ARIZONA POWER AUTHORITY REGULAR MEETING HELD ON JANUARY 15, 2013

Size: px

Start display at page:

Download "ARIZONA POWER AUTHORITY REGULAR MEETING HELD ON JANUARY 15, 2013"

James Malone
5 years ago
Views:

1 ARIZONA POWER AUTHORITY REGULAR MEETING HELD ON JANUARY 15, 2013 PRESENT: STAFF: OTHER: John I. Hudson, Chairman Stephen M. Brophy, Vice-Chairman Joe A. Albo, Commissioner Dalton H. Cole, Commissioner Richard S. Walden, Commissioner Joseph Mulholland, Executive Director Susan Angulo, Executive Secretary Doug Fant, General Counsel Michael Gazda, Deputy Director Marcia Kennedy, Financial Administrator Robert Nieto, IT Specialist Linda Sullivan, Utilities Rate Specialist Michael Block, Metropolitan Domestic Water Improvement Dist., AZ Cliff Cauthen, OSTBUC Dennis Delaney, K. R. Saline & Associates Ed Gerak, Buckeye Water C&DD Elston Grubaugh, Wellton-Mohawk I&DD Paul Hendricks, EVSI/RID Jim Horton, Consultant Jay Johnson, Central Arizona Project R. DeWayne Justice, Electrical District No. 7 Doug Kupel, City of Glendale Richard Lehman, Salt River Project Ron Lunt, C.A.W.C.D. Chris Lyles, Western Area Power Administration Robert Lynch, I.E.D.A. Evelyn Magnusson, Consultant Tom Martin, Electrical District No. 2

2 Page 2 Ron McEachern, Electrical District No. 4 and 5 Jean McGrath, Farm Bureau John McNeill, C.A.W.C.D. Douglas Milligan, Salt River Project Cynthia M. Moulton, C.A.W.C.D. Jay Moyes, Moyes Sellers, Ltd. Ken Saline, K. R. Saline & Associates Debbie Scherer, The Bank of New York Mellon Mike Simonton, Western Area Power Administration William Stacy, Electrical District No. 3 Elizabeth Story, Tonopah Irrigation District Jim Sweeney, Maricopa Water District Sheryl Sweeney, Ryley, Carlock & Applewhite Larry Udall, Curtis, Goodwin, Sullivan, Udall & Schwab, P.L.C. Grant Ward, Electrical District No. 3 Dwight Whitley, Arizona G & T Cooperatives CALL TO ORDER: Meeting was called to order at 10:00 a.m. at the Arizona Power Authority office Commission meeting room by Chairman John Hudson. The Pledge of Allegiance was recited. Quorum was established. All Commissioners were present. APPROVAL OF MINUTES: Motion: To approve the minutes from the December 18, 2012 Regular Commission meeting and Executive Session was made by Commissioner Richard Walden and seconded by Commissioner Dalton Cole. There was no discussion. Vote: Chairman John Hudson and Commissioners Joe Albo, Dalton Cole and Richard Walden voted aye and Vice-Chairman Stephen Brophy abstained from the vote. Resolved: Approved as stated above and the written documents are entered into the Commission records. REPORTS: Financial report given by Marcia Kennedy. December APA Operations Fund Claim 541 and Hoover Operations Fund Claims for the period December 1, 2012 through December 31, 2012 were presented. Motion: To approve the APA Operations Fund Claim and Hoover Operations Fund Claims as presented was made by Commissioner Richard Walden and seconded by Commissioner Dalton Cole. There was no discussion. Vote: Unanimous approval.

