The Board meets on the first and third Monday of each month. Meetings begin at 1:00 p.m. and are held in the department conference room at 65 Lafayette Ave, Littleton. Board meetings are open to the public and time is allotted for public comments at each meeting.
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The regularly scheduled business meeting of the Littleton Water and Light (LWL) Board of Commissioners (BOC) began at 1:00 p.m. on August 5, 2024 in the LWL conference room. Present were Commissioner Peter Cooper, Commissioner Ralph Ross, Commissioner Linda MacNeil, Director of Finance Lori Hogan, Line Supervisor Justen Elliott and Superintendent Thomas Considine.
MINUTES REVIEW:
The minutes of the July 15, 2024 regularly scheduled Commissioners meeting were reviewed. Commissioner MacNeil made a motion to accept the minutes as presented, seconded by Commissioner Ross.
The vote was in favor of the motion 3-0-0
APPOINTMENTS:
Commissioner Cooper welcomed the team from Convergent Energy and Power (CEP) to the BOC meeting. CEP was represented in person by Jim Tarpey, Mariko Meier, Kate Lawyer with Adam Green and Laura Meilander joining remotely via Teams.
Mrs. Meier presented a power point slide presentation to the BOC and Mr. Tarpey presented a brief overview of CEP and their activities regarding managing renewable energy systems since 2011. He then discussed CEP ongoing efforts over the past two (2) years to interconnect a battery energy storage system to the LWL electric system to lower costs associated with transmission.
Mr. Tarpey stated that they were able to get ahead of recent changes proposed by ISONE to study the regional reliability impact of interconnecting an energy storage unit. ISONE determined that the proposed 5 MW energy storage system proposed for LWL had no significant adverse effect to the ISONE system. If the application was filed now, it may take up to six (6) months for ISONE to complete their study.
Mrs. Meier discussed the next steps that CEP believes to be critical to having the system in service by spring 2026 as the LWL materials for this system will be included with a group purchase. The steps identified were 1) finalizing the Service Agreement, 2) Interconnection study and 3) Property Lease agreement with the Town of Littleton.
CEP has targeted a date of October 2024 for task completion. CEP is willing to pay for the distribution interconnection study to keep the project moving forward when a decision is made.
Commissioner Cooper commented on the fire safety concerns that were expressed by citizens at the deliberative session of the town meeting. He has been doing some research regarding the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA). They are studying the causes and developing best practices about how to effectively respond to lithium-ion battery fires.
Mrs. Meier stated that CEP are charter members of NYSERA and involved with the study, research, prevention and how to effectively contain and suppress a lithium-ion battery fire. CEP will provide local fire officials with training and work with them to further their understanding and address any safety concerns that they have.
There was some general discussion regarding timeline expectation. The BOC stated that the Town of Littleton (ToL) decision regarding the lease would have significant impact on the proposed October 2024 date as LWL is hesitant to move forward without it.
The CEP team thanked the BOC for their time and exited the meeting at about 2:00 pm.
CUSTOMER & PUBLIC CONCERNS:
1. Mr. Elliott stated that except for some final cleanup (paused due to rain) all work has been completed on Line 30 as previously discussed. He passed a picture around regarding the work completed to Circuit 11 on the Monroe Road as it passes over the interstate. He stated that he is surprised that this work/material lasted, as it was not installed correctly as evident by the damage discovered. The contractor did a good job overall, the final price may be over what was estimated due to the placement of additional swamp mats used to cross soft areas saturated by recent rainfall.
2. Mr. Elliot informed the BOC that an outage is planned for Tuesday, August 13, 2024 between the hours of 11 p.m. to 3 a.m. behind Shaw’s Market to transfer service taps and remove the old Hendrix compact wire. This is the final phase of the relocation of Circuit 20, when completed the distribution lines crossing the river will be deenergized and removed later. The outage will only affect Walmart and Shaw’s, LWL personnel will be assisted by two (2) contractor line crews.
DIRECTOR of FINANCE and HUMAN RESOURCES REPORT:
1. Mrs. Hogan reviewed the highlights of the financial statements for the month ended May 2024 with the Commissioners. Several variances as compared to the budget were discussed and explained by Mrs. Hogan.
The BOC agreed to have Mrs. Hogan distribute the approved Profit and Loss financial statement for the month ended May 2024 to the Town of Littleton.
2. The BOC reviewed a draft LWL investment policy that is required by RSA to be annually reviewed and approved. The policy that highlights potential fiscal conflicts of interest and other red flag indicators involving LWL cash flow and LWL officers.
Commissioner MacNeil suggested that several edits were needed before the BOC could execute.
Mrs. Hogan stated that the edits would be made, and she would present a revised copy at the next BOC meeting for acceptance and signature.
SUPERINTENDENT/ GENERAL MANAGERS REPORT:
Mr. Considine informed the BOC that Chris recently passed the NHDES operators certification exams and is officially a drinking water system treatment and distribution Operator-In-Training.
GENERAL/OTHER BUSINESS:
Mr. Considine stated the LWL has been working with Champlain Associates to provide a quote about having a Variable Frequency Drive (VFD) control installed on the motor at Brickyard Pump house and upgrades to the SCADA system at both the Brickyard and Hospital Pump station as they are linked together.
Champlain provided two (2) quotes each for about $16,000 to provide the needed material and labor to install the VFD controls and monitoring system.
Mr. Considine explained that the VFD project for Brickyard was previously approved by the BOC in 2020. He requested that the approved 2024 CIP be amended: 1) suspend the replacement of the PRV vault on Crane Street and 2) include the SCADA upgrade at the Hospital Booster Pump station, the appropriation would just about balance.
Following some additional discussion Commissioner MacNeil made a motion to amend the 2024 CIP as proposed by Mr. Considine above, seconded by Commissioner Ross.
The vote was in favor of the motion 3-0-0.
MEETING ADJOURNMENT:
There being no further business to come before the board Commissioner Ross made a motion to adjourn the meeting, seconded by Commissioner MacNeil.
The vote was in favor of the motion 3-0-0.
The meeting adjourned at 2:45 p.m.
The regularly scheduled Commissioner’s meeting is held twice monthly on the first and third Monday, at 1:00 p.m., in the Department’s conference room.