* This transcript was created by voice-to-text technology. The transcript has not been edited for errors or omissions, it is for reference only and is not the official minutes of the meeting.
          [00:00:01]
           YEAH, I'M FEELING REALLY GOOD. 
          OKAY, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, WE'RE GONNA BEGIN. 
          PLEASE HAVE A SEAT. 
          GOOD MORNING, EVERYBODY. 
          AS, UH, YOU MAY SEE RIGHT NOW THERE'S ONLY TWO COMMITTEE MEMBERS AVAILABLE. 
          UH, WE DO HAVE ONE THAT WILL BE JOINING US IN A WHILE, BUT SINCE THESE ARE JUST BRIEFINGS, UH, WE DON'T NECESSARILY HAVE TO HAVE, UH, A MAJORITY HERE. 
          WE'RE NOT GONNA BE PROPOSING ANY ACTION ON ANY OF THESE, I BELIEVE TODAY. 
          UH, BUT IN ORDER TO RESPECT YOUR TIME AS WELL AS THE COUNCIL MEMBER'S TIME, WE WILL BEGIN. 
          AND SO, AGAIN, THANK YOU TO THE, UH, FEBRUARY 28TH MEETING. 
          MUNICIPALS UTILITIES COMMITTEE. 
          WILL A SECRETARY PLEASE CALL A ROLE, LA CLERK. 
          COUNCIL MEMBER MAKI RODRIGUEZ. 
          PRESENT, COUNCIL MEMBER VERAN. 
          COUNCIL MEMBER CAVEO HDA CHAIR, COURAGE PRESENT. 
          SIR, WE DO NOT HAVE A QUORUM. 
          OKAY. 
          WE DO NOT HAVE A QUORUM, SO WE'LL NOT BE TAKING ANY, UH, ACTION ON THE ISSUES, BUT WE DO WANT TO HEAR THE BRIEFINGS, AND I KNOW THEY ARE BEING RECORDED SO THAT THE COMMITTEE MEMBERS WHO ARE NOT HERE TODAY, WE'LL BE ABLE TO HEAR THESE BRIEFINGS, UH, WHEN THEY DO HAVE THE TIME SO THAT ALL THE COMMITTEE MEMBERS ARE UP TO DATE ON THESE DISCUSSION POINTS. 
          WE'LL GO AHEAD AND, UH, START OUT BY APPROVING THE MINUTES. 
          WELL, ACTUALLY, WE WON'T BE ABLE TO APPROVE THE MINUTES, UH, 
          [Public Comment
 ]
BUT WE DO HAVE A CITIZEN TO BE HEARD, AND I, I WILL ASK THAT CITIZEN TO COME FORWARD. 
          AND, AND THAT IS WHO, PLEASE. 
          DEI BEL MARS DEI. 
          BEL MARS. 
          GOOD MORNING. 
          MY NAME IS DEE BEL MARS. 
          I'M A CLIMATE JUSTICE ORGANIZER WITH, UH, PUBLIC CITIZEN. 
          I'M SPEAKING ON AGENDA ITEM NUMBER SEVEN, WHICH IS THE DISCUSSION ON A PROCESS FOR OVERSIGHT AND REVIEW OF THE STEP PROGRAM. 
          THE SUSTAINABLE TOMORROW ENERGY PROGRAM VOTED ON AND APPROVED BY CITY COUNCIL LAST YEAR IS AN EXCELLENT AND NECESSARY PROGRAM THAT THE LATEST ITERATION HAS THE POTENTIAL TO HELP MANY LOW INCOME AND UNDER-RESOURCED RESIDENTS WHO ARE UNABLE TO MAKE ENERGY EFFICIENCY OR WEATHERIZATION IMPROVEMENTS TO THEIR HOMES. 
          THESE CUSTOMERS NEED PROGRAMS LIKE STEP BECAUSE THEY'RE SUFFERING A HIGH ENERGY BURDEN. 
          A HOUSEHOLD ENERGY BURDEN IS THE PERCENTAGE OF INCOME SPENT ON HOME ENERGY BILLS. 
          A HIGH ENERGY BURDEN. 
          BURDEN IS CONSIDERED TO BE, UH, 6% AND A SEVERE ENERGY BURDEN ABOVE 10% IN A 2020 REPORT. 
          ACCORDING TO THE AMERICAN COUNCIL FOR AN ENERGY EFFICIENT ECONOMY, THEY FOUND IN SAN ANTONIO THAT THE MEDIAN ENERGY BURDEN IS 3%, AND THE MEDIAN LOW INCOME ENERGY BURDEN IS 7.4%. 
          A QUARTER OF LOW INCOME HOUSEHOLDS IN SAN ANTONIO HAVE AN ENERGY BURDEN ABOVE 13% IN THE CITY. 
          22% OF THOSE HOUSEHOLDS HAVE A HIGH ENERGY BURDEN ABOVE 6%. 
          11% OF SAN ANTONIO HOUSEHOLDS HAVE A SEVERE ENERGY BURDEN, WHICH IS ABOVE 10%. 
          THESE ARE CUSTOMERS THAT STRUGGLE FINANCIALLY PRIOR TO THE PANDEMIC AND ARE STRUGGLING EVEN MORE BECAUSE OF INFLATION. 
          THESE ARE RESIDENTS WHO STRUGGLE TO PAY THEIR UTILITY BILLS. 
          NEXT YEAR, THEY'LL BE FACING A RATE HIKE, WEATHERIZATION AND ENERGY EFFICIENCY PROGRAMS THAT TARGET LOW INCOME CUSTOMERS HELP TO REDUCE THAT ENERGY BURDEN. 
          WE HAVE AN OPPORTUNITY TO AUGMENT THE STEP PROGRAM WITH AN UNPRECEDENTED FUNDING FROM THE INFLATION REDUCTION ACT, WHICH WE MIGHT NEVER SEE THIS TYPE OF FEDERAL CLIMATE INVESTMENT EVER AGAIN. 
          THEN THERE IS THE RESILIENCY, ENERGY EFFICIENCY AND SUSTAINABILITY FUND. 
          BUT ALL THIS FUNDING NEEDS THOUGHTFUL COORDINATION BETWEEN MULTIPLE AGENCIES TO ENSURE ENERGY, HEALTH AND SAFETY SAVINGS FOR THE LEAST ABLE TO PAY. 
          ALSO, I WANNA MENTION THAT PROGRAMS LIKE STEP, NOT ONLY REDUCE DEMAND, BUT ALSO HELP OUR GRID BE MORE RELIABLE AND LESS COSTLY. 
          THANK YOU. 
          THANK YOU, MS. OKAY, 
          [Briefing and Possible Action on the following items
 ]
NOW WE WILL GO AHEAD AND PROCEED TO ITEM NUMBER THREE. 
          AND THIS IS A BRIEFING BY C P S ENERGY ON THE FISCAL YEAR 2024 BUDGET THAT WAS APPROVED BY THE C P S BOARD. 
          ITEM TWO, PARDON ME, ITEM TWO. 
          ITEM TWO. 
          ISN'T THAT WHAT I SAID? I'M SORRY. 
          OH, PLEASE GO AHEAD. 
          UH, HELLO, SHANNON RAMIREZ. 
          I AM THE GENERAL COUNSEL FOR C P S ENERGY, AND I'M HERE ON BEHALF OF RUDY GARZA, OUR C E O AND PRESIDENT. 
          UM, HE SENDS HIS APOLOGIES. 
          HE IS UP IN AUSTIN TODAY. 
          THE LEGISLATURE IS IN SESSION, AND THERE ARE A NUMBER OF BILLS THAT ARE IMPACTING BOTH THE CITY OF SAN ANTONIO AND C P S ENERGY. 
          SO I APOLOGIZE, BUT YOU ARE STUCK WITH ME TODAY. 
          UM, I DID BRING A NUMBER 
          [00:05:01]
OF OUR STAFF MEMBERS HERE TO BRIEF YOU ALL ON A NUMBER OF ISSUES. 
          UM, I'M ABSOLUTELY, UH, ABLE TO STEP IN AS THEY GO THROUGH IF YOU HAVE ANY OTHER QUESTIONS, BUT I'M GONNA GO AHEAD AND TURN IT OVER TO COREY KAZINSKI RIGHT NOW. 
          THANK YOU. 
          GOOD MORNING. 
          UH, SO I WILL BE GIVEN A BRIEFING HERE ON, UM, OUR PROPOSED BUDGET THAT WE GAVE TO OUR BOARD, UH, BOARD OF TRUSTEES LAST MONTH. 
          SO THIS PRESENTATION IS, IS MONTH OLD. 
          UM, I'LL HAVE SOME NUMBERS IN HERE THAT OUR FORECASTING WHERE WE THOUGHT WE WERE GONNA END THE YEAR, BUT WE JUST PRESENTED TO OUR BOARD YESTERDAY, AND SO WE HAVE SOME, UH, REFRESH NUMBERS THERE. 
          SO THAT'S THE CONTEXT OF, UH, THIS PRESENTATION HERE. 
          UM, AS I MENTIONED, I'M GONNA FOCUS ON THE INVESTMENTS OF, UH, IN OUR COMMUNITY ON WHAT WE HAD, UH, WORKED ON THIS PAST YEAR, AND THEN, UM, OUR PLANS GOING TO NEXT YEAR. 
          UM, I'LL HIGHLIGHT VERY BRIEFLY KIND OF THE, THE O AND M AND CAPITAL, UH, TARGETS. 
          AND THEN I GOT A BRIEF SLIDE AT THE END JUST TO TALK ABOUT THE RATING AGENCY CONVERSATIONS THAT WE'VE HAD, UM, OVER THE PAST YEAR AND MOST RECENTLY HERE IN JANUARY. 
          UM, THE, THE MESSAGE ON, ON THIS SLIDE REALLY IS JUST TO LOOK AT 23 AND 24 FROM AN INVESTMENT PERSPECTIVE. 
          AND REALLY WHAT YOU SEE IS, UM, WE'VE DONE, UH, WHAT WE'VE SAID WE'VE DONE IN TERMS OF THE AREAS OF INVESTMENTS IN, IN THIS PAST FISCAL YEAR. 
          UH, THE ADDITIONAL, YOU KNOW, UH, RATE INCREASE PROVIDED FUNDING FOR, UM, YOU KNOW, THE INFRASTRUCTURE MODERNIZATION. 
          WE HAD TALKED ABOUT, UM, COMMUNITY GROWTH, THE DIFFERENT TECHNOLOGY EFFORTS THAT WE HAD SPOKEN ABOUT AND, AND PEOPLE, SOME OF THE STATS WE MENTIONED YESTERDAY WAS, UM, AROUND, UH, MULTIPLE AREAS. 
          BUT WE TALKED ABOUT OUR INVESTMENT IN RECLOSERS, UM, WHICH IS, UH, YOU KNOW, TECHNOLOGY THAT RICHARD MEDINA'S TEAM PUTS OUT IN THE FIELD. 
          UM, WE INSTALLED A RECORD NUMBER OF 166, UM, THROUGH ROUTER SERVICE TERRITORY WOULD HELP, WHICH HELPS, UM, UM, REDUCE THE NUMBER OF FOLKS IMPACTED BY OUTAGES. 
          THAT WAS A DIRECT, YOU KNOW, NEW AD AS PART OF OUR, OUR RATE FUNDING TO, TO GET HIS TEAM RAMPED UP TO DO MORE. 
          WE ALSO COVERED, UM, TWICE AS MANY LINES, UH, IN TERMS OF TREE TRIMMING EFFORTS. 
          UM, 600 PLUS, ALMOST 700 MILES OF, OF LINES WERE TRIMMED. 
          UH, THAT NEARLY DOUBLED THE YEAR PRIOR. 
          AND THAT WAS, AGAIN, A RESULT OF INCREASED FUNDING. 
          WE WERE ABLE TO GIVE HIS TEAMS TO HELP IMPROVE RELIABILITY, AND WE'RE GONNA SUSTAIN THOSE LEVELS GOING FORWARD INTO NEXT YEAR. 
          UM, LISA'S TEAM, UM, UH, YOU KNOW, WE, WE TALKED ABOUT HIRING FOLKS. 
          YOU KNOW, WE, ON A GROSS AMOUNT, WE HIRED OVER 500 FOLKS. 
          UM, WE NETTED IN THE MID TWO HUNDREDS WITH RETIREMENTS AND SO FORTH, BUT THAT WAS A PRETTY SIGNIFICANT YEAR FROM OUR TEAM. 
          SO A LOT OF THE DOLLARS WENT TO WHERE WE SAID THEY WERE GONNA GO, AND WE'VE GONNA CONTINUE THOSE, THOSE EFFORTS AS WE GO ON TO, TO FISCAL 24. 
          UM, AND SO JUST IN TERMS OF HOW WE ENDED THE YEAR ON THE O AND M AND CAPITAL PLANS, OUR CAPITAL, UH, SPEND WAS IN THE HIGH SEVEN HUNDREDS, UM, WHICH WHILE BELOW THE 832 MILLION WE HAD FORECASTED WAS STILL A RECORD YEAR FOR US, MAINLY DRIVEN BY THE THINGS WE TALKED ABOUT, PLUS GROWTH AND, AND ABSORBING SOME LEVEL OF INFLATION. 
          UM, IN, IN ALL OF THE, THE WORK WE DID. 
          I, I JUST WANNA INTERJECT AND AND CLEAR SOMETHING FOR ANYONE WHO MIGHT BE WATCHING LATER. 
          WHEN WE TALK ABOUT A FISCAL 20, 23 YEAR, IT REALLY REPRESENTS FROM 2022 TO JANUARY OF 2023. 
          YES. 
          SO THAT PEOPLE DON'T CON GET CONFUSED WHEN WE START TALKING ABOUT 2024. 
          YEAH. 
          SO THANK YOU. 
          I JUST WANTED TO CLARIFY THAT. 
          VERY, VERY GOOD CALL OUT. 
          YEAH, WE, I'VE BEEN HERE 16 YEARS AND I'M STILL WORKING ON GETTING IT RIGHT, . 
          SO YEAH, FOR THE MOST PART IT'S CALENDAR 22 IS WHAT'S COVERED WITH THIS FISCAL 23. 
          'CAUSE WE JUST WRAPPED UP OUR YEAR AT THE END OF JANUARY. 
          THANK YOU. 
          THANK YOU. 
          SO, AS WE GO INTO FISCAL 24, WHICH WE JUST STARTED THIS FEBRUARY 1ST OF 23, UM, WE, WE FRAMED THIS YEAR REALLY AS KINDA A BRIDGE TO, UM, TO, UH, OUR NEXT RATE INCREASE, WHICH WE TALKED ABOUT LAST YEAR COMING EVERY COUPLE OF YEARS, UM, FROM AN INVESTMENT PERSPECTIVE. 
          SO WHAT YOU SAW, OR WHAT YOU WILL SEE THAT WE SHARE WITH OUR, OUR BOARD WAS, UH, AN O AND M BUDGET. 
          THAT'S THE SAME TARGET WE HAD SHOWED DURING THE RATE CASE. 
          BUT FROM A CAPITAL SPEND PERSPECTIVE, WE INCREASED THAT A LITTLE BIT. 
          AND I'LL, I'LL SHOW, SHOW YOU THAT IN A, IN A FURTHER SLIDE. 
          MAINLY BECAUSE THE, THE, THE GROWTH AND, AND THE INFLATION THAT WE'RE ABSORBING THIS PAST YEAR ARE, ARE REAL AND HERE TO STAY. 
          AND SO WE, WE ANTICIPATED NEEDING, UM, ADDITIONAL DOLLARS FROM THE CAPITAL SPEND PERSPECTIVE. 
          YOU'LL SEE HOW THAT MANIFESTS WHEN IT COMES TO A METRIC PERSPECTIVE. 
          'CAUSE ULTIMATELY, AT THE END OF THE DAY, THAT IS WHAT WE FOCUS ON, AND THAT SERVES AS OUR TRIGGERS WHEN AND WHEN WE DON'T NEED TO COME BACK FOR RATE INCREASES. 
          SO, UM, WITH THAT, I'LL, I'LL MOVE ON BRIEFLY. 
          SO YOU CAN SEE THE NUMBERS HERE. 
          UM, THIS SHOWS HOW WE FINISHED FISCAL, UM, 23. 
          UH, I THINK THOSE NUMBERS AGAIN THERE FROM LAST MONTH. 
          SO 6 96 90 IS ACTUALLY WHERE WE FINISHED THE YEAR, NOT 6 97, WHERE IT SAYS FISCAL 2023, WHICH IS BELOW OUR PLAN OF, OF 730 ON THE O AND M SIDE. 
          UM, AND THEN WHAT WE'RE FORECASTING IS 773 MILLION, UM, THAT OUR BOARD APPROVED FROM AN O AND M PERSPECTIVE OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE SPEND. 
          UM, WHICH IS THE EXACT SAME NUMBER THAT WE HAD IN OUR PLANNED WHEN WE BROUGHT TO COUNCIL, UH, LAST YEAR FOR THIS UPCOMING FISCAL YEAR. 
          SO WHEN WE CAME LAST YEAR, WE GIVE A FIVE YEAR VIEW THAT WE HAD SHOWED. 
          [00:10:01]
AND SO IN THAT FIVE YEAR VIEW, THIS IS WHAT YEAR TWO LOOKED AT. 
          SO NO CHANGE REALLY THERE. 
          WE'LL MANAGE, UM, WITHIN THOSE TARGETS. 
          THIS IS JUST A VERY HIGH LEVEL BREAKOUT OF WHERE THE DOLLARS GO FROM THE, THE O AND M UH, BUCKET. 
          UH, YOU CAN SEE, YOU KNOW, THREE 50, UH, IS GOING TO LABOR. 
          THAT'S A SIGNIFICANT PORTION OF, OF OUR SPEND AS WOULD MAKE SENSE. 
          AND, UM, IS AGAIN, SUPPORTED WITH THE CONVERSATION WE HAD LAST YEAR ABOUT, UM, INCREASING OUR WORKFORCE, UM, AND MARKET MATCHING THEM. 
          AND THE REST OF THE DOLLARS YOU SEE, IS EQUALLY SPREAD OUT, UM, UH, AROUND SUSTAINABILITY, RESILIENCY, UM, FOR BOTH THE POWER AND, UH, THE ELECTRIC AND THE GAS SIDE. 
          UM, AND THEN OF COURSE, TECHNOLOGY. 
          SO I'LL LET YOU, I DON'T NEED TO READ THE WHOLE SLIDE TO YOU, BUT THAT'S A QUICK BREAKOUT OF IT HERE IN THE CAPITAL SIDE IS, IS WHERE I WAS TALKING ABOUT IT BEING A LITTLE HIGHER THAN PLANNED. 
          UH, LEFT HAND SIDE. 
          YOU SEE FISCAL 23 COMING IN A LITTLE BIT UNDER THAN WE HAD FORECAST. 
          WE SHOWED FOR OUR BOARD THE BREAK BETWEEN TRANSMISSION AND NON-TRANSMISSION SPEND. 
          UH, I THINK THAT MAY BE RELEVANT WHEN WE COME IN FOR RATE INCREASES. 
          IT'S MOSTLY THE NON-TRANSMISSION SPEND THAT OUR COMMUNITY WILL FUND THROUGH BASE RATES AND TRANSMISSION SPEND WILL, YOU KNOW, WE WORK WITH THE P U C ON. 
          BUT ALL IN ALL, YOU CAN SEE THE BREAKOUT THERE. 
          AND THEN AS WE GO INTO NEXT YEAR, UM, WE HAVE A LITTLE BIT HIGHER, UH, CAPITAL SPEND. 
          AND HERE'S THE BREAKOUT OF THAT SPEND IN THE DIFFERENT BUCKETS. 
          UH, YOU KNOW, INFRASTRUCTURE MODERNIZATION AND GROWTH ARE THE TOP TWO. 
          UM, UH, WHEN YOU, WHEN YOU LOOK AT IT. 
          AND THEN AS YOU GO DOWN TO THE BOTTOM, UH, YOU KNOW, THERE'S AN ELEMENT FOR, YOU KNOW, THE ENVIRONMENTAL, THE REGULATORY PROJECTS THAT WE'RE REQUIRED TO DO. 
          AND OBVIOUSLY ALL THE CIVIC IMPROVEMENTS YOU SEE AROUND THE COMMUNITY. 
          UM, YOU KNOW, OUR FOLKS RIGHT THERE AT TDOT OR, OR CITY FOLKS MOVING OUR, OUR INFRASTRUCTURE AND, UM, YOU KNOW, 45 MILLIONS, PROBABLY A LITTLE BIT ON THE, THE HIGH END, BUT, BUT STILL RELATIVELY NORMAL FOR WHAT WE SEE. 
          SO, NOT MANY SURPRISES I DON'T THINK THERE IN THE, IN TERMS OF WHAT WE'VE TALKED ABOUT IN THE PAST. 
          THESE ARE, THAT ARE STILL ON OUR RADAR, OF COURSE. 
