[9:18] Good

[9:22] afternoon. Now I'll tap. Do I have to say one, two, three?

[9:31] I call this meeting to order. Thank you very much for coming. Tuesday, January 21st. At this time, I will ask for the invocation and pledge of allegiance. We have invocation is Father Morning here.

[9:58] Psalm 46.

[10:00] be still and know that I am God. Let us pray.

[10:11] God, please help us to be still and

[10:12] recognize that you are the Lord, supreme among the nations, supreme on the

[10:17] earth. May we have malice toward none, charity for all, furnace in the right as

[10:23] you give us to see justice and right. In your wisdom you set human kinds to

[10:29] care for creation. Give our local leaders here present wisdom and concern for the common

[10:36] good. Send wisdom from heaven to all here present to be with us that we may know what is right

[10:43] and know what your designs are.

[10:47] Please God bless our community. You are the God in whom we trust

[10:51] who lives and reigns forever and ever. Amen.

[10:58] I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of

[11:02] America and to your public for which it stands on the nation under God, indivisible with liberty

[11:10] and justice for all.

[11:13] Thank you very much.

[11:19] Do we have any changes to the agenda?

[11:22] Madam Chair, I do have a request to add an item of urgency. It would be an item four to the

[11:35] closed session agenda under conference with legal counsel, existing litigation, pursuant

[11:40] to government code 54956.9, Taylor versus IID, case number ECU, 003914 and Imperial

[11:51] County Superior Court. This issue came to the attention of the district after the posting

[11:56] of the agenda and there is a sense of urgency in discussing this.

[12:02] This would require an emotion to add and a for-fist vote in the affirmative.

[12:10] Second,

[12:13] if I could move to amend your motion, or if you could entertain this, which is

[12:19] moving item 2 under consent to after item number 7 in action, we have a presentation on

[12:26] that.

[12:31] Okay, so I have a motion.

[12:33] Do I have a motion then to amend that?

[12:38] I'll make the motion with the amendment.

[12:42] Second.

[12:43] Okay.

[12:45] So before we vote on that, just for clarification, we are adding to the closed session agenda.

[12:53] And then in addition to that, we are moving item number two in consent, and that will go before the public rate hearing.

[13:18] I

[13:23] know this is an important board meeting so I want to just reiterate because I know we have a sensitive topic before we go to public comments.

[13:35] The very beginning will be on general topics.

[13:39] And then the public comments regarding the public rate hearing will then be heard later before the public rate hearing.

[13:49] If that makes sense just because I don't want you to think that you are not going to be heard.

[13:53] Also, I would like to entertain a motion from the board if it is a sports pleasure.

[13:58] Not for general comments, but when we do get to the public rate hearing.

[14:02] I would like to strictly state, strictly enforce the three-minute rule.

[14:08] However, we also have a 20-minute cap that we normally impose.

[14:14] At this point in time, I hope it is our pleasure to hear everybody that has something

[14:19] to say.

[14:20] Do away with that 20-minute cap and let everybody speak that wishes to speak, however,

[14:26] staying within that three-minute allotment for each person.

[14:30] So moved.

[14:31] Second.

[14:32] Thank you.

[14:33] All those in favor?

[14:34] Hi.

[14:34] Okay, that carries.

[14:37] At this time, public comments, Mr. Holbrook?

[14:40] Thank you, we have a few public comments and our general public comments.

[14:44] The first is for Mr. Peter Rodriguez.

[14:50] Be nice to meet Peter, this is my first meeting up here as chairwoman.

[14:55] Good afternoon, board.

[14:57] Good afternoon chair, Madam Chair.

[15:00] Well, of course, I'd be nice to meet you. Congratulations for being Madam Chair. Happy New Year to you as well.

[15:08] My comment, our public comment is pretty brief and simple.

[15:17] It's about the ECA and the plan to establish ECA that you guys over-collected in the plan to re-establish, to give it back to the brake pairs.

[15:29] At the last meeting we have for the proposed rate, the time frame of two to three years was given.

[15:35] I found that inappropriate and not sympathetic to our rate pairs.

[15:42] You have the ability to collect as the bill is charged.

[15:45] You have the ability to give it back, you should not take two to three years.

[15:51] I believe the form that you gave me was the numbers were not accurate, I believe there's more funding to it.

[15:56] and I'll put a number to it and you guys can correct it if I'm wrong, it's probably about 200 to 250 million, but there's another thing that's more important.

[16:07] In our constitution, we're allowed to have freedom of speech three weeks ago.

[16:13] One of your board members called me and warned me about my comments and speech.

[16:19] Since that time I've had several members in public review my public comments to see if I've been out of line.

[16:25] I mean, the seven people that I selected, none of them gave me any negative feedback

[16:33] of comments regardless and I could tell you right now Madam Chair is not you, is not

[16:38] the director of your annual and obviously he's not the director of a check-all.

[16:41] I ask that you as a board take this matter seriously.

[16:46] All of us here as public and citizens are allowed to get up here and make their public comment.

[16:50] We may agree and disagree, but we are allowed to make comments about being pressured to say, do not speak anymore.

[17:01] That is my comment to you.

[17:03] Thank you.

[17:03] Thank you, Mr. Rodriguez.

[17:06] The next public comment is for Mr. Skye, Ainsworth.

[17:14] Good afternoon, Mr. Ainsworth.

[17:17] Good afternoon.

[17:18] My name is Skye Ainsworth.

[17:19] I'm a resident of El Centro.

[17:22] I'm an Army veteran, also a member of the electricians union here, Local 569.

[17:34] I've also done work with the local Democratic Committee.

[17:37] I'm coming to you today to speak or ask, who is this individual Peter Rodriguez?

[17:43] Because my first encounter with Mr. Rodriguez was a couple years ago with a group project Lindsey Dale

[17:47] was running with the registrar of the voters for voter outreach around 2018.

[17:53] He emailed the group, insulting Mrs. Dale.

[17:56] I demand an apology, none was given.

[17:58] Later, I attended County Supervisor and IED meetings

[18:00] and watched Mr. Rodriguez come to public comments

[18:02] and make statements about that sounded since here at first.

[18:05] Then reference random news stories until he would add in things

[18:08] like someone could come in here with a gun or a bomb.

[18:11] And reference to security measures for both meetings.

[18:13] He would insult members of the board.

[18:15] He would assault people in the community, including me.

[18:17] I became concerned about Mr. Rodriguez's behavior

[18:19] and then saw that he was posting on Facebook

[18:21] to the Ransom Raids Imperial counting group,

[18:23] hosted by Michael D.C.

[18:25] No one knows his identity, stating around 2013,

[18:29] and in the Ransom Raids group started allowing people

[18:33] to, basically, material that's sexist, racist,

[18:39] bigot in some cases, I tried to reach out to say

[18:43] that potentially he's saying things that could get him put on a police watch list.

[18:48] No action was taken.

[18:50] Later on, I spoke to Marcia Cardinist Singh about Mr. Rodriguez's behavior, how it's a little

[18:55] embarrassing to his family, no action was taken.

[19:00] About a month ago, I was informed that Mr. Rodriguez has been emailing female people in the

[19:05] community, hinting at trying to be a wealthy person and offering financial support to them.

[19:11] My general question is, what is going on with Mr. Rodriguez?

[19:14] Is he mentally unwell?

[19:16] Are we supposed to ignore his behavior?

[19:18] Does his family not care about him and allows him to go out in public unsupervised, saying random things and sometimes threatening statements?

[19:25] Is behavioral health aware of him and advising law enforcement and security personnel on how to handle him?

[19:30] Should members of the public be made aware of him before he messages under the random woman offering financial support?

[19:35] Thank you.

[19:35] The

[19:41] next comment is from Ms. Mary Helen McCombs.

[19:49] Can you please, only because we do have a camera and everybody that's on Zoom.

[19:53] You know, I have millions of followers, they're listening.

[19:56] Okay, maybe not millions.

[19:59] I don't think we have that many people in the Imperial County.

[20:03] My question is to the maintenance situation.

[20:08] We need to be self-sustaining and totally independent as a county.

[20:14] from pursuit, from any of the other electric companies that may be out there.

[20:21] And in order to be self-sustaining, is there a list of repairs and maintenance projects with estimated costs

[20:29] and done in the order of importance, and is it possible to have a copy of that and view it?

[20:35] With a reference to particularly the power projects, the central plant that needs a tremendous

[20:43] amount of maintenance, the Yucca plant and Yuma, the hydroelectric drops that provide much

[20:50] of our power, and the K-line and the R-line, just to begin looking at how can we, as a utility,

[21:02] be totally self-sustaining and independent from other entities if it became necessary to

[21:10] turn the switch off.

[21:12] So that we have power for air conditioning in the summer or heating in the winter.

[21:19] That's my question.

[21:21] And I'd like someone to call me and at least give me some kind of an answer to that question.

[21:29] And I think everyone needs to know what are we?

[21:32] That $1.3 billion, I understand, and I think it's valid that we absolutely must do something to become very much self-sustaining and independent.

[21:48] And we don't need to be wasting any money, we've already wasted enough and put things off that should have been taken care of a long time ago.

[21:58] Thank you.

[21:59] Thank you very much for comments before you leave. Can you just one more time state your name for the record?

[22:03] Mary Helen McCombs.

[22:05] Thank you very much.

[22:09] And the final speaker for this portion of public comment is Mr. Nate Fairman.

[22:17] Good afternoon, Nate.

[22:18] Hello. Nate Fairman from IBW Local 465. I represent 900 frontline workers at the IED.

[22:25] I'm also rate payer at our Imperial Valley office.

[22:27] Three quick things today. I'd like to start off by saying congratulations to chairwoman Gina

[22:32] and a doc-steader, congratulations to the new director,

[22:34] Mr. Pacheco.

[22:36] We look forward to working with you

[22:37] to meet the needs of your employees and our communities.

[22:41] Number two, I wanted to follow up on the meter tech issue

[22:43] I brought up last month in La Quinta.

[22:45] There was a 5% shortfall on their desk audit.

[22:48] When we look at their pay, it is clear that the duties

[22:50] that have been added merit the additional 5%.

[22:53] Just so we're clear, they've already been awarded a 5%,

[22:55] but the additional duties we believe it should be 10%.

[22:58] We filed a grievance for trying to settle the grievance.

[23:00] It's my first grievance in 10 years that I filed against IED, so I think there's there is merit there.

[23:06] And finally, number three, I want to talk about your treatment crews. After talking to the

[23:10] group, it's clear there's a lot of frustration there, a little background about the line clearance

[23:14] treatment crews. Back in 2019, the IBW helped pass a bill centered by, authored by Senator Bill

[23:21] Dodd, it was called SB247. That bill did a lot of work to create a statewide wildfire insurance fund,

[23:28] but it also tied the wages of our line clearance

[23:31] street trimmers in the state to that of a first step

[23:33] apprentice lineman.

[23:35] When that bill was signed into law,

[23:36] the entire industry in the state was transformed.

[23:39] The thousands of line clearance street trimmers

[23:41] in the state got access to new safety training,

[23:44] new higher pay, new retirement benefits.

[23:46] Our members at UTS and Davy Trees saw their increases

[23:49] and pay about to 40%.

[23:52] That was more in line with their actual hazards

[23:54] and the job skills that they require to do their job.

[23:57] And that is at a time, 2019, so I don't think any of these board members were here.

[24:02] The IEDs that decided to fire all of your contract tree trimming crews and bring them

[24:06] in house.

[24:07] Well you brought those workers in house at 50% lower pay than the industry standard, which

[24:11] we believe is wrong.

[24:13] We've been trying to rectify that issue for about since 2019, so about six years now.

[24:18] But we do believe that by paying your line clearance tree trimming crews about 50% lower

[24:22] than industry standard is wrong, and we'd like you to look at that.

[24:26] You've done things like red circle alignment wages, do off-cycle inequities, you've done

[24:30] stuff like that when you see a glaring issue about worker retention and we're afraid

[24:34] that the line clearance true trimming crews is the next one that you're going to see

[24:38] a mass exodus.

[24:39] So please, these skilled workers were tied to the wages in the California state law for

[24:44] a reason for that of apprentice alignment, first step apprentice alignment.

[24:48] That's because these line clearance crews were close to high voltage power lines.

[24:52] these line clearance true true trimming crews are exposed to high voltage work

[24:57] environments every single day. They go through extensive training. They made a

[25:00] presentation, they requested a desk on it and they were denied. So that's wrong.

[25:04] We'd like you to look at them, red circle them, bring their pay up to industry

[25:08] standard. We believe you need to do this or you're going to lose these workers.

[25:11] They're holding on hoping that they're going to get looked at but we can't hold on

[25:15] for much longer and I don't want to see the district be without line clearance

[25:18] street treatment workers. Thank you. Thank you.

[25:24] So anymore. Chair doxdator, I think we're having a

[25:28] problem with technology. I think we're not live streaming. We've received a complaint. We take

[25:33] just a really quick break and make sure that that's assessed and rectified. Yes, thank you very

[25:38] much. Appreciate it. I'm in again, so I can get on the ground.

[25:45] Your selfie will have to suffice

[25:47] expect there. Sorry.

[25:51] It's you and you're ready. Let us know.

[25:54] Is there a second set of?

[25:58] Yes, I have you specifically.

[26:00] I think you put in for the right hearing.

[26:04] So.

[26:05] We.

[26:10] The.

[26:15] We

[26:33] see that.

[27:29] You're very welcome.

[27:30] All right. Let's bring it back.

[27:33] Thank you very much for your patience. We do want to be truly transparent. Moving on, can

[27:39] I have a motion to approve the consent agenda?

[27:43] Second. All those in favor?

[27:47] Aye.

[27:49] Okay, thank you so much. Once again, before we move on, three minute time limit. Please, no

[27:56] personal attacks. We do want to hear what you have to say. So, before we move to the public

[28:04] great hearing? Do we have any public comments?

[28:08] Yes, we have a number of comments related to this item.

[28:12] I first want to note that the district has received a number of written comments. I want to go

[28:16] through them and note that they will be made a part of the record for this hearing. We received comments

[28:22] from Philip Bencourt, Anthony Godina's Greenette, Bill Collins, Ciri Kirtan Fluk, the city of

[28:33] Clexico Resolution, comments from an e-mail of D-I-E-G-U-I-N-H-O-015 at hotmail.com,

[28:44] and no name provided. Priscilla Ariano, Bill Caldwell, in-person comments at the hearing.

[29:03] Martha

[29:03] Alex, our whole knee plus a letter received today from the leadership council for justice

[29:10] and accountability.

[29:11] So those have been received, and will be made part of the record.

[29:15] We have a number of public comments for today, and first we have Ms. Joana, or Joana,

[29:22] Clark.

[29:30] Hello, and good afternoon.

[29:32] Let's see.

[29:33] Okay.

[29:34] It's foregone that the IID will vote on this increase for the energy or for the wattage.

[29:41] And they'll probably vote yes.

[29:44] And as residents, our only option is to request a formal audit from our elected leaders so that

[29:51] we could find exactly where our funds will be distributed and how they've been distributed.

[29:58] That's all I have to say.

[30:00] Thank you very much. Next, we have Ms. Mary Helen Dolente.

[30:14] Good morning. Mary Helen Dolente,

[30:16] hopefully resident. I'm here in regard of course to this electric rate. I don't feel I feel

[30:24] that we should postpone this issue and not take a vote on it or take any action on it. This the

[30:32] The study is, you know, everything was done over the holidays.

[30:36] People weren't well informed.

[30:38] I think it was Mr. Pacheco here that led a topic or a town hall meeting regarding this

[30:45] in Calexico and not many people or board members were available to participate in that meeting

[30:52] of correct on that Mr. Pacheco.

[30:55] So this is something that I feel all of us should be all of you board members should be going out to the public and letting them know this is hard.

[31:08] This is going to be hard, especially on us, we tired people.

[31:12] I mean, this is this is to me. It's a study that is completely flawed.

[31:16] the rates seem to be invalid because they have not sufficiently established the actual cost

[31:23] of service or shown that the allocation to residential customers is just justified

[31:31] and does not include any cost that should be allocated to other customer classes.

[31:36] So what I'm here to say today, again, is that I feel

[31:41] Well, action or postponement needs to be taken place and not take a vote on it today.

[31:49] We need to get more public input.

[31:51] This is a public entity.

[31:52] We are the rate payers.

[31:54] We are the ones that put you there in those.

[31:57] We are the constituents, your voting constituents, and I don't know what you might think about

[32:03] the upcoming elections.

[32:04] Many of you are going to possibly run for re-election or for seats that will be open

[32:11] Then think about what your constituents feel about you and how this is going about.

[32:18] Again, rate increase to us retirees, it's a hard thing.

[32:23] And maybe, excuse me, maybe we also need to adjust, like the, for instance, the rates

[32:31] that when you qualify for a lower electrical charge, when looking at our bills, we pay more

[32:40] for this electric rate than we do for our usage.

[32:45] I mean, my bill this last time,

[32:47] I mean, I'm super conservative.

[32:49] You can ask my children, it's like,

[32:51] there's a fan right there, it's sit down,

[32:53] that's where you're staying.

[32:55] I'm very good about always keeping everything shut

[32:58] in the summertime, keeping the house as dark

[33:01] as I can in the winter time, put on those blankets.

[33:05] But it really for the retirees in this county,

[33:07] It's going to be hard for us, and yet we have the most power, let's see, availability.

[33:15] We have hydroelectricity as the best.

[33:17] I appreciate your comments, Mrs. Dillentier, I really do.

[33:20] I know your family.

[33:21] I appreciate your comments, but you're three minutes is that.

[33:24] Oh my God.

[33:26] No, I said, we weren't going to cap it at 20 minutes.

[33:30] We were going to have everybody have their say, so you get three minutes.

[33:36] Next,

[33:39] we have Ms. Diana Nuri-Kumball.

[34:06] Good afternoon.

[34:08] Board members, Mayor Nuri-Kumball, City of Calexico.

[34:13] First and foremost, I'd like to thank the general manager for responding to our city's

[34:18] resolution promptly.

[34:20] I just wanted to address some of the items that she addressed on in her response.

[34:28] We were requesting a workshop for our citizens mainly because a lot of our citizens are Spanish speakers and we were willing to put a location and translation to ensure that our citizens are aware about what's going on.

[34:47] But so the public workshops that were made, what was in La Quinta, so that's 83 miles away, so that's inconvenient.

[34:58] There was one in El Centro, and then the one at, in Collex ago, I want to note that that workshop was made on a holiday.

[35:10] Today, January 9th, President Carter's, it was a day of morning that was issued by the

[35:18] previous president, and also it was announced for seniors at 2 p.m. So people were told

[35:26] that they were going to receive a separate workshop for the people that work, but it looks

[35:33] like that's not going to happen. So I would request that you postpone the voting until that

[35:38] does happen. I also wanted to ask because I was here, the meeting of the 16th. So I did

[35:49] ask about the federal grants receipt. And I have more information now. I was told

[35:54] that not all of the 319 million were for energy. But I do know that 45.17 million was. And I want

[36:05] to know because I did read the executive summary of the study and it does not include the 45.17 million

[36:13] in that study. At least I didn't see it there and if it is, that's the reason why we want to have

[36:18] these workshops.

[36:21] In addition, I do want to make a quick example. So 2025 it's going to be an 8.5% increase

[36:31] So that would be $108 approximately, 2026, 8.5, that's 117, 2027, 7.5, that's 126.

[36:42] And then in 2028, that ECA comes back.

[36:45] If I add the ECA, say 10%, that's 139.

[36:50] So the actual rate increase would be 39%.

[36:54] And that's going to affect those directors that are going to be up for election in 2028.

[36:59] That's particular and happy, thank you.

[37:06] Our next public speaker is Mr. Nate Fairman.

[37:17] Hello, Nate Fairman from IBW Local 465.

[37:20] I represent 1,000 workers here at the IID,

[37:22] and I'm here also as a rate payer for our business office

[37:25] and Imperial.

[37:26] Look, my members are frustrated too.

[37:28] We've been frustrated for a long time.

[37:30] I've been representing workers and negotiating contracts out here

[37:33] for about 10 years, and I've been yelling from the rooftops

[37:35] in the paper and at the negotiation table for IID

[37:38] to step up and deliver for your employees and for your communities.

[37:43] And when we ask the IID quote, why is our pay 30% lower than industry standard?

[37:48] The IID responds, we don't have the money to invest in workers.

[37:51] When we ask the IID, why does our employee retirement suck?

[37:54] The IID responds, we don't have the resources to invest in retirement security.

[37:59] When we ask why when old wooden poles blow down every damn year,

[38:03] why are alignment putting out wooden poles that are going to blow down the next year?

[38:07] Why aren't we putting storm-resistant steel poles in the ground?

[38:11] And the IED answers, we don't have the money to put steel poles in the ground.

[38:15] When we ask why are canal bridges and linings crumbling and why are sanheros getting hurt falling?

[38:21] The IED responds, we don't have the money to invest in fixing our canals.

[38:25] When we ask why in the time of peak load demand, are we not spinning all our drop hydro generators

[38:31] to generate electricity? And the IED responds, we don't have the money to maintain our aging turbines

[38:36] and many of them need maintenance.

[38:39] Look, I know this is not a popular idea.

[38:41] Actually, this is a very unpopular idea.

[38:44] But often what is needed is not what is wanted

[38:47] and not what is popular.

[38:50] So I often, in times like this, I believe we need leaders

[38:54] that have the courage to act.

[38:56] We need leaders who can make tough decisions

[38:58] in times that we really need them to be made.

[39:00] And that's the reason, you know, there's a reason

[39:03] that it takes days to restore power

[39:05] or when other utilities it takes minutes, right?

[39:08] You don't have the resources to have an adequate staff workforce

[39:11] and you don't have the resources to respond

[39:13] to these types of emergencies.

[39:16] There's a reason that dozens of workers are leaving the IID,

[39:19] uprooting their families and leaving the valley.

[39:21] It's because you don't have the resources to pay them

[39:24] or invest in their benefits.

[39:26] Your employees are some of the lowest paid utility workers

[39:28] in the entire country.

[39:30] There's a reason your communities are mad

[39:32] about constant outages and broken promises.

[39:34] That's because you don't have the resources to address these issues head on.

[39:39] I actually want to applaud you five brothers and sisters up there.

[39:42] You are taking needed action where other set idle.

[39:45] You are making needed investments to ensure IED will continue to provide reliable power

[39:49] for the next hundred years because that's is what is on the line here.

[39:53] If we don't act, if we fail to act, we will all fail.

[39:56] If we fail, the likelihood of Sempero or Edison coming here and taking over is very high

[40:01] and we don't want that.

[40:02] If we do not act, if we do not make these needed investments in our grid, in our workers, in our systems,

[40:07] that's exactly what will happen, and rates could triple.

[40:11] So again, I applaud you for your courage to do what's needed, what's unpopular, but we'll help us all.

[40:16] Thank you very much.

[40:20] Our next speaker is Mr. Eric Taylor.

[40:25] Mr. Holbrook, just for clarity, are we subject to any litigation on the part of Mr. Taylor at this point in time?

[40:32] Director Cardinist, we are, Mr. Taylor still has a right to provide public comment, but

[40:38] anything related to that litigation.

[40:41] My recommendation is for the board members to not engage in any comments or discussions.

[40:47] Thank you, sir.

[40:49] That's okay.

[40:50] I'm not going to be.

[40:51] I'm just making a statement.

[40:53] Good afternoon, board members, Adam Chair, congratulations.

[40:57] My name is Eric Taylor and I reside in the Imperial Valley.

[41:02] I'm here today because this vote should not happen.

[41:08] I filed a lawsuit against IID in Scappa for fraud, financial mismanagement, and soul-sourcing

[41:15] contracts that have harmed ratepayers.

[41:19] I'm also in the process of filing an X-part A injunction to stop this vote before irreversible

[41:26] damage is done. Here's what you need to know. Analysis Corporation, a state-approved

[41:35] energy efficiency company saved rate payers millions, but IID cut its program

[41:40] short. Left 1.6 million unpaid to local HVAC contractors, vendors, and then

[41:48] buried the results. For six years IID and SCAPA have sole source contracts, block

[41:56] talking proven cost-saving technologies while over-billing ratepayers.

[42:02] You're voting on a 22% rate hike today, but the financial mismanagement behind it is

[42:11] now under legal challenge.

[42:14] This isn't just about numbers, it's about trust.

[42:19] This board has the power to do the right thing.

[42:23] Not to rush a vote while a lawsuit is pending, not to ignore the concerns of ratepayers, and not to raise cost without full transparency.

[42:35] Vote no today, let the legal process play out, protect the integrity of this board, and the people you serve.

[42:46] Thank you.

[42:55] The next person for public comment is Mr. Peter Rodriguez.

[43:12] the last two weeks I've been going to Le Quinta. I went to the Le Quinta meeting to hear the

[43:17] presentation which was done well, a job well done by staff. Jamie was there, Berlin was there,

[43:24] you guys did a great job.

[43:28] And I've been seeing the infrastructure over there for the two weeks.

[43:35] The second week I took someone I know very well and the question is how come that area cannot look

[43:42] like here. Great question. You should really ask those who are elected in IED.

[43:50] Pretty obvious,

[43:52] very beautiful in the Quinta area and it's not as beautiful as it is as it could be in Imperial

[43:58] County and you got to ask us where's the difference. I am against the pay rate for various reasons.

[44:05] It was done right during the holidays. You get to notice right day before Christmas Eve. We're

[44:12] And getting Chris bad timing is like you gave people coal in their stockings your five elected board members

[44:21] You were elected by the people for the people and of the people and right now to vote yes, and this is

[44:27] Turning your back on the people that put you back in office

[44:31] So many heavy elections coming up

[44:33] Elections cycle has changed. It's 2018. I've been an election observer

[44:38] The last election I observed

[44:40] I can tell you the old ways of running election and doing election and winning election are over more incumbents and ever have lost.

[44:48] I dealt with 6,500 provisional ballots.

[44:53] Oh, you won't know the numbers my numbers my system came out to be correct.

[45:00] I saw the director's handby wrote his article because it's a chronicle. You already made your vote known to the public. But yet, in 2020, you had campaign pledge, rate-payer protection. I would reduce my salary to a dollar. Where's your dollar now? Where's your cheerleading? Are you going to put it before the five up here for others? I really seriously doubt that we're just not going to do it because that was just an election ploy. And to me, that's BS.

[45:29] Yes, be a man, do it right, you can delay this.

[45:33] I have a correspondence with Councilman Wainman Firm from Indio who suggests that a one,

[45:39] two, one, every odd year is one, every even year, a two percent, an option to consider.

[45:48] You don't have to do it all of this overnight, and you don't have to be stubborn.

[45:55] Ask yourself, those are running up for years, can you win?

[45:58] Now, once, but ten times, if you vote yes, I can tell you, save your money, don't run for office, you'll be hard-broken.

[46:07] Thank you.

[46:13] The next public comment is from Mr. Eric Reyes.

[46:29] Good afternoon, Mr. Reyes.

[46:31] Afternoon.

[46:31] Congratulations, Mr. Daxler and Mr. Pacheco, for sending to me my old friend from Calexo, the administrator.

[46:38] I was a teacher at Calexo line and he didn't know that before.

[46:41] more.

[46:43] The pleasantries are over. This is a difficult situation. We all know that we've

[46:48] been here as, you know, I've been very active with you on this for years and yes, other

[46:54] elected kicked it down the road, including see you there, Mr. Cardinal six years on the

[46:59] road. So he kicked it for six years, right? And before four years, right? So yeah. And

[47:05] 20 years before that. So you're all part of it. At this point though, you are hurting people.

[47:09] there are people who are going to already hurting economically and many other ways and they make

[47:15] choices and it's true. I know we work with them and we're not getting the word out of the money

[47:21] you have available to them that you can help the lower income. We have a new PR that you company

[47:26] outreach at a million dollars really have not seen much effectiveness of them getting those people

[47:31] signed up. You need to quantify what that million dollar PR company is doing your your staffers

[47:36] And results of getting these people that cost benefit money that they can go into reap and get and we do it and

[47:44] We do it voluntarily, but let's do it. Let's all get together and get this done together. We can all want to make this work together for people

[47:53] But people are going to be hurt and you're going to pay the price. So you have some options

[47:58] You have some options. You have money that you over collected. You don't need to then put in a full 23% at this time

[48:04] you can defer that with the money over collected and still put it in over five to seven years.

[48:11] That makes more sense of what you're doing now at such a harsh rate beginning. If you have such

[48:17] a hard on for what you want to put out there and infrastructure and so on, you can use that to get

[48:22] that going at this point without spiking people already who are already being spiked. I know you

[48:28] need to do it because you don't want to do ECA. Again, for clarification, a lot of people in a public

[48:33] forget that if they do not raise a rate, you will have the ECA killing you in the summer again, right?

[48:40] And that's fact. We've lived through it. It's going to continue. So we can't kick it down the

[48:46] road you said, but you can't help people who are hurting. And that's what a public agency like

[48:51] Diane, they must do. And if you do not do that, beyond your fiduciary responsibility, you have an

[48:57] ethical responsibility as a nonprofit public utility to help the people who have come here or

[49:03] are hurting who you know are hurting and you cannot be arrogant about it as you have

[49:07] been as people tell us what's wrong with them. I said yeah I agree with you. You have

[49:11] to be and have empathy and put your vast resources to work for our community which you have

[49:18] not done correctly. Thank you.

[49:23] Next we have Mr. Jason Castellano.

[49:31] Hello board my name is

[49:32] in Castelano, the CEO of Helio Gold Solar. We're the largest solar contractor here in Imperial Valley,

[49:39] we're the only solar contractor that's been headquartered here in the last couple of years.

[49:43] We have one thing here that most people don't have, an abundancy of sun, and it seems like every

[49:48] different way we can we're being attacked by IID. Let me give you a couple examples. If you go to

[49:53] UMA and you Google Solar next time you guys are in UMA, you'll find 15 contractors with phenomenal

[49:58] rates and reviews online. I started in San Diego back in 2011, company started in 2016. We have

[50:05] over 3,000 installs in a phenomenal reputation. But here, there's nobody. And why is that? When I

[50:12] talk to the bigger companies, the bigger banks, the bigger manufacturers about investing in IID,

[50:17] they don't want to do it because it takes anywhere between 90 and 150 days to get the system turned

[50:22] on what's it installed. I would love to see a coherent policy and help. How can we

[50:28] get together and help people have an actual choice by harnessing what is abundant, which

[50:34] is the sun, right? We know they're going to use a ton of power, and I disagree with

[50:38] some of some of the constituents. I know how much you guys need to raise the rates. I get

[50:43] it. I've been studying utilities and working with utilities all over California in different

[50:47] states for a long time, right? You have to raise the rates and I anticipate it's going to

[50:51] be a unanimous vote to do so today, right? But what can we do to make sure that the people

[50:57] actually have the ability to go solar? Let me give you a couple things that are going

[51:00] to happen next week. Next week, some small old lady is going to have somebody knock

[51:05] on her door, not from my company. And they're going to put a solar system on the house that's

[51:09] never going to get turned on. Do you know that right now, some of the biggest companies

[51:13] that come into IID from Torrance or Sacramento or wherever and send down door knockers that

[51:18] know nothing about solar, they put solar on people's houses and they never turn them

[51:22] on. Why? Because they install without permit and IID doesn't care. There's a ton of

[51:27] systems right now going on roofs that aren't permitted. I had to run a commercial here

[51:32] that basically said, do not go solar unless you have a signed permit and permission from

[51:37] IID to do so. But there's no department, right? The department is so small that you can't

[51:41] seem to help. So let me give you a couple of ways that you could help. If you have a solar

[51:46] contractor that says has, let's say, a hundred installs here in IID that you've approved

[51:51] that has a sign permit. Why not allow us to take pictures, videos, things that would

[51:56] save you money so you don't have to send people out there. We can show, hey, this was installed

[52:01] to your guys' specifications. That would save you money. That would give the people the

[52:06] ability to turn a system on earlier. I believe that the longer you guys shun residential

[52:12] the worst off everybody is, and the policies of IID are the worst in the state,

[52:17] which is why it's so hard for us to get any help from banks.

[52:20] All the banks that come in, I have to bring them in, right?

[52:23] So please, I thank you, by the way, for setting a meeting.

[52:26] I appreciate that.

[52:27] Lauren Silva reached out, and I'm looking forward to meeting with you guys.

[52:30] Please help me give a fair alternative to the people for solar.

[52:34] Thank you.

[52:36] Our next speaker is Ms. Crystal Utworth.

[52:40] Good

[52:54] afternoon.

[52:55] Good afternoon, directors.

[52:56] My name is Crystal Ottworth.

[52:58] I work with Leadership Council for Justice and Accountability.

[53:01] We work collaboratively closely with Eastern Codilla Valley residents.

[53:05] And I'm here today to express my deep concern over the proposed rate increases, particularly

[53:10] the steep pikes for residential and master meter customers.

[53:13] And I urge the board to reconsider the extent of these increases, especially in light of the

[53:17] significant financial burdens that were placed on residential customers.

[53:20] First, while we understand the need to address the utility's revenue shortfall and need to invest in critical infrastructure, the proposed increases far exceed the 15.3% needed to address the annual shortfall.

[53:32] According to the report, the total system-wide increase will actually reach 26.6% from 2024 to 2028, an additional 11%, which is a staggering increase that will place undue strain on already vulnerable ratepayers.

[53:45] by 20, for example, by 2027, residential rates are projected to increase by 39.2% pushing monthly bills if you estimate the average of the consumption up to $86, which is over $1,000 a year.

[54:01] And that's even more concerning for vulnerable populations.

[54:03] And so while we are aware that base rates have not been increased in the past 10 years,

[54:08] the proposal to implement rapid and steep rate hikes over the next three years will have a devastating impact on families already facing economic hardship.

[54:16] This sudden increase will only drive many households deeper into financial insecurity, pushing them to the brink of energy poverty.

[54:23] We understand that these adjustments aren't necessary, but the current plan is irresponsible and fails to recognize the financial realities of the community.

[54:31] Residents should not be punished for the failure to address these issues sooner.

[54:34] Instead, phasing these increases more gradually would allow customers to better absorb the

[54:39] cost and adjust to the new rates over time.

[54:42] And lastly, I do want to take the opportunity to discuss the rate assistance programs.

[54:49] And so I'd like to emphasize the need for those improvements.

