MINUTES OF THE
MUNICIPAL LIGHT BOARD
MAY 14, 2007
PURSUANT TO notice given the Wellesley Municipal Light Board (“Board”) met in the conference room of the DPW/MLP Building, 455 Worcester Street, at 5:30 PM.
PRESENT
Those present included Chairman William E. Charlton, Commissioners David A. T. Donohue, Michael D. Humphrys, Gordon F. Kingsley and Thomas E. Peisch; Municipal Light Plant (“MLP”) Director Richard F. Joyce; staff members Joseph A. Bisol, Debra J. Healy, Suzanne M. Newark, Donald H. Newell and James W. Verner. Also in attendance was Advisory Representative Katherine Gibson and Energy New England (“ENE”) employees Leo Swift, Timothy Hebert and John Muro.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
Upon a motion made by Mr. Humphrys and seconded by Mr. Peisch, it was unanimously
VOTED: To approve the April 17, 2007 Public Session Minutes as written.
CITIZEN SPEAK
Mr. Charlton provided all those in attendance with the opportunity to speak on matters of interest with respect to the MLP. No one in attendance wished to speak.
DIRECTOR’S ITEMS
The Director introduced ENE staff for presentations on the following topics:
MLP Energy Procurement. Mr. Hebert discussed the details of the MLP’s April 12th energy solicitation. The MLP has begun the process of layering and staggering its power supply portfolio. The April 12th procurement represents the first tranche of the portfolio with subsequent purchases contemplated for the first week of June and possibly September 2007 after the end of the hurricane season.
MLP Capacity Procurement. Mr. Hebert reviewed the Bear Energy and Dominion capacity hedging opportunities. In both cases ENE’s non-firm commitments exceeded the capacity available. As a result, ENE reduced each participant’s non-firm commitment by the pro-rated percentage calculated by dividing the available capacity by the non-firm, megawatt (“MW”) commitment. Wellesley’s non-firm commitments in Bear Energy (5 MW’s) and Dominion (10 MW’s) were reduced to 3.421 MW’s and 8.1 MW’s respectively.
Demand-Side Management (“DSM”). Mr. Muro reviewed current energy conservation programs ENE administers for the MLP. ENE has actively assisted the MLP in the implementation of the Appliance Rebate Program and has performed more than 80 residential audits in Wellesley during the past four years. Mr. Muro discussed the growth of ENE’s energy and water conservation business in Massachusetts, Connecticut and other areas in New England. ENE is of the opinion that its DSM program will continue its rapid growth over the next five years.
Minutes of Municipal Light Board Meeting: May 14, 2007 Page 1
ENE Ownership. Mr. Swift reviewed the formation of ENE in 1998. Currently ENE’s membership is limited to the Braintree Electric Light Department, Taunton Municipal Lighting Plant and Connecticut Municipal Electric Energy Cooperative; each owning a one-third share. The three existing members have extended a 5% ownership interest to four electric municipalities:
· Belmont;
· Concord;
· Hingham; and
· Wellesley.
Mr. Swift stated that these municipalities were selected because of existing shared values and all four were considered to be well run. Mr. Swift detailed ENE’s future business plans and expressed the belief that the $150,000 investment for a 5% ownership share was in Wellesley’s best interest.
The Board asked Mr. Swift a number of questions regarding ENE’s growth, potential liability, governance and time commitments. After a lengthy question and answer period, Mr. Kingsley left the meeting at 7:12 PM. Mr. Charlton thanked ENE for an informative presentation; Mr. Swift, Mr. Hebert and Mr. Muro left the meeting at 7:28 PM.
The Board discussed the benefits and drawbacks of ENE’s ownership proposal and asked the Director to place the ownership vote on the June 12th Board Agenda.
Site Remediation. Mr. Charlton discussed the status of the PCB site remediation and the need to select a qualified excavation/disposal contractor in June in order to comply with the MLP’s garage and warehouse construction schedule. The Board asked that the site remediation bid solicitation be placed on the Board Agenda for the June 12th meeting.
ADJOURNMENT
The Board Meeting was adjourned at 8:06 PM.
Respectfully submitted,
__________________________
Michael D. Humphrys, Secretary
Minutes of Municipal Light Board Meeting: May 14, 2007 Page 2
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