GVEA Board Meeting: Sept. 28, 2020
by Jim Schwarber
On September 28, 2020 the Golden Valley Electric Association held its monthly Directors Meeting, with member-owner access available via telephone and for the first time via Microsoft Teams. Six to ten member-owners joined via Teams and several provided comments in support of adopting On-Bill Financing plus keeping its costs to members as low as possible. Members also thanked GVEA for their GoodCents Program and for rolling out Teams.
The Board appointed and swore in Brad Benson to the vacant District 7 director seat for the term ending next June. Mr. Benson ran for Director in 2018 and served on the Member Advisory Committee. He is filling the seat previously held by Bill Nordmark, who resigned after 25 years of service. District 7 runs along the Parks Highway from mile 330, near Skinny Dick’s Halfway Inn between Fairbanks and Nenana, to mile 210 at Cantwell. More information may be found at http://blog.gvea.com/wordpress/?p=3536.
Director Chris Bunch shared a Safety Moment, focusing on winter preparations such as cleaning and tuning heating systems, checking vehicle plug-in GFI receptacles, and using timers for efficiency.
The Educational portion included two presentations. The first described the upcoming board room’s technology upgrade to improve members’ ability to attend and participate in meetings via Teams. The work will take place between the December and January 2021 board meetings. The room’s furnishings, ceiling tiles, flooring and walls will be redone as well. The old T8 lighting fixtures will be replaced with LED lighting, and GVEA memorabilia will be placed on the walls of the revamped board room. $75,000 is budgeted for this project.
On-bill financing
The second presentation featured an update on On-Bill Financing (OBF) by Kathryn Strle, GVEA’s Treasury Manager. On-bill financing is a lending program that finances energy efficiency and renewable upgrades for homes and small businesses, and incorporates repayments into the borrower’s electric bill.
This presentation follows one given to the Board in May 2020 that recommended an OBF pilot project to gather data before considering a larger scale program. Staff has completed the initial analysis for a $200,000 pilot program. The next phase is to design the pilot program. Chair Tom DeLong assigned the OBF pilot program concept to the Member Advisory Committee (MAC) for them to help flesh out the various elements with membership input. Input is being sought on the goals and objectives of the program, member eligibility, types of renewable systems or efficiency devices eligible, financing details, and evaluation criteria. GVEA staff will support the MAC as needed with this task.
Ms. Strle made a similar OBF presentation to the MAC when they met on October 14, 2020. The MAC will be setting up a task force of MAC members to begin working on a draft pilot OBF program.
Strle’s OBF report to the Board and MAC recommended four steps:
Develop the Programmatic Framework of the pilot program with input from the Member Advisory Committee.
Design the On-Bill Financing Framework of the pilot program with input from the Member Advisory Committee utilizing an outside organization such as the Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI) for assistance as needed.
If Tariffed On-Bill Financing is selected, submit a tariff filing seeking a new rule for the “On-Bill Financing Pilot Program” and receive approval from the Regulatory Commission of Alaska. Tariffed OBF ties repayment to the improved property’s electric meter; the alternative, Loan On-Bill Financing, puts repayment responsibility on the individual who applied for the loan.
Launch pilot program to gather data, testimonials and marketing material.
Member Advisory Commission term extensions
The Board adopted the consent agenda which included a one-year extension to current MAC members’ terms due to Covid. Remaining vacancies were filled by appointment as follows:
The following are Regular Seats serving a three-year term. Terms will begin Sept. 1, 2020 and expire Sept. 30, 2023.
District 3: Allison Carter
District 3: Korene Long
District 6: Bobbie Ortiz
The following are At-Large Seats serving a one-year term. Terms will begin Sept. 1, 2020 and expire Sept. 30, 2021.
District 1: Mathew Mund
District 4: Benjamin Loeffler
Other business
- The Alaska Railbelt Cooperative Transmission and Electric Company (ARCTEC) released an RFP for facilitation to develop a ‘strategic plan;’ paid for by ARCTEC.
- Director John Sloan reported on a recent meeting of the Northwest Public Power Association. 235 people attended on-line. Main topics were Covid and the wildfires in the Northwest. Some coops reported they have created funds to help impacted low-income folks pay their bills – “haves” helping those with “needs.” Former GVEA CEO Cory Borgeson, currently with the City of Seward Electric Department, joined the NWPPA board for a three year term.
- The Board adopted a change to “Policy 5.4 Equity Development” to lower its member equity ratio from a range of 30 to 40 percent to a range of 25 to 35 percent.
- GVEA is filing a flat, or no change “Simplified Rate Filing” with the RCA. This will keep the base electric rate for members unchanged for six months for the second time in a row.
- The SNAP Plus program added 37 new members in August, bringing the reported net-metering capacity to 1.49% - just shy of the previous cap of 1.5%. GVEA’s current net-metering cap is 3%. The RCA approved Homer Electric Association’s request to raise their net-metering cap from 3 to 7%.
- The Board also approved retiring this November the 1995 Capital Credits owed members that total $5 million. Many members are unaware they are owners, too.
- The Board adopted their “2020-2021 Strategic Objectives”. The 11 elements includes “Member and Community Communications” to build trust and maximize engagement with GVEA members.
- Chairman DeLong mentioned that UA Fairbanks researcher Jennifer Schmidt received a National Science Foundation grant to study the climate impacts of “rain in winter, thermokarst melting, and wildfire.” All three areas have implications for the GVEA grid and operations.
- The GoodCents Board met in August and reviewed $73,000 of requests; they awarded $31,000 of grants to community recipients such as the Alaska Health Fair and Boys and Girls Club. Details about all the grants are listed at http://blog.gvea.com/wordpress/?p=3515. They are seeking a Director to replace Tom DeLong on the GoodCents board.
The meeting adjourned at 8:30 pm.
The link to this meeting’s Board Packet is: http://www.gvea.com/images/bod/MemberBooks/September_28_2020_Member_Book.pdf
