Danville Utility Commission (7/27/15) – Part #1

Monday’s Danville Utility Commission meeting went over the two-hour mark, so we’ve got a lot to recap for you. Let’s get busy with a detailed look at what happened. This article ended up being quite long, so we’re going to split it up into two parts.

Today’s meeting started at 4PM. Phillip Smith, Bob Schasse, Jim Turpin and Joe King were present at the start of the meeting. Mike Nicholas arrived a few minutes late, left the meeting, came back and then left the meeting for good. Fred Shanks, Bill Donohue and Dawn Witter were out. That’s the minimum needed (even without Mike Nicholas), so the meeting can happen.

Since it’s the start of a new “year”, they have to go through the election of officers. Assistant City Attorney Alan Spencer runs the meeting for the elections. He opens the floor for nominations and Jim Turpin nominates Phillip Smith for another year as chairman. Surprisingly, Bob Schasse also nominates Bill Donohue, so we’ve got a real election. Schasse is the only one to vote for Donohue, so Phillip Smith wins with a 3-1 vote. Schasse nominates Bill Donohue for vice-chair, and no other nominations come up. Mike Nicholas is here for this vote, so it’s 5-0 for Donohue. Alan Spencer turns the meeting over to Phillip Smith and we’re underway.

(L-R) Alan Spencer, Joe King & Phillip Smith

We start with approval of the minutes and that’s simple. Fun Fact: My 15 minute back-and-forth presentation during last month’s presentation was reduced to “Bruce Hedrick raised several concerns and provided recommendations on ways Danville Utilities can increase its customer satisfaction” in the minutes. Oh well. Let’s move on to the financial statements.

Patricia Conner makes millions of dollars fun and exciting!

We get a few questions like “why is revenue down on this line?” and “How come this amount seems low?”. Patricia Conner patiently explains that the financial statements are simply a reminder of where the money is. She could have easily said something like “HOW IN THE HELL AM I SUPPOSED TO KNOW? YOU PEOPLE ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR RUNNING DANVILLE UTILITIES AND I JUST KEEP UP WITH THE MONEY YOU MAKE AND SPEND!” Sadly, she didn’t yell that at them. It would have been a lot funnier.

Your attention, please. Elvis Mike Nicholas has left the building.

We move along with happy news. Harry Phillips, Director of Marketing & Member Relations with American Municipal Power is here to award Landon Holley a $2000 scholarship. 28 students submitted applications and essays to AMP for the contest, and Holley was one of four winners. He was the valedictorian at Tunstall High School and is the son of Support Services Director Jennifer Holley.

Landon Holley gets the scholarship check from Harry Phillips.

We move on to the review of the customer service policies and fees that I talked about at the last Utility Commission meeting.

Customer Service Director Carolyn Evans talks about the revised policies & fees. We promise you that Alan Spencer is awake. Heh.

We got some of the things that I was asking for:

• No more $50 reconnection fee if Danville Utilities can do it from the office via the smartmeter system.
• Deposits billed in three installments (though after a look at the documentation, that wasn’t made clear).
• No non-pay disconnects if the next day’s temperature is forecast to be 90 or over.
• The language on the interest credit on a customer’s deposit was made clear, so you won’t be zeroed out on your accrued interest if you’re late on one payment.

Unfortunately, there weren’t any changes made in some of the issues that were raised:

• The was no change in the 15 day due date. That’s not good, because everyone agreed 15 days was too soon in last month’s meeting.
• The $50 “delinquent account fee” is still charged 36 days after your due date and you’re subject to non-pay disconnect. $50 is still too much.
• There was no changes on the deposit policy. Commercial customers’ deposits are still held for three years, even with a perfect payment record. That’s not good either.

Since Mike Nicholas & Fred Shanks were absent today, and they were the only two members who really understood and supported making some changes, there was nobody else to discuss this. This is a half-win, half-loss type of situation and I’m going to ask for it to be revisited.

That’s going to wrap up Part #1 of Monday’s Danville Utility Commission. Part #2 is going to be detailed coverage of the proposed time of use electric rate proposal, a $2,000,000 write off of debt, allowing large industries to buy their electricity from another company, and talk about how much hydroelectric power is generated at the Schoolfield Dam. It’s the most detailed coverage around, and it’s only here on SouthsideCentral. Part #2 is coming up next.