[54:51] One significant issue is the average billing system, which newly enrolled customers are required

[54:56] to use. Under this system, customers are billed based on the average of the previous year's

[55:01] charges, not their actual current usage. While the program offers a 20 to 30 percent rate

[55:06] discount for eligible customers, this discount is applied only to the actual charge, not the amount

[55:11] due, which is based on the previous year's higher rates. As a result, families may receive bills

[55:16] that reflect the average amount from the prior year, even though their actual charges are lower.

[55:20] This means that families are often required to pay more forward than are actually do at the time.

[55:27] As IID considers these rate increases, it is essential to address these billing challenges that prevent customers from fully accessing benefits.

[55:35] This structure is not only confusing, but also places unnecessary financial strain on families who are already struggling.

[55:41] Thank you for your time and consideration.

[55:43] Thank you, Crystal.

[55:44] That was a lot of information in three minutes.

[55:46] I have no other speaker slips, is there anyone else from the public who intended to provide comment, but has not yet filled out a slip.

[55:56] Chair Doc said there's no further public comment.

[56:01] Thank you very much.

[56:04] So do we get to hear now from thank you, Willen?

[56:08] So we do have Tony George's from New Gen Strategies, the consultant that performed the cost of service assessment and Ms. Valensweil will initiate it and Tony will fill in.

[56:19] Thank you.

[56:19] Good

[56:24] afternoon, Board of Directors and Public.

[56:28] I'm just waiting for the, oh, there's a presentation.

[56:29] So I'm just going to go over some of the things that we've discussed in the past

[56:35] and kind of why the proposed rate update is needed.

[56:44] So just to start off, it has been since ten years, since 2015, the last base rate increase

[56:53] increased was implemented, was on January 1, 2015.

[56:58] And as I go through the presentation, one of the things I would like everybody to

[57:02] note is, I think it was the following that year, 2016, you had an ECA rate at zero and

[57:09] at times even crediting.

[57:12] Well since then, up to now, you've got an ECA that's gone from zero, that fluctuates

[57:19] anywhere from 6 to 10 cents per kilowatt hour, just in that 10-year period and what's important

[57:27] about that is we're not the only one that has an energy cost adjustment rate factor.

[57:32] Other, most utilities do is Tony will bring up to you and a lot of times when that gets up to

[57:39] about 2 cents, that's kind of when you start looking at your rate structure that there's an imbalance

[57:45] between it. So I just wanted to kind of set up to set that out. And some of the reason why we're

[57:51] are here today and we kind of have, this has not been completely addressed is because when we

[57:56] were looking at it, we did have COVID start in 2019 and then continue through 2020. So there's been

[58:04] a lot of things that have happened in the last five years that I think that we all need to kind of

[58:09] keep note of, too.

[58:12] So, I'll get started now.

[58:14] The electric cost of service study has been performed

[58:17] by new gen strategies.

[58:19] I will introduce Tony.

[58:21] Tony's got over 25 years of energy and economic analysis experience.

[58:28] He's a partner at managing partner at new gen.

[58:33] He's done lots of rate hearings with water,

[58:36] electric as well as wastewater and when I turn it over to him, I just wanted you guys to kind of

[58:41] his background. So this presentation was given to the board on December 17th since then there was

[58:49] and at that same time there was a rate hearing set. Now, we've had a couple since then as well as

[58:54] some public meetings. But just to kind of summarize, the current rate structure is, you'll see it's

[59:04] It's estimated last year, in 2023, actually under-collected about $129 million in that year.

[59:12] And you can see it's continued to under-recover.

[59:16] But it is estimated to continue to under-cover an average of about 100 million per year over the next five years.

[59:23] With this under-recovering, it continues to drop the reserves below levels that are acceptable for

[59:33] the current district's rating of a AA minus and why that is important is that is what

[59:38] they use to go out and invest so you get to low borrowing costs, which is a big savings

[59:43] to your rate payers, being able to go out and borrow for that infrastructure at 3% versus

[59:48] at 6% when you're talking a billion dollars, it's a lot of money.

[59:54] It does not support the current identified 1.3 billion of capital investments.

[1:00:00] They're needed for the aging infrastructure. The current rates do not support that. And if we continue,

[1:00:06] they'll result in continued deferred maintenance. Large volatile swings in an energy cost adjustment

[1:00:15] factors. Like I mentioned, I think we're in January. We've seen it everywhere from, like I said,

[1:00:22] that last 10 years go from zero to up to 10 cents per kilowatt hour and it just does not

[1:00:29] support the regional growth. We all need to remember down here in our community that

[1:00:33] it's just we're not on the island. We're interconnected with the rest of California

[1:00:37] with Arizona, with the rest of the state. So we do have a legal obligation to be stewards

[1:00:45] of our infrastructure to have reserves, all of that cost, you know, that cost money.

[1:00:52] And without that, without a rate increase that can support this infrastructure,

[1:00:57] you do weaken the local control.

[1:00:59] I think one of the rate pairs brought up is a very good point.

[1:01:03] You know, we are very lucky to be a public agency.

[1:01:05] We're very lucky to have a board that we can elect in.

[1:01:09] And that hears us versus a PG&E and SDG&E.

[1:01:13] They don't get this kind of support from a Board of Directors, I just want to kind of keep that in mind.

[1:01:24] So, here is the IID's electric cost to service.

[1:01:28] Right now, cost to serve requires about $755 million per year.

[1:01:34] We are at our current rate structure, we're at about $655 million.

[1:01:40] So that's where we are under that rate is under recovering about $100 million per year.

[1:01:49] Here is the breakdown of that $100 million based on every single customer class,

[1:01:56] what makes up that $100 million. And this is what's kind of used to say where the increases

[1:02:03] are needed per rate category.

[1:02:07] So let's talk about the aging infrastructure. IED has a lot of assets

[1:02:12] that have exceeded their useful life.

[1:02:14] I'm just going to go through some pictures.

[1:02:16] Usually the useful life of a generation plant,

[1:02:19] transmission line, some of those poles is 30 years.

[1:02:22] You're going to see we've got infrastructure

[1:02:24] that's over 60 years old.

[1:02:26] We've got drops that haven't even pulled out of the ground

[1:02:30] since they were actually put in the ground.

[1:02:33] So here, this is the El Centro Generations Station.

[1:02:37] It was started in 1968.

[1:02:40] it's 57 years old. You've got unit 4 on unit 2 in there, unit 4. I think it's

[1:02:48] been out on a unit 4 is not currently running right now as well as there's

[1:02:58] upgrades that need to happen. I will ask to please let her finish her

[1:03:04] presentation.

[1:03:08] It needs to come again to the board.

[1:03:11] So I would appreciate it if you could please and please be in compliance.

[1:03:20] If you are not in compliance, I will give a warning and I will ask you to leave.

[1:03:26] Thank you, Bill.

[1:03:27] Thank you.

[1:03:29] And this is our Yucca plant which is,

[1:03:36] this is a Yucca plant which start year was 1959.

[1:03:41] It's over 65 years old as well.

[1:03:43] It's been a work course for the district.

[1:03:44] It's also currently not working as well.

[1:03:49] There's some big maintenance that needs to be done to this as well, this plan.

[1:03:54] If I may, just briefly, one of the things that we did take time to highlight on Thursday evening,

[1:04:01] because there were a number of complaints that the board members were not here.

[1:04:04] Those are public workshops.

[1:04:06] Those are for the public to see this information.

[1:04:09] And I was very clear to tell you that there was no foregone conclusion about what direction

[1:04:14] and the IED Board would go, they're receiving this information in an effort to be informed

[1:04:19] and to make decisions based on staff's recommendation. So I understand there's a level of frustration

[1:04:24] and you may feel that this is a bit redundant, but it's important that the Board see this and

[1:04:29] that the public, the remaining public that was not here Thursday also have the opportunity.

[1:04:33] So I appreciate your patience.

[1:04:37] Thank you. And these are our small hydros that deliver,

[1:04:41] I think a little bit over 35 megawatts.

[1:04:44] They have start years ranging from 1941 to 1984.

[1:04:51] They're anywhere from 41 years to 84 years old.

[1:04:55] And Mr. Smelser can tell you that if they do have to take one out, it's about a $2 million

[1:05:01] just to repair, just to get it out of the ground.

[1:05:03] This is why I was talking about a lot of these haven't even ever been taken out of the ground

[1:05:06] since they've been put in.

[1:05:07] And

[1:05:10] then here is the R line and the K line, so the R lines polls are on average 38 years old with the oldest one being 101 years old.

[1:05:19] It has a record installation date, a poll out there of 1924, you have a K line with an average poll life of 27 years old with the oldest poll being 65 years old.

[1:05:31] So it's got an installation date of 1960.

[1:05:34] So I know that's another thing that's very important to the energy department is a pull replacement plan to that also

[1:05:41] can reinforce the transmission structure and the distribution structure.

[1:05:48] Now this is the net purchase power and fuel cost.

[1:05:51] This is what is so important because this is what drives those energy cost adjustment factors.

[1:05:57] As you can see since 2015 through 2024, just in those costs alone,

[1:06:03] it's gone up 69%. And I would just like to point out that it was after the year

[1:06:09] 2020, around 2021, that you really started to see the volatility and that

[1:06:16] really jump up.

[1:06:22] Here are the ECA factors. Like I mentioned, they were relatively

[1:06:28] after we had the last rate increase, we were able to relatively flatten them out

[1:06:33] until about 2021 and then you just saw it just go just really get volatile and goes and go

[1:06:41] high from like I mentioned zero to about on average eight sets per kilowatt hour.

[1:06:48] And then here is your base rate revenues versus their expenditures and you can see they have been

[1:06:56] it has been under recovering for the last six years but it's been really getting bad this last

[1:07:03] in back in 2023.

[1:07:09] And with that being said, your reserve levels because of that under

[1:07:12] recovery are now down. So, like I mentioned, a AA minus really should be between 150, 180

[1:07:19] days of operating days cash. We do get a little bit of credit because the rate stabilization

[1:07:24] funds, but that should really be about 180 days for the AA minus. And we have seen it decline.

[1:07:32] and September 23rd. We got down to about 95 days. We were able to pop that back up by

[1:07:37] going out for some borrowing just to get it up, but it's still as below the recommended level for

[1:07:43] a AA minus.

[1:07:48] So just to recapture the current rate structure, it's going to continue to undercollect if

[1:07:53] we don't do anything. And our reserve levels will continue to erode as well as we will not be able,

[1:08:01] I mean, the district won't be able to support the $1.3 billion of capital investment that's been identified by the energy department for some of that aging infrastructure.

[1:08:10] And you will see the ECAs continue to be volatile and to go up, which then, like I mentioned, you know, kind of weakens us with our regional growth as well as at the local control.

[1:08:23] And I will now turn it over to Tony, who can go over his analysis.

[1:08:30] Thank you, Belen.

[1:08:37] Thank you, Belen.

[1:08:39] Again, my name is Tony Georgeus.

[1:08:40] I'm with New Jen Strays and Solutions.

[1:08:42] We perform the electric cost of service study.

[1:08:45] I've got a few slides here.

[1:08:51] Yes, that's the correct one.

[1:08:53] So, Belen talked about a number of the issues.

[1:08:55] And actually there's a couple slides in here that are repeated from the outset just to reground

[1:08:59] us in the total cost to operate the electric system.

[1:09:02] She mentioned that $755 million number.

[1:09:06] that is what we call the revenue requirement. That's the total costs on average for the five

[1:09:10] year window that we looked at for ID to operate the system. So that's the total costs for ID to

[1:09:17] deliver electric service to all residential or retail, not residential retail customers.

[1:09:22] That breakdown of the $785 million is shown here just in the different operations of the utility.

[1:09:28] As you can see here, power supply makes up 55% of that total number.

[1:09:34] That's just costs of purchasing natural gas, power supply on the market, renewable energy,

[1:09:40] just the cost to actually procure or generate the power for the utility.

[1:09:46] The next bucket there is ONM, that's operating in maintenance expenses.

[1:09:50] Those are costs, labor costs, that's actual maintenance costs, so maintaining the distribution

[1:09:55] transmission system, the transmission system, the generation system, that my ID has.

[1:10:02] The next two are related to capital and assets, debt service and cash funded capital.

[1:10:08] Those two together are 24%.

[1:10:11] That's all related to either financing of the assets that are expected over the five-year

[1:10:15] period and existing debt service investments that have been made in addition to future cash

[1:10:20] funded capital on an ongoing basis.

[1:10:22] There are other income streams to the utility, such as the OAT, or other revenues that the

[1:10:29] ID does receive, that we then reduce the total cost for the utility that equates to almost

[1:10:35] $50 million.

[1:10:37] We do have a contribution to reserves as Belen was highlighting for the financial health

[1:10:42] of the utility and sustainability of the utility.

[1:10:45] We need to target a day's cash-on-hand number, that's DCOH, which we'll see in a subsequent

[1:10:49] slide here, and that amount is about $22 million a year to get to the $755 on average for

[1:10:58] the five-year period.

[1:11:01] This slide I think was shown previously at the outset as well.

[1:11:04] This is just simply that same snapshot. We've identified and calculated the total cost

[1:11:09] to deliver electricity to all the retail customers. We then look at the revenues under current

[1:11:14] rates and see how that matches up. That then gives us that $100 million a year on average

[1:11:19] under recovery under the current rate structure.

[1:11:25] This is that same $750 million, $755 million on an annual average and rather than looking

[1:11:32] at the power supply or O&M or different operations of the utility.

[1:11:35] We now are taking that $755 million and we then allocate that to each of the customer

[1:11:40] classes that are provided service.

[1:11:43] This allocation is based upon analysis we do on each customer class, how they contribute

[1:11:49] to the cost of the system, how they peak on the system and the costs operate and deliver electricity to each customer class.

[1:11:56] You can see here each customer class here on the left side of this table from residential down through lighting.

[1:12:03] You can see the cost of service in the first column equates to $755 million.

[1:12:08] The next column to the right is the projected revenues by class showing you at the bottom line there that under recovery of $100 million.

[1:12:17] dollars and then on the far right you can see the difference in dollars on an annualized

[1:12:22] average basis and also buy a snapshot of a percentage basis on if they're at above or

[1:12:28] below the cost of service.

[1:12:30] You can see those ranges go from 25.6 percent below the cost of service up to lighting being

[1:12:38] 36 percent over the cost of service.

[1:12:43] This next slide is simply a snapshot just showing you a little bit different metric that we

[1:12:48] calculate with the cost of service. So those similar numbers that we saw, those similar percentages for each customer class are represented in this yellow, yellow line here in the bubbles that go up and down across the customer classes.

[1:13:00] The y-axis here on the left is what we call an average or an effective rate. So this is just simply if you took your bill and divided it by the total kilowatt hours you had for that period on a monthly or annual basis.

[1:13:13] You took the dollars by the kilowatt hours you get a sense per kilowatt hour number.

[1:13:18] And this shows you on the blue bar the current effective rates.

[1:13:22] So what is the effective rate of the current rates, the average rate of the current rates,

[1:13:25] and the orange bar being the cost of service effective rate.

[1:13:29] Again, just showing you that differential rather than in dollars and aggregate dollars is showing you an effective rate.

[1:13:35] You see there in residential, again, that 26% under recovery there with the orange bar being higher than the blue or

[1:13:42] the current rates, and you can see similar differences across the board.

[1:13:46] The dotted yellow line that is across all the bars there is simply the system average

[1:13:53] rate being just above 15 percent there.

[1:13:58] Again, this is a snapshot.

[1:14:00] This isn't a one-time rate increase or this would be if you implemented the rate increase and

[1:14:05] the rate changes all at one time.

[1:14:06] This is what would have to be done to get to the cost of service.

[1:14:09] That's obviously not what has been recommended.

[1:14:13] So now we look at what is recommended and this shows you the financial results of those

[1:14:18] recommendations.

[1:14:19] This table simply showing you 2025 through 2028, the top line being the revenues under the

[1:14:27] recommended rates, and the second line being the expenses on an annual basis, and then the

[1:14:32] over under collection, DCOH is days cash on hand.

[1:14:36] That's simply the electric utility savings account.

[1:14:38] What cash they have in reserve, DCSR is debt service coverage ratio.

[1:14:45] That is a metric of the net revenues divided by expenses and what remains to pay the debt.

[1:14:51] These two metrics are the two key metrics that the rating agencies look at to give a rating

[1:14:56] to the debt as BLEN alluded to, that rating then.

[1:15:00] So, this is the cost of debt for the utility, higher the rating, the lower cost of debt. You can see there, over time with the recommended rates, we maintain a day's cash on hand or the cash balances at 180 days. You see the debt service coverage started at 3.9 but decline over time. However, it is still at a healthy level at 2.0 or above, which is a target. There are also bond covenants. As you wish you debt that you are required to maintain a certain debt service coverage ratio over time.

[1:15:29] time. Otherwise, those bonds become culpable. In the recommendations below, on the second

[1:15:36] half of that table, simply show that first line says system base rate, that's a system

[1:15:40] base rate change year over year. And then the proposed total base rate is that next line.

