Wednesday, July 15, 2009 - On Tuesday, July 14, 2009, the Moorhead Public Service Commission (Commission) held their only scheduled meeting for the month of July. All in all, it was a pretty quiet meeting; most items on consent and little discussion on the items that were not. A couple items from the meeting that are note worthy:
Mid-year Report on Energy Sales: MPS Electric Division Manager Dave Kahly provided a report to the Commission outlining the current status of energy (electricity) sales for MPS. MPS divides energy usage into 3 categories; General Service (large commercial and industrial), Small General Service (regular/smaller commercial) and residential. Energy sales overall are down by 2.6%. This is primarily due to a 4.9% drop in General Service. Why? Well, we don't really know for sure, but Kahly believes the combination of a 12% rate increase and a cold winter has caused some companies and individuals to change the way they use electricity. The good news...although energy sales have dropped, MPS has also seen a reduction in purchased power costs; therefore, the financial position of the utility has not been negatively impacted. Kahly provided some graphs and more details that are included in the Commission agenda (click here if you want to view the agenda).
Report on MPS' activities relating to stimulus funding: At previous Commission meetings, MPS has discussed moving forward to apply for funding through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009 passed by President Obama. MPS staff is working on this, and I will post an update on the project in a later post.
Changes to the Upcoming Meeting Schedule for the Commission: A few changes for the next few weeks:
- July 28, 2009, rescheduled to Aug 3, 2009
- Rate hearing at 5:00pm during the Aug 3 meeting (discuss incentive rates for commercial accounts)
- August 11, rescheduled to August 18
- August 25, cancelled
As I noted, all in all a quiet meeting. Other topics were, of course, discussed at the meeting; however, these are just a few of the larger items. If you have any interest in attending any of the Commission meetings, you can find the meeting dates and times online at mpsutility.com/minutes. The Commission meets at City Hall, on first floor in the Council Chambers. Don’t forget, you can now watch the Commission meetings live on Moorhead Community Access Television, cable channel 12.
Posted by: MPS Communications Director, Doug Rogness
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