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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2022.03.25 IMC Executed MinutesAlaska Intertie Management Committee (IMC) REGULAR MEETING MINUTES Alaska Energy Authority Board Room Friday, March 25, 2022 1. CALL TO ORDER Chair John Burns called the meeting of the Alaska Intertie Management Committee to order on March 25, 2022, at 9:00 a.m. A quorum was established. 2. ROLL CALL FOR COMMITTEE MEMBERS Members present: John Burns (Golden Valley Electric Association (GVEA)); Brian Hickey (Chugach Electric Association (CEA)); Ed Jenkin (Matanuska Electric Association (MEA) Arrived 9:03 a.m.); and Bryan Carey (Alaska Energy Authority (AEA)). 3. PUBLIC ROLL CALL Public present: Betty Caudle (Accu-Type Depositions); Joel Paisner (Ascent Law Partners); Jennifer Bertolini (AEA); Beazit Redzepi (AEA); Andrew Laughlin (CEA); Russell Thornton (CEA); Stefan Saldanha (Department of Law); Dan Bishop (GVEA); Larry Jorgenson (HEA); Martin Law (HEA); David Pease (MEA); Bernie Smith (Public) and Rob Montgomery (City of Seward (SEW)). Chair Burns welcomed Martin Law to his new position at Bradley Lake. 4. PUBLIC COMMENTS — None 5. AGENDA APPROVAL MOTION: Mr. Hickey made a motion to approve the agenda. Motion seconded by Mr. Carey. The agenda was approved without objection. 6. APPROVAL OF PRIOR MINUTES — December 10, 2021 Chair Burns expressed appreciation to Jennifer Bertolini, AEA, for providing the minutes ahead of the meeting for members' review. MOTION: Mr. Hickey made a motion to approve the Meeting Minutes of December 10, 2021. Motion seconded by Mr. Carey. IMC Meeting Minutes - March 25, 2022 The Minutes of December 10, 2021 were approved without objection. 7. NEW BUSINESS 7A. Resolution #22-01, Transfer of Assets Chair Burns requested Mr. Carey to provide information regarding Resolution #22-01. Mr. Carey informed that a substation built when the Intertie was constructed. The substation has the higher voltage intertie and the lower voltage distribution equipment for the Cantwell area. GVEA services that area and the equipment was not transferred to GVEA. Mr. Carey explained that this resolution transfers the lower voltage distribution equipment at Cantwell to GVEA. He stated that the Intertie Operating Committee (IOC) has reviewed and approved the resolution for the transfer to occur. Chair Burns asked Dan Bishop, GVEA, if he had additional comments. Mr. Bishop stated that his understanding is that residents of the Cantwell area lobbied the State to build the substation when the Intertie was built. The State also funded distribution lines in the area, which were transferred to GVEA after they were built, and the distribution portion of the substation has remained in AEA's ownership. The Intertie participants have been paying for a portion of the maintenance on the distribution and transmission infrastructure. The equipment is almost 40 years old and GVEA would like to conduct upgrades consistent with other substation upgrades. He believes that it would be in the utilities' interest if they did not have to participate in the upgrades. Mr. Jenkin informed that the IOC discussed that it is sensible for GVEA to standardize their equipment types within the distribution level substations. This will make maintenance of the facilities easier and will better serve the members. Mr. Jenkin understands that the facilities are fully depreciated, and the IOC agreed that the transfer of assets to GVEA is in the best interest of all involved. MOTION: Mr. Carey made a motion to approve Resolution #22-01, Transfer of Assets, as presented. Motion seconded by Mr. Hickey. A roll call was taken, and the motion was approved unanimously. 7B. Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) — Funding Opportunities Chair Burns requested Mr. Carey provide information regarding IIJA funding opportunities. Mr. Carey noted that AEA reviewed the different provisions within the IIJA that would affect Alaska and the electrical infrastructure. The information provided is a summary of the potential provisions. The project managers listed may be revised. There are many questions regarding specific information, as there was not much detail provided with the Act. Mr. Carey informed that a workshop is scheduled with Senator Murkowski's staff regarding how to apply for the available funding. It is believed that there will be a certain amount of funding available for the Alaska Intertie to receive upgrades through grants and competitive bidding. IMC Meeting Minutes - March 25, 2022 2 Chair Burns asked Mr. Carey if AEA is spearheading the process of the infrastructure analysis. Mr. Carey acknowledged that AEA is still changing responsibilities and tasks due to positional workload. He noted that he oversees owned assets of Bradley Lake and Intertie, and he expects to be the main point of contact for transmission related issues. Mr. Carey informed that the Electric Vehicle (EV) stations will have a different contact person. Mr. Hickey asked if there will be an opportunity or a formal process for the utilities to provide input regarding the list of upgrades. Mr. Carey believes that input will be received using existing processes. A prioritized list for grant applications could be developed by the utilities and AEA. Mr. Carey noted that AEA does not have the staff to complete the grant and competitive application work without assistance from the utilities. Mr. Hickey asked if this focus area could be assigned to the Required Project Work Engineering Subcommittee, rather than creating separate group. Mr. Jenkin asked Mr. Carey if AEA will send individuals to the training offered by Senator Murkowski's office, representing the IMC, who will then report back to the IMC. Mr. Jenkin noted that MEA has an individual who will attend the training. Mr. Carey agreed that AEA will have a representative at the training on April llth and 12th. He believes that it is a good idea for each utility to have a representative attend the meeting and receive the training. Chair Burns expressed concern that this critical opportunity is not missed. He expressed the importance of being proactive and coordinating who is leading and championing the effort. Chair Burns asked Mr. Carey to offer more information regarding the role of the IMC relative to the role of the Bradley Lake Project Management Committee (BPMC) and relative to the role of AEA. Mr. Carey believes that it would be worthwhile to coordinate with the Required Project Work Engineering Subcommittee before the training meeting, so that they can coordinate assignments within the group as to who will lead the efforts, who will attend the training session, and who will do the work. Mr. Carey discussed that the group functions well and is Chaired by Brad Janorschke, who is not part of the IMC. Mr. Carey suggested that Mr. Janorschke is contacted. Mr. Hickey commented that is good that the Required Project Work Engineering Subcommittee is utilized. He believes that some deliverables would come before the IMC versus the BPMC. He discussed that the transmission upgrade funding could likely be used for the Bradley required project work. Chair Burns verified that the Required Project Work Engineering Subcommittee has appropriate representation from the utilities. There was agreement. Chair Burns believes that once the funding process is determined, the floodgates will open and he wants to be prepared. Mr. Jenkin agreed that attention needs to be paid to the process. He understands that there is a group working through this and he does not believe that the efforts need to be replicated. Mr. Jenkin believes that a representative from the group and from AEA should attend the training meeting on the 11 to IMC Meeting Minutes - March 25, 2022 3 Chair Burns noted that Mr. Carey is AEA's representative for both the IMC and the BPMC. Chair Burns asked if Mr. Carey sees that the process would be fairly seamless to utilize the Required Project Work Engineering Subcommittee to ensure that the right group is providing the authority to move forward with the process. Mr. Carey responded that he believes it would be seamless in the sense that there may be some grants that go to the Intertie and that the BPMC cannot make the decisions for the IMC, but that the Required Project Work Engineering Subcommittee could compile and prepare the grant application. Chair Burns reiterated his intent to ensure there is good coordination between the IMC efforts and the BPMC efforts because of the critical importance. A comment was made recommending that this issue is brought before the RUM. Chair Burns agreed. Chair Burns requested that Joel Paisner, Ascent Law Partners, contact Stefan Saldahna, Department of Law, to ensure the processes and resolutions are identified to move forward quickly with any applications. Chair Burns commented that he assumes there will be periodic updates on the progress. Mr. Carey agreed, and indicated that the next update would occur after the April workshop. Chair Burns suggested that there is a coordinated effort and a debriefing of the representatives in advance of attending the April meeting. Mr. Hickey agreed to coordinate a meeting of the representatives before the April training meeting. 7C. FY23 IMC Budget Chair Burns requested Beazit Redzepi, AEA, give a general overview and highlight the information on the FY23 IMC Budget. Mr. Redzepi noted that his understanding is that this is the first look at the FY23 IMC Budget. He believes it will be approved for public comment at the May meeting, which provides 30 days for public comment, and the final approval will occur at the June meeting. Mr. Redzepi informed that this year's budget is a little more than double last year's budget, including a number of additional projects. Last year's approved budget was about $2.3 million in total revenues. This year, the proposed budget is just over $5 million in total revenues. Last year's total expenses were about $2.3 million. The proposed total expenses for this year are about $4.8 million. Chair Burns asked for more information regarding the drivers of the budgetary increases. Mr. Redzepi highlighted the expenses of the Northern and Southern deferred right-of-way (ROW) clearing at approximately $1 million, the additional marker ball replacements and repairs, and the miscellaneous studies increased approximately $600,000 from last year. Chair Burns requested additional information regarding the studies. Mr. Redzepi discussed that the studies are listed under FERC 566, and he believes that the AGC Study will be completed in this year's budget. He asked for confirmation from members. Mr. Jenkin commented that the