[1:15:47] Currently, or just at the end of last year, in 2024, that effective rate or average rate

[1:15:53] was 18.14 cents. You can see there the proposed base rate in 2025 is 19.68. The next year at 21.36,

[1:16:03] these are on a system average basis and that row above you can see the change year over year of

[1:16:08] about a cent and a half per year on average for the entire system. You also see the ECA rate

[1:16:14] below that going to zero for those for those years. Again, as we do the cost of service study,

[1:16:20] and we project those costs over time.

[1:16:22] We embed the ECA and those expected costs in the rates.

[1:16:26] So if everything hits as expected in the forecast

[1:16:28] with the power supply cost of the market,

[1:16:31] there is no ECA pass-through.

[1:16:33] The final row there is simply the debt issuance.

[1:16:36] You can see to fund the $1 billion plus

[1:16:40] of capital investments in infrastructure investments for ID.

[1:16:44] You can see the bond issuances there of $265 to $127 million,

[1:16:49] dollars depending on the year.

[1:16:54] This is simply that system average base rate shown to you in a

[1:16:58] graphical format at a bar chart currently the 18.14 cents or at the end of 2024 excuse me

[1:17:04] and then showing the rate changes over time as recommended you can see it to go to just under

[1:17:10] 20 cents and then 21.36 and so on there is a slight there the numbers for 2037 to 2028 are the same

[1:17:18] 2020-27 will be the last year of the base rate changes.

[1:17:27] Following that path of the effective rates or the average rates, this then cascades that

[1:17:31] system average rate to each of the customer classes.

[1:17:34] So as we saw in the cost of service, which showed the impacts on the system that each customer

[1:17:39] class was having, these rates then follow that trend and align with those cost of service

[1:17:44] results.

[1:17:45] We implemented though over a three-year period.

[1:17:47] You can see the residential rates there.

[1:17:49] the first year at 2025, being 20.68 cents,

[1:17:54] escalating into 2027 at the final year of the rate changes.

[1:17:58] You can see that for each of the subsequent classes,

[1:18:00] general service being the commercial class,

[1:18:02] large general service being commercial class

[1:18:04] and some of the ag, master metered in others.

[1:18:07] In 2027, like I said, is the final year of the rate changes.

[1:18:11] 2028 is likely to see some changes over time.

[1:18:13] The ECA will come back based upon forecasts

[1:18:16] that's a slight change as far as how the market

[1:18:18] get in fuel costs or fluctuating at that point in time.

[1:18:21] The expectation under current information

[1:18:23] is that that ECA would be very small at that point in time,

[1:18:27] but there will be some ECA change

[1:18:28] in those final years as we have completed

[1:18:30] the base rate changes in 2027.

[1:18:34] Mr. Chairman, I wanted to speak to that,

[1:18:36] sorry, for the interruption in terms of any proposed changes

[1:18:39] to the ECA and what position ultimately this board

[1:18:42] would serve as the authority in terms of us having

[1:18:45] that discussion post-2028 should an ECA factor come back into play.

[1:18:51] I guess my question is ultimately that authority falls with this board. Is that an accurate statement?

[1:18:56] That is an accurate statement and I think that Mr. George, this is very quick to advise the public

[1:19:02] that energy cost adjustment factors are risk management tools and it's very common in the utility

[1:19:08] business. Now what I will say is that going forward the way the new governance structure is and

[1:19:16] strategic directives and frankly directives to the general managers that will be doing a study

[1:19:21] on a much more frequent basis so that if adjustments need to be made up or down,

[1:19:26] that will provide a form for this board to take action at the appropriate time and in the

[1:19:30] appropriate manner based on data and information. I would reiterate yet, an ECA mechanism,

[1:19:37] while it may be called something else, you know, energy cost adjustment, power cost adjustment,

[1:19:41] and almost all utilities have them.

[1:19:44] If they do not, they are changing rates every year

[1:19:46] in turn with what's happening in the market.

[1:19:49] And so it's just this mechanism to match

[1:19:52] what's going on in the market with natural gas prices,

[1:19:54] power supply prices, things like that.

[1:19:56] As those prices go up, the ECA would match it.

[1:19:58] As those prices go down, the ECA would match along with it.

[1:20:02] Thank you.

[1:20:03] Another question I have for you, Tony.

[1:20:04] Just, this is more for the general public,

[1:20:07] but how many months did it take you to get the information

[1:20:10] and to complete the, I mean, it's quite a lengthy process.

[1:20:15] Yeah, cost of service processes, whether it's ID or others are typically a six to nine-month process,

[1:20:21] whether a lot of data that we do gather, we rely on an audited financials, financial forecasts,

[1:20:26] a data on the system, capital plans, things of that nature, which are all included in the report.

[1:20:32] Thank you. And I would like to point out that ID annually has its financials audited by an

[1:20:38] independent third party, they do come in and go through pretty much everything and it's a relatively

[1:20:42] onerous exercise for us so that the public has some comfort as do the rating agencies

[1:20:47] that what we're offering is information in terms of revenue and expenditures are accurate.

[1:20:53] Thank you.

[1:20:56] And that concludes my portion of the presentation on the cost service and I think

[1:21:00] Belen has some additional slides.

[1:21:08] Yes, I just kind of wanted to wrap up how we're going to kind of get

[1:21:11] there. We're proposing how we would get there anyways. Like I said, Tony looks at it,

[1:21:16] if I'm a system, then breaks it down by rate category. So the overall three-year implementation

[1:21:23] would happen on three different portions of a customer's bill. And I'll start with the

[1:21:33] residential customers. I'll give that as an example, as they are over 80% of our customer base.

[1:21:38] But the first thing would be they're monthly charge, so currently they're paying $9.60 per month or a fixed charge.

[1:21:47] This would go up on average 90 cents per month per year, so you'd go from $9.60 to $10.50 in 2025 to $11.40 in 2006 and then up to $12.25 in 2007.

[1:22:05] would stay at that fixed rate.

[1:22:11] The next component is the energy base rate. So, this is a little

[1:22:19] bit misleading, currently, and there's not meant to be. But currently, the base rate is 11.69.1169

[1:22:28] per kilowatt hour. But what we are proposing to do is roll in those base ECA factors cost

[1:22:36] into this. So if you were to look at it that way, that's that 8.184 or 5 cents that we were

[1:22:43] talking about before. So really, on average, the customers paid almost $18.50 per kilowatt

[1:22:50] hour in 2024. In fact, the current rate right now, I think all in is a little bit over 20 cents.

[1:22:58] So, that would, the base rate then would become 1976 and 22 cents and then the 24th, 38 and 27.

[1:23:11] And then there's also a demand component that does not affect the residential customers.

[1:23:15] It's more for the general services, not the small commercial but more the large commercial as well as the larger general services.

[1:23:25] that would also go up, so they are currently, for instance, the large general services paying $6.75

[1:23:33] a kilowatt, that would go up to 11 to 13 and then 16. So those are just kind of periodic spikes

[1:23:39] that they use on their grid, so that demand would also go up for those customers.

[1:23:49] I did just kind of want to go over a little bit briefly on what we have heard back.

[1:23:53] I know our general counsel mentioned that he's got it on record, some of the comments,

[1:23:58] but I just wanted to go over what we've kind of also heard through our public, our

[1:24:02] right hearings and our workshop.

[1:24:04] We did have one January 8th in La Quinta, another one January 9th workshop in Calexico, as

[1:24:10] well as January 16th in El Centro.

[1:24:14] So here are some of the common questions that we did here.

[1:24:18] Does it propose new base rate include the ECA billing factor?

[1:24:21] Yes.

[1:24:22] Yes, the energy cost adjustment billing factor is included in the proposed base rate.

[1:24:26] So what that means is the ECA factors that have been fluctuating would be set to zero.

[1:24:32] How was the consolidated ECA and the new base rate calculated?

[1:24:36] It was based on purchase power and fuel cost and what we forecast them to be out in the next four to five years.

[1:24:47] And then when is the over collection of the ECA factors going to go back to the residents and business owners?

[1:24:52] So we are currently been working on a plan to work with and to go over with the board to see which ones give a recommendation of what we think is the most beneficial to the customer.

[1:25:06] So we are working on that plan to share with the board.

[1:25:09] And we will bring that back at the first meeting in February.

[1:25:13] And then we also had some questions from citizens in the city of India which also have the JPA funding.

[1:25:22] they wanted to know if this was going to be included in the cost of service.

[1:25:26] So just to make it clear, the City of India, JPA, is not included in the IID's cost of service.

[1:25:32] It's completely separate.

[1:25:33] It's a separate charge that is put on by the City of India.

[1:25:37] IID just helps the City of India collect that.

[1:25:40] And that is strictly for projects that are specific for the City of India.

[1:25:45] So those citizens are paying for strictly the projects that are specific for City of India.

[1:25:58] So, and I just wanted to kind of leave you with this, this is the residential bill comparison.

[1:26:03] After the proposed rate increase compared to the other agencies, so like just to point out that

[1:26:12] we would still be one of the lower energy providers in the state, as you can see.

[1:26:18] Our average would be about 248, and then I think Pasadena is like 270.

[1:26:24] And then you could see PG&E and SDG&E and as Edison's as well, they're still quite

[1:26:29] a bit more higher than what IED's average bill would be.

[1:26:39] So this is DAF's recommendation is to approve the retail rate resolution that's part of

[1:26:46] the board item which is recommending the rate update and changes as well as an opt-in

[1:26:54] time as you've used rate schedule.

[1:26:56] So I just wanted to mention that we are proposing the opt-in time of use that fits some of our

[1:27:03] customer's lifestyle that can see some savings there where they could pay consistently for

[1:27:08] like 19 hours a day, about 12 cents per kilowatt hour, if that fit their lifestyle.

[1:27:13] as well as another adoption of the Energy Cost Adjustment Resolution, which that's basically what that resolution is saying, is that we would be setting the Energy Cost Adjustment Billing Factor 2-0,

[1:27:26] and that we would be modifying the base energy cost kilowatt hour to include some of those the base energy cost that we have forecasted.

[1:27:38] As well as to discontinue the energy cost adjustment renewable billing factor, we are asking for that to be discontinued.

[1:27:46] That was a renewable factor that we had on the bill, just to kind of keep track of when California started with the renewable portfolio standards of 20%.

[1:27:57] We kind of wanted to see what we ought to show the rate here, what that initiative was costing.

[1:28:03] But really, as we get further into this and California is going towards being more aggressive and being 100% renewable.

[1:28:11] We did not find that this was necessary to have that renewable energy cost factor on the bill anymore.

[1:28:19] So those are the two resolutions that we would be asking from this board for approval.

[1:28:27] Thank you, Berlin.

[1:28:31] Do we have any comments from the members of this board?

[1:28:33] Yeah, I'll start, Madam Chair, if I may, first of all, I do want to acknowledge and recognize the efforts of our community in terms of reaching out to us and participating in the workshops.

[1:28:47] I do appreciate the comments that were made.

[1:28:52] Also appreciate our general manager kind of being the shepherd of this process is not an easy situation to discuss or even propose.

[1:29:00] But I do want to self disclose that I did learn a lot from our community especially their comments and what I've heard is that they're looking for purpose, they're looking for transparency and they're looking for accountability.

[1:29:14] It is a rate adjustment that we do need to consider, but we also need to be able to put an outreach plan that is able to hold these elected officials accountable.

[1:29:26] I speak to Mrs. Combs this comment earlier today about her request specifically what needs to be done in terms of where this money is going to be invested.

[1:29:36] I know there appears to be a pledge from this board to make an investment back into IID and us entertaining and making these decisions.

[1:29:43] But at the same time, we have to be able to share with our community where those costs and how that's going to benefit our ECA.

[1:29:53] My rate payers have stepped up, they have voiced their concerns, so I want to acknowledge the efforts on the part of the-

[1:30:00] The city of Calexico, not only did they say that, not only did they make these comments, they memorialize them comments in a resolution. It's a very interesting resolution, and I appreciate your response. The city of El Centro also has this item before in this evening. So again, the comments are being held loud and clear. I usually try to be on my toes, but I'm on my heels, the community kind of put me on my heels because they want purpose, they want transparency, and they want accountability.

[1:30:26] So, I do appreciate the fact that we are taking on the challenge of the ECA.

[1:30:32] My mother calls it Ika, so she calls the ECA Ika, and every time I come over she really holds me accountable to Ika and what's happening.

[1:30:41] But to be able to maybe consider baking this into a base rate, maybe provides a certainty that we're needed.

[1:30:47] But it's also a pledge on the part of this board to set that to zero, and then really start thinking about those conversations post-2028.

[1:30:54] So again, it's not an easy situation, but there is science, I don't believe there is subjectivity to the cost of service study.

[1:31:05] There are facts, there are science behind it, and I do respect the outcome of that.

[1:31:12] In regards to just the design of our billing or a new bill, Mr. Amy, can you speak a little bit to how these bills are going to look like in the future?

[1:31:22] and how and when will that be unveiled in terms of the bill redesign.

[1:31:28] So we are working on providing much more granularity in the billing process in terms of should

[1:31:34] our customers opt to go to average billing and we strongly encourage people to do that. I know

[1:31:40] give it a try. See if you if you like it. It'll provide you more information about your consumption

[1:31:46] where you are in terms of your collection versus your billing. We are also for the very first time

[1:31:51] and I'm sorry that it takes so long,

[1:31:53] but anything in our billing engine

[1:31:55] that requires modification requires an outside consultant,

[1:31:58] but for the very first time,

[1:31:59] IED will produce its billings

[1:32:01] and in Spanish language,

[1:32:03] which it always should have, and we did not.

[1:32:05] So I think we're moving towards trying to provide

[1:32:09] more information and make it make more sense.

[1:32:11] I know we did have a stakeholder that said,

[1:32:13] you guys, this makes no sense to us.

[1:32:16] We need it delivered in a different fashion,

[1:32:18] and I heard what she said,

[1:32:19] And that's going to be our goal as a utility to provide those educational opportunities and deliver it in a meaningful way to allow people to sort of take a little bit more control over over their consumption.

[1:32:32] But we are working on fixing our billing.

[1:32:35] Just a couple more comments, if I may, Madam Chair.

[1:32:37] I wanted to speak to our service territory, and you look at a service territory that has 170,000 meters over 7,000 square miles.

[1:32:46] I was obviously where the example of spraw

[1:32:50] and we heard from our IBEW members who have an incredible task

[1:32:54] in trying to keep the lights on,

[1:32:56] especially over such a vast area without the density.

[1:33:00] So I do acknowledge that that is an incredibly

[1:33:04] challenged situation, especially for public utility.

[1:33:08] So I do look forward to possibly addressing that

[1:33:11] and ensuring that there is reliability.

[1:33:14] And I know that that's what we really focused on is reliability.

[1:33:17] The fact that we haven't shed power in years with very limited resource and

[1:33:21] an aging asset is really a testament not only to IED, but

[1:33:25] to our IBW members who really turn lemons into lemonade all day long.

[1:33:30] But I do pride ourselves that we haven't been able to shed power.

[1:33:34] But we can't continue to roll the dice and I'm going to land this plane here in a little bit.

[1:33:38] With Jamie, I just I want to come up with the first aid kit.

[1:33:41] A first aid kit that allows for services.

[1:33:44] We heard from Mr. Reyes about us getting the word out.

[1:33:47] We got fund balances and great payer assistance, and I know this is a challenge, but at the

[1:33:54] same time, can we put together a first aid kit and get folks the support and the services

[1:34:01] that they need to curb this skyrocketing energy cost dilemma?

[1:34:07] So I know that before this board and later on in the agenda is a resolution to release

[1:34:14] some of the PBC fund balance, and I also know that Director Eugenio has been working

[1:34:19] on a concept as well that I think she wanted to speak to in today's meeting.

[1:34:23] So we are taking it seriously.

[1:34:25] We do get it.

[1:34:26] I'm continually, I hate to say amaze, but surprised and really disappointed that despite the fact

[1:34:32] that we get information out there, people out there that still don't get to take advantage

[1:34:36] of it.

[1:34:37] And that's what these dollars are for, and that's what we want.

[1:34:40] And I will also say that the Board has taken the step of forming a public benefits committee

[1:34:47] that will be meeting to look at the programs we do have and tweaking them.

[1:34:50] So with regard to rate assistance specifically,

[1:34:52] we're going to look at loosening the requirements so that we are more inclusive rather than less.

[1:34:57] I heard what Mr. Reyes and Mrs. Elise had to say and they're not wrong.

[1:35:02] So as a public agency,

[1:35:03] and see one of the tendencies to take input from your stakeholders and try and fix the problems that they've identified.

[1:35:08] So we really need to do that.

[1:35:10] Shaman, the last comment I have is in regards to energy efficiency.

[1:35:15] And as we all know, that a kilowatt saved is better, it's less expensive than a kilowatt generated.

[1:35:22] So in regards to our energy efficiency program, whether it's the installation of upgraded windows,

[1:35:27] What do you see in the future, as far as providing these types of services so that we can adopt the strategy of conserving energy and saving energy as opposed to generating it?

[1:35:40] I think that's one of the things that the Public Benefits Committee formed that includes directors, by Mr.

[1:35:46] Hamby and Director Eugenio, is intending to look at Director Cardinus.

[1:35:50] So I think that we've looked at what other public utilities,

[1:35:54] publicly owned utilities,

[1:35:56] municipalities in California are doing and to see if there are things that we could adopt.

[1:36:00] We have a much more extreme weather situation here than others do.

[1:36:04] So we're going to look at what we know works and sort of double down on that.

