[00:00:01]
EVERYBODY PLEASE BE SEATED? IT'S 10 0 5.I'D LIKE TO BEGIN THE MEETING.
WELCOME TO THE NOVEMBER 30TH MEETING OF THE MUNICIPAL UTILITIES COMMITTEE OF THE SAN ANTONIO CITY COUNCIL.
WE'D LIKE TO BEGIN THE MEETING AT THIS TIME.
WOULD YOU READ THE ROLE, PLEASE? YES, SIR.
COUNCIL MEMBER SANDOVAL CHAIR.
UH, THE FIRST ORDER OF BUSINESS
[Approval of Minutes ]
IS, UH, APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES FROM OCTOBER 26TH MEETING.UH, I'LL END, ENTERTAIN A MOTION FROM ANY OF THE COMMITTEE MEMBERS TO APPROVE THOSE MINUTES.
IT'S BEEN MOVED AND SECONDED TO APPROVE THE OCTOBER 26 MINUTES.
[Public Comment ]
ANY, DID ANYBODY SIGN UP FOR PUBLIC COMMENT TODAY? THERE WAS NO ONE SIGNED UP, SIR.THERE WAS NO SIGNED UP, SIR, I DON'T SHOW YOU ON THE SYSTEM OR ON THE, THE DOCUMENT I GOT, I GOT AN EMAIL THAT SAYS I SIGNED UP.
IF YOU STILL HAVE THAT EMAIL, WE'LL CERTAINLY RECOGNIZE THAT.
DO YOU HAVE IT ON YOUR PHONE? YEAH, BUT I DON'T HAVE
WE'LL GO AHEAD AND ALLOW YOU TO GO AHEAD AND SPEAK THEN.
IF YOU'D LIKE TO GO TO THE FRONT, PLEASE IDENTIFY YOURSELF.
THANK YOU FOR THE OPPORTUNITY TO SPEAK.
I'M CHAIRMAN OF THE ALMA GROUP OF THE SIERRA CLUB.
CONSIDERING RATES, PLEASE CONSIDER ALL CHANGES TO THE RATE STRUCTURE THROUGH THE LENS OF SOCIAL JUSTICE.
THIS IS CRITICAL GIVEN THE, THE STATE OF OUR PEOPLE AND THE BURDENS THAT ARE PUT UPON OUR PEOPLE RIGHT NOW.
IT'S THE POOR THAT BEAR THE BRUNT OF ANY RATE HIKES.
SO PLEASE KEEP, TAKE THAT INTO CONSIDERATION BEFORE YOU RAISE RATES.
ALSO, PLEASE DO NOT IMPLEMENT ANY RATE CHANGES BEFORE SECURING A FIRM PLAN FROM C P S TO ELIMINATE COAL BY 2030.
THE, THE, THE HAPPENINGS, UH, THIS MONTH OR THE LAST MONTH IN COP 26 IN GLASGOW, AND THE LATEST FINDINGS OF THE I P C C REALLY GIVE URGENCY TO THE NEED TO ELIMINATE COAL IN SAN ANTONIO QUICKLY.
SO WE NEED YOU GUYS THAT HAVE THE ABILITY TO INFLUENCE C P SS POLICY TO DO EVERYTHING YOU CAN TO MAKE THIS A REALITY CONCERNING THE BIG FREEZE.
UH, WHO CAN I GIVE THOSE TO? I'M NOT GONNA BELABOR THOSE IN THE INTEREST OF MOVING ON HERE.
OH, HERE'S, UH, UH, YOU HAVE, HERE'S THE SIXTH COPY.
UM, PLEASE BE AGGRESSIVE IN IMPLEMENTING INCREASED COOPERATION, COMMUNICATION AND IMPLEMENTATION OF CHANGES WITHIN C P SS AND SAWS.
THIS ISSUE OF COOPERATION BETWEEN ENTITIES, WHETHER IT'S CITY OF SAN ANTONIO SAWS, C P SS ENERGY, WE NEED TO MAKE THIS HAPPEN BECAUSE WE NEED A MORE EFFICIENT PROCESS FOR HANDLING NOT JUST ISSUES LIKE THE BIG FREEZE, BUT DAY-TO-DAY OPERATIONS THAT CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE FOR THE CITIZENS OF SAN ANTONIO.
CONCERNING CUSTOMER CUTOFFS, I HOPE THAT EXTERNAL FUNDS WILL MINIMIZE THE IMPACT TO THE UNFORTUNATE RATE PAYERS WHO ARE BEHIND IN PAYMENTS.
UTILITY CUTOFFS ARE A CASCADING EFFECT THROUGHOUT THE COMMUNITY, UM, IN MANY DIFFERENT WAYS.
UM, PLEASE CONSIDER ALL CHANGES TO THE UTILITY CUTOFF POLICY THROUGH THE LENS OF SOCIAL JUSTICE AS WELL.
AND I KNOW THAT YOU HAVE THAT AT HEART HERE.
TRANSPARENCY, TRANSPARENCY, TRANSPARENCY AND EVERYTHING THAT IS GOING ON, BECAUSE THERE'S JUST WAY TOO MANY BACKROOM DEALS THAT ARE MAKING SAN ANTONIO MOVE RIGHT NOW.
2022 WILL BE A PIVOTAL YEAR IN ACTING TO ELIMINATE COAL, UH, FROM THE GENERATING MIX IN SAN ANTONIO.
THE SIERRA CLUB HAS HAD A POLICY OF POLITE, PERSISTENT PERSUASION IN THE PAST.
CLIMATE CHANGE IS THE NUMBER ONE ISSUE FOR US AND MANY OTHER ENVIRONMENTAL GROUPS IN SAN ANTONIO IN THE COMING MONTHS AND YEARS.
IN 2022, WE WILL ASK MORE, SPEAK LOUDER, SPEAK WITH MORE UNIFIED VOICES AND EXPECT RESULTS.
UM, THE ITEMS FOR CONSIDERATION TODAY, THESE ARE ALL BRIEFING, UH,
[00:05:03]
MCGUIRE I UP TWO DAYS AGO.UH, ARE THERE ANYONE ELSE WHO SIGNED UP FOR SPEAKING THAT, UH, DID NOT APPEAR ON OUR LISTS? AND I'M GONNA TAKE MY NAME OFF THE LIST.
UH, I'LL ASK THE, UH, CLERK'S OFFICE TO BE A LITTLE MORE, UH, CAUTIOUS ABOUT RECOGNIZING THESE.
AND, UH, YOU'LL HAVE THREE MINUTES.
I, I KIND OF MISSPOKE, BUT WE GAVE YOU THREE MINUTES ANYWAY.
YOU'VE PROBABLY MET ME BEFORE.
I'VE BEEN VERY CONCERNED ABOUT THE RATE STRUCTURING PROCESS, AND I, UH, ALSO AM VERY CONCERNED ABOUT THE EXTENT TO WHICH SAN ANTONIO IS, UM, FAILING TO PROTECT THE LOWER INCOME PEOPLE FROM THESE HEAVILY, UH, INCREASED.
UM, I, I PUT A PREPARATION TOGETHER, UH, HOWEVER I PULLED OFF THE FRONT PAGE 'CAUSE, UM, I DISCOVERED SOME PRETTY BAD THINGS HAPPENING ON THE SAS RAC COM COMMITTEE INFORMATION.
COULD SOMEBODY PLEASE, UH, SHARE THESE, UH, THIS PART OF MY PRESENTATION WITH THE, UM, THE COMMITTEE? FIRST OF ALL, UH, I'M VERY UPSET THAT, UH, C P S IS PUSHING FOR A, UH, PUSHING FOR A RATE INCREASE BEFORE THEY FULLY CONSIDER THE BASIC STRUCTURE OF THE RATES OF FOR THE CITY.
UH, IT'S ABSOLUTELY UNFAIR TO RESIDENTS TO KEEP INCREASING THE AMOUNT OF BURDEN THAT THEY'RE HAVING TO BEAR.
AND THEY, AND WE NEED A FULL RE-ANALYSIS OF THE RATE STRUCTURE.
WE NEED A RATE STRUCTURE THAT WILL, UM, UH, DESIGN THE KIND OF, OF MEASURES THAT WILL TAKE US INTO A BETTER, UM, PLACE FOR DEALING WITH, UM, CLIMATE ACTION.
ADVANCED RATE, UH, RATE DESIGN WILL ACCOMPLISH THAT.
AND WHAT WE HAVE TO DO IS TO GET AWAY FROM THIS OLD FASHIONED RATE STRUCTURE THAT THEY'VE BEEN USING FOR DECADES AND DECADES.
WE HAVE TO PREPARE FOR A RATE STRUCTURE THAT CAN ACCOMPLISH WHAT WE NEED FOR A BETTER GRID, AND AT THE SAME TIME, BE CONSUMING LESS ENERGY.
AND THAT'S WHAT WE HAVE TO HAVE GOING ON.
UM, UH, IF YOU'VE GOTTEN YOUR, UH, YOUR HANDOUT, UM, THE COMMITTEE, PLEASE KEEP IN MIND THAT, UH, THERE WERE A LOT OF THINGS GOING ON BEHIND THE SCENES IN THE EXTENT TO WHICH YOU WERE BEING MISLED BY THE REPRESENTATIONS COMING FROM C P S ENERGY.
UM, I'VE GOT SOME SAMPLES HERE.
UH, AND, AND EACH OF THEM SHOW THE EXTENT TO WHICH THE MESSAGE THAT SAW, UH, C P S IS TRYING TO GIVE YOU, UH, IS REALLY A MISREPRESENTATION OR A MISINTERPRETATION OF WHAT, UH, IS GOING ON.
SO THE ONE THAT I'VE, I'VE FOCUSED ON MOST EXTENSIVELY HERE HAS TO DO WITH, UH, OH, I'M SORRY.
I, I, I'VE BEEN HAVING HEART PROBLEMS THIS MORNING, AND SO I'M A LITTLE BIT OVER, OVER.
BUT I WOULD VERY MUCH LIKE TO SPEAK TO THE COUNCIL MEMBERS BECAUSE I BELIEVE THAT CITY COUNCIL HAS THE AUTHORITY AND THE ABILITY TO TURN THIS AROUND.
AND I SAY, PLEASE DO NOT ALLOW ANY RATE HIKES WHATSOEVER, UNTIL THERE HAS BEEN A THOROUGH REARRANGEMENT OF THE, UH, RATE STRUCTURE.
THAT CONCLUDES PUBLIC COMMENT.
[Briefing on the following items ]
TODAY CONSISTS OF BRIEFINGS.UM, AND BEFORE WE GET INTO THAT, THE, I WANT TO GO AHEAD AND JUST MAKE SURE THAT THE AUDIENCE RECOGNIZES THAT THE MUNICIPAL UTILITY COMMITTEE WILL NOT AND DOES NOT HAVE ANY AUTHORITY OVER RATES OR RECOMMENDING RATES OR APPROVING RATES, OR THINGS OF THAT NATURE.
UH, THAT IS A FUNCTION OF THE ENTIRE CITY COUNCIL.
[00:10:02]
AND, UH, TOMORROW IN OUR B SESSION, THE CITY COUNCIL WILL RE WILL RECEIVE A BRIEFING ON A PROPOSED, UH, RATE STRUCTURE THAT C P S, UH, HAS IN MIND.AND AT THIS TIME, WE'RE GOING TO GET A LITTLE BIT MORE OF A BRIEFING FROM THE HEAD OF THE RATE ADVISORY COMMITTEE, THEIR CHAIR ON THE COMMITTEE'S PROGRESS TO DATE, AND HOPEFULLY WHERE HE SEES, UH, THE COMMITTEE GOING IN THE FUTURE.
SO, I, I'D LIKE TO GO AHEAD AND ASK HIM TO COME UP AT THIS TIME.
FORMER COUNCILMAN, UH, REED WILLIAMS. THANK YOU FOR BEING HERE TODAY.
AND THE OTHER, UH, UH, COUNCIL MEMBERS HERE.
UM, HOW WOULD YOU, AND WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE TO HEAR, UH, TODAY FROM THE RAC? I KNOW ON YOUR INTRODUCTION, YOU SAID YOU WANT A BRIEFING OF WHERE WE ARE.
I CAN GIVE YOU THAT FAIRLY QUICKLY.
AND THEN IF YOU HAVE QUESTIONS, I WOULD, UH, LIKE TO TAKE THOSE, IF THAT'S POSSIBLE.
AND, AND ALSO MAYBE WHERE YOU THINK IT'S, IT'S GOING TO BE GOING, BECAUSE I KNOW WE'RE LOOKING AT A SHORT TERM RIGHT.
AND THEN I UNDERSTAND THE RACK WILL BE AROUND CONTINUOUSLY TO LOOK AT THE LONGER TERM PICTURE AS FAR AS RATE STRUCTURE.
WELL THEN LET'S DON'T, UH, FOCUS TOO MUCH ON THE HISTORY, THEN.
LET'S KIND OF TAKE IT FROM HERE FORWARD, IF THAT'S OKAY.
BECAUSE I THINK EVERYBODY KNOWS.
WE SPENT A LOT OF TIME ON EDUCATION.
WE SPENT A LOT OF TIME BREAKING UP INTO, UH, THREE GROUPS, ONE OF WHICH WAS GONNA STUDY THE, THE RATE DESIGN.
MCGUIRE MENTIONED, UM, WITH THE, UH, NECESSITY TO GET AFTER THIS RATE INCREASE.
UH, WE, UH, CAME BACK TOGETHER IN ONE GROUP.
UH, WE'VE BEEN WORKING ON THIS RATE INCREASE NOW FOR ABOUT A MONTH AND A HALF.
UH, LAST TUESDAY, UH, WE RECEIVED ALL THE INFORMATION THAT WE BELIEVE THAT WE'RE GOING TO TO NEED WITH A COUPLE OF, OBVIOUSLY THERE'LL BE QUESTIONS ON THE INFORMATION.
BUT AS FAR AS THE BASE INFORMATION, WE GOT ALL THE INFORMATION THAT WE'D BEEN REQUESTING, UH, FOR, UH, CONSIDERATION OF THE RATE INCREASE.
UH, WE HAVE THREE MORE MEETINGS.
OUR, UH, NEXT MEETING IS, UH, THURSDAY, AND THEN, UH, THE NEXT TWO THURSDAYS.
AND AT THE END OF, UH, THOSE THREE MEETINGS, UH, WE WILL THEN VOTE ON TWO ITEMS TO RECOMMEND.
AS YOU MENTIONED IN YOUR INTRODUCTION, THE COUNCIL HAS THE AUTHORITY.
THOSE FOLKS OVER THERE AT C P S HAVE THE POWER TO RUN THE BUSINESS.
WE'RE KIND OF A MICROCOSM OF THE CITIZENS.
SO WE HAVE NO AUTHORITY, BUT WE DO HAVE A RESPONSIBILITY TO TAKE A POSITION THAT'S BEEN VERY DIFFICULT FOR SOME PEOPLE ON THE COMMITTEE.
'CAUSE THEY'RE NOT USED TO THAT.
BUT IN REALITY, UH, YOU'RE PRETTY MUCH REQUIRING THAT BECAUSE YOU WANT TO HEAR FROM THE PEOPLE, NOT FROM THE COMMITTEE AS A WHOLE, BUT FROM THE INDIVIDUAL PEOPLE.
SO OUR JOB, MY JOB AND ELOISE'S JOB ARE, UH, THE, UM, UM, VICE CHAIR HAS BEEN TO CREATE A ENVIRONMENT, A PROCESS THAT WILL GET US TO A POINT WHERE PEOPLE ARE COMFORTABLE.
NOW, OKAY? IF YOU TALK TO JUST ABOUT ANYBODY ON OUR COMMITTEE, THEY'RE NOT COMFORTABLE.
UH, WE HAVE BEEN THROUGH A TREMENDOUS AMOUNT OF CHANGE IN THIS COUNTRY AND IN THIS CITY IN THE LAST 22, 23 MONTHS.
I MEAN, WE'VE HAD THE PANDEMIC, WE'VE HAD THE WINTER STORM, AND I HAVE TO TELL YOU THE IMPACTS OF THAT.
YOU'VE ALL SEEN IT AND LIVED IT.
BUT WHAT IT'S DONE IS WHEN YOU HAVE THAT MUCH CHANGE, CHANGE CAUSES A TREMENDOUS AMOUNT OF CONTROVERSY AND DISAGREEMENT.
THERE'S JUST NO WAY AROUND IT.
AND, AND CONTROVERSY, DISAGREEMENT, UH, CAN EITHER BE PRODUCTIVE OR IT CAN BE DESTRUCTIVE.
SO WHAT WE'RE TRYING TO DO ON THE, ON THE RACK IS TO CREATE WHAT I CALL CONSTRUCTIVE CONFLICT SO THAT WE CAN ACTUALLY TALK ABOUT THINGS IN A RESPECTFUL MANNER AND TRY TO BUILD THE ONE THING THAT STITCHES IT FROM DESTRUCTIVE TO CONSTRUCTIVE, WHICH IS, WHICH IS TRUST.
OKAY? THERE'S VERY LITTLE OF IT NOW.
AND THEY CERTAINLY DON'T TRUST C P S.
IT'S GONE DOWN, OKAY? NOT THAT THEY'RE BAD PEOPLE, BUT THEY'VE HAD TO DEAL WITH A LOT OF CHANGE.
AND WHEN THERE IS THAT KIND OF CHANGE, YOU HAVE TO ADMIT, PEOPLE DON'T TRUST ME ANYMORE.
AND THAT'S WHAT WE'RE TRYING TO DO.
WE'RE TRYING TO DO IT ONE STEP AT A TIME.
WE WOULD'VE LIKED TO HAVE DEALT WITH, UM, POWER GENERATION, RATE DESIGN, LATE, UH, ENERGY BURDEN.
WE WOULD'VE LOVED TO HAVE DEALT WITH ALL OF THOSE.
BE AHEAD OF THIS RATE INCREASE.
C P S DOESN'T HAVE THAT CHOICE.
THE CITY DOESN'T HAVE THAT CHOICE.
[00:15:01]
THE TIME IS NOW.Y'ALL HAVE ALL READ MARVIN K MOONEY, IT'S A PRETTY GOOD BOOK.
TIME IS NOW, TIME IS DEAR, GOTTA GET IT DONE.
SO WE HAD TO SWITCH AND LOOK AT THIS RAPE CASE.
IN DOING THAT, THE WHOLE FOCUS WAS TO MINIMIZE THE IMPACT.
UNTIL WE COULD DO MORE OF THE STUDYING, YOU COULD UNDERSTAND MORE OF WHAT'S GOING ON, AND THERE COULD BE MORE TRANSPARENCY.
OKAY? TRUST, TRANSPARENCY, THOSE ARE VERY IMPORTANT.
THEY HAPPEN NOT TO BE SOME OF THE PILLARS THAT THEY HAVE ON THEIR PILLAR LIST, BUT THEY'RE VERY IMPORTANT.
AND THAT'S WHAT WE'RE TRYING TO BUILD VERY SIMPLY.
NOW, WILL WE DO IT IN THREE WEEKS? I DON'T KNOW.
THAT'S GONNA DEPEND ON THE FOLKS THAT ARE GIVING US INFORMATION, ANSWERING.
IF IT'S IN A RESPECTFUL MANNER, IF IT'S IN A LISTENING AND INTERFACING MANNER, WE WILL.
AND WE'LL GET TO A DECISION, UM, IN, IN THREE WEEKS, BASICALLY THREE WEEKS AND TWO DAYS, WE'LL GET TO A DECISION.
PEOPLE WILL SAY, I AGREE THAT WE SHOULD RECOMMEND THIS.
WE SHOULDN'T, THERE'S TWO THINGS.
IT'S THE 3.58% INCREASE ON THE RATE.
OH, IS THAT MY THREE MINUTES? NO, YOU GO AHEAD AND CONTINUE.
OH, I WAS LOOKING FOR AN OPPORTUNITY.
WE'LL GIVE YOU TWO MORE MINUTES.
SO WE'RE TRYING TO VOTE ON THE THREE POINT, UM, FIVE 8%.
AND WE'RE ALSO GONNA LOOK AT THE MISNOMER ITEM CALLED A REGULATORY ASSET.
IT'S NOT AN ASSET, IT'S JUST ACCUMULATION OF MONEY THAT WE'RE GONNA FINANCE AGAINST.
AND WE GOTTA KEEP THOSE SEPARATE, OKAY.
BECAUSE THERE'S BEEN A LOT OF CONFUSION PUT INTO THE SYSTEM BY TALKING ABOUT THE BILL IMPACT.
OKAY? YOU DON'T VOTE ON THE BILL IMPACT.
THE, THE, UH, BOARD OF TRUSTEES DON'T APPROVE A BILL IMPACT BECAUSE IT'S GOT FUEL COSTS IN IT.
BUT YOU CAN VOTE ON THE 3.85%, WHICH IS, BY THE WAY, WHEN THE BILL IMPACT WAS PRESENTED AS LIKE 10%, THAT WAS A 13.5% RATE ENERGY CHARGE.
OKAY? SO IT'S COME DOWN A LOT.
HOW DID IT COME DOWN? WELL, YOU'RE GONNA HEAR MORE AND A LOT MORE ELOQUENTLY FROM PEOPLE WITH BETTER SLIDES THAN I HAVE.
'CAUSE I HAVE ZERO SLIDES, UH, UH, ON, ON WEDNESDAY.
BUT WE HAD TO TAKE OUT THINGS THAT WE HADN'T BEEN ABLE TO VET.
IF THE COMMUNITY HADN'T VETTED IT, IT HAD TO COME OUT OKAY.
SUCH AS THINGS AS A CONVERSION, SUCH AS, AS WHAT WE'RE GONNA DO AS FAR AS AS RATE DESIGN.
AND, AND, AND WE DID GET SOME PRESENTATIONS ON ENERGY BURDEN.
SO WE'RE GETTING A BETTER FEEL ON THAT.
AND I THINK C P S TOO IS TOO, BUT THE POINT IS, IS THAT RIGHT NOW WE'VE GOT TO FOCUS ON THESE TWO PROBLEMS BECAUSE THE ORGANIZATION, YOU KNOW, IS GOING TO MAKE THE CASE TO US.
C P S IS GONNA MAKE THE CASE TO US THAT THAT IS WHAT THEY NEED RIGHT NOW, OKAY.
TO STABILIZE THE ORGANIZATION AND MOVE THE ORGANIZATION FORWARD.
SO WE WILL HAVE AN OPPORTUNITY TO LOOK AT THESE OTHER THINGS THAT WE NEED TO MOVE FORWARD ON IN OUR CITY AND IN OUR UTILITY.
AND THAT'S WHAT WE'RE GONNA DO RIGHT NOW.
WE'VE ALREADY PUT THE AGENDA OUT FOR THE WHOLE THREE DAYS, THREE DIFFERENT SESSIONS, EACH ONE OF 'EM, THREE HOURS EACH.
MORE THAN MOST PEOPLE ARE GONNA WANT TO SIT THROUGH.
AND I'LL PROBABLY LOSE SOME MIDWAY IN THE PROCESS.
THEY'LL GO OFF TO OTHER THINGS, BUT WHEN THEY GET ENOUGH, I GUESS THEY'LL LEAVE.
UH, YEAH, REED, I THINK THAT YOU GAVE US A PRETTY GOOD SYNOPSIS OF WHERE THE COMMITTEE IS.
UH, AND I, I'M JUST GONNA ASK ALL OF THE COMMITTEE MEMBERS.
UH, I'M NOT GONNA LIMIT YOUR TIME TO ASK QUESTIONS ON ANY OF THESE TODAY, BUT I WILL ASK YOU TO KIND OF KEEP IN MIND, WE DO WANNA STAY WITHIN AUC A REASONABLE STRUCTURE OF TIME.
LET ME JUST, UH, KIND OF REITERATE MY UNDERSTANDING OF WHAT YOU'VE JUST SAID.
YOUR COMMITTEE WILL BE LOOKING AT FACTS AND FIGURES THAT ARE PRESENTED BY C P S ENERGY.
LIKELY THE SAME ONES THAT WE ARE GONNA BE SEEING TOMORROW.
UH, AND, AND YOU'LL HAVE MORE TIME TO MAYBE ASK MORE QUESTIONS, THINGS OF THAT NATURE.
BUT THE AREAS ABOUT WHAT POTENTIAL ENERGY MIXES COULD BE IN THE FUTURE, OR WHAT A MORE FAIR AND EQUITABLE RATE STRUCTURE MIGHT LOOK LIKE IN THE FUTURE, THOSE ARE ISSUES YOU'RE GOING TO CONTINUE TO LOOK AT BEYOND THIS INITIAL RATE INCREASE.
IS THAT CORRECT? THAT'S EXACTLY RIGHT.
THE, YOU KNOW, WE WE'RE, UNLESS THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES DISSOLVES US, I DON'T PLAN ON GOING AWAY.
AND I BELIEVE THOSE ISSUES NEED TO BE VETTED AND THEY NEED TO BE VETTED BY CITIZENS THAT CITIZENS CAN UNDERSTAND IT.
NOT THAT EXPERTS OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT.
SO THE CITIZEN HAS TO UNDERSTAND, AND BY THE WAY, WHAT WE WERE GIVEN LAST TUESDAY DID FINALLY GET POSTED, UH, YESTERDAY AT TWO O'CLOCK, WHICH IS WHAT WE'VE BEEN ASKING FOR.
WE NEED TO SEE A PICTURE, WHICH IS FIVE YEARS OF HISTORY THIS YEAR, WHICH IS 2022.
IT'S JUST ONE MONTH, BUT THAT'S 2022.
[00:20:01]
AND THEN FIVE YEARS GOING FORWARD, WE HAVE THE CASH FLOW STATEMENTS, WE HAVE THE INCOME STATEMENTS.NOW WE CAN SEE EXACTLY WHERE WE'VE COME FROM, WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE THIS YEAR, WHICH HAS BEEN A VERY TOUGH YEAR, AND THEN MO MOVING FORWARD FOR THE NEXT FIVE YEARS.
AND THERE'S A, THERE'S A LOT OF DATA IN THERE, THERE'S A LOT OF INFORMATION IN THERE.
AND, AND WE HAVE A SERIES OF FOUR OR FIVE PRESENTATIONS TO BE MADE BY C P S TO THE COMMITTEE.
AND IT'LL AMPLE TIME TO ASK QUESTIONS.
WE'VE ALREADY RECEIVED A VERY GOOD QUESTION FROM ONE OF OUR MEMBERS, UM, ON, YOU KNOW, WHAT IS THE EXACT IMPACT, IMPACT ON THE, ON THE COUPLE OF LAYERS OF, OF, OF, OF POVERTY, WHICH WE NEED TO KNOW, WHICH YOU'RE GONNA NEED TO KNOW.
THAT QUESTION WILL GET ANSWERED, AND YOU'LL HAVE THE BENEFIT OF THAT, HOPEFULLY BY GOING THROUGH THIS PROCESS WHEN C P SS IS, IS TALKING TO THE COUNCIL, IT, IT'LL BE A LITTLE MORE EFFECTIVE AND, AND MAYBE MORE EFFICIENT.
I, I'D LIKE TO ACKNOWLEDGE THAT WITH US TODAY ARE THE LEADERS AND, UH, THE HEADS OF BOTH BOARDS FOR C P SS AND SAS.
MACKEY IS HERE WITH C P S BOARD, UH, AND, UH, AND, UH, JALEN, UH, LEBLANC.
JAMON IS HERE FROM THE SAS BOARD AS WELL AS, UH, THEIR ELECTED LEADERS.
SO I HOPE THAT THEY'RE, THEY'RE HEARING WHAT YOU'RE SAYING, EVEN THOUGH YOUR RAC COMMITTEE HANDLES C P SS, I THINK WE HAVE A SIMILAR RAC COMMITTEE SET UP TO WORK WITH SAS NEXT YEAR.
I THINK THERE'S GONNA BE A LOT OF SIMILAR, UH, ASKS QUESTIONS AND, AND CALLS FOR INFORMATION SO THAT BOTH OF THESE RAC COMMITTEES WILL BE ABLE TO MAKE REASONABLE DECISIONS DOWN THE LINE.
ANY OTHER QUESTIONS FROM ANY OTHER COMMITTEE MEMBERS? YES, COUNCILWOMAN.
UM, MR. WILLIAMS, FOR, FOR YOUR, YOUR STEADY HAND AT THIS.
I HAVE A, A QUICK QUESTION, AND I GET BRIEFED BY MY APPOINTEE ALL OF THE TIME.
I GET ALL OF THE POWERPOINT PRESENTATIONS.
UM, ONE OF THE THINGS THAT HE UPDATED ME ON WAS THAT YOU ALL MIGHT BE LOOKING AT A POTENTIAL PILOT STUDY SPECIFICALLY TO LOOK AT LOW INCOME AND ENERGY BURDENED CUSTOMERS.
UM, AND I THINK Y'ALL ARE ALREADY WORKING WITH BRATTLE, UH, ON SOME OF THE BEST PRACTICES THAT WE HAD RECOMMENDED.
CAN YOU TELL ME A LITTLE BIT MORE ABOUT THE TIMELINE FOR THAT? AND SPECIFICALLY I'M LOOKING AT THE AFFORDABLE DISCOUNT PROGRAM THAT YOU ALL WERE LOOKING AT.
