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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2021.07.30 IMC Executed MinutesAlaska Intertie Management Committee (IMC) REGULAR MEETING MINUTES Teleconference Friday, July 30, 2021 1. CALL TO ORDER Jeff Warner called the meeting of the Alaska Intertie Management Committee to order on July 30, 2021, at 9:03 a.m. A quorum was established. 2. ROLL CALL FOR COMMITTEE MEMBERS Members present: Jeff Warner (Chugach Electric Association (CEA)); Tony Izzo (Matanuska Electric Association (MEA)); John Burns (Golden Valley Electric Association (GVEA)); and Kirk Warren (Alaska Energy Authority (AEA)). 3. PUBLIC ROLL CALL Public present: Betty Caudle (Accu-Type Depositions); Jennifer Bertolini (AEA); Debra Caldwell (AEA); Dona Keppers (AEA); Melissa Yang (AEA); Don Maynor (ARECA Insurance Exchange); Sherri Highers (CEA); Russell Thornton (CEA); Stefan Saldanha (Department of Law); Pete Sarauer (GVEA); Ron Woolf (GVEA); Bob Day (HEA); Larry Jorgenson (HEA); Andy Patrick (HEA); Kirk Gibson (McDowell Rackner & Gibson PC); David Pease (MEA); Bernie Smith (Public); and Christina Hunter (Regulatory Commission of Alaska (RCA)). 4. AGENDA APPROVAL MOTION: Mr. Izzo made a motion to approve the agenda. Motion seconded by Mr. Warren. Mr. Warren made a friendly amendment to move Item 7A Election of Officers prior to Item 10 Member Comments. There were no objections to the friendly amendment. A roll call was taken, and the amended agenda, moving Item 7A prior to Item 10, was approved unanimously. 5. PUBLIC COMMENTS - None 6. APPROVAL OF PRIOR MINUTES - June 25, 2021 MOTION: Mr. Burns made a motion to approve the Meeting Minutes of June 25, 2021. Motion seconded by Mr. Warren. IMC Meeting Minutes - July 30, 2021 Page 1 of 5 A roll call was taken, and the Minutes of June 25, 2021 were approved unanimously. 7. OLD BUSINESS 7A. Bylaw Amendment Chair Warner informed that this item is renumbered as Item 7, reflecting the amendment to the agenda. He requested Kirk Gibson, McDowell Rackner & Gibson PC, present on the Bylaw Amendment. Mr. Gibson informed that the main intent for the update on the Bylaws was to incorporate the new annual system demand by purpose voting and voting in all other matters that was approved by the IMC. The Bylaws have been reviewed and revised by Stefan Saldanha, Department of Law. Changes to notice requirements were implemented to match the current statutes from the original Bylaws. The two principal areas in the Bylaws that were affected include the section regarding noticing meetings and the section regarding the annual system demand. Mr. Gibson advised that the revised Bylaws have been distributed to members and to their counsel for review. He believes that the changes are straightforward and noncontroversial. Mr. Gibson requested that the clean copy of the Bylaws be approved by the IMC. There were no questions. Chair Warner acknowledged that he has read the changes made and he believes that they are appropriate. MOTION: Mr. Warren made a motion to approve the amended and restated Bylaws, dated July 30, 2021, as presented. Motion seconded by Mr. Burns. A roll call vote was taken, and the motion to approve the amended and restated Bylaws, dated July 30, 2021, as presented, was approved unanimously. 8. COMMITTEE REPORTS 8A. OC Report/ Operators Report Chair Warner provided the Intertie Operating Committee (IOC) Report dated July 30, 2021. Item 1B is related to the spin study. EPS provided the benchmark of the model. EPS has made recommendations and modifications to the model to better reflect actual system operations. The study is moving forward and is on schedule. Chair Warner informed that the IOC met yesterday and discussed this item. The System Subcommittee provided a report on the ongoing study. The recommendations will include allocation to span across the railbelt. It is anticipated that the work will be conducted in the near future. Chair Warner explained that Item 1C is related to the GVEA flight inspection that occurred in August 2020. A ground patrol inspection followed in April 2021, and visited to all of the sites that were identified as problematic. Two issues of concerns were found in Towers 531 and 532. The repair plan is being formulated and it is not IMC Meeting Minutes - July 30, 2021 Page 2 of 5 anticipated to be burdensome. The IOC will report back to the IMC when the plan is finalized. Chair Warner discussed that Item 2 of the report outlines the significant intertie trip that occurred on June 3, 2021. The line outage lasted from 10:59 a.m. until 1:29 p.m. The intertie experienced a phase to ground fault and the line tripped open. Chair Warner noted that no loadshed was experienced. Significant power oscillations occurred with a peak -to -peak magnitude of 223 MW measured between Quartz Creek and Daves Creek. The voltage was problematic, but a voltage collapse was avoided. Chair Warner noted that the Operations Study was reviewed at yesterday's IOC meeting. The work has been completed for the Healy 1 and 2 units. The RFP has been released for the tuning of the resources at Nikiski and Bradley. The Kenai SVC work is upcoming and is being monitored through the Bradley 0&D Committee. The IOC is working with the Systems Study Subcommittee (SSS) and Machine Ratings Subcommittee to discuss additional issues on the upcoming work. The $865,000 Douglas Com Project is anticipated to utilize part of AEA's appropriation funding to the utilities. The IOC requested that the project manager, CEA, work with the SCADA Subcommittee and AEA to finalize the scope in order to continue forward momentum. Chair Warner discussed that the additional work on the related project to