[1:36:09] And then maybe you're less than some of the ones that are maybe not as effective

[1:36:13] so that we can deploy those dollars back where they're most beneficial.

[1:36:17] My final comment is to the community and I just wanted to say thank you for those well thought comments and action that was taken before us to believe that our community has spoken.

[1:36:27] I hear you guys loud and clear and do not take transparency or accountability lightly.

[1:36:34] And ask that you afford this board an opportunity to show that we can be your primary energy provider and do this in a very efficient and affordable way.

[1:36:43] Thank you, Mr. Amy.

[1:36:47] Anybody else?

[1:36:48] A couple of comments if we could pull up the El Centro Generating Station slide that was in the slides that chose those photos.

[1:36:58] We are a community owned utility and everyone who is an ID customer is a part of that.

[1:37:05] We are all co-owners of these power plants, we're co-owners of each one of these poles, we're co-owners of each one of these miles of line that's up in the air.

[1:37:13] there. Nobody wants to raise rates. That's why it's happened only once in the last 30 years.

[1:37:20] But the reality is, right now we're living off of the investments that are great grandparents

[1:37:24] and our grandparents made. This is not sustainable.

[1:37:30] Moving forward, we're going to be undertaking

[1:37:33] efforts, as Jamie mentioned, about taking this on every two years. So this is regular.

[1:37:43] We're

[1:37:43] So there's no surprises. Everyone knows exactly what we're doing. We're having to deal with and

[1:37:49] clean up a lot of the damage that's been generated over decades time here. And that's not desirable,

[1:37:55] but this is where we are. So moving forward, it's going to be better, but it's not a great situation

[1:38:00] right now. And I recognize the variety of comments that we heard, the unhappiness from people all

[1:38:05] around both from the point of view of customers, suffering with reliability, which we've talked a lot

[1:38:12] about with our friends and partners in the Coachella Valley, and also employee safety.

[1:38:16] We're not happy about that, but we're also not happy about having to pay more for a service

[1:38:22] that we've been used to paying the same for for decades at a time.

[1:38:26] We want to be able to have as much control in our lives as possible, but the reality is there

[1:38:31] are things that are outside of our control.

[1:38:34] State mandates, aging infrastructure, rising costs and inflation.

[1:38:39] We cannot bury our heads in the sand and ignore these problems.

[1:38:43] If we do, here's a question for everybody.

[1:38:46] Do you want to rely on this summer, this plant up here on the screen?

[1:38:51] We're turning the page to the next one to YECCA Power Plant.

[1:38:55] These two plants are the district's work horses.

[1:38:59] So when you're running your air conditioner at whatever temperature you want to pay for in the summertime,

[1:39:04] time, whether it's 72 or something else. These are the plants that you're relying on.

[1:39:10] This one's 65 years old. The other one is over 57 years old. And presently, sorry, to

[1:39:17] correct that if you go back to the next one, this plant here is offline. This is I think

[1:39:23] 85 megawatts. So this is a massive part of IID's generation that we used to be able to deliver

[1:39:29] or power to customers in the summertime.

[1:39:32] So I correct my question, do we want to rely on this

[1:39:35] in the summer?

[1:39:35] No, because you can't, because it's offline.

[1:39:38] So the ECA portion of your bill, where the base rate

[1:39:41] can't hold it anymore and to be able to keep power running

[1:39:44] to your house and your air conditioning running,

[1:39:47] that is the consequence of the lack of investment

[1:39:50] that we've had in our parents' generation and our generation.

[1:39:54] And if we want this to be different moving forward,

[1:39:56] we've got to do something different.

[1:39:57] But one of the things we also have to do different and this is a new experience to be able to go through and undo the damage over several decades of time is communicate what we're doing.

[1:40:07] There is as I've recognized and we've been undertaking efforts slower than I've wanted to see them happen to reconnect the community and the district together because fundamentally we're a community owned utility.

[1:40:20] And there has been this lack of understanding, I think, on both sides.

[1:40:25] The district's responsibility to its customers, and then the

[1:40:30] customer's understanding of what the district does for them as the community owns this utility.

[1:40:36] So we have a responsibility to communicate, to be transparent.

[1:40:40] I think we've fallen short of what we could have done, but that doesn't mean that today is the end of this process, it's really the beginning.

[1:40:46] This whole series of projects that we're going to have to undertake this first

[1:40:50] tronture that we're looking for is really just the beginning of this whole process.

[1:40:55] There is a lot of work that needs to be undertaken over the next 15 years to get

[1:40:58] the districts infrastructure that we all own back into a condition that we can rely on,

[1:41:04] that we don't have to rely on other places, we don't have to rely on private contracts,

[1:41:08] we can rely on our publicly owned community owned system, but it's going to take the investment

[1:41:13] that we are going to have to make prior generations of the last one or the current one haven't made it, so it's on us to make that fix, but it's also on us to be able to communicate what we're doing because the community owns this system, the community has a stake in this, and they need to know what's going on.

[1:41:29] Not just be asked to pay extra, but to have a clear understanding of what we're spending your money on. That's my number.

[1:41:38] Thank you.

[1:41:41] I'm trying to go last. Director Pacheco, you're up for a balanced authority.

[1:41:47] We need to provide energy and increase the demand for it. We have to have it.

[1:41:54] We have to meet those needs of the energy. That's the job. We need to have

[1:42:01] power and if there's the demand for it, we have to match that. It's called a balanced authority.

[1:42:07] We need to maintain that balance.

[1:42:09] We are here to provide energy and water period.

[1:42:18] That's the job of this agency, of this utility.

[1:42:24] Nobody can support 10 years of business and not raise their rates in 10 years.

[1:42:32] That's crazy.

[1:42:36] If you want to rest work, you're not going to sell your meals at the same rate for 10

[1:42:42] years.

[1:42:43] You're going to have to go and pay material, pay cost, pay your labor.

[1:42:48] It's just the normal thing to do.

[1:42:52] We've been having our head in the sand for a long time.

[1:42:56] We've been kicking the can down the road for a long time.

[1:42:59] Now is the time to make that investment.

[1:43:02] We don't need to go out in this summer and buy energy if we can produce our own energy.

[1:43:08] That's the name of the game,

[1:43:11] so that's it.

[1:43:15] Thank you.

[1:43:17] First off, I just want to thank everyone for being here today and for

[1:43:21] speaking today and previously in attending the workshops that have been held for the general public.

[1:43:27] I know how difficult hearing that rate increases may possibly happen.

[1:43:32] be a guarantee that being up here and making this decision is even harder,

[1:43:38] but we have looked

[1:43:41] at this from every angle. We've spent the last year extensively visiting different sites

[1:43:47] and talking to employees and everyone has agreed that our infrastructure is lacking in extraordinary

[1:43:54] way. We need to become autonomous and not be at the mercy of the open market and stop relying on the

[1:44:00] I can tell you that I have been consumed by empathy and emotion, and I know that what

[1:44:07] we have to do, but getting people to understand has been beyond challenging.

[1:44:13] Yesterday I spoke to an IED employee about this decision and how much it's weighed on me,

[1:44:18] and she said, well, if you decide not to vote on it, we'll just keep making emergency purchases

[1:44:23] and figuring out how to pay for it, which is what has been done for so long.

[1:44:29] We can't continue to do that to ourselves or to our employees.

[1:44:36] We are public servants.

[1:44:38] We don't have IAD vehicles.

[1:44:40] We don't make salaries over $100,000.

[1:44:43] I myself am a single mom with four jobs, and I am just like you.

[1:44:48] I have the same struggles that you do, and raising these rates is not an easy decision, but

[1:44:55] it's something that we have not taken lightly.

[1:45:01] And then lastly, I just wanted to comment on something that our general manager stated about resources that would become available after today and we have discussed putting together a roundtable of our first-day holders to discuss challenges that email would be experiencing in rising costs, not just to energy, but to water and to everything else. And so this roundtable with leaders would focus on getting to our most vulnerable

[1:45:31] vulnerable populations, which has been the most challenging part of this process so far.

[1:45:37] So thank you all for listening for being here.

[1:45:40] Thank you very much, Director Eugenio. Obviously, you could hear the emotion in her voice.

[1:45:46] We appreciate all the comments that you have given. We understand the community.

[1:45:53] Thank you, Mrs. Delentay, for coming and giving your words. There are other rate pairs that

[1:45:58] feel exactly the same way that you do. We appreciate your comments. I recognize that I was not elected

[1:46:06] to raise your rates, but you deserve reliability. In the summertime, when you turn on your air

[1:46:12] conditioner, you're going to want your air conditioner. You're going to want to turn that light switch

[1:46:16] on, you're going to want the light to come on. And that is what our board is elected to do. I cannot

[1:46:23] give that to you. I cannot give you that service without recovering the cost of service. So do

[1:46:32] know that we take all this into account. And again, we realize we weren't elected. Every meeting

[1:46:40] that I come to when we take money out of our O&M for something that has to be fixed right away,

[1:46:46] Okay? This is not even a question. You have to vote yes. You have to change the budget.

[1:46:53] I have made it a point in the last two years to just say briefly we're taking out of

[1:46:59] O&M again and leave it at that because we're given no choice. So again, I appreciate all

[1:47:06] the comments and I really understand I appreciate staff. It is a very difficult decision.

[1:47:15] And the other thing, we can't continue with the ECA fluctuations like last summer.

[1:47:20] We just can't continue this roller coaster.

[1:47:22] We don't even know what you're going to pay.

[1:47:24] You don't know what your bill is going to be.

[1:47:26] We need to provide you a better level of service.

[1:47:30] And the other thing that I did want to address is because everybody's saying, oh, the meeting

[1:47:34] was at Christmas time.

[1:47:35] We moved the meetings because we are now in January.

[1:47:38] We are after the holidays, that was a point that we made to again be more transparent.

[1:47:45] I appreciate Alex's and JB's comments, it is just so true, we have to fix our infrastructure.

[1:47:54] We want to give you the reliability.

[1:47:57] That's the end of my comments.

[1:48:00] Unless anybody has always going to land the plane.

[1:48:03] I'm not going to land the plane, but if there is no additional comments, Madam Chair, I'm prepared to make a motion.

[1:48:08] I'm prepared to propose a motion.

[1:48:10] You don't make motions, you propose them.

[1:48:12] All right, you can make a motion.

[1:48:15] How about you make a motion?

[1:48:16] All right, you can make a motion.

[1:48:17] Ms. Jamie, I have something for you.

[1:48:21] You always do.

[1:48:22] Okay, so I do, I would like to make a motion that we adopt staff's recommendations as outlined on page 36.

[1:48:31] However, I would like to include the adoptions of resolution.

[1:48:35] 2-2025 and 3-2025, that's condition number one, condition number two.

[1:48:46] I asked that we direct the general manager to bring forward a written plan of action to the next board meeting to inform,

[1:48:58] educate and engage our communities on IID's power infrastructure plans.

[1:49:04] I'm happy to do that.

[1:49:05] It's condition number two, condition number three, condition number three, that we bring forward in March a plan to return any 2024 ECA over collections and that they be returned back to the rate pair within one year.

[1:49:28] We were planning to bring that back at the first meeting in February, but if it's your preference that I wait till March, we can do that.

[1:49:34] No, my preference would be that we move it to March, but to restate my condition number three is that we bring forward a plan to return any over collection of the ECA in 2024, in less than one year.

[1:49:51] That is my motion, Madam Chair.

[1:49:53] Second.

[1:49:56] It has been moved and seconded.

[1:49:58] This is a big vote, so I would appreciate a roll call vote.

[1:50:02] Please, Raquel.

[1:50:02] Praio

[1:50:06] RojoEDo, Director Cardenas.

[1:50:09] Yes.

[1:50:10] Vice-C Chairman Hamney, Chairwoman Docsetter.

[1:50:14] Aye.

[1:50:15] Director Paceco.

[1:50:17] Aye.

[1:50:18] Director Yegina.

[1:50:19] Yes.

[1:50:21] Promotion.

[1:50:21] the motion passed unanimously, thank you, 약ho.

[1:50:27] Thank you, Board of Directors.

[1:50:29] thank you Bullen.

[1:50:31] Moving on, action Adopt resolution

[1:50:34] regarding public benefits.

[1:50:35] So Director Doc said our per this prior item acknowledge that any impacts that rates may cause by changing them.

[1:50:44] Can I ask that we just take a quick 30 second break as people exit so I can hear you?

[1:50:48] Sure.

[1:51:09] Just the old G's say the old G's the state.

[1:51:15] Just the people who want to hear good news.

[1:51:20] So what we have included in the action calendar here is a resolution regarding public benefits.

[1:51:25] That's the district collects money required by state law to be used for energy efficiency or for customer assistance programs.

[1:51:32] As part of this resolution that director Eugenio and I have drafted in consultation with the general manager,

[1:51:37] this would direct the $10 million of the public benefits fund that's been collected, be deployed as soon as possible for

[1:51:45] those two purposes to deliver assistance and relief to customers.

[1:51:49] A, for those who qualify for rate pair assistance programs, and

[1:51:53] B, for energy efficiency programs, for all customers to be able to reduce their consumption and save on their bill.

[1:52:00] Dr. Eugenio, anything from you?

[1:52:03] Yeah, just what I would like to add that we have changed our re-qualifications.

[1:52:08] I think last year we changed them from state to federal qualifications, which was a little bit more lenient that would allow more people to qualify for

[1:52:17] these 30% discounts for people who qualify.

[1:52:21] We also lowered the age last year from, I think, age 62 to 60 for senior citizens qualify for these benefits.

[1:52:28] So we are doing everything within our power to make sure that people who need the most amount of help get the most amount of help.

[1:52:35] And we know that, as I mentioned before, these are very difficult times for people.

[1:52:39] So we are going to do whatever we can with this $10 million to make sure that it gets to the appropriate places.

[1:52:45] So if

[1:52:50] there's no comments, questions, or discussion, I'll move approval of the resolution

[1:52:54] for adoption of the resolution.

[1:52:55] I think it's fabulous.

[1:52:57] I'll second.

[1:52:58] Okay.

[1:52:58] Is there motion and seconded?

[1:53:00] All those in favor?

[1:53:01] Aye.

[1:53:02] All those opposed?

[1:53:04] Motion carried, unanimously.

[1:53:06] Seeing we have no information, we're going to move on to policy monitoring.

[1:53:10] We have.

[1:53:10] Oh, I lied.

[1:53:11] Director.

[1:53:12] We went out of order.

[1:53:13] and plus Merlin's here. Welcome, Magic Harlan.

[1:53:19] When's your 50th anniversary?

[1:53:21] I wish you weren't happy.

[1:53:22] With the end September.

[1:53:23] September.

[1:53:24] Half a century of service.

[1:53:26] Thank you, sir.

[1:53:27] Yes.

[1:53:28] Well, we are talking about aging infrastructure.

[1:53:31] Well, this is,

[1:53:33] we want you to talk about that aging infrastructure.

[1:53:36] Oh, okay.

[1:53:37] You've held well, Merlin.

[1:53:38] Thank you, Merlin.

[1:53:39] Very durable.

[1:53:40] Thank you.

[1:53:41] I'm reliable.

[1:53:41] Thank you.

[1:53:42] Good afternoon, directors.

[1:53:43] I'm Merlin Kidwell, I'm the Watermaster and Interim AAC superintendent.

[1:53:49] I'll be presenting the All-American Sledgefight Project to you today.

[1:53:55] That sounds kind of sledge, but this is actually very important and very neat thing that we need to talk about.

[1:54:02] Normally Jorge Sanchez would be presenting this, but he had to go to the Imperial Dam Advisory Board meeting today.

[1:54:09] So you get the second team on this.

[1:54:13] So the project consists of replacing the sledge pipes inside two galleries at the decilting

[1:54:23] basins at Imperial Dam.

[1:54:26] There are three decilting basins and this will just replace them in the base number one.

[1:54:31] Now, these pipes were originally commissioned back in 1937, so they're 88 years old,

[1:54:39] and they've been serving as well for those 88 years, but they have reached the end of their

[1:54:45] lifetime. The total cost of this project is $18,460,700. I'm sure there's some sense in there,

[1:54:53] but I don't know what those are. This project is a shared cost project, so all four Imperial Dam,

[1:55:01] entities that use the all-american will pay a share. But since the IID runs about 76 percent of

[1:55:08] the water in the all-american, we pay about 76 percent of that cost.

[1:55:17] So, just the background,

[1:55:19] the sludge pipes carry the silt and sediment. They trap, there are silt traps, they trap the sediment,

[1:55:27] and through a series of such pipes and from each pedestal that slurry is returned to the river,

[1:55:37] removing about 90% of the sediment that's in the river at that point.

[1:55:43] Now, about halfway through the lifespan of these pipes, because this is like liquid sandpaper flowing through these pipes.

[1:55:50] types. So halfway through the process, the staff at Imperial Dam, they took and they

[1:55:57] rotated these pipes 180 degrees so that the wear would just like rotating your tires,

[1:56:03] the wear would be balanced. However, after 88 years, we've worn out most of that of the

[1:56:10] threat on these tires.

