MID Board Report Archive

(PDF)

Modesto Irrigation District (MID) Board Meeting of Tuesday, Nov. 13, 2007
Contact: MID Public Affairs Department, Kate Hora, 209 526-7454
The remaining MID Board meetings for 2007 will be Nov. 27 and Dec. 11 and 18.

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.  

Public hearing - Proposed electric rate increase for 2008

The Board conducted a public hearing on proposed changes to electric rates and service rules for 2008. Budget and Rates Administrator Jimi Netniss noted that the 2008 budget approved by the Board on Oct. 30 will require $33.6 million in additional revenues. To balance the budget, staff proposes a rate increase package that will bring in $23.1 million and a reserve drawdown of more than $10 million, part of which will be repaid through a 2008 financing.

The 2008 rate increase will pay for:

• $11.8 million in higher power supply costs
• $8.1 million in anticipated costs due to the state greenhouse gas mandate
• $2.0 million in new costs due to the federal reliability mandate, and
• $1.4 million in costs resulting from California’s new energy-efficiency mandates.

Under the staff proposal, on January 1, 2008, residential electric rates would increase 9.5 percent, and other rate classes would increase between five and 15 percent. An alternative for residential rates would be a seven percent increase on January 1 followed by a 3.75 percent increase on July 1. Netniss also presented the conceptual basis for several residential rate structures, each of which would generate the same amount of revenue. These structures include continuing the current two-tier rate structure, a three- or four-tier structure and a fuel surcharge option.

The Board directed staff to return in two weeks with additional details about residential rate options.

Staff and director reports

Water report

• Walt Ward, Assistant General Manager for Water Operations, noted that rainfall over the past weekend has brought season-to-date totals to 1.55 inches, slightly above average for this early point in the season. On a less happy note, there is no snow to be seen in the Tuolumne River watershed. Storage in the Hetch Hetchy system is down to 55 percent of normal.

Don Pedro Board of Control report

Director Hensley reported that revenues year to date stand at $2 million, exceeding $1.7 million in expenses by a comfortable margin. The recreational area has seen almost 8,000 total reservations so far this year, beating last year’s figure.

Bill collection timelines

Jack Krieg, Customer Service Manager, briefed the Board on electric bill due dates and collection timelines. Current MID practices involve an overlap of new bills and past due, causing confusion for customers. The billing and collection timeline at MID is considerably longer than at neighboring utilities. This allows unpaid balances to build up to high levels. If customers fall behind, it is difficult for them to catch up on payments and more likely that they will eventually be disconnected. This is costly for the rest of the ratepayer base. Staff will return at a later Board meeting with a proposal for changing the due dates and timelines.

Approved by majority vote

Changes to a jointly owned 230 kV transmission line between Westley Switching Station and Redwood that will result in MID quitclaiming a half interest in new joint line structures, associated facilities and right-of-way to Turlock Irrigation District (TID); and TID quitclaiming a half interest in old joint line structures, associated facilities and right-of-way to MID. These changes result from work being performed on the Westley-Rosemore Transmission Line Project.