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The board approved the 2018 budget and dues. ERMU's 2018 MMTG annual dues will <br /> be $6,549 which is calculated based on 2016 peak demand. ERMU's 2016 peak demand <br /> was 64MW, or 8.2%of the 783MW MMTG demand total. <br /> MMTG has six transmission zonal funds which accumulated through zonal fees over the <br /> past years. Like in 2017, there are no zonal fees in the 2018 MMTG budget. ERMU and <br /> Willmar Utilities are the only two of the 51 members who fall into the Great River <br /> Energy(GRE)zonal "bucket." The MMTG GRE zonal bucket is currently funded at <br /> $108,230. Our zonal bucket accounts for 26%of the total zonal funds. The GRE zonal <br /> load accounts for 15.6% of the total MMTG load. These funds are reserved for <br /> transmission or MISO related litigation/regulatory costs. ERMU is well positioned <br /> through MMTG to address transmission and MISO issues. <br /> Bob Jablon and Steve Pearson of Spiegel &McDiarmid were the guest speakers for the <br /> MMTG meeting. Bob and Steve provided updates on EPA, transmission rate of return, <br /> behind the meter verse transmission node issues, and natural gas issues which may <br /> impact the transmission system. <br /> • While attending the MMTG 2017 Annual Meeting in Austin, I had the opportunity to <br /> tour their recently constructed Austin Utilities (AU)building. AU provides electric, <br /> water, and natural gas services to Austin and the surrounding area. <br /> With the exception of the natural gas utility, AU is very similar to ERMU in size. AU <br /> serves approximately 12,000 customers in a community with a population of 23,000 <br /> people. Their new 104,000 square foot building is home to all operations, 80 employees, <br /> and 63 vehicles. The building is set on 23 acres and had a total construction cost of$16 <br /> million. I was able to take lots of pictures and ask lots of questions. When ERMU is <br /> closer to building a new field services building, it would be beneficial to tour the AU <br /> building with our field services building committee. <br /> • I held a quarterly meeting with Ryan Hentges, Minnesota Valley Electric Cooperative <br /> (MVEC) CEO/President, on November 1. We had discussed National Information <br /> Systems Cooperative (NISC), CIP, new technologies, legislative advocacy, and industry <br /> trends. We also discussed pre-paid electric meters. We had started having these meetings <br /> last year which have produced great discussion on our areas of alignment. <br /> • The Wage &Benefits Committee (W&BC) met on November 3 to review benchmarking <br /> data and employee requests submitted for consideration during the October 10 W&BC <br /> meeting. The W&BC will meet again on November 27 to have follow up discussion on <br /> these topics and determine recommendations for the Commission. During the November <br /> 27 meeting, the W&BC will also review cost of living adjustment(COLA) and consumer <br /> price index data(CPI). The W&BC will make recommendations on these topics to the <br /> Commission on December 12 for consideration in the 2018 budget. <br /> • I attended my first American Public Power Association(APPA)Reliable Public Power <br /> Provider(RP3) Panel grading session as an official panel member. This grading session <br /> was held in Fort Collins, CO. As you may recall, I had been nominated and elected to <br /> serve a 2-year term on this panel earlier this year and am one of 18 panelists servicing <br /> Page 2 of 3 <br /> 86 <br />