[1:56:15] So, this is,

[1:56:19] you know, we've been in irrigation district for, you know,

[1:56:21] over 100 years now, and a lot of our structures from our well 75 years, 80 years old out there,

[1:56:29] and of course, in Imperial Damans, 88 years old. So, almost everything on the All-American

[1:56:34] is at least that old. Now, if these pipes, these pipes serve an important purpose,

[1:56:39] are the decilting basins, too, because removing that sediment from the

[1:56:44] all-American prevents the upper all-American canal from reducing its

[1:56:50] capacity from building up sediment and silt in it. So if you don't remove the

[1:56:54] sediment, then that channel will choke off and you will reduce the capacity in the

[1:57:00] all-American canal. As we have done, sometimes in the past.

[1:57:09] So here's some

[1:57:10] examples of got a little back feet there.

[1:57:17] But of the erosion of these pipes have been

[1:57:20] a lot more than if you could mute Colin, user one, they're on the left hand side if you

[1:57:26] did it. Thank you, go ahead. Are we okay now? Yeah. Okay, that would be very annoying wouldn't it?

[1:57:32] It was. So as you can see the Imperial Tams made this people, they do a fantastic job keeping these

[1:57:40] seems going, but they're basically using

[1:57:42] bailing wire and paper clips to put

[1:57:45] this stuff together.

[1:57:46] Merlin, I don't think you're supposed to

[1:57:47] say that out loud.

[1:57:48] Oh, keep going.

[1:57:51] Open secrets.

[1:57:53] Oh, that would work too.

[1:57:54] Well, you know, they will, they're

[1:57:56] very careful.

[1:57:57] They don't, they don't just chip off

[1:57:58] paint in here because they know

[1:57:59] sure what's going to happen.

[1:58:03] Here's a little bit of a closer

[1:58:04] example of the erosion problems.

[1:58:07] And this is the outside of the pipes.

[1:58:08] I mean, it's just coming through.

[1:58:10] I'm 88 years, how long can a pipe last?

[1:58:16] So here, now this will show, these are the three basins

[1:58:19] of the three basins, this I should point out here.

[1:58:24] These are the three basins, one, two, and three.

[1:58:27] And so here, this is the basin that we will be working on.

[1:58:32] And here are where the pipelines run.

[1:58:34] Now these pipelines run under the all-american

[1:58:36] and deposit the sediment slurry over in the California channel of the Colorado River.

[1:58:44] Now, it's a pretty complicated thing. I think this picture shows it a little bit better.

[1:58:50] This is a standard one. You've seen it probably many, many times, but it really shows the whole

[1:58:54] setup really well. So each one of these pedestals, these are pedestals with clarifying. You can see here

[1:59:00] where this basin has been dewatered and so each one of these, the water will flow into

[1:59:06] these basins and it settles out and then only the clear water will flow out and then the

[1:59:11] sediment is directed to each pedestal. So there's 24 pedestals on each side of each gallery

[1:59:20] but each one of these runs to a pipe that runs to a bigger pipe which goes to a bigger pipe

[1:59:25] which goes underneath and dumps over here.

[1:59:28] Now, this project replaces all of that.

[1:59:31] It replaces everything from this pedestal,

[1:59:34] all the way down to the bottom, all the way through this.

[1:59:37] This will all be new, all the piping will be new,

[1:59:40] all in this section, all the way to the deposit

[1:59:43] into the Colorado River.

[1:59:47] And here's some construction shots back when it was built

[1:59:51] in 1936.

[1:59:53] And if you've had the e-tour over at Imperial Dam,

[1:59:57] You've got to go down into the gallery and see that.

[2:00:00] That's a fun, nice, and cool, and the summer's over. Yes, it is. And really dark down at the end. And get smaller if you're close to phobic. Don't go there. That's not good. And that's that's basically in the presentation. This will be the first base on if you approve it. And it will be two more in the future. They all need to be done. Thank you, Merlin. If you could go back a slide so that you're replacing

[2:00:29] the pipes. They're seeing the galleries, the whole, you know, subway tunnel thing that stays the

[2:00:35] same. Is there more work being constructed, the entrances, all kinds of other things?

[2:00:42] Do you know, Mike, I'm not sure about that. Are they going to redo that with the electrical

[2:00:46] and the lighting has all been done already? So it's just really replacing the pipes itself and then the

[2:00:53] air tubes that go up there. Yeah, they go to the top. So yeah.

[2:01:02] Thanks. So yeah. So the reason we're

[2:01:05] skipping like two years is to give the other agencies that are going to do them a share cause

[2:01:11] some time to gather their funding so they can pay for their share of it. So that's why we're

[2:01:16] going to skip every two years to do one. So it's going to take us six years.

[2:01:20] I have a request if the board is willing.

[2:01:27] What the reason I wanted this item pulled is because significant dollar figure, $18 million.

[2:01:31] We're talking about aging infrastructure.

[2:01:33] I think there's a value in the board being aware and appraised of what we're doing here.

[2:01:38] And it's interesting.

[2:01:39] And I think there's public value to people being aware of the projects that we do that for whatever reason.

[2:01:47] Over the past number of years, we don't seem to highlight any of the work that's going on.

[2:01:52] We just collect rates, which people aren't happy about, but we don't show them what we're doing with their money.

[2:01:57] So my request would be this is a standing process moving forward.

[2:02:00] Is any projects MWA, MWA, over $5 million, $5 million are over, that it come.

[2:02:07] We have a great presentation like this one, Merlin and George, and Water Department helps set the standard here.

[2:02:12] And tell a story of what these dollars are being used on and show us how this infrastructure works and connects to our mission.

[2:02:20] So, in short, anything over $5 million we put on action and have a presentation like this one.

[2:02:26] You have a lot of $4.9 million projects.

[2:02:29] So can I just add and join that party and Mrs.

[2:02:33] Ms. Holmes?

[2:02:36] Okay, she's inspired me here.

[2:02:39] I think not only through the presentation is changing, but if there could be some social media attention to it as well

[2:02:45] I think it would also provide a tremendous amount of public benefit and I'm not sure how that would work.

[2:02:52] Well, I'm nodding your head. I am nodding in a...

[2:02:56] Oh, we're also planning a web page on the ID.com website that shows progress on those major projects, particularly those that are part of the 1.5 million dollar capital improvement plan.

[2:03:08] We do want the public to see and let me tell you why because I have a very technical question, sir. Are you ready?

[2:03:14] Probably not the goal. How many general managers have you

[2:03:18] experienced over the last 50 years?

[2:03:20] 49 years right now. 49.

[2:03:29] If you go and the J1 building and you go, I'd have to look there, but I think about, I think about

[2:03:36] about eight or nine and who is your favorite?

[2:03:41] you disclose this so he disclosed to

[2:03:46] direct to Madam Chair docs that are

[2:03:48] denied that his favorite general

[2:03:50] manager Mrs. Asbury so round of

[2:03:53] applause. I do want you to know that

[2:03:56] we are all with having Merlin

[2:03:59] present because Mr. Smeltzer would

[2:04:01] like to be known as the power master

[2:04:03] because Merlin just want to plan one

[2:04:05] heck of a party for him in September

[2:04:07] and he gets an honorary shirt that

[2:04:09] that says half a century of service.

[2:04:12] All right.

[2:04:13] Thank you, sir.

[2:04:14] You want a hoodie or you want a shirt?

[2:04:16] I'll take the shirt.

[2:04:17] Thank you.

[2:04:19] Thank you.

[2:04:20] Thank you.

[2:04:20] Welcome.

[2:04:21] Oh, sorry.

[2:04:22] Can I have a motion for?

[2:04:24] I'll move approval of the staff argumentation.

[2:04:26] Can I have a second?

[2:04:27] So move.

[2:04:28] OK, all those in favor?

[2:04:29] Hi.

[2:04:31] Motion carries.

[2:04:32] Thank you, sir.

[2:04:35] Now let's move on to policy monitoring.

[2:04:38] The brevity version, maybe.

[2:04:40] I will be brief.

[2:04:43] Sorry.

[2:04:44] Greetings.

[2:04:46] Good afternoon.

[2:04:47] Chairwoman, members of the board.

[2:04:48] I'm Tony Ortega, government affairs officer.

[2:04:50] Also joining me here is Lee Hernandez, or your government affairs specialist.

[2:05:00] So I will be brief.

[2:05:02] I was here in July and provided a similar presentation, but for director Pacheco maybe who hasn't had

[2:05:08] an opportunity to hear from me and the government affairs team other than through a monthly newsletter.

[2:05:14] I want to just talk a little bit about the government affairs office, some of the work

[2:05:18] that we do, not just in-house, but also with our outside team of federal and state lobbyists.

[2:05:24] So very briefly, the government affairs office plays an essential role in formulating our

[2:05:29] legislative policies, both regulatory, legislative, and also advancing the district's best interests

[2:05:36] and safeguarding against any type of proposal, both at the legislative or regulatory environment

[2:05:42] that may impact our ability to meet our customers needs

[2:05:47] both water and power.

[2:05:49] So again, I just introduced myself, you met Li Hernandez

[2:05:52] but also our state and federal consultants.

[2:05:55] We have two firms on retainer that's the office

[2:05:58] or the firm of Manette, Phelps and Phillips

[2:06:00] at the state level and the two primary lobbyists

[2:06:04] on our account are Alfredo Medina and Ches Alinas

[2:06:08] and then at the federal level we have the firm

[2:06:10] of Massey Partners and, again, spearheading that team are

[2:06:14] terrabilingsly and Elliott Howard.

[2:06:20] So, IID, a couple years ago, formed.

[2:06:22] Being on one second Antonio. So, Director Pacheco, you might want to go off of

[2:06:29] Ruck Hell gave us a newer updated version and I'm only bringing that to attention

[2:06:33] because I did get a phone call about some people that were missing out of our little packet.

[2:06:38] So, people really look at our agenda which I love and it has been updated.

[2:06:42] So I just want to make sure he's looking at the correct.

[2:06:45] Thank you.

[2:06:46] Thank you.

[2:06:47] Yeah, so for the public, I can make sure that we are uploading the updated version, which includes all the slides.

[2:06:56] So for the IID Federal and state legislative committees, we do meet once a month.

[2:07:01] We proactively monitor, analyze and recommend positions on legislation as well as any type of regulatory proceedings on our state legislative committee.

[2:07:10] We have Vice-Chairman Hamby, Director Eugenio, also attending those calls are the executive

[2:07:16] management team as well as your government affairs staff and our federal and state consultants.

[2:07:22] On the federal ledge committee, we have, again, Vice-Chairman Hamby, Director Cardinus

[2:07:27] and the same other staff attend those meetings as well.

[2:07:33] Supplementing our efforts are our membership associations.

[2:07:36] We are members of various organizations, the ones that I've highlighted here are the ones

[2:07:42] that are most prominent and have, I think, the largest presence when it comes to federal

[2:07:47] and state policies.

[2:07:49] And that's APPA, the American Public Power Association, Aqua Association of California Water

[2:07:55] Agencies, CMUA, the Municipal Utilities Association, LPPC, large public power council,

[2:08:02] and then SCAPA, which is a Southern California Public Power Authority.

[2:08:09] In addition to, so just briefly before I move on that slide, in addition to staff,

[2:08:15] though, also the board participates in some of these membership associations.

[2:08:19] So, for example, APPA Director Cardinus was recently appointed to the Policy Makers Council,

[2:08:28] So that is not only just IID participating, but also giving IID an opportunity to be a

[2:08:36] little bit more in, to participate at a larger scale in terms of the policies that APPA

[2:08:43] implements and the things that they advocate for.

[2:08:47] Chairwoman Docsetter is one of our regional directors on the Aqua Region 9 board.

[2:08:53] So again, in addition to our staff, we also have board members who participate in some of those associations.

[2:09:02] So before I move on from this slide, also just make a note that part of our associations also include advocacy opportunities.

[2:09:11] And we have upcoming two of those opportunities.

[2:09:14] One of them, the first one on our calendar that's upcoming is the CMUA capital day that takes place every February in Sacramento.

[2:09:22] I know this year it's happening on the 3rd of February, so we will have a team of IID staff and board members that will be attending.

[2:09:30] We will be meeting with our legislators, but also with committee staff and others that we want to make sure that are aware of IID's priorities for our upcoming legislative year.

[2:09:43] And then at the federal level we have our APPA legislative rally at the end of the month of February and then also aqua has an annual Washington DC rally where we will also be there and participate in both of those events.

[2:09:59] So moving on. So government affairs is not just your staff and lobbyists. It's also you. It's also our management team, our executive team, being out in the community, engaging with our local state and federal officials.

[2:10:11] So, again, it's not just staff that does this, it's done at every level of the organization.

[2:10:18] So here, I just have a high level list of some of the key stakeholders that we engage

[2:10:23] with, whether it's, again, through board direct relationship building and engagement or

[2:10:31] through your staff.

[2:10:32] So we have the City Councils, obviously, both in the Imperial Valley but also the Coachella

[2:10:36] of Valley, tribal nations in both communities, the Coachella Valley Energy Commission, Association of Governments, the Riverside County Board of Supervisors, as well as the Imperial County Board of Supervisors and other agencies that are highlighted there.

[2:10:52] And will Cali Pat mean the picture?

[2:10:54] Yep.

[2:10:55] So, comes up, Antonio.

[2:10:56] State engagement, so this is a new year.

[2:10:59] We have a new state legislature that just convened on January 6th.

[2:11:04] So at the state level, we have currently the makeup is 60 Democrats, 90 Republicans.

[2:11:10] There is one vacancy representing our values in the Imperial Anchorchella Valley.

[2:11:15] We have a newly elected assembly member, Assemblymember Garcia, who represented our region for

[2:11:21] 10 years is no longer there.

[2:11:23] And we do have a new representative that is Assemblymember Jeff Gonzalez, who we have met with him and spent a little bit of time with him.

[2:11:31] He was actually in Washington, D.C. last week, with there to celebrate the signing of the Chukwala National Monument.

[2:11:40] And this picture is right from that event.

[2:11:42] And so for the record, the record, the Genio caught me out of it.

[2:11:46] So director Eugenio and I had an opportunity to be with you.

[2:11:50] I would have he wasn't there at that particular event, but I did crop him out of other pictures

[2:11:55] and probably, probably.

[2:11:57] So we did have an opportunity just to bend his ear for a little bit.

[2:12:01] We will be seeing him at CMUA Capitol Day.

[2:12:04] So again, he is new to our district, though, and we will have to bring him up to speed

[2:12:10] on all of the things that we have in front of the state legislature.

[2:12:15] Assemblymember Greg Wallace was re-elected, so he continues in that seat.

[2:12:21] And he's also on the Energy Committee on the Assembly side.

[2:12:24] So utilities and energy, Assemblymember Gonzalez was just appointed vice chair

[2:12:29] of the Assembly Water Parks and Wildlife Committee, which is for us a very important committee.

[2:12:35] So he just received that assignment very recently.

[2:12:38] And then just a list of some of the other committee chairs that are committees of jurisdiction

[2:12:45] for IID.

[2:12:47] On the state senate, we have 30 Democrats and I Republicans, there is one vacancy.

[2:12:54] Senator Steve Padilla from our district is the new chair of the government organization

[2:12:59] committee.

[2:13:00] I don't foresee us having many issues in front of his committee just because of the jurisdiction.

[2:13:05] However, it is a new appointment for him and to the extent that we do need to engage with him through that committee, we will, in addition to other things.

[2:13:15] What is government organization? Is there an equivalent in the assembly or they call it something else in the Senate?

[2:13:21] They have a similar committee on the assembly side also geo, but it's mostly issues related to insurance.

[2:13:29] other general government functions, so I don't have specific list in front of me, all the issues of jurisdiction,

[2:13:39] but there may be some opportunities, again, depending on the various committees, where some bills that could impact the idea would go in front of that committee.

[2:13:49] Senator Ochoa-Boh is newly elected to represent our area, although she has already served in the state senate, due to redistricting, Senate District 19 now covers a small portion of our service area in the Riverside County portion, which is the city of Lakinta.

[2:14:09] So Senator Ochoa-Boh as of this year will be representing IID at least again a small portion

[2:14:18] of our service area in Riverside County.

[2:14:22] And then also just a list of the chairs of the committees of jurisdiction that IID cares

[2:14:28] about.

[2:14:33] So state engagement is not just with the legislative branch, it's also with the executive

[2:14:37] branch and the governor's office.

[2:14:39] So through that state engagement, I noted some agencies that we have more contact with

[2:14:46] and others, and which are the ones that we track on a day-to-day basis, depending on activities

[2:14:51] that they may have, and also the people that represent those agencies, for example, Secretary

[2:14:58] area of natural resource.

[2:15:00] He's a very familiar face to ID, but there are others. So, at Cal EPA, the Air Resources Board,

[2:15:07] State Water Resources Control Board, and under CNRA, which is a very wide umbrella, you have the

[2:15:13] various commissions there that are noted on your packet.

[2:15:19] The picture there is of the new Assistant

[2:15:22] Secretary for Salt and Sea Policy, Joe Shea. He was here in the district and our board and staff had

[2:15:29] an opportunity to take him out on a tour of some of our water infrastructure.

[2:15:36] If you were dated to Mr. Hamby, he looks a lot like him.

[2:15:39] There's no relation at all.

[2:15:41] I just count the similarities.

[2:15:44] They're pretty good friends though.

[2:15:47] All right, for federal engagement.

[2:15:51] Well, are there any questions before I move on from state?

[2:15:55] Okay, hearing none, let me get through this here.

