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

Electric Construction Report

Monday, July 13, 2009 - As you are driving around Moorhead this summer, you may see our crews out working and wonder what we are working on. This summer we have several large projects in place to improve the electric system reliability, stability, and operational efficiency.

1. The first project was a cable replacement project on 3rd St. S. between 2nd and 4th Ave. S. This project is complete and will allow us to abandon the old cable under the Woodlawn Park which is due for replacement and floods every spring.
2. We also had a cable replacement project in the Moorhead Industrial Park which is also complete.
3. Due to reconstruction of Clay County Road #11, we had the replace 2 miles of 3-phase line which provides power to the MPS' North Buffalo Wells.
4. Currently we are working in the Village Green area with a large cable replacement project that is expected to be completed by the end of July.
5. Other large projects include a feeder tie-line from 14th St. S. and 45th Ave. S. to 6th St. S. and 46th Ave. S. This project will improve the backfeeding capability of the electric distribution system and improve system reliability.
6. Coming up soon is the addition of a feeder from the Southeast Substation to the east side of Mccaras. This project is approximately 2.7 miles long and will improve the ability of the electric distribution system to provide power to the large industrial loads in this area.

Posted by: MPS Electric Distribution Engineer, Leon Emmil

Watermain Replacement, Why?

Friday, July 10, 2009 - We begin another year of watermain replacement projects for Moorhead Public Service. Did you know that this is 25th year of the watermain replacement program at Moorhead Public Service. Many people ask why we need to replace watermains. There are many answers to that question, and I hope to answer those questions in the next couple of bullets below.

• The main reason behind watermain replacement is to reduce the occurrence of watermain breaks which typically occur during the cold winter months of Minnesota.
• As of 2009, Moorhead Public Service has approximately 40 miles of what we classify as watermain that needs to be replaced.
• The pipe material that is replaced is called Cast Iron Pipe. The soils up in this neck of the woods just causes a lot of corrosion to the pipe which leads to the many watermain breaks that occur.
• The pipe material that we replace the Cast Iron Pipe with is called Polyvinylchloride or PVC. The expected life span of this pipe is well beyond my life time and probably my kids lifetime (100 years or greater).
• As of 2009, it is estimated that the total cost of replacing all of the 40 miles of watermain that needs to be replaced it would cost approximately $30 million dollars.
• At the current rate, MPS replaces about 1 mile of watermain a year. Currently, MPS partners with the City of Moorhead on some projects where the City is replacing the street and the watermain under that street is also replaced during the same project. This at times raises our rate of removal to about 2-3 miles per year.
• During the 2009 construction season, MPS has five areas on tap for watermain replacement. Just a reminder to the residents that are affected by these areas this year, our crews are working as fast as they can to get your area back to normal.

Until next time!

Posted by: MPS Water Distribution Engineer, Jared Heller

Lane Closure for Water Service Repair

Wednesday, July 8, 2009 - Moorhead Public Service (MPS) has scheduled a lane closure in south Moorhead for emergency water service repair. The lane closure will affect northbound traffic in one lane on Eighth Street North from Main Avenue to the railroad tracks beginning today, Wednesday, July 8, 2009. The lane closure is expected to last approximately one week and residents that use this portion of Eighth Street are encouraged to find alternate routes over the next week.

Road Closure Information:
Street: 8th Street North from Main Avenue to the Railroad Tracks
Dates: Beginning Wednesday, July 8, for approximately 1 week

Posted by: MPS Communications Director, Doug Rogness

Offices Closed for the Fourth of July

Thursday, July 2, 2009 - The MPS Offices will be closed on Friday, July 3, 2009 in observation of the Fourth of July holiday. If you have a bill that needs to be paid, try our new online payment option at www.mympsbill.com.

Have a Safe and Fun Fourth of July!

Posted by: MPS Communications Director, Doug Rogness