3 Page 3 Resolved: Approved as stated above and the written documents are entered into the Commission records. Report of the Executive Director, Joe Mulholland: The Executive Director reported on the Arizona Power Authority Post-2017 Hoover Allocation process and other staff activities. Topics discussed included: APA staff participated in a Western sponsored meeting regarding the allocation of Hoover D-1 Power on December 20, 2012: Doug Fant presented his view on the D-1 power being allocated to the APA, California and Nevada for sub-allocation within the states. A discussion was held on the preference that Western has decided to give to Indian Tribes in the D-1 allocation. CRC in Nevada opposes the preference to the Indian Tribes because the 2011 legislation makes no mention of such preference. On 01/11/13, APA submitted comments to Western regarding the Proposed Post-2017 Boulder Canyon Project Marketing Criteria. The Electric Cooperatives have drafted legislation for submission to the Arizona State Legislature that would require APA to give the Electric Cooperatives preference on an equal basis with districts for allocation of Hoover A power and energy. This would be a modification to ARS Section A. 1. and 2. Discussion: Status of the submission of this modification to the legislation and how the Commission should proceed on this matter. Comments were received by the Commission from Mr. Ryan Harper, Ms. Sheryl Sweeney, Mr. Jay Moyes, Ms. Jean McGrath and Mr. Jim Sweeney. Vice-Chairman Stephen Brophy and Chairman John Hudson agreed that silence from the Commission on this matter for another month would not be advantageous. Commissioner Dick Walden suggested that the Chairman consider appointing a small task force made up of two Commissioners, and possibly a couple of customers, to work on this matter and that a special meeting be held to discuss the Commission s position on this legislation. Commissioner Joe Albo commented that he is in favor of holding a special meeting to 1) discuss this matter and become more fully informed on how our current customer base feels with regard to this legislation and, 2) to obtain a copy of the draft bill so that the Commission may address this issue to give instruction to the APA staff and its lobbyist. Chairman John Hudson will direct the Executive Director as to when to hold this special meeting and send out a meeting notice. No task force will be assigned at this time.

4 Page 4 APA staff met with Western Representatives from both Washington D.C. and Phoenix with regard to Secretary Chu s memo and the Joint Outreach Team (JOT) program on December 15, 2012, with a primary focus on integrating renewables and making them available through the Western system. Discussions were held with Western on assistance of financing their future capital needs and refinancing of the Hoover Visitor Center. Deputy Director, Mike Gazda, reported on the High-flow experiment and the additional water received at Hoover Dam. He also presented the Monthly Operation report. Written reports presented will be maintained in the Commission s records. Legal report attorney Doug Fant: Regarding the Irrigation and Electrical Districts Association of Arizona (IEDA) vs. Arizona Power Authority litigation, a decision came down on December 31, 2012 found that (1) Vice-Chairman Stephen Brophy had no conflict of interest under ARS , and the Attorney General s office should release their interim opinion because it was essentially a final opinion. We have not heard from the Attorney General s office at this time. Chairman John Hudson asked Doug Fant to contact the Attorney General s office and let them know that the APA Commission would like to consult with them before they take any action at this point. The Chairman directed that if Mr. Fant has not talked to Mr. Nowlan or Mr. Grube by the end of the week, then he should send them a certified letter with this request. Vice-Chairman Stephen Brophy asked that if an Executive Session results from this request, he would appreciate being able to attend the first minute or two of the Executive Session and asked that Mr. Nowlan or Mr. Grube bring the staff communication that was ruled to be privileged to that Executive Session so that he may review the documents in Executive Session. Mr. Fant will review that request. Mr. Fant gave a status update on the NCFE Litigation. The APA submitted comments on the Western Boulder Canyon Project Marketing Criteria on Friday, January 11, 2013 and Mr. Fant gave a brief summary of the comments. BUSINESS: Consideration: The Commission considered retaining a consultant to provide recommendations to the Commission for methods to allocate Post-2017 Hoover Power and Energy to qualified applicants. Discussion: The Commission held a discussion to clarify several items listed in the Request for Proposal document:

5 Page 5 Add a disclosure statement on whether the consultant has had a prior or existing relationship with a current recipient of Hoover power or a potential applicant for an allocation of Post-2017 Hoover power. Leave in the requirement to determine if Hoover power was of adequate or short supply. Review of Marketing Area within the state of Arizona for consideration and decision by the Commission. Discussion of the definition/difference of equitably and equable as indicated in APA regulations and in the RFP. Has the hiring of a consult been included in the APA budget and how will the APA pay for this expense? The Executive Director suggested that the Commission borrow the money from the APA Fund and pay it back with a portion of the Revenues collected post Hold a mandatory pre-proposal meeting with interested parties to help clarify inconsistencies in the document before it is distributed and to also find out who is interested and potentially qualified for selection. Discussed list of potential consultant applicants and distribution of the RFP. Motion: To adopt the Request for Proposal as presented with the noted clarification on the disclosure statement and to appoint Commissioner Dalton Cole as the lead Commissioner in managing the process was made by Vice-Chairman Stephen Brophy and seconded by Commissioner Richard Walden. Mr. Doug Fant asked to have the change in the RFP document clarified for the record. The Executive Secretary stated that the disclosure language would be added to Page 7, Requirements, Bullet-point #4 to make this item a disclosure obligation rather than a prohibition on the front side. There was no further discussion. Vote: Unanimous approval. Resolved: Approved as stated above and entered into the Commission records. Consideration: MSCP First Supplement to Trust Indenture and Joint Payment Agreement. Discussion: The Executive Director informed the Commission that Marcia Kennedy had requested and recently received this agreement, which the Executive Director believes will be distributed to all Arizona participants in the MSCP Program. Mr. Jay Johnson, General Counsel from Central Arizona Project, stated that he was principally responsible for this document and he gave a brief explanation as to why this document was created. Mr. Johnson further stated that this document was prepared for remedial expenditures and stated this would entail minimal changes. Mr. Johnson offered to meet with the Executive Director the APA Independent Counsel to review this agreement. The Executive Director clarified that the proposed Addendum to the MSCP Agreement does not require the Power Authority to pay additional costs if another participant should not pay its share.

6 Page 6 EXECUTIVE SESSION FUTURE REGULAR COMMISSION MEETING: Motion: To authorize an Executive Session for the next regular Commission Meeting, if necessary was made by Commissioner Richard Walden and seconded by Vice-Chairman Stephen Brophy. There was no discussion. Vote: Unanimous approval. Resolved: Approved as stated above and entered into the Commission records. COMMISSIONERS COMMENTS: Commissioner Joe Albo asked if having a special meeting to discuss the topic of the use of water and power in Arizona might be helpful to the Commission to understand this relationship in connection with the signing of 50 year contracts. Chairman John Hudson stated that this was an important subject and that it should be its own meeting and not part of the regular monthly meeting. Commissioner Dalton Cole asked for the assistance of Vice-Chairman Stephen Brophy to work with him and the APA staff on the RFP. Vice-Chairman Stephen Brophy agreed to work on this matter. Vice-Chairman Stephen Brophy asked Commissioner Joe Albo to elaborate on his request to have a special meeting regarding the relationship of water and power uses in Arizona. Commissioner Joe Albo stated that our customers could discuss what their needs would be in terms of both water and power as the Commission goes into the Post-2017 Allocation Process. Issues have developed with CAP water, where it is going, what has happened with the legislation that is diverting that water going to the tribes versus traditional customers and what impact that would have on APA customers and power needs in the future. He believes that this is something that the Commission needs to be aware of as it enters the Post-2017 Allocation Process. Conferences could be held where customers could make presentations on their plans to deal with water and power, etc. The previous conferences focused on the power part of the equation, but not on the water part. A date will be scheduled shortly for this meeting and a notice will be distributed. VISITORS COMMENTS: Mr. Robert Lynch commented on the existing rate case for Intertie. Mr. Jay Moyes commented on the bond financing issue. Commissioner Dalton Cole then asked if the lead person from Van Scoyoc Associates Inc. had left the firm. The Executive Director stated that Kevin Francis Kelly has left. Our lead person is Kevin Patrick Kelly and the Executive Director has spoken to him about this tax exempt provision that is very important to our future. He will talk to Mr. Kelly again about this matter and will ensure that our team is working on this legislation.

7 Page 7 EXECUTIVE SESSION TODAY S MEETING: Chairman John Hudson stated that an Executive Session would not be necessary today. ADJOURNMENT: Motion: To adjourn the regular meeting of the Arizona Power Authority Commission was made by Commissioner Richard Walden and seconded by Commissioner Dalton Cole. There was no discussion. Vote: Unanimous approval. Resolved: Approved as stated above and entered into the Commission records. The meeting was adjourned at 11:55 a.m. ATTEST: Chairman Secretary NOTE: A recording of the Arizona Power Authority Commission meeting may be heard at the office of the Arizona Power Authority during normal business hours. Please contact the Arizona Power Authority Executive Secretary at

REGULAR MEETING OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS October 3, 2013

REGULAR MEETING OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS October 3, 2013 The regular meeting of the Central Arizona Project ( CAWCD or CAP ) Board of Directors was called to order by President Pamela Pickard on October