HomeMy WebLinkAbout9 Electric Dept Budget Agenda Item # I
Memorandum
To: Board of Directors
From: Peter Holzmeister
Date: May 30, 2003
Subject: Amendment to Electric Department Budget for 2003
WHY THIS MATTER IS BEFORE THE BOARD:
This item involves possible amendment to the electric portion of the District budget for
2003. Only the Board can amend the budget.
HISTORY:
During the fall of 2002 when we were reviewing the draft budget I presented it as a bare
bones budget. We also talked about it as an interim budget. We talked about the huge
unknowns at the time the budget was being prepared. With respect to the electric
portion of the budget, the big unknown was the cost to terminate the IDACORP Energy
contract. We needed to raise $26 million and enter into a new power supply contract.
Those unknowns are now resolved.
The budget I submitted for your consideration in the fall of 2002 eliminated a few
operating programs that are high priority and should be reinstated once we have the
financial ability to do so. I eliminated funds for tree trimming, hoping that our crews
could perform that work. I eliminated funds for pole testing with the idea that we would
resume next year. I eliminated funds for pole clearing for one year. I eliminated a
request for additional staff.
NEW INFORMATION:
Resolving the power supply issues turned our fairly
favorable, given the potential for a very bad situation to
develop. We can now see that the restoration of some
previously eliminated funds to the electric department
would be appropriate.
Attached are memoranda from Jim Wilson and Ian Fitzgerald describing activities that
would be most beneficial as we move forward.
i
RECOMMENDATION:
I recommend that the Electric Department Budget for 2003 be amended as follows:
Tree Trimming Add $60,000
Pole Clearing Add $15,000
Pole testing Add $25,000
One groundman position for half a year Add $31,000
Outage management system Transfer from Budget for Aerial Photography and 3-
dimensional Iidar data (no increase in budget),
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Memo
To: Peter Holz er
From: Jim Wilson
Date: May 29, 20OU
Subject: Budget
During the initial preparation of the 2003 annual electric department budget, some
line items were removed until power purchase issues could be resolved. Since those
issues have now been resolved there are four line items in the operations budget that
I would like to address.
1. Tree trimming. I would like to add $60,000 for line clearance /tree
trimming in the operations budget. In the past we have budgeted $40,000
per year to do hazard tree removal. While tree removal has been
necessary, we need to begin a fire prevention, line clearance/tree
trimming program that will help reduce the Districts fire liability and meet
the requirements of the CDF.
2. Pole Clearing. I would like to add $15,000 to the operations budget for
pole clearing. This is the same amount that we have budgeted in past
years to keep the brush cleared around poles. This program is also
mandated by the CDF for fire prevention.
3. Pole testing. I would like to add $25,000 to the operations budget for pole
testing. The District is in the third year of a three year contract to test
every pole within the District (as required by General Order 165). We
have budgeted $50,000 per year in each of the past two years and it was
anticipated that we would fall just short of completing our pole testing
program this year. Therefore, I would like to budget less this year and
extend the project for one more year, thereby completing the testing in the
2004 budget.
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4. Groundman. I would like to add an additional employee to the electric
crew. With the growth in the District in the past ten years we have utilized
employees from the union hail each summer. Our workload continues to
increase each year as the amount of development projects also continue
to increase. The cost of the groundman position would be $31,000 for six
months including all payroll overheads.
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