MPS Commission Meeting

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

Moorhead Public Service Commission Meeting

Wednesday, July 1, 2009 - On Tuesday night, June 30, 2009, the Moorhead Public Service Commission (Commission) held their second scheduled meeting for the month of June. Here are a few highlights from their meeting:

Economic Development Incentives: The Commission again discussed the idea of an electric rate that would encourage economic development for primary sector businesses in Moorhead. This rate would allow businesses that meet pre-determined criteria to receive a discount on their electric rates for a limited amount of time (5 years). This discount would be taken from what MPS would have to pay the City of Moorhead through the annual transfer (payment in lieu of taxes). This is a complex issue and the Commission reviewed and discussed the issue at length. After the Moorhead City Council passed a resolution encouraging this rate (at their June 22, 2009 meeting), the Commission passed the concept and instructed MPS staff to work toward finalizing this program. A rate hearing will be held in August to allow for full public input.

DOJ Grant: The Commission received a report on a $50,000 Department of Justice (DOJ) grant. MPS received congressional appropriation for a public safety application of the GoMoorhead.com Wi-Fi System. This project will increase Internet speeds for Minnesota State Highway Patrol cars in order to push real-time video surveillance and state intranet access into the vehicles. MPS submitted the final application to the DOJ on Monday, June 22, and we are now waiting. We will update everyone once we learn more from the DOJ.

Power Generation update: Local power generation has always been important to the Commission. After reviewing the capacity MPS has to produce power and transmit that power, it is possible for MPS to install up to 11 Mega-Watts (MW) of power right here in Moorhead. At previous Commission meetings, the Commission received reports and took action beginning the work of installing 8MW of power generation. At that time it was assumed that MPS could transmit only 9MW of power; however, we have now learned we have the capacity to transmit 11MW. With this increase, the Commission decided to expand the size of the generators. MPS will now revamp their project to include 10MW of power generation here in Moorhead.

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

Congratulations Seniors!

Wednesday, May 27, 2009 - During their May 26, 2009 meeting, the Moorhead Public Service Commission recognized the winners from the 2009 MPS Scholarship Contests.

Congratulations go out to:

• Tristan Larson: son of Mary Jo Schmid and Brent Larson. Tristan is being awarded the $800 Moorhead Public Service Public Power Scholarship. Tristan is graduating from Moorhead High School and is planning on attending Illinois Institute of Technology and will be studying Civil Engineering. Tristan’s essay won the MPS grand prize and was submitted to Minnesota Municipal Utilities Association’s annual Tom Bovitz’s Memorial Scholarship Contest and took second place in a statewide competition. With the second place win, Tristan will be awarded an additional $1,500.


• Rebecca Ystebo: daughter of Fred and Julie Ystebo. Rebecca is being awarded the $1,000 Moorhead Public Service Video Scholarship. Rebecca is graduating from Park Christian and is planning on attending North Dakota State University and will be studying Clinical Laboratory Science.


• Luke Sollie: son of Alden and Lynnell Sollie. Luke is being awarded the $800 Moorhead Public Service Video Scholarship. Luke is a 2009 home school graduate and is planning on attending Concordia College and will be studying Music Education.


• Elisabeth Hanson: daughter of Bruce and Margaret Hanson. Elisabeth is being awarded the $1,000 Missouri River Energy Services Scholarship. Elisabeth is graduating from Moorhead High School and is planning on attending Concordia College.

Congratulations to all our winners. We wish them the best in their academic pursuits!

Photo (L-R): Ken Norman (MPS Commission President), Elisabeth Hanson,
Tristan Larson, Luke Sollie, Bill Schwandt (MPS General Manager)

Posted by: MPS Communications Director, Doug Rogness

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