6.1a ERMUSR 02-13-2018 - Laserfiche WebLink

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since my term as MMUA President and was directly associated with the hiring a new MREA CEO, Darrick Moe. The meeting was without agenda, and held as an opportunity to develop better awareness of common ground and identify aligned goals. The primary objective of this meeting was a huge success. Additionally, I established connections with cooperatives utilizing Nation Information Solutions Cooperative (NISC) software, discussed legislative advocacy,talked metering and billing, and discussed leadership development. • On January 19, I was elected by a vote of my peers as the MMUA Government Relations Committee Chair. The Committee holds conference calls preceding and during the legislative session to organize positions on critical topics. I've succeeded Bill Schwandt, General Manager from Moorhead Public Service. • On January 26, I sat in on an interview panel for the MMUA Government Relations Director. The panel also included Jack Kegel (MMUA Executive Director), John Crooks (Shakopee Public Utilities GM and MMUA President), and Doug Carnival (Attorney at McGrannShea Carnival Straughn &Lamb, MMUA's legal counsel). Kent Sulem has accepted an offer for the position and has already started working. Kent worked with the League of Minnesota Cities and the Minnesota Association of Townships during the past 25 years. And this will be his 20th session of lobbying at the Capitol. • Last year Minnesota Representative Cal Bahr of District 31B had authored a bill that would allow large electrical customers to purchase electricity from any supplier. The intent is basically third party sales under the cover of customer choice. This did not pass. In a proactive effort to provide Rep Bahr and others with"main street" examples of how this type of legislation would impact communities and Minnesota, representatives from Xcel, Connexus,Minnesota Power, GRE, MREA, MMUA, MMPA, and ERMU met with Rep Bahr on February 5. It was intentionally a small and informal meeting with few than a dozen people in attendance. The meeting was successful in delivering our concerns with the past bill language. I feel that our message was well received by Rep Bahr. • The Minnesota Public Utilities Commission filing for the electric service territory boundary change resulting from the September 2017 Connexus Areas 3& 4 transfer has been completed. I'll bring back the formal response letter from the MPUC for the Commission to receive at a future meeting. It is expected to be approved without question as this is non-controversial, mutually filed by ERMU and Connexus, and similar to the past boundary changes for Areas 1 &2 previously approved. • I have completed annual Performance Evaluations for my direct reports. • Mark Fuchs and I conducted interviews for the Inventory&Procurement Foreperson position on February 7, five interviews in total. The position is expected to be filled before the March Commission meeting. • I have worked with staff on the final distribution vs transmission allocations for costs associated with the Waco 2 Substation project. This allocation plays a significant part in future revenues associated with our MISO Attachment 0 filing. Theresa Slominski, our Page 2 of 3 152