          UM, YOU KNOW, THE, WE HAVE A WHOLE PRESENTATION THAT DAN WILL TALK ABOUT IN TERMS OF ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE AND THE PAST DUE SITUATION. 
          UH, YOU KNOW, WE'VE SEEN SOME POSITIVE TRENDS OVER THE LAST COUPLE OF MONTHS, BUT NONETHELESS, THAT'S STILL ON OUR RADAR AND WE'VE ACCOUNTED FOR SOME LEVEL OF CONTINUED, UM, YOU KNOW, STRESS IN THAT REGARD IN THE FORECAST FOR NEXT YEAR. 
          UM, GENERATION PLANNING. 
          WE HAD GREAT DISCUSSION WITH THE, THE RE ADVISORY COMMITTEE OVER THE LAST SEVERAL MONTHS. 
          AND OUR BOARD AT THE LAST MEETING OR OR MEETING BEFORE LAST, UM, TOOK ACTION. 
          AND WE'LL START, UM, YOU KNOW, BAKING IN WHAT THAT MEANS IN TERMS OF OUR, OUR FUTURE, UM, YOU KNOW, FINANCIAL REQUIREMENTS TO SUPPORT THAT. 
          WE'RE JUST BEGINNING OUR CONVERSATIONS WITH RATE DESIGN WITH THE RAY ADVISORY COMMITTEE. 
          SO THAT'S KICKING OFF, UH, TO THE EXTENT THAT THE RAY ADVISORY COMMITTEE, UM, HAS ANY RECOMMENDATIONS THAT WE CAN TAKE FORWARD, UM, THAT MAY BE PART OF THIS NEXT RATE INCREASE. 
          UM, UH, WE'LL, WE WILL FOCUS ON THOSE. 
          AND A BIG TOPIC OF CONVERSATION'S OBVIOUSLY BEEN, YOU KNOW, AROUND WHAT DIDI MENTIONED, ENERGY BURDEN, AFFORDABILITY, AND WE'LL HAVE OPPORTUNITIES, UH, THEN TO HAVE THOSE DISCUSSIONS. 
          UM, AND THEN ALWAYS HANGING OUT. 
          THERE ARE JUST THE REMAINING, UH, UH, THE REMAINING CASES WE HAVE IN REGARDS TO WINTER STORM URI, BUT THERE'S NO ACTION TO BE TAKEN THERE. 
          WE HAVE THE APPROVAL FOR THE REGULATORY ASSETS, UM, WHICH WILL ALLOW US TO THE EXTENT ANY AMOUNTS NEED TO BE PAID, UM, HAVE A MINIMAL IMPACT ON OUR CUSTOMER'S BILLS, UM, GOING FORWARD. 
          BUT THOSE ARE JUST ON OUR RADAR AS WE GO INTO NEXT YEAR. 
          UM, THIS SLIDE HERE, UM, JUST SHOWED WHAT WE THOUGHT LAST, UH, WHERE WE WERE GONNA FINISH THE YEAR. 
          I'LL JUST UPDATE THE FAR RIGHT COLUMN. 
          UM, WE ACTUALLY FINISHED THE YEAR AT, UM, LET'S SEE, I'M SORRY. 
          WE FINISHED THE YEAR AT 1.89, UH, INSTEAD OF 1.85, UM, FINISHED THE YEAR, UH, THAT WAS FOR THE COVERAGE RATIO FOR DEBT CAPITALIZATION IN THE MIDDLE. 
          6.17 WAS 6.18. 
          AND THEN DAYS CASH ON HAND, WE FINISHED AT 166 DAYS ON THE FAR RIGHT HAND CORNER. 
          OUR FORECAST NUMBERS, NO CHANGE THERE. 
          WE STILL ANTICIPATE, UM, YOU KNOW, THOSE METRICS BEING OUR TARGET. 
          THE ONE IN THE MIDDLE THAT SAYS DEBT CAPITALIZATION, 62.6. 
          UM, THAT'S CONSISTENT WITH WHAT WE HAD SHOWED DURING THE RATE CASE CONVERSATION. 
          WE HAD AN EXTENDED CONVERSATION WITH OUR BOARD, LITTLE BIT THE MONTH, THE MONTH BEF, UH, NOT THIS PAST MEETING, BUT THE ONE PRIOR. 
          THAT IS THE METRIC THAT WE SEE THE MOST STRESSED. 
          AND THAT'S BASICALLY A FUNCTION OF US BORROWING, UM, TO HELP SUSTAIN OPERATIONS. 
          AND SO, UM, PART OF OUR CONVERSATIONS WE'VE HAD THE RATING AGENCIES IS THAT, YOU KNOW, WE'RE GONNA OBVIOUSLY NEED TO CONTINUE TO BORROW, BUT WE'RE GONNA START WORKING THAT METRIC DOWN CLOSER TO 60%. 
          SO, UM, AGAIN, CONSISTENT WITH THE NUMBERS WE HAD SEEN IN, UM, WHEN WE BROUGHT THE RAY CASE LAST YEAR. 
          THIS IS MY LAST SLIDE HERE JUST TALKING ABOUT OUR RATING AGENCY VISIT. 
          UM, THEY ALL CAME TO TOWN, SO S AND P, MOODY'S AND FITCH ALL CAME HERE TO SAN ANTONIO, VISITED WITH US AND OUR LEADERSHIP TEAM, AND WE ALSO TOOK 'EM ON TOURS OF OUR FACILITIES. 
          SO IT WAS REALLY GREAT TO HAVE THEM KINDA DO A COMPREHENSIVE VISIT WITH US AT OUR LOCATION INSTEAD OF GOING TO THEM. 
          UM, AND SO THE, THE MAIN CONVERSATIONS WERE AROUND, YOU KNOW, VISION 2027 THAT RUDY'S TALKED ABOUT, UM, TALK, TALKING ABOUT OUR, YOU KNOW, RATE PLANS, RATE, AFFORDABILITY, COMMUNITY SUPPORT, YOU KNOW, THE LONG-TERM GENERATION PLAN THAT WE HAD TALKED ABOUT, ALL OF THAT STUFF. 
          UM, I THINK 
          [00:15:01]
THE, UM, PROBABLY THE MOST, WELL, SO OF ALL THE THREE RATING AGENCIES, FITCH WAS THE ONE THAT WAS GOING TO THEIR CREDIT COMMITTEE. 
          'CAUSE IT HAD BEEN A WHILE SINCE THEY HAD REAFFIRMED OUR RATING OR NOT. 
          AND WE WERE DOUBLE A MINUS WITH THE NEGATIVE OUTLOOK FOR THEM. 
          UM, AND, AND THE CONCERN AT THE TIME WAS THAT THEY MAY ACTUALLY, UM, TAKE ACTION AND DOWNGRADE US. 
          UM, AND I THINK, UH, THE, THE MESSAGE FROM THEM, UM, AS I WOULD INTERPRET IT, IS THEY'RE GONNA GIVE US THE BENEFIT OF TIME. 
          THEY'RE GONNA LET THIS YEAR PLAY OUT. 
          THEY UNDERSTAND THAT WE HAVE A, AN UNDERSTANDING OF THE CHALLENGES WE FACE. 
          UM, AND THEN, YOU KNOW, COME A YEAR FROM NOW, UM, WE'LL HAVE A BETTER IDEA OF WHAT SUPPORT, UH, WOULD BE NECESSARY. 
          AND, YOU KNOW, WE'LL HAVE THAT CONVERSATION WITH THE COMMUNITY. 
          UM, AND THOSE ARE THE, THOSE ARE THE, THE HIGHLIGHTS. 
          BUT AGAIN, WE'VE BEEN REALLY PROACTIVE ALL YEAR LONG TALKING TO THESE RATING AGENCIES, PROBABLY MORE SO THAN I RECALL IN, IN ANY OF MY CAREER. 
          UM, YOU KNOW, AT C P S, JUST THE FREQUENCY AND THE CONVERSATIONS HAVE BEEN REALLY FLUID. 
          UH, AND THAT IS THE END. 
          SO I WILL STOP THERE AND IF THERE'S ANY QUESTIONS? YEAH, I THINK THAT THERE'S TWO THAT COMES TO MY MIND THAT I WONDER HOW YOU'RE CONSIDERING IMPACTING THE BUDGET. 
          AND THOSE TWO ITEMS ARE THE, UM, THE, UH, ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLES AND THE, UH, PENDING ACTION TO TRY AND RECUPERATE COSTS FROM THE WINTER STORM, WHICH ARE, ARE STILL, UH, YOU KNOW, AT TRIAL OR, YOU KNOW, CASES ARE STILL IN THE PROCESS OF TRYING TO GET RESOLVED. 
          SO, YOU KNOW, HAVE YOU FORECASTED OR IS THERE ANY INDICATION OF HOW THOSE COULD IMPACT MM-HMM. 
           NEXT YEAR'S BUDGET? UH, WAS THERE A DISCUSSION ABOUT THAT? YEAH, SO, SO BAKED INTO THOSE FORECAST NUMBERS ON THE FAR RIGHT, UM, ARE IN FACT, UM, THE ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE SITUATION YOU MENTIONED. 
          SO WE ACTUALLY ANTICIPATE THAT WE WILL, UM, AS WE GO INTO THIS YEAR, FISCAL 24, HAVE CLOSE TO $40 MILLION OF BAD DEBT EXPENSE, STILL HITTING OUR BOOKS FROM AN ACCOUNTING PERSPECTIVE. 
          SO THAT IS, IN A SENSE, BEING ABSORBED BY REDUCING REVENUE, WHICH WOULD IMPACT YOUR COVERAGE RATIO THAT YOU SEE AT THE TOP THERE. 
          SO WE HIT 1 62 WITH THAT. 
          UM, THE OTHER METRIC YOU SEE THAT, UM, COME INTO PLAY IS DAY'S CASH ON HAND. 
          SO BECAUSE WE'VE ACCOUNTED FOR, OR WE, YOU KNOW, CREATED AN ALLOWANCE FOR THAT, UM, YEAH, THERE'S NO BRIEFINGS. 
          IT'S ALL YEAH. 
          BUT NO QUESTIONS OTHER THAN YOURS. 
          OKAY. 
          BECAUSE IT'S A DELIBERATION. 
          YEAH. 
          SO BECAUSE WE HAVE AN ALLOWANCE FOR THAT, UM, YOU KNOW, FROM AN ACCOUNTING PERSPECTIVE, WE'RE OKAY. 
          BUT WE SEE IT HIT US IN THE CASH LEVELS. 
          AND THAT'S WHAT DEANNA WILL TALK ABOUT, IS HER EFFORTS ON THE BACK END TO TRY AND COLLECT FROM OUR CUSTOMERS. 
          AND AS SHE'LL TALK ABOUT, SHE'S SEEN A POSITIVE TREND THE LAST COUPLE OF MONTHS. 
          SO THAT IS GONNA BE SOMETHING THAT WE'LL HAVE TO, UM, SEE HOW THE YEAR PLAYS OUT. 
          UH, 'CAUSE I THINK THE BIGGEST PLACE THAT ISSUE WILL HIT US IS GONNA BE IN OUR LIQUIDITY ON OUR DAY'S CASH ON HAND METRIC. 
          SO FOR NOW, WE'RE GONNA GONNA LEAVE ONE 70 AS OUR, AS OUR TARGET. 
          THAT'S WHAT WE HAD IN THE RATE CASE. 
          I'D CALL IT A STRETCH GOAL. 
          UM, YOU KNOW, WE DIDN'T HIT ONE 70 THIS YEAR. 
          UM, BUT AS LONG AS WE'RE COMING IN OVER OUR ONE 50 AND, YOU KNOW, KIND OF LIKE WE DID THIS YEAR IN THE ONE SIXTIES, YOU GOT ENOUGH KIND OF CUSHION. 
          UM, I THINK WE'LL BE OKAY. 
          TO THE EXTENT WE'RE NOT, WE'LL HAVE THE CONVERSATIONS WITH THE CITY AND WE'LL SEE WHERE WE'RE AT. 
          OH, AND THE URI, YEAH. 
          PART TWO IS URI AGAIN, IT, THAT'S NOT BAKED INTO ANY OF OUR MODELS YET. 
          UM, HONESTLY, AND, BUT TO THE EXTENT THAT IT WOULD, UM, YOU KNOW, WE, WE HAVE, YOU KNOW, CLOSE TO $360 MILLION OF INVOICES THAT WE'RE DISPUTING AND WHATEVER, IT'LL BE WORKED OUT LEGALLY AT SOME POINT IN THE FUTURE. 
          BUT TO THE EXTENT THAT YOU'RE COMPLETELY UNSUCCESSFUL, YOU KNOW, THE REMAINING AMOUNT THAT WOULD BE, UH, PASSED THROUGH THE REGULATORY ASSET IS STILL GONNA BE IN THE BUCK AND A HALF RANGE, UM, PER, UM, PER MONTH. 
          UM, AND IT WOULD ACTUALLY GO DOWN OVER TIME AS WE ADD MORE CUSTOMERS TO OUR, OUR SERVICE TERRITORY. 
          SO IT'D STILL BE MINIMAL AND, AND RELATIVE TO EVERYTHING ELSE GOING ON, UM, A SMALLER PORTION OF, OF WHAT CUSTOMERS WOULD FEEL. 
          BUT THAT'S STILL ONGOING. 
          OKAY. 
          THANK YOU. 
          I WANT TO CLARIFY FOR MY FELLOW COMMITTEE MEMBERS, SINCE WE DO NOT HAVE A QUORUM, UH, WE WILL NOT GET INTO A LOT OF QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS FROM COMMITTEE MEMBERS. 
          'CAUSE THAT BECOMES A MATTER OF A DEBATE, AND WE WOULDN'T BE DEBATING THIS ISSUE WITHOUT A QUORUM. 
          SO, BUT AS THE CHAIR, I'M ALLOWED TO ASK SOME QUESTIONS FOR CLARIFICATION, BUT THAT'LL BE, I THINK, ALL THE QUESTIONS I HAVE RIGHT NOW ON THE BUDGET. 
          NEXT, WE'RE GONNA BE TALKING ABOUT THE ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE. 
          I BELIEVE THAT'S THE NEXT ITEM ON OUR, UH, AGENDA BRIEFING BY C P SS ENERGY ON THE STATUS OF ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE. 
          GOOD MORNING. 
          UH, AS YOU MENTIONED, I'LL BE TALKING ABOUT WHERE WE ARE, WHERE WE'RE AT WITH OUR ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLES, AND SPECIFICALLY ON THE PAST DUE PIECE. 
          SO, UH, I'LL BE TALKING ABOUT OUR RECEIVABLES. 
          I'LL HAVE A SNAPSHOT AND THE TRENDS THAT WE'RE, WE'RE SEEING, UH, GO INTO A LITTLE BIT MORE DETAIL, UH, ON WHAT THAT MEANS AND HOW WE'RE DOING EVERYTHING WE CAN TO CONNECT CUSTOMERS WITH SUPPORT. 
          UH, WE DO BELIEVE DISCONNECTIONS ARE OUR LAST, UH, LAST DITCH EFFORT. 
          WE TRY AND DO EVERYTHING WE CAN ON THE FRONT END, BUT UNFORTUNATELY, WE ARE AT THE POINT WHERE WE'VE RESUMED OUR DISCONNECTS. 
          AND THEN I'LL TALK 
          [00:20:01]
ABOUT OUR, OUR ONGOING OUTREACH AND PLANS. 
          UM, BUT AS FIRST OFF, AS, AS COREY MENTIONED, UH, THIS DATE IS AS OF THE END OF DECEMBER 30TH. 
          UH, AND SO THE END OF LAST YEAR, UH, AND WE DID SEE, UH, TWO MONTHS OF POSITIVE TREND, UH, WHERE WE HAD PEAKED AT ABOUT $206 MILLION THAT WERE PAST DUE. 
          AND TWO, WE'RE DOWN TO 200 MILLION AT THE END OF, OF DECEMBER. 
          AND ONE OF THE BIG THINGS, UH, I WANNA CALL OUT IS THAT HALF OF THAT A HUNDRED MILLION DOLLARS IS AN INSTALLMENT PLAN. 
          SO THOSE ARE CUSTOMERS WHO HAVE CONTACTED US AND ARE WORKING WITH US. 
          AND WHEN A CUSTOMER'S ON AN INSTALLMENT PLAN, AS LONG AS THEY KEEP, UH, THEY'RE ABLE TO KEEP UP THEIR AGREEMENT OR WORK WITH US TO GET ANOTHER AGREEMENT OR INSTALLMENT PLAN, THEY'RE NOT ELIGIBLE FOR THEIR ACCOUNT TO BE DISCONNECTED. 
          SO HERE'S THAT SNAPSHOT THAT I, THAT I REFERENCED. 
          YOU'LL SEE THAT, UM, OUR TEAMS HAVE CONTINUED TO DO AS MUCH AS THEY CAN TO CONNECT CUSTOMERS WITH SUPPORT. 
          AS I MENTIONED, UH, IN TOTAL LAST YEAR, WE CONNECTED CUSTOMERS WITH THE $20 MILLION FROM A ARPO PERSPECTIVE, UH, AND, AND WORKING WITH OUR AGENCY PARTNERS ACROSS THE COMMUNITY WITH NEARLY $80 MILLION OF ASSISTANCE. 
          SO THAT ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE, PAST DUE BALANCE WOULD'VE BEEN MUCH HIGHER IF WE WEREN'T ABLE TO FIND THOSE RESOURCES TO HELP OUR CUSTOMERS. 
          AND PART OF THE WAY WE WERE ABLE TO GET THAT INFORMATION OUT TO OUR CUSTOMERS WAS THROUGH OUR COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT. 
          WE HAD, UM, UH, OVER 1700 EVENTS, UH, THROUGH THE END OF DECEM DECEMBER, DOING EVERYTHING FROM KNOCKING ON DOORS TO TAKING OUR BUS OUT, WORKING WITH PARTNERS, HAVING A, A, A, UM, TABLE SET UP AT DIFFERENT EVENTS. 
          WE HAD 50 EVENTS SCHEDULED IN JANUARY ABOUT THE SAME AMOUNT IN FEBRUARY. 
          AND WE'RE CONTINUING THAT GOING ON. 
          SO I, I'LL FOCUS ON THE RIGHT HAND SIDE. 
          UH, IN TOTAL, IT'S 213,000 ACCOUNTS THAT ARE PAST DUE. 
          UH, 38 OF THOSE ARE 38,000 OF THOSE ARE INACTIVE ACCOUNTS. 
          THAT MEANS THEY'VE EITHER CANCELED THEIR ACCOUNT, MOVED OUT AS, UH, OUT STATE OR OUT OF OUR TERRITORY, OR THEY, OR ALREADY DISCONNECTED. 
          AND FOR THOSE CUSTOMERS, OR IN THOSE ACCOUNTS, WHAT THEY'LL DO IS THEY'LL MOVE THROUGH THAT BAD DEBT PROCESS. 
          SO THAT'S 30, $39 MILLION. 
          AND, AND TO START THAT PROCESS, WE, UH, SEND THOSE TO TWO, UH, EXTERNAL COLLECTION AGENCIES TO SEE IF THEY CAN COLLECT THE DOLLARS. 
          UH, OR IF A CUSTOMER DOES HAVE, UH, OPEN UP A NEW ACCOUNT, WE WILL PUT THAT PAST DUE BALANCE AND WORK, UH, WITH AN INSTALLMENT PLAN TO COLLECT THAT PAST DUE AMOUNT. 
          UH, SO THAT LEAVES US WITH ABOUT 175,000 ACTIVE ACCOUNTS, AS I MENTIONED. 
          UM, FOR THOSE, UH, FOR THAT $161 MILLION, A HUNDRED MILLION OF THAT IS IN INSTALLMENT PLANS. 
          SO WHAT WE'RE DOING IS WE'RE FOCUSING ON THOSE CUSTOMERS WHO ARE, UM, NOT ON AN INSTALLMENT PLAN. 
          AND, UH, THEN WE HAVE ABOUT A LITTLE OVER 50,000 ACCOUNTS THAT ARE ELIGIBLE FOR DISCONNECTION, AND THEY'RE GONNA MOVE THROUGH THE DISCONNECTION PROCESS. 
          THESE ARE CUSTOMERS THAT WE HAVE CALLED, UH, WE HAVE TEXTS, WE HAVE SENT EMAILS TO, WE HAVE SENT LETTERS TO, UH, AND WE JUST HAVEN'T HEARD BACK FROM THEM, OR THEY'VE FAILED OFF OF THEIR INSTALLMENT PLAN. 
          UH, AND SO WE'RE, WE ARE AT PRE PANDEMIC LEVELS FROM, UH, OUR DISCONNECTIONS, UNFORTUNATELY, UH, SOME CUSTOMERS, THEY DON'T RESPOND UNTIL, UH, THEIR LIGHTS GO OUT. 
          UM, BUT WE ALSO HAVE 45,000 CUSTOMERS THAT HAVEN'T, UM, THEY'RE NOT ON ANY TYPE OF INSTALLMENT PLAN. 
          AND SO THAT'S WHERE WE TARGET THE MAJORITY OF OUR OUTREACH TO. 
