HomeMy WebLinkAbout15 Public Hearing Notice Disctrict Code Miscellaneous Fees Changes
AGENDA ITEM #15
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MEETING DATE: June 2, 2021
TO: Board of Directors
FROM: Michael Salmon, CFO
SUBJECT: Notice a Public Hearing on July 7, 2021 related to changes
to District Code, Appendix C, Miscellaneous Fees.
APPROVED BY______________________________
Brian C. Wright, Interim General Manager/
Water Utility Director
RECOMMENDATION:
Notice a public hearing for July 7, 2021 for changes to District Code, Appendix C,
Miscellaneous Fees the purpose of receiving input on the adoption of a) a flat fee for
Residential Solar installations and b) New account setup, removing the $30 Discount for
Last Meter Read.
BACKGROUND:
It is the Board's purview to conduct public hearings. Establishing a Public Notice provides
the District’s customers advance opportunity to provide written and oral comments to the
Board regarding the adoption of certain ordinance of the District. The Public Hearing Notice
was will be advertised in the Sierra Sun Newspaper.
The Board periodically reviews and updates the District Code to include new or changed
Board policies, new applicable laws, regulations and District procedures. Modification to
District Code and fees is solely within the purview of the Board. Board action is required to
make changes to District Code. Staff has identified two recommend changes to District
Cod, Appendix C, Miscellaneous Fees.
Flat Fee for Residential Solar Connections
The District is currently performing a residential solar installs throughout our service
territory. In 2020, the District received 25 applications and in 2019, the District received 11
applications.
The District is anticipating an increase in solar connections due to the State of California’s
solar requirements for all new single family residences to install solar.
Process:
Solar application and engineering design is received
$500.00 deposit is collected
Billable work order is created
Engineer reviews and approves the project
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Electrician inspects project upon customer request
Meter is reconfigured for solar net metering
Engineer gives Town of Truckee approval to final solar permit
Work order is closed out
Final invoice is created and customer is billed or refund check is issued
Staff has requested that a flat fee be established for residential solar connections to
increase efficiency. These services are routinely done and billed to customers on a time
and materials basis. To install a residential solar meter, staff is recommending a flat fee of
$550.
Install Solar
Time & Materials
Costs
Proposed Fixed Charge
Average $510.29
$550.00 Maximum $801.32
Minimum $211.10
Other agencies within California have similar programs and use flat rates to charge their
customers for connections:
Lodi Electric - Effective July 1, 2020 – June 30, 2021
o Single Phase (60 to 200 Amp): $ 676
o Three Phase (200 to 400 Amp): $ 1,126
o Three Phase (>400 Amp): Actual cost based on time and material
Lassen Municipal Utility District
o Single Phase: $300
o Three Phase & Above Commercials: $700
Roseville Electric Utility
o One Rate for Both Single Phase & Three Phase: $811
Account, new account setup, removing the $30 discount for last read
The new account setup, electric and water, fee has remained at $60 for over a decade.
The fee schedule included a ‘$30 discount for last read’ which was established to provide a
discount when a customer chose the bill cycle read date rather than their move in date.
This avoided an additional trip to the service location for the PUD to obtain a reading from
the meter. At present, there is no cost savings to the District by offering a last read to a
customer as our AMI meter infrastructure provides a daily read remotely.
With the District’s investment in new meter technology, we no longer have the need to
physically go to a property and read a meter. While the cost of this meter read is no longer
incurred, the cost of software licensing and establishing a new account remains above the
$60 fee charged. We estimate on average minimum of 1.2 hours to establish a new
account (electric and water) for a customer. At current customer service representative
average rate of pay plus payroll overhead costs, a new account setup averages a cost of
$75.98. This does not include cost burdens for software/hardware systems or facilities.
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While cost analysis justifies an increase in the $60, we do not recommend an increase to
the fee at this time, due in large part to the continued pandemic.
We are recommending the following edit to the Miscellaneous Fees:
Account, new account setup, electric and water (no charge for automatic transfers, no
special read) $60.
Objectives and Goals
These items are in support of the following objectives and goals identified by the District:
1.05.020 Objectives:
4. Provide reliable and high quality electric supply and distribution system to meet
current and future needs.
6. Manage the District in an effective, efficient and fiscally responsible manner.
1.05.030 Goals:
1. Responsibly serve the public.
1.4. Develop and implement high standards of customer service.
6. Manage the District in an effective, efficient and fiscally responsible manner.
6.6. Develop appropriate financial procedures to assure responsible financial
management.
FISCAL IMPACT:
For Flat Fee for Residential Solar Connections, the direct financial impact is difficult to
quantify. For customers, some will pay slightly more, many slightly less, all will benefit
from a more streamlined process and known up front cost for solar. For District staff,
there will be operational efficiency improvements in processing Residential Solar, with an
estimated 3-4 hours per. This will improve customer service and allow for resources shift
to other duties.
For the new account setup fee, the $30 last read fee represented less than 2% of all total
setup fees in 2015 and 2016. For 2017 to present, that number represented less than 1%
of all setup fees. There are less than 25 customers impacted in any given year from an
average of 1,230 new accounts set up per year. For customers, this represents a minimal
impact. For District staff, this streamlines the process, standardizing a $60 setup fee for all
new customers.
ATTACHMENTS: