MID Board Report Archive

Modesto Irrigation District (MID) Board Meeting of Tuesday, Oct. 16, 2007
Contact: MID Public Affairs Department, Kate Hora, 209 526-7454
The next MID Board meetings will be October 23 and 30, 2007.

The MID Board Report is a summary of highlights of meetings of the MID Board of Directors and not a complete or official record of proceedings. Official records of proceedings of the MID Board of Directors are contained in the Minutes of meetings of the Board of Directors . For information about the Minutes, please contact the Office of the Board Secretary, 1231 Eleventh Street, Modesto, CA 95350, telephone 209 526-7360, 8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. Monday – Friday, excluding holidays.

Staff and director reports

Don Pedro Board of Control Report

• Director Hensley reported a good meeting of the Don Pedro Recreation Agency. Revenues are up year-to-date. A buoy line capable of withstanding 70 mile-per-hour winds is being designed for houseboats at the Moccasin Point marina.

Water report

• Walt Ward, Assistant General Manager for Water Operations, reported that storage in the Hetch Hetchy system has dropped to 61 percent capacity. Runoff in the Tuolumne River watershed was below normal at 848,000 acre-feet for the year. Rainfall on the Valley floor totals 1.06 inches so far this season.

Mobile radio project update

• Senior Electrical Engineer Erick Davis reported that an evaluation of MID’s two-way mobile radio system is now complete. MID personnel use this system for emergency and routine communications. Components of the aging radio system are past their intended life and are no longer supported by the vendor. Three system replacement options have been considered. Staff recommends replacing the entire system, which will result in significant performance improvement. Details will be discussed at a later meeting.

Approved by unanimous vote

• Purchase of email archiving software for $146,000. This system will help MID manage the more than four million email messages sent and received each year. Archiving software will reduce unnecessary duplication of messages, cut storage costs by compressing data and reduce labor costs associated with legal discovery.
• An agreement on principles that will underlie a new power sales/purchase agreement with the City and County of San Francisco. This agreement for Hetch Hetchy hydropower will replace the current agreement expiring on Dec. 31, 2007. It is expected that MID costs will increase.
• A $2.545 million augmentation to the Transmission & Distribution Division 2007 budget for increased costs in transformer purchases.

Approved by majority vote

• A resolution approving the MID program for compliance with mandatory federal electric reliability standards and approving a $35,000 budget augmentation for staff training towards North American Electric Reliability Council certification.
• A resolution authorizing staff to schedule a Nov. 13, 2007 public hearing regarding proposed adoption of a Resolution of Necessity to acquire property associated with MID’s Westley-Rosemore Transmission Line Project.

Informational workshops

Electric Resources Workshop

Roger VanHoy, Assistant General Manager for Electric Resources, discussed the following:

• TANC transmission - The Transmission Agency of Northern California (TANC), a group of public agencies, partnered in the 1980s to build the California-Oregon Transmission Line. Some TANC members including MID now propose new transmission lines to interconnect generation resources the members own or plan to build and to create greater access to renewable resources. MID’s Electric Resources Plan includes a total investment of about $130 million for new joint transmission projects over the next several years. This sum is roughly one-third the cost of building an equivalent amount of new generation.
• Greenhouse gas (GHG) regulations - California enacted two landmark GHG bills in 2006, SB 1368 and AB 32. The California Air Resources Board is developing regulations to implement these laws and will enforce them beginning in 2012. Key points for MID policymakers to consider:
  
  
  • No technology exists for achieving the legislated goals.
  • Other industries will reduce their GHG output by switching from fossil fuels to electricity. This will make it harder for electric utilities to comply.
  • The cost of complying with GHG regulations will increase MID electric rates by 30 percent over the next 10 years.

2008 Operations and Maintenance (O and M) Budget Workshop (highlights only)

• Transmission and Distribution Division proposed O and M budget: $16,470,400
  • $2.5 million - Includes new mandatory energy-efficiency programs.
  • $250,000 - Solar photovoltaic program mandated by SB1.
  • $1.4 million - Tree trimming for line clearance.
  • $1.4 million -Trouble Department, MID's first responders to power outages.
• Electric Resources Division proposed O and M budget: $246,840,000
• $169,253,500 - Purchased power, the cost of power MID buys from others under long-term contract.