          WE WANNA DO AS MUCH AS WE CAN TO HELP THOSE CUSTOMERS PREVENT FROM GETTING TO THE PLACE WHERE THEIR ACCOUNTS ELIGIBLE FOR DISCONNECTION. 
          AND HERE YOU'LL SEE WHERE THE, UH, RECEIVABLES TREND HAS BEEN FOR THE LAST TWO YEARS. 
          UH, AS OF THE, UH, IN JANUARY, 2019, WE'RE ABOUT $31 MILLION, UH, WAS WHAT WE HAD IN PAST DUE AMOUNTS. 
          UH, WHENEVER WE PAUSED DISCONNECTS IN MARCH OF 2020, WE WERE STILL IN THE 30, UM, MILLION DOLLARS RANGE. 
          BUT, UH, WE DID PEAK, LIKE I SAID, IN, UH, THE, I BELIEVE IT WAS IN OCTOBER, AT $206 MILLION. 
          AND WE'VE NOW CON SEEN, UH, A CONSISTENT TREND WHERE, UH, THE PAST DUE AMOUNTS ARE TRENDING. 
          AND ONE OF THOSE BIGGEST, ONE OF THE BIGGEST WAYS THAT WE'RE, WE'VE BEEN ABLE TO HELP, UH, THIS IS THROUGH THE OUTREACH THAT WE'VE DONE, AND, UH, REALLY APPRECIATE YOU AND YOUR TEAMS, UH, AND, AND YOUR STAFF TO HELP CONNECT US WITH ANY RESOURCES OUT THERE. 
          SO WE, WE TRY AND LEVERAGE EVERY OPPORTUNITY, WHETHER IT'S A PUBLIC SAFETY AND EDUCATION, OR IT'S A MISSION COUNTY PARK, WHEREVER WE CAN BE TO HELP IDENTIFY RESOURCES FOR CUSTOMERS, WE ARE, WE ABSOLUTELY WILL. 
          ANOTHER THING THAT WE HAVE STARTED TO DO IS JUST CONTINUE TO ENHANCE THE ACTIVITIES THAT WE DO, OR THE ACTIONS THAT WE DO FROM, UM, FOR OUR COLLECTIONS PROCESS. 
          AND ONE THING THAT INCLUDES IS THE SAME WEEK THAT ACCOUNT IS SCHEDULED TO BE DISCONNECTED, EVEN THOUGH WE'VE DONE ALL THESE OTHER ACTIONS TO TRY AND CONNECT WITH THE CUSTOMER, WE'LL PUT A DOOR HANGER, UM, ON, UH, WE GO NEIGHBORHOOD BY NEIGHBORHOOD, ACTUALLY. 
          WE START BY DISTRICT, BY DISTRICT, IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD, BY NEIGHBORHOOD, AND DO DOOR HANGERS, DO A PHONE CALL 
          [00:25:01]
OUT TO THOSE CUSTOMERS. 
          WE HAVE OUR, UM, COMMUNITY RESPONSE UNIT AS WELL AS OUR, UM, OUTREACH TEAMS OUT IN THE, IN THE NEIGHBORHOODS. 
          OUR ENERGY TO BUSINESS TEAM FOR OUR SMALL MEDIUM BUSINESSES ARE LITERALLY OUT THERE KNOCKING ON DOORS AND SAYING, HEY, WE'RE HERE TO HELP. 
          LET US WORK. 
          PLEASE WORK WITH US, UH, BEFORE YOUR ACCOUNT GETS DISCONNECTED. 
          AND WHAT WE'VE SEEN IS, UH, THE CUSTOMERS THAT WE'VE BEEN ABLE TO CONNECT WITH, 70% OF THOSE CUSTOMERS ARE ABLE TO AVOID DISCONNECTION THROUGH MAKING SOME SORT OF PAYMENT OR GETTING ON AN INSTALLMENT PLAN. 
          UH, AND SO AGAIN, THIS IS JUST THAT, THAT BREAKDOWN IN, IN WHAT I MENTIONED BEFORE OF WHERE OUR, WE'RE FOCUSING OUR EFFORTS. 
          UH, WE'RE CONTINUING TO CONNECT WITH CUSTOMERS OR WORK WITH CUSTOMERS WHERE THEY ARE ON AN INSTALLMENT PLAN. 
          AND, AND HERE'S THE INSTALLMENT PLANS. 
          THERE'S ABOUT A 50%, UM, SUCCESS RATE ON INSTALLMENT PLANS OF WHAT WE SAW PRE PANDEMIC. 
          I THINK IT'S IN LINE WITH WHAT, UH, SAWS AND OTHER UTILITIES TEND TO SEE. 
          UH, AND FOR CUSTOMERS WHO ARE NOT ABLE TO KEEP THEIR INSTALLMENT PLAN, THEY EITHER NEED TO REESTABLISH A NEW PLAN WITH US. 
          UH, AND IF THEY DON'T, THEN UNFORTUNATELY WE WILL HAVE TO MOVE TO THE POINT OF DISCONNECTING SERVICES. 
          UH, AND THEN FINALLY, HERE'S JUST A SAMPLE OF, OF ONE OF OUR CALENDARS FOR JANUARY. 
          UH, WE DO THE SAME THING, UH, FEBRUARY, MARCH. 
          WE CONTINUE TO HAVE BETWEEN 45 AND 50 EVENTS. 
          UH, WE INVITE YOU, UH, AND YOUR STAFF TO ATTEND ANY OF THE EVENTS THAT WE HAVE. 
          AND, UH, IF YOU'S A CONCERN OR A CUSTOMER THAT YOU'D LIKE FOR US TO CONTACT, PLEASE CONTACT, UH, THE CREW MEMBERS. 
          UH, WE'VE CONTINUED TO STAFF UP ON OUR CREW TEAM, SO, UH, GOING TO BE MAKING SURE THAT YOU, YOU KNOW, THAT YOU, YOU KNOW, WHEN OUR OFFICE HOURS ARE, UH, IN YOUR OFFICE, AND IF THERE'S AN AGENCY OUT THERE THAT YOU KNOW, THAT, UH, HAS MONEY OR THAT WE CAN WORK WITH, WE'D BE MORE THAN HAPPY TO CONNECT WITH THEM AS WELL. 
          THANK YOU. 
          YES, SIR. 
          UM, IS THAT THE END OF YOUR PRESENTATION? WELL, LET ME ASK, YOU KNOW, KIND OF SPECIFICALLY MM-HMM. 
          , UH, HOW MANY DISCONNECTS ARE BEING CONDUCTED EVERY WEEK? UH, SO IT, IT REALLY VARIES BY WEEK. 
          SO, UH, I'LL TAKE LIKE THE WEEK OF THE STORM, FEBRUARY 1ST, WE HAD, WE, BECAUSE OF THE, OF THE ICE, WE DID BACK OFF ON DISCONNECTIONS. 
          YEAH. 
          UH, BUT THE MONTH OF, UH, OF JANUARY WE DID ABOUT 7,500 DISCONNECTS ACCOUNT DISCONNECTIONS. 
          UH, AND WE ARE CONTINUING TO RAMP UP, UH, BY MARCH WE WILL PROBABLY BE AT PEAK OF 10,000 ACCOUNTS BEING DISCONNECTED A MONTH. 
          OKAY. 
          SO YOU WOULD PROJECT THEN, IF THINGS CONTINUE, THEN OVER THREE MORE MONTHS OR SO AFTER THAT, ALL THE 50,000 THAT HAVEN'T PAID WOULD'VE BEEN DISCONNECTED? YES, SIR. 
          AND IT JUST DEPENDS, YOU KNOW, I'D LOVE TO PREVENT THEM FROM BEING DISCONNECTED, BUT IF SOMEONE'S UNABLE TO, UM, DOES NOT CONTACT US, THEY WILL BE YES, SIR. 
          YEAH. 
          YOU KNOW, I, I REALLY, I'M CONCERNED ABOUT A LOT OF PEOPLE WHO HAVE NOT BEEN ABLE TO AFFORD TO PAY THEIR BILL, BUT I THINK WE'RE OFFERING ENOUGH INCENTIVE PROGRAMS FOR THEM TO SIGN UP FOR EVEN PARTIAL PAYMENTS AND, AND TO ENABLE THEM TO CONTINUE GETTING SERVICE. 
          WHAT WORRIES ME IS THE PEOPLE WHO ARE REFUSING TO DO ANYTHING, AND NO MATTER WHAT THEIR CONDITION IS, IN MY WAY OF THINKING, THERE'S NO REASON NOT TO TRY AND COME TO SOME KIND OF A, A SETTLEMENT AND UNDERSTANDING WITH C P S. 
          BUT THE LONGER WE DELAY TURNING THEM OFF, THE MORE MONEY THAT C P S LOSES. 
          SO, YOU KNOW, I, I WOULD LIKE TO SEE US, UH, YOU KNOW, TAKE AS MUCH ACTION AS POSSIBLE. 
          UH, AS LONG AS WE REACH OUT AND THEY REACH BACK, AND WE TRY AND COME TO SOME KIND OF A TERM OF UNDERSTANDING FOR THOSE WHO ARE, YOU KNOW, JUST MOST DISTRESSED FINANCIALLY, UH, I DON'T THINK ANYONE NEEDS TO HAVE THEIR ENERGY CUT OFF IF THEY'RE WILLING TO, YOU KNOW, EVEN TAKE A STEP FORWARD TO WORK WITH C P S ON THIS. 
          BUT FOR THOSE WHO DON'T, WHETHER THEY'RE A BUSINESS OR WHETHER THEY'RE A RESIDENTIAL UNIT, UH, WITH SUCH A LARGE NUMBER OF, OF CUSTOMERS, UH, REFUSING TO PAY THEIR BILL, I DON'T THINK WE CAN AFFORD TO CONTINUE TO ALLOW THAT, UH, TO CONTINUE WITHOUT MORE DRASTIC ACTION. 
          SO ANYWAY, UH, I, I HOPE TO SEE MORE REPORTS ABOUT THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE WHO MAY HAVE THEIR BILL CUT OFF, BUT THEN REALIZE I'VE GOTTA DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT AND DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT. 
          SO HOPEFULLY WE'LL HEAR MORE ABOUT THAT IN THE FUTURE. 
          AND, AND YES, SIR, I CAN LET YOU KNOW THAT, UH, WE ARE SEEING ABOUT A 96%, UH, RECONNECT RATE. 
          SO WHENEVER WE DO, UH, UNFORTUNATELY HAVE TO DISCONNECT A CUSTOMER CUSTOMER'S ACCOUNT, THEY DO CONTACT US WITHIN A FEW DAYS. 
          AND 96% OF, UH, ACCOUNTS DO RECONNECT, UH, WHAT WE'RE SEEING FOR THOSE THAT DON'T TEND TO BE VACANT OR CUSTOMERS THAT HAVE MOVED OUT. 
          RIGHT. 
          OKAY. 
          THANK YOU FOR THE UPDATE. 
          CHAIR, CHAIR, CHAIR. 
          WE KNOW. 
          YES. 
          WE HAVE, UH, COUNCILWOMAN HDA NOW. 
          SO I THINK WE CAN, UH, CALL ROLL. 
          OKAY. 
          LET'S GO AHEAD AND RE RECALL OUR ROLE. 
          [00:30:01]
COUNCIL MEMBER MAKI RODRIGUEZ. 
          PRESENT, COUNCIL MEMBER VRAN. 
          COUNCIL MEMBER CAO, HDA HDA, PRESENT CHAIR, COURAGE. 
          PRESENT, SIR, WE HAVE A QUORUM AS OF 10:36 AM EXCELLENT. 
          SO, UH, WE'LL KIND OF GO BACK TO A MORE NORMAL FORMAT WHERE I CERTAINLY WOULD INVITE QUESTIONS BY COMMITTEE MEMBERS BASED ON THIS REPORT. 
          SO, DO YOU HAVE A QUESTION? COUNCIL MEMBER MCKEY RODRIGUEZ? YES. 
          THANK YOU. 
          THANK YOU. 
          UM, AND JUST TO BE SURE I CAN GO BACK ON THE PREVIOUS ITEM. 
          YES. 
          COUNCILMAN, YOU CAN. 
          THANK YOU SO MUCH. 
          UM, I GUESS STARTING WITH, UH, THIS ONE, UM, OUR OFFICE CONDUCTED A TWO DAY RENTAL APPLICATION ASSISTANCE EVENT. 
          UM, AND AS A PART OF THE EVENT WE INVITED, WE ALSO ASSISTED FOLKS WITH APPLICATIONS FOR UTILITY ASSISTANCE. 
          AND SO, UM, MY REQUEST IS THAT MAYBE C P S CAN JOIN US FOR A FUTURE EVENT AND LET'S GET IT ON THE CALENDAR. 
          YES, SIR. 
          UM, ASIDE FROM THAT, WHAT IS THE RESPONSE RATE POST DISCONNECTION? I IMAGINE IT'S FAIRLY, UH, FAST, RIGHT? YEAH. 
          IT, MOST PEOPLE RESPOND WITHIN THE, THE NEXT DAY OR TWO. 
          SO IT'S 96% RESPOND IN THE NEXT DAY OR TWO. 
          OKAY. 
          AND THEN I, UM, MY SECOND QUESTION IS KIND OF JUST FOR MY OWN CURIOSITY. 
          DO WE TRACK WHICH ACCOUNTS ARE FOR CUSTOMERS WHO ARE USING THAT LOC THAT, UH, PROPERTY AS THEIR PRIMARY RESIDENCE VERSUS A, UH, INVESTMENT PROPERTY? NO, WE, UNFORTUNATELY, WE DON'T HAVE THE ABILITY TO TRACK THAT IN OUR SYSTEM RIGHT NOW. 
          I WOULD BE INTERESTED TO SEE IF THERE'S, I MEAN, I IMAGINE IF THEY'RE NOT BEING VERY RESPONSIVE RIGHT NOW, THEY WON'T BE. 
          BUT I WONDER IF THERE'S JUST VACANT PROPERTIES THAT ARE SITTING THERE THAT ARE INVESTMENT PROPERTIES AND THAT'S WHY YOU'RE NOT GETTING A RESPONSE. 
          WELL, ONE THING THAT WE DID IS FOR ANY CUSTOMER ACCOUNTS THAT WE WERE NOT SEEING ANY CONSUMPTION ON FOR THREE MONTHS IN A ROW MM-HMM. 
          , UH, WE EITHER SENT SOMEBODY OUT THERE OR WE CALLED THEM, WE PUT A DOOR HANGER ON. 
          AND SO WE DID GO THROUGH, UH, ACCOUNTS THAT WE ASSUMED WERE VACANT AND KIND OF PRIORITIZE THOSE TO, UH, TO DISCONNECT. 
          AND WE'RE TRYING TO KEEP THAT PROCESS UP AS WELL. 
          SO WE DID SEE THAT. 
          THANK YOU. 
          I APPRECIATE THAT. 
          AND I'LL GO BACK TO THE, UM, UH, ITEM TWO, WHICH WAS THE FISCAL YEAR BUDGET, THE 2024 BUDGET. 
          UM, I HAD A QUESTION. 
          CAN YOU DEFINE, UH, EXPLICITLY FOR ME, WHAT IS INVESTMENT IN COMMUNITY GROWTH? THAT WOULD BE, I'M SORRY. 
          THAT WOULD BE WHEN, UM, A NEW RESIDENTIAL OR COMMERCIAL CUSTOMER, YOU KNOW, HAS A NEW FACILITY AND WE'RE PUTTING IN A NEW METER AND WE'RE BUILDING SOMETHING NEW. 
          SO IT'D BE NEW CONNECTS, NEW METER SETS. 
          SO THAT'S LARGELY DUE TO A CHANGE IN POPULATION. 
          RIGHT. 
          GROWTH IN POPULATION, YEAH. 
          MM-HMM. 
          , WE'VE SEEN ABOUT 29,000 NEW METERS THE PAST TWO YEARS. 
          AND I'M WONDERING IS, UM, IS THE POPULATION GROWTH, UM, PAYING FOR ITSELF ALMOST THE INCREASE IN CUSTOMERS, IS THAT ADDING TO THE REVENUE AND SORT OF TAKING CARE OF THAT GROWTH? UM, IN A WAY IT IS. 
          WE'VE MADE, THERE'S TWO THINGS TO THAT, RIGHT? ONE IS JUST A NEW CUSTOMER SHOWING UP, AND, AND THOSE HAVE BEEN, THOSE REVENUES HAVE BEEN BAKED INTO THE FORECAST THAT YOU SAW IN THE EARLIER SLIDES. 
          THAT'S ONE. 
          NUMBER TWO IS, UM, DEANNA'S TEAM WORKS WITH THE BUILDERS AND, YOU KNOW, WE'VE MADE ADJUSTMENTS, UM, INTO HOW MUCH WE'RE RECOVERING FROM, FROM THEM TO INCREASE THAT. 
          UM, WHICH MAKES SENSE BECAUSE WE'RE SEEING, YOU KNOW, ADDITIONAL COSTS. 
          SO I WOULD SAY ON BOTH FRONTS, WE'RE WE'RE, WE'RE DOING THE BEST WE CAN TO, UM, COLLECT AND GROWTH IS PAYING, UM, TO SOME EXTENT, BUT THERE'S THE SHARED GROWTH OF THE SUPPORTING INFRASTRUCTURE FOR THE WHOLE SYSTEM, UM, THAT WE ALL COLLECTIVELY PAY, AND THAT'S BUILT INTO THE BASE RATE. 
          SO, YOU KNOW, WE ALL COLLECTIVELY USE THE GENERATION. 
          RIGHT. 
          AND SO, UM, THAT'S JUST AN EXAMPLE FOR SURE. 
          I GUESS THE, THE ROOT OF MY QUESTION, OR THE PURPOSE BEHIND IT IS THAT, YOU KNOW, I WOULD, I WOULD LIKE TO ENSURE THAT LONGTIME RESIDENTIAL CUSTOMERS AREN'T, UM, UH, CARRYING A GREATER BURDEN FOR GROWTH. 
          AND SO, UM, I GUESS THAT'S, THAT'S WHAT I WOULD LIKE TO SEE, OR THAT'S THE, THE POINT OF THAT QUESTION, AND I'M NOT QUITE SURE, THINK ABOUT, I GET BACK, THAT'S A GOOD QUESTION IN THE SENSE THAT, UM, WE CAN THINK ABOUT HOW TO CHARACTERIZE IT FOR YOU A LITTLE DIFFERENTLY. 
          I MEAN MM-HMM. 
          , CONCEPTUALLY, YOU KNOW, GROWTH IS BEING PAID FOR. 
          RIGHT. 
          BUT, BUT TO, TO HONE IN ON THAT QUESTION A LITTLE BIT FURTHER, I'D PROBABLY HAVE TO COME BACK TO YOU AND, UH, THINK THROUGH THAT CONVERSATION A LITTLE BIT DIFFERENTLY. 
          THANK YOU. 
          AND THEN MY LAST, UH, QUESTION IS REGARDING SLIDE 10, UM, IN THE FIRST PRESENTATION, DO THE CREDIT AGENCIES ALSO CONSIDER RISK FACTORS SURROUNDING CLIMATE READINESS AS A PART OF THEIR RATINGS? THEY DO. 
          UM, THEY HAVE, UH, AN E S G COMPONENT OF THEIR SCORES, UM, WHICH TAKES INTO THAT, UM, THAT INTO CONSIDERATION. 
          SO YEAH, ALL THREE OF THEM DO SOMETHING A LITTLE BIT DIFFERENT, BUT IT'S FACTORED IN THERE FOR SURE. 
          AND ON THE DETAILED REPORTS THAT THEY GIVE US, THEY HAVE A SECTION, UM, WE COULD PROBABLY JUST SHARE THEM WITH THE, WITH THE B C MEMBERS, AND YOU GUYS CAN, CAN READ IT, BUT YEAH, THEY CONSIDER IT THAT SHOW US, UM, YOU KNOW, WHAT THE IMPACT OF THAT CONSIDERATION IS ON OUR RATING. 
          MM-HMM. 
          WHETHER IT'S NEGATIVELY IMPACTING US OR POSITIVELY. 
          YEAH. 
          YEAH. 
          THEY, THEY, THEY REFERENCE WHETHER THEY CONSIDER IT, UM, YOU KNOW, POSITIVE OR, OR NEGATIVE FACTOR OR NEUTRAL. 
          [00:35:01]
UM, I THINK THEY, THEY'RE ALL DIFFERENT. 
          AND I GOT 'EM ALL FLOATING IN MY HEAD, BUT, UM, YOU KNOW, OBVIOUSLY AFTER WINTER STORM, MUR WAS ONE VIEW AND A LOT OF CHANGES HAVE HAPPENED. 
          UM, SO I THINK IN ONE OR TWO CASES, MAYBE IT'S STABILIZED, BUT, UM, AND THEY'LL RANK 'EM DIFFERENTLY AS WELL. 
          BUT THEY'VE ALL STARTED PUTTING THAT INTO THEIR FORMULAS THE LAST THREE TO FOUR YEARS. 
