOU RECEIVE FROM THE COMMUNITY? DO YOU WANNA TALK ABOUT THAT? I COULD YEAH. EVERY MEETING IS, UH, WELL, UH, I CAN TELL YOU THAT, UH, BETWEEN, UM, MY C E O AND MYSELF AND REALLY ALL OUR TEAM, WE PROBABLY HAVE ENGAGED HUNDREDS OF CUSTOMERS OVER THE LAST SIX MONTHS WHO'VE HAD VERY SPECIFIC FEEDBACK FOR US ABOUT THEIR EXPERIENCE. UH, AND A LOT OF THEM, YOU KNOW, FOR THE MOST PART, THEY WANNA KNOW WE'RE DOING SOMETHING ABOUT, UH, ABOUT IT. SO THIS DOESN'T HAPPEN AGAIN. YOU KNOW, ONE THING WE DIDN'T TALK ABOUT THAT I, I MENTIONED TO, TO OUR BOARD YESTERDAY, UM, COUNCILMAN, YOU KNOW, WE'RE GONNA ACTUALLY, UH, PUT A COMMUNICATION TOGETHER THAT WE'LL UPDATE ON A REGULAR BASIS PUT OUT ON OUR WEBSITE, WE'LL SEND IT TO Y'ALL. Y'ALL CAN CAN ADD, ADD IT TO YOUR NEWSLETTERS, UH, TO PROVIDE THE COMMUNITY AN UPDATE AS WELL. I MEAN, IT'S GREAT TO COME TO THE COMMITTEES, BUT OUR CUSTOMERS ARE INTERESTED. THEY WANNA KNOW, YOU KNOW, ALL THE THINGS THAT FRANK JUST TALKED ABOUT, THEY WANNA KNOW THAT, THAT WE'RE ON TOP OF, OF IT, SO THIS DOESN'T HAPPEN AGAIN. SO, UM, YOU KNOW, AND, AND WE, WE RECENTLY DID, WE DO, UM, WE DO, UH, FOCUS GROUPS EVERY YEAR. EVERY YEAR WE DO FOCUS GROUPS KIND OF TO, TO GAUGE INTEREST IN, IN OUR CUSTOMERS ON BOTH RESIDENTIAL, COMMERCIAL, YOU KNOW, SPANISH, ENGLISH. WE, WE, WE REALLY DO A, A CROSS SECTION OF ALL AGES. UH, AND, UH, YOU KNOW, WE, THIS YEAR, UH, WE SPENT A GOOD MAJORITY OF, OF TIME LISTENING TO FEEDBACK THEY HAD, UH, ON THE WINTER STORM. YOU KNOW, UM, SAN ANTONIO, UH, IS IS STILL VERY, VERY, YOU KNOW, UH, YOU KNOW, I MEAN, I HATE TO TO MINIMIZE THE, THE TERM, YOU KNOW, P T S D, BUT THERE IS STILL SOME P T S D ABOUT WHAT HAPPENED THAT WE ARE TRYING TO WORK THROUGH, YOU KNOW, WITH THE COMMUNITY. WE APOLOGIZE EVERY CHANCE WE GET BY AND LARGE, THEY JUST WANT US TO LISTEN. AND SO EVERY OPPORTUNITY THAT WE, THAT WE CAN TAKE TO LISTEN TO A CUSTOMER WHO STILL HAS FEEDBACK ABOUT THE STORM COUNCILWOMAN, WE'RE DOING IT. SO, BUT WHAT I HEARD YOU SAY IS THAT PRIMARILY YOU'RE HEARING THAT THEY JUST WANNA KNOW THAT IT'S NOT GONNA HAPPEN AGAIN. YES, MA'AM. OKAY. ALL RIGHT. THANK YOU. THANK YOU, CHAIR. THANK YOU. NO PROBLEM. YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS? WE SURE DO. THANK YOU, CHAIR AND CHAIR. THANK YOU FOR, UM, SETTING THE EXPECTATION THAT WE'D LIKE TO SEE MORE DETAILS GOING FORWARD. I THINK THE PUBLIC EXPECTS MORE DETAILS. THEY, THEY WANT TO KNOW, WE'D LIKE TO SEE MORE THOROUGH PRESENTATIONS IN THE FUTURE. I KNOW THAT, UH, THAT MAY HELP LIMIT THE AMOUNT OF QUESTIONS I'LL HAVE AT THE END OF THE PRESENTATION. CAN YOU GO TO PAUL, CAN YOU GO TO SLIDE FOUR, PLEASE? ALL RIGHT. SO I SEE IN THERE A CATEGORY OF IN PROGRESS AND A CATEGORY OF INITIATED. I DON'T SEE A CATEGORY OF COMPLETED. ARE THERE ANY RE HAVE YOU NOT COMPLETED ANY OF THE RECOMMENDATIONS? SO WE HAVE NOT, UH, I'LL SAY WE HAVE NOT OFFICIALLY COMPLETED ANY RECOMMENDATIONS. AND I MEAN, WHEN I SAY OFFICIALLY WHERE WE HAVE SUBMITTED SOMETHING TO YOU SAYING, YOU KNOW, HERE'S WHAT WE DID, THIS IS COMPLETE AS, NOT TO SAY WE HAVE NOT, UH, [00:40:01] COMPLETED A LOT OF THE ACTIVITIES THAT ARE IN THE RECOMMENDATIONS. BUT, UM, YOU KNOW, I THINK, UH, PART OF IT IS, IS I, YOU KNOW, MENTIONED AT THE BEGINNING, HOW DO WE BEST DOCUMENT THAT TO Y'ALL? WE, WE HAVE SOME WORK TO DO IN BEING CLEAR ABOUT, UM, WHAT'S BEEN COMPLETED AND WHAT'S OUTSTANDING AND WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN INITIATED AND IN PROGRESS. THE, UH, UM, IT HAS TO DO WITH, UH, HOW WE'RE DEFINING IT IN OUR, IN OUR TRACKING SYSTEM. UH, SO INITIATED, UH, MEANS WE HAVE, UM, UH, A, UH, INITIAL PLAN THAT'S, THAT'S IN PLACE. BUT, BUT MAY WE HAVE NOT FULLY, UH, YOU KNOW, LINED OUT EXACTLY EVERYTHING WE'RE GONNA DO, UH, IN PROGRESS MEANS THAT, UH, WE HAVE BETTER DEFINED EXACTLY WHAT, YOU KNOW, WHAT, UH, STEPS WE'RE GONNA TAKE, UH, TO COMPLETE THIS. OKAY. COULD YOU GO TO SLIDE FIVE PLEASE? UM, SO, UH, INCREASED YOU HAVE INCREASED STORAGE AND WITHDRAWAL CAPACITY. UM, CAN YOU TELL US WHAT, HOW MUCH STORAGE YOU HAD BEFORE, WHAT YOUR STORAGE IS NOW, HOW MUCH YOU'VE INCREASED YOUR NATURAL GAS STORAGE BY? SO WE'VE DONE TWO THINGS. UM, WE'VE, UH, INCREASED THE AMOUNT OF, OF VOLUME THAT'S AVAILABLE TO US. UH, AND IT, WE'VE ALSO, UM, GOT NEW CONTRACTS THAT ALLOW US TO WITHDRAW FASTER, UH, THAN WE HAD BEFORE. SO IT WE'RE, WHEN YOU NET THOSE TWO, WE HAVE, UH, ABOUT 25% MORE DAILY, UH, VOLUME AVAILABLE TO US THAN WE DID BEFORE. UH, THAT WOULD BE OUT OF STORAGE. IN ADDITION TO THAT, WE HAVE BASE LOAD GAS PURCHASES THAT WE'VE MADE THAT WE'VE INCREASED SUBSTANTIALLY. AND WE HAVE SOME OTHER, UH, FINANCIAL INSTRUMENT, UH, TYPE HEDGES THAT WE'VE, UH, UH, PUT IN THAT ALTOGETHER, UH, REDUCE SUBSTANTIAL, UH, REDUCE SUBSTANTIALLY THE AMOUNT OF FINANCIAL EXPOSURE, UH, CUSTOMERS HAD. THANK YOU. FRANK. SHOULD I JUST CHIME BACK IN? 'CAUSE SO YOU HAVE IMPROVED LOAD SHED CAPACITY BY 155 CIRCUITS. UM, IT'S 155 CIRCUITS OUTTA HOW MANY CIRCUITS, AND THEN, UH, HAVE YOU SUBDIVIDED ANY OF THE CIRCUITS? SO IF YOU HAVE THREE NEIGHBORHOODS NEXT TO A HOSPITAL, ARE ALL THOSE NEIGHBORHOODS STILL CRITICAL ON A CRITICAL CIRCUIT, OR ARE THEY NOW AVAILABLE TO BE PART OF OUR ROLLING BLACKOUTS? YEAH, SO FIRST QUESTION, I SHOULD HAVE EXACT NUMBERS, BUT PREVIOUSLY IT WAS, WE'LL SAY AROUND 250 CIRCUITS, AND WE'VE ADDED ANOTHER 150 ON TOP OF THAT ROUGH NUMBERS OUT OF A TOTAL OF 600 SOME ODD CIRCUITS THAT WE HAVE IN THE WHOLE SYSTEM. RIGHT? SO DOES THAT MEAN YOU'VE SUBDIVIDED SOME OF THOSE CIRCUITS? NO. SO, UH, SO TO SUBDIVIDE A CIRCUIT, UM, THE, UH, UH, TO TRULY SUBDIVIDE A CIRCUIT, YOU'D HAVE TO HAVE ADDITIONAL SUBSTATIONS, RIGHT? WHICH, SO THAT'S, THAT'S CERTAINLY LONG LEAD TIME. AND, UH, ADDING SUBSTATIONS IS, IS, UH, UH, HAS ALL KINDS OF CHALLENGES. OBVIOUSLY. WHAT, WHAT WE ARE PURSUING IS, UM, I'LL SAY MAYBE ANOTHER WAY OF SUBDIVIDING CIRCUITS, BUT, UM, NOT AT THE CIRCUIT LEVEL. UH, SO WHEN WE TALK ABOUT A CIRCUIT THAT IS, THAT IS A, A LINE, A LOOP, A CIRCUIT THAT IS CONTROLLED FROM THE SUBSTATION. SO YOU MIGHT HAVE, YOU KNOW, 4, 8, 10, 12 CIRCUITS THAT ARE CONTROLLED OUT OF A SINGLE SUBSTATION, AND IT'S AT THE SUBSTATION LEVEL, THAT LOAD SHED OCCURS. WE TAKE OUT A CIRCUIT, YOU PUT CIRCUIT BACK IN, TAKE OUT ANOTHER CIRCUIT, AND SO ON. ONE OF THE THINGS WE ARE PURSUING RIGHT NOW IS ADDING AUTOMATION WITHIN THE CIRCUIT. SO WE WOULD BREAK UP THE CIRCUIT WITH SWITCHES WHERE YOU COULD TAKE OUT PARTS OF THE CIRCUIT. UH, BUT SO ONE OF THE CHALLENGES IN DOING THAT IS, SO THESE SWITCHES TO BE ABLE TO DO THAT AUTOMATION, NOW YOU HAVE TO BE ABLE TO COMMUNICATE RELIABLY WITH THAT SWITCH. AND YOU'RE, I MEAN, YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT ADDING, YOU KNOW, HUNDREDS OF THESE, UH, TYPE SWITCHES. SO AN INFRASTRUCTURE, UM, UH, I'LL SAY PROJECT, UH, NOT SOMETHING THAT'S, UH, CERTAINLY INSURMOUNTABLE, BUT NOT SOMETHING THAT'S, YOU KNOW, CAN HAPPEN IN A MONTH OR TWO. SO ALONG THOSE LINES, WE, WE ALREADY HAD A DISTRIBUTION AUTOMATION PROJECT THAT, UM, YOU KNOW, WAS, WAS IN OUR PLANS IN OUR BUDGETS. SO WE HAVE BEEN WORKING ON SHIFTING [00:45:01] THE FOCUS OF THAT, UH, TO ADD THIS COMPONENT THAT YOU'RE, THAT YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT. UM, BUT, UH, I WILL SAY IT'S, IT'S, IT'S NOT WITHOUT ITS CHALLENGES, UH, YOU KNOW, IN THE DETAILS, UH, TO MAKE SURE IT'S SOMETHING THAT WILL BE RELIABLE, BUT THAT IS THE TECHNOLOGY THAT, UH, THAT WE ARE PURSUING NOW TO DO EXACTLY WHAT YOU'RE ASKING ABOUT. GREAT. AND THEN, SO MY LAST, UH, BIG ISSUE IS, UH, WHEN YOU MENTIONED THAT YOUR COMMUNICATIONS PROTOCOL, YOU ALL HAVE HAD SOME UPDATES TO THAT. ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT THING ASPECTS OF THAT FOR ME IS SHARING WITH THE PUBLIC, UM, THE, THE EXTENT TO WHICH PRICES ARE SPIKING IN REAL TIME. THAT'S, THAT'S SOMETHING THAT I FAULT C P SS ENERGY FOR DROPPING THE BALL ON. UH, I KNOW THAT AFTER THE STORM, C P SS ENERGY CAME BEFORE COUNCIL, AND IT'S TRIED TO GIVE AN ANALOGY OF HOW MUCH PRICES WENT UP BY AND STATED THAT IT WAS THE EQUIVALENT OF YOU TYP TYPICALLY GOING TO THE GAS STATION, FILLING UP YOUR CAR FOR MAYBE 50 BUCKS. NOW IT'S 5,000, $6,000 TO FILL UP YOUR, YOUR CAR'S FUEL TANK WITH GASOLINE. IF I WERE TO BE FILLING UP MY CAR'S TANK WITH GASOLINE AND I SAW AFTER I PUT ONE GALLON IN THAT IT WENT TO $300, I WOULD STOP PUMPING THEN, RIGHT? YOU ALL DIDN'T CONVEY THAT IN ANY WAY. YOU DIDN'T LET PEOPLE KNOW. YOU ALL WERE SAYING, HEY, LET'S YOU KNOW, PLEASE CONSERVE, MAYBE, MAYBE TAKE YOUR THERMOSTAT FROM 68 AND PUT IT DOWN TO 65. YOU DIDN'T SAY, HEY, THIS IS GONNA BE THE MOST EXPENSIVE ENERGY OF YOUR LIFETIME, YOU KNOW, AND IF YOU USE ENERGY LIKE YOU HAVE BEFORE, IT COULD TAKE YOU 10 OR 20 YEARS TO PAY OFF JUST A FEW DAYS OF, OF ENERGY. AND I THINK THAT IS REALLY IMPORTANT TO CONVEY IN REAL TIME. IN ORDER TO HELP, YOU KNOW, YOU HAVE TO SEND THAT PRICE SIGNAL TO PEOPLE AND LET THEM KNOW SO THEY CAN MAKE AN INFORMED DECISION AND TRY TO CONSERVE MORE. AND I THINK WE COULD HAVE CONSERVED A LOT MORE IF PEOPLE UNDERSTOOD THAT THEY WERE GONNA BE HIT WITH THOSE KINDS OF PRICES. AND I KNOW THAT GOING FORWARD FOR THIS, IF THERE'S ANOTHER WINTER STORM, WE HAVE NO, WE HAVE NO CONTROL OVER WHAT THE REST OF THE STATE IS GONNA DO. AND SO IF THE REST OF THE STATE FAILS TO PRODUCE ENOUGH ENERGY TO BE ABLE TO MEET STATEWIDE DEMAND, ERCOT ISS GONNA CALL ON C P S ENERGY TO DISPATCH MORE, AND THEY'RE NOT GONNA LET US USE AS MUCH, RIGHT? AND SO WE'LL STILL HAVE THOSE ROLLING BLACKOUTS. WE DON'T HAVE CONTROL OVER THAT. IF WE DO EXPERIENCE THOSE ROLLING BLACKOUTS, I WANT TO MAKE SURE WHEN ELECTRICITY PRICES HIT $9,000 A MEGAWATT HOUR THAT WE ARE SELLING NOT BUYING. BECAUSE I WOULD KNOW, I WANT US TO MAKE MONEY NOT LOSE MONEY IF THE REST OF THE STATE IS SHORT AND THEY DIDN'T PREPARE. I WANT US TO MAKE SURE THAT WE CAN EXCEED OUR LOCAL DEMAND THAT WE NEED AT THAT TIME THAT ALL OF OUR ASSETS ARE PRODUCING. AND SO THAT'S WHAT'S REALLY IMPORTANT TO ME AT THIS TIME. YES, SIR. I THINK, YOU KNOW, I, I WILL LOT, LOT IN THAT. UH, AND I CAN TELL YOU THAT WE ARE, UH, UH, HAVE THAT SAME GOAL, UH, OF, UH, WE, WE WANT TO BE ON THE RIGHT SIDE OF, OF THOSE PRICES. WELL, I THINK, UH, YOU KNOW, PROVIDING INDICATIONS OF REAL TIME PRICING IS, IS CERTAINLY SOMETHING WE CAN LOOK AT. BUT, UH, UM, I THINK, YOU KNOW, ONE OF THE COMMUNICATION THINGS IN THAT, UH, IS I THINK WE HAVE TO MAKE SURE THAT WE ARE BEING CLEAR WITH THE COMMUNITY ABOUT THE LEVEL OF EMERGENCY WE'RE, WE'RE IN. UM, AND SO DURING THAT PERIOD, REGARDLESS OF WHAT THE PRICE WAS, YOU KNOW, TO JUST KEEP THE GRID UP, WE NEEDED ANY REDUCTION THAT WAS POSSIBLE, RIGHT? SO, UH, SO STILL SOME WORK ON OUR PART, UH, AROUND THAT. UM, AND THE PRICING PIECE, YEAH, I DON'T THINK THE AVERAGE CUSTOMER UNDERSTANDS, FULLY, UNDERSTANDS THE COMPLEXITIES OF KEEPING THE GRID UP AND THE ROLE THAT WE PLAY. UH, BUT THEY DO UNDERSTAND THAT IT'S GONNA TAKE YOU 10 OR 20 YEARS TO PAY OFF YOUR ENERGY FOR THE NEXT, IF YOU KEEP USING ENERGY LIKE YOU DID FOR THE NEXT TWO OR THREE DAYS. YES, SIR. THANK YOU, COUNCILMAN. I THINK THAT CONCLUDES THE QUESTIONS THAT WE HAVE FOR OUR C P SS TODAY ON THIS ISSUE. UH, WE'LL BE ASKING YOU IN A FEW MINUTES TO ADDRESS, UH, THE, UH, THE BILLS THAT ARE BEING PAID AND ANY KIND OF DISCONNECT, BUT RIGHT NOW I WANT TO HEAR FROM, UH, SAS TO TALK ABOUT THEIR EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS AND THE IMPROVEMENTS THEY'VE MADE AND, UH, ON THEIR RECOMMENDATIONS. THANK YOU, COUNCILMAN. COURAGE AND COUNCIL MEMBERS, UH, I JUST WANT TO GIVE A A FEW COMMENTS PRIOR TO STEVE KLAUS, OUR CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER, GIVING YOU THE BULK OF THE INFORMATION. UH, AND THAT IS THAT SINCE MARCH, RIGHT AFTER THE FEBRUARY STORM, WE HAVE BEEN REPORTING TO OUR BOARD, UH, EXACTLY WHAT, UH, WE'VE BEEN DOING TO, TO NOT LET THIS HAPPEN AGAIN. IN OTHER WORDS, [00:50:01] RE UH, RESPONDING TO SOME OF THOSE RECOMMENDATIONS. UH, LIKEWISE, UH, YOU WILL HEAR FROM MARY BAILEY ON DELINQUENCIES. WE'VE BEEN GIVING UPDATES TO THE BOARD SINCE, UH, SINCE MAY OF THIS YEAR. SO THE PRESENTATION YOU'RE ABOUT TO HEAR WAS PRESENTED TO OUR BOARD, UH, EARLIER THIS MONTH. BOTH PRESENTATIONS WERE PRESENTED TO OUR BOARD EARLIER THIS MONTH. UH, BUT I THINK THIS ACTUALLY BENEFITS THE PUBLIC. THEY WILL GET TO HEAR IT TWICE WHEN YOU HEAR SOMETHING COMPLICATED LIKE THIS. IF YOU, IF YOU HEAR IT MORE THAN ONCE, YOU TEND TO, TO TAKE IT MORE. AND IT ALSO ALLOWS, UM, UH, THIS, THIS BODY, UH, TO, TO ASK QUESTIONS THAT WOULD PROBABLY BE SOMEWHAT DIFFERENT, WHAT THE BOARD IS ASKING. AND THIS, AGAIN, ALLOWS THE PUBLIC TO HEAR THIS, AND THEY, THEY CAN HEAR, UH, AND, UH, GET A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF WHAT WE'RE DOING AND HOW WE'RE DOING THAT. UH, AND THEN I HEARD FROM COUNCILMAN BRA BRAVO AND YOURSELF, COUNCILMAN, COURAGE ABOUT DETAILS. UH, DETAILS ARE ALWAYS IMPORTANT. DETAILS ARE WHAT IS WHAT WILL GET US OVER THE HUMP AS FAR AS GETTING THE CONFIDENCE OF OUR COMMITTEE OF OUR COMMUNITY BACK. UH, RUDY, RUDY GARZA TALKED ABOUT TRAUMA, ABOUT P S D. I THINK, UH, SOME OF US STILL UNDERSTAND THAT A LOT OF OUR CUSTOMERS, WHEN THEY DON'T, WHEN THEY EXPERIENCE WHAT THEY EXPERIENCE, THIS WAS, UM, EARTH SHA EARTH SHATTERING TO THEM. IT WAS QUITE A, UH, AN ENDEAVOR TO OVERCOME. SO WE UNDERSTAND THAT, AND WE'RE GONNA BE PROVIDING THAT, SOME OF THAT INFORMATION. SO I, UH, I'M GONNA ASK STEVE TO GIVE THE PRESENTATION AND THEN MARY BAILEY. YEAH. THANK YOU, ROBERT. THANK YOU, ROBERT. UH, GOOD MORNING, CHAIRMAN, COURAGE COUNCIL, MEMBERS OF THE COMMITTEE, AS ROBERT MENTIONED, I'M STEVE KLAUS. I'M THE CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER FOR THE SAN ANTONIO WATER SYSTEM. AND I'M GONNA QUICKLY RUN THROUGH THE PARTS OF THIS THAT, UH, WE HAVE PRESENTED TO OUR BOARD. SO WE HAVE COMPILED ALL THE RECOMMENDATIONS FROM THE VARIOUS GROUPS INTO ONE, UH, SPREADSHEET THAT WE'RE TRACKING, UH, REALLY ALL THE ITEMS. YOU MAY RECALL THAT ON THURSDAY, UM, DURING THE WEEK OF THE STORM BEFORE WE WERE EVEN OUT OF THE STORM, MR. PUENTE WAS SETTING UP A THIRD PARTY EXTERNAL REVIEW OF OUR PERFORMANCE AT SAS BECAUSE OF THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE EVENT AND ALL THE THINGS THAT WERE IN THE AIR, HE WANTED TO MAKE SURE THAT WE CAPTURED AS CLOSE TO THE ACTUAL EVENT. WE COULD ALL OF THE FACTS INVOLVED IN WHAT HAPPENED, SO THAT WE COULD CHART OUR BEST WAY OUT OF THIS TO MAKE SURE WE DIDN'T HAVE THAT PROBLEM. BLACK AND VEATCH HAS DONE THAT REPORT FOR US, AND IT, IT REALLY IS A, A TREASURE TROVE OF INFORMATION. UH, THREE SEPARATE, UH, FOUR SEPARATE DOCUMENTS, UH, THE MAN BODY OF THE REPORT, AND FOUR APPENDICES ON THINGS THAT WE CAN WORK ON. OF COURSE, THE, THE MAYOR SET UP THE EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS COMMITTEE. UH, THEY HAD A WHOLE SERIES OF RECOMMENDATIONS, AND THEN OUR BOARD OF TRUSTEES, AS WELL AS MR. PUENTE, HAVE MADE COMMENTS AS WE'VE GONE THROUGH THE BOARD MEETING, ET CETERA, ON OTHER THINGS THAT THEY HAVE OBSERVED THAT WE NEEDED TO DO. SO THIS IS THE DYNAMIC LIST. IT'S NOT DONE, BUT YOU CAN SEE THAT WE HAVE 67 ITEMS, UH, THAT ARE CURRENTLY ON THE LIST THAT WE'RE TRACKING OVERALL. I'M GONNA WALK THROUGH A FEW OF THESE. UH, COUNCILMAN YOU HAD ASKED SPECIFICALLY FOR THE ITEMS THAT WE HAD COMPLETED LAST TIME, I WON'T SHOW THEM ON THE SLIDE BECAUSE WE ARE PRESENTING THOSE TO OUR BOARD ON THE SECOND. UM, BUT I WILL TALK THROUGH A FEW OF THOSE TO GIVE YOU AN IDEA OF WHAT WE'RE DOING THERE. TRY TO GIVE YOU THE SPECIFICS THAT WE'RE, WE'RE LOOKING FOR. OF COURSE, EVERY TIME WE MEET WITH THE BOARD, THOSE NUMBERS ARE SHIFTING AS WE CONTINUE TO MOVE MORE AND MORE THINGS INTO THE COMPLETED CATEGORY. SO PROBABLY THE, THE MOST BENEFICIAL AND MOST SIGNIFICANT STEP, UH, THAT WE'VE DONE IN ALL OF OUR WORK WITH C P S SO FAR IS IDENTIFYING THE STATIONS THAT NEED TO BE SET ON CRITICAL CIRCUITS. UH, WE ALSO CALL THEM EXEMPT. IN OTHER WORDS, WHEN WE GO THROUGH ROTATING OUTAGES, THOSE STATIONS WILL BE THE LAST MAN STANDING AS THEY LOOK FOR MORE AND MORE POWER REDUCTIONS. REMEMBER, WE ARE THE BIG POWER CONSUMER FOR C P S IN TOWN. SO IDEALLY, WE'D JUST TAKE ALL OF OUR STATIONS AND PUT THEM ON A CRITICAL CIRCUIT STATUS, BUT THEN WHEN ERCOT MAKES THE REQUEST TO LOAD SHED, YOU WON'T HAVE ANYTHING TO SHED. BECAUSE WE'RE SUCH A BIG POWER CONSUMER, IT'S IMPOSSIBLE FOR US JUST TO MAKE EVERYTHING EXEMPT. SO WE'VE DEVELOPED THIS STRUCTURE, AND AS YOU CAN SEE, WE NOW HAVE 14 STATIONS THAT ARE ON THAT CRITICAL LIST, AND WE'VE IDENTIFIED THOSE STATIONS THAT GIVE US THE BEST CHANCE OF MAINTAINING SERVICE AS LONG AS WE POSSIBLY CAN. SO IN SOME SITUATIONS, JUST BECAUSE OF THE PROXIMITY ISSUE THAT Y'ALL WERE DISCUSSING EARLIER, A STATION RIGHT NEXT TO A HOSPITAL, WE MAY HAVE A COUPLE OF STATIONS THAT ARE RELATIVELY SMALL, BUT BY THE LUCK OF THEIR LOCATION, THEY'RE INCLUDED IN THE CIRCUIT THAT NORMALLY SAWS WOULDN'T IN AND OF THEMSELVES IDENTIFY. BUT THE MAJORITY OF THOSE STATIONS IN THE 14 ARE OUR BIG PUMPERS. THOSE ARE THE ONES THAT WILL KEEP WATER GOING TO THE MAJORITY OF [00:55:01] THE CITY AS LONG AS WE POSSIBLY CAN. JUST BELOW THAT IS THE UNDER FREQUENCY LOAD SHE GROUP. NOW, THAT'S A SECOND TIER OF SYSTEMS THAT ARE PROTECTED, UM, BUT NOT ON A COMPLETELY EXEMPT CIRCUIT. IT HAS TO BE A VERY SP SPECIFIC CRITERIA THAT DEVELOPS ON FREQUENCY WITHIN THE ELECTRICAL GRID. AND I'LL LET C P SS EXPLAIN THIS. IF YOU WANT MORE DETAIL, UH, BEFORE THOSE STATIONS WOULD GET SHOT, WOULD GET SHUT DOWN. AS I UNDERSTAND, IT HAS ONLY HAPPENED ONE TIME IN HISTORY. IT WAS VERY SHORT PERIOD OF TIME. SO THOSE STATIONS ARE NOT FULLY EXEMPT, BUT THEY ARE PROTECTED TO WHERE WE DON'T THINK THEY'LL BE IMPACTED IF WE GET INTO ANOTHER AREA EVENT. AND THEN OF COURSE, DOWN AT THE BOTTOM THERE IS, UH, ARE THE, THE STATIONS THAT WE HAVE ON LU SHED, AND WE HAVE 37 STATIONS THAT WE'VE IDENTIFIED. THESE ARE ALL THE STATIONS THAT WERE IDENTIFIED AS BEING ABSOLUTELY CRITICAL WITHIN THE BLACK AND VEATCH REPORT. AND YOU CAN SEE THAT WE HAVE 37 OF THOSE. IF WE COORDINATE HOW THOSE STATIONS ARE TAKEN DOWN, WE CAN MAKE WATER SERVICE LAST INFINITELY LONGER THAN WHAT HAPPENED DURING THE EARLY EVENT. SO STRUCTURALLY, WE HAVE MADE A NUMBER OF IMPROVEMENTS OVER OVERALL. SO IF WE WIND UP CUTTING THOSE 37 STATIONS, I CAN'T TELL YOU TODAY THAT WE'D BE ABLE TO MAINTAIN WATER SERVICE FOR FOR A WEEK. WE PROBABLY WOULDN'T. BUT THIS GIVES US THE ABILITY TO GET MUCH FURTHER DOWN THE ROAD THAN WHAT WE SAW THROUGH THE URI EVENT. SO I, AGAIN, THIS IS A PRESENTATION THAT WE GAVE TO OUR BOARD, BUT I, I WANTED TO LET THEM KNOW THAT, UH, ONE OF THE BIG ITEMS THAT, UH, IDENTIFIED, UH, THE NEED FOR US TO PROVIDE A BETTER INSIGHT INTO WHAT'S HAPPENING IN THE WATER SYSTEM WAS TO, TO COORDINATE WITH THE CITY, EVEN HAVE SOME, THE CITY INVOLVED IN, IN SOME INVOLVEMENT IN HOW WE'RE MAKING THOSE DECISIONS ON WHO GETS WATER AND WHO DOESN'T. AS WE GO THROUGH A LOAD SHE EVENT, WE LOOKED AT A LOT OF WAYS THAT WE COULD TRY TO PUSH INFORMATION OUT MORE ACCURATELY. BUT EVERY TIME YOU PROVIDE A A GROUP OF DETAILS, HERE'S THE STATIONS THAT ARE HAVING PROBLEMS, HERE'S WHAT WE'RE GONNA DO. IT RESULTS IN 10 MORE QUESTIONS COMING ABOUT BACK. WHAT ABOUT THIS, THIS, THIS, AND THIS? THE ONLY WAY WE COULD EFFECTIVELY, UM, ELIMINATE THAT BACK AND FORTH. AND EVERY TIME YOU HAVE A BACK AND FORTH, YOU HAVE AN IMPRESSION THAT YOU'RE NOT PROVIDING INFORMATION IN A TIMELY MANNER. WE JUST SAID, WE'RE GONNA GO AND WE'RE GONNA OPERATE OUT OF THE CITY'S EMERGENCY OPERATIONS CENTER. THAT WAY, PEOPLE KNOW WHERE WE'RE AT, THEY CAN SEE WHAT WE'RE DOING, THEY CAN STAND BEHIND US AND SEE THE COMPLICATIONS OF WHAT WE'RE WORKING AROUND. AND THE COMMUNICATION BECOMES INSTANTANEOUS. THERE'S NOT A LONG DELAY FOR US TO BE ABLE TO WORK THROUGH THAT. WE'VE BEEN TO THE SITE. WE KNOW WHERE WE'RE GOING TO BE. WE'VE DONE ALL OF OUR COMPUTER AND ELECTRONICS TESTING TO MAKE SURE OUR SYSTEMS ARE READY TO GO. AND AT THE NEXT DECLARED EMERGENCY, WHATEVER THAT HAPPENS TO BE, THAT WILL IMPACT THE CENT ANTONIO WATER SYSTEM. THAT'S WHERE YOU'LL FIND ME AND OUR GROUP OF CONTROL CENTER OPERATORS RUNNING THE SYSTEM. WE'VE DONE A NUMBER OF THE TABLETOP EXERCISES BETWEEN THE EMERGENCY OPERATIONS CENTER FOLKS, THE FIRE DEPARTMENT, C P SS, STRAC, ALL OF THAT GANG. WE HAVE NOW DONE A TOTAL OF FIVE TABLETOP EXERCISES TOGETHER. WE ANTICIPATE THERE WILL BE MORE. AND THEN OF COURSE THERE'S A, UM, THERE'S A LOT OF ITEMS THAT AREN'T ON THAT TRACKING SHEET THAT I PERSONALLY, AS THE OPERATIONS MANAGER AM VERY INTERESTED IN AND WANNA MAKE SURE REALLY THINGS BEYOND OUR LIST. UH, SOME OF THE SENATE BILL THREE REQUIREMENTS ACTUALLY AREN'T EMBEDDED IN OUR LIST. THEY WEREN'T MADE RECOMMENDATIONS BY ANYONE, BUT WE KNOW WE HAVE TO DO IT BECAUSE WE HAVE LEGISLATIVE REQUIREMENT TO GO OUT AND DO IT. SO WHEN YOU GET DOWN INTO ALL OF THE, THE NUTS AND BOLTS THING, DO WE HAVE ALL OF OUR DRAIN PLUGS IN PLACE? DO WE HAVE WARM EQUIPMENT FOR OUR EMPLOYEES FOR NEXT YEAR? DO WE HAVE TIRE CHAINS? THAT SORT OF THING. NONE OF THAT'S ON THE LIST, BUT I JUST WANNA LET YOU KNOW THAT INTERNALLY AND OPERATIONALLY, WE ARE AGGRESSIVELY LOOKING AT THAT SORT OF THING AS WELL. NEXT THING IS THE SENATE BILL THREE COMPLIANCE. OF COURSE, THIS IS THE, THE, THE COSTLY EFFORT, UH, THE LONGER TERM EFFORT, UH, TO REALLY MAKE OUR SYSTEM AS HARDENED AS WE POSSIBLY CAN. UM, WE HAVE A CRITICAL LOAD REPORT THAT IS DUE. UH, WE HAVE TO SHARE THAT WITH C P SS, SHARE THAT WITH THE EMERGENCY OPERATIONS CENTER, SHARE THAT WITH THE BEXAR COUNTY FOLKS. UM, WE ARE READY WITH THAT, WE WILL HIT THAT NOVEMBER 1ST DEADLINE. NO PROBLEM AT ALL. THE HARDEST PART OF, UH, SENATE BILL THREE IS COMING UP WITH OUR EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS PLAN. THEY CALL IT AN E P P, AND IT'S DUE MARCH 1ST OF [01:00:01] NEXT YEAR. UM, THAT REQUIRES A TREMENDOUS AMOUNT OF COORDINATION WITH C P S, AND WE'VE BEEN WORKING DILIGENTLY ON THAT. AND THEN ONCE THAT, THAT REPORT IS OUR ROADMAP ON WHERE WE WILL HAVE GENERATORS, WHERE WE WILL HAVE, UH, REDUNDANT FEEDS INTO A PUMP STATION. UM, REALLY EVERYTHING THAT WE CAN DO TO TRY TO MINIMIZE A CRITICAL LOAD REPORT THAT I TALKED ABOUT, ALL OF THAT WILL BE EMBEDDED IN THAT E P P THAT IS SUBMITTED. AND THEN, THIS IS A TYPO ON THE SLIDE, BY THE WAY. THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THAT PLAN, ONCE IT'S APPROVED BY THE T C E Q, WILL START IN JULY OF NEXT YEAR, NOT JUNE, AS YOU SEE ON THIS SLIDE. SO THE HARDEST PART OF ALL THIS IS BACKUP GENERATION AND BACKUP GENERATION AT THE SAS FACILITIES. IT'S, IT'S A VERY COMPLICATED ITEM. I ALL OFTEN BRAG THAT I THINK SAS HAS THE MOST RESILIENT WATER SYSTEM IN THE UNITED STATES. MULTIPLE WATER SUPPLIES THE GIFT OF THE EDWARDS. THERE'S NO ONE WAY YOU CAN ATTACK OUR WATER SUPPLIES AND TAKE US OUTTA BUSINESS. BUT AT THE SAME TIME, WE NEVER CONSIDERED NOT HAVING POWER. SO FROM THAT RESILIENCY PERSPECTIVE, WE CERTAINLY IDENTIFIED THROUGH THE EARLY STORM THE NEXT THING THAT WE NEED TO DO. BUT THOSE GENERATORS ARE GONNA HAVE VERY LONG LEAD TIMES WE'RE HEARING UNDER A BEST CASE SCENARIO, IF WE TURNED IN AN ORDER TODAY, IF WE KNEW WHAT GENERATORS WE WANT, WE NEEDED THE FUEL TYPES, WE HAD LAND AVAILABLE, WHICH IN MANY CASES WE DON'T, WE WILL HAVE TO GO OUT AND ACQUIRE LAND TO LOCATE THESE GENERATORS. UM, UNDER A BEST CASE, WE ARE LOOKING AT ONE YEAR FROM THE TIME A PURCHASE ORDER COMES IN. AND THAT'S ASSUMING THE SUPPLY CHAIN LOGISTICS DON'T GET WORSE. AND OF COURSE, IT'S ALL BIG DOLLARS. IF WE WENT OUT AND PUT GENERATORS THAT THE 68 STATIONS THAT WERE IDENTIFIED BY BLACK AND VEATCH, WE THINK THAT WE'RE IN THE RANGE OF POTENTIALLY $200 MILLION. SO WE WANNA MAKE SURE THAT WE, UM, THAT WE HAVE TURNED OVER EVERY POSSIBLE STONE FOR THE BEST WAY TO DO THIS. JUST RUNNING OUT THERE AND PUTTING A BUNCH OF GENERATORS AT THOSE STATIONS IS A HUGE CAPITAL EXPENSE. WE'RE TRYING REAL HARD TO FIND OUT WHAT IS THE WAY THAT WE CAN GET THE BEST COMMUNITY BENEFIT OUT OF THOSE GENERATORS. AND THAT TAKES US A LITTLE MORE TIME TO ACTUALLY DO THE PLANNING WORK. WE HAVE ACQUIRED CONTRACTS FROM OTHER TEXAS UTILITIES WHERE THEY'VE MADE ARRANGEMENTS WITH, UH, ELECTRICAL PROVIDERS. FOR EXAMPLE, IN HOUSTON, AFTER THE HURRICANE IN HOUSTON, SENATE BILL 360 1 CAME ALONG VERY SIMILAR, REQUIRED HOUSTON TO RUSH AND PUT IN A BUNCH OF GENERATORS. WE'VE GOTTEN A COPY OF THE CONTRACT BETWEEN N R G AND WITH THE CITY OF HOUSTON, AND WE'RE COMPARING IT. EL PASO HAS DONE SOMETHING SIMILAR, COMPLETELY DIFFERENT CONTRACTUAL APPROACH. WE'VE ACQUIRED THAT CONTRACT, WE'VE REVIEWED IT, AND SO THEY'VE GIVEN US SOME, SOME GOOD WAYS TO LOOK AT THAT. BUT WHAT WE DON'T WANT TO DO IS RUSH IT IN THE MANNER THAT, FOR EXAMPLE, HOUSTON DID, THEY PUT IN A BUNCH OF DIESEL GENERATORS. THEY USED THEM FOR BACKUP PURPOSES. ONLY 60% OF THEIR GENERATORS DID NOT RUN DURING THE STORM. THEY COULDN'T FIRE 'EM UP. AND WE JUST CAN'T TAKE THAT RISK. WE'VE GOTTA MAKE SURE THAT WHAT WE PUT IN IS GONNA BE BULLETPROOF, THAT WHEN WE HIT THE START BUTTON, WE KNOW IT'S GONNA BE THERE. WE HAVE A WORKSHOP WITH C P S ON FRIDAY WHERE, WE'LL, AGAIN, SO LIKE FOUR HOURS WHERE WE'LL WORK THROUGH SOME OF THOSE, UH, CONTRACTUAL ISSUES ON HOW CAN WE PUT ALL THIS TOGETHER. SO BECAUSE OF THE, UM, UH, THE, THE TEMPLATE ISSUED BY THE T C Q ON HOW TO COMPLY WITH SENATE BILL THREE PROBABLY OPENED UP MORE QUESTIONS FOR US THAN IT REALLY GAVE US ANSWERS. THERE ARE 14 OPTIONS IN THAT TEMPLATE THAT A WATER UTILITY CAN USE TO PROTECT THEIR SYSTEM AS PART OF THEIR E P P. BUT 13 OF THOSE OPTIONS PRETTY MUCH SAY, AND YOU NEED TO INCLUDE A GENERATOR. SO THERE'S LOTS THAT YOU CAN DO, BUT IT'S NOT EXACTLY CLEAR. SO WE'VE TALKED WITH THE OTHER LARGE WATER UTILITIES IN THE STATE. THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTORS OF EVERY ONE OF THOSE UTILITIES BROUGHT THEM TOGETHER. AND WE GOT TO, WE MET AS A GROUP AND WE PUT TOGETHER A LIST OF THINGS, AND THEN WE MET WITH THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR ON THE TC FOR THE T C E Q, TOBY BAKER. AND WE SAID, HERE'S OUR CONCERN AS ALL THE LARGE WATER UTILITIES, IT'S, UM, THE TIMELINES ARE ALMOST IMPRACTICAL. WE CAN GIVE YOU A BAD JOB IF YOU WANT IT REAL QUICK, BUT IF YOU GIVE US A LITTLE MORE JOB A LITTLE MORE TIME, IF YOU CAN CONSIDER THESE ADDITIONAL ASPECTS, WE THINK WE CAN DELIVER A BETTER SERVICE OVERALL. FOR EXAMPLE, IF WE'VE GOT A STATION THAT'S ON THE CRITICAL LIST, IN OTHER WORDS, IT'S EXEMPT FROM BEING, UH, TURNED OFF DURING A LOAD SHEDDING EVENT, AND WE'VE GOT DUAL FEEDS INTO THAT STATION. THE WAY THAT WE, WE [01:05:01] READ SENATE BILL THREE, THOSE TWO ITEMS WILL GET YOU PAST THAT PARTICULAR STATION. YOU DON'T HAVE TO HAVE A GENERATOR AT THAT STATION. SO I CAN SAY THAT THE, THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR WAS VERY RECEPTIVE TO THAT. HE TOOK A LOT OF NOTES. HE WENT BACK TO TALK TO HIS STAFF. HE'S ASKED US TO MEET AGAIN, THE LARGE UTILITY DIRECTORS WITH HIM IN AUSTIN. AND SO WE'RE WORKING TO MAKE SURE THAT WE DON'T UNDERSHOOT OR OVERSHOOT THOSE REQUIREMENTS BECAUSE THE FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS OF THAT ARE HUGE. NOW, WE MAY CHOOSE TO GO AHEAD AND PUT A GENERATOR IN FOR OUR OWN, UH, PROTECTION OF OUR COMMUNITY AT SOME OF THOSE STATIONS, BUT WE MAY BE ABLE TO GET IT PULLED WHERE IT'S NOT PART OF THE, UH, SSB THREE REQUIREMENTS OVERALL. SO I, I WANTED TO JUST TALK NEXT. I'LL JUST LEAVE THIS UP. I THINK THAT'S THE LAST SLIDE. OVERALL. UM, IN NOVEMBER, I WILL BE BRIEFING OUR BOARD ON ALL THE ITEMS THAT WE'VE COMPLETED. WE'LL ALSO PROVIDE A BRIEF TO THE BOARD ON THOSE ITEMS THAT WE HAVEN'T STARTED YET. THOSE ARE TO ME EQUALLY, IF NOT MORE IMPORTANT THAN THE ONES THAT WE HAVEN'T COMPLETED OVERALL. AND I CAN GROUP THE ITEMS THAT WE'VE COMPLETED INTO TWO OR THREE CATEGORIES. SOME OF THEM ARE VERY SIMPLE. ADMIN ITEMS I THINK ARE REALLY PRETTY EASY. ONE OF THE FIRST RECOMMENDATIONS WAS SIZE. YOU NEED TO HAVE A BETTER ORG CHART, AND IT NEEDS TO BE EASIER TO FIND WHEN YOU GO ONLINE. DURING THE MIDDLE OF THE STORM, PEOPLE WERE SEARCHING FOR US AND THEY FELT LIKE THEY COULDN'T FIND THE ORG CHART TO KNOW WHO TO TALK TO. WE'VE TAKEN CARE OF THAT. WE'VE GOT A MIRROR ORG CHART THERE. IT'S RIGHT AT THE FRONT OF OUR, OUR WEBSITE OVERALL. ANOTHER RECOMMENDATION ADMINISTRATIVE ITEM IS JUST UPDATE THE BOARD AND, AND THE E M T ON A MONTHLY BASIS. SO THOSE WE CONSIDER COMPLETE, THEY WILL GO ON, UH, INDEFINITELY. HOW MUCH LONGER WE'LL BE BRIEFING THE BOARD, I THINK IT'LL BE MONTHS, BUT WE PUT THAT PROCESS IN PLACE. SO WE BELIEVE THAT THAT PARTICULAR ITEM HAS BEEN COMPLETED AT THIS POINT. EXAMPLES OF COMMUNICATION ITEMS AND WHAT WE NEEDED TO DO THERE. ONE OF THE FIRST THINGS WAS TO SUPPORT Y'ALL. THE COUNCIL WANTED A POINT OF CONTACT IN THE SIZE DURING THIS EVENT THAT THEY COULD REACH UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCE. AND WE HAVE IDENTIFIED GINO RAMOS AS AS THE POINT OF CONTACT, AND HE'LL BE STANDING BY FOR EVERY ONE OF YOUR CALLS, SHOULD BE GET INTO ANOTHER LOAD SHEDDING EVENT. UM, REALLY DEVELOPING THAT HIERARCHY WITHIN C P S THAT PAUL WAS REFERRING TO EARLIER. ROBERT AND PAULA HAVE EACH OTHER ON SPEED DIAL. THAT'S A GIVEN. UM, MY NUMBER WITH RUDY PAUL FRANK, WE NOW ARE DIRECTLY IN CONTACT. THE CONTROL CENTER SUPERVISORS THAT PAUL WAS REFERRING TO, THOSE PEOPLE HAVE BEEN BROUGHT TOGETHER AND EDUCATED ON IT. UM, IT'S AMAZING TO THINK, JUMPING OFF TRACK A LITTLE BIT. UM, WE ACTUALLY TOOK OUR CONTROL CENTER OPERATORS OVER TO C P S AND C P S GAVE THEM ABOUT A TWO HOUR BRIEFING ON HOW THE ELECTRICAL SYSTEM REALLY WORKS. TALK ABOUT THOSE 600 CIRCUITS. TALK ABOUT THE CHALLENGES THEY HAVE WHEN ERCOT LOAD SHEDS. AND WE DID THE OPPOSITE WHERE WE BROUGHT THEM OVER TO SAWS AND EXPLAINED TO THEIR CONTROL CENTER OPERATORS HOW IT WORKED. BECAUSE I THINK THERE WERE A LOT OF REQUESTS FOR THINGS TO BE DONE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE STORM THAT WERE JUST NOT POSSIBLE. THEY WERE GREAT IDEAS, BUT NOT IF YOU DIDN'T REALLY UNDERSTAND THE COMPLICATIONS THAT EXISTED ON EACH SIDE. SO WE'VE DONE THAT LEVEL OF TRAINING AND WE'VE DEVELOPED IT TO WHERE EVERY COUNTERPART BETWEEN THE TWO ORGANIZATIONS UNDERSTANDS. THEY PERSONALLY KNOW THEIR, UH, THEIR, THEIR COUNTERPART AT THE OTHER UTILITY, AND THEY UNDERSTAND SOME OF THE COMPLICATIONS THAT THEY'RE WORKING WITH, OF COURSE, STRAC. AND WHAT WE'VE DONE WITH, UH, WITH THE STRAC GROUP. UH, WE'LL BE MEETING WITH, UH, ERIC EPLEY AND THAT GANG AGAIN ON FRIDAY. WE'VE HAD TWO MEETINGS WITH THEM ALREADY. UM, IT'S NOT JUST FOR THE HOSPITALS. THEY'RE ALSO WORKING WITH US TO MAKE SURE THAT THE DIALYSIS CENTERS AND OTHER HIGHER RISK POPULATIONS ARE BEING ADDRESSED AS WELL. OPERATIONAL ISSUES THAT WERE IDENTIFIED THAT WE BELIEVE ARE COMPLETED A CONSTRUCTION SCHEDULING. WE HISTORICALLY WOULD GO INTO A STATION AND WE DO INSTRUMENTATION WORK AS AN EXAMPLE, AND THEN WE GO TO THE NEXT STATION AND DO INSTRUMENTATION AND THE NEXT STATION AND DO INSTRUMENTATION. BUT A FEW YEARS AGO, I MADE THE DECISION TO SAY, WHEN WE GO INTO A STATION, WE'RE GONNA DO THE MECHANICAL, THE ELECTRICAL, THE INSTRUMENTATION, AND THE PIPING ALL AT ONE TIME. WE'RE GONNA TAKE THAT STATION COMPLETELY OFFLINE. WE'RE GONNA DO A YEAR AND A HALF OF CONSTRUCTION ON IT. AND THEN WHEN WE PUT IT BACK INTO SERVICE, IT'S GONNA BE GOOD FOR ANOTHER 20 YEARS. WELL, WHEN URI CAME ALONG, THAT WASN'T SUCH A GOOD IDEA BECAUSE THAT STATION WAS TOTALLY UNAVAILABLE FOR US FOR A LONG PERIOD OF TIME. SO NOW WE'RE CHANGING SOME OF OUR CONSTRUCTION SCHEDULING SO THAT IF WE'RE IN THE MIDDLE OF A MAINTENANCE EVENT, WE'VE GOT A STATION DOWN FOR SOME REASON. WE ALWAYS HAVE A BACK DOOR WHERE WE KNOW WE COULD BRING [01:10:01] IT UP PRETTY QUICKLY. SO WE'RE WATCHING THE, THE IMPACTS OF THE WEATHER, AND WE WILL BE WORKING WITH THAT CONTRACTOR TO BE ABLE TO RESPOND SO THAT IF WE NEED THAT STATION, EVEN THOUGH IT MAY BE AT A QUARTER OF ITS CAPACITY, WE'LL STILL BE ABLE TO GET TO IT AND FIRED UP IF WE NEEDED TO. OVERALL. ANOTHER OPERATIONAL EXAMPLE THAT WE CONSIDER TO BE COMPLETED IS JUST THE EXERCISES THAT WE'RE DOING. UH, I THINK ALL THREE GROUPS RECOMMENDED THAT WE INCREASE THE NUMBER OF EXERCISES THAT WE'VE DONE WITH C P S AND WITH THE CITY, OF COURSE, WON'T EVER BE DONE WITH THAT. BUT FOR THE PURPOSES OF THIS REPORT, WE'VE DONE FIVE ALREADY. WE'VE GOT MORE PLANNED. I THINK WE CAN SAY THAT'S, THAT'S IN PROGRESS. AND THEN THERE'S A FEW THINGS THAT REALLY FIT MULTIPLE CATEGORIES. IT'S NOT ADMIN, IT'S NOT COMMUNICATION, IT'S NOT OPERATIONAL. AND THAT'S AN EXAMPLE IS WHERE WE, UM, COORDINATE AND WE COMMUNICATE THOSE DECISIONS. UH, WITH THE CITY'S LEADERSHIP, WE'VE, BECAUSE WE'LL BE OPERATING OUT OF THE, THE CITY'S EMERGENCY CONTROL CENTER, WE CAN'T GET ANY CLOSER TO TRY TO PROVIDE REAL-TIME INFORMATION. IF YOU ASK A QUESTION, I CAN BE RIGHT THERE ON THE COMPUTER. I CAN TELL YOU THE RESPONSE AS QUICKLY AS YOU'RE ASKING THE QUESTION. SO WE THINK THAT WE'VE IMPROVED THE PROCESS THERE. THEY ALSO REQUIRED THAT I WOULD BE IN THE CONTROL CENTER. SO OF COURSE, UH, UH, THEY WANTED ACCESS TO ME. AND THE ONLY WAY THAT I CAN GUARANTEE THEM ACCESS TO ME IS IF WE'RE WORKING THERE OUT OF THE BROOKS EMERGENCY OPERATIONS CENTER. SO OF COURSE, WE STILL HAVE THE BIG COST ITEMS THAT ARE OUT THERE, THE ITEMS THAT ARE NOT COMPLETE, LIKE THE GENERATORS. UM, IF WE GOT INTO ANOTHER LOAD SHEDDING EVENT, DEPENDING ON HOW SEVERE IT IS, COULD WE HAVE A DISRUPTION TO WATER SERVICE? THE ANSWER IS UNTIL THOSE GENERATORS ARE IN. YES. AND