LIDAR Study was valuable and identified an area on MEA's system that had inadvertently skipped a cycle. Mr. Jenkin noted the line item for MEA's Southern ROW Clearing increased from $150,000 to $600,000. He advised that the line item for GVEA's Northern ROW Clearing increased from $73,000 to $550,000. Mr. Jenkin informed that MEA's Southern ROW Clearing of $150,000 for FY22 is scheduled for the spring and then IMC Meeting Minutes - March 25, 2022 4 will roll into the FY23 Budget. He noted there is the ability to shift some of those dollars between the budget years, if desired. Mr. Jenkin commented that it is his intent on the line item MEA- Douglas Substation 138 kV Bus Repair and Breaker Inspection, to move the breaker inspection out of the FY23 Budget and conduct the work within the FY22 Budget. He believes that the elimination of the Marker Ball Project from the FY22 Budget and moving it to the FY23 Budget may prove valuable in moving some of the proposed costs out of FY23 and back into FY22. He noted that this possibility will be discussed at the next IOC meeting. The IOC will provide full recommendations to the IMC prior to the approval of the budget. Mr. Jenkin discussed that he is not aware of which budget line item includes the helicopter inspection. He recommended that the Marker Ball Project and the helicopter inspection are budgeted and completed in separate years, rather than the same year. The IOC has not yet been briefed by the System Studies Subcommittee on the components of the miscellaneous studies work. Dan Bishop, GVEA, commented that Mr. Jenkin provided a good summary. Mr. Hickey requested that the IOC review the $600,000 increase in the studies budget and provide details as to the components at the next IMC meeting. Mr. Jenkin agreed to the plan. Mr. Carey asked what line item the Marker Ball replacement is under. Mr. Jenkin informed it was under Equipment Repair and Replacement, FERC 571, $984,000. He noted that amount also includes non -marker ball replacements and insulator replacements. Mr. Carey commented regarding the FY22 Budget appears to have funding available for marker balls that can be used to order the marker balls now for anticipated delivery and installation in the summer. Chair Burns requested information regarding how the proposed budget was compiled. Mr. Jenkin informed that a number of the utilities were behind on their data submittals and there was not a complete budget at the previous IOC meeting. The proposed budget was completed in the period between the previous IOC meeting and today's meeting. The plan is to fully vet the proposed budget at the.next IOC meeting and to provide a more detailed budget to the IMC at the next meeting. Mr. Jenkin expressed apologies for submitting data last week. The question was asked of Mr. Redzepi if the IOC suggested to move funding between the FY22 Budget and the FY23 Budget, would the IMC have to approve the change even if it is not going to increase the total budget for the year. Mr. Redzepi believes that a change to the budget would take IMC action. There were no more questions. 7D. Operators Report Chair Burns requested that Mr. Bishop provide the Operators Report. Mr. Bishop indicated that he does not have an actual Operators Report to present. He informed that the Intertie had eight trips since the previous IMC meeting. Progress has been made to mitigate the trips by effectively correlating the event reports from the system with information from the LIDAR IMC Meeting Minutes - March 25, 2022 5 Study. Mr. Bishop noted that MEA has already begun clearing some of the problematic areas. Efforts have improved to coordinate providing the snow load monitoring system information to the utilities and to AEA. Proactive responses to the root cause of the problems have also improved. Mr. Bishop noted his discussions with David Lockard, AEA, regarding issues with the Intertie's design vulnerability and the unbalanced snow -loading conditions. There have been reports of conductors on the ground. The design was innovative at the time and focused on providing a line that was less vulnerable to catastrophic failure due to foundation shifting. An unanticipated result of the design was that the line is more vulnerable to unbalanced snow -loading issues, which have been a persistent problem and the genesis of the snow -load monitoring system. Mr. Bishop discussed that additional improvements could be considered and part of the asset management plan/strategic plan, which is a current IMC assignment to the IOC. Mr. Bishop noted a draft of the Vegetation Plan was received from the IOC's Maintenance Subcommittee on March llth. Work is ongoing and the deadline is April 1st. Mr. Bishop hopes to have another update on that work soon. He noted that the IOC Maintenance Subcommittee has been particularly active compared to previous years and has been meeting regularly with MEA and GVEA. Progress has been made under the new Chair. Mr. Bishop expressed appreciation to the Committee for transferring the Cantwell Substation. The IOC Subcommittees have several assignments. He noted that there was an Intertie trip just before the IOC met on March lltt'. CEA presented good information at the meeting that suggested MEA's battery, which had gone into service in a mode that could dampen oscillations, had done so the previous