WELL, THE, THE QUESTION THAT I'M, I MENTIONED IS ALREADY COMING IN THIS MORNING WAS FROM PETER.
YOU, YOU'VE GOT A, A GREAT REPRESENTATIVE.
UH, THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR, UH, PROVIDING THAT.
UH, IT'S, I, I DON'T KNOW THAT WE, THE WORD IS REALLY PILOT IS REALLY, LIKE, IT'S REALLY MORE OF A PROGRAM.
WE NEED TO LOOK AT SOME PROGRAMS AND HOW THOSE COULD BE AFFECTED, AND THEN WE WILL HAVE TO SIMULATE THOSE, UH, TO SEE HOW THEY'RE GOING TO AFFECT INDIVIDUAL PEOPLE.
BECAUSE FRANKLY, UM, THE, THE FOCUS HAD BEEN ONLY ON THE 125%, WHICH IS THEY HAD GOOD, THE C P S HAD GOOD DATA ON, ON PEOPLE THAT WERE ALREADY RECEIVING.
IT, DIDN'T NECESSARILY KNOW HOW MANY WEREN'T OR WHAT WAS HAPPENING AT THE HUN AT THE 200% LEVEL.
SO WE HAVE A LOT OF WORK TO DO ON THAT.
AND, UH, PETER, AND I'LL BE WORKING ON IT, AND PETER AND A COUPLE OF OTHER FOLKS WILL BE LEADING THAT WORK, AND IT'LL BE, I, I THINK IT'LL BE THOROUGH, BUT AGAIN, IT'S GONNA TAKE TIME.
AND THEN, UM, JUST TO FOLLOW UP ON THAT ALSO, UH, I, I NOTICED THAT ONE OF THE SLIDES HAD, UM, A NICE TIMELINE OF HOW YOU ALL ARE GONNA GO OUT AND DO, UH, COMMUNITY OUTREACH.
AND I WAS WONDERING HOW MUCH INPUT YOU GOT ON THAT.
UM, BECAUSE I WAS CONCERNED THAT A LOT OF THE INPUT OR THE COMMUNITY OUTREACH, UM, WAS ONE THROUGH POP-UP EVENTS DURING THE HOLIDAYS, WHICH I DON'T THINK THAT, THAT, THAT MIGHT BE A GOOD, UH, OPPORTUNITY TO ENGAGE PEOPLE DURING THE HOLIDAYS.
I THINK WE MIGHT LOSE SOME PEOPLE THAT ARE KIND OF DOING OTHER STUFF DURING THE HOLIDAYS.
AND I'M WONDERING IF YOU ALL HAD AN OPPORTUNITY TO LOOK AT THAT AND GIVE SOME INPUT AS TO ADDITIONAL, UM, OPPORTUNITIES.
WELL, TO THIS POINT, WE HAVEN'T BEEN ASKED TO DO COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT OTHER THAN BY INVOLVING THE COMMUNITY THROUGH THE PEAK COMMUNITY THAT'S THERE.
SO IF WE ARE, THEN I TOTALLY AGREE WITH YOU.
WE SHOULD, UH, PLAN IT FOR OTHER TIMES.
AND AS I UNDERSTAND, THE VOTE FROM THE COUNCIL WON'T BE TILL SECOND WEEK OF JANUARY.
SO, AND THERE IS ALMOST FROM NOW ON, IT IS ALMOST CONTINUOUS HOLIDAY.
AND THANK YOU CHAIR AND ANY OTHER COMMITTEE MEMBERS HAVE QUESTIONS? YES, COUNCILMAN.
THANK YOU, MR. WILLIAMS. YOU KNOW, UM, THE NAME OF THIS COMMITTEE THAT YOU CHAIR, IT'S IT'S RATE ADVISORY COMMITTEE.
SO RIGHT AWAY PEOPLE START THINKING ABOUT OUR RATES.
WHAT IS THE RATE STRUCTURE, HOW ARE YOU LOOKING AT THAT? BUT, UH, THE OTHER CHARGE THAT YOU HAVE IS GENERATION PLANNING ISSUES.
[00:25:01]
AND SO I'M CURIOUS ABOUT WHAT KIND OF CONVERSATIONS HAVE, TAKE, HAVE TAKEN PLACE SO FAR IN TERMS OF WHAT IS, UH, WHAT ARE OUR CURRENT ENERGY GENERATION ASSETS? WHEN DO WE PLAN TO RETIRE THEM? WHAT DO WE PLAN TO RETIRE? WHEN DO WE PLAN TO RETIRE THEM? WHAT DO WE PLAN TO REPLACE THEM WITH? UM, HOW MUCH ARE WE GONNA FOCUS ON ENERGY EFFICIENCY AND REDUCING THE DEMAND OF ENERGY IN OUR COMMUNITY? MM-HMM.AND I JUST WOULD LIKE TO HEAR FROM YOU AS TO, TO WHAT EXTENT HAVE YOUR CON WHAT PERCENT OF THE CONVERSATIONS THAT YOU ALL HAVE HAD IN THE RATE ADVISORY COMMITTEE SO FAR HAVE BEEN ABOUT RATES VERSUS ACTUALLY ABOUT ENERGY GENERATION PLANNING? SO THAT'S A LOT OF QUESTIONS, AND IF I FORGET, SOME OF 'EM, QUEUE ME UP AGAIN.
SO THE, THE FIRST THING IS WE SPENT A LARGE PART OF THE SUMMER, ALMOST ALL THE SUMMER ON JUST LEARNING ABOUT RATES AND UTILITIES.
WE HAD A CITIZENS GROUP THAT, WHILE THEY'RE ALL VERY BRILLIANT PEOPLE, THEY JUST HADN'T DONE THIS.
AND THEN AS SOON AS WE GOT THROUGH THE SUMMER, STARTING IN SEPTEMBER, WE BROKE INTO THREE WORKING GROUPS.
ONE OF THOSE WAS ON GENERATION PLANNING, WHICH IS EXACTLY WHAT YOUR FIRST QUESTION WAS.
IT WASN'T NECESSARILY ON, ON, UH, ON CONSERVATION.
THAT WAS MOREOVER IN THE, IN THE GROUP THAT WAS STUDYING, UH, WHAT DR.
MCGUIRE IS TALKING ABOUT, WHICH IS HOW WE STRUCTURE OUR, OUR RATES THEMSELVES.
SO WE HAD, AND, AND WE BROKE INTO THOSE THREE GROUPS.
WE HAD ONE MEETING, WE STARTED IN ON THE PROCESS FOLLOWING UP ON THE FLEX, UH, BENEFIT, THE FLEX, UH, POWER PLAN, WHICH WAS, WHICH WAS, UH, I GUESS THE FIRST, IT FINISHED LAST JANUARY, LAST JANUARY WHEN THEY GOT THE RF QS.
UH, AND THEN THEY STARTED IN FEBRUARY WITH THE REPORT.
WE FOLLOWED THAT THROUGH AND, AND WE'RE WORKING ON THAT WITH, WITH, WITH, WITH FRANK, AND STARTED INTO EVALUATING THAT PROGRAM.
THE SPECIFIC FLEX POWER PROGRAM, WHICH IS 90, UH, MEGAWATTS OF SOLAR, UH, 500 OF, OF WHAT THEY CALL FIRMING, BUT IT'S NATURAL GAS TURBINES AND 50 A BATTERY.
SO WE STARTED IN ON THAT PROCESS.
WE SPENT, UH, A BIT OF TIME ON THAT.
THEN, THEN THIS PROCESS CAME FORWARD.
WE TOOK THE THREE COMMITTEES, PUT 'EM BACK TOGETHER, FOCUSED ON THIS.
IF, IF I, WE WILL HAVE TO TALK TO THE COMMITTEE BECAUSE PEOPLE HAVE A LOT OF INTEREST.
BUT MY INTEREST WOULD BE THAT I THINK GETTING BACK ON THE, THE POWER, UM, GENERATION CONVERSION, HOW WE DEAL WITH THAT IS PROBABLY THE MOST PRESSING ISSUE RIGHT AFTER WE FINISH THIS.
IN HINDSIGHT, BREAKING THE GROUPS INTO THREE COMMITTEES WAS PROBABLY NOT THE BEST.
AND WE WILL PROBABLY KEEP THE GROUPS TOGETHER TO LOOK AT ALL THESE PROBLEMS ON A TOGETHER BASIS.
I'M GETTING A LOT OF PUSHBACK, FRANKLY, BECAUSE WE'VE BEEN MEETING ALMOST WEEKLY AT THREE HOURS OF TIME WHEN THEY SIGNED UP FOR THIS, THEY DIDN'T SIGN UP FOR THAT MUCH TIME.
SO, UM, HOPEFULLY WE'LL BE ABLE TO GET IT EFFICIENTLY DONE IN ONE MEETING, A, A MONTH AND MAYBE SOME OTHER OUTSIDE WORK.
AND I WOULD SEE THAT AS, AS WHAT YOU JUST BROUGHT UP AS THE FIRST PRIORITY THAT WE WORK ON AFTER WE GET THROUGH THE RAPE CASE.
UH, AND I'M NOT SURE I ANSWERED ALL YOUR QUESTIONS THERE, BUT IF I DIDN'T COME BACK AT ME, PLEASE THAT, THAT'S, THAT'S GOOD ENOUGH.
UH, REED, THANK YOU VERY MUCH.
THANK YOU VERY MUCH, UH, FOR HELPING US UNDERSTAND WHERE THE RATE COMMITTEE IS NOW AND WHERE YOU'RE GOING.
AND WE HOPE TO HEAR FROM YOU AGAIN IN A FEW MONTHS.
WE WON'T BRING YOU BACK UP EVERY FEW WEEKS.
AND IF ANYBODY WANTS TO CALL ME, MY CELL PHONE NUMBER IS TWO TEN FOUR EIGHT EIGHT THREE THREE TWO TWO.
NEXT WE HAVE OUR, OUR BRIEFINGS FROM, UH, BOTH, UH, SASS AND C P S ENERGY ON THE STATUS OF IMPLEMENTING THE RECOMMENDATIONS FROM THE COMMITTEE OF EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS REPORT.
UH, WE'RE GOING TO ASK EACH OF THE, UH, UTILITIES TO TAKE ABOUT NO MORE THAN 15 MINUTES TO MAKE THEIR PRESENTATION.
AND WHAT WE'RE LOOKING TO FIND OUT IS, WHICH RECOMMENDATIONS, UH, YOU'RE GONNA REPORT ON, UH, WERE THEY RESOLVED? ARE THEY IN PROGRESS? UH, WERE THEY NOT STARTED? HOW IS IT RESOLVED OR BEING ADDRESSED? IF IT'S NOT RESOLVED, WHAT'S THE EXPECTED COMPLETION DATE? HOW MUCH, UH, DOES OR, OR WILL THESE THINGS COST? SO THAT'S KIND OF WHAT WE'RE LOOKING AT.
AND, UH, WE'LL START OFF WITH SAWS.
AND STEVE, YOU'LL BE STARTING OFF.
AND, UH, MEMBERS OF THE COMMITTEE, IF YOU'VE READ THE METRO SECTION OF THE PAPER TODAY, YOU'RE
[00:30:01]
GONNA SEE THERE'S A LOT OF PROMISES AND GUARANTEES BEING MADE BY STATE LEVEL OFFICIALS.THAT IF WE GO THROUGH ANOTHER WINTER STORM, UH, SIMILAR THIS YEAR, THEN UM, WE WILL NOT HAVE A, A WIDE AREA POWER OUTAGE LIKE WE HAD LAST TIME.
UM, I'M HERE TO TELL YOU THAT EVEN IF THEY'RE WRONG, AND WE ARE WITHOUT POWER, THIS, THIS WINTER, AGAIN, FROM A WATER SERVICE PERSPECTIVE, WE ARE IN INFINITELY BETTER SHAPE THAN WE WERE LAST YEAR.
AND IF WE DO HAVE POWER EXPERIENCE, ANOTHER BIG STORM, AND WE DO HAVE POWER, THEN WE WILL NOT HAVE A WIN, UH, WATER SERVICE DISRUPTION AS A RESULT OF THAT WINTER STORM.
SO, AS YOU OUTLINED, UM, WE'RE GONNA GO THROUGH EACH ONE OF THE ITEMS THAT, UH, WAS ON THE C E P REPORT.
UM, I'VE STRUCTURED IT IN A, IN A MANNER TO TRY TO COVER THE TOPICS.
I'VE GOT 16 RECOMMENDATIONS AND PROBABLY 14 MINUTES NOW.
SO I'M GONNA BE GOING THROUGH THEM VERY QUICKLY.
STOP ME IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS.
THE FIRST RECOMMENDATION IS TO CATCH ALL, UM, DO EVERYTHING IN THE BLACK AND VEATCH REPORT, THAT 63 RECOMMENDATIONS, UH, THAT NEED TO BE IMPLEMENTED, UH, AS A RESULT OF THE BLACK AND VEATCH STUDY.
WE HAVE A PROCESS IN PLACE NOW WHERE WE ARE TURNING AND BURNING THROUGH EVERY ONE OF THOSE RECOMMENDATIONS.
I BELIEVE WE'VE GOT EVERYTHING IN SOME LEVEL OF PROGRESS MOVING FORWARD.
WE LISTED OVERALL AS COMPLETE BECAUSE WE HAVE THE MECHANISMS IN PLACE TO BE ABLE TO TRACK ALL THE WAY THROUGH THAT.
UM, WE REPORT TO OUR BOARD MONTHLY ON, ON OUR STATUS WITH THAT, UM, FOR COST.
AND WHAT I'VE DONE ON COST, JUST TO LET YOU KNOW, IS I, I'VE SAID IT'S A LOW COST, A MEDIUM COST, OR A PRETTY SIGNIFICANT COST.
AND ALL OF THESE ARE THE INCREMENTAL COSTS OVER WHAT WE DO NORMALLY, AND I'LL POINT SOME OF THOSE OUT ALONG THE WAY.
AND THEN COMPLETION DATE, WE DID IMPLEMENT THIS PROCESS IN 2021.
I THINK IT'S BEEN VERY EFFECTIVE.
IT WILL BE ONGOING MOVING FORWARD.
SO WE WILL BE MAKING FUTURE UPDATES AS WE MAKE PROGRESS AS WELL.
ON THE NEXT RECOMMENDATION, THIS IS REALLY THE CRITICAL CIRCUIT DESIGNATION REQUIREMENT.
UM, WE HAVE IDENTIFIED 70 STATIONS THAT WE CONSIDER TO BE CRITICAL.
70 OF THOSE ARE ACTUALLY CRITICAL, BUT WHAT WE'VE GOT NOW IS THAT 40 OF THOSE 70 STATIONS ARE ON THE CIRCUITS THAT ARE LEAST LIKELY TO BE DISRUPTED.
IT'S AN UNINTERRUPTIBLE POWER SUPPLY, OR IT'S ON A, WHAT'S DETERMINED TO BE A CRITICAL LOAD DESIGNATION.
SO THOSE ARE PROTECTED AS LONG AS THEY CAN BE PROTECTED UNTIL DEMANDS GET TO THE POINT THAT SOMETHING WILL HAVE TO BE DONE THAT WILL IMPACT THE WATER SYSTEM.
WE HAVE AN ADDITIONAL 15 OF THOSE STATIONS THAT ARE UNDER DISCUSSION RIGHT NOW.
I'M NOT SURE WHICH WAY THAT'S GONNA GO, BUT WE'VE ALL PUT, WE'VE ALSO PUT ALL FOUR OF OUR MAJOR WASTEWATER TREATMENT PLANTS AND 21 OF OUR CRITICAL, UH, GENERATING, UH, WASTEWATER LIFT STATIONS ON THE LIST AS WELL.
UM, THAT LIST WILL CHANGE ON AN ANNUAL BASIS AS WE GO IN, FOR EXAMPLE, UH, MOUNTING GENERATORS AT SOME OF THESE BIG STATIONS, THEN WE CAN CHANGE THAT CRITICAL SURGERY DESIGNATION BECAUSE WE WILL HAVE BACKUP POWER INSTALLED AT THOSE PARTICULAR, IN THOSE PARTICULAR SYSTEMS. NEXT, RECOMMENDATION NUMBER THREE IS THE GENERATORS ITSELF.
A VERY BIG ITEM, VERY EXPENSIVE ITEM.
AND WE HAVE HAD MULTIPLE MEETINGS SO FAR WITH C P S E ON, ON HOW WE'RE GOING TO, TO, UH, ACQUIRE AND, UH, INSTALL THE GENERATORS THAT THOSE PARTICULAR STATIONS, UM, BEEN DOING A LOT OF WORK WITH C P S E AND WITH COSA AS WE FIGURE OUT WHERE THESE NEED TO BE.
WE HAVE ISSUED AN R F I, WHICH IS ASKING THE, UM, THE, THE GENERATING COMMUNITY TO TELL US WHAT'S REALLY POSSIBLE FOR A SYSTEM LIKE WE HAVE HERE IN SAN ANTONIO.
WE'VE RECEIVED EIGHT OF THOSE PROPOSALS JOINTLY SAWS THE CITY, AND C P SS WILL BE REVIEWING THOSE STATEMENTS, AND I'M QUITE SURE THAT VERY SOON AFTER THAT, WE'LL HAVE THE INFORMATION WE NEED TO ROLL TOGETHER AN R F P WHERE WE ACTUALLY START GETTING THE PLOW IN THE GROUND AND, UH, WORKING TOWARD ACQUIRING THIS SYSTEMS, DOING THAT, UH, WORK TO GET TO THAT POINT, WE HAD IT AS LESS THAN A HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS.
SO IT'S A LOW COST ITEM, AND WE'VE COMPLETED THAT WORK ON, ON WHERE ARE WE GONNA GO WITH THIS, UM, AS OF 2021.
ITEM NUMBER FOUR IS A LITTLE MORE GRANULAR, WHERE WE LOOK AT THE RESILIENCE OF THE ADDITIONAL WEATHERIZATION AND OUR EMERGENCY RESPONSE STEPS.
THE FIRST ONE REALLY DEALT WITH, UH, THE MECHANICAL PORTIONS OF, OF HEAT STRIPS, BLOWING TOOLS, AND INSUL INSULATION.
AND WE'VE DONE QUITE A FEW THINGS THERE.
WE HAVE, UH, A LOT OF, UH, COMMUNICATIONS GENERATORS THAT RUN JUST OUR NETWORK EQUIPMENT THAT HAVE ADDITIONAL CAPACITY ON THEM.
WE DON'T HAVE LARGE GENERATORS FOR THE PUMPING STATION, BUT WE KNOW THAT WE CAN HOOK SOME OF THAT ADDITIONAL
[00:35:01]
CAPACITY ON THOSE VERY SMALL GENERATORS TO OUR HEAT STRIPS.SO EVEN IF WE LOSE POWER, THE HEAT STRIPS WILL STAY ACTIVE, WHICH IS SOMETHING THAT WAS REALLY A BIG PROBLEM FOR US IN THE EARLY EVENT.
UM, WE'VE IMPROVED THE INSULATION AND HEAT TRACING ALL OF LEVEL DETECTING INSTRUMENTS.
AND I POINT THAT OUT BECAUSE WE DIDN'T KNOW THE PRESSURE, BECAUSE WE DIDN'T KNOW THE LEVELS IN THE TANKS, AND THAT CREATED A BIG PROBLEM FOR US.
WE'VE GONE IN WITH A WHOLE SERIES OF ELECTRIC AND BUTANE TYPE HEATERS THAT WE'VE LOCATED AT A BUNCH OF OUR STATIONS THAT ARE THERE AND READY IF WE NEED THEM.
WE'VE INSTALLED DRAINING PORTS ON NOW.
THIS IS A LITTLE DATED WHEN WE TYPED IT IN, WE HAVE NOW COMPLETED THAT WORK.
AND THEN OF COURSE, SOFTWARE AND COMMUNICATION TOOLS WHERE WE CAN BETTER COMMUNICATE WITH THE PUBLIC.
UM, OBVIOUSLY THERE'S INFRASTRUCTURE THAT WE'VE HAD TO WORK ON HERE, SO WE PUT THAT COST SOMEWHERE BETWEEN A HUNDRED THOUSAND IN A MILLION.
IT'S A MID-RANGE PRICE FOR US OVERALL TO GET THAT DONE.
NEXT, UH, ITEM IS REALLY THE COORDINATED TRAINING EXERCISES THAT NEEDED TO BE CONDUCTED BETWEEN SAWS AND THE CITY AND C P S.
AS YOU CAN SEE, THERE'S A WHOLE LIST OF THOSE THAT HAVE BEEN COMPLETED.
WE LIST THE STATUSES COMPLETE.
UM, BUT AS YOU CAN IMAGINE, WE'LL BE DOING THIS FOREVER.
IT'S REALLY INSTITUTIONALIZING THE EXERCISE TO GET THAT DONE.
NEXT ITEM WE HAVE IS NUMBER SIX.
UM, AND THAT REALLY IS LOOKING AT EMERGENCY WATER PROVISIONS AND WHAT HAPPENS IF WE WIND UP IN A SITUATION LIKE THIS? HOW WILL WE GET WATER OUT? WE, WE HAVE INCREASED THE INVENTORY OF OUR BULK WATER DISTRIBUTION EQUIPMENT.
WE HAD EIGHT OF THOSE DURING THE STORM.
WE NOW HAVE 15 ON THE SHELF READY TO GO TO SET UP BULK WATER DISTRIBUTION SITES.
AND WE'VE LOOKED AT EXPLORING PARTNERSHIPS WITH LOCAL BUSINESSES FOR THE BOTTLED WATER ANGLE.
YOU KNOW, WE SPENT TWO AND A HALF MILLION DOLLARS ON BOTTLED WATER THAT WAS BROUGHT INTO THE CITY DURING THE URI EVENT.
THERE IS AN INTEREST IN, UM, EXPANDING THAT SHELF LIFE, UH, THE SHELF LIFE CAPABILITY OF THAT WATER IN A BOTTLED WATER SITUATION.
THE WATER'S FINE, BUT THEY DON'T WANT YOU TO LEAVE IT IN THE BOTTLE TOO LONG BECAUSE IT'LL LEACH OUTTA THE BOTTLE.
THERE ARE OTHER CONTAINERS YOU CAN GO TO, BUT THOSE OTHER CONTAINERS ARE VERY EXPENSIVE.
UM, WE'VE DONE SOME, SOME LOOKING ONLINE WITH THAT.
HAVEN'T PUT IT OUT FOR BID OR ANYTHING, BUT AN EQUIVALENT VOLUME OF WATER IN THOSE 10 YEAR CONTAINERS COULD BE AS MUCH AS 25 MILLION BUCKS.
SO WHAT WE'RE DOING IS WE'RE TAKING THE TIME TO EXPLORE WITH SOME LARGE LOCAL BUSINESSES THAT HAVE WELLS OR ON A, A SERVICE THAT WE CAN GUARANTEE THAT WE WOULD HAVE SUPPLY TO THEM WHERE IN THEIR MANUFACTURING PROCESS, SAY THEY'RE BOTTLING SOFT DRINKS.
IF WE HAD ANOTHER EVENT, WE'RE LOOKING AT SETTING UP A CONTRACT WITH THEM WHERE THEIR SOFT DRINK BOTTLING WOULD BE CONVERTED OVER TO WATER BOTTLING, AND WE'D HAVE AN UNLIMITED SUPPLY IN A REAL TIME MANNER.
AND WE DON'T HAVE ALL LOGISTICAL CHALLENGES OF STORING IT.
SO WE'RE TRYING TO RUN BOTH OF THOSE FRONTS AT THE SAME TIME.
AS YOU CAN SEE, IT'S IN PROGRESS.
AND AS YOU CAN SEE, IT'S A VERY EXPENSIVE ITEM, WHATEVER WE CHOOSE TO DO.
NEXT ITEM IS, UH, ITEM NUMBER SEVEN, WHICH IS WE TALK ABOUT, UH, ENCLOSING OUR ABOVE GROUND FACILITIES TO LIMIT THEIR EXPOSURE TO FREEZING.
UM, WHAT WE'VE DONE IN THE SHORT TERM IS, UM, WE'VE BROUGHT IN BACKUP POWER SUPPLIES, WE'VE SET UP TENTS, AND WE'VE DONE ADDITIONAL INSULATION TO THE EXTENT POSSIBLE.
AND IN FUTURE, AS WE BUILD FORWARD, UH, WE HAVE INCLUDED THAT INTO OUR DESIGN REQUIREMENTS WHERE WE EVALUATE THOSE FOR ADDITIONAL FREEZE PROTECTIONS IN THE FORM OF BUILDINGS.
UM, REALLY NOT TOO MUCH EXPENSE ON THAT SO FAR.
NEXT ITEM IS ITEM NUMBER EIGHT.
UM, REALLY COORDINATED MESSAGING BETWEEN THE CITY'S E O C SAWS AND C P SS ENERGY.
UM, WE ARE WORKING WITH THE CITY AND C P S ON THAT.
UH, WE THINK WE'VE, UH, GOT THAT WELL UNDERWAY, BUT, UH, STILL MORE WORK THAT NEEDS TO BE DONE.
WE BELIEVE THAT COST IS REALLY LESS THAN A HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS, AND WE WOULD LIKE TO HAVE IT COMPLETE STILL THIS YEAR.
ITEM NUMBER NINE IS, UH, SETTING UP THE TEAMS TO TRACK THE PROGRESS OF ALL OF OUR RECOMMENDATIONS.
UH, WE DO HAVE THOSE TEAMS IN PLACE AND THEY ARE WORKING TOGETHER ON IT.
WE DO HAVE CONSULTANTS THAT ARE HELPING US PREPARE THE E P P OVERALL, AND THOSE PLANNING TEAMS NOW DO THE TRACKING FOR US AND REPORT ON A REGULAR BASIS.
WITH THE CONSULTING SUPPORT THAT WE'VE HAD TO DEVELOP THE E P P ET CETERA.
SO WE LISTED THAT ONE BETWEEN A HUNDRED THOUSAND AND $1 MILLION.
UM, WE WILL COMPLETE THAT IN 2021, BUT IT'S ANOTHER ONE OF THOSE ITEMS THAT'S LIKE TRAINING.
IT'S GONNA BE ONGOING MOVING FORWARD, SO IT NEVER REALLY WILL BE DONE, BUT WE HAVE THE TEAMS IN PLACE, WHICH WAS THE RECOMMENDATION THAT HAD BEEN ISSUED THERE.
NUMBER 10 IS PROVIDING UPDATES TO THE COUNCIL MEMBERS ON A TIMELY BASIS.
SHOULD WE WIND UP IN AN EVENT LIKE THIS? AGAIN, WHAT WE HAVE DONE IS IDENTIFIED GINO RAMOS, OUR VICE PRESIDENT OF COMMUNICATIONS AND EXTERNAL AFFAIRS.
I THINK EVERYONE HERE KNOWS GINO,
[00:40:01]
AND HE WILL BE BRIEFING THE COUNCIL OFFICES INDIVIDUALLY WHENEVER AN EVENT LIKE THAT DOES OCCUR.OF COURSE, ROBERT WILL BE PROVIDING INFORMATION.
I'LL BE PROVIDING INFORMATION.
A A BUNCH OF PEOPLE INS WILL BE THERE, BUT GINO IS YOUR DESIGNATED RESPONSIBLE PERSON TO BE ABLE TO GET THAT INFORMATION TO YOU IN A TIMELY MANNER.
IT REALLY DOESN'T COST US ANYTHING.
GINO'S ALREADY ON STAFF, AND WE HAVE COMPLETED THAT IN 2021.
ITEM 11 IS UPDATING THE ORGANIZATIONAL CHART.
IT'S ONLINE, IT'S CURRENT AND AVAILABLE FOR YOU TODAY.
ITEM NUMBER 12 IS REALLY WITH THE HOW DID WE COMMUNICATE WITH THE COMMUNITY, UM, AND IMPROVING OUR PHONE COMMUNICATIONS IN PARTICULAR.
OF COURSE, THAT PROBLEM WAS COMPOUNDED BY THE FACT THAT NOT ONLY DID WE HAVE THE WINTER STORM, IT WAS RIGHT ON TOP OF THE COVID DILEMMA, AND A LOT OF OUR FOLKS WERE WORKING VIRTUALLY WHEN THEY WERE WORKING VIRTUALLY, AND THEY LOST POWER AT HOME.
THEN WE LOST THE ABILITY TO COMMUNICATE WITH A LOT OF OUR CUSTOMERS.
SO THE FIRST ITEMS, UH, 12 A AND 12 B, LOOKING AT THIRD PARTY OR THREE 11 TYPE OPERATORS, WHEN FOLKS CALL AND ASK SAS FOR INFORMATION, THEY'RE LOOKING FOR DETAILED INFORMATION.
THEY ALREADY KNOW THEIR POWERS OUT.
THEY WANNA KNOW WHEN IS IT GONNA BE BACK ON? HOW FAR WHERE DO I GO TO GET WATER? THERE'S A MULTITUDE OF QUESTIONS THAT COME DOWN WHERE WHEN WE LOOKED AT THAT, WE JUST REALIZED TRYING TO GET PEOPLE THAT ARE NOT FAMILIAR WITH OUR SYSTEM, THE ABILITY TO UNDERSTAND OUR SYSTEM ENOUGH TO RELATE IT TO THE PUBLIC.