IT'S PROBABLY GONNA BE A MULTI-YEAR, FIVE TO 10 YEAR PERIOD BEFORE WE HAVE GENERATORS LANDED AND LOCATED AT EVERY ONE OF THOSE STATIONS. KEEP IN MIND, SOME OF OUR STATIONS ARE IN VERY DEVELOPED RESIDENTIAL AREAS, SMALL LOTS. WE'RE GONNA HAVE TO PROCURE PROPERTY TO DO THAT. SO WE MAY BE, UM, IN FRONT OF YOU SAYING WE NEED SPACE HERE TO BE CONDEMNED SO THAT WE CAN PUT THE GENERATOR IN PLACE. WE DO HAVE AN R F I THAT'S OUT NOW WHERE ALL THE GENERATOR MANUFACTURERS ARE COMING INTO US TO SAY, HERE'S THE, THE OPTIONS THAT WE OFFER. THAT'S REALLY JUST GAUGING THE LEVEL OF INTEREST BY THE GENERATOR COMMUNITY. I'M SURE WE'LL BE GOING OUT WITH AN R F P RIGHT AFTER THAT. WE'RE WRITING THE R F P CURRENTLY. WE JUST WANTED TO HEAR FROM THE FOLKS ON THE R F I. SO THE, NOT THAT'S THE COMPLETED ITEMS THAT I WANTED TO TALK THROUGH ON THE NOT STARTED ITEMS. YOU DIDN'T ASK FOR IT, BUT I THINK I NEED TO GIVE YOU AN IDEA OF WHAT'S OUT THERE. WHAT IS IT THAT WE HAVEN'T EVEN STARTED YET. SO, UM, AT THE BOARD MEETING, I THINK WE'RE GONNA HAVE EIGHT ITEMS WHEN WE TALK TO THE BOARD ON THE SECOND. UM, A FEW OF THOSE EXAMPLES ARE, FOR EXAMPLE, IN COMMUNICATIONS, THERE WAS AN ITEM THAT SAID WE SHOULD HAVE A, A THIRD PARTY INVOLVED WITH HELPING ANSWER THE PHONES, OR WE SHOULD WORK WITH 3 1 1 AND HELPING THEM ANSWER THE PHONES. WELL, THERE ARE A LOT OF COMPLICATIONS THAT COME WITH THAT TRAINING. SOMEONE TO KNOW ABOUT OUR SYSTEM OR TO BE ABLE TO GIVE INFORMATION SPECIFIC TO THE QUESTION THAT'S BEING ASKED IS A COMPLICATED PROCESS. SO WE'RE LOOKING AT THAT, BUT WE ACTUALLY HAVEN'T STARTED THAT YET. UM, ONE OF THE RECOMMENDATIONS WAS THAT WE SHOULD RESTRUCTURE OUR WORK ORDER SYSTEM. IN THE MIDDLE OF THE EVENT. WE'D SEND A CREW OUT, AND THEN THREE OTHER PRIORITIES WOULD COME UP TO BOOK, WHERE BEFORE THEY EVEN GOT TO THE STATION WE SENT THEM TO, WE HAD TO DIVERT THEM SOMEWHERE ELSE. UM, BLACK AND VEATCH THOUGHT THAT RESTRUCTURING THE WORK ORDER SYSTEM WOULD HELP THAT. WE SEE THAT AS A, A LOW BENEFIT AND SOMETHING THAT WILL TAKE US A VERY LONG TIME TO DO. THERE'S A LOT OF PROGRAMMING THAT NEEDS TO BE DONE TO RESTRUCTURE THAT WORK ORDER SYSTEM. WE HAVEN'T STARTED THAT YET. THERE WERE EXAMPLES. UH, ANOTHER EXAMPLE THAT THAT CAME OUT OF, OF THE REPORTS WAS, UH, YOU MAY REMEMBER THAT OUR PRESSURE SENSORS AT THE BOTTOM OF THE TANKS, THESE ARE EXTERNAL TO THE TANK AND THROUGH A EXTERNAL PIPE, THEY'RE MEASURING PRESSURE. THOSE FROZE AND FAILED. SO THERE WAS A RECOMMENDATION GO IN WITH AN ULTRASONIC, WHICH IS A DEVICE THAT SITS ON THE TOP OF THE TANK AND THROUGH AN INFRARED BEAM, LOOKS DOWN. WE DON'T SEE THE BENEFIT OF THAT. THERE ARE COMPLICATIONS TO BOTH TECHNOLOGIES. WE FEEL LIKE IT'S PROBABLY GONNA BE IN OUR BEST INTEREST TO MAKE SURE THAT WE HAVE A GENERATOR BACKING UP THE HEAT TAPE SO THAT THE PRESSURE SENSOR WOULD NEVER FAIL IN THE FIRST PLACE. SO SOME OF THOSE RECOMMENDATIONS ON A PROFESSIONAL LEVEL, WE DON'T KNOW IF THAT'S REALLY THE BEST WAY TO GO. SO WE HAVEN'T TAKEN OFF UNDER THAT. AND THEN FINALLY, STEVE, I'M GONNA GO AHEAD AND I'M GONNA GO AHEAD AND INTERRUPT. GO RIGHT AHEAD AND, AND I APPRECIATE EVERYTHING THAT YOU'VE BEEN TELLING US. IT'S VERY VALUABLE AS, AS YOU'RE GETTING INTO THINGS MAYBE YOU HAVEN'T ADDRESSED YET. MM-HMM. , I'M GONNA ASK YOU TO HOLD OFF ON THAT. OKAY. UM, AND [01:15:01] I KNOW COUNCIL MEMBERS MAY HAVE A FEW QUESTIONS, BUT ONE THING I WANNA, UH, EMPHASIZE THAT, THAT I THINK WE'RE GONNA DO AS A COMMITTEE IS WE'RE GONNA SEND TO EACH OF YOU THE RECOMMENDATIONS THAT ARE IN THE REPORT, UH, THE EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS REPORT. WE'RE GONNA ASK YOU TO PRIORITIZE THOSE BASED ON WHAT YOU BELIEVE HAVE THE GREATEST PRIORITY IN ADDRESSING, UH, THE ISSUES THAT CAME OUT IN THE RECOMMENDATIONS. AND THEN THAT I THINK IS WHAT WE'D LIKE TO HAVE YOU SPECIFICALLY COME BACK AND TELL US, THESE ARE OUR PRIORITIES. THESE ARE WHAT WE THINK OUT OF ALL THESE RECOMMENDATIONS NEED TO BE DONE, FIRST, SECOND, THIRD, FOURTH, OR THAT FIT TOGETHER AS WE MOVE TOWARDS, UH, RESOLVING THE ENTIRE PROBLEM. AND THEN HAVE YOU GIVE US WHAT HAS BEEN DONE ON EACH OF THOSE PRIORITIES. NOW WE REALIZE YOU MAY NOT NOT HAVE DONE EVERYTHING ON, ON ANY PRIORITY, BUT YOU MAY HAVE DONE SEVERAL THINGS THAT HELP MOVE TOWARD GETTING THAT DONE. AND I THINK THAT'S A LITTLE MORE EFFICIENT BECAUSE THE INFORMATION THAT BOTH OF YOU HAVE SHARED IS, IS VERY VALUABLE AND USEFUL TO US. BUT HOW WE TRANSLATE THAT TO THE PUBLIC AND, AND, AND HOW WE CAN LET OUR, YOU KNOW, OUR CONSTITUENTS UNDERSTAND WHAT'S GOING ON, IS GONNA HAVE TO BE, I THINK, A LITTLE MORE SPECIFIC BASED ON WHAT THE RECOMMENDATIONS ARE AND HOW THOSE RECOMMENDATIONS ARE BEING MET AND WHAT YOU BELIEVE AS THE UTILITY ARE THE PRIORITIES FOR GETTING THEM DONE. AND I THINK THAT WOULD BE A LITTLE MORE EFFICIENT FOR US TO GATHER THAT INFORMATION. AND IF YOU LIST X PRIORITY AS NUMBER ONE, AND Y PRIORITY IS NUMBER TWO, AND YOU COME TO US AND SAY, WELL, WE HAVEN'T BEEN ABLE TO DO IT, YOU KNOW, THEN THAT'S SOMETHING WE'D WANT TO KNOW IF THAT'S A TOP PRIORITY. ON THE OTHER HAND, SOME OF THE ONES THAT YOU BELIEVE ARE LOWER PRIORITIES, YOU KNOW, YOU MAY SAY, WELL, WE'VE GOTTEN THIS DONE, BUT YOU KNOW, IT'S A LOWER PRIORITY. SO I THINK THAT WOULD HELP US UNDERSTAND A LITTLE BIT BETTER AND RELAY THAT TO THE PUBLIC. THE OVERVIEWS THAT YOU'VE GIVEN US ARE HELPFUL FOR US AS WE THINK ABOUT THESE THINGS, BUT IT REALLY DOESN'T HELP US IN GOING BACK INTO THE PUBLIC REALM TO REASSURE THEM. RIGHT NOW. ALL I COULD SAY IS, BOY, THEY'RE DOING A LOT. YOU KNOW, I'D RATHER BE ABLE TO SAY, THIS IS SOMETHING THEY'VE DONE THAT LEADS TO THIS, AND THIS IS SOMETHING THEY'VE DONE THAT LEADS TO THAT. NOW, UH, I KNOW SOME OF THE COUNCIL MEMBERS DO HAVE QUESTIONS, SO I'LL START WITH COUNCIL MEMBER ROCHA GARCIA, AND THEN WE'LL WORK AROUND. THANK YOU, UH, CHAIR AND, AND THANK YOU, UH, MR. KLAUS FOR THE PRESENTATION. I REALIZE THAT WE, THERE'S, THERE'S A LOT TO DO. SO THANK YOU FOR BEING SO, UM, THOUGHTFUL IN, IN THE COMPLETED AND IN PROGRESS, ET CETERA. THERE ARE 16 ITEMS THAT HAVEN'T BEEN STARTED. AND SO I'M ASSUMING THAT YOU'LL BE TELLING YOUR BOARD WHY THOSE HAVEN'T BEEN STARTED YET, AND THEN WE'LL KIND OF GET A REPORT OF WHY THEY, THEY MIGHT BE MORE COSTLY, ET CETERA. IS THAT HOW YOU DETERMINE WHAT HASN'T BEEN STARTED? UM, IT, IT, IT'S REALLY NOT JUST A MATTER OF COST. IT'S A MATTER OF THE, THE PLANNING INVOLVED WITH THOSE, OR IF WE SEE THOSE AS REALLY A, A, A, A HIGH BENEFIT ITEM TO GET INTO PERFECT. UM, THE, THE WORK REQUIRED ON SOME OF THOSE ITEMS. AND THE FACT THAT WE DIDN'T SEE THOSE AS THE HIGHEST PRIORITY TAKE OUR IS GROUP FOR OUR INFORMATION SYSTEMS. THEY, THEY'VE GOTTEN A, A BASKET OF THINGS THAT THEY NEED TO REPROGRAM AND DO FOR US. YOU WANT AN OUTAGE MAP? WELL, I HAVE TO HAVE, I S DO THE OUTAGE MAP. AND THE OUTAGE MAP, IN MY OPINION, IS MORE IMPORTANT FOR US RIGHT NOW THAN THE WORK ORDER SYSTEM BEING RESTRUCTURED. SO THE REASONS THAT WE'RE DOING IT, YES, MA'AM. GREAT. THANK YOU. BY THE WAY, I LOVE THE C P SS ENERGY OUTAGE MAP, AND I, I GET THE LINKS AND I, I GO THROUGH IT AND I CHECK ALL OF MY ZIP CODES SO THAT I CAN BE AWARE OF WHAT AREAS ARE HAVING THOSE MAPS. NOT THAT I'M SAYING, HEY, FOLLOW C P S'S LEAD ON THAT OUTAGE MAT, BUT I'M JUST SAYING THAT THEY, THEY'RE DOING A WONDERFUL JOB. UM, AND THEN ALSO YOU MENTIONED ONE OF THE RECOMMENDATIONS OUT OF THE EMERGENCY, UM, SUBCOMMITTEE THAT WAS FORMED, UM, WAS, UH, IN PARTICULAR TO THIRD PARTY ASSISTANCE. AND YOU REFERENCED THAT JUST A WHILE AGO. UM, MM-HMM. , WHAT WE MEANT TO SAY. AND, AND I THINK THAT, AND I'D LOVE TO HAVE AN OFFLINE CONVERSATION 'CAUSE THAT WAS ONE OF THE IDEAS THAT, UM, THAT I, I WAS, UH, VERY SPECIFIC ABOUT. IT WASN'T NECESSARILY TRAINING OUR 3 1 1 OPERATORS INTO THE BUSINESS OF C P SS, BUT RATHER THAT PEOPLE WERE CALLING AND THERE WAS NO ANSWER, UH, AT THE NUMBER. AND I THINK IT MIGHT'VE JUST BEEN BECAUSE THERE WERE, THEY WERE OVERWHELMED. SO HOW DO WE PARTNER MAYBE WITH EVEN, UM, YOU KNOW, O OTHER, UH, LIKE, LIKE PHONE TREE STYLE. SO, SO AGAIN, BUT THAT'S AN OFFLINE CONVERSATION, BUT I'D LOVE TO GIVE YOU A LITTLE BIT MORE DETAILS. AND, AND I DON'T WANNA TAKE UP YOUR TIME RIGHT NOW, UM, AS TO WHAT WE WERE THINKING AND, AND THAT WHAT THE THOUGHT PROCESS WAS WITH THAT, BECAUSE I, I DON'T WANT THE JUST WHATEVER WAS IN PRINT. I DON'T WANT IT TO GET LOST IN TRANSLATION WHAT THE INTENT WAS FOR THAT RECOMMENDATION. [01:20:01] UM, AND THEN THE OTHER ITEM WAS, I'VE NOTICED THAT WE'VE REFERENCED ARAC SEVERAL TIMES. C P S HAS REFERENCED THEM AT LEAST THREE TIMES. I'VE HEARD STRECK. UM, ONE OF MY BIG PROBLEMS WITH THE HAZARD RISK MITIGATION PLAN THAT WE WERE PRESENTED, UH, LAST WEEK WAS THAT STR WAS NOT AT THE PLANNING TABLE. SO I WANNA MAKE SURE THAT I, I SAY THANK YOU FOR INVOLVING THEM EARLY ON, BUT THEN ALSO I THINK THEY SHOULD BE HERE. RIGHT? AND SO I THINK THAT THEY SHOULD BE INVOLVED, AND I, I'M, I'M SURE THAT SOMEONE'S LISTENING TO OUR CONVERSATION, BUT I, I'M, I'M DISAPPOINTED THAT, UM, WE KEEP REFERENCING THEM, AND I JUST WANNA MAKE SURE THAT THEY'RE INVITED TO THE TABLE. THEY'RE THE EXPERTS IN EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS, AND YOU ALL ARE DOING A GREAT JOB INVOLVING THEM. BUT, UM, I DON'T, I DON'T KNOW WHO THE REQUEST WOULD GO TO IF IT'S TO BEN, BEN GO'S TEAM OR SOMEONE, BUT I THINK THAT, YOU KNOW, MAYBE WE CAN HAVE SOMEONE PRESENT FROM STRECK. BUT THOSE ARE ALL MY COMMENTS. THANK YOU SO MUCH. THANK YOU, CHAIR. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. UM, COUNCILMAN . THANK YOU, CHAIR. UH, AT FIRST I HAVE TO JUST VERY QUICKLY THANK C P S. THEY HAD A RESOURCE HERE IN MY DISTRICT, AND I WAS ABLE TO GO BY. I TALKED WITH SOME C P S REPRESENTATIVES, JESSE HERNANDEZ AND LAURA JACOB, WHO WERE CLEARLY VERY COMMITTED TO HELPING OUR COMMUNITY, UM, REALLY VERY ENTHUSIASTICALLY. WE'RE TALKING ABOUT WHAT THE, THE SERVICE THAT THEY'RE PROVIDING THERE TONIGHT, THERE WAS A SAS REP THERE, MANY AGENCIES THAT WERE THERE TO HELP OUR COMMUNITY. SO I, I REALLY APPRECIATE THAT THE MOST. WHAT I REALLY TOOK AWAY FROM THAT WAS, UH, SAN ANTONIANS. I GOT TO TALK WITH, UM, YOU KNOW, DISTRICT SIX, UH, INDIVIDUALS, FAMILIES REALLY, THAT WERE LOOKING FOR ASSISTANCE FOR THE, FOR THEIR BILLS. AND, UM, MANY OF THEM, I WAS SURPRISED TO FIND OUT, HAD BILLS IN THE THOUSANDS, AND THEY WERE JUST DESPONDENT AND ANXIOUS AND WORRIED ABOUT PAYING THEIR BILLS, AND THEY WERE WALKING OUT WITH A PLAN, AND THEY WERE WALKING OUT WITH HOPE. SO I, I HAVE TO JUST TAKE A SECOND TO THANK YOU FOR THAT. UM, I, I'D LIKE TO SEE SOME OTHER FORMS OF OUTREACH, TOO. AS MUCH AS WE CAN GO OUT INTO THE NEIGHBORHOODS, MAYBE THERE'S A BIG AREA THAT, THAT THEY HAVE HIGH BILLS. WE CAN GO OUT. I LOVE TO BLOCK WALK. I'LL GO OUT THERE AND KNOCK ON DOORS WITH YOU AND, AND HELP PEOPLE TO, UM, UNDERSTAND THAT THERE ARE RESOURCES FOR THEM. UM, SO THAT'S THE HONEY. I GOT A LITTLE BIT OF VINEGAR, , OKAY. AT OUR, AT OUR AUGUST MEETING. AND REALLY SINCE THE STORM BEGAN, I'VE BEEN ASKING FOR A CONCRETE COMMUNICATIONS PLAN. I, I, I HEAR THAT YOU'RE WORKING ON IT. UM, REALLY FOR ME THOUGH, IT'S, IT'S THE COMMUNICATION PLAN THAT YOU HAVE TO COUNCIL MEMBERS TO OTHER ELECTED OFFICIALS AS WELL, THAT WE'RE FIELDING THOSE CALLS FROM THE COMMUNITY. WE'RE HEARING FROM THEM. AND WE HAD SUCH A DIFFICULT TIME, UH, GETTING THROUGH TO THE UTILITIES AT THAT TIME. AND I SAID BEFORE, WE CAN ONLY CLAIM THAT WE GET GOT CAUGHT OFF GUARD ONCE. SO I'D LIKE TO KNOW WHEN WE CAN EXPECT THIS PLAN. UM, AND I, I APPRECIATE TOO. I THINK, YOU KNOW, CHAIR, YOU MENTIONED WE, WE NEED TO SEEM PROGRESSIVELY, UM, MOVING FORWARD, YOU KNOW, CONCRETE PROTOCOLS IN PLACE, AND I KNOW WE'RE, WE'RE GONNA GET THERE, BUT WINTER'S COMING AND, YOU KNOW, I, I THINK WE NEED A PLAN, AT LEAST A COMMUNICATION PLAN IN PLACE FOR OUR, FOR OUR, FOR US, FOR COUNCIL MEMBERS, LIKE, I GUESS, AND OTHER ELECTED OFFICIALS IN PLACE BEFORE THE POSSIBILITY OF ANOTHER BIG WINTER EVENT. CAN YOU, YOU TELL ME WHEN WE CAN EXPECT THAT FROM SAW, IF YOU WANNA COMMENT ON THAT? GOOD AFTERNOON. YOU MAKE THAT REQUEST, I THINK AT THE VERY FIRST MEETING. SO WE'VE BEEN WORKING WITH YOUR STAFF AND WE PUT SOMEONE TOGETHER, AND I KNOW THERE'S BEEN DIFFERENT, UH, ADDITIONS OF IT GOING AROUND, BUT I THINK WE HAD SHARED WITH YOUR OFFICE LAST WEEK, OR MAYBE SOONER. BUT THERE IS A, A FIRM PLAN THAT WE'VE ALREADY PUT TOGETHER, AND WE'VE SUBMITTED IT AS PART OF STEVE'S PACKAGE OKAY. THAT WE'VE BEEN WORKING CLOSELY WITH YOUR STAFF WITH ON. CAN YOU TALK ABOUT THAT HERE WITH THE P IS, WELL, WELL, BASICALLY WHAT IT START WITH IS GONNA KIND OF FOLLOW WHAT THE CITY DOES IN TERMS OF HAVING ROBERT, MYSELF, AND OR OTHER E M T MEMBERS REACHING OUT DIRECTLY TO THE COUNCIL FOLKS OR COUNTY COMMISSIONERS, OR WHOMEVER THAT IS MM-HMM. . WE WOULD GO THROUGH A ROUND OF PHONE CALLS WITH, UH, BRIEF UPDATES. AND THEN AS WE GET MORE INFORMATION, WE WOULD WORK EITHER WITH YOU DIRECTLY OR WITH YOUR, OR WHO YOUR APPOINTEES ARE, SO THAT THERE'S A, A FULL COMMUNICATION CIRCLE AT ANY POINT. IF I WAS TO CALL COUNCILWOMAN, UH, IN DISTRICT FOUR, AND SHE PROVIDES INFORMATION THAT WE DIDN'T KNOW OF, THAT YOU DIDN'T KNOW OF, ROBERT AND I AND OTHER TEAM MEMBERS WOULD SIT TOGETHER, TALK ABOUT THAT, AND THEN WE'D COME BACK WITH ANOTHER TREE, UH, A PHONE TREE CALLING EACH ONE TO SHARE WHAT INFORMATION HAD COME UP. FOLLOWING THAT, WE THEN PROVIDE UPDATES VIA TEXT MESSAGE, EMAILS OR PHONE CALLS DIRECTLY WITH YOU ALL, AS WELL AS OUR STAFFS WITH YOUR STAFF. OKAY. A LOT OF THE TIMES, AS YOU KNOW, OUR STAFFS ARE GONNA TALK MORE OFTEN THAN YOU AND I WILL, JUST BECAUSE YOU'RE RUNNING AROUND, I'M RUNNING AROUND AND WHATNOT. SO WHAT WE'RE GONNA DO IS HAVE STAFFS COMMUNICATE AS WELL, BUT AT THE SAME TIME, WE'RE GONNA DEPEND ON PHONE CALLS, DIRECT PHONE CALLS FROM ROBERT, MYSELF, AND WHOMEVER ELSE ON OUR E M T THAT ROBERT DESIGNATES, SO THAT WE CAN GIVE YOU UPDATES AS THEY COME UP. WE'D SET REGULAR TIMES, BE IT EVERY THREE OR FOUR HOURS, BUT IF THINGS ARISE SOONER, THEN THAT WOULDN'T PRECLUDE US FROM NOT CALLING YOU AT THAT POINT. OKAY. SO WE WOULD DEPEND ON PHONE CALLS AS WELL [01:25:01] AS, UH, TEXT MESSAGES, EMAILS, AND THEN USING A LOT OF THAT INFORMATION BACK TO THE WEBSITE. AND THAT WOULD BE SOME OF THE INFORMATION WE'D SHARE WITH YOUR STAFF. OKAY. SO THAT AS INFORMATION COMES UP, WE WOULD, DO YOU BE DIRECTING YOUR TEAM MEMBERS OR YOUR COMMUNITY MEMBERS TO THE WEBSITE FOR MORE INFORMATION? THAT'S GREAT. I'D LIKE TO SEE THAT IN WRITING, THOUGH, SO THAT EVERYBODY HERE KNOWS. OKAY. UM, WHEN, WHEN IT, THE, IT'S, YOU KNOW, HOPEFULLY WE DON'T HAVE TO DEAL WITH IT AGAIN, BUT IF WE DO, WE'RE ALL READY TO GO. WE HAVE, WE KNOW EXACTLY EVERY THREE HOURS, WHATEVER IT'S, WE'RE GONNA HEAR FROM YOU GUYS. SO, ONE MORE QUESTION. I'M SORRY. I KNOW I HEARD THE BUZZ. UM, UH, SPECIFICALLY FOR SAWS, UH, NOT DURING THE STORM, BUT DIRECTLY AFTER THE STORM IN MY DISTRICT, WE HAD A LOT OF APARTMENT COMPLEXES THAT WERE OUT OF WATER. THEY WERE TAKING BUCKETS AND GOING TO THE POOL AND USING IT TO FLUSH. AND I MEAN, IT WAS VERY, IT WAS DIRE FOR A LOT OF THEM. SO I CALLED YOU AND ASKED YOU FOR HELP WITH WATER, AND I GOT A, I GOT A NO FROM YOU. SO I WANNA KNOW WHAT WE'RE DOING, UM, TO SAWS IS DOING TO PREVENT THAT FROM HAPPENING, HOW I CAN GET WATER FROM SAWS. WHAT WAS THE NO, I ASKED YOU FOR WATER. I ASKED YOU SPECIFICALLY FOR WATER. I THINK IDEA WAS THE, IT WAS THE TANKER. YEAH. THE REQUEST WAS THE, THE WATER TANKER. I DIDN'T ASK FOR THE WATER TANKER. I ASKED FOR WATER, BUT YOU TOLD ME WE DON'T HAVE A WATER TRUCK. I DIDN'T EVEN KNOW WHAT THAT MEANT. I DIDN'T ASK FOR THE WATER TRUCK. I JUST ASKED FOR WATER. SO WHAT I ENDED UP HAVING TO DO WAS GO TO PRIVATE COMPANIES AND THEY DONATED WATER BOTTLES, AND THEN WE, THEY TOOK A TRUCK AND THEY WENT OUT AND GAVE 'EM TO ALL THESE APARTMENT COMPLEXES FOR WEEKS AFTERWARDS. SO WHAT I'M ASKING YOU IS, WHAT, WHAT ARE WHAT'S CHANGED BETWEEN THEN AND NOW SO THAT I CAN CALL OUR UTILITY, OUR WATER UTILITY AND GET WATER TO OUR, UM, COMMUNITIES? WHAT DO, UH, I WILL LET, UH, GINO AND, AND, UM, STEVE TALK ABOUT THAT, THAT THE OWNERS OF THE APARTMENT COMPLEXES HARDENED THEIR SYSTEM, JUST LIKE WE'RE TRYING TO HARDEN OUR SYSTEM, BECAUSE THAT WAS THE PROBLEM. IT WASN'T A LACK OF WATER, UH, IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD. BECAUSE I REMEMBER YOU CALLED ME SPECIFICALLY ONE TIME AND I ASKED YOU ARE I LOOKED AROUND, UH, AFTER CALLING, WERE OTHER PEOPLE IN THAT NEIGHBORHOOD, UH, HAD WATER, AND THEY DID. SO IT WAS THE COMPLEX MM-HMM. . SO THAT'S THE FIRST STEP, IS TO MAKE SURE THAT THESE, UH, COMPLEXES HARDENED THEIR SYSTEM. NOW, AS FAR AS GETTING WATER TO YOU, LOGISTICALLY, THAT'S WHAT, UH, WE'RE GONNA BE WORKING ON. I THINK ONE OF THE RECOMMENDATIONS IS THE STORAGE OF BOTTLED WATER TO MAKE SURE THAT WE HAVE SOME OF THAT AVAILABLE. UH, STEVE, UH, YOU WANNA GIVE DETAILS ON THAT? UM, WELL, AVAILABILITY OF STORED WATER IS, OF COURSE, ONE OF THE ITEMS ON THE LIST THAT WE ARE TRACKING. IT IS IN PROGRESS. UM, WE'VE DONE, UH, QUITE A BIT OF LOOKING AT THE, UM, HOW WE WOULD STORE THOSE BOTTLES. YOU KNOW, A A A BOTTLE OF WATER IN A PLASTIC CONTAINER HAS A FAIRLY FINITE SHELF LIFE. ABOUT TWO YEARS. IT ACTUALLY STARTS EXTRACTING FROM THE BOTTLE. BUT THERE ARE SOME MANUFACTURERS NOW WHO ARE DISTRIBUTING WATER IN, UH, EVEN A 10 YEAR, I'VE EVEN SEEN A CAN THAT SAYS 50 YEAR LIFE. THOSE ARE INCREDIBLY EXPENSIVE. AND ON TOP OF THAT, THE LOGISTICS OF MANAGING THAT, STORING IT AND MAKING SURE IT DOESN'T GET OLD IS COMPLICATED. SO WE'RE LOOKING AT THAT ANGLE, BUT AT THE SAME TIME, WE'RE ALSO HAVING COMMUNICATIONS WITH SOME LARGE, UM, OPERATIONS HERE IN SAN ANTONIO, CURRENTLY BOTTLING OTHER PRODUCTS WHERE CAN WE MAKE AN ARRANGEMENT WITH THEM TO WHERE IF WE HAVE ANOTHER EVENT LIKE THIS, THEY IMMEDIATELY SWITCH OVER ALL OF THEIR OPERATIONS TO SHIPPING OUT BOTTLED WATER. THAT WAY IT'S REAL TIME. YOU'VE GOT IT WHEN YOU NEED IT. UM, WE HAVE TO MAKE SURE THAT THEY'RE BULLETPROOF FROM THE WATER SUPPLY PERSPECTIVE. UM, BUT THAT IS A, IS ANOTHER ALTERNATIVE. I CAN'T TELL YOU WHICH WAY WE'RE GONNA GO. THOSE DECISIONS HAVEN'T BEEN MADE, BUT WE'RE TRYING TO KEEP OUR OPTIONS OPEN FOR THE BEST OVERALL ANSWER THERE. THANK YOU. I I, I APPRECIATE THAT BECAUSE I, AGAIN, I HOPE WE DON'T HAVE TO DEAL WITH THIS, BUT, AND YOU'RE RIGHT, I MEAN, I ABSOLUTELY, THE APARTMENT COMPLEX OWNER, UM, COMPANY, WHOEVER THEY ARE, THEY NEED TO, UM, HANDLE THE, TO, UM, HANDLE THEIR BUSINESS. BUT ULTIMATELY, IF THEY DON'T, IT'S NOT THE FAULT OF THE, UM, THE RENTER. RIGHT. SO, UM, AND THERE WERE, THERE WERE A NUMBER OF APARTMENT COMPLEXES, AND I'M JUST TALKING ABOUT MY ONE DISTRICT. I'M, I'M SURE THAT THERE ARE OTHERS. UM, BUT I, I, I'M GLAD TO HEAR THAT THERE'S A PLAN IN PLACE. I'D LIKE TO KNOW THAT I CAN CALL SAWS AND, UH, AND, AND GET WATER, YOU KNOW, TO, TO THOSE THAT DIDN'T HAVE WATER FOR WEEKS AFTER THE STORM. THANK YOU. THOSE ARE MY QUESTIONS. THANK YOU. YEAH, THANK YOU, CHAIR. CAN I JUST CHAIR, CAN I JUST ADD ONE COMMENT REAL QUICK? UM, IN RELATION TO THAT, COUNCILMAN, WE WERE WORKING CLOSELY WITH BOTH C P S AND SAWS. YOU RECALL ONE OF THE RECOMMENDATIONS WAS ESTABLISHING A WAREHOUSE? UM, YOU KNOW, THE WATER STORAGE ISSUE IS SOMETHING THAT, THAT IS BEING DISCUSSED AMONGST A NUMBER OF OTHER ISSUES IN TERMS OF HOW WE WOULD DEPLOY THAT. UM, WE DID WORK WITH SAWS VERY QUICKLY. UM, YOU KNOW, THE CITY MANAGER ASKED US TO GO OUT AND PROCURE A BUNCH OF WATER VERY QUICKLY. OBVIOUSLY, THE RISK WITH THAT IS WE WERE ABLE TO DO THAT, I THINK, ON WEDNESDAY. UH, BUT THE STATE WAS BEING IMPACTED, SO WE WERE ABLE [01:30:01] TO GET ACCESS TO SOME WATER. I DON'T KNOW THAT IF WE HAD WAITED ANOTHER DAY, THAT MIGHT'VE BEEN MORE CHALLENGING. SO I THINK THE WAREHOUSE PIECE WILL BE AN IMPORTANT ONGOING CONVERSATION. UM, THE OTHER THING I WANTED TO MENTION WAS ON COMMUNICATION. UM, I KNOW THERE'S A LOT OF COORDINATION ALSO GOING ON WITH THE E O C. I THINK WE WANT TO CONTINUE TO WORK WITH BOTH UTILITIES. I TH I THINK WHAT WE TALKED ABOUT AND WHAT WE WERE STRIVING TO DO WAS TO MAKE SURE WE'RE COORDINATED AND COLLABORATED ON THAT SO THAT, THAT YOU'RE NOT GETTING SOMETHING FROM THE CITY E O C SOMETHING FROM SAW SOMETHING FROM C P S. UM, I THINK ONE OF THE BENEFITS OF HAVING EVERYBODY AT THE E O C IS HOPEFULLY WE CAN STREAMLINE THOSE COMMUNICATIONS, SET UP THE PLAN THAT YOU TALKED ABOUT SO THAT IT'S CLEAR TO EVERYBODY. UM, BUT I THINK ONE OF THE GOALS WAS WE TO MAKE SURE WE WERE ALL, UM, ALIGNED SHARING INFORMATION REAL TIME, AND THAT WE WERE USING THE SAME MECHANISM TO GET THAT BACK TO YOU. SO THAT'S ALSO ONE OF THE THINGS BEING WORKED ON. OKAY. THANK YOU. APPRECIATE IT. THANK YOU. COUNCIL CHAIR. I WANT TO THANK YOU FOR, UM, ASKING BOTH UTILITIES TO, UH, LIST THE, PRIORITIZE THE RECOMMENDATIONS OF, UH, WHAT IS IT, THE EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS COMMITTEE, PREPAREDNESS COMMITTEE, UM, AND, AND REPORT BACK TO US. I WANT TO ADD TO THAT, I'D LIKE TO ASK THE UTILITIES TO CREATE A WEBPAGE ON YOUR, EACH OF YOUR WEBSITES LISTING WHAT THOSE RECOMMENDATIONS ARE IN ORDER PRIORITY AND WHERE YOU ARE ON EACH ONE. WHY EACH ONE IS IMPORTANT, YOU KNOW, WHAT STEPS YOU'VE TAKEN, WHAT IS YOUR CURRENT PROGRESS SO THAT THE PUBLIC CAN GO STRAIGHT THERE AND HEAR DIRECTLY FROM YOU. UM, I THINK THAT'S, YOU KNOW, I, I WOULD LIKE TO SEE THAT KIND OF TRANSPARENCY OUT OF OUR PUBLIC UTILITIES. UM, STEVE, YOU MENTIONED THAT THE BLACK AND VEATCH, UH, REPORT MM-HMM. NOW THAT WAS IN ADDITION TO THE, THE COMMITTEE THAT THE CITY PUT TOGETHER. UM, YEAH. 16 RECOMMENDATIONS. RIGHT. SO HOW WAS THAT, WHY, WHY DID YOU ALL USE AN OUTSIDE ENTITY TO DO THAT, AND WHY WAS THAT NECESSARY IN ADDITION TO THE CITY'S COMMITTEE? AND WHAT DID YOU GET OUT OF THAT, THAT IN ADDITION TO WHAT YOU GOT OUTTA THE CITY, THE CITY'S COMMITTEE ON EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS? OKAY. WELL, I, I'LL LET ROBERT SPEAK ON, ON WHY HE WANTED TO USE AN OUTSIDE THIRD PARTY, BUT YOU DON'T NEED ME DOING A REVIEW OF OUR PERFORMANCE WHILE WE'RE IN THE MIDDLE OF AN EVENT LIKE THAT. I CARRY A LOT OF BIAS. WE NEEDED A CLEAN SET OF EYES, AND WE NEEDED SOMEBODY THAT UNDERSTANDS WATER SYSTEMS, UM, TO, UH, HAVE SOMEONE THAT DOESN'T HAVE ANY EXPERIENCE IN THE, THE CHALLENGES THAT WE HAD WITH DIFFERENT TYPES OF