At the September Board of Water, Electric and Communications Trustee’s meeting, the Trustees learned of additional delays in the Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO) definitive planning process (DPP) for the interconnection of the Solar 1 project. The DPP evaluates utilities’ interconnections of new generation to the power grid and is a required step to ensure reliability and stability in the transmission and distribution of energy.
To date, the DPP timeline has slipped 27 months. These delays are affecting progress on Muscatine Power and Water’s (MPW) planned solar development, Muscatine Solar 1. Currently, MPW leadership is pursuing innovative approaches to avoid further delays. Three alternatives have been identified and are being investigated to determine costs and feasibility.
“We recognize that MISO has a very difficult task in studying the impacts of a large queue of potential projects, but the continued delays have significantly impacted our project’s timeline. While our team is frustrated by the delays in the MISO DPP process and the progress of MPW’s solar installation,” shared General Manager Gage Huston, “we are pushing for timely solutions to diversify MPW’s power portfolio, meet our energy goals, and serve our customers with sustainable power.”
Utility leadership provided updates on the Lead and Copper Rule Improvements (LCRI), a new rule proposed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in November 2023. Key provisions of the proposed rule include requiring utilities, like MPW, to identify all water service lines constructed with lead or galvanized steel. The proposed rule sets forth a target of replacing all identified lead and galvanized service lines. While MPW is required as a public water utility to identify lead pipes, the Utility needs customer assistance to complete this task.
MPW has sent out letters and emails to customers to targeted areas of the community where lead pipes are believed to be in service. Customers who have received communications from the Utility are asked to respond by October 4, 2024, so a comprehensive inventory can be completed by the October 16 deadline. “We appreciate how responsive our customers are in providing feedback and assistance and we’re looking forward to their continued help with this task,” Huston added.
The Trustees and MPW leadership went into two separate closed sessions to discuss video service and the beginning of collective bargaining negotiations. No action was taken at this time on either topic.
MPW net income for the August of $794,000 was $368,000 above budget, with the Electric Utility performing well above budget and the Water and Communications utilities being slightly below budget. For the year through August, MPW results are significantly better than budget – $3.3 million of net income versus a planned loss of $2.7m. Lower purchased electric energy prices and higher interest income were primary reasons. With the lower purchased energy costs, the energy adjustment clause will be below 0.1¢ per kWh for the five months ended in October.
In other board business, the Trustees:
- Approved payment for August 2024 expenditures and transactions totaling $9,279,599.69.