IT WAS GONNA CREATE A LOT OF CHALLENGES.
UH, IT'S NOT THAT IT CAN'T BE DONE, BUT THAT HAS TO BE THOUGHT THROUGH VERY CAREFULLY ON, UM, GIVING WHOEVER'S ON THAT PHONE ENOUGH INFORMATION TO SATISFY THE QUESTIONS THAT THEY'RE ASKING.
WHAT WE REALLY WANNA FOCUS ON THOUGH, IS 12 C DEVELOPING THOSE CONTINGENCY PLANS SO THAT WHEN WE DO GO THROUGH AN EVENT LIKE THIS, WE KNOW THAT ALL OF THE FOLKS THAT ARE SUPPOSED TO BE ANSWERING THE PHONE AT SAS ARE IN A LOCATION WHERE THEY HAVE POWER.
SO WE'RE WORKING ON MAKING SURE THAT WE'VE GOT OUR FOLKS READY TO GO BEFORE WE WORK ON, UH, BRINGING IN THIRD PARTY SERVICES THAT PROBABLY CAN'T ANSWER THE QUESTIONS WELL ENOUGH.
ITEM 13 IS CREATING A DASHBOARD THAT LETS EVERYONE KNOW ABOUT OUR OUTAGES AND INFRASTRUCTURE.
UM, THE FOCUS HERE HAS BEEN THE OUTAGE MAPS IN THE WINTER STORM EVENT.
WE WERE MANUALLY CREATING THOSE MAPS.
OUR IS DEPARTMENT HAS MADE A FANTASTIC STEP FORWARD IN ELECTRONIC, UH, PRINTING OF THOSE MAPS, CAPTURING THAT INFORMATION AND MAKING IT A, IN A MAP THAT THE FOLKS COULD UNDERSTAND.
AND IN ADDITION TO THAT, WE'VE ALSO SET UP ANOTHER MANUAL PROCESS WHERE WE HAD ONE PERSON DEVELOPING THOSE MAPS DURING THE WINTER STORM, TOTAL DEPENDENCE.
IT'S ALMOST UNFAIR TO THAT PERSON, THE PRESSURE WE HAD ON THEM.
WE'VE NOW DIVIDED THAT UP INTO A TEAM OF FIVE PEOPLE.
THEY'LL HAVE FIVE CA QUAD, THEY'LL HAVE THE FOUR QUADRANTS WITH ONE PERSON OVERSEEING IT ALL.
WE CAN PROBABLY GET THOSE MAPS OUT ON A TWO HOUR BASIS TO LET PEOPLE KNOW WHAT'S GOING ON, EVEN IN THE MANUAL MODE.
IF WE NEED TO BE THERE, I'M GOING AS QUICKLY AS I CAN, SO STOP ME IF I'M TOO FAST.
ITEM NUMBER 14 IS, UH, PUTTING A DECISION MAKER INTO THE CITY'S E O C.
AND IT ALSO TALKED ABOUT, UM, ALLOWING THE CITY TO HAVE CENTRALIZED COMMAND AND CONTROL EXECUTION OF SAS.
AND WHAT WE SAID IS WE'RE, WE'RE NOT GOING TO DO THE COMMAND AND CONTROL.
SAS NEEDS TO RETAIN OWNERSHIP OF THE RESPONSIBILITY, LIABILITY AND ACTIONS TAKEN TO WORK THROUGH A STORM LIKE THAT.
SO THE SOLUTION WAS THAT I WOULD BE IN THE CITY'S E O C AND OUR CONTROL CENTER WILL BE IN THE E O C.
WE ARE STILL MAKING THE DECISIONS, BUT WE COULDN'T FIND A BETTER WAY TO BE AS TRANSPARENT AS POSSIBLE AS TO WHAT WE KNOW AND HOW WE'RE DEALING WITH THESE PROBLEMS AND BEING ABLE TO COMMUNICATE IT OUT TO OUR PARTNERS WITH THE CITY.
ITEM 15 IS, UM, EMERGENCY PREPARATION INFORMATION FOR OUR COMMUNITY MEMBERS, ENHANCING WHAT WE HAVE ON THE OUTREACH THERE.
I CERTAINLY WON'T GO OVER THIS SLIDE, BUT YOU CAN SEE THERE'S A MULTITUDE OF THINGS THAT WE'VE PUT IN PLACE THAT I THINK WILL MAKE BIG IMPROVEMENTS OVERALL.
UM, AT OUR BOARD MEETING NEXT WEEK, OUR BOARD WILL BE VIEWING A NEW SET OF VIDEOS THAT HAVE BEEN CREATED THAT TELL PEOPLE WHAT TO DO AND HOW TO RESPOND UNDER VARIOUS EMERGENCY CONDITIONS OVERALL.
AND THEN THE LAST ITEM I HAVE IS REALLY A C P SS ITEM, A C P S E ITEM, A RECOMMENDATION WITH, UH, NUMBER 16 TO DISCUSS CP S'S COMPLIANCE WITH CHAPTER 25, SUBSECTION C OF THE PUBLIC UTILITY.
UM, ELECTRIC SUBSTANTIVE RULES AND, UM, SAWS AS A CRITICAL LOAD FACILITY IS NOW IDENTIFIED WITH THE C P S REGISTRY AND WITHIN, UH, CP S'S EMERGENCY PLAN.
SO WE FEEL LIKE WE HAVE COMPLIED WITH THAT REQUIREMENT AS WELL.
SO I REALIZE IT'S VERY FAST AND VERY HIGH LEVEL.
I'LL BE GLAD TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS YOU MAY HAVE.
[00:45:01]
UH, LET ME JUST START OFF BY SAYING I REALLY APPRECIATE THE PRESENTATION YOU'RE MAKING TODAY.I THINK IT'S MUCH MORE DIRECT AND, AND, UH, EFFICIENT, UH, THAN OUR, OUR PRIOR DISCUSSIONS ABOUT THESE.
OBVIOUSLY, THERE IS A LOT OF INFORMATION IN THERE.
UH, I HOPE ALL OF THESE SLIDES ARE MADE AVAILABLE TO ALL THE MEMBERS OF THE COMMITTEE SO THAT WE CAN, YOU KNOW, STUDYING 'EM A LITTLE MORE CLOSELY.
AND IF WE DO HAVE OTHER QUESTIONS, WE CAN FORWARD THEM TO YOU.
BUT RIGHT NOW, TODAY, I CAN SEE THAT YOU'RE MAKING A LOT OF PROGRESS IN THOSE AREAS THAT, UH, ARE CRITICAL IN PROTECTING OUR COMMUNITY IF WE GO THROUGH A SIMILAR STORM.
ONE THING I MIGHT ADD IS, AS WE CONTINUE TO ASK YOU TO UPDATE THESE FOR US, HELP US UNDERSTAND A LITTLE BIT MORE ABOUT, UH, HOW FAR YOU'VE GOTTEN BY MAYBE PUTTING A PERCENTAGE OF WHAT YOU THINK NEEDS TO BE COMPLETED.
LET'S SAY YOU'RE 80% DONE ON A CERTAIN RECOMMENDATION, OR 50% OR 90%.
IT HELPS US UNDERSTAND HOW MUCH MORE WE MAY NEED TO BE TALKING ABOUT THIS OR LOOKING AT THIS.
BUT OVERALL, I, I THINK IT'S A VERY GOOD PRESENTATION AND I LOOK FORWARD TO LOOKING AT IT A LITTLE BIT MORE.
AND I'LL WELCOME ANY QUESTIONS FROM ANY OF THE COMMITTEE MEMBERS.
COUNCILWOMAN, THANK YOU CHAIR.
AND, AND THANK YOU FOR THE PRESENTATION.
ON SLIDE OR ON PAGE FIVE, YOU'RE, YOU TALK ABOUT SOFTWARE AND COMMUNICATION TOOLS.
DO YOU HAVE AN AN E T A OF WHEN WE COULD MAYBE SEE THE FIRST TEST OF THAT SYSTEM COME OUT? THE, UM, SOFTWARE IMPLEMENTATION TOOLS RELATED TO THE REAL TIME COMMUNICATION? UM, UH, SO I AM ASSUMING THIS IS FOR, UH, EMERGENCIES.
YOU'RE NOT TALKING ABOUT LIKE OUR OUTAGE MAP OR ANYTHING LIKE THAT? NO.
YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT THE COMMUNICATIONS TOOLS THAT WE WOULD YES.
THE ROBBO CALLS, MASS EMAIL, TEXTING SAUCE, WEBSITE UPDATES.
WILL, WILL THERE BE A TEST? WELL, I THINK DAVINO, WHEN WE'VE ACTUALLY DONE SOME EXERCISE IN USING THOSE TOOLS, WHEN WOULD BE ABLE TO AN EMERGENCY'S NOT THE NEXT TIME TO SHOW THEM HOW THEY WORK.
WELL, TO SOME EXTENT, EXCUSE TO SOME EXTENT.
THEY WERE USED RECENTLY WHEN THERE WAS A SMALL, UH, AREA OF TOWN AFFECTED BY A BOIL WATER NOTICE.
WE WORKED IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE CITY OF SAN ANTONIO.
SO SAULS WAS ABLE TO ISSUE ROBOCALLS.
WE WERE ABLE TO LIST A MAP WITH THOSE OUTAGES.
AND THEN PARTNERING WITH THE CITY'S, UH, GOVERNMENT PUBLIC AFFAIRS STAFF, THEY ISSUED, UH, TEXT MESSAGES.
SO TO SOME EXTENT, THE TESTING'S ALREADY DONE IN THAT WE'VE BEEN, WE'VE BEEN ABLE TO PARTNER WITH THE CITY AND GET THAT SYSTEM.
AND I GUESS THAT WAS MY POINT, LIKE, TO SOME EXTENT, BUT WHEN DOES EVERYBODY ELSE, LIKE I, I WOULD'VE NOT HAVE GOTTEN THE BOIL WATER NOTICE BECAUSE I DON'T LIVE IN THAT AREA.
SO HOW DO WE PREPARE EVERYBODY ELSE AND IS THERE GONNA BE A TEST OF SOME SORT? WELL, WE KNOW THEY WORK BECAUSE THE CITY'S BEEN ABLE TO SEND THOSE TEXT MESSAGES OUT ALL OVER THE CITY FOR VARIOUS REASONS FOR THE E OOC, LIKE A, A COVID RESPONSE TEXT.
AND THEY'VE BEEN SENDING 'EM OUT.
AND THEN, SO THAT GOES THROUGH THE STATE THOUGH.
SO DO WE HAVE TO GET APPROVAL OR, OR, MY UNDERSTANDING WAS THAT WE HAVE TO GET CLEARANCE FROM THE STATE ON THOSE SO YOU, FOR YOU ALL ALSO NOT FOR SOMETHING LIKE THAT.
SO WHEN OUR ROBOCALLS, MARY BAILEY HERE IN HER DEPARTMENT, WE'VE ISSUED THE ROBOCALL ON A REGULAR BASIS.
I WAS THINKING OF THE EMERGENCY ALERT.
WELL, WE'VE DONE, OH, YOU'RE THINKING OF THE NEXT LEVEL? THAT'S THE STATE ONE.
SO THAT'S THE STATE DIFFERENT ONES.
NO, UM, AND THEN ALSO, ACTUALLY, YOU MIGHT WANNA STAY UP THERE BECAUSE ON SLIDE OR ON PAGE SIX OF RECOMMENDATION NUMBER FIVE, IT TALKS ABOUT CITY COUNCILS AND THEIR STAFF, UM, BEING INCLUDED IN EXERCISES FOR DISASTER SCENARIOS.
WE HAVEN'T BEEN INCLUDED, OR AT LEAST I KNOW DISTRICT FOUR HASN'T BEEN INCLUDED.
I DON'T KNOW IF ANY OF OUR OFFICES HAVE BEEN INCLUDED.
UM, BUT I'D LIKE TO BE INCLUDED ASAP BECAUSE OUR STAFF MEMBERS ARE THE ONES THAT GET THE CALLS FIRST.
SO I DON'T KNOW IF YOU'VE ALREADY SET UP THOSE EXERCISES, BUT I, I'D LIKE TO DO THAT SOONER.
AND THEN LATER WITH, WITH, WITH OUR STAFFS, WE'LL WORK WITH THE CITY TO MAKE SURE WE GET THAT INVITATION OUT.
AND THEN ON PAGE SEVEN, UM, SAUCE RECOMMENDATION NUMBER SIX, UM, THE INVENTORY OF BULK WATER DISTRIBUTION.
UM, IS THAT THE, IS THAT DIFFERENT FROM THE PUBLIC UTILITIES PLAN OF THEIR WATER STORAGE? IS THIS IN ADDITION TO BASICALLY, AND I THINK THEY'RE, I THINK THEY'RE GOING TO BE THE SAME PLANS.
UM, WHAT WE DON'T NEED ARE, ARE TWO BIG PARTS OF THE CITY, UH, HAVING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT BULK DISTRIBUTION INTENT.
SO WE'LL BE MERGING THOSE TWO PLANS TOGETHER.
WE'RE GONNA BE MEETING WITH BEN.
WE'VE BEEN WANTING TO MEET WITH BEN ON THIS, BUT UNTIL WE REALLY GET BETTER INSIGHT FROM THE POSSIBILITIES THROUGH THOSE RETAIL PROVIDERS TO CONVERT THEIR EXISTING OPERATIONS INTO BOTTLED WATER PRODUCTION, YES.
WE NEED TO GET A BETTER HANDLE ON THAT BEFORE WE REALLY HAVE THE INFORMATION THAT BEN'S GONNA NEED TO HELP US MAKE THOSE DECISIONS.
UM, ONE OF THE BEER COMPANIES IN HOUSTON DID IT FOR, FOR A HURRICANE.
I WONDER HOW LONG THEY COULD DO IT THOUGH.
SO HOW LONG WOULD THEY COMMIT? IS IT 24 HOUR, FOUR HOUR PERIOD, 48 HOUR PERIOD? IT WOULD AFFECT BUSINESS, OF COURSE.
[00:50:01]
IS THAT WE'RE STUDYING FROM CITIES ALONG THE COAST WHO HAVE BEEN THROUGH THIS EXERCISE.THEY HAVE SOME GREAT IDEAS AND PATHS THAT WE'RE TRYING TO GREAT.
I APPRECIATE YOU TRYING TO LEARN FROM THEM.
UM, ON PAGE NINE, UM, I THOUGHT WE ALREADY DID THIS.
AND SO IT WAS THE, UM, A COORDINATION WITH THE G P A AND THE C P S ENERGY COMMUNICATION TEAM TO DEVELOP SYSTEMS AND PROCESSES FOR THE JIC.
SO IS IT JUST IN ADDITION TO, ARE WE REVIEWING THEM ALREADY? WELL, THIS ONE HERE IS A LITTLE DIFFERENT IN THAT THIS IS GONNA BE MORE SPECIFIC TO THE COMMUNICATION TO THE COMMUNITY.
I KNOW THAT WE MEET, AND I KNOW MELISSA, ER IS HERE WITH C P S.
OUR TEAMS MEET EVERY OTHER WEEK TO KIND OF GO OVER IT WITH JEFF COYLE AND HIS TEAM.
SO WE'RE WORKING ON THIS ON AN ONGOING BASIS SINCE THERE'S ALWAYS GONNA BE NEW TOOLS WE CAN TAKE ADVANTAGE OF.
AND SO WE MEET REGULARLY, SO MAKE SURE WE'RE ALL ON THE SAME PAGE.
ON, UH, RECOMMENDATION NUMBER NINE, YOU HAVE ASSIGNED A TEAM TO ASSESS, IMPLEMENT, AND TRACK THE PROGRESS OF THE RECOMMENDATIONS.
WHO'S ON THE TEAM? UM, WELL WE HAVE ACTUALLY SEVERAL TEAMS WITHIN THAT ARE TRACKING BECAUSE YOU HAVE THE BLACK AND VEATCH, UH, 63 ITEMS. YOU HAVE THE C E P 16 AND YOU'VE GOT ALL THE TACTICAL ITEMS, WHICH ARE THE OPERATIONAL ISSUES THAT WERE RAISED THAT WE NEED TO MAKE IMPROVEMENTS ON.
SO WE'VE GOT, UH, I CAN LIST YOU NAMES, BUT WE'VE GOT, UH, GROUPS FROM OUR PRODUCTION DEPARTMENT, OUR EMERGENCY RESPONSE DEPARTMENT, AND FROM OUR OFFICE ALL WORKING TOGETHER.
AS WE WALK THROUGH THOSE, THERE'S QUITE A FEW PEOPLE THAT HAVE THEIR HANDS ON IT.
IT'S ENOUGH TO WHERE YOU WANNA MAKE SURE YOU CONTROL THE MASTER OF WHERE WE'RE AT BECAUSE EVERYBODY WANTS TO ADD THEIR INPUT ON IT.
AND, UH, KEEPING WITH THE CURRENT VIRGIN CAN BE A LITTLE TRICKY.
SO THEY WATCH THAT PRETTY CAREFULLY.
AND WE REPORT, AS WE SAID, MONTHLY TO OUR BOARD ON THE STATUS, THE RECOMMENDATION 10, IT SAYS COMPLETE.
BUT AGAIN, I, I DON'T KNOW THAT OUR COUNCIL STAFF HAS BEEN INCLUDED JUST YET.
AND THE COMMUNICATIONS PLAN, I DON'T KNOW WHEN WE ARE GONNA GET TO SEE IT, BUT I THINK THAT OUR STAFF MEMBERS, UM, AGAIN, TAKE THE FRONT LINE.
AND THEN I ALSO, UH, GINO IS WONDERFUL, BUT IF HE'S THE ONLY ONE, LIKE THAT'S, UH, 11 OF US IN OUR STAFF'S REACHING OUT TO HIM AT ONE.
SO I, I'D ASSUME THAT GINO STAFF WOULD ALSO BE INVOLVED.
SO WHAT THE PLAN WE'VE CREATED, AND I'VE BEEN TALK TALKING WITH COUNCILWOMAN HAVE'S OFFICE 'CAUSE WE'RE GONNA SIT AND VISIT WITH HER AS WELL.
BUT IT WOULD BE, UH, A TEAM EFFORT.
SO LIKE STEVE MENTIONED, IT WOULDN'T BE JUST ME, IT'D BE STEVE AND ROBERT OR WHOMEVER THE IS A PART OF THAT EMERGENCY.
IF IT'S A FINANCIAL SITUATION, IT'D BE STEVE AND DOUG AND ROBERT AND DOUG OR WHOMEVER.
AND SO THEN IT'D BE US CONTACTING YOU ALL INDIVIDUALLY, BUT THEN IT'D BE OUR STAFFS REACHING OUT TO YOUR STAFFS AS WELL.
BECAUSE WE KNOW FIRSTHAND YOUR STAFF'S GONNA BE ANSWERING HALF THE CALLS, IF NOT ALL OF THEM THAT COME IN.
SO AS LONG AS THEY'RE AWARE OF WHAT'S GOING ON.
AND SO WE HAVE A MATRIX, UH, A DIAGRAM OF HOW THAT ALL WORKS.
AND SO WE'VE HAD THAT PUT TOGETHER ALREADY.
AND SO WHEN I GET WITH COUNCILMAN HAER, WE CAN GET WITH YOUR OFFICE AS WELL AND SHARE IT.
ON RECOMMENDATION 11, I'M JUST SURPRISED THAT THE COST IS LESS THAN A HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS.
I DIDN'T THINK IT WOULD BE MORE THAN A THOUSAND DOLLARS OR SOMETHING.
SO I, I JUST THOUGHT THAT WAS INTERESTING.
BUT ON RECOMMENDATION 12, UM, I I, YOU DON'T NECESSARILY MENTION BILINGUAL, BUT YOU DO, UH, MENTION BILINGUAL AND A S L AND OTHERS.
SO I'M JUST GONNA MAKE THE SAFE ASSUMPTION THAT IT'S ALSO GOING TO BE BILINGUAL AND A S L IN THIS AREA.
AND THEN FINALLY, UH, OR ACTUALLY KIND OF FINALLY ON 14, UM, MR. KLAUS, WHO'S YOUR BACKUP IF YOU CAN'T MAKE IT TO THE E O C FOR SOME REASON, AND I'M ASSUMING YOU HAVE SOMEONE WHO WILL BE PREPARED AND READY TO GO.
WELL, ONE OF THE THINGS WE FOLLOW IS THE INCIDENT COMMAND SYSTEM PROTOCOL.
SO IF I GET RUN OVER, THE NEXT PERSON KNOWS WHAT TO DO AND HOW TO FILL IN.
AND IF THAT PERSON CAN'T MAKE IT SO THAT, THAT TRANSFER OF RESPONSIBILITY IS VERY CLEAR AND VERY SPECIFIC AS WE GO THROUGH THAT PROCESS, UM, THERE'S A VERY GOOD CHANCE I WON'T BE ABLE TO MAKE IT.
SO WE HAVE TO KNOW WHO THE BACKUPS ARE AND WHO CAN COVER FOR WHAT.
THAT'S AN, THAT'S A STATE STANDARD, AND REALLY ALL OF US ARE, ARE FOLLOWING THAT STANDARD TO BE ABLE TO COVER IT.
BUT ALSO WANTED TO COVER, UH, JUST BARELY TOUCH ON THE, THE ITEM THAT WE SAID WAS LESS THAN A HUNDRED THOUSAND BUCKS, LIKE THE ORG CHART.
THAT'S WHY I'M SHOWING THOSE AS INCREMENTAL COSTS, BECAUSE WE ALWAYS ARE GONNA KEEP OUR WEBSITES UP AND OUR WEBPAGE THERE, AND THAT HAS A COST.
BUT THESE, THE INCREMENTAL COSTS ARE REALLY NOTHING FOR WHAT WE'RE DOING.
AND ACTUALLY, TO THAT POINT, UM, YOU DON'T HAVE PSAS ON RECOMMENDATION NUMBER 15, BUT THOSE ARE FREE FREE.
AND I'M SURE THAT OUR MEDIA PARTNERS WOULD BE WORKING WITH US ON THAT AND TO JUST WANNA MAKE SURE THAT WE PAY ATTENTION TO, TO PSAS.
CAN I JUST ADD ONE THING? OH, YES.
VERY QUICKLY, UH, COUNCILMAN, UM, YOU HAD A COUPLE OF QUESTIONS ABOUT SOME OF THE EXERCISES AND TRAINING WITH COUNCIL STAFF.
YOU KNOW, ONE OF THE THINGS WE HAVEN'T DONE WITH THE COMMITTEE IS WE HAVE PROVIDED UPDATES FROM BOTH UTILITIES, SAWS AND C P S.
UH, THERE WERE A NUMBER OF RECOMMENDATIONS THAT WERE MADE TO OUR, THE CITY'S EMERGENCY OPERATIONS CENTER.
UH, I WOULD SUGGEST MAYBE WE SCHEDULE THAT FOR THE JANUARY MEETING.
UM, YOU KNOW, A LOT OF THE RECOMMENDATIONS
[00:55:01]
WERE MEANT TO, UM, INTEGRATE OR ALLOW THE THREE ENTITIES TO WORK MUCH MORE CLOSELY TOGETHER.SO, UH, I THINK THAT, UH, PERSPECTIVE MIGHT BE HELPFUL IN JANUARY.
I KNOW THE TEAMS HAVE DONE A LOT OF WORK BEHIND THE SCENES.
SAW C P S, OUR E O C FOLKS, UH, A LOT OF GREAT PROGRESS HAS BEEN MADE.
UM, SO A PRESENTATION THAT LOOKS AT IT MAYBE MORE FROM THAT PERSPECTIVE MIGHT BE HELPFUL.
SO YOU CAN KIND OF SEE THOSE UPCOMING THINGS THAT ARE COMING UP, UH, ON THE E O C SIDE.
UM, AND THEN HOW WE'RE GOING TO INTEGRATE SOME OF THE THINGS, LIKE, FOR EXAMPLE, YOU TALKED ABOUT COMMUNICATION WITH COUNCIL MEMBERS.
YOU KNOW, IF IT'S A SAW SPECIFIC ISSUE THAT MAY WORK ONE WAY.
UM, IF IT'S SOMETHING THAT'S AFFECTING C P S AND, AND UH, THE CITY, THEN IT MAY LOOK A LITTLE DIFFERENT.
I THINK WHAT WE TALKED ABOUT WAS MAKING SURE THAT WE'VE GOT COORDINATED, INTEGRATED MESSAGING GOING OUT, NOT ONLY TO YOU ALL, BUT TO THE COMMUNITY.
SO, UM, I WOULD RECOMMEND WE DO THAT AT THE NEXT, UH, MEETING IN JANUARY.
I'M SURE THE, THE COMMITTEE MEMBERS DO SO WE'LL JUST PUT THAT ON THE JANUARY AGENDA.
I, I DO FEEL A LOT BETTER ABOUT, UM, THE PLAN.
UM, NOW THAT YOU SAID THAT, BEN, I THINK WHAT YOU SAID ABOUT COORDINATED, INTEGRATED MESSAGING IS WHAT, WHAT WE HAVEN'T, WE DIDN'T SEE LAST TIME, AND I STILL HAVEN'T SEEN THAT PLANNED.
I MEAN, I, YOU KNOW, GOING BACK TO, I THINK IT WAS SLIDE, UM, OR I DUNNO WHAT SLIDE IT IS, BUT IT WAS RECOMMENDATION 10.
UM, THE, THE, WHAT WHAT CONCERNS ME ABOUT THIS IS, IS THAT WE ALL REMEMBER IN THIS ROOM THE CHAOS AND THE, THE, THE CONFUSION THAT DAY.
UM, THOSE DAYS, I'M SORRY IT WAS MANY, MANY DAYS, BUT, UH, WE, I, I'M A LITTLE NERVOUS ABOUT LEAVING IT UP TO A HUMAN ERROR.
I REALLY WOULD LIKE TO SEE MORE SOLID OF A PLAN.
I MEAN, I WANNA SEE A FLOW CHART.
I WANNA SEE, YOU KNOW, INFORMATION ON A PIECE OF PAPER THAT'S GONNA TELL ME, IF I CAN'T GET AHOLD OF THIS PERSON OR THIS, THIS HAPPENS, THEN I CAN DO THIS.
OR, YOU KNOW, UM, UM, COUNCILWOMAN ROCHE GARCIA MENTIONED IT, BUT WE GET THOSE CALLS FROM OUR COMMUNITY AND NOT BEING ABLE TO RESPOND TO THEM WAS, UM, REALLY DIFFICULT.
YOU KNOW? AND THOSE CALLS DIDN'T STOP WHEN I, WHEN WE WOULD TELL THEM, WE'LL GET BACK TO YOU, YOU KNOW? SO I JUST WANNA MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE MAKING IT FAIL SAFE.
I HAVE A LOT OF FAITH IN THE CITY'S COMMUNICATIONS PLAN.
I MEAN, I'VE NEVER, I'VE NOT HAD A PROBLEM WITH THE CITY'S COMMUNICATION PLAN, WHATEVER, HOWEVER WE CAN COORDINATE THAT TO INCLUDE, I THINK IS WHAT YOU JUST SAID, RIGHT AT THE E O C AND I, I LOOK FORWARD TO THAT PRESENTATION.
UM, THAT I THINK IS GONNA MAKE ME FEEL A LOT BETTER GOING FORWARD.
THAT THERE ARE, THERE ARE SAFETY NETS, THERE ARE FAIL SAFES.
UM, IF I CAN'T GET A HOLD OF SOMEBODY ON, ON THE SASS TEAM, OR THEY CAN'T GET A HOLD OF SOMEBODY ON MY TEAM, THAT THERE'S ANOTHER WAY THAT WE'RE GONNA BE ABLE TO GET THIS COMMUNICATIONS, THESE COMMUNICATIONS OUT TO OUR, UM, TO OUR COMMUNITIES.
UM, AND IN THAT, THAT PLAN, I REALLY WOULD LIKE TO SEE, UM, WHAT INFORMATION IS GONNA BE SHARED.
IT'S GONNA BE A LOT OF IT BASED ON WHAT WE'RE ASKING, QUESTIONS THAT WE'RE ASKING, THAT THE COMMUNITY IS ASKING.
UM, AND, AND THEN HOW ARE WE GONNA WORK TOGETHER TO RESPOND TO THOSE QUESTIONS FROM OUR COMMUNITY? UM, AND, AND I UNDERSTAND THAT SOME OF THESE ARE GONNA BE, IT CAN'T BE ALL AUTOMATED.
I DON'T EXPECT THAT BECAUSE THEY'RE GONNA BE CASE BY CASE.
WE'RE GONNA HAVE VERY SPECIFIC QUESTIONS THAT NEED VERY SPECIFIC ANSWERS.
BUT I, I LIKE TO SEE A MORE SOLID OVERALL PLAN, UM, BESIDES JUST KIND OF GENERAL SHARING, UH, PEOPLE TO PEOPLE.
I THINK IT'S GONNA BE, THAT'S, THAT'S MAKES ME A LITTLE ANXIOUS, HONESTLY, THAT, THAT THERE'S A LOT OF ROOM FOR ERROR.