          AND, UM, THAT'S REALLY INTERESTING. 
          AND SO WHAT I UNDERSTAND, OR OH, YEAH, SO SHE REMINDED ME, WE, WE STARTED DOING A SUSTAINABILITY REPORT AS WELL AT THE END OF THE YEAR, UM, TO KIND OF AGGREGATE A LOT OF THE STUFF THAT WE'RE DOING. 
          AND SO THAT'S ALSO BEEN HELPFUL FOR THEM TO GET A, AN AGGREGATED VIEW OF THE THINGS WE'RE DOING. 
          AND I NOTICED, I, I KNOW YOU SAID THAT EACH OF THE AGENCIES, UM, VIEW THEM DIFFERENTLY OR, UH, WOULD CONSIDER IT AT A DIFFERENT RATE. 
          AND SO I'M WONDERING, UH, IT SOUNDS LIKE YOU MIGHT NOT REMEMBER HOW EACH AGENCY CONSIDERED OUR, UH, CLIMATE READINESS. 
          GENERALLY, IT'S BEEN FAVORABLE COMPARED TO OTHERS. 
          AND THEY, UM, TAKE INTO ACCOUNT THAT AS YOU COMPARE US TO PEERS, RIGHT? WE HAVE A PRETTY ROBUST RENEWABLE PORTFOLIO. 
          I MEAN, WHETHER THAT'S ACCEPTABLE TO OUR COMMUNITY OR NOT IS NOT WHAT THEY'RE LOOKING AT. 
          THEY'RE LOOKING AT JUST COMPARATIVELY, RIGHT? SO WE HAVE A HUGE WIND PORTFOLIO, YOU KNOW, RELATIVE TO THE COUNTRY, AND SOLAR'S ALSO LARGE, AND THEY JUST WATCHED US DO OUR CONVERSATION WITH THE RAY ADVISORY COMMITTEE, AND THAT'S PRETTY AGGRESSIVE TOO, AGAIN, RELATIVE TO WHAT THE REST OF THE COUNTRY'S SEEING. 
          SO THEY, THEY VIEW US, UM, PRETTY WELL IN THAT REGARD. 
          THE OTHER ELEMENT OF IT IS REALLY JUST THE RESILIENCY IS PART OF THE E S G SCORE IS HOW DO YOU, YOU KNOW, WITH, WITH MORE VOLATILE WEATHER BEING ASSUMED IN THE FUTURE, HOW DO YOU, UM, WORK IN THAT REGARD? AND A LOT OF THE IMPROVEMENTS THAT RICHARD MEDINA'S TEAM HAS BEEN DOING, RECLOSERS IS AN EXAMPLE OF HELPING TO MITIGATE OUTAGES. 
          UM, OR THE NUMBER OF FOLKS THAT HAVE BEEN, UH, IN OUTAGES ALL THE WORK WE'VE DONE TO THE PLANTS, THAT ACTUALLY IS PART OF THAT E S G THING, UH, THAT SCORE AS WELL, BECAUSE RESILIENCY IS PART OF THIS CONVERSATION AROUND CLIMATE. 
          UM, BUT THAT, UH, I'D HAVE TO GO BACK AND READ THE REPORTS FOR YOU, BUT THAT'S WHAT I CAN TELL YOU OFF THE CUFF. 
          THANK YOU. 
          AND I WOULD LOVE TO, UH, SEE THE REPORTS AS WELL, IF POSSIBLE. 
          UM, I'M ALL CAUGHT UP ON MY QUESTIONS. 
          THANK YOU. 
          THANK YOU. 
          AND WELCOME COUNCILWOMAN HAVA. 
          I, I APPRECIATE YOU BEING HERE. 
          DO YOU HAVE A QUESTION? THANK YOU, CHAIR. 
          THANK YOU FOR, UM, BEING PATIENT. 
          I HAD ANOTHER COMMITTEE MEETING THIS MORNING. 
          UH, I DO HAVE JUST A COUPLE OF QUICK QUESTIONS. 
          UM, ON, I THINK IT WAS, UH, ON ITEM TWO THERE WAS A MENTION OF BRIDGE FUNDING UNTIL 2025. 
          CAN YOU TALK ABOUT WHAT ADDITIONAL REVENUES YOU'RE PLANNING FOR 2025? SO, SO FOR 2025, SO THE CHARACTERIZATION, MAKE SURE I UNDERSTAND COUNCILWOMAN, UM, WE'VE CHARACTERIZED 24, SO THE, THE YEAR WE'RE JUST STARTING AS A BRIDGE YEAR TO ADDITIONAL FUNDING. 
          YES. 
          I THINK THAT WAS YOUR QUESTION. 
          AND FOR FISCAL 25, IF WE GO BACK TO LAST YEAR WHEN WE TALKED ABOUT OUR RATE CASE AND WE SHOWED KINDA OUR FIVE-YEAR VIEW BAKED INTO THAT FIVE YEAR VIEW WAS, UM, COMING BACK FOR RATE, RATE INCREASES EVERY COUPLE OF YEARS. 
          AND SO, UM, THIS IS YEAR TWO OF THAT PLAN. 
          UM, AND THEN FISCAL 25 WOULD BE, UM, THE TIMING OF, UM, ASKING FOR ADDITIONAL RATE REQUESTS. 
          UM, AND SO THAT'S PART OF WHAT WE'RE GONNA DO THIS YEAR IS SHARPEN OUR PENCIL WITH ALL THE INJECTS WE'VE HAD, YOU KNOW, WE'VE SEEN, UM, AND ALL THE DECISIONS THAT OUR BOARD HAS JUST MADE WITH GENERATION PLANNING. 
          UM, THAT'S WHAT OUR TEAMS ARE DOING HERE IN THE SPRING AND SUMMER IS SHARPENING OUR PENCIL AND BEING ABLE TO HAVE THAT DISCUSSION LATER IN THE YEAR. 
          SO HOPEFULLY THAT, SO HOPEFULLY THAT'S WHAT YOU WERE ASKING, WHAT YOU WERE ASKING. 
          THANK YOU. 
          UM, AND THEN JUMPING OVER TO ANOTHER ITEM, UH, WE'VE DONE, DONE OUR BEST TO TRY TO, UH, PUT THE WORD OUT THERE TO, FOR, FOR OUR CONSTITUENTS TO GET ON PAYMENT PLANS AND TO ENROLL IN YOUR, YOUR PAYMENT PLANS. 
          IS THERE ANYTHING THAT WE CAN DO, UM, OUTSIDE OF KIND OF OUR REGULAR, UM, NEWSLETTER AND, AND SOCIAL MEDIA CHANNELS TO HELP YOU TO INCREASE? UM, WE WANT TO DECREASE THE NUMBER OF DELINQUENT ACCOUNTS OF COURSE, BUT, UH, AS EXPRESSED HERE TODAY, WE DO HAVE A CONCERN ABOUT THOSE THAT ARE GETTING THEIR, UH, THEIR POWER SHUT OFF. 
          SO, UH, IS THERE A WAY OR CAN, HOW CAN WE, IN OUR OFFICES HELP YOU TO INCREASE PAYMENT PLAN ENROLLMENT? UH, THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR THAT QUESTION. 
          I WOULD JUST, UH, CONTINUE TO INVITE US TO AS MANY EVENTS AS POSSIBLE. 
          UH, WE ARE CONTINUING TO GROW OUR COMMUNITY OUTREACH TEAM, OUR ENERGY TO BUSINESS FOR SMALL BUSINESS ASSISTANCE AS WELL. 
          SO AS, AS THOSE TEAMS GET BIGGER, WE GET TO HAVE A, A LARGER FOOTPRINT. 
          SO IF YOU KNOW OF AN EVENT THAT WE CAN BE THERE, PLEASE, PLEASE LET US KNOW AND CONTINUE TO LIKE, SHARE. 
          WE CAN, UH, DROP OFF FLYERS, HAVE OUR OUR CREW MEMBER DROP OFF FLYERS AT YOUR OFFICE TO HAND OUT ALL THE ASSISTANCE OPTIONS IN THE EVENT THAT YOU HEAR OF ANYTHING. 
          BUT I, I WOULD JUST SAY CONTINUE TO DO, UH, MORE OF WHAT YOU'VE BEEN DOING. 
          WE, WE APPRECIATE THE PARTNERSHIP AND ANY OPPORTUNITIES WE HAVE TO, UH, CONNECT CUSTOMERS WITH ASSISTANCE BEFORE THEY HAVE TO GET CUT OFF. 
          WE DEFINITELY WANNA DO. 
          OKAY. 
          ALRIGHT. 
          THANK YOU VERY MUCH. 
          THOSE ARE MY QUESTIONS. 
          THANK YOU, CHAIR. 
          THANK YOU. 
          [00:40:01]
OKAY. 
          NOW WE'RE GONNA GO ON TO ITEM NUMBER FOUR, WHICH IS A BRIEFING BY C P S ENERGY ON THE IMPACT AND POWER RESTORATION EFFORTS ASSOCIATED WITH OUR MOST RECENT, UH, FEBRUARY STORM. 
          HI, GOOD MORNING. 
          UH, RICHARD MEDINA WITH C P S ENERGY. 
          SO TODAY I'LL GIVE YOU A BRIEFING ON THE WINTER STORM ICE STORM MARA. 
          AND SO WHERE'S THE CLICKER HERE? SO A COUPLE ITEMS I'M GONNA COVER IS REALLY JUST A STORM OVERVIEW. 
          WE'LL TALK ABOUT THE OUTAGE RESTORATION, CUSTOMER SUPPORT, AND THEN COMMUNICATION AND COLLABORATION. 
          SO AS YOU CAN SEE ON THE SLIDE HERE, THIS IS A, A SNAPSHOT OF THE ICE ACCUMULATION THAT ENTERED OUR TERRITORY. 
          SO ON JANUARY 30TH, UH, THAT ICE STORM, UH, ENTERED OUR TERRITORY AND IT REALLY, UH, WE SAW ABOUT A HALF AN INCH TO A, A QUARTER OF AN INCH OF ICE, UM, MORE NORTH OF TOWN. 
          THE OUTAGES ALL WERE REALLY CONCENTRATED ON WEST AND NORTH OF TOWN, UH, NORTH OF 90, OUTSIDE FOUR 10. 
          AND SO, UH, ON THE, UH, JANUARY 30TH, WE DID STAND UP OUR INCIDENT MANAGEMENT TEAM. 
          UM, WE DID PREP ALL OUR CREWS. 
          OUR CREWS HAVE BEEN PREPPED THROUGHOUT THE WINTER, 'CAUSE WE HAD SOME OTHER STORMS DURING CHRISTMAS. 
          SO, YOU KNOW, ALL OUR PREPARATIONS IN THE BEGINNING OF THE WINTER SEASON, UH, WERE IN PLACE. 
          SO THEN, UH, YOU CAN SEE SOME PICTURES HERE. 
          WE TOOK OF SOME DRONES. 
          WE HAD SOME, UH, OUR DRONE TEAM OUT THERE HELPING OUR CREWS IDENTIFY SOME OF THE, THE DOWNLINES CAUSED BY THE TREE LIMBS. 
          UM, SO A LOT OF THE OUTAGES REALLY OCCURRED, UM, THE MORNING OF FEBRUARY 1ST. 
          SO, UM, IT REALLY STARTED, THE OUTAGES STARTED OCCURRING AROUND 4:00 AM BY, UH, 6:00 AM 7:00 AM IS REALLY WHEN WE HIT OUR PEAK OF 45,000 CUSTOMERS THAT WERE OUT. 
          UM, OUR CREWS WERE RESPONDING. 
          AND SO WITHIN THE FIRST EIGHT HOURS, WE WERE ABLE TO RESTORE 35,000 OF THOSE OUTAGES. 
          UM, THROUGHOUT THE DAY, WE STILL CONTINUE TO HAVE FALLING LIMBS, CREATING MORE OUTAGES. 
          SO WE JUST CONTINUED TO WORK THROUGH THAT. 
          UM, THE WHOLE DURATION OF THE STORM, THE OUTAGES FROM START, UH, OF THE OUTAGES TO THE FINISH WAS 42 HOURS. 
          UH, THE LONGEST OUTAGE WAS 36 HOURS. 
          WE HAD 26, UH, CU 21 CUSTOMERS THAT WERE OUT. 
          A LOT OF THOSE ARE THE LAST CUSTOMERS WHERE THEY'RE, THE SERVICE WIRES ARE PULLED OFF THEIR HOUSES AND THEY HAVE TO DO REPAIRS. 
          SO THOSE WERE THE LAST ONES WE GOT TO. 
          UM, SOME OTHER INTERESTING STATS IS JUST, UH, WE DID HAVE, UH, 975 OUTAGES, 340 DOWN LINES. 
          AND SO OUR CREWS, UH, WORKED AROUND THE CLOCK TO RESTORE POWER, AND THAT WAS REALLY INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL CREWS. 
          WE HAVE A, A COMPLIMENT OF CREWS, UH, BOTH INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL. 
          UM, ONE OTHER THING I JUST WANNA NOTE IS THAT THE ICE STORM DID NOT IMPACT OUR ABILITY TO DELIVER POWER. 
          SO NO, NO ISSUES WITH THE POWER. 
          UM, TWO OTHER ITEMS I JUST WANT TO TOUCH ON IS REALLY WE DID HAVE, UH, TWO AREAS THAT WE ALWAYS HAVE. 
          EVERY ONCE IN A WHILE WE'LL LOOK AT THE, YOU KNOW, WHAT ARE THE AREAS THAT WE NEED TO GO BACK AND, AND LOOK AT. 
          SO WE HAD TWO PROLONGED OUTAGES IN TWO AREAS. 
          ONE OF 'EM WAS THE FAIR OAKS RANCH. 
          AND SO THAT SUBSTATION OUT THAT DIRECTION. 
          IT'S FED FROM TRANSMISSION LINES FROM A NEIGHBOR UTILITY, WHICH IS L C R A, UH, THEIR TRANSMISSION LINES, BOTH OF THEM WENT OUT BECAUSE OF THE ICE STORM, SO THAT THAT WHOLE SUBSTATION WAS OUT. 
          UM, OUR CREWS OR A SYSTEM OPERATORS WERE ABLE TO USE THE RECLOSERS THAT CORY TALKED ABOUT. 
          THOSE ELECTRONIC SWITCHES WE WERE, IT, UH, THAT SUBSTATION OUTAGE HAD 9,000 CUSTOMERS ON IT. 
          OH, THANK YOU. 
          THAT , SORRY. 
          HAD 9,000 CUSTOMERS. 
          WE WERE, WERE ABLE TO RESTORE POWER TO, UH, 5,000, LITTLE OVER 5,000. 
          SO 3000 CUSTOMERS WERE OUT, UH, WHILE L C R A FIXED THOSE, UH, TRANSMISSION LINES. 
          UM, OUR CUSTOMER TEAMS WERE ALSO IN COMMUNICATION WITH THE MAYOR AND THE, AND THE, THE FOLKS IN THAT AREA, JUST GIVING THEM UPDATES ON RESTORATION OF THOSE TRANSMISSION LINES. 
          YEAH, THIS THING'S FALLING ALREADY MADE A MESS. 
          , SORRY, THE OTHER, UH, PROLONGED OUTAGE IS, IS IN THE AREA YEAH. 
          OF TIMBERWOOD PARK. 
          UM, SO THERE, THERE WAS A LOT OF TREE DAMAGE. 
          UM, WHILE THE CREWS WERE WORKING. 
          THEY CAN ALSO HEAR TREES BREAKING AND CREATING MORE OUTAGES. 
          SO THEY WORKED, UH, IN THAT AREA. 
          THE LONGEST OUTAGES WERE AROUND 12 HOURS. 
          UH, SO CREWS WORKED THROUGHOUT THE, THE DAY AND EVENING JUST TO GET THOSE POWERS RESTORED. 
          UM, JUST WANNA TOUCH ON OUR COMMUNICATION EFFORTS ALSO. 
          UM, SO, UM, OUR CUSTOMER OUTREACH MANAGED, UH, 7,000 CALLS. 
          THAT'S MEANING THEY WERE RESPONDING AND CALLING CUSTOMERS TO, TO GIVE 'EM INFORMATION ON OUTAGES. 
          UM, THERE WAS 1.1 MILLION TEXT MESSAGES SENT OUT. 
          AND THEN ALSO THE ENGAGEMENT CREWS WITH THE VEHICLES 
          [00:45:01]
WERE OUT AT THESE LOCATIONS, UH, ANSWERING QUESTIONS AND HELPING CUSTOMERS. 
          AS FAR AS OUR COLLABORATION, UM, YOU KNOW, WE ARE, UH, BEEN WORKING CLOSELY WITH THE CITY'S E O C. 
          WE HAD STAFF AVAILABLE AND WAS RELAYING INFORMATION ON OUTAGES. 
          UM, WE ALSO WANT TO THANK OUR PARTNERS BECAUSE I THINK ALL THE DRILLS THAT WE'VE BEEN DOING THROUGHOUT THE YEAR ARE HELPING AND PAYING OFF OUR COMMUNITY. 
          UM, AFTER WE RESTORED POWER, WE WERE ABLE TO SEND, UH, CREWS TO GO HELP AUSTIN ENERGY WITH THEIR OUTAGES. 
          AND THEN WE ALSO RELEASED OUR CONTRACT CREWS TO GO HELP, UH, ENCORE AND, AND PEREG. 
          SO THAT CONCLUDES MY PRESENTATION. 
          OKAY, THANK YOU. 
          I THINK MOST PEOPLE IN SAN ANTONIO WOULD AGREE WE DID PRETTY WELL, ESPECIALLY WHEN WE HEAR WHAT HAPPENED UP IN AUSTIN. 
          OF COURSE THEY PROBABLY GOT A, A MORE DIFFICULT, UH, WEATHER CONDITIONS THAN WE DID HERE. 
          YOU HAD MENTIONED A COUPLE OF STATISTICS. 
          I'D LIKE TO HEAR YOU KIND OF TELL ME AGAIN, FOR EXAMPLE, WE SAID 45,000 CUSTOMERS, BUT HOW MANY INCIDENTS DID WE HAVE TO DEAL WITH, WITH, UH, BECAUSE I KNOW IF A LINE BREAKS, IT MAY AFFECT 50 CUSTOMERS. 
          SO HOW MANY SPECIFIC INCIDENTS EITHER INTERNALLY, UH, THAT WE HAD TO WORK ON OR EXTERNALLY OUTSIDE THAT WE HAD TO WORK ON? UH, WERE THERE 50, A HUNDRED, 300? I THOUGHT YOU MENTIONED A COUPLE OF NUMBERS. 
          THE 950, THERE WERE INDIVIDUAL OUTAGES WHERE THE CREWS HAD TO GO WORK AND RESTORE POWER FOR THAT DEVICE. 
          MM-HMM. 
          . 
          SO THERE WAS, THERE WAS A LOT. 
          YEAH. 
          AND HOW ABOUT INTERNALLY? WHAT DID YOU HAVE TO DO TO KIND OF MANEUVER AROUND TO TRY AND RECONFIGURE ENERGY TO SOME AREAS THAT WERE KNOCKED OUT AND STUFF LIKE THAT? YES, SIR. 
          SO OUR CREWS AND OUR SYSTEM OPERATORS WORK HAND IN HAND. 
          AND SO IN SOME OF THE AREAS, UH, WE'RE ABLE TO RE REROUTE POWER, RIGHT? SO THEY'LL IDENTIFY THE DAMAGES ON THIS LINE, AND THEN THEY'LL LOOK AT THE LOADING AND WE CAN KIND OF DO SOME CIRCUIT SWITCHING AND, AND RESTORE POWER. 
          AND THAT'S WHAT WE DID AT FAIR OAKS. 
          WE WERE ABLE TO, TO USE THOSE RECLOSERS AND BRING POWER BACK AND REROUTE POWER THROUGH DIFFERENT CIRCUITS. 
          MM-HMM. 
           TO BRING SOME OF THAT LOAD BACK. 
          AND YOU SAID THAT YOU WERE ABLE TO RESTORE POWER TO LIKE TWO THIRDS OF THE PEOPLE WHO WERE OUT WITHIN THE FIRST, WHAT, EIGHT HOURS OR SOMETHING? WAS IT? YES SIR. 
          YEAH. 
          OKAY. 
          WE WERE ABLE TO RESTORE ABOUT 77% OF THE 45,000 WITHIN EIGHT HOURS. 
          OKAY. 
          AND I PRESUME SOME MAY HAVE HAD THEIR SERVICE BACK IN TWO OR THREE HOURS AND SOME, YES, SIR. 
          LONGER. 
          OKAY. 
          WELL, THANK YOU. 
          YEAH, I, I THINK WE DID A GOOD JOB. 
          AND LIKE YOU SAID THOUGH, PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT 'CAUSE WE'VE BEEN REHEARSING, SO TO SPEAK, FOR THIS FOR THE LAST COUPLE OF YEARS. 
          SO YES, SIR. 
