Moorhead Public Service Commission Meeting

Wednesday, May 13, 2009 - Last night the Moorhead Public Service Commission held their first meeting for the month of May. It was a meeting that covered many topics. MPS General Manager Bill Schwandt said in a staff meeting, "this meeting is a pretty wide spectrum, we've got it all on this one." This meeting covered topics ranging from the 2008 Audit Report, to Energy-Efficient Street lighting, to Voluntary Watering Restrictions and more. Let's try to highlight a few of the topics discussed:



Audit Report. Each year MPS engages Eide Bailly LLP to conduct an audit of the financial statements of Moorhead Public Service. Again, this year there were no major areas of concern from the audit. Brian Stavenger, CPA, (Senior Manager with Eide Bailly) said that all MPS financial records were "fairly stated and materially accurate," which is a thumbs up in auditors language! MPS had a $6.5 million increase in net assets and all three divisions (electric, water, and broadband) ended the year with positive changes in net assets. All good news for the audit report.



Energy-Efficient Street lighting. MPS Electric Division Manager Dave Kahly gave a report on our street lighting program here in Moorhead and offered an opinion on some emerging technology, such as LED lighting. Although LED lights are more energy efficient, they are still very costly. MPS currently has a few LED lights on our system for testing and we needs to continue to monitor the activities and developments with this technology.



2009 Flood Update. The Commission heard an update on the 2009 flood and MPS' response. The report including highlights and areas of improvement for MPS. If you would like to see the list of the items, check out the Commission agenda at mpsutility.com. Also, if you have any comments for MPS, please let us know what we did well, or what we could improve on.



Watering Restrictions . There were a couple items in last night's meeting that came from the Water Department. The first was a voluntary watering restriction for the residents of Moorhead. It seems odd to think about conserving water after the flood we just experienced; however, as we move into the summer months, the Commission is asking the residents of Moorhead to be smart about their water use. The Commission is asking residents to observe an odd-even water schedule. Lawn watering and car washing is asked to be limited to customers by street address. All customers with even-numbered address can use water for these two items on even-numbered days, and vice-versa for odd-numbered homes. Again, this is a voluntary program that is established to remind residents to use water wisely. We have tips for keeping a lush lawn on our website. Visit the "Water Conservation Page" under "For Your Home" on mpsutility.com.



There were many other items on the May 12, 2009 Commission agenda that were discussed. The minutes for this meeting will be made available online at mpsutility.com as soon as the Commission approves them. As always, everyone is encouraged to attend the Commission meetings. The next meeting will be held on Tuesday, May 26, 2009 at 4:30pm.



Posted by: MPS Communications Director, Doug Rogness