UM, SO MOVING ON TO, I THINK IT WAS RECOMMENDATION EIGHT.
UM, THERE, IT SAYS YOU'RE WORKING WITH THE, YOU YOU MENTIONED THAT YOU WERE WORKING WITH THE CITY.
HOW ARE YOU, OR MAYBE, IS THIS WHAT YOU JUST SAID? UM, BEN TALKING ABOUT THE E O C, WHAT'S A QUESTION SPECIFICALLY? UH, HOW ARE YOU WORKING WITH THE CITY? BUT MAYBE THAT'S WHAT BEN WAS JUST MENTIONING.
AM I WRONG? UH, NO, COUNCILMAN.
SO THERE'S BEEN A LOT OF, UH, WORK ALREADY DONE IN THIS AREA.
UM, IF I TRY TO EXPLAIN IT, I WON'T, I WON'T DO IT JUSTICE.
I KNOW, UM, WE'VE GOT FOLKS HERE THAT WE CAN GO INTO MORE DETAIL, IF YOU LIKE.
BUT, YOU KNOW, I THINK THE FOCUS ON A LOT OF THE RECOMMENDATIONS COMING OUT OF THE COMMITTEE NUMBER BRANCH PREPAREDNESS WAS AROUND, YOU KNOW, UH, THE MOST, UH, ACCURATE INFORMATION WE COULD PUT OUT COLLECTIVELY AS A GROUP.
UM, I THINK OUR LESSON LEARNED WAS THERE WERE A LOT OF, UH, MESSAGING COMING OUT THAT, THAT HAD DIFFERENT TIMING, UH, WAS COMING OUT IN DIFFERENT FORMATS.
THIS WAS REALLY MEANT TO GET AROUND MAKING THE THREE ENTITIES COLLECTIVELY WORK TOGETHER ON THAT SO THAT WE GOT A SINGLE MESSAGE OUT TO THE PUBLIC AND TO THE COMMUNITY.
AND THEN ULTIMATELY, THE OTHER RECOMMENDATION, WHICH I FORGET, IS I THINK NUMBER 10, WHICH WAS, I THINK WHAT YOU WERE REFERRING TO EARLIER ABOUT COUNCIL OFFICES.
I THINK FROM OUR PERSPECTIVE, WE VIEW THOSE SIMILARLY, UM, IN THAT, THAT WE NEED TO MAKE SURE THAT MESSAGE IS COORDINATED.
UM, IT'S CONSISTENT AND TO THE EXTENT WE CAN, IT'S GOT ACTIONABLE INFORMATION IN THERE.
I THINK THAT'S WHAT WE'RE REALLY TRYING TO ACHIEVE.
[01:00:01]
FOLKS THAT ARE PROBABLY MORE ADEPT AT EXPLAINING HOW ALL THAT'S GONNA WORK, WE CAN HAVE IT THAT JANUARY MEETING AND GO INTO MORE CONVERSATIONS WITH THAT.UM, AND RECOMMENDATION 13 IS, UH, THE DASHBOARD.
WHEN, UH, WHERE WILL WE BE ABLE TO FIND THIS? I AS ASSUME IT'S ON THE SAWS WEBSITE.
IT WILL BE ON THE SAWS WEBSITE.
WE'RE MAKING REALLY GOOD PROGRESS TOWARD THAT.
ONCE WE HAVE THE ELECTRONIC VERSIONS OF THAT READY TO GO, WE'RE READY IN AN IMPROVED MANUAL MODE FOR THIS YEAR.
WE'RE VERY CLOSE WITH THE ELECTRONICS, UM, BUT IT WON'T, IT'S NOT AVAILABLE YET.
AND AS SOON AS IT IS READY, WE'LL HAVE IT UP THERE ON ANOTHER LINK YOU CAN CLICK THAT SAYS, HERE'S THE STATUS.
AND DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHEN THAT MIGHT BE READY? UM, I'VE BEEN TOLD AROUND MARCH.
UM, NOW IS THERE SOME, IS THERE ALSO AN EFFORT TO, UM, BECAUSE YOU REMEMBER IF SOMETHING LIKE THIS HAPPENS, OUR POWER'S OUTRIGHT, SO IS THERE A PLACE FOR THEM TO CALL AND, AND THEY CAN UNDERSTAND MAYBE AN AUTOMATED SYSTEM THAT WILL TELL YOU ABOUT THE AUTO OUTAGES? WELL, THE, THE POWER WILL BE OUT, BUT WE WILL HAVE OUR, UM, OUR TELEPHONE FOLKS THAT ONES THAT ARE DEEMED EMERGENCY RESPONSE AT OUR HEADQUARTERS, WHICH IS ON A GENERATOR.
SO WE WILL HAVE THEM AT A LOCATION WHERE WE KNOW THEY HAVE POWER AND CAN ENTER AS MANY OF THOSE INCOMING CALLS AS WE CAN.
WELL, AND YEAH, I APPRECIATE THAT.
AND I, I REALLY, I, I NOTICED IN ONE OF THE OTHER SLIDES YOU MENTIONED INCREASING THAT, THAT STAFF, UM, OF CALL CENTERS.
BUT I WONDER IF THERE'S AN AUTOMATED WAY TO DO THAT.
IF, YOU KNOW, I CAN CALL AND I CAN, UM, YOU KNOW, PRESS A SERIES OF NUMBERS AND IT'LL TELL ME THERE'S AN OUTAGE FROM THE, THE STREET TO THAT STREET THAT'S AUTOMATED SO THAT YOU WOULDN'T HAVE TO, YOU KNOW, UM, YOU KNOW, WHEN THE LINES GET CLOGGED UP WHEN SOMETHING LIKE THIS HAPPENS.
HEY, MARY, WHEN YOU CALL, WOULD YOU MIND GOING TO THE PODIUM FOR THE YEAH.
MARY BAILEY, UM, CUSTOMER SERVICE AT SAS.
UM, SO WHEN YOU CALL OUR SEVEN OH FOUR SAWS NUMBER, UH, THERE IS THE IN, UH, INTEGRATED VOICE RESPONSE SYSTEM WHERE WE CAN HAVE MESSAGING THERE.
AND, AND IN FACT, DURING YURI, WE DID HAVE A, A, A NUMBER OF MESSAGES THERE THAT WERE, WERE RECORDED SO THAT PEOPLE COULD HEAR THAT, PARTICULARLY IF THEY'RE HAVING TO BE ON HOLD FOR A WHILE, MAYBE THEY JUST NEED TO HEAR SOMETHING.
WE USED IT DURING YURI, AND WE'LL CONTINUE TO USE THAT OKAY.
IS THERE A WAY THOUGH, IF, IF I'M LOOKING FOR WHERE IS THE OUTAGE, UM, AND I CAN'T GET ON MY COMPUTER BECAUSE MY POWER IS OUT, CAN I CALL THAT INTEGRATED SYSTEM AND IT'LL TELL ME, YOU KNOW, THE OUTAGE IS FROM HERE TO HERE, THIS IS THE EXPECTED RIGHT TIME? WE DID USE THAT, UM, AND INITIALLY KIND OF WE'RE TARGETING SOME OF THE AREAS THAT WE, WE SAW WE WERE HAVING OUT OF JUST OKAY.
EVENTUALLY IT BECAME JUST A LARGER PART OF THE CITY.
BUT WE DID RECORD IT THIS AREA.
YOU KNOW, CROWN RIDGE, WHATEVER, YOU KNOW, IS OUT OF WATER.
I RECALL JUST NOW WHERE WE'RE TALKING, I, I KNOW EVEN LONG BEFORE THIS STORM, C P S HAD KIND OF A TEXTING, UM, IT'LL TEXT ME AND SAY, HEY, THE POWER'S OUT AT YOUR HOUSE, AND IT'LL TEXT ME WHEN IT COMES BACK ON.
IS THERE A WAY TO DO THAT? SO, OR IT'S ALSO A CALL.
I MEAN, MAYBE C P S CAN MENTION THAT, BUT YEAH.
SO WE ARE, UH, EXPLORING, UH, AND, AND TRYING TO DO THAT WITH, WITH MORE INTEGRATED KIND OF TEXTING TO, TO CUSTOMERS AS WELL, AND, AND GIVE THEM MORE UPDATED INFORMATION ABOUT THEIR SPECIFIC OUTAGE.
UM, I WANTED TO ASK, UH, ON THE EMERGENCY GENERATORS, YOU, YOU, UM, UH, I DON'T REMEMBER WHICH, UH, MAYBE IT WAS RECOMMENDATION THREE, I THINK, AND TALKED ABOUT DISTRIBUTED GENERATION.
AND I JUST WANTED TO SEE IF YOU COULD ELABORATE ON THAT.
I'M REALLY INTERESTED IN, AND AND YOU'VE PROBABLY HEARD ME TALK ABOUT THIS BEFORE, LIKE STACK BENEFITS IN TERMS OF IF YOU PUT IN EMERGENCY GENERATORS, THEN THAT'S GREAT, THAT HELPS WITH RESILIENCY IN THE, IN THE EVENT OF AN EXTREME WEATHER EVENT OR FAILURE OF ELECTRICITY.
BUT HOW CAN THAT ALSO WORK IN CONJUNCTION WITH, UM, DISTRIBUTED GENERATION? HOW DOES THAT WORK TOWARDS, UH, SUPPORTING CLIMATE GOALS? POSSIBLY IF, UM, YOU KNOW, C P SS ENERGY IS GOING TO, UH, BE RETIRING SOME OF THEIR FOSSIL FUELED ASSETS, HOW CAN THESE BE USED AND, UM, HOW CAN WE USE THE CLEANEST ENERGY POSSIBLE? AND SO I'M JUST INTERESTED IN HOW, HOW YOU'VE EXPLORED THAT AND, AND WHERE YOU'VE ENDED UP.
WELL, ANSWERING THAT QUESTION IN AND OF ITSELF IS A WORKSHOP THAT YOU CAN'T CONDENSE DOWN REAL QUICKLY.
AND AS YOU MENTIONED, UM, IF WE'RE GONNA SPEND $200 MILLION ON GENERATORS, AND, UH, WE WANNA MAKE SURE THAT WE GET THE GREATEST PUBLIC USE OUT OF THOSE GENERATORS, NOT ONE DAY EVERY 30 YEARS THAT WE ACTUALLY NEED THEM.
SO WE'RE LOOKING AT THAT VERY INTENTLY.
WHEN YOU THINK ABOUT IT, THE WINTER STORM STARTED BECAUSE OF A FAILURE OF THE NATURAL GAS SYSTEM, NOT THE ELECTRICAL SYSTEM.
THE NATURAL GAS SYSTEM IMPACTED THE ELECTRICAL SYSTEM.
SO WHAT WE'RE LOOKING AT VERY CAREFULLY
[01:05:01]
IS WE DON'T WANNA PUT GENERATORS IN PLACE THAT WE THINK ARE SUSCEPTIBLE TO THAT FAILURE.AGAIN, IF THE NATURAL GAS SYSTEM GETS DISRUPTED, WE'RE, WE'RE WANTING TO MAKE SURE THAT WE HAVEN'T MADE THE CITY RELY ON A SYSTEM THAT COULD FAIL.
SO WE'RE LOOKING AT ALL OPTIONS, AND WE'RE TRYING TO UNDERSTAND THE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS OF ALL OPTIONS.
THERE ARE DUAL FUEL GENERATORS, THERE ARE ULTRA CLEAN DIESEL GENERATORS, THERE ARE NATURAL GAS GENERATORS.
WE'LL EVEN WORK AT BATTERY, LOOK AT BATTERIES IF IT'S PRACTICAL.
BUT THE REALITY IS THAT THE, THE VOLUME OF POWER THAT WE NEED, A BATTERY'S AN IMPRACTICAL SOLUTION TO TAKE US ANY PERIOD OF TIME.
WE WANNA MAKE SURE THAT IF THE GRID GOES DOWN IN ITS ENTIRETY, AND I THINK WE NEED TO PLAN TO THAT MAGNITUDE, THAT'S POTENTIALLY A SIX WEEK FAILURE.
SO WE WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT WE'VE GOT SYSTEMS IN PLACE THAT, IF THAT OCCURS IN JULY OR AUGUST OR SEPTEMBER, WE DON'T HAVE 1.8 MILLION PEOPLE THAT ARE AT RISK.
WE WANT TO HAVE CERTAINTY THAT WE CAN GET WATER TO FOLKS, AND WE WANNA DO IT IN A WAY THAT BENEFITS THE COMMUNITY MORE THAN JUST EMERGENCY PURPOSE.
ANORO GARCIA FOR BRINGING UP ON RECOMMENDATION FIVE, UH, INCLUDING COUNCIL MEMBERS AND STAFF.
I, I THOUGHT THAT MAYBE AS A NEW COUNCIL MEMBER, ALL THOSE, THOSE, UH, TABLETOP EXERCISES AND DISASTER SCENARIO SIMULATIONS HAD BEEN CONDUCTED BEFORE I GOT IN HERE.
UM, BUT I WOULD LIKE TO ASK BOTH SAWS AND C P SS ENERGY TO, UH, PUT SOMETHING TOGETHER WHERE YOU CAN HELP, UH, BRING THE COUNCIL OFFICES UP TO SPEED BEFORE THE CHRISTMAS BREAK.
I WOULD LIKE FOR US TO BE ABLE TO BE PREPARED.
AND, AND ON THAT NOTE, I'D ALSO LIKE TO ASK, WHAT ARE SAWS ANALYSTS, UM, PREDICTING OR, OR TELLING YOU THAT THEY THINK, UM, THIS, THIS NEXT, HOW, HOW HARD OF A WINTER, UM, DO THEY EXPECT US TO EXPERIENCE COMPARED TO LAST YEAR? UM, WHAT, WHAT ARE YOU HEARING? AND I BELIEVE THE LATEST THAT I SAW ON THAT FROM THE SAWS FOLKS THAT WATCH THE WEATHER, IS THAT WE'RE GONNA HAVE A WARMER AND AN AVERAGE MOISTURE WINTER OVERALL.
WE DON'T PLAN ON BEST CASE, WE PLAN ON WORST CASE SCENARIOS.
SO WE'RE ALL LOOKING BACK AT THE, THE OLD TRIED AND TRUE METHOD CALLED THE FARMER'S ALMANAC, AND WE'RE DOING OUR PLANNING TO BE READY FOR THIS EVENT AS IF WE'RE GONNA HAVE ANOTHER YEARLY TYPE FREEZE.
IT'S BETTER TO OVERPLAN, UH, THAN TO UNDER PLAN IN THIS SITUATION.
SO THAT'S THE STANDARD WE'RE LOOKING AT.
AND IT'S NOT JUST BEXAR COUNTY WEATHER.
BECAUSE IF IT'S EXTREMELY COLD IN A MAJORITY OF TEXAS, THEN THAT COULD AFFECT THE GRID AS WELL, AND WHICH WOULD, COULD END UP AFFECTING US IF ERCOT IS CALLING ON US TO, TO SHARE OUR POWER ELSEWHERE.
WE LOOK AT THE REGION WHEN WE LOOK AT THAT, NOT JUST, NOT JUST BEAR COUNTY.
UM, AND THEN, YOU KNOW, I'M GLAD TO SEE THAT YOU HAVE THIS, UH, BE READY REBATE FOR $75, UM, FOR INDIVIDUALS TO BE ABLE TO CHECK THEIR PIPES AND MAKE SURE THEY'RE READY, PREPARED FOR WINTER, UH, STORM, IT'S RECOMMENDATION 15.
UM, I, MY, MY CONCERN THERE IS THAT YOU HAVE TO, UH, HIRE A LICENSED PLUMBER, AND THAT COULD COST $500 OR MORE, MAYBE.
AND THEY'RE GONNA GET A $75, UH, REBATE.
AND SO FOR A LOT OF, YOU KNOW, THERE ARE A LOT OF THESE THINGS.
IT DOESN'T REQUIRE A LICENSED PLUMBER JUST TO PUT SOME, SOME PIPE INSULATION AND TAPE IT ON, OR THERE'S THOSE, UH, I'M GONNA CALL 'EM LIKE A STYROFOAM CUP THAT COVERS UP THE, THE SPIGOTS ON THE OUTSIDE OF THE HOUSE THAT DOESN'T REQUIRE A LICENSE PLUMBER.
AND SO I'M JUST WONDERING IF YOU ALL HAVE PUT ANY THOUGHT INTO WHAT YOU COULD OFFER FOR LOW INCOME PEOPLE.
YOU KNOW, I'VE, I'VE SEEN IN THE PAST WHERE, YOU KNOW, C P S ENERGY HAS GRAB BAGS AND, YOU KNOW, IT'S, HERE'S SOME L E D LIGHT BULBS OR WHATEVER, AND THEY JUST GIVE THEM OUT AT CERTAIN EVENTS.
ARE THERE THINGS THAT YOU COULD GIVE OUT LIKE THAT, UM, AT DIFFERENT EVENTS AND SPECIFICALLY TARGETING LOW INCOME ZIP CODES TO HELP THOSE PEOPLE, UM, BE ABLE TO BE, BE MORE PREPARED, YOU KNOW, AND THIS COULD BE LIKE A, YOU KNOW, $25 PACKAGE OR, OR, OR LESS, OR, YOU KNOW, BUT IT DOESN'T REQUIRE A PLUMBER TO GO IN.
AND, AND THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT WE'VE BEEN TRYING TO DO.
THE MAJORITY OF THE FOLKS THAT WE FOCUSED ON APPROACHING WITH THIS REBATE WERE THOSE THAT HAD APPLIED FOR THE C P R PROGRAM DURING THE STORM, AND IT'S BEEN A, A GREAT SUCCESS.
BUT NO, YOU MAKE GREAT POINTS.
UM, AND THEN LAST OF ALL, STEVE, CAN YOU TELL ME A RECOMMENDATION FOR HOW DO SALAMANDERS HELP YOU KEEP YOUR PIPES WARM? OH, WHAT'S, WHAT'S GOING ON THERE? A SALAMANDER IS, UH, YOU SEE THEM AT FOOTBALL GAMES ALL THE TIME.
THEY'RE THE TORPEDO SHAPED BLOWERS THAT ARE
IT'S A DIFFERENT KIND OF SALAMANDER
THOSE ARE ALL MY QUESTIONS, CHAIR.
YEAH, IT, IT'S A TORPEDO SHAPED HEATER THAT RUNS ON PROPANE OR BUTANE THAT YOU CAN USUALLY USE TWO OR THREE FUELS IN THOSE.
AND IT'S MADE TO HEAT A LARGE AREA, SOMETIMES AN OPEN AREA, LIKE ON SIDELINES AND THAT SORT
[01:10:01]
OF THING.THEY LOOK A LITTLE BIT LIKE JET ENGINES A LITTLE BIT.
THANK YOU FOR ADDING A LITTLE LEVITY TO THE CONVERSATION, COUNCILMAN.
AND WE LOOK FORWARD TO HEARING UPDATES AGAIN.
UH, AND I THINK IT WAS A VERY GOOD REPORT.
I'D LIKE TO NOW ASK, UH, C P SS ENERGY TO COME UP AND GIVE US, UH, THEIR RESPONSE TO, UH, THE C E P RECOMMENDATIONS AND HOW THEY'RE DOING.
UH, I THINK IT'S STILL MORNING.
UH, PAUL BARHAM, C P S ENERGY, UH, CHIEF GRID OPTIMIZATION RESILIENCY OFFICER.
AND I THINK I'VE GOT A PRESENTATION AND I'LL SAY, UH, THE, WE, WE SENT AN UPDATE OF THE PRESENTATION, UH, THE, UH, FROM WHAT WAS, UH, SENT JUST BEFORE THE HOLIDAYS, ALTHOUGH THE, UH, EDITS WERE, WERE PRETTY NOMINAL.
UH, BUT I'LL POINT THOSE OUT AS WE GO THROUGH.
UM, LEMME GO AHEAD AND, AND, UH, GET STARTED WHILE THEY'RE BRINGING THE PRESENTATION UP.
I'M GONNA, IN THE INTEREST OF TIME, I'M GONNA GO, UH, TO THIS, UH, SLIDE.
SO JUST, UH, OVERVIEW WISE, UM, YOU CAN SEE, UH, WE'RE SHOWING, UH, A LOT OF ITEMS IN PROGRESS.
WE SHOW, UH, AND THESE ARE 37 ITEMS THAT WE ARE TRACKING ACTIONS.
ESSENTIALLY, SOME OF THE RECOMMENDATIONS HAVE MULTIPLE ACTIONS IN THEM.
AND SO WE ARE, WE'RE KIND OF TRACKING THOSE SEPARATELY.
SO HOPEFULLY THE NUMBERS DON'T THROW YOU OFF.
BUT JUST AS A HIGH LEVEL OVERVIEW, UH, I'LL POINT OUT, WE SHOW THREE THAT ARE SUBMITTED TO THE, UH, M U C TO THIS COMMITTEE.
UH, IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN THOSE, YOU, YOU WILL TODAY.
OUR PROCESS THAT WE SET UP, UH, FOR THIS, UH, KIND OF AT THE BEGINNING WAS THAT, UH, FOR US TO CALL THESE CLOSED OUT, IT WOULD INCLUDE SUBMISSION OF, UH, SOME DOCUMENTATION TO THIS COMMITTEE ON WHAT WAS DONE HERE WAS OUR ACTION PLAN.
SO I'M NOT GONNA GO THROUGH ALL THOSE DETAILS, BUT Y'ALL WILL GET THOSE, UM, AS DOES OUR BOARD, UH, SO THAT, UH, WE'RE TRANSPARENT ON WHAT WAS DONE, UH, ON THOSE ITEMS. I'LL ALSO MENTION, UH, YOU'LL SEE ON A LOT OF THE ITEMS I GO THROUGH, UM, WE'RE CALLING EFFECTIVELY COMPLETE.
UH, BUT, UH, KIND OF SAME AS, UH, STEVE MENTIONED ON A NUMBER OF HIS.
UH, THERE'S KIND OF A LOT OF ADMINISTRATIVE THINGS THAT WE'RE WRAPPING UP, INCLUDING SUBMISSION OF THE PAPERWORK, UH, TO THIS COMMITTEE.
UH, SO, UH, I WILL, UH, KIND OF POINT THOSE THINGS OUT AS WE GO THROUGH.
UH, BUT LET ME JUST GO AHEAD AND DIVE INTO THE RECOMMENDATIONS.
UH, WE GOT A REQUEST THAT WE KIND OF COVER THESE, UH, BY ORDER OF PRIORITY.
I WILL SAY THAT WAS DIFFICULT BECAUSE WE CONSIDER ALL OF THEM IMPORTANT.
UH, BUT WE, WE DID KIND OF PUT THEM IN BASICALLY ORDER OF, UH, INFRASTRUCTURE OR THE FIRST ITEMS, UM, COORDINATION, UH, AND THEN, UH, COMMUNICATION, AND THEN SOME OF THE, UM, UH, POLICY TYPE THINGS OR, OR TOWARDS THE END.
SO THAT'S THE ORDER THEY'RE IN.
ALSO, I'LL MENTION, UH, SOME OF THESE, WE HAVE ESTIMATED COSTS.
UM, YOU KNOW, WE PROBABLY HAVE A BETTER ESTIMATED COST FOR KIND OF SECOND PHASE MORE, UM, INFRASTRUCTURE CHANGE TYPE THINGS THAT WE MAY BE LOOKING TO DO IN THE FUTURE.
UH, BUT FOR, UH, A LOT OF THESE ITEMS, WE ASSIGNED IT TO SOMEONE MADE IT PART OF THEIR RESPONSIBILITY, TOLD 'EM NOT TO DELAY, DON'T WAIT FOR, YOU KNOW, TRYING TO PUT IN A BUNCH OF, UH, BUDGET TRACKING, JUST GET IT DONE.
AND SO, UM, SO ON SOME OF THESE, YOU KNOW, WE DON'T, WE DON'T NECESSARILY HAVE AN ESTIMATED COST, UH, BUT IT, THERE ARE COSTS ASSOCIATED WITH PERSONNEL AND THAT KIND OF THING.
SO, ON THIS FIRST ONE IS, UH, UH, ITEM NUMBER TWO IN, IN TERMS OF THE RECOMMENDATIONS, UH, FROM THE REPORT.
UH, THIS WAS TO, UH, ENHANCE, UH, UM, BASICALLY OUR, OUR NATURAL GAS SUPPLY.
UH, WE ARE, THIS ONE IS COMPLETE.
WE'VE PUT IN PLACE, UH, ADDITIONAL TRANSPORT CAPACITY, AS WELL AS STORAGE CAPACITY.
UH, SO WE FEEL LIKE WE'RE IN A VERY GOOD POSITION COMING INTO, UH, THIS WINTER, UH, FOR NATURAL GAS SUPPLY ON, UH, RECOMMENDATION NUMBER FOUR.
THIS, UH, IS, UH, TARGETED AT OUR GENERATION PLANTS AND THE WEATHERIZATION ACTIVITIES AROUND OUR PLANTS.
WE'VE TALKED ABOUT, UH, SOME OF THE DETAILS PREVIOUSLY, UH, BUT WE ALSO CONSIDER THIS EFFECTIVELY COMPLETE, ALTHOUGH WE ARE, UM, WRAPPING UP SOME, UH, OUTAGES, PLANT OVERHAULS THROUGH THE REST OF THIS MONTH.
UH, ONE ITEM RELATED TO THIS, UH, AND, AND ACTUALLY THE NEXT COUPLE IS, UH, THAT, UH, TODAY WE'RE ACTUALLY SUBMITTING, UM, UH, UH, CERTIFICATION
[01:15:01]
TO ERCOT, UH, ON THAT, UH, OUR PLANTS AND OUR TRANSMISSION SYSTEM ARE READY FOR WINTER PREPARATION.SO THE, THE P U C PUT IN SOME RULES, UH, IN PLACE, UH, FOR THIS WINTER.
AND, UH, UH, THROUGH ERCOT, UH, REQUIRED THAT ALL PLANTS AND, UH, TRANSMISSION, UH, OWNER OPERATORS HAD TO SUBMIT PAPERWORK.
UH, THE ANSWERED A NUMBER OF QUESTIONS ON OUR LEVEL OF PREPARATION, AND, UH, WE ARE HAPPY TO SAY THAT WE WILL, UH, WE SUBMITTED THAT PAPERWORK OR SUBMITTING IT TODAY, AND IT SHOWS THAT WE WILL BE IN FULL COMPLIANCE, UH, FOR THIS WINTER SEASON.
THE NEXT, UH, ACTUALLY THE NEXT TWO ITEMS ARE ASSOCIATED WITH OUTAGE MANAGEMENT, ARE WHAT WE ALSO TALK ABOUT IS LOAD SHED.
AND OF COURSE, THIS WAS, YOU KNOW, WHAT REALLY, UH, HIT THE CUSTOMERS, WHAT THE CUSTOMERS SAW AND HAD, UH, AND OBVIOUSLY A BIG AREA OF FOCUS FOR US.
WE HAVE MADE SIGNIFICANT IMPROVEMENTS HERE.
AND, UH, ALONG A COUPLE LINES, THIS RECOMMENDATION NUMBER FIVE WAS AROUND THE, UH, UM, THE, THE PROGRAMMING, THE, THE SYSTEM THAT MANAGED THE, UH, LOAD SHED.
WE HAVE MADE, UH, A LOT OF IMPROVEMENTS TO THAT PROGRAM, UH, HAVE, UH, UH, ACTUALLY RUN THAT PROGRAM IN SIMULATION, UH, MODELING A SIMILAR EVENT AS YURI, UH, FOR THE, UH, UH, CIRCUITS THAT WE HAVE, UH, IDENTIFIED FOR LOAD SHED, UM, MADE, UH, GIVEN OURSELVES A LOT MORE CONTROL AND FLEXIBILITY, UH, IN THE PROGRAM FOR THIS, UH, WINTER SEASON.
SO THIS ITEM ALSO IS EFFECTIVELY COMPLETE, UH, WITH US CLOSING OUT THE PAPERWORK.
UM, YOU CAN SEE SOME COSTS HERE.
WE DID HAVE, UH, SOME, UH, UH, CONSULTANTS AND, UH, SOME EXTERNAL PARTIES ASSOCIATED WITH, UH, COMPLETING THIS WORK.
SO THERE WAS SOME COST THERE THAT WE COULD CAPTURE ALSO RELATED ON THE LOAD SHE MANAGEMENT WAS, UM, NOT ONLY THE ABILITY TO CONTROL IT WELL, BUT, BUT HOW DO YOU CON HOW DO YOU INCREASE THE CAPACITY OF THAT SO THAT IF WE GET INTO LOAD, SHE, IF WE GET INTO A SIMILAR EVENT AS YURI, THAT IT WILL BE, UH, MUCH LESS IMPACTFUL TO ANY ONE OF OUR CUSTOMERS.
AND WE BELIEVE WE'VE GOTTEN OURSELVES IN A MUCH BETTER POSITION HERE, UH, WHERE WE HAVE, UH, PULLED IN, UH, ACTUALLY AN ADDITIONAL, UH, A HUNDRED AND 150 OR SO CIRCUITS INTO THE LOAD SHED, UH, ROUTINE THAT WERE NOT IN THERE PREVIOUSLY.