day, and the initial evidence suggested that it had effectively dampened that oscillation. This was consistent with the Oscillation Study. Mr. Hickey requested Chair Burns make an assignment to the IOC to potentially develop a task order contract to one of the engineering firms to evaluate ways to physically mitigate the unbalanced snow load monitoring problem. He noted this could be an infrastructure project. Mr. Hickey discussed there were a series of years in the mid 1990's where conductors were close to or on the ground due to snow load. He requested that the IOC provide a high-level estimate on the cost to mitigate the issue. Mr. Hickey noted that given the age of the structures and the towers, this might be an appropriate project for required project work consideration. Chair Burns asked if Mr. Bishop was the Chair of the IOC. Mr. Bishop agreed, and he commented that he fully supports Mr. Hickey's suggestions. Chair Burns additionally requested the IOC conduct a root cause analysis for the eight trips that occurred since December and to ensure that those issues are appropriately addressed in the budget. Mr. Bishop believes that information will be included along with Mr. Hickey's suggestions. Chair Burns requested that the IOC provide an explanation of how any proposed changes to the FY23 Budget are focused on addressing the issues that are causing havoc on the Intertie. Mr. Bishop agreed. Chair Burns asked if Mr. Bishop's discussion included the IOC report. Mr. Bishop agreed. There were no additional questions. IMC Meeting Minutes - March 25, 2022 6 8. OLD BUSINESS 8A. Strategic Plan for Intertie — None. 9. COMMITTEE REPORTS 9A. OC Report — Provided during Item 7D. 9B. Budget to Actuals Chair Burns invited Mr. Redzepi to present the Budget to Actuals Report. Mr. Redzepi informed that the year-to-date (YTD) revenues of $1,026,000 is approximately 45% of the annual budget through December 31, 2021. The total expenses of $716,000 is approximately 31% of the projected amount. Mr. Redzepi noted that if the budget continues at this rate, the expected surplus amount is $309,000. Mr. Redzepi reported on the actual usage to -date. GVEA is 48,463 Mwh and MEA is 12,240 Mwh. Mr. Bishop asked if AEA has documentation regarding the root of the doubling increase of the FERC 562 GVEA - Substation Electricity Usage line item. Chair Burns asked Mr. Redzepi if he has an answer at this time. Mr. Redzepi noted that he does not have the details in front of him, but he can provide the details to Mr. Bishop after the meeting. There was no objection. Mr. Hickey was given that he believes GVEA's actual usage by the end of the year will come close to the budgeted usage number of 161,000 Mwh. There were no additional questions. 10. MEMBER COMMENTS Mr. Jenkin commented that the IOC continues to review the Oscillation Reports, which provide confirmation that the oscillations are directly due to deflector action at Bradley Lake. The IOC has sufficiently identified the value of the battery energy system at Homer and the value of a battery energy system in Southcentral Alaska to help rectify those oscillation issues caused by the Bradley Lake deflector action. Mr. Jenkin added that he does not know if the IMC wants to take any action or wants to provide a recommendation. He noted that the BPMC is directly following the significant evidence of the cause of those oscillations across the Intertie and the need for battery systems on both ends of the transmission line that connects Bradley Lake to Anchorage to mitigate those oscillations. Chair Burns said the BPMC is reviewing the issue and Department of Law is providing guidance on what constitutes project work. It was noted that if oscillations directly related to Bradley Lake are occurring that affect the system, then they need to be smoothed out. He suggested coordination with BPMC on the issue. Mr. Hickey agreed with Mr. Jenkin's comments. He noted that a resolution could be presented at the IMC's May meeting that makes a formal statement regarding IMC's position on the issue. Chair Burns requested that the IOC provide substantive information that backs up the statement. There was agreement and there were no objections. IMC Meeting Minutes - March 25, 2022 7 Mr. Hickey informed that he will attend the next meeting, but after that, Andrew Laughlin, CEA, will take his place, and Luke Sliman, CEA, will become the alternate. Chair Burns commented that he is looking forward to welcoming Mr. Laughlin and appreciated his attendance today. Chair Burns reiterated the importance of coordinating the infrastructure funding opportunity. He expressed appreciation to Mr. Bishop and IOC's active engagement on the maintenance and management of the Intertie asset. Chair Burns requested that Mr. Bishop update the IMC regarding the constituent component cost of the necessary upgrades along the Intertie, as the infrastructure funding is moving forward. Mr. Bishop agreed. 12. NEXT MEETING DATE — May 20, 2022 Chair Burns informed that the next meeting is May 20, 2022. He expressed appreciation to Ms. Bertolini for providing the meeting documents for review prior to the meeting. 13. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business of the AIMC, the meeting adjourned at 9:58 a.m. John Burn.-, Chair David Lockard, Secretary IMC Meeting Minutes - March 25, 2022 8