          THANK YOU. 
          ANY, UH, COUNCIL MEMBER HAD HAVE A QUESTION? THANK YOU, CHAIR. 
          UM, IN ADDITION TO WATCHING THE WEATHER FORECAST, DO WE PREPARE DIFFERENTLY OR MORE ACTIVELY FOR AREAS OF TOWN THAT HAVE OVERHEAD POWER LINES VERSUS AREAS OF TOWNS THAT HAVE THEIR LINES BURIED? UM, THE REASON I ASK THAT IS THAT I'M ASSUMING THAT OLDER PARTS OF TOWN HAVE MORE OF THEIR POWER INFRASTRUCTURE OVERHEAD, UM, RATHER THAN BURIED. 
          AND IF THE STORM WOULD'VE HIT PARTS OF TOWN WITH OLDER INFRASTRUCTURE, WOULD WE HAVE ANTICIPATED MORE DAMAGE? SO IT'S KIND OF TWO QUESTIONS THERE. 
          YES. 
          UM, AS FAR AS THE POWER RESTORATION, OUR TEAMS ARE LOOKING AT THE WEATHER PATTERNS AND WHERE THEY'RE ENTERING THE TERRITORIES SO THAT WE CAN MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE GONNA STAGE CREWS KIND OF ACCORDINGLY. 
          UM, WE DO HAVE MORE POWER LINES IN THE INNER CITY, SO THE FURTHER OUT YOU GO, WE STILL HAVE THE MAJOR FEEDERS GOING TO THE AREAS, AND THEN A LOT OF 'EM ARE GOING UNDERGROUND IN THE, IN THE RESIDENTIAL AREA. 
          SO THERE'S STILL A LOT OF POWER LINES, UM, EVEN, EVEN FURTHER NORTH. 
          SO, UM, SO THEY ANSWER TO YOUR QUESTION IS WE DO KIND OF LOOK AT THAT AND KIND OF DEVELOP THAT PLAN FOR STAGING. 
          WHAT MIGHT BE, WHAT MIGHT THAT PLAN INCLUDE FOR, TO SUPPORT THOSE WHO HAVE THE OVERHEAD POWER LINES? YEAH, SO THE, THE PLAN IS REALLY LOOKING AT RESOURCES AND TRYING TO FIGURE OUT, OKAY, HOW MANY, HOW MANY OF THESE DOWN LINES ARE YOU GONNA HAVE SO THAT WE CAN DISTRIBUTE THE RESOURCES ACCORDINGLY. 
          AND THEN WE LOOK AT, THE WAY WE RESTORE POWER IS REALLY LOOKING AT THE LARGEST CIRCUITS. 
          SO WE'LL HAVE, YOU KNOW, THE, OUR, UH, OUTAGE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM LOOKS AND CALCULATES ALL THE OUTAGES BASED ON CUSTOMERS AND IT ROLLS IT UP TO THE LAST DEVICE, KIND OF LIKE A BREAKER WITHIN A BREAKER, AND IT'LL SAY, HEY, BASED ON ALL THESE OUTAGES THAT PROBLEM IS, IS WITHIN THESE AREAS AND WILL RESTORE POWER FOR THE MASS THE MASSES FIRST. 
          AND THEN WE START LOOKING AT THE CRITICAL CIRCUITS, THE BREAKING DOWN TO NORMAL CIRCUITS, AND THEN SLOWLY START, UH, TO THE INDIVIDUAL OUTAGES ARE LAST. 
          THANK YOU. 
          COUNCILWOMAN, DO YOU HAVE A QUESTION? NO. 
          OKAY. 
          THANK YOU VERY MUCH. 
          THANKS. 
          ALRIGHT, NEXT ITEM ON OUR AGENDA IS A PATH FORWARD ON A GENERATION PLAN. 
          WELL, GOOD MORNING CHAIR, COURAGE 
          [00:50:01]
AND COUNCIL MEMBERS. 
          I'VE GOT A BRIEFING FOR YOU ON THE PATH FORWARD FOR OUR GENERATION PLAN. 
          WE'LL START OUT BY TALKING ABOUT OUR APPROVED GENERATION PLAN, MOVE INTO EXISTING RESOURCE IMPLICATIONS, AND THEN OUR NEW GENERATION EDITIONS. 
          ON JANUARY 23RD, OUR BOARD VOTED TO APPROVE A BLENDED GENERATION PLAN INTENDED TO PROVIDE RELIABLE, AFFORDABLE, AND ENVIRONMENTALLY RESPONSIBLE GENERATION TO SERVE OUR COMMUNITY THROUGH 2030. 
          AND THAT'S THE PLAN WE'RE MOVING FORWARD WITH TODAY. 
          THIS TABLE SHOWS THE IMPACT ON OUR EXISTING GENERATION. 
          UH, BOTTOM LINE IS OUR COAL AND AGING GAS UNITS WILL BE PHASED OUT BY 2029. 
          OUR BRO UNITS WILL START IN MARCH OF 25, AND THAT'S WHERE OUR FLEX POWER BUNDLE GENERATION COMES IN. 
          AS YOU ALL MAY RECALL, WE WERE ABLE TO PICK UP 580 MEGAWATTS OF SOLAR THROUGH THAT PROCESS. 
          50 MEGAWATTS OF BATTERY STORAGE AND ANOTHER 500 MEGAWATTS OF GAS FIRMING GENERATION, ALL INTENDED TO OFFSET THE, UH, RETIREMENT OF THE BRA UNITS. 
          THE GENERATION PLAN WE'RE, WE'RE STARTING NOW WILL COVER THE SUMMERS ONE, SUMMERS TWO SPRUCE ONE UNITS, ALONG WITH THE GAS CONVERSION OF SPRUCE TWO. 
          THE CHARTS YOU SEE HERE SHOWS YOU WHEN WE'LL HAVE TO PHASE IN THE NEW GENERATION TO COVER THOSE UNIT RETIREMENTS. 
          AS YOU CAN SEE, WE'VE BROKEN IT UP BY FUEL TYPE, NATURAL GAS BEING AT THE TOP AND WIND, SOLAR AND STORAGE. 
          THE LIGHT GREEN INDICATES THE PERIOD OF TIME WE'LL ACTUALLY NEED TO DEVELOP AND CONSTRUCT THE PROJECTS, PERFORM THE WORK IN THE CASE OF, UH, SPRUCE TWO GAS CONVERSION, AND THEN THE DARK GREEN IS WHEN WE NEED THAT ENERGY AVAILABLE TO US. 
          SO THE, THE TAKEAWAY HERE IS WE'VE GOTTA KICK SOME THINGS OFF THIS YEAR, AND OUR TEAMS ARE STARTING TO WORK TO DO THAT NOW IN ORDER TO MEET THOSE FUTURE DEADLINES. 
          AS YOU ALL KNOW, THERE'S CHALLENGES IN THE MARKET. 
          I THINK YOU'LL HEAR MORE LATER FROM LISA ABOUT SUPPLY CHAIN ISSUES AS AN EXAMPLE, AS WE LOOK FORWARD, THERE'S SOME REALLY NEAT EXCUSE THE TERM, BUT I THINK IT IS EMERGING TECHNOLOGY THAT WE SEE COMING AND WE'RE STARTING TO WORK ON THAT TODAY. 
          WE'RE GONNA USE THE GENERATION TECHNOLOGY WE'RE PUTTING IN PLACE NOW AS A SPRINGBOARD TO COVER OUR MOVE INTO NEW TECHNOLOGY. 
          GEOTHERMAL ENERGY, FOR EXAMPLE. 
          WE BELIEVE THERE'S OPPORTUNITY THERE AND, AND SO DO OTHERS. 
          HYDROGEN STORAGE AND UTILIZATION IS A POTENTIAL FOR US HERE. 
          LARGE SCALE, LONG DURATION STORAGE WE THINK IS GOING TO BE KEY TO BETTER UTILIZING RENEWABLE GENERATION. 
          NEW NUCLEAR TECHNOLOGIES ARE DEVELOPING SMALL MODULAR NUCLEAR. 
          I, I KNOW MANY OF YOU HAVE SEEN IN THE PRESS. 
          SOME OF YOU HAVE, HAVE ASKED, EXCUSE ME, ASK ME ABOUT THAT. 
          WE'RE STARTING TO TALK WITH A COMPANY THAT'S MOVING THAT FORWARD. 
          WE'RE HEARING COMMERCIAL OPERATION DATES AS EARLY AS 2032. 
          I AM, I'M NOT CONFIDENT THOSE DATES ARE ACHIEVABLE BASED ON WHAT I KNOW OF HISTORICAL NUCLEAR CONSTRUCTION. 
          BUT WE'RE GONNA PURSUE 'EM, AND IF THERE'S SOMETHING OUT THERE, WE'LL BE TALKING MORE ABOUT IT. 
          SO WE, WE HAVE A LOT UNDERWAY IN ADDITION TO BETTER RESOURCE MANAGEMENT CONSERVATION STEP, AND IMPROVING THE WAY WE DO BUSINESS IN GENERAL. 
          SO THAT'S OUR FOCUS GOING FORWARD. 
          AND THE BOTTOM LINE IS WE'RE GONNA DO EVERYTHING WE HAVE TO DO TO SUPPORT A NET ZERO CARBON FUTURE BY 2050. 
          OKAY. 
          THANK YOU. 
          NOW, ON THE CHART YOU'VE GIVEN US THAT TALKS ABOUT THE DATES FOR IMPLEMENTING SOME OF THIS, UH, WHEN WE TALK ABOUT 2023 HERE, WE'RE TALKING ABOUT, UH, THE ACTUAL YEAR RATHER THAN THE BUDGET YEAR, RIGHT? YES, SIR. 
          SO YOU'RE STARTING SOME OF THESE STEPS THIS, THIS YEAR? YES, SIR. 
          WE ARE. 
          THOSE ARE CALENDAR YEARS. 
          OKAY. 
          UH, YEAH, I'VE, I'VE WATCHED MANY OF US HAVE, UH, ABOUT HOW THIS IS MOVING FORWARD. 
          AND OBVIOUSLY THIS IS A PERIOD OF TRANSITION. 
          WE'RE GETTING AWAY FROM A LOT OF THE OLD WAYS OF DOING THINGS, INCLUDING USING COAL, UH, AND LOOKING FOR NEW OPPORTUNITIES. 
          UH, I KNOW A FEW YEARS AGO, UH, C P S ASKED FOR SOME IDEAS. 
          UH, THEY PUT OUT, UH, AN R R F Q, I BELIEVE IT WAS JUST SAYING WHAT KIND OF TECHNOLOGIES ARE OUT THERE OR COMING DOWN THE LINE. 
          UH, DO YOU REMEMBER WHAT SOME OF THE FINDINGS WERE FROM, FROM THAT? AND THAT WAS, WHAT, FOUR YEARS AGO? THREE YEARS AGO? YES, SIR. 
          IT WAS 2019, AND THAT WAS, THAT BECAME THE BASIS OF THE FLEX POWER BUNDLE. 
          UH, THERE WERE COMPANIES THAT WERE PUSHING FORWARD, UH, LIQUID AIR STORAGE, FOR EXAMPLE. 
          AND ON THE SURFACE, 
          [00:55:01]
IT, IT SOUNDED REALLY GOOD. 
          UM, AS SOME NEW TECHNOLOGY GOES, IT, IT HASN'T COME TO FRUITION QUITE AS QUICKLY AS PEOPLE IN, INCLUDING MYSELF, FRANKLY. 
          IT HOPED, UH, THE, THE COSTS ARE STILL PROHIBITIVE, BUT I THINK THERE MAY BE OPPORTUNITIES THERE. 
          AND I KNOW THAT, UH, THE LOS ANGELES DEPARTMENT OF WATER AND POWER HAS BEEN PURSUING A PROJECT. 
          I, I HAVEN'T BEEN ABLE TO GET AN UPDATE IN A WHILE BECAUSE WE JUST COMPLETED OUR FLEX POWER BUNDLE PROCESS. 
          I WASN'T ABLE TO TALK TO SOME OF THOSE VENDORS BECAUSE WE HAVE RULES ABOUT TALKING WITH VENDORS WHILE WE'VE GOT AN ACTIVE SOLICITATION WORKING MM-HMM. 
          , BUT WE WILL BE FOLLOWING UP. 
          SO THAT WAS ONE OF THE NEWER TECHNOLOGIES. 
          WE KNOW THAT, UH, A LOT OF BATTERY INTEGRATION WAS PUT FORWARD. 
          WHAT WE WERE ALSO SEEING WERE HIGHER PRICES, AND THAT'S WHY WE STOPPED THE FLEX POWER BUNDLE WHEN WE DID. 
          AND WE DIDN'T CONTINUE TO PURSUE SOME OF THOSE ADDITIONAL OPPORTUNITIES PRESENTED TO US. 
          WE'VE SEEN A SHIFT IN THE MARKET. 
          PRICES HAVE COME DOWN, AND WE WANNA TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THAT FOR OUR CUSTOMERS. 
          COULD YOU TELL US THE STATUS OF OUR AGREEMENT WITH SOUTHWEST RESEARCH ABOUT BATTERY INVESTIGATION, ABOUT STORAGE ISSUES? SO, SOUTHWEST RESEARCH IS A VERY ACTIVE PROGRAM IN ENERGY STORAGE, AS YOU WELL KNOW, AND INCLUDING THE, THE PARTNERSHIP WE HAVE WITH 'EM ON OUR COMMERCE SITE. 
          THEY HAVE A SMALL TEST FACILITY THERE, AND THEIR WORK IS CONTINUING. 
          THEY'RE ALSO MOVING FORWARD WITH EXTENDED DURATION STORAGE. 
          AND, AND WE, WE WILL BE MEETING HERE, I WANNA SAY IN THREE OR FOUR WEEKS, UH, WITH MR. ALLISON AND COMPANY OVER THERE TO LEARN A LITTLE BIT MORE ABOUT SOME OF THE THINGS THEY'RE DOING. 
          UH, ONE THING THAT PARTICULARLY EXCITES US IS, UH, A C O TWO TURBINE, UH, SUPER CRITICAL CARBON DIOXIDE HAS THE ABILITY TO SIGNIFICANTLY REDUCE THE SIZE OF GENERATION EQUIPMENT AND, AND, AND THE PROCESS IMPROVE EFFICIENCY, UH, FOR GAINING, UH, CAPTURING LOWER LEVELS OF HEAT THAN WE'VE HISTORICALLY BEEN ABLE TO GET MEANINGFUL USE OUT OF. 
          THIS COULD PLAY A, A SIGNIFICANT PART IN GEOTHERMAL ENERGY, FOR EXAMPLE. 
          SO I KNOW THEY'RE WORKING IN THAT AREA AS WELL. 
          THEY'RE, THEY'RE PUSHING THE ENVELOPE IN A LOT OF AREAS AND, AND WE'RE STAYING IN TOUCH WITH 'EM, AND WE CAN SAY COORDINATING, AND WE'LL BE MEETING WITH 'EM MORE HERE IN THE NOT TOO DISTANT FUTURE. 
          MM-HMM. 
          UH, FOR AN UPDATE ON THE PROGRAM, YOU KNOW, PART OF WHAT I'VE HEARD IS, UH, AS MUCH AS WE'D LIKE TO EXTEND, UH, SOLAR OR PARTICULARLY WIND MM-HMM. 
          UH, A LOT OF THE PROBLEM IS TRANSMISSION, GETTING THAT NEW ENERGY TO SAN ANTONIO OR OTHER AREAS THAT COULD USE IT. 
          COULD YOU TELL ME WHAT YOU'RE HEARING, WHAT C P SS IS HEARING ABOUT THE, I GUESS THE, THE HURDLES THEY'RE HAVING TO FACE WHEN IT TALKS ABOUT TRANSMITTING ENERGY? IF WE DEVELOP MORE WIND FARMS OR SOLAR FARMS? SO WE'RE HEARING THE SAME THING YOU'RE HEARING. 
          WE'RE SEEING IT, UH, WHEN WE LAY OUT OUR GENERATION PLANNING AND WE LOOK TO RESOURCES, WHAT WE'VE DONE IS WEIGHED IN THE VALUE OF DISTANT REMOTE WIND AND SOLAR WEST TEXAS, FOR EXAMPLE, IT HAS A LITTLE BIT HIGHER CAPACITY FACTOR BECAUSE THERE'S FEWER CLOUDS IN THE AIR. 
          SO THAT'S AN OPPORTUNITY FOR US, BUT THEN WE HAVE TO BALANCE THAT AGAINST THE CONGESTION OF THE TRANSMISSION SYSTEM HERE IN SAN ANTONIO. 
          SO WE MAINTAINED A BALANCE, IF YOU WILL, OF LOCAL SOLAR AND REMOTE. 
          SO, UH, SOLAR FROM WEST TEXAS, UH, WIND, YOU KNOW, WE, WE GET WIND FROM THE COAST AND WE GET INLAND WIND. 
          AND THAT'S JUST THE, THE NATURE OF THE SYSTEM. 
          WE DO USE, UH, A FINANCIAL INSTRUMENT THAT WE GET THROUGH ERCOT TO MANAGE OUR COST AND KEEP THOSE DOWN FOR OUR CUSTOMERS. 
          BUT MORE TRANSMISSION WILL BE REQUIRED, UH, IN ORDER TO SUPPORT EXPANSION OF RENEWABLES, UH, IN REMOTE LOCATIONS HERE IN TEXAS. 
          AND WILL THAT, WILL THAT MEAN AN INVESTMENT FROM THE STATE? YES, SIR. 
          THAT'S CORRECT. 
          OKAY. 
          OKAY. 
          THANK YOU. 
          ANY OTHER COUNCIL MEMBERS HAVE A QUESTION? COUNCIL MEMBER KEY RODRIGUEZ. 
          THANK YOU, CHAIR. 
          AND THANK YOU FOR THE PRESENTATION, AND THANK YOU FOR THE LAST PRESENTATION. 
          I DON'T THINK I SAID THAT. 
          UM, I DO, JUST, WHENEVER I SEE DATES LIKE THIS, I LIKE TO PUT THEM INTO CONTEXT. 
          UH, A FEW DAYS AGO, I TURNED 28 YEARS OLD, AND IN 2050, I WILL BE 55 CHILDREN BORN. 
          THIS YEAR, TODAY WILL BE 27 BY THE TIME WE REACH, UH, NET ZERO CARBON EMISSIONS. 
          AND SO I JUST WANT US TO, I REALLY HOPE THAT WE CAN BE, UM, SLIGHTLY MORE AGGRESSIVE. 
          I KNOW IT'S GREAT TO SET THAT GOAL RIGHT NOW, 2050. 
          IT'S MORE, UH, IT, IT'S A BETTER, IT'S A GREATER COMMITMENT THAN WE HAD SEVERAL YEARS AGO, BUT I, I THINK THAT AS TIME GOES ON OVER THESE NEXT FEW YEARS, MAYBE THERE'S, UH, A CONTINUED OPPORTUNITY TO BE MORE AGGRESSIVE WITH OUR GOALS. 
          AND MAYBE AT SOME POINT WE'LL SAY, YOU KNOW, WE CAN ACHIEVE, UH, NET ZERO PRIOR TO 2050. 
          [01:00:01]
WE CAN REACH IT BY 2040 MAYBE. 
          UM, AND LAST TIME, AND I, I GUESS I DON'T REALLY HAVE A QUESTION, BUT LAST TIME I, WHEN WE HAD A FULL COUNCIL DISCUSSION, I WANTED TO GO ON RECORD AND I WOULD LIKE DO IT AGAIN. 
          UM, I WOULD LIKE C PSS ENERGY TO CONDUCT A BIANNUAL REVIEW OF THE PERFORMANCE OF THE VARIOUS, UM, ENERGY SOURCES IN OUR PORTFOLIO WHILE, YOU KNOW, PURSUING THOSE THAT ARE OUTSIDE OF OUR PORTFOLIO, MAYBE SOMETHING THAT'S PERFORMING WELL ELSEWHERE, UM, AND USE THAT INFORMATION TO CONSIDER WHETHER OR NOT WE COULD TRANSITION OUT OF OUR RELIANCE ON NATIONAL, ON, UH, NATURAL GAS PRIOR TO 2065. 
          THANK YOU. 
          I CAN JUST ADD THAT WE WILL DO THAT WHEN YOU LOOK AT SOME OF THAT NEW TECHNOLOGY OUT THERE. 
          IF WE CAN COST EFFECTIVELY DEPLOY GEOTHERMAL OR NUCLEAR TO MEET OUR NEEDS, WE WILL DO THAT. 
          UH, FOR US, IT'S ALWAYS A BALANCE. 
          WE, WE'VE GOTTA BE RELIABLE, WE'VE GOTTA BE AFFORDABLE, AND WE WANNA BE ENVIRONMENTALLY RESPONSIBLE. 
          I BELIEVE WE DO A PRETTY GOOD JOB OF THAT, AND WE WANNA DO BETTER. 
          SO WE WILL INTEGRATE THOSE NEW TECHNOLOGIES AS THEY BECOME AVAILABLE TODAY. 