THAT, THAT IS REALLY THE ONLY, UH, REAL SOLUTION FOR, UM, SPREADING THAT OUT OVER MORE CUSTOMERS AND HAVING THE MINIMUM AMOUNT OF IMPACT TO ANY ONE CUSTOMER.
AS, AS THE SYSTEM IS DESIGNED RIGHT NOW.
AND AS ACTUALLY TALKING, UH, WITH, UH, REED, JUST BEFORE THE, UH, PROGRAM, IS THAT OUR, UH, SYSTEM IS DESIGNED SUCH THAT, UH, A CUSTOMER WILL SEE A 15 MINUTE OUTAGE AND THEN WILL BE RETURNED, UH, TO, UH, POWER TO THEIR, UH, TO THEIR HOME BUSINESS.
AND SO THAT'S THE DESIGN OF THE SYSTEM.
WE'VE TESTED THAT UP TO SOMETHING, UH, THAT LOOKS LIKE A YURI EVENT, AND EVEN, UH, BEYOND THAT A LITTLE BIT.
AND WE CAN, UH, UH, MANAGE THAT SIZE OF EVENT WITH THE SYSTEM AS IT STANDS.
NOW, I ALSO SAY THAT WE'VE PUT IN PLACE OTHER MITIGATIONS.
IF, IF WE WERE TO GET BEYOND THAT POINT, UH, ALWAYS LOOKING TO PLAN FOR, UH, WHAT IS THAT NEXT EVENT? HOW, HOW MUCH WORSE COULD THINGS GET TO MAKE SURE WE ARE FULLY PREPARED FOR THAT.
I KNOW NUMBER SEVEN, SO, UH, STEVE TALKED A GOOD BIT ABOUT, UH, OUR COLLABORATION WITH SAS.
I'M NOT GONNA GO INTO, YOU KNOW, UH, THAT AGAIN, I THINK Y'ALL HAVE HEARD A LOT OF THAT.
BUT OTHER THAN TO SAY, UM, YOU KNOW, STEVE AND I TALK ROUTINELY, OUR STAFF, OUR OPERATION STAFF, OUR ENGINEERING STAFF, OUR TALKING ROUTINELY, WE, UH, ARE MEETING ON A REGULAR BASIS ON WORKING WITH SAWS ON THE, THE BACKUP GENERATION PLAN AS, AS WAS, YOU KNOW, DISCUSSING SOME OF THE QUESTIONS.
SO, UH, I THINK, UH, UH, THIS IS ONE OF THE IMPROVEMENTS THAT I'M REALLY HAPPY WITH, UH, WHERE WE'VE GOTTEN TO.
AND, UH, I THINK, UH, THE, THE COLLABORATION BETWEEN OUR ORGANIZATIONS IS, UH, UH, IS, HAS BEEN REALLY GOOD.
RECOMMENDATIONS EIGHT AND NINE ARE BOTH ASSOCIATED WITH COMMUNICATIONS.
UH, COMMUNICATIONS OBVIOUSLY WAS ONE OF THE, UH, BIG GAPS, UM, IN THE MIDDLE OF AN EMERGENCY, WHICH, UM, YOU KNOW, EMERGENCIES WILL HAPPEN.
[01:20:01]
WE NEED TO, IN THOSE SITUATIONS, NEED TO BE ABLE TO GIVE GOOD INFORMATION THAT'S TIMELY, THAT LETS OUR CUSTOMERS AND OUR STAKEHOLDERS, UH, BE ABLE TO MAKE DECISIONS ON, ON WHAT THEY NEED TO DO IN RESPONSE TO THAT, AS WELL AS GIVING THEM INFORMATION ON, UH, THINGS THEY SHOULD CONSIDER IN THOSE SCENARIOS.SO WE ARE SPENDING, UH, A LOT OF TIME AND EFFORT, UH, AROUND THESE RECOMMENDATIONS.
UM, WE'RE CALLING THESE IN PROGRESS.
UH, WE WILL BE ISSUING A, UH, UH, REVISED COMMUNICATIONS PLAN, UH, BEFORE THE END OF THE YEAR, UH, THAT OUR TEAMS ARE WORKING ON.
THAT WILL INCLUDE, UH, A, A LOT OF DIFFERENT ASPECTS AND, AND SOME OF THE, UH, QUESTIONS THAT, UH, I KNOW, UH, WERE POSED TO STEVE, UH, AROUND, UH, AUTOMATED MESSAGING AND MESSAGING SYSTEMS. SO WE HAVE, UH, WE HAVE SOME OF THOSE SYSTEMS IN PLACE, AND WE HAVE BEEN REALLY TESTING AND PUSHING THOSE SYSTEMS TO, UH, SEE WHAT WE CAN DO.
I KNOW WE'VE BEEN, UH, UTILIZING THOSE IN SOME OF OUR, UH, RECENT WEATHER EVENTS WHERE WE HAVE PUSHED OUT, UM, ABOUT, UH, HALF A MILLION, UH, CUSTOMER TOUCHPOINT, UM, IN, IN SOME OF THOSE MESSAGING.
AND THAT CAN BE, UH, THROUGH TEXT, UH, UH, AUTOMATED PHONE CALL OR EMAIL.
AND ASSOCIATED WITH THAT IS A BIG PUSH AROUND CUSTOMERS UPDATING THEIR CONTACT INFORMATION, UH, IN OUR, UH, WEB PORTAL, IN OUR MANAGE MY ACCOUNT, WHICH IS IMPORTANT.
WE CAN'T REACH 'EM IF WE DON'T HAVE, UH, A GOOD CONTACT POINT.
SO WE'VE REALLY BEEN, UH, PUSHING THAT ASPECT AS WELL, WHICH IS REALLY, UH, A KEY PIECE OF OUR IMPROVED COMMUNICATIONS.
SO THAT'S THOSE TWO ITEMS. UH, THE NEXT TWO ITEMS ARE AROUND MARKET REDESIGN.
AND THERE WAS, UM, KINDA A FEW DIFFERENT, UH, AREAS THAT, UH, UM, WE WERE GIVEN, UH, DIRECTION TO, UH, PUSH THAT WERE THINGS THAT REALLY HAD TO HAPPEN AT THE, AT THE STATE LEVEL, AT THE ERCOT LEVEL, UH, WITH THE P U C, UH, WITH, UM, UH, HOW, HOW AS, UH, AS A GRID, UH, HOW DOES ERCOT, UH, PUT IN PLACE DRIVERS FOR, UH, SUFFICIENT GENERATION CAPACITY SO THAT WE DON'T GET INTO THIS SCENARIO WHERE WE DON'T HAVE ENOUGH GENERATORS AVAILABLE, UH, TO MEET THE DEMAND.
UH, AND, UH, UH, IN, IN LOOKING AT HOW DO WE CONNECT TO OTHER GRIDS OUTSIDE OF TEXAS, UH, AND, UH, HOW DO WE ADDRESS SOME OF THESE MARKET ISSUES? SO WE ARE ACTIVELY ENGAGED IN, IN ALL THESE DISCUSSIONS.
AND THERE'S, UH, I DON'T KNOW, AT LAST COUNT, PROBABLY ABOUT 36 DIFFERENT, UH, UH, EFFORTS GOING ON, UH, AT THE STATE LEVEL AROUND THESE ISSUES.
AND OUR GOVERNMENT RELATIONS TEAM, UH, ALONG WITH OTHER, UH, UH, SMES IN OUR ORGANIZATION, ARE ACTIVELY ENGAGED IN THOSE POLICY DISCUSSIONS.
AND, UH, WHERE WE'RE SUBMITTING, UH, COMMENTS, UM, UH, IN FACT, ONE THAT'S, UH, I THINK GOING ON TODAY IS AT THE RAILROAD COMMISSION, UH, AROUND, UH, NATURAL GAS RULES.
AND WE HAVE SUBMITTED, UH, COMMENTS AND, AND AROUND THAT AND SOME OF THOSE THINGS THAT ARE GOING ON THERE.
SO I CAN ASSURE YOU WE ARE ACTIVELY INVOLVED IN THESE AREAS, UM, AND DOING EVERYTHING WE CAN TO MAKE SURE THAT, UH, THAT THESE ISSUES, UM, ARE GETTING LIGHT AND ARE GETTING ATTENTION.
UH, WE CONSIDER THESE, UM, AS, UM, EFFECTIVELY COMPLETE FROM THE STANDPOINT THAT, UH, WE HAVE OUR POSITION THAT, UH, THAT WE'VE HEARD, UH, FROM, FROM THE CITY COUNCIL, AS WELL AS FROM OUR CUSTOMERS.
AND WE ARE, UH, MOVING THAT POSITION FORWARD AT THE STATE LEVEL.
UH, SO MARKET REDESIGN IS SOMETHING, UH, ACTUALLY, IF YOU'VE BEEN INVOLVED IN ERCOT, UH, IS, UH, NEVER ENDING RIGHT THERE.
THERE'S ALWAYS, UH, UPDATES, IMPROVEMENTS GOING ON THERE.
UH, WE THINK THAT SOME OF THESE MARKET REDESIGN EFFORTS WILL BE THINGS THAT, UH, THERE WILL BE SOME NEAR TERM IMPROVEMENTS, BUT SOME OF THESE THINGS COULD, COULD POTENTIALLY GO ON FOR YEARS.
SO, UM, UH, WE'RE GONNA, UH, PROBABLY, UH, HERE OVER THE NEXT COUPLE WEEKS GIVE YOU A SUBMISSION THAT SHOWS HE'S AS COMPLETE.
BUT I JUST WANT TO, UH, EMPHASIZE THAT, UH, IT IS NOT A JOB THAT WE EVER SEE AS DONE.
UH, WE HAVE, UH, A STAFF THAT, UH, THIS IS THEIR FULL-TIME JOB, IS, UH, MAKING SURE THAT, UH, CPSS AND OUR COMMUNITIES', UM, INTERESTS ARE REPRESENTED, UH, AT THE STATE AND FEDERAL LEVELS.
THE LAST, UH, TWO SLIDES ARE, UH, RECOMMENDATIONS THAT WERE AT LAWS OR TO THE E O C, BUT THERE WERE THINGS THAT, UH, EITHER INCLUDED OUR NAME OR WE KNEW THAT, UM,
[01:25:01]
BY DEFINITION INVOLVED US.SO WE HAVE BEEN TRACKING ACTIVITIES ASSOCIATED WITH THESE.
AGAIN, I'VE ALREADY TALKED ABOUT SAWS, UH, SO WON'T MENTION THAT AGAIN.
BUT, UH, A LOT OF GOOD ACTIVITY THERE.
SIMILARLY WITH THE E O C, AND I'M ON MY LAST SLIDE, UH, A LOT OF ACTIVITY, AGAIN, SIMILAR TO SAS, UH, IN ENGAGING WITH, UH, OUR PARTNERS OVER THERE.
UH, ONE OF MY EXECUTIVES OUT OF OUR, UH, OPERATIONS GROUP, UH, MEETS WITH, UH, E O C LEADERSHIP, UH, TWICE A MONTH, UH, AND, UH, MAKING SURE THAT WE ARE, UH, UH, IN GOOD COMMUNICATION AND GOOD, UH, COLLABORATION.
UH, WITH THAT, UH, WITH THAT GROUP, THIS IS A, YOU HAVE THIS SLIDE, AND I THINK Y'ALL GOT A HAND DOWN THIS, THIS IS JUST A KIND OF A PUBLIC FACING, UH, DOCUMENT WE PUT TOGETHER, UH, TO GIVE A CURRENT STATUS OF THESE ITEMS. NEXT STEP, KEEPING Y'ALL INFORMED.
I WILL TAKE ANY QUESTIONS, YOU TAKE, ANY QUESTIONS Y'ALL MAY HAVE.
UH, I THINK THAT WAS VERY INFORMATIVE PRESENTATION.
THERE WERE A FEW THINGS THAT COME TO MY MIND THAT I WANTED TO ASK ABOUT.
UH, ON, ON SLIDE NUMBER FOUR, YOU TALKED ABOUT, UH, UPDATING, UH, EVERYTHING TO BE BETTER PREPARED FOR A STORM, BUT YOU DIDN'T PUT ANY COST IN THERE.
YOU DIDN'T TELL US WHAT IS ALL THIS COST FOR ALL OF THESE UPGRADES AND IMPROVEMENTS TO PROTECT THE SYSTEM.
UH, AND SO, YOU KNOW, WHAT ARE WE LOOKING FOR? THAT WAS SLIDE NUMBER FOUR.
SLIDE OR RECOMMENDATION NUMBER FOUR.
I MEAN, YOU IMPLEMENTED WEATHERIZATION, CONDUCTED REPAIRS, PERFORMED INSPECTIONS, UH, BUT YOU KNOW, YOU'RE TELLING US IT DOESN'T COST ANYTHING.
NO,
UM, WHAT I WOULD SAY, UH, UH, COUNCILMAN COURAGE IS THAT, UM, THE THINGS THAT WE DID WERE THINGS THAT WE COULD DO QUICKLY AND, UH, DO WITHOUT EXTENSIVE ENGINEERING ANALYSES AND SO ON.
AND SO WE'RE, WE'RE TALKING, YOU KNOW, UNDER $2 MILLION WORTH OF EXTRA STUFF THAT WE, UH, FOUND DOLLARS TO GO DO, UH, OVER THE LAST COUPLE MONTHS.
THIS IS AN ADDITION, OF COURSE, TO THE $21 MILLION THAT WE'VE SPENT SINCE 2011, UH, ON, UH, WEATHERIZATION AND, AND, UH, AND HARDENING OUR ASSETS.
AND, UH, WE HAVE, UH, UH, $31 MILLION RESERVED IN OUR, UH, REQUESTS THAT WE'RE GOING TO MAKE, UH, TO TAKE ADDITIONAL REALLY SIGNIFICANT STEPS IN MEETING THAT NEW STATE STANDARDS, UH, IN THE COMING YEARS.
WELL, YOU KNOW, JUST KNOWING THAT 2 MILLION IN THERE WOULD BE HELPFUL.
UM, ON NUMBER FIVE, UH, WE TALKED ABOUT, UM, LOAD SHED.
AND, YOU KNOW, THE, THE CITY REALLY GOT HURT BECAUSE OF, UH, THE REQUIREMENTS THAT ERCOT, UH, PUT ON US IF WE WERE TO FACE A SITUATION LIKE THAT.
IS THE CITY, COULD THE CITY LEGALLY SAY, I'M SORRY, WE, WE CAN'T AFFORD TO SHUT DOWN ANY MORE PEOPLE IN OUR COMMUNITY AND JUST KEEP USING OUR OWN POWER INSTEAD OF, UH, GIVING IT TO THE STATE SYSTEM.
WHAT I'D SAY IS, UH, YOU WOULD, UM, I THINK BE IN, IN VIOLATION OF FEDERAL REQUIREMENTS, UM, ON, ON MANAGING THE GRID, RIGHT? AND, YOU KNOW, SO MAYBE STEPPING BACK A BIT, WHEN WE, WHEN WE'RE IN LOAD SHED, UM, FOR, FOR THE GRID, THAT IS TRUE EMERGENCY OPERATION, THAT IS ESSENTIALLY, UH, ERCOT IN OUR CASE.
BUT, UH, OTHER, THE OTHER GRIDS HAVE, HAVE THE SAME TYPE OF, UH, PROCEDURES.
UH, THAT IS THE, THE ERCOT, THE BALANCING AUTHORITIES BASICALLY LAST DITCH EFFORT TO KEEP THE GRID UP.
UM, IF, IF THEY'RE, IF WE, BECAUSE WE ARE PART OF THE GRID GRID, IF WE ARE NOT SUCCESSFUL IN, UH, BALANCING LOADING GENERATION FOR THE ENTIRE GRID, UH, THE GRID WILL COLLAPSE.
UH, THAT'S JUST A PHYSICAL FACT.
AND SO I THINK, UH, WHAT I WOULD SAY IS, UM, WE ARE GONNA DO EVERYTHING POSSIBLE NOT TO GET INTO THAT SITUATION.
NOW, YOU KNOW, AS I SAID, OUR, OUR FOCUS IN THE, IN THE IMPROVEMENTS WE MADE AROUND LOAD SHED ARE HOW DO WE, HOW DO WE GET TO THE LEVELS OF LOAD SHED WE NEED TO GET TO, TO SUPPORT THAT SIZE OF EVENT, BUT HOW DO WE SPREAD IT OUT, UM, OVER A LARGER, UH, NUMBER OF CUSTOMERS SO THAT ANY ONE CUSTOMER IS NOT AS SIGNIFICANTLY AFFECTED? AND YEAH.
HOW MANY, HOW MANY CUSTOMERS IN SAN ANTONIO ACTUALLY CONSISTENTLY LOST THEIR POWER? OH, BOY.
[01:30:01]
THE POPULATION IN SAN ANTONIO OR BEXAR COUNTY? 40%.'CAUSE YOU KNOW, THEY SAY 5 MILLION PEOPLE STATEWIDE LOST POWER.
WELL, YOU KNOW, IF 400,000 OF 'EM CAME FROM SAN ANTONIO OR, OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT, THAT'S A VERY LARGE SHARE, UH, STATEWIDE, BUT, OKAY.
A COUPLE OF OTHER QUESTIONS I HAVE RELATED TO THIS.
UH, I NOTICED THAT WE KEPT TRYING TO RESTART POWER, BUT EVERY TIME, OR MANY TIMES WE DID, IT WENT RIGHT OFF AGAIN.
AND THAT'S BECAUSE PEOPLE HAD ALL THEIR LIGHTS ON OR ALL OF THEIR POWER GOING.
WHAT CAN WE DO TO PREVENT THAT FROM RECURRING TIME AND TIME? IT HAPPENED IN MY HOUSE.
WHAT CAN WE DO ABOUT THAT? IS IT A MATTER OF JUST EDUCATING THE POPULATION IF YOUR LIGHT, IF YOUR POWER GOES OUT, TURN OFF ALL THE LIGHTS AND LEAVE ONE ON OR SOMETHING? YES.
SO ONE IS, IS EXACTLY THAT, AND THAT THAT WILL BE PART OF OUR COMMUNICATIONS, UH, TEMPLATES FOR, FOR THAT TYPE OF EVENT.
UH, SO THAT'S, THAT'S ONE THING THAT, UH, I THINK EVERY CUSTOMER CAN HELP WITH.
THE OTHER PIECE IS WHAT I MENTIONED ABOUT, UM, OUR, OUR DESIGN OF THE LOAD SHED THAT, UH, LIMITING OUTAGES TO 15 MINUTES.
IF, IF OUR SYSTEM IS SUCCESSFUL IN LIMITING AN OUTAGE TO 15 MINUTES, WHEN WE BRING A HOUSE BACK, YOU KNOW, THE HOUSE, UM, YOU KNOW, HASN'T COOLED DOWN A WHOLE LOT, RIGHT? AND SO YOU DON'T RUN INTO THE SAME ISSUE OF EVERYTHING COMING ON AT, AT ONE TIME.
AND SO YOU DON'T END UP WITH, UH, THOSE SAME OVERLOAD ISSUES THAT, THAT YOU'RE REFERRING TO.
WE CALL IT COLD LOAD PICKUP BECAUSE THE, THE LOAD HAS GOTTEN COLD AND HAS A, A HUGE, UH, UH, POWER DEMAND AT, IN THOSE FIRST FEW SECONDS THAT, UM, KIND OF OVERCOME OUR, OUR PROTECTIVE DEVICES.
BUT, UH, IF WE CAN, UH, MANAGE TO A 15 MINUTE OUTAGE, WE WON'T, WE WILL NOT RUN INTO THOSE PROBLEMS. WHAT, WHAT ELSE CAN WE DO OR ARE WE DOING TO PROTECT PEOPLE WHO HAVE SENSITIVE, UH, HEALTH ISSUES THAT THEY NEED TO HAVE ELECTRICITY GOING? HOW ARE WE PROTECTING THEM FROM, UH, YOU KNOW, PROBLEMS WITH OUTAGES? SO WE, UH, WE, WE DO, UM, HAVE A, UH, SYSTEM IN PLACE WHERE PEOPLE CAN IDENTIFY, UH, THOSE NEEDS, UH, THAT, UM, THAT DOES NOT, UH, PREVENT THEM FROM BEING PART OF LOAD SHED OR, OR SEEING AN OUTAGE.
UH, BUT WHAT IT DOES DO IS MAKE SURE WE'RE AWARE OF THAT IN OUR SYSTEMS, UH, AND IN, IN THESE TYPES OF EVENTS.
UH, I KNOW DURING YURI, WE WERE REACHING OUT, UH, YOU KNOW, TO THOSE TYPES OF CUSTOMERS TO SEE WHAT WE COULD DO.
UM, IT WILL, UH, AFFECT, UH, UH, WHEN WE START LOOKING AT RESTORATION OF, UH, YOU KNOW, IN, IN TRYING TO GET EVERYTHING BACK TO NORMAL, WE WILL PRIORITIZE, UH, THOSE TYPES OF, UH, CUSTOMERS AND NEEDS.
UM, CAN YOU, CAN YOU RECONFIGURE CIRCUITS TO PROTECT SOME PEOPLE IN THEIR HOMES FROM BEING SHUT OFF? UH, THAT IS, UH, A GREAT QUESTION.
THAT IS WHERE WE'RE TRYING TO HEAD THAT IS, UH, THAT IS A WHOLE NOTHER LEVEL OF INFRASTRUCTURE TO DO THAT.
UH, BOTH, UH, IF YOU THINK ABOUT, UH, YOU KNOW, WE'VE GOT A CIRCUIT THAT MAY HAVE, UH, YOU KNOW, 5,000 CUSTOMERS ON IT, RIGHT? TO, TO DO THAT, UM, YOU KNOW WHAT, I, I HAVE TO HAVE MORE THAN JUST THE ONE SWITCH AT THE SUBSTATION.
NOW I'M TALKING ABOUT NEEDING SWITCHES OUT IN THAT CIRCUIT.
NOT ONLY DO I HAVE TO HAVE THOSE, UH, SWITCHES OUT IN THE CIRCUIT, ALSO HAVE TO HAVE A WAY OF TALKING TO THOSE SWITCHES.
UH, NOW I'M GONNA HAVE PROBABLY THOUSANDS OF THESE SWITCHES.
SO THAT'S NOT SOMETHING I CAN DO MANUALLY.
SO NOW I NEED A CONTROL SYSTEM ALSO TO, TO MANAGE ALL THAT.
SO I'LL SAY WE HAVE, UM, PIECES OF, OF THAT, AND WE ARE, UM, MOVING IN THAT DIRECTION.
WE'RE ACTUALLY DOING SOME TESTING, UH, AROUND A SYSTEM LIKE THAT.
UH, WE, UH, ACTUALLY OUR DISTRIBUTION AUTOMATION PROGRAM THAT WE HAVE IN PLACE ALREADY, UH, WE ARE DOING SOME ADJUSTMENTS, UH, TO THAT PROGRAM THAT WILL INCLUDE, UH, EXACTLY WHAT YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT.
UH, BUT THAT'S, UM, REALLY, UH, AN INFRASTRUCTURE AD AND IT'S SOMETHING THAT WILL HAPPEN OVER, OVER THE LONGER PERIOD, BUT, OKAY.
BUT IT'S GOOD TO KNOW THE TECHNOLOGY EXISTS IN YOU'RE EXPLORING HOW TO USE IT.
ANY OTHER COUNCIL MEMBER? COUNCILMAN
AND THE FIRST IS THAT, UM, WELL, ALL OF WHAT PAUL
[01:35:01]
SAID IS TRUE, OF COURSE, BUT WE'RE ALSO PROVIDING INFORMATION, UH, TO COUNSEL YOUR, YOUR STAFF, UH, REGARDING GENERATOR SAFETY AND THIS ISSUE OF COLD LOAD PICKUP.UH, AND, UH, AND JUST, YOU KNOW, WEATHER, UH, YOU KNOW, OTHER TYPES OF PREPAREDNESS ISSUES.
THE, THE OTHER THING IS, UM, I WILL NOTE THAT IN OUR RECENT, UH, WE'VE HAD TWO EVENTS.
UM, ONE, WHICH WAS A CITY EVENT ORGANIZED BY, UH, ERIC, UH, WALSH, OUR, OUR, UH, UH, CITY MANAGER WHERE WE, UH, WHERE STRAC WAS THERE AS WELL, THE TALK ABOUT HOW WE ALL KIND OF WORK TOGETHER RECENTLY, WE ALSO HAD A GRID X EVENT THAT THE CITY WAS INVITED TO SAW, WAS INVITED TO.
WE HAD LOTS OF PARTICIPATION, GOOD EVENTS, STRAC, UM, WAS, UH, INVOLVED AS WELL.
AND WE HAVE, UH, ONGOING, UH, DIALOGUE WITH THEM ABOUT HOW WE CAN DEAL WITH CRITICAL CARE CUSTOMERS.
I JUST WANTED TO MENTION THAT.
THANK YOU FOR THE PRESENTATION TODAY.
I'M GONNA START OFF WITH, I THINK ONE OF THE, THE QUESTIONS THAT SOME RESIDENTS HAVE, AND CAN YOU EXPLAIN THE 15 MINUTE INCREMENT THING, UM, TO ME, WHY 15 MINUTES? I'LL GIVE YOU AN EXAMPLE.
I WASN'T ABLE TO HEAT UP A CANNED SOUP IN 15 MINUTES OR POWER MY DEVICES, RIGHT? SO WHO, WHO DICTATES THE 15 MINUTE INCREMENTS? SO 15 MINUTES IS THE PERIOD OF OUTAGE, RIGHT? BUT, SO I'M TALKING ABOUT DESIGN STATE, NOT, NOT WHAT HAPPENED IN, IN YURI, THIS IS IMPROVED STATE, RIGHT? SO YOUR OUTAGE WOULD BE FOR 15 MINUTES THE PERIOD THAT YOU WOULD HAVE POWER.
UM, AS, AS WE MODEL IT IN A, IN A URI TYPE EVENT, YOU WOULD HAVE POWER FOR 15 MINUTES.
UH, SO THAT'S KIND OF AT THE PEAK, AT THE WORST OF IT.
BUT, UH, ANYTHING LESS THAN THAT, YOUR, YOUR DURATION THAT YOU HAVE POWER WOULD BE LONGER.
UH, YOU KNOW, HOPEFULLY IT'S, IT'S, UH, YOU KNOW, MUCH LONGER.
BUT IS THERE A MATHEMATICAL FORMULA WHERE 15 MINUTES IS THE MAGIC NUMBER, 15 MINUTES, UH, HAS TO DO WITH, UH, AND THAT IS, UH, UH, YOU KNOW, I DON'T KNOW THAT THERE'S A PERFECT NUMBER.
UH, BUT YOU GO MUCH LONGER THAN 15 MINUTES, AND YOU'LL START RUNNING INTO THE, THE PROBLEMS THAT, UH, COUNCILMAN COURAGE MENTIONED WITH CODE OF PICKUP.
THE LONGER YOU LET THE HOUSE COOL OFF, YOU KNOW, THE LONGER, UH, SOMEONE'S POWER'S OUT, THE MORE LIGHTS THEY'VE TURNED ON, THE MORE, YOU KNOW, THINGS THAT KIND OF GET TURNED ON IN THE HOUSE WAITING FOR THE POWER TO COME ON.
UH, SO THAT'S, YOU KNOW, THAT'S KIND OF THE, THE, WHERE THE 15 MINUTE TARGET COMES FROM.
AND MAYBE WE CAN DO SOMETHING TO, TO BETTER EXPLAIN THAT TO OUR, UM, RESIDENTS.
AND SO I'M STILL HAVING A HARD TIME TRYING TO, TO, TO GET A GRASP OF THAT.
BUT WE KNOW THAT OUR RESIDENTS READ AT ABOUT A THIRD GRADE LEVEL, AND THAT'S THE, THE LEVEL OF COMPREHENSION.
SO I DON'T KNOW HOW WE DO THAT, BUT I THINK THAT WE NEED TO KIND OF FIGURE THAT OUT, RIGHT? AND SO, SO TEACH PEOPLE WHY, WHY IT IS, ET CETERA.
UM, SO, SO I WANTED TO START OFF WITH THAT QUESTION, BUT THEN ALSO, UM, SOMEBODY REFERENCED, OR, OR EARLIER, UH, SOMEBODY REFERENCED, UM, THE GOVERNOR'S, UH, I THINK IT WAS YOU ALL THAT, THAT REFERENCED, THE GOVERNOR SAID THAT WE WERE GONNA BE OKAY THIS WINTER, AND THAT THERE WAS A DOZEN, ALMOST A DOZEN LAWS SIGNED THAT WOULD PREVENT US FROM HAVING THE SAME THING HAPPEN.
ONE OF THOSE, AND THAT'S WHY I WAS ASKING WHAT SAW WAS THE EMERGENCY ALERT SYSTEM AND HOW ARE WE PREPARING? AND I KNOW YOU ALL DO A GREAT JOB WITH TEXT MESSAGES.
I THINK YOU ALL OVER COMMUNICATE SOMETIMES WITH ME, WHICH IS GREAT, RIGHT? AND SO I'D, I'D RATHER HAVE OVER COMMUNICATION THAN UNDER COMMUNICATION.
