5.2. ERMUSR 07-15-2014 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Cyber and Physical Security: Another major discussion point was security. Theresa Payton, Former White House Chief Information Officer to President George W. Bush, gave a presentation on cyber security. There were multiple breakout sessions regarding cyber security as well as physical security. This is a very important topic for public power providers and our customers. These presentations generated much discussion and have given staff ideas to strategically plan for the ever changing challenges of cyber and physical security. Staff has discussed these presentations with City IT staff and will look to propose policies and adopt practices to better protect our customers from cyber and physical attacks. Strategic Planning: This is the process performed by organization's key stakeholders to develop defined organizational direction/goals and a roadmap to get there. Typically this is establishing a path for the future of the organization looking out a decade or so identifying and planning for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT). Strategic thinking is very different from operational thinking, which focuses on successfully running a smooth and efficient organization over short term. Both strategic thinking and operation thinking are very important and will play key roles in the long term success of ERMU. Traditionally companies use outside facilitators for their strategic planning. ERMU has been in a unique transition where the strategic issues have risen to the front burner and we've been addressing them one by one: company structure, labor and compensation, wholesale power contract, water and electric distribution system upgrades,billing and customer service software upgrade, electric service territory, etc... In the future, after working through some of these major strategic issues, the Utilities should pull back and perform a more traditional strategic planning session. Utilities Commission Governance: Just as with any job,understanding the responsibility and expectations associated with that job is essential to be effective and successful. In particular,the fiduciary responsibilities of the Commission relating to compliance with legal requirements, protection of assets, and accurate accounting and reporting of financial transactions and conditions, are critical responsibilities for the Utilities Commission to understand because these responsibilities are non-delegable. The Commissioners are personally responsible for these. The Commission is also indirectly responsible for the performance, accomplishments, and method those accomplishments are achieved. These responsibilities are typically delegated to the General Manager. Also important for effective governance are clearly defined guidelines for the relationship with management, governance evaluations, and industry training. I am currently serving on the executive board of directors for the Minnesota Municipal Utilities Association(MMUA). The staff at MMUA has created a Board Member Resource Manual as a guide for their board members. This manual has proven to be very useful for me in understanding my role in that organization as well as knowing my legal and ethical responsibilities to the membership. Based on the MMUA manual, staff is working on developing an ERMU Commission Handbook for the Commission to consider for adoption. This handbook should help new and existing Commissioners be informed on their fiduciary responsibilities and legal requirements for things like conflicts of interest, open meeting law, and data practices. After this proposed handbook is reviewed by legal counsel, staff will bring it to the Commission. Contingent upon Commission support, the Commission would be requested to provide feedback POWERED DC 1 ,* 3 of 4 NATURE Reliable Public Power Provider P O W E R E D T o S e 74