[2:15:57] federal engagement on the U.S. House of Representatives.

[2:16:01] We have the makeup now is 220 Republicans,

[2:16:04] 215 Democrats representing IID in the Imperial and Coachella

[2:16:08] valleys.

[2:16:09] You have Congressman Dr. Raul Reese, who was re-elected,

[2:16:14] as was Representative and Congressman Ken Calvert.

[2:16:18] Congressman Calvert is in the Appropriations Committee,

[2:16:21] and he continues with that appointment,

[2:16:23] which is a very important assignment.

[2:16:26] and he has been very good to IID and been very helpful to us over the years.

[2:16:34] So we are glad to see that he's going to continue that assignment.

[2:16:37] Congressman Rees was appointed to the House Energy Committee, House Energy and Natural Resources.

[2:16:45] So he serves on that committee of jurisdiction, which is also very positive news for us

[2:16:51] to have one of our Congress members in that committee as well.

[2:16:57] On the Senate side, 53 Republicans, 45 Democrats, two independents, Senator Alex Padilla.

[2:17:06] He was not up for reelection, so he continues to represent the state of California.

[2:17:11] But we do have a new Senator in newly elected Senator Adam Schiff.

[2:17:16] I wouldn't know that Senator Schiff has been appointed recently to the Senate Energy and

[2:17:22] natural resources committee, and Senator Padilla was already on that committee.

[2:17:27] So we actually have two, both of our senators in that committee, which is not common.

[2:17:34] So that is quite uncommon to have your two state senators in one committee of jurisdiction,

[2:17:40] especially one of this importance.

[2:17:42] And we were struggling there, well, from a lower base in perspective because the only two that were on there were upper base.

[2:17:49] Or two, I don't remember any.

[2:17:50] Correct.

[2:17:54] So, the others, again, I have just new Senate Majority Leader, right, Senator Thun.

[2:18:02] So, briefly, on the executive branch at the federal level, we have the Department of Energy,

[2:18:08] Department of Interior, which covers BLM, Bureau of Reclamation, Fish and Wildlife Service,

[2:18:14] very important appointments and for IID, this is one of those agencies that we have probably

[2:18:22] one of the closest relationships with. Now, we have a new president as of yesterday,

[2:18:27] new president Donald Trump was sworn in, and some of his cabinet nominees actually last week had

[2:18:34] already their hearings for their confirmation. Now, from these that I have mentioned, none have

[2:18:41] been confirmed, but we do expect that possibly as early as next week, we could have confirmations

[2:18:48] for the new Secretary of Interior, which is going to be all indications are Doug Bergham,

[2:18:55] the Governor of North Dakota, and then on the Department of Energy, the Secretary of

[2:18:59] energy Chris Wright. He may also be sworn in for Senate Ag Secretary and for federal emergency

[2:19:11] management agency or FEMA. Those hearings are scheduled to happen next week. So once those

[2:19:18] hearings occur then we would expect that hopefully one or two weeks after that there could be a full

[2:19:24] vote of the Senate to confirm them.

[2:19:29] So again, as you heard from me, right, it's no secret that we have a new president.

[2:19:35] We have a new Congress.

[2:19:38] You have a new majority on the Senate side.

[2:19:41] So the federal priorities and the outlook, although we've outlined some here, I would say

[2:19:48] that it's still maybe too early for us to identify which are going to be this administration's

[2:19:54] priority.

[2:19:54] Yesterday on his first day in office, President Trump rescinded about 80 prior executive orders

[2:20:02] from the prior administration. He also signed over a dozen executive orders, one of them related

[2:20:10] to energy, climate, EV. Some of those things could impact some of our policies in California.

[2:20:19] So, I'm not going to try to guess what our priorities will be instead.

[2:20:25] We've done our best job to highlight some themes in this slide here, both at the state

[2:20:31] level and at the federal level.

[2:20:33] But I would ask for some time before we can actually identify which of these will continue

[2:20:40] to be on the list and which of these are going to completely be removed from the list.

[2:20:46] That happens not just at the federal level, but even at the state level.

[2:20:51] The first month is, the first two months of a new session are introduction of new bills.

[2:20:57] So although bills have started to trickle in, usually members wait until the final deadline,

[2:21:02] which is this year, it's February 20th, for bills to be introduced at the state level.

[2:21:08] So, that is when I think we will have a better understanding and a better sense of which

[2:21:15] of these energy water priorities are going to really take shape, and then we will start

[2:21:23] engaging based on what's introduced both at the state and federal level.

[2:21:33] Same thing on the regulatory priorities outlook.

[2:21:36] There are different things some that have spilled over from last year that we expect to continue especially those at the state level on the federal level though again this could be a completely new list come next quarter so at this time rather than going through these I will just point them there for you they are there as a reference but know that your legislative committees and your staff will start to really look through all those policies and

[2:22:05] And I think Q1 of every year, like we did last year, is when we'll start to really identify

[2:22:12] which are priorities and which are direct impact, which are things that we just may want

[2:22:16] to monitor.

[2:22:18] But again, included here in your packet, we did do our best to guess where we're going to

[2:22:23] go on some of these regulatory priorities.

[2:22:26] And then finally, just some recent photos here of some of our activities at both the federal

[2:22:32] and the state level.

[2:22:33] I mentioned, and as you saw, on some of our social media, we shared President, well,

[2:22:40] Director Cardinus and Director Eugenio and I had an opportunity to go to the White House

[2:22:46] last week. We were there for the signing of the Chuck Wall and National Monument designation,

[2:22:51] and there we had an opportunity to hear from the president himself, the prior president,

[2:22:57] now former president, and also had an opportunity to meet with some other locals that were,

[2:23:02] that flew into D.C. for that event. We met there at the Rayburn House Office Building.

[2:23:08] Congressman Rees is on the bottom with Council Member from the City of India, also who joined

[2:23:15] us for our picture there.

[2:23:17] We missed you, Mr. Smelser. Sorry. And then just to hear a few other photos. We have a lot

[2:23:23] of pictures. I mean, every week there's some kind of activity, whether it's at the board

[2:23:28] level or at the executive management level. So it was very hard to pick some of these pictures,

[2:23:33] but here's just an example or sample of some of those photos of the last six months.

[2:23:41] I think the photo there in the center, where you have our state senator, our federal representatives,

[2:23:48] that was at the Salton Sea, major, major milestone, and just having everybody there in that one photo.

[2:23:56] I think that's probably the only photo I have in all the years I've been here where we

[2:23:59] have both federal and state representatives with local representatives.

[2:24:04] Some of our tours that we do are local engagement, former secretary, I'm sorry, former Bureau of

[2:24:11] Right Commissioner Camille there on the bottom, Camille Tuen, and then just, and then the

[2:24:16] photo on the top right, Director Docsett had an opportunity to meet with Assemblymember

[2:24:21] Rivas, who is now the speaker of the assembly.

[2:24:25] So we had an opportunity to meet with him at the salts

[2:24:28] and see some time ago.

[2:24:31] So with that, I will turn it over to our general manager

[2:24:35] and see if she has any comments she would like to add.

[2:24:38] And then also any questions.

[2:24:40] Thank you, Senator.

[2:24:42] You don't have any comments?

[2:24:43] I have no comments ever, then.

[2:24:45] I think Antonio did a very good job.

[2:24:47] I don't believe there's any questions,

[2:24:48] Madame Chair, because Antonio and his team

[2:24:49] are bona fide rock stars.

[2:24:51] But I do want to follow up with the motion before I make that motion. I do want to extend an invitation no conditional motion, but I do have no no points.

[2:25:02] But I do want to extend an invitation to director Pacheco to possibly join us in Washington DC. Maybe even director dogsteader to charge the hill in terms of some ongoing issues.

[2:25:14] maybe either. Okay and so if there's an opportunity I can't tell you how impressed I am with our

[2:25:22] government affairs groups and everything that you've done in Tonyo especially with our lobbyist

[2:25:26] both in DC and in Sacramento so congratulations to the entire team so but if there is an opportunity

[2:25:34] Mr. Pacheco to join I would encourage that Miss Jamie your weekly reports are awesome if I could

[2:25:41] If I could make a little recommendation that we include a legislative update there just so that

[2:25:49] Maybe Mr. Bacheco in general can get some additional information on where we're going on the legislative side of it

[2:25:55] I know that we do have

[2:25:56] My items on the agenda, but if we can include maybe some some updates there a very small paragraph

[2:26:01] I know it's already extensive your report. I think that might help

[2:26:04] So madam chair if there is no additional comments or questions

[2:26:08] I am prepared to make a non-conditional or unconditional motion that we find the district is substantially in compliance with the policy B-O-13.

[2:26:21] Second.

[2:26:22] Moved and seconded. All those in favor?

[2:26:25] Aye.

[2:26:26] Motion passes unanimously.

[2:26:28] Thank you.

[2:26:30] Thank you, Antonio. And I do appreciate your legislative report.

[2:26:37] Generally, our board of directors reports are heard at the first regular, but we didn't really do that at our office site.

[2:26:46] So we're going to have a doubly long next month.

[2:26:49] Whatever you want next month.

[2:26:53] Live and let live. Okay, excellent. Let's go to water department.

[2:26:57] Good afternoon, a couple of quick updates. First, the board had asked to see a little bit more of what we're doing from a staff perspective out in the operations world.

[2:27:10] And so you have a slide that we shared last week, the Colorado River Board. We're currently in the process of removing sediment from the Galiano and seeing reservoirs.

[2:27:19] That's the great thing about this project is it's part of the

[2:27:23] Matt Conservation Program, so they're funding it, so that makes it a much more

[2:27:28] palatable project. These reservoirs have not had sediment removal in some time,

[2:27:33] we're removing about 30,000 cubic yards of material to date. We still have to go

[2:27:41] about 70,000 cubic yards and that will free up about 300 acre feet of capacity.

[2:27:47] I think both reservoirs together have about 750 acre

[2:27:51] of capacity, so it's a good chunk of the space in those

[2:27:54] reservoirs and long overdue, so we'll look forward to putting

[2:27:58] those back at operation. You can see one of the reservoir sites

[2:28:02] and it's kind of a messy job, but again, it's removing that

[2:28:07] film material that didn't make it out of the water

[2:28:10] in this losing basin that Merlin was talking about that works

[2:28:13] its way through our system and to the field level.

[2:28:16] So quite the mucky experience to get that out, but it will free up some capacity and help those reservoirs provide the operational flexibility our growers need.

[2:28:27] And it's about a $3.6 million project, so pretty significant, but amortize it over 30 years and not so bad.

[2:28:35] Also in regards to water supply conditions, having done a hydrology report don't have a lot to report not the greatest year so far.

[2:28:44] cross your fingers looks like the hydrology is running about 75 to 80% so not

[2:28:49] shaping up to be that great of a year but we still have some time left before the

[2:28:54] normal peak snow pack of April 1st to stay tuned. California is looking a little

[2:28:59] better if they did a snow survey at the beginning of the year and it looks like

[2:29:03] it's running about average so you'd like to see one system healthy if not the

[2:29:08] other and both would be awesome but we'll take what we can get these days.

[2:29:13] The

[2:29:14] So that provides some level of higher certainty within the state and also that reduces draws on the Colorado River system.

[2:29:25] The forecast, the Reclamation Post has not been updated for 2025 yet.

[2:29:30] If you check their website, they have removed the 2024.

[2:29:33] So I assume that means they're close to posting the authorized water orders and status report, but still early in the years, a loss to go.

[2:29:41] So we're still in the process of finalizing the verification conservation from 2024 and

[2:29:47] working through those numbers.

[2:29:50] The last forecast posted had an under run of about 100 and I think it was 35,000 nm fee.

[2:29:57] we expect that to drop a bit as we tell you.

[2:30:00] We're on farm conservation from last year, and it looks to me like we're going to be running at about 110,000 acre feet of underrun. So far, cry from where we started last year, and certainly some of our additional conservation programs were helpful to minimizing that number in offsetting some of the market conditions. Also reclamation on their way out the door on Friday released an alternative report.

[2:30:26] It has five post-2026 authorities that will be more fully analyzed as a part of the NEPA process.

[2:30:36] There's the typical NO action. There's a federal authorities and a federal authorities with hybrid,

[2:30:41] which means it's added in some additional new water conservation and storage opportunities.

[2:30:47] There's a cooperative conservation proposal that some of the tribes and NGOs propose

[2:30:52] that have more to do with pooling water and then there's a hybrid since neither the lower

[2:30:57] basin or the upper basin proposals were independently analyzed. I don't know what that means

[2:31:04] for a new administration. We don't have a commissioner named yet. I don't know if this, I think,

[2:31:09] you know, as administrations change, Commissioner Tutton is hoping that this is where she leaves off and

[2:31:14] they pick up and run but that still remains to be seen. None of these authorities and alternatives

[2:31:21] are particularly exciting to IID, they don't have the lower base and proposal, they offer

[2:31:30] some alternatives that are outside the priority system and have pro-radar reductions, they

[2:31:35] also have significant lower base and reductions in flow that in some cases could be 4 million

[2:31:42] acre feet of flow reductions to users. So they're not really palatable, I think what we need

[2:31:47] to keep reminding ourselves is that these are bookends

[2:31:50] that are being analyzed and as long as the Basin State

[2:31:53] have come up with a proposal that is somewhere

[2:31:55] and between those, then you have the NEPA coverage

[2:31:58] for implementation.

[2:31:59] I will also note that many of the alternatives

[2:32:02] require additional federal authorities

[2:32:04] and water user agreements.

[2:32:06] And so nothing's going to move forward

[2:32:09] without folks buying into it at the end of the day.

[2:32:12] So we'll continue to work on that process.

[2:32:14] Now that we have the elections over

[2:32:16] the administration is changing. We hope to get some folks in place and restart the discussions.

[2:32:21] There is a Basin States meeting later this week so folks are getting back together and I think

[2:32:27] rolling up their sleeves and seeing what we can come up with as far as finding some common ground.

[2:32:33] Happy to answer any questions. One last thing I will report you're aware in the 2022

[2:32:41] commitment letter between Reclamation of the State of California. There was the $250 million in

[2:32:47] grant fending for the Salt and Sea that included a $2 million grant for ID. We did get that executed.

[2:32:54] That is a reimbursement grant for costs incurred as staff works on developing easements with the State

[2:33:02] of California. It's going to cover the costs associated with our deficit irrigation program and

[2:33:08] the ski, the monitoring of vegetation mapping costs and some additional staff time as well.

[2:33:15] So I don't know that we'll be able to use the full $2 million.

[2:33:18] We're going to try as best we can, but that funding was executed in addition to the other

[2:33:25] grants we've talked about.

[2:33:26] So there's also some new funding opportunities that came out on Friday, where uncertain how

[2:33:31] they're going to progress.

[2:33:32] But we need to spend some time analyzing them and talking to the Colorado River Committee

[2:33:36] as well.

[2:33:36] So we'll keep you posted on those.

[2:33:41] Just one little note on this removal or sediment. We do use the sediment for like in that area for like concrete lining or any other issues.

[2:33:52] So we kind of reuse that sediment.

[2:33:56] So it's good stuff.

[2:33:59] Now the only thing I wanted to mention to the board was so we have a leak in front of the hotel and imperial that we've been trying to fix.

[2:34:07] And we're going to get with that staff and then the city of Imperial and try to get an outage.

[2:34:14] We're going to have to dig up that pipeline there and replace it.

[2:34:20] I think it's just an old pipeline.

[2:34:22] So I don't know if you, when you drove in Gina to your event,

[2:34:25] you saw a little bit of water standing there on the interest. That's what it is.

[2:34:28] So we're working with them to work on that.

[2:34:32] Just in case you guys get a call about that, I'm going to work with Paul

[2:34:35] and then our staff to get everything lined up.

[2:34:39] We're gonna replace the by 100 feet of new pipeline.

[2:34:42] Thank you.

[2:34:43] I've been watching every time I drive by.

[2:34:44] I'm watching, checking on progress.

[2:34:48] That's it, thank you.

[2:34:50] Thank you.

[2:34:52] Power department, right, Matt.

[2:34:55] Yes, thank you.

[2:34:56] So I have Joan footage.

[2:34:58] I reported at a previous board meeting

[2:34:59] that I was gonna bring this back.

[2:35:01] So we had a transformer fail out as glamorous

[2:35:04] and this was plan E or F that we were on.

[2:35:07] We had troubles getting a current transformer

[2:35:09] that we had across bridges.

[2:35:11] So I just wanted to show this for the board

[2:35:12] and had some cool ACDC music on it,

[2:35:14] but I think the board wanted to hear that.

[2:35:16] So while this is playing just a couple of other quick things,

[2:35:20] obviously, everybody's very aware of the fires in LA.

[2:35:24] I read the report this morning that one broke out

[2:35:26] in Northern San Diego County.

[2:35:28] So we're kind of keeping an eye on that.

[2:35:30] We have been called by through SCAPA to assist

[2:35:32] with some equipment, but have not had any line crews requested yet, but we are standing

[2:35:37] by waiting for that if we do get it. I'm anticipating because they're still seeing upwards

[2:35:42] of 80 to 100-mile-hour gusts tonight for the next few days for the Arctic blast. So we're

[2:35:48] anticipating that they're probably waiting for that to subside somewhat and come up with

[2:35:52] their engineering plan and then they'll call for mutual aid. So we're keeping an eye on that.