UM, BUT I'M WONDERING WHAT ABOUT TO THE RESIDENTS? LIKE TO, TO ME IT'S DIFFERENT BECAUSE I'M SURE I'M, I'M COUNCIL MEMBERS ARE ON SOME SORT OF ANOTHER KIND OF LEVEL OF ALERT, BUT HOW DO WE COMMUNICATE OR, OR HOW IS THAT GOING? THE EMERGENCY ALERT SYSTEM FOR EVERYONE? YEAH.
SO THE, THE SYSTEM THAT I'LL SAY WE HAVE, THAT WE OWN, WE CAN CONTROL AND UTILIZE, UH, WE HAVE BEEN, UH, USING THAT AND TESTING THAT, UM, WITH, UH, SOME OF THE EVENTS, AS YOU MENTIONED.
UH, AND THAT'S NOT JUST, YOU KNOW, JUST SELECT PEOPLE.
SO I THINK WE TESTED AN EVENT THAT WENT OUT TO ABOUT 500,000 PEOPLE, CUSTOMERS.
SO WE HAVE TESTED THAT SYSTEM, UH, USING IT FOR LARGER SCALE COMMUNICATION, UH, WHICH IS NOT SOMETHING WE'D DONE IN THE PAST.
IT WAS REALLY TARGETED AT, UH, JUST WHOEVER WAS HAVING THE OUTAGE AND, YOU KNOW, YOU KNOW, SPECIFIC EVENTS.
UH, BUT WE HAVE NOW, UH, BEEN, UH, YOU KNOW, TESTING THAT SYSTEM IN A BROADER USE.
ONE THING, PAUL AND COUNCIL, THE OTHER THING I WOULD LIKE TO ADD IS THAT I JUST DON'T WANNA MISS THE OPPORTUNITY TO PLUG THE DIGITAL TOOLKIT THAT WE'RE GONNA BE, UH, SHARING OUT, BECAUSE THAT 500,000 IS GREAT.
WE'D LOVE IT TO BE MUCH BIGGER, AND IT INCLUDES NOT JUST, UH, TEXT, BUT ALSO EMAIL ALERTS AND, UH, OTHER MODES OF, OF COMMUNICATION THAT WE WOULD LIKE THAT NUMBER TO BE, YOU KNOW, A HUNDRED
[01:40:01]
PERCENT OF CUSTOMERS IF WE COULD GET THERE.THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR, FOR THAT.
UM, I'LL, I'LL JUST GO REC ON RECORD AGAIN SAYING THAT A LOT OF THE RESIDENTS THAT I HAVE DO NOT HAVE ACCESS TO TECHNOLOGY.
SO DOOR HANGERS WORK, LIKE, LET'S PREPARE, AND THAT'S, THAT'S LATER ON IN MY REMARKS.
UM, WHAT ARE SOME OF THE EXAMPLES OF THE WEATHERIZATION IMPROVEMENT, UM, PLAN ITEMS? JUST, JUST MAYBE HELP ME UNDERSTAND AND HOW IT RELATES TO THE LAWS THAT WERE PASSED, RIGHT? AND SO THANK YOU.
AND, UM, THIS IS, BY THE WAY, THE FOURTH TIME I'VE BEEN UP AND I HAVEN'T ANNOUNCED, UH, GIVEN MY NAME.
SO
I'M, UH, THE CHIEF POWER SUSTAINABILITY AND BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT OFFICER FOR C P SS ENERGY.
UM, SO WHAT ERCOT PUT OUT AND WHAT WE JUST ATTESTED TO OR WILL TODAY, UH, WERE REALLY GEN GENERAL STANDARDS.
THEY SAID, HEY, LOOK AT WHAT HAPPENED IN WINTER STORM URI AND MAKE SURE THAT YOU'RE ADDRESSING ALL OF THOSE, THOSE ISSUES.
AND THEY'VE DONE THAT BECAUSE THEY'RE GONNA TAKE SOME, UH, ADDITIONAL TIME TO WRITE THE, THE RULEMAKINGS AND STANDARDS THAT WE'LL GET, YOU KNOW, LATER, NEXT YEAR.
WE EXPECT THOSE TO COST A BIT MORE.
THAT'S THE $31 MILLION NUMBER THAT I MENTIONED.
UH, BUT IN TERMS OF WHAT WE WERE ASKED TO DO, IT IS ULTIMATELY ADDRESS THE THINGS THAT, UH, WE IDENTIFIED AND EVERYTHING THAT LOOKS LIKE IT.
UM, WE TALKED ABOUT SALAMANDERS EARLIER, SO THAT SPACE HEATING, SOME WE'VE ADDED, UM, AS I'VE DISCUSSED PREVIOUSLY, UH, SOME PERMANENT ENCLOSURES, BUT A LOT OF ADDITIONAL TEMPORARY ENCLOSURES.
NOW, SOME PEOPLE HAVE ASKED, WELL, WHY TEMPORARY? UM, WELL, THE REASON IS BECAUSE, UH, THOSE REQUIRE TO DO SOMETHING MORE THAN TEMPORARY, NOT ONLY REQUIRES A, A FULL REDESIGN, IT BECAUSE YOU HAVE TO GET ACCESS TO THESE UNITS AND AVOID OVERHEAT OF, UH, THAT EQUIPMENT DURING THE SUMMER HEAT THAT WE'RE ALL FAMILIAR WITH.
SO THAT ALL IS GOING TO HAPPEN, AND WE HAVE PLANS TO DO THOSE THINGS.
BUT, UM, IT IS THE SPACE HEATING, IT'S INSULATION, IT'S HEAT TRACING AND HEAT TRACE PANELS, WHICH IS A RESISTOR WIRE THAT GOES ACROSS SMALL DIAMETER PIPES.
IT'S LOOKING AT PIPES THAT WERE, UH, SIX INCHES THAT I SHOULD NOT FREEZE, HAVE NOT FROZEN EVER.
WERE NOT IDENTIFIED IN PREVIOUS FREEZE PROTECTION, UH, ANALYSES BECAUSE THEY SHOULDN'T, THEY SHOULDN'T FREEZE.
AND WE'VE IDENTIFIED THOSE AND WE'VE ADDED THEM TO OUR, UH, OUR THERMAL PROTECTION PROGRAMS. UM, SO IT IS REALLY A WHOLE LOT OF THINGS LIKE THAT.
UM, ADDITIONALLY, WE'VE ADDED PLANS AND, UH, AND SUPPLIES FOR SHELTER IN PLACE FOR UP TO 200 EMPLOYEES AND CONTRACTORS THAT HAVE TO BE ON SITE TO DO WHAT'S NECESSARY FOR THE COMMUNITY.
AND THOSE, UM, IMPLEMENT, UH, EVENTS TO DO IT SAFELY, UM, AND A VARIETY OF THINGS THAT LOOK LIKE THAT.
I, I, I'M WONDERING IF WE COULD LIKE, SEE SOME OF THOSE AND, AND BLACK AND WHITE ANYWHERE.
AND AGAIN, IT'S JUST TO, TO HELP ME UNDERSTAND SO THAT I COULD SAY THIS IS CONCRETE EXAMPLES OF WHAT HAS BEEN DONE, RIGHT? SO THAT BUILDS CONFIDENCE IN, IN US, RIGHT? UM, I THINK THAT, UH, UH, MR. WILLIAMS MENTIONED EARLIER, UM, THE PUBLIC MIGHT NOT BE TRUSTING RIGHT NOW, AND AS WE LEAD UP TO THE WINTER MONTHS, X, Y, AND Z HAVE BEEN DONE, RIGHT? AND SO I THINK THAT WOULD BE IMPORTANT ALSO ON, UM, RECOMMENDATION NUMBER EIGHT, UH, PROACTIVELY ASKING CUSTOMERS TO UPDATE THEIR EMERGENCY CONTACT INFORMATION.
IS THAT THROUGH THE E O C OR, UM, WHO, WHO ARE YOU ALL WORKING WITH OR, OR WHAT CRITICAL CUSTOMERS ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT IN THIS, UH, RECOMMENDATION? WELL, PAUL, DO YOU WANT TO, I MEAN, THIS IS, THIS IS KIND OF THE DIGITAL TOOLKIT ISSUE.
IT'S IDENT ASKING PEOPLE TO, UM, CALL AND IDENTIFY THEMSELVES THROUGH OUR, UH, 2 1 0 3 5, 3, 2, 2, 2 2 NUMBER, AND LET OUR ENERGY ADVISORS KNOW THAT THEY'RE, UM, YOU KNOW, A CRITICAL CARE CUSTOMER.
IT DOESN'T, ONCE AGAIN, KEEP 'EM OFF THE, UH, THAT LOAD SHE LIST, BUT IT DOES, UH, GIVE US SOME ABILITY TO REACH OUT TO THEM PROACTIVELY.
WE SEE BAD WEATHER COMING, WE CAN, YOU KNOW, REACH OUT.
I THINK WE SHOULD PUSH THAT NUMBER A LITTLE BIT MORE SO IN ANY OF OUR COMMUNICATIONS PLAN, ESPECIALLY BEFORE WE HIT THE WINTER MONTHS.
UM, IT, IT MIGHT BE A GOOD TIME.
I REALLY LIKE THE SAS COMMUNICATION PLAN.
I'M WONDERING HOW WE CAN MAYBE INTEGRATE IT, UM, IN INTEGRATE ALL OF OUR, UH, SAW C P S, UM, THE E O C AND I I SEE MR. FUENTES SMILING OVER THERE.
UM, BUT, UM, I, I DO THINK THAT WE HAVE SOME TIME TO DO DOOR HANGERS AS WELL FOR, UM, THE, THE COMMUNITIES THAT RELY, UH, STILL ON MAIL AND, AND PAPER, ET CETERA.
SO ANYTHING THAT WE CAN DO IN THAT REGARD WOULD, WOULD BE HELPFUL FOR THE RESIDENTS THAT I REPRESENT.
AND THEN, UM, ON TABLETOP EXERCISES, AND I KNOW THAT BEEN, BEEN COMMITTED, IT SOUNDS, SOUNDS LIKE HE'S COMMITTED THROUGH THIS, UM, THROUGH THE E O C, BUT COUNCIL OFFICES, I'D, I'D LOVE TO HAVE OUR DISTRICT OFFICES, UM, INCLUDED IN THAT AS WELL, EVEN IF IT'S JUST KIND OF A, AN EMERGENCY SCENARIO, UM, PREPARATION.
WE JUST HOSTED ONE HERE AT CITY HALL AND IT WAS IN CASE OF SOMETHING HAPPENING AT CITY HALL, RIGHT? AND WE HAD EVERYBODY PARTICIPATE.
AND SO I'D LOVE TO, UM, SEE IF WE COULD DO THAT SOONER THAN LATER.
UM, COUNCILMAN, BUT I'LL MENTION MAYBE BEFORE THE, UM,
[01:45:01]
HOLIDAY BREAK.I KNOW THAT WE'RE NOT GONNA GET THE E O C UPDATE UNTIL JANUARY.
I'M JUST REALLY AFRAID, LIKE, WHAT IF SOMETHING RANDOM HAPPENS OVER THE HOLIDAYS? LIKE HOW DO WE RESPOND TO IT? AND SO ANYTHING THAT YOU ALL CAN SHARE WITH US, I THINK WOULD BE APPROPRIATE.
UM, OH, ON THE STAKEHOLDER TEXT ALERTS, WHERE DO PEOPLE SIGN UP? UH, YOU GOT ME
IT'S MANAGED MY ACCOUNT, BUT I, WE GOT BETTER INFORMATION.
MELISSA OLA, COMMUNITY, I'M SORRY, COMMUNICATIONS AND MARKETING.
SO THERE'S ACTUALLY TWO, UM, TWO WAYS FOR CUSTOMERS TO GET INVOLVED.
ONE OF THE THINGS WE PILOTED AFTER THE WINTER STORM WAS THE STAKEHOLDER TEXT.
AND MOST OF YOU ALL ARE INCLUDED IN THAT, UM, TEXT THAT WE SENT TO YOU ALL.
SO IT'S A LITTLE DIFFERENT INFORMATION, BUT IT'S INFORMATION THAT YOU ALSO CAN SHARE WITH YOUR CONSTITUENTS.
THE OTHER ONE THAT WE'VE TALKED ABOUT A LOT IS THIS M THIS MANAGE MY ACCOUNT AND THE DIGITAL TOOLKITS THAT FRANK REFERENCED EARLIER THAT YOU ALL WILL GET AND THAT WE'RE GOING TO USE FOR A VARIETY OF DIFFERENT TOPICS IS SO THAT YOU ALL CAN TURN AROUND VERY QUICKLY AND USE THAT INFORMATION, WHETHER IT BE IN YOUR NEWSLETTERS, WHETHER IT BE IN YOUR TOWN HALLS THAT YOU HOST.
UH, SO YOU WILL SEEK THAT COMING TO YOU THIS WEEK.
UH, THAT IS IN OUR, ON OUR WEBSITE, THE MANAGEMENT ACCOUNT.
AND THEY'LL HAVE INFORMATION ON THAT, HOW YOU CAN SIGN UP.
BUT PEOPLE, WE DO NEED THEM TO UPDATE THEIR EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS OF THEIR CONTACT INFORMATION AND THEIR PREFERENCES FOR COMMUNICATION, WHETHER THAT BE PHONE, EMAIL, UM, OR TEXT.
SO WE'LL GET THAT TO YOU THIS WEEK.
YEAH, I THINK THAT NUMBER'S GONNA BE CRITICAL, ESPECIALLY FOR SOME OF THIS, LIKE I SAID, REPRESENT RESIDENTS WHO, UM, MIGHT NOT HAVE ACCESS TO TECHNOLOGY OR MIGHT BE A LITTLE BIT OLDER AND ARE COMFORTABLE WITH JUST CALLING IN SOMEWHERE.
I THINK THAT WE, WE DEFINITELY NEED TO, UM, CONSIDER THAT.
UM, THE MANAGE MY ACCOUNT I THINK IS A GREAT TOOL FOR THOSE THAT HAVE ACCESS.
UM, BUT AGAIN, WE HAVE A LOT OF FOLKS WHO, WHO DON'T HAVE ACCESS AND I, I DON'T WANNA LEAVE THEM OUT.
SO IF WE DO DO DOOR HANGERS, OR IF YOU ALL PUT IT IN YOUR C P SS BILL, UM, THAT NUMBER IS GOING TO BE CRITICAL FOR FOR THEM TO CALL.
AND AGAIN, JUST, JUST TO RE REBUILD SOME OF THE TRUST, UM, IN, IN OUR, FOR OUR COMMUNITY.
AND WE'VE WORKED REALLY HARD WITH DEANNA'S TEAM TO GET THOSE MESSAGES OUT.
AND AGAIN, FOR THE STAKEHOLDER TEXT, I KNOW WE HAVE ALL OF YOU ALL AND SOME OF YOUR STAFF, BUT THERE'S, IF THERE'S OTHER PEOPLE YOU WANNA ADD, JUST LET US KNOW.
I DO WANNA GIVE A SHOUT OUT BECAUSE, AND I THINK I SENT THIS, SET THIS LAST TIME, BUT YOUR OUTAGE MAP IS AWESOME.
EVERY TIME THAT THERE IS AN OUTAGE, I GO IN, I KNOW ALL MY ZIP CODES, SO I TYPE IN EVERY SINGLE ZIP CODE AND I COULD TELL, OH, I'M GONNA GET CALLS OR I KIND OF PREPARE MY STUFF FOR IT.
WE'LL BE SURE TO SHARE THAT WITH THE TEAM TOO.
I JUST, YOU KNOW, WANNA, UM, REITERATE WHAT I ASKED IF SAW IS A, A, A SOLID, UM, COMMUNICATION PLAN THAT WE CAN LIKE KIND OF ALMOST A, LIKE A, A GUIDE THAT WE CAN USE IF, UM, HOPEFULLY IT DOESN'T HAPPEN AGAIN, BUT WHEN, IF SOMETHING LIKE THAT HAPPENS AGAIN, WE HAVE SOMETHING TO GO BY.
UM, ON, UH, PAGE 12, RECOMMENDATION NUMBER ONE ON MARKET REDESIGN.
UM, CAN YOU TELL US WHAT ERCOT CURRENT RESERVE MARGIN IS?
UM, SO, UH, RESERVE MARGIN IS JUST THE, UM, PLANNED AMOUNT OF CAPACITY THAT'S MORE THAN OUR CUSTOMERS ARE EXPECTED TO USE ALL ACROSS THE STATE, ALL AT ONE TIME.
SO, UM, RIGHT NOW THE RECENT, THE SEASONAL, UH, ASSESSMENT OF RESERVE, UH, ADEQUACY, ADEQUACY CAME OUT NOT TOO LONG AGO, AND IT SHOWS ABOUT 20% UNDER THE NORMAL CONDITION, UH, RESERVE MARGIN.
IT ALSO SHOWED, UM, SOME SCENARIOS, THIS IS A NEW THING THAT ERCOT HAS DONE, WHAT HAPPENS UNDER SEVERAL DIFFERENT TYPES OF EXTREME SCENARIOS, VERY COLD, HIGH LEVELS OF OUTAGE OR, UM, UH, LOWER RENEWABLE, LOWER RENEWAL PRODUCTION.
SO THREE DIFFERENT LEVERS THAT IT, IT FLEXED, SO IT GAVE US SOME DIFFERENT SCENARIOS THERE FOR THE FIRST TIME, BUT IT'S ABOUT 20% UNDER THE EXPECTED CASE TODAY.
AND THEN, SO, UM, WHERE, WHERE DOES C P SS ENERGY WITH YOUR, UM, UH, EXPECTED, UH, MAXIMUM, UH, MAXIMUM DEMAND AND FOR YOUR GENERATION, TERRITORY, OR SERVICE TERRITORY, WHERE, WHERE DO YOU FALL? ARE YOU ABOVE OR BELOW WHERE, WHERE THE REST OF THE STATE IS? YEAH, WE'RE, WE'RE ABOVE THAT COUNCILMAN.
WE'VE TAKEN SOME SIGNIFICANT ACTIONS, NOT JUST AROUND OUR OUTAGE PLANNING, WHICH WE'VE TOLD YOU ABOUT PREVIOUSLY, TO MAKE SURE THAT IT'S OUT OF THE, WHAT WILL ALMOST CERTAINLY BE THE PEAK OF THE WINTER, BUT WE'VE ALSO, UM, MADE SOME PURCHASES OF, UH, POWER AND SOME NATURAL GAS, UM, RELATED SUPPLY, UH, ITEMS TO BOL OUR OWN SUPPLY AND MAKE SURE THAT CUSTOMERS ARE NOT EXPOSED TO HIGH PRICES IF THE WORST WERE TO HAPPEN.
[01:50:01]
BUT IT HAS THE EFFECT AS WELL OF GIVING US ADDITIONAL COVERAGE EVEN FOR, YOU KNOW, YOUR SORT OF MORE NORMAL SITUATIONS.SO, YOU KNOW, IF EVERYTHING GOES AS PLANNED, UM, IF THERE ARE ROLLING OUTAGES, UM, THEN IF, IF ERCOT CALLS ON, ON WHAT, IF THERE ARE ROLLING OUTAGES, IT'LL BE BECAUSE ERCOT IS CALLING ON ADDITIONAL, UH, POWER FROM C P S ENERGY, RIGHT? TO SEND INTO OTHER SERVICE TERRITORIES? YES, SIR.
I MEAN, I, IT IS, UM, I WOULD SAY IT'S VERY, VERY UNLIKELY THAT, UH, YOU KNOW, WE WOULD BE IN A SITUATION WHERE, UM, YOU KNOW, WE ARE THE REASON WHY, YOU KNOW, ERCOT CALLED FOR ROLLING OUTAGES.
OF COURSE, IT'S A STATE AND WE HAVE LOTS OF SUPPLY THIS YEAR.
SO, UM, I'D SAY THAT'S A CASE.
NOW, I WILL SAY, IF YOU LOOK AT THAT, SARAH, AND SOME PEOPLE HAVE LOOKED AND, AND LOOKED AT THE, UM, RESERVE MARGINS UNDER THOSE STRESS SITUATIONS.
THE VERY WORST CASE, AND THIS IS EXTREMELY HIGH, IT'S LIKE A URI, UM, AGAIN, WITH, YOU KNOW, VERY, VERY HIGH CUSTOMER DEMAND, VERY, VERY LOW RENEWABLE PRODUCTION, UM, AND LOTS OF GENERATORS BEING FORCED OUT, UM, THAT EXPECTED FORCED LOAD SHED WOULD BE ABOUT 3000 MEGAWATTS, WHICH IS, YOU KNOW, A GOOD BIT LESS THAN IT WAS AT 20 THAT IT, THAT THE 20,000 THAT IT WAS DURING URI.
SO IT LOOKS LIKE A LOT OF PEOPLE HAVE GEARED UP THE WAY THAT WE HAVE.
AND THERE'S A GOOD BIT OF, AS ER, SO THIS IS NOT OUR PROJECTION, THIS IS ERCOT, BUT ERCOT PROJECTS THAT THERE OUGHT TO BE SUFFICIENT ADEQUACY FOR MOST CASES IN, IN THE CASES THAT, YOU KNOW, THE MOST EXTREME CASES, THAT IT WOULD BE A GOOD BIT LESS THAN, THAN URI GOT IT.
SO IF, IF THERE ARE ROLLING BLACKOUTS IS C P S ENERGY IN A BETTER POSITION NOW TO PROFIT OFF OF, UH, THIS KIND OF A SITUATION AS OPPOSED TO LOSE MONEY? SO I I, I WOULD SAY, YOU KNOW, AND THIS IS NOT TO, WE, WE ARE IN A LOT BETTER SITUATION AND, UM, WE ARE MUCH LESS LIKELY TO HAVE TO BUY POWER OFF OF THE MARKET AT VERY, VERY HIGH PRICES.
UM, AND WHEN, IF, AND SEPARATE TO THAT, WE ALSO HAVE A LOT MORE PRICE PROTECTION ON NATURAL GAS.
SO WE'RE A LOT LESS LIKELY TO HAVE TO PAY THOSE EXORBITANT PRICE.
YOU KNOW, WHAT WE HAD, WE SAW LAST TIME WAS EX EXORBITANT, EXTREME, PROBABLY UNLAWFUL.
THAT'S TO BE SETTLED YET IN COURT.
BUT, YOU KNOW, YOU CAN STILL IMAGINE GAS PRICES GOING VERY HIGH, EVEN IN THOSE CASES.
WE HAVE A GOOD BIT MORE PROTECTION THIS YEAR THAN WE DID, WE DID LAST YEAR.
SO, AND IF, UH, ELECTRICITY PRICES GO HIGH AGAIN, UH, A C P S ENERGY IN A BETTER POSITION TO BE SELLING AS OPPOSED TO BUYING, WE ARE IN A MUCH BETTER POSITION TO BE SELLING AS OPPOSED TO BUYING.
UM, I ALSO WANTED TO ASK, SO WHAT IS, UH, ON RECOMMENDATION FIVE, SLIDE SEVEN, UH, WE'VE INCREASED OUR LOAD SHED CAPACITY.
WHAT DID WE, WHAT WAS IT BEFORE AND WHERE, WHERE ARE WE AT NOW AS FAR AS A PERCENTAGE? UH, SO I THINK PROBABLY THE, THE BEST, UH, WAY TO, TO DEFINE THAT IS IN TERMS OF THE NUMBER OF CIRCUITS.
SO, UM, THERE'S DIFFERENT WAYS OF COUNTING IT, BUT WE WENT FROM 400 AND SOME ODD CIRCUITS FOR, UH, WELL, MAYBE IT WAS 300 SOME ODD CIRCUITS FOR LOAD SHED AND ADDED ANOTHER 150 OR SO TO THAT.
I MEAN, I CAN GET YOU EXACT NUMBERS, IT'S, THANK YOU.
DON'T HAVE 'EM OFF THE TOP OF MY HEAD, BUT A SIGNIFICANT INCREASE.
SO ON COMMUNICATIONS, UM, SO GOVERNOR ABBOTT APPOINTS THEIR ARE COP BOARD MEMBERS, RIGHT? SO IF, IF C P S ENERGY IS CALLED ON TO, UM, TO SHED LOAD, WHO MAKES THAT DECISION? DOES THE BOARD AT ERCOT OR IS IT, IS IT STAFF? THAT WOULD BE AN OPERATIONAL DECISION, UH, THAT, UH, THE ERCOT, UH, OPERATING DESK IS GONNA MAKE BASED ON THE, UH, CONDITION OF THE GRID AS THEY, AS THEY SEE IT.
AND THERE'S, UM, SOME PRETTY WELL-DEFINED, UH, NUMBERS.
UM, YOU KNOW, OF COURSE EVERY SITUATION CAN BE INTERPRETED IN DIFFERENT WAYS.
BUT ERCOT HAS, UM, THE, AND I THINK WE'VE TALKED ABOUT THE, THE E E A LEVELS BEFORE, UH, ENERGY EMERGENCY ALERT LEVELS.
THOSE HAVE ASSOCIATED, UM, YOU KNOW, RESERVE, UH, MARGINS OR RESERVE DEFICIT NUMBERS, UH, THAT TRIGGER THOSE DIFFERENT LEVELS AND TRIGGER SPECIFIC ACTIONS, UH, BY ERCOT.
SO THEY'RE CAUGHT OPERATING BOARD AND, AND NOT, NOT THEIR GOVERNING BOARD, BUT THE, UH, THEIR, THEIR OPERATIONS CONTROL ROOM IS GOING TO, UH, MAKE THOSE CALLS BASED ON THE, UH, PROTOCOLS THEY HAVE IN PLACE.
SO IN TERMS OF COMMUNICATION, IF, YOU KNOW, IF C P S ENERGY'S CALLED ON TO SHED LOAD, EVEN THOUGH C P S ENERGY COULD PRODUCE ENOUGH ELECTRICITY FOR YOUR OWN, UH, SERVICE
[01:55:01]
TERRITORY, AND YOU'RE CALLED ON SHEDDING LOAD IN ORDER TO PROVIDE MORE ELECTRICITY FOR OTHERS WHO, WHO AREN'T ABLE TO MEET THEIR DEMAND, UH, CPS ENERGY'S CUSTOMERS ARE GONNA BLAME CCP SS ENERGY FOR TURNING YOUR LIGHT, THEIR LIGHTS OFF.SO IN TERMS OF YOUR COMMUNICATIONS PLAN, HOW ARE, I JUST, YOU DON'T HAVE TO ANSWER THIS NOW, BUT I WANT YOU TO BE THINKING ABOUT HOW CAN YOU LET THEM KNOW THIS IS ACTUALLY A DECISION THAT'S COMING FROM THE STATE AND WHO'S RESPONSIBLE FOR MAKING THAT DECISION? YEAH, THAT'S A GOOD POINT.
UH, I GUESS WHAT PROBABLY, I THINK THE GENERAL MESSAGING WOULD BE, AND, AND I'M PROBABLY NOT THE BEST MESSAGING GUY, THAT'S WHY WE GOT PEOPLE LIKE MELISSA.
BUT I THINK, YOU KNOW, UM, IT'S KIND OF A ALL FOR ONE AND ONE FOR ALL IN THIS EMERGENCY SITUATION.
WE'RE ALL GONNA EITHER FLOAT TOGETHER OR WE'RE ALL GONNA SINK TOGETHER.
AND THAT'S, THAT'S THE WHOLE IDEA OF, OF HAVING A LARGER GRID.
AND SO, YOU KNOW, ONE OF THE RECOMMENDATIONS THAT, UH, THAT CAME FROM THE, UH, COMMITTEE ON EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS, AS WELL AS ACTUALLY SOMETHING THAT HAS COME OUT OF THE, UH, FEDERAL ASSESSMENT OF THIS WINTER EVENT, UH, WHICH IS A 300, UH, PAGE READ THAT ACTUALLY HAS A LOT OF GOOD INFORMATION IN IT, UH, FROM FERC, UH, IS AROUND, UM, ERCOT NEEDS TO LOOK AT MORE INTERCONNECTIONS, UH, TO THE OTHER GRIDS.
UH, THAT BEING SAID, UH, ERCOT, YOU KNOW, WE HAVE TO REALLY HOLD TOGETHER, UH, TO, UH, ENSURE THE ULTIMATELY RELIABILITY OF THE GRID AND NOT HAVE A GRID COLLAPSE.
SO I'LL, I'LL JUST ADD, AS PART OF THIS COLLABORATIVE WORK THAT WE'RE DOING, THAT'S GONNA LOOK VERY DIFFERENT THAN WHAT IT DID IN FEBRUARY.
WE'VE BEEN WORKING REALLY CLOSELY WITH LAURA MAYES AND WITH
SO, YOU KNOW, EVERYONE, KNOCK ON WOOD, LET'S HOPE THAT THIS DOESN'T HAPPEN.
BUT IN CASE OF ANY EMERGENCY, YOU'LL SEE US AT THE E O C WITH OUR PARTNERS TO GET THAT WORD OUT.
AND I, I UNDERSTAND WE'RE ALL IN THIS TOGETHER, YOU KNOW, AS A STATE AND WITH ERCOT.