INSTRUMENTATION. REMEMBER THE LEVEL ON THE TANK, I, I DON'T THINK WE COULD HAVE GOTTEN THOSE TYPE OF RECOMMENDATIONS WITHOUT HAVING A SIGNIFICANT EXPERTISE IN HOW WATER SYSTEMS OPERATE OVERALL. SO THAT REPORT WAS IN ADVANCE OF THE CITY'S COMMITTEE TO DO THE STUDIES. THEY WERE, THEY WERE COMPLETE WITH THEIR REPORT IN ADVANCE OF THE CITY SETTING THAT UP AT THE TIME. UM, ROBERT'S DECISION WAS INDEPENDENT. WE DIDN'T KNOW THE CITY WAS GONNA HAVE A GROUP SET UP TO STUDY WHAT WE HAD DONE. SO WE JUST LAUNCHED ON OUR OWN RIGHT UP IMMEDIATELY. LIKE I SAID, EVEN BEFORE THE STORM WAS OVER, WHICH I HAVE TO SAY WAS A BITTER PILL TO SWALLOW IN THE MIDDLE OF THAT STORM, NORMALLY GOT A THIRD PARTY REVIEW COMING DOWN. IT WAS HARD. WE WERE SLEEP DEPRIVED, BUT IN HINDSIGHT, IT WAS THE BEST THING WE COULD DO TO GET THE BEST POSSIBLE RESULTS FROM THAT REPORT. GREAT. AND SO, I, I KNOW THIS ISN'T FOR YOU TO ANSWER, BUT I'M WONDERING WHY C P S ENERGY DIDN'T DO THE SAME. IT'S, MY UNDERSTANDING WAS THAT THERE WERE SOME, SOME, UH, BOARD MEMBERS THAT WERE INTERESTED IN AN OUTSIDE STUDY AND THAT THEY DIDN'T GET ONE. SO I KNOW THAT'S NOT FOR YOU TO, TO, TO ANSWER. I DON'T KNOW IF THERE'LL BE AN OPPORTUNITY TO BRING C P SS ENERGY BACK UP WHEN WE'RE DONE HERE, BUT, UM, YOU MENTIONED, UH, AN ESTIMATE OF $200 MILLION FOR BACKUP GENERATORS, AND I'M REALLY GLAD THAT YOU MENTIONED THAT YOU WANTED TO SEE WHAT THE COMMUNITY BENEFIT IS. RIGHT? BECAUSE IF YOU SPEND $200 MILLION ON BACKUP GENERATORS, AND THEY'RE ONLY GONNA BE USED FOR A COUPLE OF DAYS EVERY OTHER YEAR, I DON'T SEE THAT AS A GREAT INVESTMENT. I'D LIKE TO SEE HOW THOSE BACKUP GENERATORS OR HOW YOU CAN, WHAT, WHAT THE PURPOSE OF THAT, HOW THAT FITS INTO THE GREATER PICTURE OF EVERYTHING THAT WE'RE TRYING TO DO. NOT JUST WHAT SAWS IS TRYING TO DO, BUT WHAT C P S ENERGY IS TRYING TO DO IN ORDER TO, UM, YOU KNOW, REDUCE OUR, OUR EMISSIONS IN ORDER TO, YOU KNOW, MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE, WE'RE MORE RELIABLY ABLE TO KEEP THE POWER ON. AND SO I'D LIKE TO SEE ALL OF THAT BE LOOKED AT HOLISTICALLY. AND, YOU KNOW, MAYBE THERE'S AN OPPORTUNITY TO USE, UH, IF, IF C P S ENERGY IS LOOKING AT, AT, UH, BATTERY STORAGE IN THE FUTURE, MAYBE THOSE BATTERIES COULD BE SITUATED, UM, ACROSS THE SPECTRUM, YOU KNOW, ACROSS THE, THE COMMUNITY IN THE PLACES WHERE [01:35:01] YOU WANT. AND SOMETIMES THEY COULD BE USED JUST FOR REDUCING PEAK LOAD FOR ON C P S ENERGY ON A REGULAR BASIS, BUT FOR A LONGER TERM, MAYBE FOR BACKING UP WHAT YOU NEED. UM, AND I'M NOT SAYING THAT'S THE SOLUTION, BUT I'D LIKE TO US TO LOOK AT IT IN THAT WAY. UH, 'CAUSE YOU MENTIONED 60% OF HOUSTON GENERATORS DIDN'T RUN, YOU KNOW, AND ALMOST A, EVEN IF THEY DID RUN, EVEN IF A HUNDRED PERCENT OF HOUSTON GENERATORS RAN ALMOST DAYS, THEY'RE SITTING THERE DOING NOTHING. AND SO THAT'S NOT A GREAT INVESTMENT. SURE. UM, THE OTHER QUESTION I HAD IS, YOU KNOW, YOU MENTIONED, UH, YOU KNOW THAT ALL THE PEOPLE THAT ARE GONNA BE ON SPEED DIAL, WHETHER IT'S YOU OR GINO OR ROBERT OR, OR PAULA OR FRANK AND EVERYBODY. BUT THEN NOW I'M WONDERING, WELL, WHAT KIND OF RELIABLE POWER DO YOU HAVE AT YOUR HOUSE? DO YOU ALL HAVE ANY KIND OF BACKUP POWER TO MAKE SURE, I MEAN, WHAT HAPPENS IF YOU CAN'T CHARGE YOUR CELL PHONES? AND SO, I, I JUST WANNA MAKE SURE THAT, UH, UNLESS YOU ALL ARE GONNA BE LIVING, MOVING IN AND LIVING AT THE EMERGENCY OPERATION CENTER FOR THE DURATION OF THE ANY STORMS, UM, THAT'S SOMETHING ELSE THAT I WANNA MAKE SURE YOU'RE CONSIDERING. UM, AND THAT'S THE EXTENT OF MY QUESTIONS. I CAN TELL YOU THAT MY WIFE WOULD RESPOND THAT HE LIVES AT SAS, AND, UH, AND THAT'S WHAT WE DID. YOU KNOW, WE KNEW WE HAD A GENERATOR THERE THAT WAS POWERING OUR, OUR SCADA AND CONTROL SYSTEMS. AND I KNEW THAT'S, THAT'S WHAT I HAD TO DO. GREAT. I ACTUALLY HAD ONE LAST QUESTION. GO AHEAD. UH, COUNCILWOMAN CAB VERDA BROUGHT UP, UH, THE WATER SITUATION, AND I WANTED TO ASK, WHAT HAS SAWS DONE TO COMMUNICATE WITH, UH, OWNERS AND MANAGEMENT OF APARTMENT COMPLEXES TO MAKE SURE THAT THEY ARE HARDENING THEIR WATER SYSTEMS TO MAKE SURE THAT THEY KNOW HOW TO DO THAT, TO MAKE SURE THAT THEY'RE, THEY'RE BEING REMINDED TO DO THAT? GINA, DO YOU HAVE ANY COMMENTS ON THAT? DID YOU HEAR THE QUESTION? OKAY. YEAH. THAT WAS ONE OF THE REQUIREMENTS. THAT WAS ONE OF THE QUESTIONS, COUNCIL, THAT WAS ONE OF THE, UH, OBJECTIVES OF, I'M NOT SURE IF IT WAS THE BLACK AND VEATCH STUDY OR THE CITY'S, UH, READ COMMISSION STUDY, BUT WHAT WE'RE DOING IS WE PUT TOGETHER A COMMUNICATION PLAN ON HOW WE'RE GONNA BE OUTREACHING TO PROPERTY OWNERS AS WELL AS COMMERCIAL PROPERTY OWNERS, SO THAT THEY KNOW WHAT TO DO IN TERMS OF PREPARING FOR THIS. ONE OF THE OTHER STEPS THAT WE'VE TAKEN INTERNALLY IS CREATING A BE PREPARED CAMPAIGN. SO WE'RE HOPING TO ROLL THAT OUT IN THE NEXT COUPLE WEEKS WHERE WE START PREPARING OUR CUSTOMERS NOW FOR WHAT MAY BE COMING FROM HOW TO PREPARE TO WRAPPING THE PIPES, TO PREPARING FOR A WATER OUTAGE, TO, I MEAN, A GAMUT OF THINGS FROM, YOU KNOW, IF THERE'S A BOIL OF WATER, NOTICE WHAT TO DO WHEN IT'S CALLED, AND THEN WHAT TO DO ONCE IT'S, UH, RESCINDED. AND SO WE'RE CURATING A, ANOTHER CAMPAIGN LIKE THAT, BUT THERE WAS A, A EFFORT PUT TOGETHER SO THAT WE CAN BETTER COMMUNICATE WITH PROPERTY OWNERS, UH, COMMERCIAL OWNERS, AS WELL AS RESIDENTIAL LANDOWNERS. THANK YOU. OKAY. THANK YOU, COUNCILMAN. ONE THING I'LL MENTION IS, UH, I KNOW SAS HAS BEEN, UH, I MEAN, C P S HAS BEEN CONSIDERING ANY KIND OF GENERATORS THAT THEY PUT IN ARE GONNA HAVE MULTIPLE OR DUAL USES SO THAT THEY CAN PUT MORE POWER INTO THE COMMUNITY, AND THEY WON'T JUST SIT IDLE. BUT THAT'S, THAT'S SOMETHING GOOD TO EXPLORE AT A FUTURE MEETING. THANK YOU. UH, WE HAVE THREE ITEMS STILL REMAINING ON OUR AGENDA. AND WHAT I'M GONNA DO IS RECOMMEND WE COMBINE THOSE ITEMS, UH, AND THOSE ITEMS REVOLVE AROUND HEARING FROM BOTH C P SS AND SAWS ON THEIR MITIGATION PROGRAMS FOR PEOPLE WHO ARE BEHIND ON THEIR BILLS, AND, UH, HOW THEY'RE HOPING NOT TO GO AHEAD AND CUT OFF ANYBODY'S WATER OR ENERGY. AND [5. Briefing on the American Rescue Plan Act Fiscal Recovery Funds as it relates to utility assistance [Ben Gorzell Jr., Chief Financial Officer; Troy Elliott, Deputy Chief Financial Officer]] ALSO, WE'VE ASKED CITY STAFF TO GIVE US A LITTLE INFORMATION ON THE AMERICAN RESCUE PLAN RECOVERY FUNDS AND HOW THAT MIGHT BE ABLE TO HELP BOTH OF THESE UTILITIES. SO I'M GONNA TRY AND PUT ALL, ALL THREE OF THESE TOGETHER, UH, BEFORE WE START ASKING QUESTIONS. UH, AND SO I'D LIKE TO GO AHEAD AND START WITH, UH, SAWS AND LET THEM TELL US WHAT THEY'RE DOING SINCE THEY'VE ALREADY BEEN UP THERE. THEN WE'LL GO TO C P SS, THEN WE'LL HEAR FROM, UH, LORI FROM THE CITY, AND THEN WE'LL BE ASKING QUESTIONS. I THINK THE OTHER COUNCILMAN WILL BE BACK IN A MOMENT. SO IF SASS WOULD LIKE MARY, IF YOU'D LIKE TO GO AHEAD AND TELL US HOW THINGS ARE GOING ON, UM, THE RECOVERY OF FUNDING THAT HASN'T BEEN PAID, AND, UH, PEOPLE CONTINUING TO RECEIVE, UH, THE WATER. THANK YOU. SURE. SO AS, UM, GOOD, GOOD. I THINK WE'RE STILL MORNING. GOOD MORNING. UM, SO AS ROBERT EXPLAINED, UH, THIS PRESENTATION WAS REALLY ONE THAT WE GAVE TO OUR BOARD EARLIER IN OCTOBER, AND SO IT DOESN'T HAVE THE MOST UP-TO-DATE INFORMATION. WE WILL BE PROVIDING OUR, OUR BOARD WITH THAT INFORMATION NEXT WEEK AND, AND CERTAINLY CAN MAKE THAT AVAILABLE TO THE, THE COMMITTEE AFTER THAT. BUT JUST REAL QUICKLY, WHEN I WAS UP HERE LAST MONTH, WE TALKED ABOUT THE FACT THAT WE HAD ABOUT, UH, 65,000 OF OUR CUSTOMERS THAT WERE MORE THAN 60 DAYS PAST [01:40:01] DUE. SO TECHNICALLY IN THAT CATEGORY OF, OF ELIGIBLE FOR DISCONNECTION, UM, AGAIN, THAT WAS AS OF THE END OF SEPTEMBER. BUT THE GOOD NEWS AT THAT TIME WAS THAT MORE THAN, UH, 46,000 OR OR NEARLY 71% OF THOSE CUSTOMERS WERE IN, WERE ENROLLED IN PAYMENT PLANS. AND THAT WAS LARGELY AS A RESULT OF SAWS AUTOMATICALLY ENROLLING ABOUT 39,000 OF THOSE CUSTOMERS IN BOARD APPROVED PAYMENT PLANS. JUST REAL QUICKLY, THE, THE, AS A, AS A SUMMARY, YOU KNOW, THE, UH, BOARD APPROVED PLANS, THE, THE FIRST ONE WAS REALLY TARGETING OUR, OUR FOLKS THAT ARE IN OUR AFFORDABILITY DISCOUNT PROGRAM. ABOUT 7,600 OF THOSE CUSTOMERS WERE AUTOMATICALLY ENROLLED IN A SIX MONTH PLAN. AND, UM, AND ANOTHER, UH, IN TOTAL ABOUT 87,000, UH, 8,700 OR SO, 85% WERE IN PAYMENT PLANS. SO EITHER THEY HAD ENROLLED THEMSELVES OR WE HAD AUTOMATICALLY ENROLLED THEM. AND, UM, AND WHAT SOME OF THE INFORMATION THAT BEN IS GONNA BE PROVIDING ON THE ARPA MONEY, WE ARE, WE PUT THOSE FOLKS IN A HOLD A SIX MONTH HOLD. ALL THEY HAD TO DO WAS PAY THEIR CURRENT CHARGES, AND WE WOULD HOLD THAT PAST DUE BALANCE IN WHILE WE LOOKED FOR ADDITIONAL ASSISTANCE, EITHER FROM THE STATE, FROM THE CITY. UM, CERTAINLY THE ARPA FUNDS IS, IS SOMETHING THAT WE'RE HOPING FOR THAT COULD HELP SATISFY THOSE BALANCES FOR CUSTOMERS. UM, THAT RESIDENTIAL CUSTOMERS THAT ARE NOT IN OUR AFFORDABILITY PROGRAM. WE DID AUTO-ENROLL, UH, MORE THAN 31,000 OF THOSE INTO, UH, WHAT WE ARE REFERRING TO AS OUR INCENTIVE PLAN. AND, UH, NEARLY, UH, AND THEN OVERALL, 72% OF, OF, OF RESIDENTIAL CUSTOMERS, NON A D P RESIDENTIAL CUSTOMERS WERE IN PLANS AS OF THE, UH, END OF SEPTEMBER. UM, AND, AND AGAIN, AS YOU RECALL, IF THOSE CUSTOMERS MAKE THEIR, THEIR CURRENT MONTHLY CHARGES AS, AS WELL AS THEIR, YOU KNOW, ONE 48TH OF THEIR PAST DUE BALANCE FOR 18 MONTHS, THEN WE WILL FORGIVE THE REST OF THEIR, THEIR CHARGES. SO, AS FOR THE COMMERCIAL CUSTOMERS, UH, WHICH INCLUDES MULTIFAMILY, WHILE THERE WAS NO SPECIAL PAYMENT PLAN APPROVED FOR THOSE CUSTOMERS BY OUR BOARD, WE HAVE BEEN ALLOWING THESE DELINQUENT CUSTOMERS TO SET UP PAYMENT PLANS THAT'RE REALLY TAILORED TO THEIR ABILITY TO PAY. UH, AT THE END OF SEPTEMBER, ONLY ABOUT 7% OF THOSE CUSTOMERS WERE ON ACTIVE, UH, PAYMENT PLANS. BUT WE, UH, AND SINCE THIS CATEGORY DOES INCLUDE MULTIFAMILY, WE WERE VERY, UH, SENSITIVE TO THE FACT THAT, UH, THOSE RESIDENTS, UH, WOULD BE CUT OFF IF WE CUT OFF TO THE APARTMENT COMPLEX. AND SO WE HAVE BEEN DOING DIRECT OUTREACH TO OUR MULTIFAMILY, UH, CUSTOMERS, TRYING TO GET THEM ONTO A PAYMENT PLAN. SO CUSTOMERS, UM, NOT, UH, ALREADY EN ENROLLED, UH, IN AN ACTIVE PLAN, UH, BEGAN RECEIVING FINAL NOTICES IN, IN, UH, UH, LATE SEPTEMBER. UH, THESE NOTICES GO OUT ABOUT TWO WEEKS BEFORE WE, UH, DO THE DISCONNECTION TO GIVE THOSE CUSTOMERS TIME TO CONTACT US. UH, WE DID RESUME DISCONNECTIONS ON OCTOBER 19TH, AND WE WILL BE PROVIDING, UPDATED MY NUMBERS, AS I SAID TO OUR BOARD NEXT WEEK ABOUT THE STATUS OF THOSE. AND SO CERTAINLY CAN PROVIDE YOU THAT AFTER OUR BOARD HAS BEEN BRIEFED. SO, I KNOW THAT WAS FAST , BUT I KNOW YOU'VE GOT A LOT TO COVER. SO BASICALLY, THIS IS ALMOST THE SAME REPORT WE HAD LAST TIME. IT'S, YEAH, IT'S BASICALLY THE SAME NUMBERS. UM, AS I SAID, YOU KNOW, THE TIMING, UM, WE, UH, WITH OUR BOARD BEING MEETING NEXT WEEK, WE'LL BE ABLE TO PROVIDE THEM WITH MUCH MORE UPTODATE NUMBERS, AND THEN WE CAN CERTAINLY, UH, PROVIDE THAT TO THE COMMITTEE. OKAY. ANYBODY HAVE ANY QUESTIONS? OKAY. OKAY. HEARING NONE. THANKS. THANK YOU, MARY. LET'S HEAR FROM C P S. THANK YOU, COUNCILMAN COURAGE, AND, UH, MEMBERS OF THE COMMITTEE. UH, I'M RUDY GARZA, CHIEF CUSTOMER AND STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT OFFICER. UH, AND I'LL, UH, BE BRIEFING YOU. UH, WE HAVE SEEN A LOT OF PROGRESS ON CUSTOMER RESPONSE TO OUR EFFORTS TO REACH OUT TO THEM. UH, AND I'LL TAKE YOU THROUGH, UH, SOME OF THE HIGH LEVEL, UH, UH, PROGRESS THAT WE'VE MADE, AND I'VE GOT A TON OF STATS HERE THAT I CAN REFER TO, DEPENDING ON THE QUESTIONS, UH, THAT YOU HAVE. UH, WE, YOU KNOW, WE, WE, UH, OUR INFORMATION HERE REALLY KIND OF SHOWS HOW WE ARE MESSAGING TO OUR CUSTOMERS, BOTH, UH, ON OUR BILLS. THEY SEE, UH, UH, A, A MESSAGE IMMEDIATELY WHEN THEY, WHEN THEY, UH, OPEN THEIR BILL, UH, AND EVEN ON THE FRONT COVER OF THE ENVELOPE. UH, AND SO, UH, WE ARE DOING EVERYTHING WE CAN TO GET, UH, A CONSISTENT MESSAGE ON HOW TO, UH, BE PROACTIVE ABOUT, UH, REACHING OUT TO US. UH, AND, AND, AND WE'VE BEEN VERY SUCCESSFUL. I'LL GO THROUGH SOME OF THE NUMBERS HERE IN A SECOND. UH, AGAIN, WHEN YOU LOOK AT OUR, UH, CUSTOMER OUTREACH RESOURCE EFFORT TEAM, UH, THAT IS MAKING DIRECT CALLS TO CUSTOMERS, UH, WE'RE UP NOW CLOSE TO 90,000 CUSTOMERS THAT WE HAVE, UH, UH, BEEN ABLE TO CONTACT THAT 39 MILLION, UH, HAS SEEN AN UPTICK THIS WEEK. WE'RE NOW UP TO 41 MILLION IN DIRECT PAYMENT ASSISTANCE THAT WE'VE BEEN ABLE TO ACHIEVE. [01:45:01] SO, UH, THIS EFFORT CONTINUES, UH, TO HAVE, UH, EXTENSIVE, EXTENSIVE, UH, SUCCESS. AND WE'RE VERY PROUD OF THE TEAM THAT CONTINUES TO MAKE THOSE, UH, PHONE CALLS ON OUR ACCOUNT RECEIVABLES. UH, THE NUMBER, UH, WE'RE DOWN TO ABOUT 67,000 CUSTOMERS, UH, THAT ARE ELIGIBLE FOR DISCONNECT. THAT'S DOWN OVER 17,000, UH, FROM THE END OF AUGUST. SO, UH, WE'RE TRENDING IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION. UH, AND, UH, AS OF TODAY, I'LL TELL YOU, WE STILL HAVE YET TO, UH, DISCONNECT ANY RESIDENTIAL CUSTOMERS. UH, WE ARE CONTINUING TO PROVIDE OUTREACH TO THEM. UH, AND SO, UM, YOU KNOW, WE'RE GONNA TRY TO EXTEND, UH, THAT AS LONG AS WE POSSIBLY CAN, UH, THEY WILL, UH, BEGIN TO RECEIVE DISCONNECT NOTICES, UH, LIKELY SOON. UH, BUT WE'RE UP ON THE HOLIDAYS. SO A LOT OF THOSE WINDOWS FOR WHEN WE WOULD ACTUALLY START DISCONNECTING, UH, WOULD, UH, YOU KNOW, WOULD, WOULD, WOULD, WOULD, YOU KNOW, REALLY BLACK THAT BLACK THAT OUT. WHEN YOU LOOK AT THE COMMERCIAL SIDE, UH, WE'VE SEEN A 10% REDUCTION IN COMMERCIAL ACCOUNTS, UH, THAT ARE ELIGIBLE FOR DISCONNECT. WE HAVE, UH, BEEN DISCONNECTING COMMERCIAL CUSTOMERS, I'LL TELL YOU THAT, UH, OF THE CUSTOMERS THAT, UH, RECEIVED KIND OF A DISCONNECTION THAT GOT INTO THE, OUR DISCONNECT PROCESS, ABOUT 411 OF THOSE CUSTOMERS ACTUALLY GOT INTO THE PROCESS. UH, UH, WE COMPLETED ABOUT 232 OF THOSE CUSTOMERS. SO ROUGHLY HALF WERE ABLE TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT THAT BEFORE THEY GOT INTO DISCONNECTION. AND OF THE CUSTOMERS THAT WERE DISCONNECTED, UH, ALMOST 75% OF THOSE CUSTOMERS IMMEDIATELY, UH, YOU KNOW, UH, TOOK CARE OF, OF GETTING ON A PAYMENT PLAN AND, UH, AND GOT BACK INTO, UH, TO GETTING THEIR POWER. SO, UH, VERY SUCCESSFUL RESPONSE FROM THE CUSTOMERS THAT HAVE BEEN IMPACTED, BUT BY AND LARGE, UH, OUR COM OUR CUSTOMERS, YOU KNOW, THAT NUMBER WAS ROUGHLY, YOU KNOW, OVER 5,000 AT ONE POINT IN TIME. SO THE FACT THAT LESS THAN 10% OF THAT ACTUALLY, UH, WERE IMPACTED BY DISCONNECTS, I THINK IS A REALLY GOOD SIGN THAT OUR MESSAGE IS, IS, IS, IS RESONATING. UH, ON THE RESIDENTIAL SIDE, I, I'VE, I'VE SHOWN YOU THIS SLIDE BEFORE, UH, THERE'S A SEQUENCE. YOU KNOW, OUR, OUR, UH, UH, A D P CUSTOMERS ARE OUR ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS. CUSTOMERS REALLY WOULDN'T BE IMPACTED. UH, YOU KNOW, THE, THE PROCESS WOULD START IN JANUARY, BUT THEY REALLY WOULDN'T SEE, UH, AN IMPACT UNTIL EARLY FEBRUARY THAT THEY WOULD ACTUALLY BE ELIGIBLE FOR DISCONNECT. AND SO, UH, WE'VE SEEN A 20% REDUCTION IN THE ACCOUNTS THAT ARE ELIGIBLE, UH, FOR DISCONNECT ON THE RESIDENTIAL SIDE. UH, SO ALL OF THE EVENTS THAT COUNCILWOMAN H HAD A FANTASTIC EVENT. WE'VE GOT A, A EVENT AT, UH, TRI POINT COMING UP THIS WEEK, I BELIEVE, WITH, WITH COUNCILMAN BRAVO. UH, THE, THESE EVENTS ARE REALLY HAVING AN IMPACT. AND I WILL TELL YOU, WE'VE DONE A LOT OF OTHER THINGS THAT, UH, COUNCILMAN, YOU KNOW, AND COMMITTEE MEMBERS, YOU KNOW, WHEN WE COME BEFORE YOU AND TALK ABOUT THESE ISSUES, WE ARE LISTENING AND, UH, WE'VE ADDED SOME LAYERS OF, OF THINGS THAT WE COULD DO IN ADDITION TO WHAT WE TALKED ABOUT BEFORE, WE'RE EXTENDING OUR OFFICE HOURS, UH, AT ALL OF OUR WALK-IN CENTERS, UH, FOR THE, UH, AFFORDABILITY, UH, CUSTOMERS THAT ARE GONNA BE ELIGIBLE FOR ARPA FUNDING. WE'RE GONNA SET UP, UH, I CAN'T REMEMBER IF IT WAS COUNCILWOMAN HDA, UH, OR, OR, UH, OR, OR WHICH, OR WHICH COUNCIL PERSON ASKED THIS QUESTION LAST TIME, BUT WE'RE GONNA SET UP A SPECIFIC NUMBER SO IT'S EASIER TO GET THROUGH, UH, OUR PHONE SYSTEM FOR THOSE CUSTOMERS THAT, THAT ARE KIND OF ON A TIME CLOCK THAT HAVE FUNDING AVAILABLE. SO WE'RE GONNA DO THAT. UH, WE'RE ALSO, FOR THE CUSTOMERS THAT STILL WON'T REACH OUT TO US, UH, PAUL AND I HAVE TALKED THIS WEEK, AND WE'RE SETTING UP A GRASSROOTS, UH, EFFORT TO GO OUT AND KNOCK ON DOORS. COUNCILWOMAN, WE WILL TAKE YOU UP ON YOUR OFFER, UH, TO JOIN US ON KNOCKING ON DOORS. WE'RE NOT GONNA LET ANY, ANY INDIVIDUAL WHO HAS ACCESS TO BLESS YOU, COUNCILMAN, WHO HAS ACCESS TO FUNDING, UH, TO HELP. WE'RE NOT GONNA LET THAT FUNDING GO AND UTILIZE, WE'RE GONNA GO OUT AND KNOCK ON DOORS. AND, AND FOR US, WE THINK THAT'S THE BE, THAT'S THE KIND OF THE FINAL THING THAT WE CAN DO, UH, TO TRY TO DO EVERYTHING WE CAN DO TO, TO REACH OUT. SO, UH, COUNCILMAN, UH, I HOPE, UH, THIS MOVES US IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION. UH, ENGAGEMENTS, AGAIN, WHEN YOU ADD UP ALL THE CUSTOMERS THAT WE'VE BEEN ABLE TO CONTACT THROUGH THE VARIOUS POPUP EVENTS, UH, THAT NUMBER'S TOTAL, UH, CLOSE TO 76 OR 66,000 CUSTOMERS. UH, AND, UH, SO, UH, WE'RE, WE'RE, YOU KNOW, AND AGAIN, THE TOTAL AT THE BEGINNING OF THIS WAS, I THINK THERE WERE ROUGHLY 77,000 CUSTOMERS THAT WERE ELIGIBLE FOR DISCONNECT STARTING IN AUGUST, UH, GIVE OR TAKE. SO WE'RE DOING EVERYTHING THAT WE CAN DO TO PRO BE PROACTIVE ABOUT CONNECTING, UH, AND, AND, AND BY AND LARGE, THAT'S BEEN IN COOPERATION WITH THE FOLKS AROUND THIS TABLE WHO ARE MAKING THEMSELVES AVAILABLE AND HELPING SUPPORT, UH, OUR CAUSE. AND HERE'S JUST A FEW OF THOSE COMMUNITY EVENTS. UH, AS I MENTIONED, ACTUALLY, COUNCILWOMAN H DOES, UH, UH, UH, EVENT ALREADY HAPPENED. UH, SO WE'RE GONNA PUT THAT OVER HERE, UH, NEXT TIME ON THE, ON THE CHECK SIDE. AND, UH, AND WE WILL CONTINUE TO, TO MAKE OURSELVES AVAILABLE TO HAVE AS MANY OF THESE EVENTS AS, AS, AS THE COUNCIL, UH, PEOPLE'S OFFICES CAN SUPPORT. UH, WE'RE IN THIS, UH, TO TRY TO MAKE SURE THAT COME JANUARY, AS MANY OF THESE FOLKS AS POSSIBLE, ARE OFF OF THIS LIST. [01:50:01] AND THAT'S ALL I HAVE. OKAY. THANK YOU. UM, IF LORI'S HERE, WE'D LIKE TO HEAR, UH, A LITTLE THANK YOU, LORI. UH, A LITTLE SYNOPSIS FROM OUR CITY'S PERSPECTIVE WITH ARPA FUNDING IN MIND HOW WE CAN BE OF ASSISTANCE, UH, TO PEOPLE WHO ARE BEHIND ON THEIR UTILITY BILLS. GREAT. AND IF I CAN GET THE PRESENTATION KEYED UP, IS THAT HE'S COMING OVER. OKAY. IT'S GONNA COME UP. THERE WE GO. THANK YOU. THANK YOU, COUNCILMAN. I'M LORI HOUSTON. I'M AN ASSISTANT CITY MANAGER, AND, UM, I OVERSEE THE DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN SERVICES, WHICH ADMINISTERS THEIR OWN UTILITY ASSISTANCE PROGRAM. TODAY I'M GONNA TALK TO YOU A LITTLE BIT ABOUT WHAT STAFF IS PROPOSING AS IT RELATES TO THE USE OF ARPA FUNDS TO HELP OUR PARTNERS AT SASS AND C P S HELP THOSE WHO ARE GOING TO BE NEEDING ASSISTANCE WITH THEIR OUTSTANDING BALANCE DUE TO COVID. SO WHAT STAFF IS RECOMMENDING IS THAT WE PROVIDE C P SS $20 MILLION IN ARPA FUNDING TO HELP THE UTILITY ASSISTANCE PROGRAM. THIS WILL HELP ABOUT 20,000 CUSTOMERS, UM, EITHER ELIMINATE ANY OUTSTANDING BALANCE OR REDUCE THEIR OUTSTANDING BALANCE. AND THEN WE'RE PROVIDING SAWS $10 MILLION, AND THIS EQUATES TO ABOUT 13,000 CUSTOMERS THAT IT'LL ASSIST. WHAT WE'RE PROPOSING IS TO QUALIFY FOR THIS PROGRAM, YOU MUST MEET THREE CRITERIA. ONE, YOU MUST BE A SAN ANTONIO RESIDENT. TWO, YOU MUST PROVIDE PROOF OF HARDSHIP DUE TO COVID, AND THAT HARDSHIP MUST BE, UM, HAVE TAKEN PLACE BETWEEN MARCH OF 2020 TO SEPTEMBER OF 2021. AND YOU CAN PROVIDE THAT PROOF OF HARDSHIP IN ONE OF MANY WAYS. YOU CAN EITHER SHOW US AN UNEMPLOYMENT OR FURLOUGH LETTER. YOU CAN PROVIDE PAY SUBS SHOWING DECREASED FUNDING. YOU CAN PROVIDE DOCUMENTATION OF UNEXPECTED EXPENSES SUCH AS CHILDCARE, UM, MEDICAL DOCUMENTATION, SHOWING INABILITY TO WORK. AND IF ALL ELSE FAILS, IF YOU DO NOT HAVE THAT TYPE OF DOCUMENTATION, WE'LL ACCEPT A SIGNED SELF DECLARATION THAT OUTLINES THE HARDSHIP YOU EXPERIENCED DURING THIS COVID PERIOD. AND THEN FINALLY, YOU MUST ENROLL IN THE AFFORDABILITY PROGRAM OR A PAYMENT PLAN WITH EITHER SAS OR C P S OR BOTH? SO BOTH UTILITIES HAVE AN AFFORDABILITY PROGRAM. THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THAT PROGRAM ARE INCOME ELIGIBLE. SO YOU MUST BE AT 125% OF THE POVERTY LINE OR BELOW TO BE IN THAT AFFORDABILITY PROGRAM. IF YOU ARE NOT ENROLLED IN AFFORDABILITY PROGRAM, WE WANT YOU TO ENROLL IN A PAYMENT PLAN WITH THE UTILITY. NOW, THE ALLOWANCE THAT WE'RE RECOMMENDING FOR EACH OF THESE PROGRAMS IS THAT IF YOU ARE INCOME ELIGIBLE AND YOU'RE ENROLLED IN AFFORDABILITY PROGRAM, WHICH MEANS YOU'RE AT 125% OF THE FEDERAL POVERTY LINE BELOW, WE WILL ELIMINATE YOUR BALANCE THAT EXISTS FOR THAT TIME PERIOD BETWEEN MARCH OF 2020 TO SEPTEMBER 30TH, 2021. AND SO IT'LL BE COMPLETELY ELIMINATED FOR THAT TIME PERIOD. NOW, IF YOU ARE ABOVE THE FEDERAL POVERTY LINE OF 125%, WHICH MEANS YOU'RE NOT ELIGIBLE FOR THE AFFORDABILITY PROGRAM, BUT YOU ARE ENROLLED IN A PAYMENT PLAN, WE WILL APPLY A CREDIT TO YOUR BALANCE FOR THAT TIME PERIOD. SO FOR SAWS, WE'LL PROVIDE UP TO A $700 CREDIT TO YOUR, UM, BILL FOR THAT TIME PERIOD. AND FOR C P S, THE CREDIT WILL BE UP TO A THOUSAND DOLLARS. NOW THESE CREDITS WERE DETERMINED BASED ON THE AVERAGE OUTSTANDING BALANCE OR CUSTOMERS. SO IT'S ABOUT A LITTLE AROUND $700 FOR SA CUS FOR SA CUSTOMERS AND A THOUSAND FOR C P SS CUSTOMERS. BUT IT'LL BE A CREDIT. SO IF THERE'S MORE OWED, THEY OWE THAT ADDITIONAL AND THEY'LL MAKE THAT THROUGH A PAYMENT PLAN. IF THERE'S LESS, WE'RE ONLY GOING TO PAY WHAT THE OUTSTANDING BALANCE IS FOR THAT TIME PERIOD. NOW, THE APPLICATION PROCESS, BOTH SAWS AND C P SS, THEY WILL ADMINISTER THE PROCESS. SO THEY WILL BE SUB-RECIPIENTS OF THIS FUNDING. WE WILL PROVIDE THEM THE FUNDING AS THEY INVOICE US. BUT WHAT THEY NEED TO DO IS THEY NEED TO SCREEN APPLICANTS FOR ELIGIBILITY. THEY NEED TO SHOW US THAT THEY ARE IN AN AFFORDABILITY PROGRAM OR A PAYMENT PLAN, AND THEY WILL PROCESS THOSE APPLICATIONS AND THEY WILL INVOICE THE CITY FOR THOSE APPLICATIONS. AND WE'LL DO AUDITS AND HAVE IT PROCESSED TO ENSURE THAT WE'RE FOLLOWING THE GUIDELINES BECAUSE WE DON'T WANT TO BE AUDITED DOWN THE ROAD, WANNA MAKE SURE THAT WE HAVE ALL THE DOCUMENTATION NECESSARY. WE ARE GOING TO TAKE THIS TO CITY COUNCIL ON NOVEMBER 18TH, UM, FOR APPROVAL FOR THE SUB-RECIPIENT AGREEMENTS. BUT AS YOU HEARD FROM BOTH SAWS AND C P S, THEY'RE ALREADY PREPARING FOR THIS PROCESS. THEY ARE GOING TO BE GETTING PEOPLE ENROLLED