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2026-09-24 - Board of Public Utilities

Summary

Built from the auto-generated captions of the CityView video (names may be misspelled); the posted agenda documents were not read.

  • The board met in open session, heard a mission moment honoring a retiring customer-service employee, and then adjourned into a closed session.
  • Economic development: the Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce gave its annual report on the partnership with City Utilities, the city and Greene County. Industrial vacancy is 1.6% against 7.5% nationally, only one site remains at Partnership Industrial Center West, and developing a third industrial center ("PIC 3") is the top 2027 goal. Over ten years the partnership has worked 73 projects, 4,390 jobs and $915 million in investment; 45 projects are active. Information only.
  • Minutes: items 2A to 2D approved without objection.
  • Public comment: one speaker for a river-access group asked the board to keep the Lindenlure river access open with a closing-at-dark policy rather than a full closure.
  • Management and Finance Committee report (met September 22):
    • Natural gas recovery adjustment (4A): factor of 0.73 cents per therm for October to March, about 61 cents a month for an average residential customer (9 cents more than last year). Information only; no vote.
    • Electric fuel adjustment (4B): a charge of 0.22 cents per kWh, October to March, replacing a 0.16 cent credit, after an $8.8 million under-recovery driven by lower off-system sales and higher fuel cost. Approved on a voice vote with no opposition.
    • Budget category transfers (4C): approved on a voice vote.
    • Designated improvement account transfer resolution (4D): approved on a voice vote.
  • Financial statements (5A): results through August 31 show operating income of $94 million against a $64 million budget, helped by a hot summer, about $10 million of fuel under-recovery still to be collected, and $2.5 million from renewable energy credit sales. A $5.5 million FEMA obligation for the April 2025 storm and an $8 million remediation expense at Main Avenue Subsite 2 were recorded. Approved on a voice vote.
  • Public Energy Week (6A): resolution marking October 4 to 12, 2026, with a proclamation signed by Mayor Schrag. Approved on a voice vote.
  • President's report: Smart Solutions marked 20 years (over $17 million returned in rebates); a new $300 ENERGY STAR water heater rebate and an income-eligible toilet replacement program were announced, and the WaterSense toilet rebate rises from $75 to $100. CU earned the American Public Power Association cybersecurity Diamond designation.
  • Data center listening sessions: staff reported on three public sessions held with the city. They told residents that costs of any data center would be borne by the developer, that a new large electric load rate is being developed for the board and council, that contracts with deposits, minimum bills and termination payments will guard against stranded costs, that a large load task force with a 5 megawatt threshold reviews proposals, and that water-rate increases approved this month are unrelated to data centers. A city official said he expects to ask the council for a 30-day delay because of the added session, with zoning language still to be clarified. See Data Center Definition and Administrative Delay and City Utilities FY2027 Budget and Water Rates.
  • Internal audit quarterly update: governance checklists, performance objectives and the audit team's strategic plan were reviewed; most items are complete or on track, and the next update is planned for December. Information only.
  • Closed session: the board voted 6 to 0 by roll call to close the meeting under RSMo 610.021 subsections 1 and 9 and to adjourn at the end of it. No action was taken in public after that.

Agenda

Agenda documents not read.

Sources

Video

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Transcript

The summary above was built from the auto-generated captions of the CityView recording; the full text is not reproduced here.