UM, I GUESS MY POINT IS I WANT PEOPLE TO KNOW IF IT, IF THE, IF WE'RE NOT ABLE TO KEEP THE LIGHTS ON, AND IT'S NOT BECAUSE OF SOMETHING THAT CCPS ENERGY DID, IT'S BECAUSE OF A FAILURE OF, UH, REGULATIONS.
IF IT'S A FAILURE OF MANAGEMENT AT THE STATE LEVEL, AT THE ERCOT LEVEL, I WANT PEOPLE TO KNOW THAT.
AND SO I GET, THAT'S MY POINT.
UM, THEN, UH, EVERY TYPE OF POWER SOURCE FAILED DURING WINTER STORMER.
AND, UH, RUDY GARZA AND I GOT TO TALK ABOUT THIS A LITTLE BIT, AND I JUST WANNA MAKE SURE HE ALREADY HEARD THIS FROM ME, BUT, UM, I GUESS, YOU KNOW, C P SS ENERGY ACTUALLY CONTRACTS FOR THEIR SOLAR POWER, BUT IF THERE'S FOUR INCHES OF SNOW ON ALL THE SOLAR PANELS, AND THEN IT STOPS SNOWING AND IT'S SUNNY OUT, THOSE SOLAR PANELS AREN'T PRODUCING BECAUSE THEY'RE COVERED WITH SNOW.
AND I JUST WANNA MAKE SURE THAT YOU'RE TALKING TO YOUR, THE WHOEVER IT IS WE'RE CONTRACTING WITH TO MAKE SURE THAT THEY'VE GOT A PLAN TO SEND PEOPLE OUT THERE WITH SNOW BLOW OR LEAF BLOWERS OR SOMETHING TO BLOW THAT SNOW OFF OR PUSH BROOMS OR SOMETHING, BECAUSE THOSE COULD BE PRODUCING AND WE WANT TO GET THEM ONLINE SOONER.
UM, AND THEN FINALLY, UH, I JUST WANT TO HIT HOME ONE MORE TIME ABOUT THAT.
I, LOOKING BACK, I REMEMBER DURING WINTER STORM, WE, A LOT OF THE COUNCIL OFFICES WERE OUT THERE ENGAGED IN THE COMMUNITY TRYING TO DO WHATEVER THEY COULD, WHETHER, WHETHER IT WAS DELIVERING WATER BOTTLES OR TRYING TO FIND PLACES WHERE MEMBERS OF THEIR COMMUNITY COULD GO FOR WARMING STATIONS OR ANYTHING TO THAT EFFECT.
AND WE'RE GONNA BE A LOT MORE EFFECTIVE IF OUR STAFF HAVE BEEN TRAINED, IF WE KNOW THE PROTOCOL, IF WE KNOW, YOU KNOW, WHO TO, WHO TO CONTACT AND WHAT TO DO, WE'RE ALREADY, YOU KNOW, AND SO WE'RE NOT HAVING TO CALL YOU, WE'RE NOT HAVING TO CALL SAAS.
WE'RE NOT HAVING TO CALL THE E O C OR THE CITY MANAGER'S OFFICE BECAUSE WE'RE, WE ALREADY KNOW WHAT TO DO.
WE'RE GONNA BE MORE USEFUL TO YOU ALL.
WE'RE GONNA BE MORE USEFUL TO THE COMMUNITY.
SO I JUST WANNA ENCOURAGE EVERYBODY TO, TO LOOP US IN AND HELP GET US TRAINED UP, UM, IN ANY WAY THAT WE CAN BE MOST USEFUL, AND SO THAT WE KNOW THE, THE PART THAT WE, UH, CAN PLAY BEST.
UH, I THINK THAT, THAT, I THINK THAT CONCLUDES, UH, OUR REQUEST FOR YOUR PRESENTATION TODAY.
UH, AND WE'LL BE ASKING YOU TO UPDATE US ON THIS AT FUTURE MEETINGS.
LEMME JUST MENTION AT THIS TIME TO THE COMMITTEE MEMBERS THAT, UH, IT IS 1204.
WE STARTED THIS MEETING TWO HOURS AGO.
UH, WE ARE HALFWAY THROUGH OUR AGENDA.
I WOULD LIKE TO ASK THE COMMITTEE IF YOU WANT TO CONTINUE WITH THE REMAINDER OF THE AGENDA.
UH, THAT IS A BRIEFING FROM BOTH SAWS AND C P S ON ADDRESSING THE PAST DUE CUSTOMER RECEIVABLES AND ANY KIND OF, UH, UTILITY TURNOFFS THAT HAVE EXISTED.
UH, WE ALSO HAVE A BRIEFING ON OUR WEBSITE FEATURES, HOWEVER, THOSE WON'T REALLY BE IN EFFECT UNTIL JANUARY.
[02:00:01]
UH, THE TWO PRESENTATIONS TO BE A LITTLE BRIEFER THAN MAYBE THEY ORIGINALLY ASKED FOR, BUT SHOULD WE CONTINUE WITH THOSE ITEMS? OKAY, THEN THANK YOU.THEN WE'LL GO TO ITEM NUMBER FOUR, BRIEFING BY SAN ANTONIO WATER SYSTEM C P S ENERGY ON PLANS FOR ADDRESSING PAST DUE CUSTOMER RECEIVABLES.
UH, WE'D LIKE TO, UH, ASK YOU TO KIND OF KEEP YOUR PRESENTATION TO MAYBE WITHIN FIVE OR 10 MINUTES.
UH, AND WE'RE LOOKING FOR, YOU KNOW, BASICALLY, UH, HOW THE PROGRESS IS GOING, HOW MUCH MONEY, UH, HAS BEEN, UH, BROUGHT BACK INTO THE SYSTEM DUE TO THE WORK YOU'RE DOING.
UH, HOW MANY, UH, YOU KNOW, WHAT YOUR PROJECTION MAY BE FOR ADDITIONAL INCOME COMING IN, HOW MANY CUTOFFS THAT YOU MAY HAVE HAD TO PUT IN PLACE, A FEW THINGS LIKE THAT FROM SOME OF THE WORK THAT YOU'VE LOOKED AT.
WELL, I WILL VERY QUICKLY GO THROUGH, UM, THE INFORMATION THAT I HAVE PROVIDED.
UH, THE, WHAT I'VE TYPICALLY SHOWN YOU IS THE ACCOUNTS THAT ARE 60 OR MORE DAYS PAST DUE, BECAUSE THOSE ARE THE FOLKS THAT ARE, UM, SUBJECT TO DISCONNECTION.
AND IF YOU MIGHT RECALL, AT THE END OF SEPTEMBER, THE NUMBERS WERE, WE HAD ABOUT 65,000 CUSTOMERS THAT WERE IN THAT STATUS.
WE'RE NOW DOWN TO A LITTLE OVER 58,000.
SO IT'S GOING IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION.
UM, THE TOTAL OUTSTANDING AMOUNT OWED BY THOSE CUSTOMERS IS RIGHT AT ABOUT $50 MILLION.
THAT IS DOWN, UH, A LITTLE BIT FROM WHERE WE WERE AT THE END OF SEPTEMBER.
UM, ABOUT A LITTLE OVER 28,000 OF THOSE CUSTOMERS ARE IN AN ACTIVE PAYMENT ARRANGEMENT.
THAT ACTIVE PAYMENT ARRANGEMENT PROTECTS THEM FROM DISCONNECTION.
UNFORTUNATELY, ABOUT 30,000 CUSTOMERS HAVE LET THOSE PAYMENT ARRANGEMENTS, IF THEY WERE IN A ARRANGEMENT, HAVE LET THOSE PAYMENT ARRANGEMENTS BREAK, UM, BY NOT MEETING THE TERMS, DIDN'T PAY THEIR CURRENT CHARGES IF THEY WERE IN, UM, ONE OF THOSE PLANS THAT ONLY REQUIRED THEM TO PAY THEIR CURRENT CHARGES OR DIDN'T PAY THE CURRENT CHARGES, PLUS THAT SMALL PIECE OF THEIR PAST DUE.
SO, UM, SO THOSE CUSTOMERS ARE AT RISK FOR DISCONNECTION.
I JUST WANTED TO GIVE A COUPLE OF HIGHLIGHTS ON OTHER PARTS OF OUR COVID RELIEF PLAN THAT OUR BOARD APPROVED.
WE, UM, UH, EXPANDED THAT LEAK ADJUSTMENT FOR FOLKS THAT HAD A LEAK DURING THE PANDEMIC, UH, TO WHERE WE WOULD ACTUALLY, UH, GIVE THEM AN ADJUSTMENT FOR UP TO A HUNDRED PERCENT OF THE WATER COST ASSOCIATED WITH THAT LEAK IF THEY, AS LONG AS THEY'VE REPAIRED IT, WE'VE PROCESSED A LITTLE OVER 400 OF THOSE LEAK ADJUSTMENTS FOR A TOTAL OF 566,000.
UM, AND IF YOU DO THAT AVERAGE, IT'S ABOUT $1,300 A CUSTOMER.
HISTORICALLY, WE PROBABLY WOULD'VE ONLY COVERED ABOUT 25% OF THOSE, UH, THAT AMOUNT.
UM, WE ALSO, UH, AS YOU KNOW, ONE OF THE PAYMENT PLANS WAS AN INCENTIVE PLAN.
AND IF THEY, UM, WE ENROLLED THEM IN A 48 MONTH PLAN, IF THEY MADE PAYMENTS FOR 18 MONTHS OR 37.5% OF THAT BALANCE THAT WAS PUT INTO THAT PLAN, SAW US AGREED THAT WE WOULD WRITE OFF THE BALANCE.
AND WE HAVE ALREADY PROCESSED, UM, A LITTLE UNDER 2,800 OF THOSE WRITE OFFS.
SO THESE CUSTOMERS HAVE MET THAT 37.5%, AND IN MANY CASES MORE THAN THAT.
SO OUR AVERAGE WRITE OFF ON THESE ACCOUNTS IS ABOUT 45% OF THAT AMOUNT.
SO A LITTLE OVER 500,000 HAVE BEEN WRITTEN OFF.
UM, AND WE WILL CONTINUE, OBVIOUSLY, TO DO THAT OVER THE NEXT 18 MONTHS OR SO AS PEOPLE MEET THAT THRESHOLD.
I DID WANNA QUICKLY TALK ABOUT ARPA.
UH, AS YOU KNOW, UH, CITY COUNCIL MET A COUPLE WEEKS AGO AND APPROVED A $10 MILLION ALLOCATION TO, FOR SAWS, FOR ARPA FUNDS.
AND, UM, AND THE, UM, AMOUNT, UH, HAS A NUMBER OF ELIGIBILITY THAT, THAT, THAT AGREEMENT THAT WE'VE BEEN WORKING THROUGH WITH THE CITY HAS A NUMBER OF ELE ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS.
UH, FIRST OF ALL, THEY HAVE TO RESIDE INSIDE THE CITY OF, UH, CITY LIMITS OF SAN ANTONIO.
THEY CAN SELF ATTEST, THEY MUST SELF ATTEST, UM, TO A COVID RELATED FINANCIAL HARDSHIP.
AND THEN THE ASSISTANCE THAT CAN BE PROVIDED IS BASED ON THEIR, UM, INCOME QUALIFICATION.
AND SO FOR CUSTOMERS THAT ARE NOT IN OUR A D P PROGRAM, ONE OF THE OTHER CRITERIA IS THAT THEY MUST BE IN A PAYMENT PLAN JUST REAL QUICKLY, THAT THAT INCOME CRITERIA, IF THEY'RE 125% OF POVERTY OR BELOW, THEY, UM, CAN GET AN UNLIMITED AMOUNT TO COVER THEIR CHARGES BETWEEN MARCH OF 2020 AND SEPTEMBER OF 2021.
UM, HOWEVER, THESE CUSTOMERS MUST SUBMIT DOCUMENTATION THAT SUPPORTS THEIR INCOME, UH, AT THIS POINT.
UH, IF THEIR IN, UH, IF THEIR INCOME IS 125% OR ABOVE 125% OF POVERTY, AGAIN, THEY CAN GET UP TO $700 OF ASSISTANCE TOWARDS THOSE CHARGES FROM MARCH, 2020 TO SEPTEMBER OF 2021.
AND SO, UM, I WANTED TO JUST GIVE YOU AN IDEA ABOUT THE CUSTOMERS THAT MIGHT BE ELIGIBLE FOR THIS PLAN.
UH, I BELIEVE THERE WAS A QUESTION, UM, AT THE MEETING A FEW WEEKS AGO FROM ONE OF YOUR, UH, FELLOW COUNCIL, UH, MEN ASKING, ASKING IF 10 MILLION OR 20 MILLION
[02:05:01]
FOR C P S WAS ENOUGH MONEY.UM, SO I WANTED TO GIVE YOU A, AN IDEA OF WHAT IT'S GOING TO TAKE TO BE ABLE TO DISTRIBUTE THE $10 MILLION.
I MENTIONED THAT IT HAD TO BE INSIDE THE CITY LIMITS.
WE HAVE A LITTLE OVER 44,000 CUSTOMERS THAT ARE INSIDE THE CITY LIMITS THAT ARE CURRENTLY MORE THAN 60 DAYS PAST DUE.
AND THAT'S A PRETTY IMPORTANT DELINEATION.
I I'VE ALREADY MENTIONED THE FACT THAT THAT'S WHERE THEY'RE AT RISK FOR DISCONNECTION, BUT ALSO THEY'RE NOT, THESE FUNDS ARE NOT ELIGIBLE FOR CHARGES AFTER SEPTEMBER, 2021.
SO WE, RIGHT NOW, WE'VE ALREADY GOT OCTOBER CHARGES AND NOVEMBER CHARGES IN THOSE BILLS.
SO IF YOU THINK ABOUT IT, THE ONLY PIECE OF THEIR BILL THAT IS GONNA BE ELIGIBLE FOR THESE FUNDS ARE THE AMOUNTS THAT ARE MORE THAN 60 DAYS PAST DUE.
SO THAT'S WHY I'VE SHOWN YOU THE BALANCES THAT ARE MORE THAN 60 DAYS PAST DUE FOR THESE CUSTOMERS, TOTAL OF $25 MILLION.
BUT IF YOU LOOK AT THE MOST ECONOMICALLY SENSITIVE, WE HAVE ABOUT 8,700 CUSTOMERS IN OUR A D P PROGRAM.
THEORETICALLY, THEY SHOULD QUALIFY.
OUR CUTOFF IS 125% OF, OF POVERTY IN ORDER TO BE IN OUR A D A D P PROGRAM.
IF EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM APPLIED AND EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM PROVIDED INCOME DOCUMENTATION, WE MIGHT HAVE QUALIFIED SOME OF THESE FOLKS WITH INCOME DOCUMENTATION SINCE BASED ON 2020 OR MORE CURRENT.
BUT THE VAST MAJORITY OF THESE CUSTOMERS WOULD HAVE BEEN QUALIFIED WITH INCOME DOCUMENTATION PRIOR TO 2020, WHICH AT THIS POINT IS NOT ACCEPTABLE IN ORDER TO BE, TO RECEIVE ARPA FUNDS.
SO THEY WILL HAVE TO SUBMIT UPDATED INCOME DOCUMENTATION.
UM, IF YOU LOOK AT THE NON A D P CUSTOMERS, SO CUSTOMERS THAT, THAT ARE NOT AT 125% AND BELOW THEIR BALANCE WOULD NEED TO BE LESS THAN $700 IN ORDER.
WELL, THAT'S THE MASS MAXIMUM THAT THEY CAN GET $700.
BUT AGAIN, THEY HAVE TO APPLY AND THEY HAVE TO, UM, THEY DON'T HAVE TO SUBMIT INCOME DOCUMENTATION.
UM, BUT THEY DO HAVE TO SELF-CERTIFY OF A COVID HARDSHIP AND SELF-CERTIFY THEIR INCOME LEVELS BECAUSE WE ARE REQUIRED TO REPORT THAT INFORMATION BASED ON THEIR INCOME LEVEL.
AND AS YOU CAN SEE THERE, THAT'S ANOTHER, UH, FOR THOSE UNDER $700, THAT'S ANOTHER, UH, ALMOST $6 MILLION.
NOT TO SAY THAT FOLKS THAT HAVE, THAT HAVE A BALANCE GREATER THAN $700 MAY WANT TO APPLY, AND THEY MAY BE, BUT IT IS GONNA BE VERY CHALLENGING.
AND IT LOOKS TO BE THAT WE WOULD HAVE TO QUALIFY CLOSE TO 35,000 CUSTOMERS IN ORDER TO GET RID OF, GET RID OF, TO PROVIDE ASSISTANCE THE ENTIRE $10 MILLION.
THAT IS GOING TO BE A CHALLENGE.
UM, AND RIGHT NOW WE ARE CURRENTLY WORKING WITH THE CITY, UH, TO UNDERSTAND OUR, OUR WHAT OPTIONS WE MAY HAVE OUR, I OUR, OUR PROCESS.
WE WOULD LIKE TO MAKE IT AS EASY AS POSSIBLE.
WE WOULD LIKE TO TRY TO MAKE IT AS AUTOMATED AS POSSIBLE.
AND RIGHT NOW THAT IS, UM, UNDER THE CURRENT, UH, UNDERSTANDING IT, THAT'S GONNA BE A LITTLE MORE DIFFICULT.
SO HOPEFULLY WE CAN WORK OUT SOME THINGS ON THAT UNDER THIS AGREEMENT TO WHERE WE CAN MAKE IT A MUCH MORE, UM, UH, SPEEDY PROCESS.
UH, BECAUSE, YOU KNOW, WHAT TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE WITH THESE CUSTOMERS, THEY'RE AT RISK FOR DISCONNECTION NOW, AND WE NEED TO GET THEM THE MONEY AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE.
SO, UM, WE DO, UH, EXPECT TO BE ABLE TO TAKE APPLICATIONS BEGINNING FRIDAY ON OUR WEBSITE.
AND FOR THOSE CUSTOMERS THAT CANNOT ACCESS OUR WEBSITE, WE CAN CERTAINLY HANDLE THEM THROUGH A PHONE CALL AND WE WILL FILL OUT THE APPLICATION FOR THEM.
WE'LL, YOU KNOW, BE ABLE TO HELP THEM IN OUR PAYMENT CENTERS.
AND, UM, SO, UH, YOU KNOW, AGAIN, HOPEFUL TO BEGIN START THAT, STARTING THAT PROCESS IN THE NEXT FEW DAYS.
SO WITH THAT, I'M HAPPY TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS.
ONE THING YOU HAVEN'T TALKED ABOUT IS HOW MANY DISCONNECTS I'D LIKE TO KNOW HOW MANY DISCONNECTS HAVE BEEN, UH, PUT IN PLACE, START AROUND THE MIDDLE OF OCTOBER, AND WE'VE DONE ABOUT, UM, 4,000 IN THAT RANGE SINCE THEN.
AND ABOUT 50 TO 60% OF THOSE CUSTOMERS, UM, HAVE RESPONDED BACK AND RE, YOU KNOW, RESTORED THEIR SERVICE.
THE ONES THAT HAVE NOT, UM, YOU KNOW, AGAIN, I'M NOT SURE IF THEY, THERE'S NO LONGER IN THE PREMISES OR, OR WHAT, BUT WELL, YEAH.
BUT WE'RE DEFINITELY, IF THEY CALL IN, WE'RE PUTTING THEM ON ANOTHER PAYMENT ARRANGEMENT IF THEY CAN'T AFFORD THE BALANCE AND GIVING THEM KIND OF THAT, THAT ADDITIONAL CHANCE TO TRY TO KEEP, DO YOU HAVE A FORECAST OF HOW MANY OTHERS YOU'RE GOING TO GO AHEAD AND DISCONNECT? UH, LET'S SAY OVER THE NEXT 30 DAYS? SO WE, THE MOST WE CAN DO IS ABOUT 400 A DAY BECAUSE OF THE HOLIDAYS.
UM, WE DIDN'T DO ANY LAST WEEK.
WE'RE NOT DOING ANY THIS WEEK.
UM, WE WON'T DO ANY DURING THE WEEK OF CHRISTMAS YEAH.
SO AGAIN, IT'S PROBABLY GOING TO BE LESS THAN, UM, 2000 I WOULD SAY, IN THE NEXT 30 DAYS.
UM, I, I WANNA OFFER, UM, ONE OF MY QUESTIONS WAS ABOUT, UM, DISCONNECTIONS DURING THE HOLIDAYS.
SO I'M GLAD TO HEAR THAT, UH, THAT WON'T HAPPEN.
BUT I, I DO WANNA OFFER, UH, MY OFFICE AND WORK TO, TO HELP GET INFORMATION OUT TO OUR COMMUNITY ABOUT, UM, DIFFERENT
[02:10:01]
RESOURCES.LAST TIME I THINK I MENTIONED THERE WAS A C P S, UM, UH, FAIR IN MY DISTRICT, AND THEY, A LOT OF PEOPLE SHOWED UP.
I MEAN, I'M UNDERSTATING THAT, I MEAN, IT WAS, SAS WAS THERE, IT WAS A REALLY GREAT COMMUNITY EVENT.
ANYTHING THAT I CAN DO TO HELP GET THAT INFORMATION OUT, PLEASE, UH, LET ME KNOW.
I ALSO STRONGLY URGE, UM, IMMEDIATE ENROLLMENT FOR THOSE WHO QUALIFY FOR THE ARPA ASSISTANCE.
UM, SO ANYTHING THAT I CAN DO, PLEASE, MARY, THANK YOU SO MUCH.
CHAIR, THANK YOU FOR, FOR YOUR INFORMATION.
MY ONLY QUESTION IS, IN REGARD TO THE APPLICATION, DO PEOPLE NEED TECHNOLOGY TO APPLY? AND I NOTICED THAT YOU HAVE ON THERE, UM, THAT DECEMBER THE THIRD, THEY CAN APPLY ON PAYMENT CENTERS AND THEY COULD CALL 7 0 4 SAWS.
UM, SO DOES THAT MEAN THAT AT THAT POINT THEY NO LONGER NEED TECHNOLOGY TO APPLY OR HELP ME? THAT THAT'S CORRECT.
SO, WE'LL, WE WILL WALK, WE WILL ACTUALLY ENTER THEIR INFORMATION INTO THE APPLICATION FOR THEM WHILE WE HAVE THEM ON THE PHONE OR IF THEY'RE IN PRESENT, YOU KNOW, AT THE PAYMENT CENTER.
THAT'S MY ONLY QUESTION, COUNSELOR.
ONE THING I I UNDERSTAND IS PEOPLE CAN SELF-DESCRIBE THEIR FINANCIAL SITUATION AND THEIR, UH, RELATIONSHIP TO A COVID RELATED PROBLEMS. IS THAT RIGHT? SO THE WAY THAT, UH, THE WAY THAT THE EXISTING ARRANGEMENT IS WITH THE CITY, THEY CAN DO, THEY, ANYBODY CAN SELF ATTEST TO THEIR COVID FINANCIAL HARDSHIP, BUT INCOME, THEY CAN ONLY SELF ATTEST TO THEIR INCOME IF THEY'RE ABOVE 125% OF POVERTY.
IF THEY'RE 125% OF POVERTY OR BELOW, WE, THE, THE CITY IS ASKING US TO HAVE THE DOCUMENTATION THAT SHOWS THEIR INCOME INCOME.
DID THEY, DID THEY DESCRIBE WHAT KIND OF DOCUMENTATION IS REQUIRED? SO IT'S THINGS LIKE, UH, YOU CAN USE YOUR 2020 FEDERAL TAX RETURN, YOU CAN USE A PAY STUB, UH, A RECENT PAY STUB THAT, THAT THEN WE WOULD EXTRAPOLATE TO THEIR ANNUAL INCOME.
YOU CAN USE ANY KIND OF, UH, ASSISTANCE THAT YOU'RE GETTING, UM, EITHER, YOU KNOW, FROM SS S I, UM, ET CETERA.
SO THERE'S A, THERE'S A LIST OF, OF ITEMS THAT WE CAN USE TO, TO, UM OKAY.
SUPPORT THAT DOCTOR, THAT INCOME.
YEAH, I, I RECOGNIZE WHAT YOU SAID EARLIER, TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE.
'CAUSE THE LONGER IT TAKES FOR PEOPLE TO APPLY, THE MORE THEY MAY BECOME INELIGIBLE BECAUSE OF THE TIME CONSTRAINTS.
AND, AND MORE OF THEIR BALANCE WILL BECOME CHARGES THAT HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH THE PERIOD THAT THAT IS ELIGIBLE.
NOW LET'S GO AHEAD AND, AND GET SIMILAR INFORMATION FROM OUR FRIENDS AT C P S ENERGY AND HOW THEY'RE ADDRESSING THESE SAME CONCERNS.
I'M THE INTERIM, UH, E V P FOR CUSTOMER STRATEGY.
AND, UH, WHILE THAT'S COMING UP, I'LL JUST GIVE A, A QUICK UPDATE AND I CAN GO THROUGH THE SLIDES QUICKLY ONCE THEY COME UP.
BUT, YOU KNOW, WE UNDERSTAND THE IMPORTANCE OF, OF THE OUTREACH.
SO WHAT WE'VE BEEN DOING IS MAKING SURE THAT WE HAVE, UH, THE, AS MANY EVENTS AS WE POSSIBLY CAN.
SO FAR, WE'VE BEEN ABLE TO HAVE ABOUT A A THOUSAND EVENTS THIS YEAR, AND WE'VE BEEN ABLE TO INTERACT WITH 72,000 CUSTOMERS.
AND WE JUST WANNA SAY THANK YOU FOR THE PARTNERSHIP WITH THE DIFFERENT COUNCIL DISTRICTS.
AND IF THERE'S MORE EVENTS THAT WE CAN ATTEND, PLEASE LET US KNOW.
AND REALLY WHAT THAT'S BEEN ALLOW, ALLOWED US TO DO IS IDENTIFY OVER $40 MILLION IN ASSISTANCE FOR CUSTOMERS AND AGENCY ASSISTANCE THROUGH, THROUGH, UH, BILL ASSISTANCE AND CREDITS.
WE'VE ALSO BEEN ABLE TO SEE AN INCREASE IN CUSTOMERS SIGNING UP IN DIFFERENT TYPES OF ARRANGEMENTS.
WHILE SOME CUSTOMERS DO WANT INSTALLMENT PLANS, SOME CUSTOMERS JUST WANT AN EXTENSION.
THEY CAN'T MAKE A A PAYMENT THIS WEEK, BUT THEY CAN MAKE A PAYMENT NEXT WEEK.
SO WE'RE SEEING AN INCREASE THERE, AS WELL AS AN INCREASE IN CUSTOMERS THAT HAVE SET UP FOR ARRANGEMENTS ON THROUGH OUR DIFFERENT ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS, WHETHER IT'S INCOME QUALIFIED CUSTOMERS, OUR CRITICAL CARE CUSTOMERS, OR OUR SENIOR CITIZENS.
SO THAT VULNERABLE POPULATION, WE HAVE OVER 105,000 CUSTOMERS THAT WE HAVE REGISTERED, AND WE CONTINUE TO DO OUTREACH FOR ALL OF THESE CUSTOMERS.
AND SO HERE'S WHERE YOU SEE WHERE WE'RE AT IN TERMS OF OUR, UH, OUTSTANDING AMOUNTS, OUR PAST DUE ACCOUNTS, WE DO HAVE OVER $140 MILLION IN CUSTOMERS' ACCOUNTS THAT ARE PAST DUE, UM, OVER 30 DAYS.
UH, AND, UH, WHILE THAT NUMBER HAS CONTINUED TO INCREASE, WHAT WE ARE SEEING IS THAT VELOCITY CHANGE.
SO WHAT I MEAN BY THAT, YOU CAN SEE HERE THE, THE INCREASE OF CUSTOMERS, UH, PAST DUE AND WHAT THEIR AVERAGE PAST DUE AMOUNT IS.
THIS TIME LAST YEAR, IT WAS AN 11% INCREASE MONTH OVER MONTH, OVER FOR, WHEN WE LOOK AT SEPTEMBER AND OCTOBER, IT WAS A 3% INCREASE.
SO THAT HAS CON THAT HAS STARTED TO SLOW DOWN, BUT WE STILL SEE CUSTOMERS WITH OVER SE WITH CLOSE TO $700 IN PAST DUE ACCOUNTS ON AVERAGE.
AND WE KNOW THAT THAT'S A TREMENDOUS AMOUNT OF MONEY.
SO WE'RE DOING EVERYTHING THAT WE CAN TO CONNECT THEM WITH THE RIGHT SOLUTIONS THAT
[02:15:01]
FIT THEIR NEEDS.BUT SOME OF THE GOOD NEWS IS THAT WE'VE SEEN, JUST LOOKING AT SEPTEMBER TO OCTOBER, WE HAD ABOUT 27,000 CUSTOMERS THAT WERE ELIGIBLE FOR DISCONNECTION AT THE END OF SEPTEMBER, BUT THEY WERE NO LONGER ELIGIBLE FOR DISCONNECTION AT THE END OF OCTOBER.
AND THAT'S BECAUSE THEY SET UP A PAYMENT ARRANGEMENT, WORKED WITH US, OR THEY MADE SOME SORT OF PAYMENT.