IN THE AFFORDABILITY PROGRAM IF THEY'RE NOT ALREADY. AND WE ENCOURAGE PEOPLE TO ENROLL IF THEY THINK THEY'RE QUALIFIED. [01:55:01] AND IF THEY ARE NOT QUALIFIED, PLEASE ENROLL IN A PAYMENT PLAN. WE WANNA MAKE SURE THAT WE HAVE THAT DOCUMENTATION IN PLACE SO YOU ARE IN LINE TO RECEIVE THESE, UM, FUNDS TO HELP WITH YOUR OUTSTANDING BALANCE. BUT COME NOVEMBER 19TH, THEY'LL START ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS. BUT IN DISCUSSIONS WITH OUR PARTNERS, THEY'RE GONNA BE DOING MORE OUTREACH, BLOCK WALKING, MAKING SURE THAT THOSE RESIDENTS KNOW THEY'RE ELIGIBLE FOR THIS PROGRAM. AND I WANNA STRESS THAT IT IS A RESIDENTIAL PROGRAM. THIS IS NOT FOR COMMERCIAL, IT'S RESIDENTIAL. BUT WHAT THIS PROGRAM DOES IS IT FOCUSES ON THE MOST VULNERABLE, WANNA MAKE SURE THAT THOSE WHO ARE MOST VULNERABLE GET THEIR SERVICES PAID FOR SO THEY DON'T HAVE AN OUTSTANDING BALANCE AND THEY CAN MOVE FORWARD. BUT IF YOU DO NOT QUALIFY, WE UNDERSTAND THERE ARE STILL HARDSHIPS FOR THOSE WE WANT YOU TO GET ON A PAYMENT PLAN AND WE HAVE SOME ASSISTANCE TO HELP YOU WITH THAT OUTSTANDING BALANCE FOR THAT TIME PERIOD. SO THAT CONCLUDES MY PRESENTATION. BEN GOEL AND MYSELF ARE AVAILABLE TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS ON BEHALF OF THE CITY, AS ARE OUR CITY PARTNERS. OKAY, THANK YOU LORI. SO DO ANY OF, DO EITHER OF THE COMMITTEE MEMBERS HAVE ANY QUESTIONS FOR SAS C P S OR UH, LORI RIGHT NOW ABOUT THE PLAN TO HELP PEOPLE MAINTAIN THEIR UTILITIES AND WATER AND PAY ANY OF THE DEBTS THEY MAY HAVE? NO. ANY QUESTIONS? OKAY. I HAVE ONE OR TWO. SO I, I UNDERSTAND THE, THE PROCESS THAT'S BEEN LAID OUT. ARE WE SAYING THAT ANYBODY WHO IS ELIGIBLE FOR ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS WILL AUTOMATICALLY BE ELIGIBLE TO RECEIVE THIS? OR IS THERE MORE THEY HAVE TO SHOW, BECAUSE I KNOW BOTH GROUPS HAVE ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS AND PEOPLE WHO ARE SIGNED UP FOR THOSE NOW, WILL THEY AUTOMATICALLY GET THEIR BILLS PAID? SO, NO, THE ANSWER IS THEY HAVE TO BE ENROLLED IN AN AFFORDABILITY PROGRAM OR A PAYMENT PLAN THAT IS A REQUIREMENT. BUT FOR THEM TO COMPLETE THE APPLICATION, THEY NEED TO SHOW THAT PROOF OF HARDSHIP. AND SO THAT IS A REQUIREMENT FOR ARPA FUNDS. AND SO OUR PARTNERS WILL BE REACHING OUT TO THOSE THAT ARE QUALIFIED TO HELP GET THAT PROOF OF HARDSHIP. AND THEY'RE GONNA BE STARTING NOW, EVEN THOUGH THE PROGRAM WILL NOT BE IMPROVED IN NOVEMBER 18TH, WE REALLY WANNA TARGET THOSE THAT ARE MOST VULNERABLE AND PEOPLE ARE ALREADY ENROLLED IN THE AFFORDABILITY PROGRAM SO THEY COULD BE ABLE TO START GETTING THAT DOCUMENTATION. I UNDERSTAND THAT IT COULD BE AS SIMPLE AS GIVING A, AN AFFIDAVIT OR, OR A WRITTEN LETTER SAYING, I'VE SUFFERED UNDER COVID BECAUSE I'VE LOST A JOB OR A FAMILY MEMBER'S LOST A JOB OR WHATEVER. AND CAN THAT BE DONE OVER THE PHONE WITH, UM, YOU KNOW, EXPEDITERS FROM THE UTILITIES CALLING EVERYBODY ON THEIR LIST WHO HAVE ALREADY RECEIVING ASSISTANCE AND ASKING, UH, HAVE YOU NOT BEEN ABLE TO PAY RELATED TO C O V I D AND WHAT IS THE RELATION? AND IF THEY SAY, YOU KNOW, I LOST A JOB, OR A FAMILY MEMBER LOST A JOB, OR, YOU KNOW, WE WERE SICK AND OUT OF WORK FOR, UH, A MONTH OR TWO, WOULD THAT SUFFICE? THEY WILL NEED TO SIGN A DECLARATION JUST LIKE THEY WOULD NEED TO SUBMIT THE FURLOUGH LETTER OR SOMETHING. SO THERE DOES NEED TO BE A SIGNED DOCUMENT, BUT WE'LL HELP WITH THAT. UM, WE DO HAVE THE ABILITY TO ACCEPT THEM ONLINE. I KNOW BOTH PARTNERS HAVE ONLINE APPLICATIONS, BUT IN DISCUSSIONS WITH THEM, THEIR CALL CENTER WILL BE THERE TO HELP THEM AND MAKE SURE THEY CAN GET THAT DOCUMENTATION THAT'S NECESSARY. YEAH, WE JUST KNOW SO MANY PEOPLE HAVE A HARD TIME WITH TRANSPORTATION MM-HMM. AND WITH COMMUNICATION WITH COMPUTERS, AND A LOT OF THOSE SAME PEOPLE ARE THE ONES WHO ARE PROBABLY IN THIS SITUATION. UH, AND I'M JUST WONDERING WHAT THE CHALLENGE IS GOING TO BE FOR THE UTILITY OR THESE PEOPLE TO GET A PHYSICAL DOCUMENT SIGNED AND AND INTO THOSE UTILITIES, OR TO UNDERSTAND THAT'S WHAT YOU NEED TO DO. UH, IT'S ONE THING FOR US TO PUBLISH IT, PUT IT OUT THROUGH C P S OR SAWS, OR EVEN INCORPORATE ON THEIR BILLS. IT'S ANOTHER MATTER FOR THE RESPONSIBLE PERSON TO BE ABLE TO GET TO A CENTER AND GET IT DONE. SO, UH, I'M, I WAS JUST LOOKING TO SEE IF THERE WAS A, A MORE EXPEDITIOUS WAY TO DO THAT, BUT THAT'S A REQUIREMENT BY THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT FOR THE USE OF THAT MONEY. IT IS A REQUIREMENT THAT WE HAVE A DOCUMENTATION THAT SHOWS HOW THEIR HARDSHIP, UM, CAME ABOUT. UM, AND IT DOES NEED TO BE SIGNED IF THEY CANNOT PROVIDE THOSE OTHERS. UM, BUT IN TALKING WITH THE PARTNERS, THEY'LL DO EVERYTHING THEY NEED TO DO TO MAKE SURE THEY HAVE THAT DOCUMENTATION. AS YOU HEARD FROM RUDY, THEY'LL BE DOING BLOCK WALKING. UM, THEY'LL BE DOING PHONE CALLS TO GET OUTREACH. SO I DON'T HAVE ANY CONCERNS ABOUT THEM REALLY WORKING HARD TO HELP TO GET THAT DOCUMENTATION. I'D LIKE TO MAKE A RECOMMENDATION AND TO BOTH THE UTILITIES THAT POSSIBLY YOU, YOU COORDINATE THROUGH THE CITY COUNCIL OFFICES, GIVE US THOSE FORMS. TELL US WHAT WE WOULD HAVE TO DO TO HAVE A STAFF MEMBER HAVE SOMEBODY COME TO OUR OFFICE AND SIT DOWN AND WE CAN THEN FILL OUT THAT FORM WITH THEM SO THAT THEY [02:00:01] DON'T HAVE TO TRY AND GET IN TOUCH WITH ONE OF YOUR ORGANIZATIONS. I'M, I'M SURE EVERY ONE OF US WOULD BE GLAD TO HAVE SOME OF OUR STAFF EXPEDITE THESE PEOPLE MAKING THOSE CONNECTIONS. SO I DO HAVE A QUESTION. I'M SORRY. OKAY. QUESTION FROM, UH, COUNCILWOMAN HRA. THANK YOU, LORI. I, I MEAN, I THINK YOU UNDERSTAND WE NEED A PRETTY ROBUST COMMUNICATION PLAN FOR THIS. SO ANY WAY THAT WE CAN HELP, UM, ABSOLUTELY. YOU KNOW, MY OFFICE TO HELP TO GET THIS OUT, BUT I, I'M CURIOUS, DO WE HAVE ANYTHING IN PLACE FOR SMALL BUSINESSES RIGHT NOW? THE PRIORITY IS TO HELP WITH THE RESIDENTS MM-HMM. . AND AS WE GO OUT IN THE COMMUNITY TO DISCUSS THE USE OF ARPA FUNDS, IF THERE IS A NEED THAT ARISES THROUGH THAT COMMUNITY DISCUSSION, WE MIGHT COME BACK AND MAKE THAT RECOMMENDATION. OKAY. SO RIGHT NOW WE ARE CARVING OUT THE $30 MILLION FROM THAT DISCUSSION TO PRIORITIZE THE MOST VULNERABLE, BUT IT DOES NOT KEEP US FROM COMING BACK AFTER WE DO THOSE COMMUNITY DISCUSSIONS WITH ANOTHER RECOMMENDATION. OKAY. ALRIGHTYY. THANK YOU, LORI. THANK YOU. OKAY. ANY OTHER QUESTIONS OR CONCERNS? OKAY. WELL THANK YOU ALL FOR THOSE PRESENTATIONS AND, YOU KNOW, WE'LL LOOK FORWARD TO HAVING UPDATED INFORMATION AT THE NEXT MEETING. ONE THING I, I WOULD ASK, YOU KNOW, I UNDERSTAND, YOU KNOW, THE ACCOUNTABILITY TO EVERY BOARD, UH, FOR ALL THE UTILITIES, BUT I, I WOULD JUST HATE TO HAVE TO WAIT FOR A BOARD TO HEAR SOMETHING BEFORE THIS COMMITTEE CAN GET SOME OF THAT INFORMATION BECAUSE A LOT OF THE INFORMATION IS, IS SOMETHING THE GENERAL PUBLIC IS CONCERNED ABOUT. SO I WOULD, UH, HOPE THAT YOU MIGHT TALK TO YOUR BOARDS AND SAY, IF WE'RE GONNA BE MEETING WITH THE MUNICIPAL UTILITIES COMMITTEE, CAN WE GET THIS INFORMATION OUT TO THEM, UH, A LITTLE BIT SOONER THAN WAITING FOR THE NEXT BOARD MEETING. UH, SO I'LL ASK YOU TO ASK THE INDULGENCE OF YOUR BOARDS TO, UH, GIVE YOU AUTHORIZATION TO SHARE THAT WITH US SO THAT WE GET IT A LITTLE MORE EXPEDITIOUSLY. UM, AND YES, COUNCILMAN, THANK YOU, CHAIR. YEAH, I WOULD LIKE TO ADD TO THAT A LITTLE BIT. YOU KNOW, I MEAN, IT'S ONE THING IF YOU'RE GONNA BE, UM, AND THIS IS A NEW DYNAMIC FOR YOU ALL RIGHT, TO HAVE THIS MUNICIPAL UTILITIES COMMITTEE, BUT IT'S, IT'S ONE THING IT YOU ALL TO MAKE A FINAL DECISION THAT YOU'RE GONNA COME ASK FOR A RATE INCREASE, THEN YEAH, I CAN SEE WHY YOU WOULD WANT TO GO AND MAKE THAT KNOWN TO YOUR BOARD FIRST. BUT IF IT'S JUST ONGOING, REGULAR UPDATES, YOU KNOW, SUCH AS, YOU KNOW, WHERE IS OUR PROGRESS IN MEETING THE, THE RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE EMERGENCY PREPARED, UH, THE EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS COMMITTEE. I DON'T, I'M NEVER GONNA GET THAT ONE RIGHT. BUT JUST ONGOING UPDATES LIKE THAT, I'D LIKE FOR YOU ALL TO BE ABLE TO SHARE THEM. IF YOU HAVE MORE UPDATES, UH, NEW INFORMATION SINCE YOU LAST MET WITH YOUR BOARD, I'D LIKE FOR YOU ALL TO BE ABLE TO SHARE IT WITH US. AND THEN MAYBE IT'LL BE EVEN MORE UPDATED BY THE TIME YOU GO AND MEET WITH YOUR BOARD. BUT, UM, IF IT'S, IF IT'S, YOU KNOW, REALLY BIG BREAKING NEWS SURE, I UNDERSTAND. BUT THERE'S A LOT OF INFO, MORE INFORMATION THAT YOU COULD BE SHARING WITH US, SHARING WITH THE PUBLIC ON A REGULAR BASIS. THANK YOU. THANK YOU, COUNCILMAN. [6. Briefing on Website Features to Support the Municipal Utilities Committee [Ben Gorzell Jr., Chief Financial Officer; Troy Elliott, Deputy Chief Financial Officer]] UH, I'M GONNA DEFER ITEM NUMBER SIX, WHICH IS A BRIEFING OF OUR WEBSITE, UH, FOR THIS COMMITTEE. AND, UH, I WOULD LIKE TO ASK THE STAFF TO JUST SEND THAT TO ALL OF THE COMMITTEE MEMBERS SO THAT WE CAN LOOK IT OVER AND MAYBE SEND SOME COMMENTS BACK TO THE STAFF ON HOW THAT'S MOVING FORWARD. UH, [Consideration of items for future meetings] AND I'D LIKE TO ASK IF ANY OF THE COUNCIL MEMBERS WOULD LIKE TO SEE ANY OTHER ISSUES BROUGHT FORWARD BEFORE THIS COMMITTEE IN A FUTURE MEETING. COUNCILMAN, I'D LIKE TO SEE A, A PRESENTATION JUST ON THE COMMUNICATION PLAN FROM BOTH UTILITIES. OKAY. UM, THEN WE'LL GO AHEAD AND TRY AND SCHEDULE THAT AT THE NEXT MEETING OF THE MEETING SOON AFTER. THANK YOU. OKAY. I, I'D LIKE TO SEE, UM, AN, I GUESS A, A BRIEFING ON CPS ENERGY'S RATE ADVISORY COMMITTEE, LOOKING AT WHAT HAVE THEY DONE TO DATE, UH, WHAT ARE THEIR PLANS FOR FUTURE MEETINGS, UH, WHEN CAN WE EXPECT THEM TO BE ABLE TO POSSIBLY GIVE A BRIEFING TO THIS COMMITTEE OR A BRIEFING TO THE C P S ENERGY BOARD. OKAY. AND, UH, ONE LAST NOTICE I'LL MAKE IS WE, WE'RE GONNA BE RESCHEDULING OUR NOVEMBER MEETING. UH, THE ORIGINAL MEETING WAS, UH, CLOSE TO THANKSGIVING. AND, UH, IS THERE A, A DATE WE'RE GONNA RECOMMEND BEN, AND LET'S SEE IF EITHER COUNCIL MEMBER FIND THAT'S CONFLICT 30TH. OKAY. NOVEMBER 30TH. UH, DO EITHER OF OF YOU HAVE A PROBLEM WITH THE NOVEMBER 30TH MEETING? I KNOW, YEAH. LOOK AT YOUR SCHEDULE AND WE'LL CHECK WITH THE OTHER TWO COMMITTEE MEMBERS WHO HAD HAD TO DEPART EARLIER. LOOKS GOOD. IT LOOKS GOOD WITH ME. BELIEVE IT'S FINE. OKAY. SO THEN, UH, WE'LL, WE'LL SCHEDULE NEXT MEETING ON NOVEMBER 30TH [02:05:01] SO WE'RE NOT FALLING RIGHT AROUND THANKSGIVING. YES, SIR. SO, I, I'M SORRY. UH, I, I MENTIONED WHAT I'D LIKE TO SEE FROM C P SS ENERGY FROM SAS IN A FUTURE MEETING. I'D LIKE TO SEE, UH, PRESENTATION ON YOUR CONSERVATION EFFORTS IN THE PAST AND HOW THAT'S AFFECTED RATES, AS WELL AS A PRESENTATION ON YOUR, UH, CHILLED WATER LOOP AND, UH, WHAT KIND OF OPPORTUNITIES YOU HAVE THERE. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. WE'LL SEE HOW WE CAN FIT THOSE IN AT THE NEXT MEETING OR THE MEETING AFTER SOON, GOING FORWARD. OKAY. I THINK THAT CONCLUDES THE BUSINESS THAT WE HAVE. SO AT THIS TIME, I'LL JUST CALL THIS MEETING ADJOURNED. THANK YOU EVERYBODY FOR YOUR PATIENCE. THANK YOU, SIR. THANKS. * This transcript was created by voice-to-text technology. The transcript has not been edited for errors or omissions, it is for reference only and is not the official minutes of the meeting.