          WE OPERATE OUR EQUIPMENT AS RESPONS RESPONSIBLY. 
          I, I STARTED TO SAY AS RESPONSIBLY AS POSSIBLE, BUT WE, WE OPERATE OUR EQUIPMENT RESPONSIBLY. 
          WE LIVE WELL WITHIN OUR PERMITS, AND WE SHUT UNITS DOWN WHEN THERE'S A PROBLEM. 
          WE'LL CONTINUE TO DO THAT WHILE WE LOOK TO BRING THESE NEW TECHNOLOGIES IN AT A, AT A, IN A COST EFFECTIVE WAY. 
          SO WE DON'T HURT MANY OF OUR CUSTOMERS THAT THEY STRUGGLE TODAY TO PAY THEIR BILLS. 
          THANK YOU. 
          THANK YOU. 
          COUNCILMAN COUNCILWOMAN, COBE. 
          , DO YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS? YES, SIR. 
          THANK YOU, CHAIR. 
          UM, I WAS REMISS ON THE LAST ITEM. 
          I JUST WANT TO VERY QUICKLY, UH, THANK ALL THE C P S WORKERS THAT WERE OUT IN THE COLD RESTORING POWER, UM, TO RESIDENTS AND, AND REALLY, YOU KNOW, THEY'RE ALWAYS OUT THERE IN THE BAD WEATHER, AND I JUST REALLY APPRECIATE THEIR WORK. 
          UM, SO ON, ON THIS ITEM, UH, I'D LIKE TO SEE, AND THEN MAYBE THIS IS AN ITEM FOR ANOTHER, ANOTHER DAY, BUT I'D LIKE TO SEE MORE DETAILS ON THE SOLAR, WIND AND STORAGE GENERATION PLANS. 
          AND MAYBE THIS IS IN LINE WITH WHAT COUNCILMAN MCCUE RODRIGUEZ WAS TALKING ABOUT, UM, UH, HAVING THE BIANNUAL, UH, ASSESSMENT. 
          I, I'D LIKE TO SEE THOSE REPORTS BACK ON THAT. 
          AND, AND ALSO, UH, IN ADDITION TO THE DETAILED PLANS, UH, OF COURSE, THE COST, UM, THE COST OF THE PLAN, AND THEN HOW IT COULD AFFECT CUSTOMERS RATES. 
          UM, I, I AM GRATEFUL. 
          I THINK, I FEEL LIKE THERE WAS A TIME THAT WE WERE NOT TALKING ABOUT, UH, SUSTAINABLE EFFORTS, UH, LONG-TERM SUSTAINABLE ENERGY. 
          AND, AND WE ARE HAVING THAT CONVERSATION NOW AND MORE THAN THAT. 
          AND WE'RE, WE'RE TALKING, WE HAVE REAL PLANS, AND I THINK THAT INCREMENTALLY WE'RE MOVING TOWARDS THAT. 
          SO I DON'T, I WANNA MAKE SURE THAT WE DON'T, AS A COUNCIL, DON'T LOSE SIGHT OF THAT. 
          AND I THINK HAVING THESE, UM, ASSESSMENTS AND THEN RE REPORT BACK REPORTING BACK TO MUNICIPAL UTILITIES COMMITTEE, BUT, BUT ALSO EVEN, YOU KNOW, FULL COUNCIL AT SOME POINT WOULD BE REALLY KEY TO KEEPING THAT GOING AND, AND CONTINUING TO PUSH. 
          OKAY. 
          JUST SO I'M CLEAR, WHAT I, WHAT I BELIEVE I'M HEARING IS YOU, YOU WOULD LIKE PROGRESS UPDATES ON HOW WE'RE DOING WITH THIS NEW TECHNOLOGY, AND SPECIFICALLY HOW WE'RE DOING WITH WIND AND, AND SOLAR AND STORAGE, IS THAT RIGHT? THAT'S RIGHT. 
          AND THEN, UM, INCLUDING, UH, HOW THE COSTS AND THEN HOW IT, IT COULD AFFECT OUR, UH, CONSTITUENTS, UH, THEIR RATES, THE CUSTOMER RATES. 
          OKAY. 
          YEAH. 
          UM, AND I JUST WANNA REMIND THAT THE GROUP THAT WE HAVE ALREADY, UM, UH, YOU KNOW, SAID THAT WE ARE ABSOLUTELY GOING TO BE UPDATING OUR BOARD, THIS M U C AND THE FULL COUNCIL WITH THE FULL IMPLEMENTATION OF OUR NEW GENERATION PLAN. 
          SO I THINK THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT YOU'VE ASKED FOR, AND WE WILL, I'M GONNA TAKE ALL OF THIS FEEDBACK SO THAT WHEN WE BRING THOSE UPDATES, THAT IT, IT'S INCLUSIVE OF ALL THESE REQUESTS. 
          OKAY. 
          THANK YOU. 
          I APPRECIATE THAT, THAT WILLINGNESS TO DO THAT, AND YOU'RE ALREADY PLANNING ON DOING IT. 
          UH, UH, AS I SAID BEFORE, I THINK IT'S JUST VERY IMPORTANT THAT WE, WE, WE DIDN'T CHECK A BOX AND NOW WE'RE DONE AND WE CAN MOVE ON TO SOMETHING ELSE. 
          IT HAS TO BE A CONTINUED EFFORT. 
          UH, AND WE HAVE TO KEEP PUSHING. 
          AND AS YOU GUYS KNOW BETTER THAN WE DO, OR THAT I DO ANYWAY, THAT TECHNOLOGY IS CONSTANTLY CHANGING. 
          UM, I KNOW WE TALK A LOT ABOUT THE BATTERIES AND HOW THEY'RE NOT, YOU KNOW, HOLDING ENOUGH CHARGE RIGHT NOW, BUT, UH, THAT'S, I JUST DON'T WANNA LOSE SIGHT OF THAT. 
          UH, I THINK WE JUST NEED TO KEEP PUSHING THAT ENVELOPE, UH, AND BEING THE LEADER, UM, IN THIS ACROSS THE COUNTRY. 
          SO, UH, I THINK, UH, TRANSPARENCY AND, AND TALKING ABOUT IT, AND OF COURSE, HAVING OUR COMMUNITY TALK TO US ABOUT IT IS THE WAY TO DO THAT. 
          WE AGREE AND WE WILL DO THAT. 
          AND RUDY'S COMMITTED TO DOING THAT AS, AS WE'VE DONE WITH OUR RAG. 
          SO WE'LL CONTINUE. 
          AND THIS REMAINS OUR FOCUS AS WE LOOK FORWARD. 
          THANK YOU. 
          THANK YOU, CHAIR. 
          THANK YOU. 
          I MIGHT, UH, ADD A COMMENT AND, AND MAYBE HEAR YOUR RESPONSE TO IT. 
          YOU HAD TALKED ABOUT, UH, ONE OF THE FUTURE ALTERNATIVES MIGHT BE SMALL NUCLEAR MM-HMM. 
          , AND I THINK ANYTIME PEOPLE HEAR ABOUT NUCLEAR POWER, THEY GET A LITTLE NERVOUS. 
          YOU 
          [01:05:01]
KNOW, IT'S, IT'S NOT HAD A, A GOOD REPUTATION, OR AT LEAST THE PUBLIC PERCEPTION IS THAT IT'S MAYBE DANGEROUS OR SOMETHING THAT WE DON'T NEED. 
          WHEN, WHEN YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT SMALL NUCLEAR, UH, CAN YOU TELL US A LITTLE BIT ABOUT WHAT YOU'RE HEARING IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF THAT? SURE. 
          UM, NEW SCALE IS A COMPANY IN, IN THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST. 
          THEY, THEY'VE BEEN WORKING WITH THE MILITARY FOR YEARS, UH, AND A VARIETY OF DIFFERENT TECHNOLOGIES. 
          SMALL MODULAR NUCLEAR TECHNOLOGY WE'RE SEEING TODAY ARE SMALL 50 MEGAWATT SELF-CONTAINED UNITS, AND THEY'RE CONSTRUCTED AND BLOCK, UH, SEVERAL OF THEM UP TO, UH, 5, 12, 600 MEGAWATT BLOCKS. 
          AND THESE SITES ARE PREDOMINANTLY, UH, BURIED IN THE GROUND. 
          THEY'RE VERY SECURE, AND THEY'RE OPERATED WITH THE SAME LEVEL OF CONTROL THAT YOU SEE WITH OUR SOUTH TEXAS NUCLEAR PROJECT, FOR EXAMPLE. 
          NUCLEAR IS THE MOST REGULATED, CONTROLLED GENERATION PROCESS WE HAVE IN THE WORLD, AND THAT'S WHY IT TAKES SO LONG TO BUILD A PROJECT, AND IT TAKES A LOT OF PEOPLE AND PROCESSES AND MONEY TO RUN A PROJECT BECAUSE IT IS SO CONTROLLED AND IT, IT MAKES IT VERY SAFE WHEN YOU LOOK AT THEIR, THE, THE RECORD OF THE INDUSTRY IS VERY GOOD. 
          SO THEY, THEY'VE DONE THE RIGHT THINGS. 
          THIS SMALL MODULAR IS THE NEXT EVOLUTION THAT TAKES THE CONCEPT OF USE USING NUCLEAR ENERGY AND TURNING IT INTO POWER, AND, UH, REDUCES IT IN SIZE AND MAKES IT USABLE BY A, A LARGER NUMBER OF AREAS SO THAT YOU DON'T HAVE TO HAVE THESE LARGE CENTRAL PLANTS LIKE WE DO TODAY MM-HMM. 
          . 
          SO IN THEORY, IT CAN HELP REDUCE COST A LITTLE BIT. 
          MM-HMM. 
          , UH, THAT, THAT'S WHAT WE'RE LOOKING FOR, BUT ONE I'VE HEARD OF IS CALLED MOLTEN SALT REACTORS. 
          IS THAT SOMETHING THAT'S ALSO BEING CONSIDERED IN DEVELOPMENT? YES, SIR. 
          THAT, THAT'S, THAT'S ALSO OUT THERE. 
          AND I'M NOT THE MOST, UH, KNOWLEDGEABLE IN ALL AREAS OF NUCLEAR. 
          THAT'S WHY I'M ARRANGING A TRIP IN APRIL TO ACTUALLY GO START MEETING WITH THOSE FOLKS SO WE CAN TALK ABOUT WHAT WE MIGHT DO. 
          AND IS THAT SOMETHING WE COULD LOOK TO SITUATE IN OUR REGION? IF IT MAKES SENSE, BECAUSE WE DO NEED TO PREPARE THERE, THERE MAY BE SOMETHING REALLY GOOD FOR US THERE. 
          YEAH. 
          WHEN WE, WHEN WE START TO DEVELOP MORE CONVERSATION ABOUT THAT, I THINK WE, WE SHOULD REMIND THE GENERAL PUBLIC THAT WE'VE BEEN RUNNING SUBMARINES UNDER THE OCEAN FOR 30 YEARS USING NUCLEAR POWER TO POWER THEM, AND HAVEN'T HEARD OF ONE BLOWING UP YET, SO, NO, SIR. 
          YEAH, I PROBABLY KNOCK ON WOOD. 
          ALRIGHT. 
          THANK YOU VERY MUCH. 
          THANK YOU. 
          OKAY, NEXT. 
          ITEM SIX IS A BRIEFING BY C P S ENERGY ON THE IMPACT OF THE GLOBAL SUPPLY CHAIN PROBLEMS, UH, AND HOW IT'S BEEN AFFECTING OUR UTILITY. 
          AND ONE PARTICULAR THING I'VE BEEN HEARING ABOUT IS, UM, I WANNA SAY THE, THE, THE BOXES THAT HAVE BEEN BREAKING DOWN, OH, NOW I FORGET THE NAME OF 'EM. 
          TRANSFORMERS. 
          TRANSFORMERS, YES. 
          AND I UNDERSTAND THERE'S A REAL CRISIS WITH TRANSFORMERS AND EVERY NEW DEVELOPMENT NEEDS TRANSFORMERS. 
          IS THAT CORRECT? YES, SIR. 
          AND, UH, BUSINESSES NEED THEM AND, AND WE NEED THEM. 
          SO, BUT BESIDES THOSE, YOU KNOW, WHAT IS, WHAT IS GOING ON WITH THE SUPPLY CHAIN FOR WHAT C P S ENERGY NEEDS TO CONTINUE TO GIVE US THE POWER WE NEED? I WILL START WITH TRANSFORMERS. 
          IT'S A FAVORITE TOPIC OF A NUMBER OF DEVELOPERS HERE IN TOWN. 
          UH, I DON'T THINK I NEED TO EXPLAIN SUPPLY CHAIN SHORTAGES TO YOU. 
          YOU'VE ALL LIVED THROUGH A PANDEMIC FOR THE LAST THREE YEARS, SO I THINK YOU GET THE CONCEPT. 
          UM, I WOULD OFFER THAT RIGHT NOW, THE BIGGEST DRIVERS OF THE SHORTAGES WE ARE SEEING ARE EITHER RAW MATERIAL SHORTAGES OR MANUFACTURING SHORTAGES ASSOCIATED WITH NOT HAVING SUFFICIENT LABOR OR BEING UNABLE TO GET THE RAW MATERIALS NEEDED. 
          UM, WE ARE ALSO COMPETING AGAINST A LARGE AMOUNT OF GROWTH, NOT ONLY IN OUR COMMUNITY IN THAT SENSE, BUT NATIONALLY THERE'S LARGE SCALE GROWTH. 
          AND IF YOU LOOK AT OTHER, UH, PROJECTS THAT ARE HAPPENING, YOU KNOW, FIVE G SYSTEMS ARE GOING IN, EV DEMAND IS DEMA, IS DRAWING ON ROT MATERIALS, UH, MANUFACTURING TIMES, UH, AVAILABILITY IS GETTING PUSHED FARTHER AND FARTHER OUT. 
          UH, ALL OF THAT IS HAPPENING AT THE SAME TIME. 
          AND IT HAS CREATED A DISTRIBUTE DISTRIBUTION TRANSFORMER SHORTAGE. 
          THESE ARE THE, THESE ARE THE BOXES THAT YOU THINK OF. 
          UH, IF THEY'RE PAD MOUNTED, THEY'RE THE LITTLE GREEN BOX OR MEDIUM SIZED GREEN BOX THAT'S SITTING IN A FRONT YARD AT A, AT A DEVELOPMENT OR THE TRANSFORMERS THAT ARE, UH, ON A POLE. 
          THEY COULD BE EITHER. 
          UM, WE HAVE HAD A SIGNIFICANT CHALLENGE OVER THE LAST COUPLE OF YEARS. 
          THE FACT THAT IT DIDN'T BECOME A CHALLENGE SPEAKS TO OUR INVENTORY MANAGEMENT, BUT IT REALLY BECAME A CHALLENGE MORE SIGNIFICANTLY. 
          LAST YEAR, UH, FOR JANUARY, WE RECEIVED ABOUT 60% OF WHAT WE ANTICIPATED RECEIVING, UH, IN 
          [01:10:01]
TERMS OF SHIPMENTS. 
          AND IT'S JUST NOT IMPROVING, UH, QUICKLY ENOUGH TO MEET THE DEMAND. 
          RIGHT NOW, WE HAVE ABOUT 94 SUBDIVISIONS WAITING ON MORE THAN 8,700, UH, TRANSFORMERS. 
          AND SO IT'S JUST A, IT'S JUST AN ONGOING CHALLENGE, AND WE'RE MANAGING AS BEST WE CAN. 
          UH, THERE'S AN, AN ALLOCATION PROCESS. 
          PEOPLE ARE IN LINE, SO TO SPEAK, BASED ON THEIR, WHEN THEY, WHEN THEY SET UP TO BUILD, WE TAKE THEIR, UH, WE TAKE THEM IN ORDER, AND AS THE TRANSFORMERS COME IN, WE FULFILL AND, AND GET THE POWER WHERE IT NEEDS TO GO. 
          BUT IT IS A SUBSTANTIAL CHALLENGE FOR THE, FOR THE GROUP RIGHT NOW, IF WE TALK MORE BROADLY ABOUT, UH, SUPPLY CHAIN CHALLENGES. 
          WE, IN ADDITION TO THE TRANSFORMERS, WE'RE ALSO HAVING DIFFICULTY WITH POLES. 
          UH, WE, WE WERE AT A PRETTY BAD CRISIS WITH WOODEN POLES, UH, A COUPLE OF WEEKS AGO AND, AND GOT A BIG SHIPMENT. 
          SO THAT WAS A YAY, UH, STEEL POLES, GAS RISERS, AND REGULATORS, UM, METER CANS. 
          SO THE, THE, THE INFRASTRUCTURE THAT YOUR METER GOES INSIDE OF ALL OF THOSE THINGS ARE IN SHORT SUPPLY ACROSS THE ENTIRE INDUSTRY. 
          AND IT IS A CHALLENGE FROM A MITIGATION STANDPOINT. 
          C P S ENERGY OVER THE LAST COUPLE OF YEARS HAS, UH, ADJUSTED OUR STANDARDS AND SPECIFICATIONS TO ACCEPT, UH, MORE AND DIFFERENT TYPES OF MATERIALS THAN WE HAD ACCEPTED IN THE PAST. 
          AS LONG AS THEY MEET SAFETY STANDARD, WE ARE WILLING TO, UH, TO MODIFY OUR STANDARDS AND, AND ACCEPT THEM. 
          UM, WE HAVE HAD, UH, IN SUBSTANTIALLY INCREASED ENGAGEMENT WITH A VARIETY OF MANUFACTURERS, AND IF YOU KNOW ANYBODY WHO MAKES TRANSFORMERS, LET US KNOW AND WE'LL REACH OUT TO THEM AND HAVE A CONVERSATION. 
          , UM, THE, THE, UH, ENGAGEMENT CHALLENGE, I THINK HAS BEEN MORE FOR DEANNA'S TEAM AND KEEPING OUR BUILDER AND DEVELOPER COMMUNITY APPRISED OF WHERE WE STAND IN RELATION TO BEING ABLE TO GET THESE MATERIALS AS QUICKLY AS EVERYBODY WOULD LIKE US TO. 
          UH, WE CONTINUE TO HAVE A REGULAR OUTREACH. 
          I EXPECT WE WILL TALK TO THEM AGAIN, UH, IN THE MONTH OF MARCH ABOUT OUR, OUR CURRENT STATE AND WHERE WE, WHAT WE SEE FOR THE NEXT SIX TO EIGHT MONTHS WHEN IT COMES TO SOME OF THESE MATERIALS. 
          WE ARE ON A 24 MONTH, UH, LEAD TIME IN TERMS OF ORDERING. 
          SO WE HAVE TO GET IN LINE AND WE ARE CONSTANTLY GETTING IN LINE FOR GETTING ADDITIONAL MATERIALS. 
          SO IT'S, IT'S A, IT'S A GET IN LINE AND WAIT AND SEE IF WHAT YOU ORDERED COMES IN. 
          AND IT'S BEEN THAT WAY FOR ABOUT THE LAST 12 MONTHS. 
          UM, IN RELATION TO BENNY'S COMMENTS, ANYTHING WE PLAN FOR IN RELATION TO, UM, YOU KNOW, DEVELOPING NEW GENERATION, IT'S THE SAME TYPE OF SITUATION. 
          WE'RE GONNA NEED TO GET IN LINE 24 TO 36 MONTHS IN ADVANCE IN ORDER TO GET THE LARGE SCALE EQUIPMENT NEEDED TO BUILD NEW, NEW GENERATION RESOURCES. 
          SO IT IS A, YOU KNOW, IT SEEMS LIKE IT'S A RUSH, BUT IT IS IN FACT A RUSH TO BE ABLE TO, TO, TO GET YOUR ALLOCATED MATERIALS AND EQUIPMENT. 
          AND I'LL PAUSE THERE. 
          THANK YOU FOR ABOUT THAT. 
          UH, WE'RE STILL A REALLY GROWING CITY. 
          YES, SIR. 
          AND, UH, YOU KNOW, I, I SIT ON THE PLANNING COMMISSION AND, YOU KNOW, BEFORE THE COUNCIL, AND WE HAVE SO MANY CHANGES IN ZONING AND WE'RE SEEING CONTINUING GROWTH IN DEVELOPMENT NEIGHBORHOODS AND COMMERCIAL BUILDINGS. 
          UH, HOW IS THIS AFFECTING THAT DEVELOPMENT FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF C P S MEETING THE REQUESTS AND THE OBLIGATIONS? UH, IT'S EXACTLY WHAT, WHAT YOU THINK IT IS. 
          IT'S, IT'S SLOWING THINGS DOWN IN TERMS OF CONNECTING, AS I SAID, THERE WERE 8,700 DEVELOPER OR BUILDER LOTS WAITING FOR, UH, TRANSFORMERS IN ORDER TO ENERGIZE AND MAKE THOSE, MAKE POWER AVAILABLE TO THOSE LOTS FOR WHATEVER IS BEING CONSTRUCTED THERE. 