BUT WE KNOW WE NEED TO CONTINUE THIS.
UM, BUT BEFORE I GO THERE, I'LL, I'LL TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT DISCONNECT.
SO ON THE COMMERCIAL SIDE, THIS IS THE ORIGINAL, UH, SEQUENCING THAT WE HAD TALKED ABOUT.
AND WE'VE REALLY FOLLOWED THIS ON THE COMMERCIAL SIDE.
CUSTOMERS HAVE BEEN REALLY, UH, WORKING WITH US.
AND THAT FROM A COMMERCIAL STANDPOINT, THERE'S ABOUT 24% LESS CUSTOMERS ELIGIBLE, UH, FOR DISCONNECTION IN AT THE END OF OCTOBER WHEN WE COMPARE IT TO THE END OF, UH, SEPTEMBER ON THE RESIDENTIAL SIDE.
NOW, THIS WAS THE ORIGINAL SEQUENCE AND TIMELINE THAT WE HAD PUT OUT THERE.
WE ACTUALLY SLOWED THIS DOWN SO WE COULD GET BETTER, UH, PREPARED FOR WHAT WE'RE GONNA DO ON THE ARPA SIDE, CONTINUE OUR OUTREACH.
BUT EVEN THOUGH WE'VE SLOWED IT DOWN CUS THE ELIGIBLE DISCONNECTS ARE ALSO DOWN.
SO CUSTOMERS ARE CONTINUING TO WORK WITH US.
RESIDENTIAL CUSTOMERS ARE DOWN ABOUT 3% AS WELL IN TERMS OF ELIGIBLE ACCOUNTS.
UM, FOR, FOR DISCONNECTION, I KNOW THAT THERE WERE SOME QUESTIONS FROM, UH, UH, ABOUT WHAT WE DO FOR THE HOLIDAYS.
WE TYPICALLY STAND DOWN DISCONNECTS DURING THE HOLIDAYS.
AND THAT'S USUALLY BETWEEN, UH, CHRISTMAS, I MEAN, SORRY, BETWEEN THANKSGIVING AND, UH, AT THE BEGINNING OF, UM, OF THE NEW YEAR.
SO AT THIS POINT, WE ARE NOT DOING ANY MORE DISCONNECTS, UH, BUT WE'RE CONTINUING OUR OUTREACH.
AND, UM, I KNOW THAT THERE WAS SOME QUESTIONS EARLIER ABOUT THE OUTREACH AND THE POP-UP EVENTS THAT WE HAVE PLANNED.
WE DO HAVE EVENTS SCHEDULED, UH, STARTING MONDAY, UH, OF NEXT WEEK TO REACH OUT TO CUSTOMERS, MAKING SURE THAT WE'RE CONNECTING THEM WITH THE DIFFERENT SOLUTIONS, LETTING THEM KNOW WHAT'S OUT THERE.
BUT AT THE SAME TIME, WE ARE GONNA SLOW THOSE DOWN.
I THINK WE, WE ARE ENDING PROBABLY ABOUT DECEMBER 13TH.
WE'RE GONNA RAMP THOSE BACK UP IN JANUARY.
AND SO THE FULL MONTH OF JANUARY, THAT'S WHERE ALL OF OUR, UH, OUR, OUR EVENTS WILL CONTINUE.
UH, AND THEN TALKING ABOUT, UH, THE SUPPORT, JUST WANNA SAY THANK YOU FOR THE ARPA SUPPORT THAT, THAT YOU HAVE DEDICATED FOR, FOR CUSTOMERS.
AND LIKE MARY MENTIONED, WE'RE CONTINUING TO FINALIZE THE FORMAL AGREEMENT WITH THE CITY TEAM.
UM, BUT WE'RE, WE'RE STILL MAKING SURE THAT WE DO OUTREACH AND ENGAGEMENT WITH OUR CUSTOMERS SO THAT ONCE WE'RE, WE'VE GOT EVERYTHING FINALIZED, WE CAN GO AHEAD AND PROCESS THOSE APPLICATIONS.
WE DO HAVE, UH, A VARIETY OF WAYS FOR CUSTOMERS TO APPLY SO THEY CAN COME TO OUR WALK-IN CENTERS.
AND WE'VE ACTUALLY EXTENDED, UH, ON A TEMPORARY BASIS, WE'VE EXTENDED THE HOURS OF OPERATIONS AND OUR, OUR, OUR WALK-IN CENTERS ACROSS TOWN ON WEDNESDAYS, IF CUSTOMERS NEED US TO BE OPEN LATER, THEY CAN COME BY, UH, ON A WEDNESDAY IN OUR WALK.
I MEAN, IN OUR CALL CENTER WE SET UP A DEDICATED PHONE NUMBER.
AND SO FAR WE HAD THAT NUMBER GO LIVE ON THE 18TH OF NOVEMBER WHENEVER, UH, COUNCIL VOTED ON IT.
AND WE'VE ALREADY RECEIVED, UH, ALMOST A THOUSAND CALLS ON THAT NUMBER.
CUSTOMERS INQUIRING AND JUST TRYING TO GET INFORMATION.
UH, ON TOP OF THAT, UH, WE DO HAVE A, AN APPLICATION THAT WENT LIVE THE SAME DAY.
AND, UH, I'LL GO THROUGH AND HERE I CAN SHOW YOU, HERE'S, HERE'S THE APPLICATION.
WE HAVE IT IN, IN ENGLISH AND SPANISH.
AND YOU CAN SEE WE'VE ALREADY RECEIVED OVER 1500 HUNDRED APPLICATIONS FOR US TO BE ABLE TO PROCESS.
AND THIS IS A HEAT MAP OF WE'RE RECEIVING THOSE APPLICATIONS.
WE HAVE PENETRATION ACROSS THE ENTIRE TERRITORY, BUT WE KNOW THAT THERE'S MORE OPPORTUNITIES TO DO THAT.
SO THAT'S WHERE IT'S REALLY GONNA BE FOCUSED ON THIS OUTREACH, MAKING SURE THAT WE ARE OUT IN THE COMMUNITY CUSTOMERS HELPING CUSTOMERS QUALIFY.
SO CUSTOMERS, LIKE I SAID, CAN COME TO OUR WALK-IN CENTERS TO, TO APPLY OR CALL US, UH, ON THAT DEDICATED PHONE NUMBER.
UM, BUT ON TOP OF THAT, WE'RE GONNA HAVE THESE, THESE POP-UP EVENTS, MAKE SURE THAT WE ARE, UH, FOCUSED IN THOSE ZIP CODES THAT HAVE THE HIGHEST NUMBER OF CUSTOMERS THAT HAVE ACCOUNTS THAT ARE PAST DUE.
AND WE'RE ALSO GONNA DO THE BLOCK WALKING, WHICH I KNOW MANY OF YOU HAVE, UH, EXPRESSED INTEREST IN DOING.
WE'LL HAVE DOOR HANGERS AND MAILERS OUT THERE, BUT WE'LL ALSO HAVE STATIONS SET UP IN THESE SECTIONS TOO FOR CUSTOMERS TO COME IN AND HAVE US HELP THEM, UH, SUBMIT THE APPLICATION OR ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS ABOUT, UH, THE SUPPORT OR ANY OTHER SUPPORT THAT WE, THAT WE HAVE.
AND YOU KNOW, LIKE I SAID, WE'RE GONNA TRY AND DO EVERYTHING WE CAN TO CONNECT WITH CUSTOMERS AND HELP IDENTIFY THE BEST OPTIONS THAT WE HAVE FOR THEM.
AND, UH, YOU KNOW, WE, WE WANT YOU TO KNOW THAT WE, WE ARE LISTENING TO YOU.
AND SO ON TOP OF THAT, BEFORE WE RESUME DISCONNECTIONS, UH, LIKE I SAID, BACK IN, IN JANUARY, WHAT WE ARE LOOKING AT IS CUSTOMERS THAT ARE, THAT LIVE IN ONE OF THE HUD QUALIFIED CENSUS TRACKS OR CUSTOMERS THAT ARE ENROLLED.
UH, AS, UH, ONE OF OUR ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS IS A VULNERABLE POPULATION WE WILL LOOK AT IN AUTO ENROLLING THEM IN AN INSTALLMENT PLAN.
AND WE'RE WORKING ON SETTING THAT UP AND WE KNOW IF NOTHING ELSE THAT WILL GRANT THEM AT LEAST ADDITIONAL
[02:20:01]
TIME.WE'LL TAKE ANY OTHER QUESTIONS THAT YOU MAY HAVE.
UH, LET ME JUST ASK YOU TO, IF YOU CAN SUMMARIZE AGAIN, SUMMARIZE THAT, ABOUT HOW MANY C P S CUSTOMERS DO YOU THINK ARE, SHOULD BE AVAILABLE TO GET THIS ASSISTANCE FROM THE 20 MILLION? WE THINK THAT WE'LL BE ABLE TO HELP ABOUT 20,000 CUSTOMERS.
AND HOW MANY DISCONNECTS HAVE TAKEN PLACE SINCE YOU BEGAN, UH, DOING DISCONNECTS? AGAIN, WE HAVE NOT DISCONNECTED ANY RESIDENTIAL CUSTOMERS, BUT I CAN FOLLOW UP AND LET YOU KNOW HOW MANY, UH, COMMERCIAL CUSTOMERS THAT WE HAVE DISCONNECTED.
LET ME ASK ANY OF THE OTHER COUNCIL MEMBERS IF YOU HAVE A QUESTION.
THANK YOU FOR THE PRESENTATION.
YOU MENTIONED ABOUT 993 EVENTS ON AVERAGE, HOW MANY EVENTS DO YOU DO A YEAR? I MEAN, THIS IS A DIFFERENT TYPE OF YEAR, BUT I'M JUST WONDERING, I I CAN GET THAT COMPARISON FOR YOU.
I KNOW IT'S, WE'VE DEFINITELY INCREASED IT AND THEN C O V I D KIND OF CHANGED IT.
SO OUR TEAMS WERE REALLY EXCITED ABOUT GETTING OUT, BUT WE CAN SHOW WHAT THAT COMPARISON HAS BEEN OVER THE LAST FEW YEARS.
AND THE REASON THAT I'M ASKING IS I'M JUST WONDERING IF YOU HAVE ENOUGH CAPACITY, RIGHT? SO I'M JUST WORRIED ABOUT YOUR, YOUR STAFFING LEVELS OR WHO'S SUPPORTING YOU TO BE ON THE COMMUNITIES.
I I KNOW YOU'VE BEEN OUT TO D FOUR, WE HAVE ANOTHER ONE COMING UP AND YOU GUYS SEEM TO BE EVERYWHERE AT EVENTS THAT I GO TO.
AND I JUST WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT WE WERE VERY SUPPORTIVE OF, OF, UM, ANYTHING THAT, THAT YOU NEED AS FAR AS, UM, UH, MARKETING OF, OF ANY KIND.
UM, IN PARTICULAR, I'M WONDERING HOW YOU ALSO WORK WITH MAYBE SCHOOL DISTRICTS, SOCIAL WORKERS, COUNSELORS? UM, WE KNOW THERE'S STUDENTS THAT ARE IDENTIFIED THAT HAVE FAMILIES THAT ARE IN NEED.
THEY, UM, FOR INSTANCE, OUR DISTRICT GAVE TURKEYS TO FAMILIES.
AND SO IN THEIR CHURCHES, ET CETERA.
SO HOW DO YOU WORK WITH THEM? OR EVEN FOR THAT MATTER, SALVATION ARMY AND THE ANGEL TREE OF LOUISE BLUE SANTA.
ALL OF THESE THINGS THAT ARE COMING UP I THINK WOULD BE GREAT OPPORTUNITIES TO REMIND FAMILIES THAT WE KNOW ARE IN NEED THAT QUALIFY FOR THESE OTHER SERVICES AS WELL.
HOW, HOW WILL YOU BE REACHING OUT TO THEM? THAT'S, THAT'S A GREAT QUESTION.
SO FIRST OFF, I, UH, SAY THANK YOU FOR, UH, THE, THE PARTNERSHIP ON THE OUTREACH FOR OUR, UH, WE ARE ABLE TO STAFF THESE.
WE PARTNER OUR INBOUND CALL CENTER TEAM WITH OUR, UH, COMMUNITY RESOURCE, UH, UNIT, THE CREW TEAM THAT EACH OF YOU HAVE A REPRESENTATIVE FOR.
AND WE CONTINUE TO ASK VOLUNTEERS.
OUR TEAMS ARE SO EXCITED ABOUT BEING IN THE COMMUNITY AND HELPING THAT WE COULD, WE GET VOLUNTEERS EVERY SINGLE TIME AND WE HAVE A LIST OF OF PEOPLE.
SO, SO THANK YOU FOR RECOGNIZING THAT.
BUT WE, WE DO KEEP, WE ARE MINDFUL OF, OF OUR STAFF NEEDS IN TERMS OF CONNECTION WITH, UH, THE, THE DIFFERENT COMMUNITY.
WE CAN GET A LIST OF ALL THE DIFFERENT, UH, COMMUNITY RESOURCES THAT WE, WE PARTNER WITH.
UM, BUT JUST, UH, LAST WEEK WE, WHENEVER WE CAN IDENTIFY THOSE FAMILIES THAT NEED HELP, WE DID CRUISE GIVING.
RUDY WAS OUT THERE, UH, GIVING THE, DONATING THE TURKEYS AND, AND TAKING PEOPLE FAMILY, UH, FAMILY DINNERS, RIGHT FROM, I THINK FROM BILL MILLER.
SO WE CONTINUE TO, TO PARTNER WITH DIFFERENT, UM, WHERE WE CAN GET AGENCY INFORMATION, WHETHER IT BE AT THE SCHOOLS.
'CAUSE WE'RE IN THE SCHOOLS WITH OUR PUBLIC, UH, EDUCATION TEAM.
SO WE GO OUT THERE AND WHERE WE CAN IDENTIFY.
WE ALSO HAVE A VERY CLOSE PARTNERSHIP WITH S A I S D FOUNDATION AND THEY'VE CONTINUED TO, UH, REALLY TAKE HOLD OF OUR C P S ENERGY ANGELS TEAM.
AND WHAT THEY DO IS THEY IDENTIFY A TEAM, A FAMILY THAT NEEDS, UH, ASSISTANCE AND, UH, WILL DONATE OR PAY THE BILL ON BEHALF OF, OF THAT FAMILY.
SO WE CONTINUE TO TRY AND FIND AS MANY DIFFERENT AVENUES AND WE CAN SHARE THAT LIST.
AND IF THERE'S ADDITIONAL ONES THAT YOU RECOMMEND THAT WE PARTNER WITH, WE'LL BE HAPPY TO ENGAGE WITH THEM.
SO ONE OPPORTUNITY THAT I SEE IS LIKE, LUANA IN, IN OUR AREA IS HUGE, RIGHT? IT'S ON DECEMBER THE 11TH.
SO ANY INFORMATION THAT WE CAN HAVE OUT THERE, YOU ALL WILL PROBABLY BE OUT THERE BECAUSE IT'S AN EVENT ANYWAY.
UM, BUT THAT TYPE OF EVENT, RIGHT? LIKE, HOW ARE WE GETTING OUT THERE AND MAKING SURE OUR FAMILIES SEE YOU ALL.
AND THEN CAN YOU TELL ME A LITTLE BIT MORE ABOUT THE ENERGY ANGELS AND, AND WHO ARE THESE PEOPLE? SO ENERGY ANGELS, ANYBODY CAN BE AN ENERGY ANGEL.
SO IF, UM, DURING, UH, WE SEE IT DURING THE HOLIDAYS, PEOPLE WANNA PAY ON BEHALF OF ANOTHER FRIEND, RIGHT? IT'S KIND OF LIKE PAYING IT FORWARD.
SO IF YOU KNOW A DEDICATED OR YOU KNOW, A FAMILY OR A PERSON THAT NEEDS HELP AND YOU WANNA DONATE FOR THEM, ONE, YOU CAN COME TO ONE OF OUR WALK-IN CENTERS AND GET A GIFT CARD TO GIVE OUT TO HELP PEOPLE PAY THEIR BILLS.
OR YOU JUST, YOU CAN CALL US, UH, AT OUR (210) 353-2222 OR GO ONLINE OR GO INTO OUR WALK-IN CENTER.
IF YOU KNOW ONE OF A FAMILY IN NEED, WE'LL HELP FIND A WAY TO HELP CONNECT YOU WITH A, A SOLUTION TO HELP PAY THEIR BILL ON YOUR BEHALF.
AND SO THEN WE'LL RECOGNIZE YOU AS, AS ONE OF OUR C P S ENERGY ANGELS.
SO, UH, ANY TYPE OF, UM, UH, COMPANY CAN DO IT OR INDIVIDUALS.
HAVE YOU ALL PUSHED THAT ON SOCIAL MEDIA OR HOW DO YOU PUSH THAT PROGRAM IN PARTICULAR? WE HAVE, WE HAVE, UH, A WE HAVE A WHOLE CAMPAIGN THAT WE DID FOR, FOR SOCIAL MEDIA AS WELL AS, UH, I THINK WE HAD SOME, SOME MAILERS.
AND WE CONTINUE TO TRY AND SHARE AS MUCH INFORMATION ABOUT THE C P S ENERGY ANGELS.
WE CALL IT GIVING THE GIFT OF ENERGY.
ANY OTHER COMMITTEE MEMBER HAVE A QUESTION? YES.
[02:25:01]
I MISSED THIS, BUT, UM, SO IS THERE, UM, ANY PLAN IN THE WORKS FOR, FOR AUTOMATIC PAYMENT PLANS? YES.SO WHAT WE ARE GONNA DO IS BEFORE WE RESUME AUTO, AUTO, I GUESS THE AUTO, I THINK YOU KNOW WHAT I MEANT, BUT THE AUTO ENROLL FOR, FOR, UM, FOR PAYMENT PLANS, RIGHT? YEAH.
SO YES, WHAT WE'RE GONNA DO IS FOR CUSTOMERS WHO LIVE IN ONE OF THE HUD QUALIFIED CENSUS TRACKS OR FOR TRACKS, OR FOR ANYBODY WHO'S BEEN IDENTIFIED AS A VULNERABLE CUSTOMER THROUGH ENROLLING IN ONE OF OUR ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS, WE WILL GO AHEAD AND PUT THEM ON, UH, ON AN INSTALLMENT PLAN.
WE'RE WORKING ON THOSE DETAILS WHILE WE STOOD DOWN ON DISCONNECTIONS RIGHT NOW.
SO BEFORE WE RESUME IN JANUARY, WE WILL DO THAT FOR THOSE CUSTOMERS.
AND I KNOW THAT WAS A, A REQUEST FROM A LOT OF THE COMMITTEE MEMBERS, SO I APPRECIATE YOU ALL HEARING US OUT ON THAT.
I THINK THAT CONCLUDES THE REPORT, UH, FROM C P S ENERGY.
SO THANK YOU BOTH FOR, UH, FILLING US IN ON, ON BOTH OF THESE MAJOR UNDERTAKINGS THAT YOU'RE INVOLVED IN.
AND WE'LL BE ASKING YOU AGAIN TO COME BACK AND, AND UPDATE US.
[Consideration of items for future meetings ]
A MEETING IN DECEMBER.UH, WE'LL BE MEETING AGAIN IN JANUARY, AND OF COURSE WE'LL LET BOTH UTILITIES KNOW THE DATE OF THAT MEETING AND ANY REQUESTS THAT WE HAVE, UH, AT THIS TIME.
UH, BEN, DO YOU WANT TO TALK, UH, A LITTLE BIT ABOUT, UH, WHAT WE'RE PLANNING IN JANUARY FOR, UH, JUST LETTING THE PUBLIC KNOW WHAT WE'RE DOING? SO COUNCILMAN, OUR NEXT MEETING WOULD BE ON JANUARY, I BELIEVE, 25TH.
UH, AND WE'LL WORK ON THE AGENDA FOR THAT.
AND ONE OF THE ITEMS WE TALKED ABOUT, AGAIN, WOULD BE BRINGING BACK THE EMERGENCY OPERATIONS CENTER TO FOLLOW UP ON THE COMMITTEE ON EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS, UM, THEN AND A WEBSITE.
AND ON THE WEBSITE I'M GONNA ACTUALLY INTRODUCE CRAIG HOPKINS, OUR CHIEF INFORMATION OFFICER.
HE'S GOT ABOUT THREE OR FOUR SLIDES THAT HE CAN VERY QUICKLY WALK YOU THROUGH AND, AND, UH, I THINK WE'LL GET THROUGH THE ADAM PRETTY QUICK.
I'M THE QUICKEST AND EASIEST PRESENTATION FOR YOU, SIR, BUT I AM GONNA ASK FOR SOMETHING AT THE END IF I COULD REAL QUICK.
SO, UM, SO WHAT WE'RE PROPOSING FOR THIS COMMITTEE AND ALL COMMITTEES IN THE CITY WITH OUR NEW PUBLIC INPUT, UH, UM, PLATFORM THAT WE JUST INSTALLED IN OCTOBER, IS A TOOL LIKE THIS THAT WILL BE ATTACHED TO EVERY COMMITTEE GOING FORWARD, WHERE YOU'LL HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO PUT CONTENT OUT DIRECTLY TO THE PUBLIC, WORKING DOCUMENTS, PRESENTATIONS, LINKS, THOSE TYPES OF THINGS, AND PUT INFORMATION SPECIFICALLY AROUND YOUR COMMITTEE, WHO THE COMMITTEE MEMBERS ARE AND SO FORTH.
THIS IS COMING AS PART OF OUR PLATFORM, BUT NOT TILL THE END OF JANUARY.
AND YOU'LL SEE THE O THE HEADINGS AT THE TOP.
MY APOLOGIES, I HAVE TO LOOK THIS WAY TO SEE IT.
COMMITTEES MEETINGS, AND AN OPPORTUNITY TO CONTACT THE COMMITTEE AS WELL DIRECTLY.
THIS IS DIFFERENT THAN THE PUBLIC COMMENT FUNCTION THAT WE TALKED ABOUT THAT HAPPENS TODAY IN THE CURRENT PLATFORM, BUT THIS WOULD BE CONTENT THAT'D BE LOADED DIRECTLY FOR YOUR COMMITTEE.
SO WE'RE PLANNING TO ROLL THIS OUT TO YOU, YOUR COMMITTEE FIRST AT THE, TOWARDS THE END OF JANUARY.
AND THEN ALL THE CITY COMMITTEES WILL HAVE THIS FUNCTION GOING FORWARD.
HOWEVER, WE HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO PUT SOMETHING IN THE INTERIM IF YOU WANT TO, STARTING RIGHT AWAY UNTIL THIS IS READY.
AND THAT IS SOMETHING THAT LOOKS LIKE THE ORIGINAL C E P COMMITTEE THAT CAME TOGETHER OVER THE SUMMER, A VERY SIMILAR FORMAT WHERE WE CAN BRING TOGETHER CONTENT THAT YOU HAVE AND PUT TOGETHER, UM, LINKS TO INFORMATION.
AGAIN, THE ABOUT THE COMMITTEE, THE MEMBERS OF THE COMMITTEE, THE STAFFING OF THE COMMITTEE, THE PLAN MEETINGS THAT ARE COMING UP.
AGAIN, THIS WOULD BE SHORT TERM.
AND THEN, UM, AN OPPORTUNITY TO DO CONTACT US AGAIN, NOT PUBLIC COMMENT.
THIS WOULD BE INFORMATION WOULD COME DIRECTLY INTO THE COMMITTEE SO WE CAN USE THIS KIND OF OLD, I CALL A LITTLE CLUNKIER FORMAT THAT WE'VE HAD BEFORE.
IF YOU WOULD LIKE THAT TO START NOW, KEVIN ORTON AND I CAN WORK TOGETHER TO START PUTTING CONTENT IN HERE AND SETTING THIS UP.
AND THEN AT THE END OF JANUARY, WHEN THE NEW FUNCTION COMES, WE'LL MOVE EVERYTHING OVER.
OR WE SAY IT'S NOT WORTH DOING THAT NOW, WAIT UNTIL THE END OF JANUARY AND WE BRING IT IN AT ONE TIME.
BUT WE'RE PREPARED TO GIVE YOU THIS TOOL TO HELP YOU WITH YOUR COMMUNICATION.
LET ME ASK, UH, COMMITTEE MEMBERS, DO YOU THINK, UH, IT'S SOMETHING WE SHOULD WAIT ON OR SOMETHING WE SHOULD GO AHEAD AND INITIATE NOW? I ALWAYS WANNA DO THINGS RIGHT AWAY.
YOU KNOW, WE'RE APPROACHING THE KIND OF WEATHER TIME WHEN PEOPLE MAY BE WORRIED AGAIN ABOUT ARE WE PREPARED? I THINK WHAT WE'VE DONE TODAY IS SHOW THAT WE'RE GETTING PREPARED AND I THINK IF THE PUBLIC COULD SEE THAT, IT MAY, UH, ALLEVIATE SOME OF THEIR, THEIR WORRIES.
SO I WOULD, I WOULD SAY LET'S GO AHEAD AND GET THIS UP, UH, AS QUICKLY AS WE PRACTICALLY CAN.
UH, BECAUSE IF, IF WE'RE TALKING ABOUT THE END OF, UH, JANUARY, WE'RE
[02:30:01]
TALKING ABOUT TWO MONTHS AND WE'VE ALREADY HAD SEVERAL MEETINGS, WE'VE GOT SOME INFORMATION I THINK WE COULD SHARE.SO I WOULD LIKE TO ASK YOUR STAFF TO GO AHEAD AND DO THAT.
UH, IF THERE'S NO, NO OBJECTION FROM THE REST OF THE COMMITTEE.
THE OTHER THING I WANNA ASK IS ONCE WE GET THE NEW FORMAT ESTABLISHED, UH, CAN WE IN INCLUDE WITH IT A DASHBOARD THAT SHOWS, FOR EXAMPLE, THE PROGRESS THAT'S BEING MADE ON ALL THE C E P RECOMMENDATIONS OR THE PROGRESS THAT'S BEING MADE ON, UM, THE, UH, THE MONEY THAT'S BEING RECUPERATED BY THE UTILITIES FOR BILLS THAT HAVEN'T BEEN PAID, AS WELL AS ANY KIND OF DISCONNECTS THAT HAVE TAKEN PLACE.
SO THE PUBLIC HAS AN IDEA OF HOW THOSE ARE FUNCTIONING AS WELL.
SO SIR, THEY'LL HAVE TWO OPPORTUNITIES HERE UNDER THE CONTENT BOX, WHICH IS THE BIG BLANK BOX.
NOW, YOU'LL BE ABLE TO LIST CONTENT AND FILES CLICK TO OPEN, AND UNDER THE LINKS ON THE RIGHT, THAT COULD BE A DASHBOARD FOR X CLICK HERE.
SO YOU'LL HAVE BOTH OPPORTUNITIES TO DO THAT.
UH, CRAIG, I JUST HAVE A, A QUESTION, COMMENTS THAT ARE NOT PART OF THE COMMITTEE AGENDA, PUBLIC COMMENT.
IT SAYS THAT THEY'RE GONNA GO TO US.
UM, WILL IT BE NOTED LIKE, WILL THERE BE A LIST OF PEOPLE THAT, UH, SUBMITTED COMMENTS OR WHAT THOSE COMMENTS WERE OR THEY'RE JUST GONNA BE EMAILED TO US? YEAH, SO IN THIS MODEL, THIS IS IF SOMEBODY WANTS TO GET SOMETHING DIRECTLY TO THE COMMITTEE FOR YOU TO LOOK, SO STAFF, WHICH PROBABLY WOULD BE KEVIN, I HATE TO VOLUNTEER HIM, BUT THIS IS WHO I'M WORKING WITH.
UM, WE'LL PROBABLY HAVE TO PICK THAT UP AND THEN DISTRIBUTE THAT TO YOU IN SOME WAY.
THIS IS VERY DIFFERENT THAN WHAT YOU COME IN THROUGH THE PUBLIC COMMENT TODAY AND MAKE PUBLIC COMMENTS.
IT HAS A CLERK PROCESS THAT WE FOLLOW.
SO THAT WILL HAVE TO BE JUST KIND OF A MANUAL PROCESS TO GET STARTED.
AND I DON'T KNOW IF YOU WERE HERE OR YOU'RE ALREADY AWARE, BUT TODAY THERE'S THREE PEOPLE WHO HAD SIGNED UP FOR PUBLIC COMMENT, BUT WE DIDN'T KNOW.
SO TO JUST, SO WE'VE ALREADY LOOKED INTO THAT.
SO WE'RE MAKING OUR PROCESS BETTER AS WE GO.
YEAH, THANK YOU FOR BRINGING THAT UP, COUNCILWOMAN.
ANY OTHER THOUGHTS OR CONCERNS OR QUESTIONS? OKAY, HEARING NONE.
THANK YOU FOR, UH, THE EXTENDED TIME THAT EVERYBODY'S PUT IN FOR THE MEETING TODAY.
HOPEFULLY WE'LL CONTINUE TO TRY AND REFINE THIS, BUT THIS IS SIGNIFICANT INFORMATION.
UH, I'LL GO AHEAD AND CLOSE THE MEETING AT THIS TIME.