Healy is ongoing and has to be completed by GVEA. Chair Warner reviewed the discussion regarding project repair of Cantwell equipment and the substation, which is wholly -owned by AEA. Possible actions include creating a demarcation of the assets and resources between AEA and GVEA. Work is ongoing to develop a comprehensive equipment list and project suggestions for demarcation. Chair Warner highlighted the third quarter Reliability Report. As indicated, there were only two loadshed experiences by GVEA. The IOC is awaiting outage report information from some of the utilities. Chair Warner noted that the report still lists ML&P, and that the listing should be removed. Mr. Burns asked if there were recommendations resulting from the analysis of the intertie trip that occurred on June 3. Chair Warner noted that discussions occurred relating to the Oscillation Study that was conducted to help identify and correct issues. The SSS is researching the development of a test plan in September or October to test the work performed on the resources in the railbelt to ensure the work is effective in reducing the oscillations. Additional study work may also be forthcoming. There were no other questions. 8B. Budget to Actuals Mr. Warren invited Debra Caldwell and Melissa Yang, AEA, to present the Budget to Actuals Report. Ms. Yang discussed that the report covers the period of July 1, 2020 through May 31, 2021. The revenues are higher than budgeted by $629,000. This is primarily due to GVEA's higher than budgeted usages of approximately 66,000 Mwh. Operating expenses are under budget by $86,000. This is primarily due to lower IMC Meeting Minutes - July 30, 2021 Page 3 of 5 maintenance of overhead lines in FERC 571, and is slightly offset by higher maintenance of station equipment in FERC 570. More labor has been shifted to station equipment maintenance, resulting in lower maintenance of overhead lines. Ms. Yang reviewed that the administration costs are lower than budgeted by $215,000. This is primarily due to slightly higher than anticipated AEA administration costs and offset by lower than anticipated miscellaneous studies. The year-to-date actuals reflect a surplus of $383,000. Mr. Burns asked Chair Warner if the lower than anticipated maintenance costs are due to deferral of maintenance. Chair Warner responded that he will research the issue. He does not know which of the anticipated projects have not yet been completed. Chair Warner asked for an explanation of the process that would trigger an adjustment to the budget. Ms. Caldwell explained that the Intertie budget is handled differently than the Bradley Lake budget. The Bradley Lake budget often utilizes budget amendments that has a threshold of $250,000. Ms. Caldwell noted that there is an option within the Intertie Agreement that allows for budget amendments. The option has not been used historically. Ms. Caldwell explained that the Committee can discuss the decision to implement the policy. There were no additional questions. 9. NEW BUSINESS 9A. Election of Officers Chair Warner requested Mr. Gibson explain the voting requirements for the election of officers. Mr. Gibson advised that a majority vote is required for the election of officers. He opened the floor for nominations for the position of Chair. MOTION: Chair Warner made a motion to nominate and accept Mr. Burns as Chair for the next cycle. Motion seconded by Mr. Izzo. No other nominations were offered. A roll call vote was taken, and the motion to nominate and accept Mr. Burns as Chair passed unanimously. Mr. Gibson opened the floor for nominations for the position of Vice -Chair. MOTION: Mr. Warren made a motion to nominate and accept Edward Jenkin, MEA, as Vice -Chair. Motion seconded by Mr. Burns. No other nominations were offered. A roll call vote was taken, and the motion to nominate and accept Mr. Jenkin as Vice -Chair passed unanimously. IMC Meeting Minutes - July 30, 2021 Page 4 of 5 Mr. Gibson noted that the Secretary/Treasurer position is historically held by AEA's representative. He asked if there were any objections to continuing this precedent. There were no objections. A roll call vote was taken, and the confirmation to accept AEA's representative Mr. Warren as Secretary/Treasurer passed unanimously. Mr. Gibson expressed congratulations to the new officers. He turned the meeting over to the newly elected Chair Burns. 10. MEMBER COMMENTS Mr. Warren announced that today is Ms. Caldwell's last day with AEA, as she has accepted an amazing opportunity. He expressed appreciation to Ms. Caldwell for her service to the State and to AEA. Mr. Warren expressed confidence that Ms. Yang will continue her high level of work efficiency on both IMC and BPMC budget matters. Mr. Warner thanked Ms. Caldwell for keeping him on track related to budget items over the last year. He looks forward to working with Ms. Yang in the same capacity. Mr. Warner congratulated Chair Burns. Mr. Izzo echoed the previous comments. He thanked Mr. Warner for his leadership tenure. Mr. Izzo congratulated Ms. Caldwell on her exciting opportunity. Chair Burns echoed the previous comments. He expressed appreciation to AEA staff for their efforts in gathering and presenting all of today's necessary information. Chair Burns wished Ms. Caldwell good luck in her future endeavors. 11. NEXT MEETING DATE - September 24, 2021 Mr. Warren informed that CEA has requested the next meeting be changed to October 1, 2021 due to a conflict. There was no objection to the date change. 12. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business of the AIMC, the meeting adjourned at 9:35 a.m. Joh Burns, hair Kir rren, Secreta IMC Meeting Minutes - July 30, 2021 Page 5 of 5