[2:35:57] And also staff is working on evaluating some transformers for the thousand palms concept that will benefit some cities and as long as well as some developers.

[2:36:06] So we're trying to get that pushed along, but happy to answer any questions while the video, please.

[2:36:12] No, they're going to.

[2:36:15] It's about a three minute.

[2:36:22] Can you sing?

[2:36:24] There's no budget for copyrighting.

[2:36:28] Could give the shout out.

[2:36:34] No, we have to actually go out and purchase this.

[2:36:37] The one that we had in stock, we couldn't get across the bridges.

[2:36:40] We looked at catapulting, training, everything possible.

[2:36:44] This one worked out.

[2:36:45] So we actually, that's what I was saying, is flat F.

[2:36:48] We actually went out to the market and found this transformer

[2:36:51] and were able to utilize it and get it across without any barriers to bridges.

[2:36:55] But this is a drone. So we had we had all power staff pretty much involved in this was all hands on deck and a lot of help from water heavy equipment, general services.

[2:37:06] It was kind of a really extensive project to get this going clearing roads. We had road issues. We had every issue you can imagine, but we had it done.

[2:37:17] And this outage, so it kind of does say when our infrastructure, this outage, even with us doing as much as we could, was over 30 days.

[2:37:26] But we were able to get it done. So I commend staff. It was a great job.

[2:37:30] And how much did it weigh, Matt? How much?

[2:37:32] I can't remember the weight, but it was too heavy to get across any bridges.

[2:37:35] Right.

[2:37:39] I think this highlights as well, sort of the vastness of I.D. service territory and irrespective of where you are.

[2:37:46] it's our obligation to serve and and so sometimes it's a little more challenging than others but we

[2:37:51] did think it's important that the board and the public get to see this. Right and those roads

[2:37:55] look new for a reason they went out there we had to make the roads come in some places it was

[2:38:00] this has very dry we we have to accommodate everybody and this transform was old obviously we weren't

[2:38:06] anticipating it to fail but it did and we responded. Those are then greater and do a good job of

[2:38:11] building roads. Yep. And then one more time, that was 30 days, you said.

[2:38:15] The outage was over 30 days. Yeah, it is.

[2:38:18] Gold mine. It's past past climbers. If it feeds the mine out there.

[2:38:26] We weren't looking. We were just trying to get power restored.

[2:38:29] Watch out for the turtles. Yeah, of course.

[2:38:32] Um, an observation, actually, a Sunday school lesser, if I can share it. So when I was

[2:38:39] One of the Sunday school lessons that came to mind is that they had a candle and put a basket over it.

[2:38:45] You're supposed to let your life shine, not hide it under a basket.

[2:38:48] I feel that I, we've done a very good job of letting our light be hidden very darkly under a basket.

[2:38:56] And we've got phenomenal work being produced by district employees and photography and all kinds of things.

[2:39:02] And we should let our light shine.

[2:39:03] So that's my observation, Ms. Asbury, if we can highlight this project in particular using our new found, you know, social media and other communications tools to highlight this.

[2:39:17] And I think this is a healthy thing.

[2:39:19] We saw with this in the Galliano, I understand there's a video coming soon on that one.

[2:39:23] But I think what we need to communicate is what we do.

[2:39:27] And people don't know what we do because we're not telling them.

[2:39:30] So that will be helpful.

[2:39:31] And my only admonition as long as it doesn't impact the bulk power system. We're happily we will happily share whatever. Thank you

[2:39:40] At your discretion

[2:39:42] Support departments. Yes, good afternoon madam chair. We don't have cool drone footage for you

[2:39:49] Next time we're gonna

[2:39:51] Kick it up a little bit, but we asked HR today and Pat is going to help us share some important changes to our

[2:40:00] health plan as well as some of the latest changes regarding COVID regulations.

[2:40:06] Believe it or not, COVID is not over yet.

[2:40:08] We're not done with COVID.

[2:40:09] So we're still some things that we need to mind, and Patty's going to bring us up to speed

[2:40:14] with that.

[2:40:14] So COVID's over.

[2:40:16] No, it is not.

[2:40:18] Good afternoon, Chairwoman.

[2:40:21] Good afternoon.

[2:40:22] Good afternoon.

[2:40:23] How are you?

[2:40:24] Good.

[2:40:25] Vice Chair Hamby and members of the board.

[2:40:27] So I'm here to talk about the health plan, something that I'm very passionate about.

[2:40:33] I am passionate about the work I do, but the health plan is one thing I'm very passionate

[2:40:37] about.

[2:40:39] So you all are aware, we did change to a new third party administrator.

[2:40:46] We went from health now administrative services to pinnacle.

[2:40:49] We're on day 21 and things are running much better than they did when we transitioned from

[2:40:56] the prior third party. We've had several different health and welfare services that I want to talk

[2:41:06] about. We had the on-site wellness screenings in the fall. We did have an increase from last year

[2:41:12] from 2023. These are some of the things that Mr. Kidoz has tasked staff to take wellness to the next

[2:41:21] level. And it's not just the physical wellness but it's the preventative care and it's also the

[2:41:28] financial wellness and believe it or not. We have a high issue of mental health issues in the

[2:41:35] organization and I'll talk about some of those programs that we rolled out. So we currently rolled

[2:41:41] out a wellness coaching program and it is on the third, it's going to be every second Monday of the

[2:41:48] month. We started and we rolled out on the 13th. We had a lot of engagement. It's all virtual.

[2:41:56] We did have our annual open enrollment for employees and retirees. So

[2:42:03] Director Cardenas was gracious enough to show up. We had over 200 retirees. It's more

[2:42:09] of a social gathering as you may have been they love to come together. But one thing I do

[2:42:18] want to thank management for is for allowing me to make the open enrollment meetings for

[2:42:25] the employees mandatory mandatory because there was a lot of information that needed

[2:42:30] to be shared. Believe it or not, you still have employees out there that are not aware

[2:42:36] of the gracious benefits that the district has for all of the employees. So we had 1150 employees

[2:42:45] participate in the open enrollment meetings. We had the vendors here, we had pinnacle which

[2:42:51] was a new third-party available for questions. We also began with financial wellness

[2:43:00] educations. We've spoken about the retirement plan and 401k. We were challenged to increase

[2:43:09] the participation in the 401k with an enrollment drive so that took staff out to all the different

[2:43:16] work sites to increase the participation. So we are down now to of the 13 or 1400 employees,

[2:43:26] we have 297 employees who still do not participate in the 401k. Interestingly enough,

[2:43:34] Some of them just bottom line don't want to participate, so they are leaving that 1% match at the table.

[2:43:42] Along with the financial wellness education, we are starting, there are two workshops that are being rolled out in the next couple of weeks.

[2:43:51] And the goal is to bring different types of workshops relative to financial wellness savings, savings into the 401k,

[2:44:01] in the 401A and then the deferred compensation plans that the district has.

[2:44:06] We do have a significant issue with employees asking for loans in their 457.

[2:44:20] So our goal is to bring some of those resources on site to drive some of that and

[2:44:27] increase some event knowledge to help them get through this, these financial struggles

[2:44:33] that they're encountering. Part of the financial wellness, we have, and resources for living

[2:44:42] talk space in mind and head space. These are all mental health platforms that the district

[2:44:47] has available. But aside from the mental health, they also provide financial guidance and

[2:44:54] wellness, different resources for the employees.

[2:45:00] So, these are something that we are driving the message to the home and district-wide to make employees aware of the different resources available. And I will share that for the first time in my 24 years here, mental health made the top 10 diagnosis for the district. So, when I-and staff partook of the open enrollments.

[2:45:29] meetings, the message or the slogan I used is, you matter because each employee matters.

[2:45:38] So I drove the message of the whole wellness, all the different resources that they have

[2:45:45] available.

[2:45:46] These platforms, people don't want to talk about mental health but it does exist.

[2:45:51] And these resources are available and you don't have to do in person, you can do virtual.

[2:45:56] So, all of these have different abilities 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

[2:46:03] Some of the additional benefits that we added is a gallery cancer screening test.

[2:46:10] Everyone should have received a flyer to the home.

[2:46:13] And basically, this is something that the district rolled out for 2025.

[2:46:18] I think it's the next slide, guys.

[2:46:21] Sorry, that was me.

[2:46:22] Oh, sorry.

[2:46:23] So we've had 17 members enroll and basically what this test is it's for those 50 and over

[2:46:34] and 40 to 49 if you have some underlying medical conditions or risk factors.

[2:46:42] So basically it's a proactive breakthrough in cancer screening, again preventative.

[2:46:48] we much rather have a preventative diagnosis

[2:46:52] than a reactive diagnosis.

[2:46:55] So this test is basically a platform

[2:46:59] to fingerprint about 50 different types of cancers.

[2:47:03] So basically what you do is you scan the QR code,

[2:47:08] you request your kit, depending on your age,

[2:47:12] you have to respond to those risk factor questions,

[2:47:16] And then they send you your kit, basically you go into the quest diagnostics, they help

[2:47:23] you swab and do that, you send it in.

[2:47:26] So you either get a response that says everything's good or you get a response to say that

[2:47:32] you have to do a follow-up and basically that follow-up, they guide you through the follow-up,

[2:47:38] through the CAROM concierge type of benefit that we also have available.

[2:47:42] So, it is available for employees and dependents as long as they're on the medical plan and they meet that age criteria.

[2:47:52] Again, it's 100% at no cost to us as employees. Great benefit. Right way application, that's something that was rolled out as well.

[2:48:02] It's a concierge platform that comes with the third-party administrator pinnacle and basically

[2:48:09] what that is is that your fingerprints, your fingerprints, tips you have available,

[2:48:14] the explanation of benefits.

[2:48:17] If you have a question regarding the doctor charging you for something, so it's a chat-based

[2:48:27] platform but it also has the ability to reach out and look for a specialist if you're looking for a

[2:48:34] specialist and where is the best place to obtain different services that you may be challenging

[2:48:44] or going through. So a little bit about the Anthem Blue Cross negotiations. We've all heard

[2:48:50] For those of us that are patients of scripts, scripts, health network, or the scripts facility has been negotiating or has been in negotiations with Blue Cross, the network scripts is negotiating for more money and effective January 1st 2025.

[2:49:14] We, as users of the Scripps facilities, have an option whether we seek services still

[2:49:22] through there, they would fall under the Adda Network benefit.

[2:49:27] If you are a Scripps user and you are going through a particular treatment, whether it

[2:49:34] be chemo, radiation, there is a form that you can fill out and it's basically to continue

[2:49:41] your care.

[2:49:42] and it's a document that we did a communication to all district employees last week and it gives

[2:49:48] you the steps and it's basically called the continuation of care. So it allows you to bridge

[2:49:54] that treatment. Anthem is pretty, the updates that we're getting from the third party administrator.

[2:50:01] Anthem is pretty sure and positive about the negotiations. Even those scripts is announced that

[2:50:09] they are no longer part of the network, but Anthem will continue to negotiate in good faith.

[2:50:15] Hopefully this has happened before and hopefully in the next 30 to 60 days we'd hear something

[2:50:24] positive about that. COVID update. So we were currently, even though COVID doesn't exist,

[2:50:32] We still have to comply as an employer.

[2:50:36] We have to replace, to report workplace exposure.

[2:50:42] And this is a calocia requirement.

[2:50:45] So one of the things that we had been doing prior to up through February 3rd of 2025

[2:50:52] was anyone with symptoms needed to report to the disability management team and then they

[2:50:57] were given guidance as to what the next steps are.

[2:51:00] One of the things that we're going to do moving forward, we still have to report work place exposures,

[2:51:08] and we still have to cover the cost of those employees that were exposed at work, so we, the district, have to pay for the cost.

[2:51:16] One of the things that we're going to send out a communication is advising employees that moving forward February 3rd and into the future until the regulation changes.

[2:51:28] employees just need to report to us if they are COVID positive.

[2:51:33] If they take a home test and it's a positive, a picture with the date stamp is going to suffice

[2:51:39] and then we'll go through the protocols that are required for us to continue to follow.

[2:51:44] Any questions with that?

[2:51:47] No, just out of curiosity, so you have to report every single person that has COVID.

[2:51:52] But it come smaller companies only had to do like if it was a percentage right three a month or five a month

[2:51:58] Then you had to report so with with the district because of the size of employer. Yeah, any three or more three or more that particular

[2:52:07] Work site have to be reported. Okay

[2:52:11] Miss patty the the number of lives under our plan right now is still about 4,500. Yes

[2:52:17] And then do you know how many are survivors only?

[2:52:20] I don't have that number.

[2:52:22] What do you think?

[2:52:25] I'm going to take a guess under

[2:52:29] 200.

[2:52:30] Yeah.

[2:52:30] I did speak to a couple of survivors at the workshop.

[2:52:33] And it's amazing that they are a part of our alumni and part of our family.

[2:52:37] Very appreciative of our identity.

[2:52:39] Very grateful, yes.

[2:52:40] And so I do want to acknowledge and appreciate your leadership on them.

[2:52:43] But the survivors of the health care plan are a very important part of our IAD family

[2:52:47] and do welcome the fact that they're included

[2:52:50] and they participate in these types of discussions.

[2:52:52] The job well done.

[2:52:54] That's essential for them to be part of it.

[2:52:56] They are in the health plan, so they need to know.

[2:52:59] Any other questions?

[2:53:01] I know I was given three minutes, so I hope I stayed within my.

[2:53:05] You didn't, but we appreciate that.

[2:53:07] Nice job, Mr. Kiddles.

[2:53:09] Thank you very much.

[2:53:11] All right, guys, just kidding.

[2:53:16] Okay.

[2:53:16] Okay, Lisa.

[2:53:18] Stealing my thunder roll there.

[2:53:20] I'm trying to hurry me up.

[2:53:22] Imagine that.

[2:53:23] Yeah.

[2:53:24] So I'm going to go through it very briefly.

[2:53:26] I attended the farm water round table meeting,

[2:53:29] which I have to confess to the board is one of my favorite things

[2:53:32] to do irrespective of the things that we talk about there.

[2:53:35] It's an interesting to get to know the water side of ideas.

[2:53:38] And particularly our farmers.

[2:53:40] I'm very appreciative of them.

[2:53:42] I want the board to know we are ramping up social media postings

[2:53:45] with regard to a number of things.

[2:53:46] We'll start disseminating information about the capital improvement plan and resources and

[2:53:53] we'll do as much as we can with as quickly as we can to make sure that rapiers get that

[2:53:59] information.

[2:54:00] I did attend all of the rate workshops with the exception of the one in Calexica.

[2:54:04] I was not available for that one.

[2:54:06] Tendent the reliability compliance steering committee meeting where we talked about a number

[2:54:10] of issues, so I can maintain some level of assistance to the RCO in that initiative.

[2:54:17] Had a nice conversation with the City of India and also the City of Lakinta with regard

[2:54:23] to the joint powers authority, both the Indio-specific and the overall, I've had a number of conversations

[2:54:28] with potential participants in the Coachella Valley JPA structure, met with the project

[2:54:34] proponents for the North Healing Piro Valley to 500 KV transmission line. They have asked

[2:54:40] Mr. Smeltzer and I to go with them to the ISO to have a conversation with regard to

[2:54:45] potential, you know, synergies that we might be able to leverage on the geothermal resource

[2:54:51] for both NGIV2 and the IV2 songs transmission. Mr. Smeltzer and I will also be going to

[2:54:59] Lakinta this week to meet with the members of the Hyde away in the city of Lakinta, very high end, very large residential subdivision.

[2:55:08] I think we have very good news for them.

[2:55:10] We're very happy to go and deliver and it's also a nice opportunity to get to sort of talk to the constituency there or customers there.

[2:55:18] Attended the public affairs workshop, attended the IVH2O function briefly because I had to another commitment.

[2:55:25] but it was a nice networking opportunity, and I'm sorry, Mr. Kightlinger's presentation.

[2:55:31] And then I also wanted to let the board know, in addition to the fire in Poway, there's also

[2:55:35] one in Mission Valley near Friars Road. Someone let me know that I want to make sure that the public

[2:55:43] is aware that once all of this restoration commences both for the policy, it's fire and the North

[2:55:49] Carolina issues and the Florida issues, health and human safety is going to be prioritized

[2:55:54] over economic development and other sort of opportunities for grid enhancements so I want to make

[2:56:00] sure that we understand that moving as quickly as we can is going to be important to get ahead of

[2:56:06] that so that we can get infrastructure in because I think that serving power in Imperial County in

[2:56:13] the summer of time is also health and human safety issues so I want to make sure that we're all

[2:56:18] sort of speaking the same language. Happy to take any questions that the board may have otherwise

[2:56:22] I will defer to Director Cardinist as a grant, as I were to be brief.

[2:56:29] Any comments?

[2:56:30] Thank you very much.

[2:56:32] We appreciate it.

[2:56:33] I appreciate everything that you do.

[2:56:35] At this time, let's convene in the closed session.

[2:56:40] Not yet.

[2:56:41] I think we have.

[2:56:41] What do we have?

[2:56:42] Maybe at the very end.

[2:56:43] I thought you were done.

[2:56:44] You're probably right.

[2:56:45] You are.

[2:56:46] Look at that.

[2:56:48] I'm gonna hurry up.

IID BOD Regular Meeting_January 21, 2025

Agenda

Transcript