          SO IT IS A SUBSTANTIAL ISSUE. 
          IT, IT OBVIOUSLY ALSO IMPACTS INFILL DEVELOPMENT. 
          IT'S NOT JUST, UM, YOU KNOW, NEW GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT, BUT EVEN INFILL DEVELOPMENT FOR CONTEXT. 
          WE ALSO KEEP A, UM, A STASH, IF YOU WILL, OF EMERGENCY MATERIALS. 
          WE, WE HAVE A, A, A BACK STOCK THAT WE RETAIN IN THE EVENT THAT WE HAVE RESTORATION NEEDS OF OUR OWN, UM, OBVIOUSLY WANNA BE SURE THAT WE'VE GOT THE MATERIALS AND EQUIPMENT WE NEED TO RESTORE POWER. 
          SO THERE, THERE IS ACTUALLY, UH, A RESERVE BEING MAINTAINED. 
          AND 90, 96% OF THE MATERIALS IN THAT RESERVE ARE AT THE STOCK LEVELS. 
          WE NEED THEM TO BE, TO ENSURE THAT WE CAN RESTORE POWER IN THE EVENT OF A MAJOR INCIDENT SIMILAR TO THE ICE STORM . 
          YEAH, THAT'S GOOD. 
          'CAUSE I WAS THINKING BACK TO YURI AND WE PROBABLY LOST A LOT OF TRANSFORMERS DURING THAT STORM AND HOW IT AFFECTED PEOPLE. 
          AND SO IT'S GOOD TO HEAR THAT AT LEAST C P S HAS THE RESERVES IT NEEDS FOR 96% OF WHAT COULD HAPPEN IF WE GET INTO A BAD SITUATION. 
          BUT IT'S, UH, UH, I CONTINUE TO SEE THEN IT'S GONNA BE A CHALLENGE FOR FUTURE DEVELOPMENT. 
          YES. 
          WE'RE ADVISING, UH, DEVELOPERS WHO COME TO US NOW WITH, WITH PLANS FOR NEW SUBDIVISIONS. 
          WE'RE TELLING 'EM IT'S GONNA BE 18 TO 24 MONTHS BEFORE THEY GET POWER. 
          OKAY. 
          ANY QUESTIONS BY ANY OF THE OTHER C COMMITTEE MEMBERS? UH, THANK YOU FOR THE PRESENTATION. 
          I FEEL LIKE WE'RE TOUCHING ON ALL THE, WE'RE TOUCHING ON ALL THE MAJOR ISSUES TODAY. 
          UM, THIS IS ONE OF THE, UH, THIS IS ONE OF THE PROBLEMS I FEEL LIKE I HAVE THE 
          [01:15:02]
HARDEST TIME EXPLAINING TO MY CONSTITUENTS. 
          IT EVEN SIMPLE THINGS LIKE MY FIELD, MY NORTHEAST FIELD OFFICE, WE'RE DOING RENOVATIONS, AND SO IT'S TAKEN A VERY LONG TIME. 
          AND SO WHAT I WOULD REQUEST IS FOR ADDED CONTEXT, WHAT DOES, UM, YOU KNOW, HOW TIME-WISE, HOW DOES IT IMPACT OUR ABILITY TO, UM, INSTALL STREET LIGHTS, FOR EXAMPLE, AND OTHER, UH, OTHER AREAS OF SERVICE. 
          I, I GUESS IF I COULD HAVE A TIMELINE, I WOULD LOVE TO BE ABLE TO CO COMMUNICATE THAT WITH MY CONSTITUENTS. 
          PROBABLY THE BIGGER CHALLENGE IS GONNA BE THINGS LIKE, UM, THE STREETLIGHTS THEMSELVES, I DON'T THINK WE'RE HAVING ISSUES WITH, BUT MAYBE CONDUIT MIGHT BE AN ISSUE. 
          SO THERE, IT DEPENDS ON WHAT YOU'RE TRYING TO, TO INSTALL AND WHAT THE INFRASTRUCTURE IS. 
          SO LIKE A BRAND, THE STREETLIGHT YEAH. 
          AT STREETLIGHT WE CAN PROBABLY FIND, IT'S PROBABLY OTHER EQUIPMENT THAT IS RELATED TO THAT JOB. 
          THAT'S A HARDER CHALLENGE. 
          SO IT, IT'S A, IT'S A JOB BY JOB KIND OF EVALUATION OF WHICH PO WHICH COMPONENTS DO WE HAVE, DO WE HAVE EVERYTHING WE NEED? AND, AND FRANKLY, NOT DOING ANY OF THE CONSTRUCTION, FOR EXAMPLE, UM, WE DON'T RUN WIRE FOR, UM, WE DON'T RUN WIRE FOR NEW SUBDIVISIONS UNTIL WE KNOW IT CAN BE ENERGIZED, BECAUSE WE DON'T WANT THE COPPER THIEVES TO GO OUT AND TAKE ALL OUR WIRE DOWN. 
          SO, , UM, THAT HAPPENS A FEW. 
          THAT'S HAPPENED A FEW TIMES. 
          . 
          YEAH. 
          YEAH. 
          IT IS A TRICK. 
          IT'S A, IT'S A BALANCING ACT FOR SURE. 
          UH, SO WHAT I'M HEARING IS THAT I MAY NOT BE ABLE TO GET THAT, WE MAY NOT BE ABLE TO HAVE THAT INFORMATION, AND IT'S GONNA BE, I, WE PROBABLY COULD, COULD HAVE A CONVERSATION WITH YOU ABOUT YOUR JOB AND, AND GET A LITTLE BIT MORE DETAIL AND FIGURE OUT WHAT THAT TIMELINE LOOKS LIKE. 
          OKAY. 
          THANK YOU. 
          MM-HMM. 
          , OF COURSE. 
          THANK YOU. 
          COUNCILMAN COUNCILWOMAN VEDA. 
          THANK YOU. 
          UH, CHAIR. 
          I HAVE A, A A BUNCH OF QUESTIONS ON THIS. 
          UM, BUT I, FIRST OF COURSE, THANK YOU FOR THE PRESENTATION. 
          I'VE SEE RECEIVED, UM, A LOT OF CALLS, CONCERNS FROM, UH, BUILDERS SPECIFICALLY ABOUT THE SUPPLY CHAIN SITUATION, UH, REGARDING TRANSFORMERS. 
          I THINK EVERYONE UNDERSTANDS IT'S, IT'S AN, UH, DIFFICULT ISSUE AND IT'S NOT UNIQUE TO SAN ANTONIO. 
          HOWEVER, WE HAVE SO MANY COMPANIES HURTING. 
          AND IN THE CASE OF BUILDERS, THIS IS ALSO DELAYING PRODUCTIONS OF PRODUCTION OF HOMES FOR SAN ANTONIO. 
          SO, OF COURSE, HORRIBLE TIMING IS, UM, WE'RE IN THE MIDST OF A HOUSING CRISIS. 
          UM, I JUST, I'M GONNA HAVE A SERIES OF QUESTIONS HERE, BUT MY MAIN QUESTION REALLY HERE ARE, UM, ARE WE GETTING MORE TRANSFORMERS AND GETTING THEM ON A REGULAR SCHEDULE? UM, WE KNOW, AND NO , WE HAVE A LARGE NUMBER OF ORDERS PLACED, AND WE ARE WAITING FOR EQUIPMENT. 
          WE ARE MONTHS BEHIND IN WHAT WE SHOULD HAVE RECEIVED FROM OUR, OUR SUPPLIERS, FROM THE MANUFACTURER. 
          IT'S, IT'S A MANUFACTURER DELAY PRIMARILY. 
          OKAY. 
          SO, UH, MY CONCERN HERE IS IN, IN THE RUSH FOR SUPPLIERS TO GET THESE OUT, UM, DO WE KNOW WHAT PERCENTAGE ARE DEFECTIVE? I MEAN, ARE THEY, WHEN THEY'RE GETTING THE, THE, UM, THE ITEM OUT, ARE THEY, IS IT WORKING? SO THAT, THAT ACTUALLY IS PART OF OUR PROCESS WHEN THEY ARRIVE? WE DO, UH, VALIDATE THAT THE MATERIALS ARE QUALITY AND THAT THEY'RE ACCEPTABLE. 
          UH, FOR EXAMPLE, A SHIPMENT THAT WE RECEIVED IN JANUARY, ABOUT A QUARTER OF THAT SHIPMENT WAS REJECTED FOR MANUFACTURING CONCERNS. 
          UM, THAT WAS A ONE PARTICULAR SHIPMENT. 
          AND, AND IT HAD TO DO WITH THE FACT THAT THE CHANGE FOR THE MANUFACTURER WAS LABOR RELATED. 
          MUCH LIKE MANY OF US, THEY LOST EMPLOYEES, THEY HAVE NEW EMPLOYEES, THEY'RE NOT AS EXPERT AND CAPABLE. 
          UH, THAT CHANGES THEIR ABILITY TO BOTH PRODUCE IN A TIMELY FASHION AND THE QUALITY OF THEIR PRODUCTION. 
          SO TO YOUR POINT, WE HAVE TO, WE HAVE TO VALIDATE THAT THEY ARE, UH, OPERATING APPROPRIATELY AND SAFELY BEFORE WE RELEASE THEM. 
          SO THAT IS A FACTOR IN SOME CASES. 
          SO YOU'RE DOING KIND OF A QUALITY CONTROL CHECK BEFORE THEY GO OUT? WE ABSOLUTELY DO A CONTROL CHECK. 
          YES, MA'AM. 
          UM, AND YOU SAID A QUARTER OF THEM, THOUGH ARE DEFECTIVE? THAT WAS A SHIPMENT. 
          IT JUST, IT'S A SHIPMENT ON THE TOP OF MY MIND. 
          IT CAME IN IN JANUARY AND A QUARTER OF THAT SHIPMENT WAS, WAS POOR. 
          OH. 
          IF I LOOK MORE HOLISTICALLY, IT'S LESS THAN 10% THAT ARE REJECTED. 
          BUT IT GIVES YOU A BIGGER PICTURE OF, OF THE CHALLENGES WE'RE DEALING WITH. 
          WE GOT VERY EXCITED. 
          WE HAD A LARGE SHIPMENT COME IN IN JANUARY AND THEN ENDED UP HAVING TO PUSH QUARTER OF IT BACK. 
          OKAY. 
          THANK YOU FOR, UM, AND THEN I, I DO THANK YOU FOR BEING TRANSPARENT ABOUT THAT TOO, AND, UM, WHEN THE ANSWER IS NO AND NO, I JUST WANNA KNOW THAT THAT'S THE ANSWER, RIGHT? , UM, HAS THERE BEEN ANY TALK ABOUT LOOSENING UP THE SPECIFICATIONS FOR THE TRANSFORMERS? UM, I MEAN, I, I KNOW THAT YOU HAVE THESE CERTAIN SPECS, BUT, UM, IS THERE A WAY TO KIND OF SHIFT THEM AROUND A BIT SO THAT WE COULD ULTIMATELY RELIEVE SOME OF THE SUPPLY CHAIN CONSTRAINTS? ABSOLUTELY. 
          UM, THE SUPPLY CHAIN TEAM WORKS WITH DESIGN, THE DESIGN TEAM, AND WITH, UM, RICHARD MEDINA'S TEAM, UH, TO STANDARDS AND SPECIFICATIONS TO ENSURE THAT THEY MEET SAFETY THRESHOLDS AND THE QUALITY REQUIRED. 
          UM, WE, IT'S THE NICEST WAY TO SAY IT IS WE AIN'T BEING PICKY RIGHT NOW. 
          UM, WE ARE REALLY ALIGNING PRIMARILY TO SAFETY STANDARDS. 
          AND IF WE BELIEVE 
          [01:20:01]
THAT THEY CAN BE SAFELY USED, WE WILL ACCEPT AND HAVE MODIFIED STANDARDS ACCORDINGLY. 
          OKAY. 
          I ALSO WANNA COMMEND C P S FOR, UM, I UNDERSTAND THAT THEY'VE CRE YOU CREATED A TRANSPARENT WAIT LIST, AND I KNOW THAT'S BEEN REALLY HELPFUL, SO I APPRECIATE THAT TRANSPARENT RESPONSE. 
          UM, SO THAT BUILDERS AT LEAST UNDERSTAND WHERE THEY ARE IN THE QUEUE AND, AND HAVE KIND OF AN ESTIMATE. 
          UM, I'M SURE IT'S CUT DOWN ON A LITTLE BIT OF, OF PRESSURE TO YOU GUYS TO AT LEAST KNOWING WHEN, WHEN THAT'S GONNA HAPPEN. 
          SO I DO REALLY APPRECIATE THAT. 
          THE, THE VOLUNTARY, JUST FOR CLARIFICATION, IF A CUSTOMER DOESN'T WANNA PUT THEIR INFORMATION ON IT, THEY DON'T, BUT, UH, MANY OF THE BUILDERS LOCALLY HAVE PARTICIPATED IN THEIR, THEIR, THEY'RE ALSO WILLING TO SHARE THEIR PERSONAL CUSTOMER INFORMATION SO THAT WE CAN PUT A WAIT LIST TOGETHER. 
          SO ACTUALLY I HAVE TO THANK THE CUSTOMERS FOR BEING WILLING TO DO THAT. 
          THAT ABSOLUTELY. 
          THANK YOU. 
          IT'S A, IT'S A PARTNERSHIP WHERE I KNOW WE'RE ALL KIND OF TRYING TO MOVE TOWARDS, UH, SOLVING THE ISSUE. 
          UM, BUT, UM, SO, AND, AND THEN, YOU KNOW, THIS HAS TO BE ABOVE, UH, OF COURSE, UH, CITY LEVEL, A STATE LEVEL. 
          HAVE WE TALKED, WE FIGURED OUT, UM, THE DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY IS STILL CONSIDERING USE THE DEFENSE PRODUCTION ACT. 
          UM, OUR PARTNER, THE AMERICAN PUBLIC POWER ASSOCIATION, IS WORKING VERY DILIGENTLY TO GET THEIR SUPPORT AND ASSISTANCE WITH THAT, AND THEY ARE CONSIDERING IT. 
          WE HAD HOPED THAT IT MIGHT BE INCLUDED IN THE RECENT LEGISLATION, AND IT WASN'T, BUT WE'RE HOPEFUL THAT WE'LL SEE SOMETHING FORTHCOMING. 
          OKAY. 
          BUT IF THERE'S ANY SUPPORT I CAN PROVIDE ON THAT, UM, FIELD, PLEASE LET ME KNOW. 
          I I'D LIKE TO, UH, WE GOTTA GET, YOU KNOW, THE BIG DOGS AS IT WERE TO, TO HELP US OUT HERE. 
          UM, AND SURE. 
          YEAH. 
          HOW OFTEN DO YOU, UM, WELL, ACTUALLY, I'M GONNA STRIKE THAT. 
          I THINK YOU ANSWERED THAT EARLIER. 
          UH, IS, IS THERE, ARE THERE ANY ALTERNATIVES OR INNOVATIVE STRATEGIES THAT COULD HELP, CAN BE DONE TO HELP MITIGATE THIS ISSUE? I'M SURE YOU'RE WORKING ON THAT CONSTANTLY, BUT HAVE YOU FOUND ANYTHING THAT'S MAYBE HELPING? SO SOME, SOME PROBLEMS HAVE BEEN RESOLVED THROUGH DESIGN. 
          UH, SO IF THE, IF THE DESIGN TEAM CAN THINK OF A, A, A DIFFERENT WAY TO, TO SET A PROJECT UP SO THAT THEY NEED LESS TRANSFORMERS OR SO THAT THEY CAN CONFIGURE DIFFERENTLY, THEY ARE DOING THAT. 
          UH, THE STANDARDS AND SPECS TEAM IS, AS I SAID, THEY'RE LOOKING AT EVERYTHING. 
          AS LONG AS IT MEETS A SAFETY REQUIREMENT, WE'RE GENERALLY ACCEPTING OF THAT. 
          UM, YOU KNOW, WE'VE LOOKED AT MANY ADDITIONAL MANUFACTURERS. 
          UH, AGAIN, IT'S, IT'S A FACTOR OF ENSURING WE CAN GET QUALITY MATERIALS AS LONG AS THEY CAN MEET, YOU KNOW, THE, THE STANDARD WE'RE ACCEPTING. 
          UM, WE'VE BEEN IN, UH, ACTUALLY INVESTIGATING A SUPPLIER OUTTA MEXICO IN THE LAST SEVERAL WEEKS. 
          AND SO WE'RE HOPEFUL THAT THAT ONE WILL, UH, WILL COME THROUGH FOR US. 
          UM, I THINK, I THINK EVERY TEAM IS PARTNERED ON THIS. 
          UM, YOU KNOW, IT DOESN'T FEEL RIGHT WHEN WE AREN'T CONNECTING CUSTOMERS. 
          SO, UH, I THINK EVERYBODY'S ATTENTION IS FOCUSED AND THEY'RE WORKING VERY DILIGENTLY TO TRY TO DO EXACTLY WHAT YOU DESCRIBED. 
          I MEAN, ULTIMATELY MY CONCERN HERE IS FOR OUR, UH, OUR COMMUNITY, UH, YOU KNOW, WE, WE, I MENTIONED EARLIER, WE'RE IN THE MIDDLE OF A HOUSING CRISIS, AND IT SEEMS LIKE, UH, LIKE THERE'S THIS, UM, YOU KNOW, WHAT'S THE WORD? LIKE A, JUST A BACKUP, RIGHT? I MEAN, OBVIOUSLY IT IS A BACKUP, BUT IT'S A BOTTLENECK, IS WHAT I'M THINKING. 
          YES, MA'AM. 
          THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT IT'S, FIGURE THIS OUT. 
          IF WE COULD FIGURE THIS OUT, IT WOULD OPEN, UH, OPEN UP THE FLOODGATES TO MORE HOUSING FOR OUR COMMUNITY. 
          THAT'S ULTIMATELY MY CONCERN. 
          BUT THERE'S SO MANY STEPS TO GET THERE. 
          WHAT I'LL SAY IS I'M REALLY ENCOURAGED TO HEAR THAT. 
          IT DOES SOUND LIKE IT'S A BIG TEAM EFFORT. 
          EVERYBODY'S WORKING TOWARDS IT. 
          UH, C P SS, I THINK YOU'RE BEING VERY TRANSPARENT. 
          I ENCOURAGE YOU TO CONTINUE TO BE, UH, CREATIVE AND, AND INNOVATIVE WHEN IT COMES TO SOLUTIONS FOR THIS. 
          I'M GLAD TO HEAR YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT LOOSENING UP THE SPECS. 
          UM, AND, AND ANY PRO SUPPORT THAT I CAN PROVIDE, PLEASE LET ME KNOW. 
          THANK YOU SO MUCH. 
          WE APPRECIATE THAT. 
          THANK YOU, MA'AM. 
          THANK YOU. 
          OKAY. 
          THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR THE PRESENTATION. 
          UH, THAT REALLY CONCLUDES THE PRESENTATIONS, UH, THE BRIEFINGS FROM C P S ENERGY. 
          UH, WE'RE GONNA MOVE ON TO ITEM NUMBER SEVEN. 
          UH, IT'S A DISCUSSION ON A PROCESS FOR OVERSIGHT AND REVIEW OF THE C P S ENERGY STEP PROGRAM. 
          OF COURSE, EVERYBODY, WELCOME TO STAY. 
          UH, I'M GONNA READ A, A LETTER I RECEIVED FROM ONE OF OUR FELLOW COUNCIL MEMBERS RELATED TO THIS ISSUE, UH, AND IT'S FROM COUNCILWOMAN ROCHA GARCIA. 
          SHE SAYS, DEAR CHAIR, COURAGE, I WRITE TO YOU AND THE MUNICIPAL UTILITIES COMMITTEE ON AGENDA ITEM SEVEN, DISCUSSION ON A PROCESS FOR OVERSIGHT AND REVIEW OF THE STEP PROGRAM. 
          I'M IN FAVOR OF A COLLABORATIVE EFFORT TO OVERSEE THE STEP PROGRAM AND TO COORDINATE WITH CITY DEPARTMENTS AND STAKEHOLDERS. 
          I BELIEVE WE NEED THIS, UH, INCREASED COLLABORATION, ESPECIALLY AS THE CITY HAS APPROVED THE DEDICATED RESILIENCY, ENERGY EFFICIENCY AND SUSTAINABILITY FUND. 
          I VOTED AGAINST THE STEP PROGRAM PREVIOUSLY, NOT BASED ON THE MERITS OF THE PROGRAM, BUT RATHER BECAUSE OF THE DISTRIBUTION OF THE PROGRAM ACROSS THE CITY. 
          I CALLED FOR AN EQUITABLE DISTRIBUTION OF THE PROGRAM 
          [01:25:01]
SO THAT THE RESIDENTS WHO NEED A FINANCIAL REDUCTION OF ENERGY COSTS THE MOST MAY BENEFIT FROM THIS PROGRAM. 
