6.1a ERMUSR 03-13-2017 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Elk River Municipal Utilities UTILITIES COMMISSION MEETING TO: FROM: Elk River Municipal Utilities Commission Troy Adams, P.E.—General Manager John Dietz—Chair Al Nadeau—Vice Chair Daryl Thompson—Trustee MEETING DATE: AGENDA ITEM NUMBER: March 13, 2017 6.1a SUBJECT: Staff Updates—General Manager DISCUSSION: • The Board of Directors of the Minnesota Municipal Power Agency(MMPA)met on February 28, 2017 in Shakopee,Minnesota. Shakopee Energy Park entered commercial operation on February 14, 2017. The project was completed a month and a half early. The Board reviewed the progress of member cities in rolling out the Clean Energy Choice program to residential customers. The Board also discussed the status of the renewable projects that the Agency is pursuing. • The 2017 American Public Power Association(APPA)Legislative Rally was held in Washington D.C.February 27—March 2,2017. I attended this event with Tom Sagstetter. There were approximately 50 public power representatives from Minnesota this year including staff from Minnesota Municipal Utilities Association(MMUA). We were able to meeting with our Senators and our Congressman with small groups of constituents. The MMUA and APPA position statements are attached for your reference. The four key issues for Minnesota public power utilities this year are: o Preservation of tax-exempt municipal bond financing. o Preservation of local control over pole attachments. o Preservation of local control over distributed generation. o Protecting the interests of the Western Area Power Administration(WAPA)customers. ERMU is not directly impacted by the concerns involving WAPA,however,other member of MMPA would be and therefore this indirectly affects ERMU. The preservation of tax-exempt municipal bond financing is of highest concern due to imminent tax reform efforts. Our concerns were well received by our elected officials.And,we asked Congressman Emmer to sign onto a letter supporting our position addressed to Congressman Kevin Brady(TX),the Chair of the Ways and Means Committee of the House of Representatives. During the APPA Legislative Conference each member utility can authorized a representative to vote on policy during the Legislative and Resolutions Committee meeting. This year there were four non-controversial resolutions which all passed unanimously. The committee meeting agenda and resolutions are attached from reference. iaerEREI BY Ell Page 1 of 2 NATURE Reliable Public Power Provider POWERED T o SERVE 168