          I'M HOPEFUL THAT WITH THE ADDITIONAL OVERSIGHT, THE PROGRAM WILL GET RESIDENTS WHO NEED IT. 
          AND, UH, YOU KNOW, THIS IS PART OF THE, UH, DISCUSSION THAT I WANTED TO BRING FORWARD. 
          UH, IT HAD BEEN, UH, PRESENTED TO ME A COUPLE OF MONTHS AGO AS A POINT OF DISCUSSION, AND WE SIMPLY WEREN'T ABLE TO GET TO IT UNTIL I, I FELT AT THIS POINT IN TIME. 
          UH, AND THE CONSIDERATION, I THINK IS, IS RELEVANT. 
          WE'VE HAD THE STEP PROGRAM OVER THE YEARS. 
          WE KNOW THAT, UH, THE FIRST STEP PROGRAM WENT QUITE A WAYS TO IMPROVE, UH, THE CONTINUING SERVICE OF ENERGY WITHOUT INCREASING THE COST SO MUCH. 
          AND I KNOW THAT THAT, AGAIN, UH, THE CONSERVATION ASPECT AND THE ASPECT OF PROVIDING ADDITIONAL WAYS OF PEOPLE TO SAVE AND CONSERVE, UH, AND, AND PROTECT THEIR ENERGY IS, IS A GOAL OF THAT STEP PROGRAM. 
          THAT STEP PROGRAM. 
          UH, AND SO I WANTED TO GO AHEAD AND, AND JUST BRING THIS UP AS A POINT OF DISCUSSION. 
          SO NOW WE'VE HEARD FROM ONE OF OUR COUNCIL MEMBERS WHO'S NOT A MEMBER OF THE COMMITTEE, BUT AT THE SAME TIME, I INVITED, UH, ANOTHER INDIVIDUAL WHO HAD SPOKEN WITH ME AND HAD SPOKEN, UH, DURING THEIR TIME ON THE RAC COMMITTEE, UH, ABOUT THE STEP PROGRAM. 
          AND, AND YOU ALSO HEARD FROM ONE OF THE SPEAKERS EARLIER, MS. BEL MAREZ, ABOUT, UH, A VIEW OF HOW THAT STEP PROGRAM, UH, OUGHT TO BE OVER OVERSEEN, SO TO SPEAK. 
          AS THINGS GO FORWARD. 
          THIS COMMITTEE'S NOT GONNA TAKE ANY ACTION TODAY, BUT WE ARE WILLING TO HEAR, UH, FROM THE COUNCILWOMAN FROM A COUPLE OF OTHER SPEAKERS, AND TAKE THIS UNDER ADVISEMENT AS TO HOW WE MAY PROCEED IN, IN PURSUING MORE ABOUT THIS ISSUE. 
          SO AT THIS TIME, UH, WE HAVE, UH, PETER RE WHO IS HERE TO GO AHEAD AND SHARE HIS COMMENTS AND OBSERVATIONS ABOUT THIS ISSUE. 
          SO, PETER, YOU'RE WELCOME TO THE PODIUM. 
          THANK YOU VERY MUCH. 
          MORNING CHAIR, KJ AND, UH, COMMITTEE MEMBERS. 
          UH, THIS MORNING I WAS, UM, THINKING ABOUT THIS RECOMMENDATION, AND I WANTED TO OPEN UP WITH A, A SCRIPTURE THAT IS VERY RELEVANT TO IT, AND IT'S IN THE PRE, IN THE PRESENCE OF MANY COUNSELORS. 
          THERE IS SUCCESS, AND I KNOW THAT THIS HAS OCCURRED, CAUSED A LITTLE BIT OF A STIR. 
          AND, UM, SO THE WATERS ARE A LITTLE TROUBLED. 
          I HOPE IT'S GOOD TROUBLE THAT WE'RE, WE'RE ADDRESSING THIS MORNING. 
          AND I'M GONNA CUT RIGHT TO THE CHASE. 
          SOMETHING I'VE LEARNED FROM REED WILLIAMS, IF ANYONE KNOWS REED WILLIAMS, HE CUTS TO THE CHASE. 
          AND SO I'M GONNA CUT TO THE CHASE AND GO RIGHT INTO THE PROPOSAL THAT I THINK WOULD BE, UH, ADEQUATE FOR WHAT WE'RE DISCUSSING TODAY. 
          AND IT'S, WHEN YOU HEAR OVERSIGHT, I WANTED YOU TO RECALL THIS WORKING GROUP IS ACTUALLY WHAT IS BEING PROPOSED. 
          SO TODAY I SUBMIT FOR DISCUSSION, A PROPOSED M U C WORKING GROUP TO BE ESTABLISHED TO EVALUATE THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE NEW STEP PROGRAM IN ORDER TO MAXIMIZE THE BENEFITS TO L M I CUSTOMERS AND CONSIDER THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A BROADER COLLABORATIVE ENERGY EFFICIENCY WEATHERIZATION PILOT PROGRAM. 
          THE PROPOSED WORKING GROUP WOULD WORK WITH C P S TO CREATE AND DEVELOP AN I R A FUNDING NARRATIVE FOR STEP THAT PRIORITIZES LOW TO MODERATE INCOME CUSTOMERS, WHILE ALSO MAINTAINING AND INCREASING THE CAPACITY SAVINGS TO ALL CUSTOMERS. 
          THE WORKING GROUP WOULD ALSO REVIEW POTENTIAL PARTNERSHIPS TO LEVERAGE INFRASTRUCTURE BILL AND I R A FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES FOR THE PROGRAM. 
          POTENTIAL PARTNERS COULD INCLUDE NEIGHBORHOOD AND HOUSING SERVICES, THE OFFICE OF SUSTAINABILITY, WHICH IS CURRENTLY DEVELOPING THE RESILIENCY, ENERGY EFFICIENCY, AND SUSTAINABILITY FUND, BEXAR COUNTY AND ACOG. 
          THIS COLLABORATION WOULD BE SIMILAR TO CITY MA, THE CITY MANAGER'S ROUND TABLE, BUT WITH A MUCH MORE FOCUSED SCOPE OF WORK OF A TARGETED ENERGY EFFICIENCY WEATHERIZATION PROGRAM TO INCLUDE DEMAND MANAGEMENT DEMAND RESPONSE. 
          WE COULD ALSO CONSIDER DEVELOPING A BROADER STRATEGIC IMPLEMENTATION PLAN, SIMILAR TO THE STRATEGIC HOUSING IMPLEMENTATION PLAN, AS AN EXAMPLE, WHICH HAS MANY PARTNERS OVER THE YEARS. 
          I'VE, OVER THIS PAST YEAR, I'VE RECEIVED A GREAT DEAL OF FEEDBACK ON THIS PROPOSAL FROM FELLOW RAC MEMBERS, CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS, CITY STAFF, C P S STAFF AND OTHERS. 
          AND I STRONGLY SUPPORT CITY MANAGER WALSH'S SUSTAINABILITY INVENTORY THAT HE CONDUCTED. 
          AND THE PROPOSED COLLABORATIVE WORK WITH C P SS PRESENTED AT THE DECEMBER 14TH B SESSION, WHEN 
          [01:30:01]
THE STEP WAS UPDATED, WHEN THE COUNCIL WAS UPDATED ON STEP, AND AS WELL AS THE, WHAT I WOULD CALL REESE FUND TODAY. 
          THIS PROPOSAL, I BELIEVE, IS RIGHT IN LINE WITH CITY MANAGER'S PLAN TO ENHANCE BOTH ENTITY SUSTAINABILITY. 
          THE RATE DESIGN CHANGES AS THE RACK GOES INTO RATE DESIGN, RATE DESIGN CHANGES, AND OTHER RESTRUCTURE THAT WE MAKE HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO INCORPORATE WILL NOT BE THE SILVER BULLET FOR AFFORDABILITY. 
          WITH THE PROPOSED RATE INCREASES, PENDING OTHER OPTIONS TO MINIMIZE THE IMPACT OF, TO OUR MOST VULNERABLE MUST BE CONSIDERED STEP, CAN PROVIDE SIGNIFICANT BENEFITS TO ALL CUSTOMERS, BUT ESPECIALLY L M I CUSTOMERS IF IMPLEMENTED PROPERLY. 
          IN ORDER TO MAXIMIZE THESE BENEFITS, IT IS IMPORTANT TO OPTIMIZE A PROGRAM WITH AN ENHANCED TARGETED ENERGY EFFICIENCY WEATHERIZATION PROGRAM. 
          MANY OF YOU RECALLED WHEN IT WAS VOTED THE RACK, ABOUT HALF THE RACK VOTED TO STOP IT FOR DIFFERENT REASONS. 
          THREE COUNCIL MEMBERS VOTED AGAINST IT, AND YOU HEARD THE LETTER FROM COUNCILMAN R GARCIA TO HER POINT, WHICH I THINK WOULD APPLY ALSO TO DISTRICT TWO, THREE, AND FIVE AT A MINIMUM. 
          AT THAT TIME, I COMMITTED TO HELP C P SS TO ADDRESS THIS DISCREPANCY. 
          I APPRECIATE C E O RUDY GARZA'S COMMITMENT TO THIS DURING THE, THAT TIME. 
          AND THROUGHOUT THIS TIME AS WE'VE WORKED TO THIS DAY AFTER THE ADOPTION, I DID APPROACH REED AND ASKED HIM IF WE COULD HAVE A SUBCOMMITTEE WITHIN THE RAC TO, TO EVALUATE THE NEW PROGRAM. 
          ALTHOUGH CHAIR REED DECLINED MY REQUEST, HE DID RECOMMEND THAT THE M U C CONSIDER TAKING IT UP, TAKE UP THE WORK OF EVALUATING THE PROGRAM. 
          AT THAT TIME, A NUMBER OF COUNCIL MEMBERS. 
          AND SINCE THAT TIME, A NUMBER OF COUNCIL MEMBERS AND THE MAYOR HAVE ASKED ABOUT A TARGETED WEATHERIZATION PROGRAM. 
          TODAY, WE HAVE AN OPPORTUNITY THAT'S SET BEFORE US TO SECURE I R A FUNDING TO OPTIMIZE THE STEP PROGRAM AND PRIORITIZE L M I CUSTOMERS WITH A TARGETED WEATHERIZATION PROGRAM THAT WILL PROVIDE REAL AFFORDABILITY TO THE MOST VULNERABLE. 
          I COMMEND C P S AND ESPECIALLY JONATHAN, THE HEINA AND HIS TEAM, FOR ALL THE WORK THEY HAVE DONE TO DEVELOP THIS PROGRAM. 
          IT IS AN EXCELLENT PROGRAM. 
          IT'S A GREAT NARRATIVE. 
          THE PAST, OVER A PAST DECADE OF WORK, CONGRATULATIONS TO THE 30,000 HOMES THAT HAVE BEEN WEATHERIZED. 
          I READ AN ARTICLE ABOUT THIS ACCOMPLISHMENT WHERE A RESIDENT WAS QUOTED AS HAVING HAD HER BILL CUT IN HALF DUE TO THE WEATHERIZATION. 
          THAT'S REAL IMPACT IN MY OPINION. 
          C P S HAS DEVELOPED AN EXCELLENT PROGRAM, BUT MY CONCERN IS THAT C P S IS POTENTIALLY SEEKING NUMEROUS I R A FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES, AS WELL AS HAVING OTHER RESPONSIBILITIES AND PRIORITIES, AND NOT HAVING THE CORE CAPACITY IN GRANT FUNDING, SEEKING GRANT FUNDING THAT THE L M I FUNDING WILL BE NEGLECTED IN ORDER TO HELP C P S ENSURE THAT THIS IS NOT THE CASE. 
          I BELIEVE THAT A WORKING GROUP SHOULD BE ESTABLISHED AND THE WORKING GROUP WOULD SERVE IN THAT ROLE, NOT, AGAIN, NOT SO MUCH AS AN OVERSIGHT IN TELLING THEM HOW TO DO IT, BUT MAKING RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE GREATER GOOD WITH ALL THE OTHER PARTNERS. 
          THANK YOU, CHAIR K FOR THE OPPORTUNITY. 
          OKAY, THANK YOU, UH, PETER. 
          UH, AND I WOULD ASK THAT YOUR, UH, PREPARED REMARKS BE TURNED INTO, UH, OUR CLERK'S OFFICE SO THAT SHE CAN SHARE THEM WITH THE COUNCIL MEMBERS WHO AREN'T HERE. 
          UH, WELL, OUR COUNCIL MEMBER WHO ISN'T HERE, AND MAYBE THE REST OF US TO LOOK AT THOSE AGAIN. 
          UH, I, I'M GONNA ADD MY THOUGHTS TO THIS BECAUSE I'VE BEEN A SUPPORTER OF THE STEP PROGRAM. 
          I THINK IT DID A LOT OF GOOD, UH, OVER THE YEARS, BUT I THINK THAT ALSO WE HAVE HEARD THAT MAYBE, UH, MANY OF THE PEOPLE WHO BENEFITED FROM THAT PROGRAM MIGHT HAVE BEEN CAPABLE OF TAKING ADVANTAGE OF SOME OF THE, UH, THE REBATES OR THE, UH, THE SUPPORT THAT THE PROGRAM OFFERED THEM, MIGHT'VE BEEN ABLE TO DO THAT ON THEIR OWN, THAT THEY DIDN'T NECESSARILY NECESSARILY NEED THAT KIND OF A REBATE OR THAT KIND OF A, A, A PROMOTION FOR THEM. 
          BUT MANY OTHERS WHO COULD HAVE HAD A GREATER BENEFIT FROM THOSE RESOURCES SIMPLY, UH, WEREN'T IN A POSITION TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF IT. 
          FOR EXAMPLE, UH, YOU KNOW, PUTTING SOLAR ON YOUR ROOF AND HAVING REBATES FROM C P SS FROM THAT, WELL, YOU KNOW, NOT PEOPLE WHO ARE, UH, RENTING ARE GONNA GET AN ADVANTAGE OF THAT. 
          OR PEOPLE WHO LIVE IN, UH, HOUSING THAT'S OLDER, YOU KNOW, MAY NOT BE ABLE TO AFFORD TO DO SOMETHING LIKE THAT. 
          SO, I UNDERSTAND THE GOAL OF ENSURING THE GREATEST, UH, UH, VALUE TO THE MOST PEOPLE POSSIBLE, UH, PARTICULARLY WHEN IT COMES TO ENERGY SAVINGS, 
          [01:35:01]
UH, AND WEATHERIZATION TO THEIR HOME. 
          SO, UH, I THINK THAT'S, UH, A VERY VALID POINT FOR US TO BE THINKING ABOUT. 
          ALSO, AS A ALMOST A SIDE ISSUE, I'VE SAID ALL ALONG, ANYTIME THE THAT C P S WEATHERIZES A HOME, WE SHOULD REQUIRE DEMAND RESPONSE BEING INCORPORATED INTO THAT HOME SO THAT THE C P S HAS THE ABILITY TO, UH, REGULATE MORE THE, UH, USE OF ITS ENERGY AT, AT KEY TIMES DURING THE YEAR. 
          SO, UH, I APPRECIATE, YOU KNOW, SOME OF THE COMMENTS THAT YOU'VE MADE. 
          UH, I'D LIKE TO OPEN IT UP IF ANY OTHER COMMITTEE MEMBER WOULD LIKE TO MAKE A COMMENT. 
          AGAIN, THERE'S NO ACTION. 
          WE'LL BE TAKING THIS UNDER FUTURE ADVISEMENT, BUT DO, DO EITHER OF THE OTHER COMMITTEE MEMBERS CARE TO MAKE A COMMENT? NO. 
          YES. 
          OKAY. 
          COUNCILMAN, THANK YOU. 
          UM, AND THANK YOU FOR YOUR COMMENTS. 
          I THINK, UH, WHAT YOU'VE JUST SAID, SHARE, UM, YOU KNOW, I THINK THERE'S A SHARED GOAL TO, UM, PROVIDE THE GREATEST VALUE TO THE MOST PEOPLE, AND I'LL ADD WITH THE MOST NEED. 
          UM, WHAT I'M HEARING IS THAT THERE'S AN INTEREST IN, UH, CREATING A M U C WORKING GROUP TO PROVIDE OVERSIGHT OF THE STEP PROGRAM. 
          UM, AND WHAT I WOULD LIKE TO SEE IN A WORKING GROUP LIKE THIS IS INNOVATION AND PROBLEM SOLVING. 
          UM, FOR EXAMPLE, THE SOLAR PROGRAM, UH, WAS DEEMED UNSUCCESSFUL. 
          UM, AND I'D RATHER, AND IT WAS DISSOLVED, BASICALLY, UM, I'D MUCH OR SIGNIFICANTLY REDUCE, AND I'D MUCH PREFER WE ADDRESS THE ROOTS OF THIS FINDING THAN, YOU KNOW, COMPLETELY DO AWAY WITH THE PROGRAM. 
          SO, IF IT'S FOLKS WHO ARE HIGHEST, UH, NEED OR MOST VULNERABLE, WHO ARE NOT PARTICIPATING IN THE PROGRAM AND NOT REAPING THE BENEFITS, I'D MUCH RATHER WE, YOU KNOW, ANSWER THE QUESTION OF WHY THAT IS AND MORE PROACTIVELY PROVIDE A SOLUTION THERE, UM, SO THAT WE CAN CONTINUE WITH PROGRAMS IN A MORE EFFICIENT WAY. 
          UM, I LIKE THAT WE FIND WAYS TO ADDRESS, YOU KNOW, LACK OF INSULATION, POOR ROOFING, THAT ARE ALSO ROOT CAUSES OF, UH, DETERMINANTS OF SUCCESS. 
          SUCCESS FOR SOME OF THESE PROGRAMS. AS WELL AS, AND, AND I JUST SAID IT A LITTLE BIT AGO, STRATEGIES FOR OUTREACH TO REACH THE MOST VULNERABLE POPULATIONS. 
          AND SO ANY COMMITTEE OR WORKING GROUP SHOULD LEAD WITH THOSE KINDS OF, UM, IDEAS AND SHOULD HAVE THAT KIND OF, UH, THAT LEVEL OF FORWARD THINKING. 
          AND I WOULD ALSO LIKE TO ENSURE THAT A GROUP THAT FORMS SUCH AS THIS OR PROVIDES ANY AMOUNT OF OVERSIGHT ARE, UM, IMPACTED COMMUNITIES. 
          UM, MOSTLY, AND WHEN I AM TALKING ABOUT, UH, IMPACTED COMMUNITIES, I'M THINKING OF THOSE WHO ARE MOST LIKELY TO BE LEFT OUT OF THESE KINDS OF GROUPS. 
          AND LEAST LI UH, LEAST LIKELY TO PARTICIPATE IN THIS KIND OF PROGRAM IS, YOU KNOW, WHO'S MOST VULNERABLE, FIND THEM AND ALLOW THEM TO PROVIDE OVERSIGHT. 
          THEY WILL TELL YOU WHAT THEY NEED IN THE BEST WAY. 
          THANK YOU. 
          THANK YOU. 
          COUNCILMAN COUNCILWOMAN, VEER. 
          ANY THOUGHTS? ANY THOUGHTS? NO. 
          OKAY. 
          OKAY, THEN I WILL GO AHEAD AND MAKE SURE ALL OF THE COUNCIL MEMBERS, UH, UH, ESPECIALLY OUR MISSING MEMBER, UH, UNDERSTANDS THE PRESENTATION WAS MADE TODAY, AND ASK EACH OF THE COMMITTEE MEMBERS TO THINK MORE ABOUT THIS, AND WE'LL LOOK FORWARD TO SEEING HOW WE MAY CONTINUE TO ADDRESS THIS IN THE FUTURE. 
          SO I THINK THAT CONCLUDES THE PRESENTATION. 
          UM, MINUTES, RIGHT? OKAY. 
          YES. 
          SINCE WE 
          [Approval of Minutes
 ]
DIDN'T HAVE A QUORUM AT THE BEGINNING OF THE MEETING, WE'RE GONNA GO AHEAD AND BRING BACK, UH, ITEM NUMBER TWO, THE MINUTES TO BE APPROVED, ITEM NUMBER ONE. 
          SO I WOULD ENTERTAIN A MOTION TO APPROVE THE MINUTES FROM OUR PREVIOUS MEETING IN JANUARY. 
          SO MOVED. 
          SECOND. 
          OKAY. 
          IT'S BEEN MOVED AND SECONDED. 
          APPROVE THE JANUARY MEETINGS. 
          ANY QUESTIONS OR CONCERNS? HEARING NONE. 
          ALL IN FAVOR SAY AYE. 
          AYE. 
          AYE, AYE. 
          OKAY. 
          MOTIONS PASSED. 
          MADAM CLERK, IS THERE ANYTHING ELSE WE MIGHT HAVE OVERSEEN? NO, SIR. 
          OKAY, GOOD. 
          WELL, THANK YOU EVERYBODY. 
          THIS MEETING IS ADJOURNED.
* This transcript was created by voice-to-text technology. The transcript has not been edited for errors or omissions, it is for reference only and is not the official minutes of the meeting.