2026-10-14 - Burlington Electric Commission

00:00Good evening. Good evening, everyone. I

00:02now call to order the regular monthly

00:04meeting of the Burlington Electric

00:05Commission held on the second Wednesday

00:07of the month at 5:00 PM here at 5:85

00:10Pine in Burlington and via Microsoft

00:13Teams. Today is October 14th, 2026 and

00:17the time is 5:02 p.m.

00:22Let the record reflect that a quorum is

00:24present.

00:26Commissioners, you've received the

00:27agenda for today's meeting. Are there

00:29any proposed amendments?

00:33>> No.

00:34>> Okay. There are no objections. The

00:36agenda will be adopted as presented.

00:40The minutes from our previous meeting

00:41held on September 9th, 2026 have been

00:44distributed. Are there any corrections

00:46to the minutes? [clears throat]

00:48>> Just a minor typo that vality was

00:51misspelled in there. So that needs to be

00:53corrected.

00:58I need to

01:01>> So, do I need to do a motion for that?

01:04>> I think you would move the um to uh is

01:09you would entertain a motion for the

01:11agenda or the uh minutes as per with

01:14that modification.

01:15>> Okay. I will entertain a motion for that

01:18modification.

01:20>> So, moved.

01:22>> Okay. Is there a second?

01:23>> I'll second. Any discussion?

01:27Okay. Hearing no further discussion,

01:29we'll vote. All those in favor say I.

01:31>> I.

01:32>> I.

01:32>> I.

01:34>> Okay. Unanimous. The eyes have it. The

01:35motion passes unanimously.

01:39Okay. We will now hold the public forum.

01:41I will open the floor for public

01:42comment. Each speaker is asked to state

01:44their name for the record and keep their

01:46comments to five minutes. We will start

01:48with Peter Puzzlin, please.

01:56still working [snorts] on my hearing

01:57aids. Thank you, uh, commission. Uh, see

02:00my name have that. So,

02:03this is, uh, public forums are

02:06important. I'm glad that you have it at

02:09city council. I never done one there, I

02:11don't think. Uh, I notic in the last uh,

02:16minutes of the commission meeting, I

02:19haven't uh, two weeks ago, I don't

02:22I don't know if it's been uh they

02:24updated, but it just said quote Peter

02:26McClen addressed the commission unquote.

02:29Have they been changed at all since

02:31that? Can anyone see? Because I haven't

02:34checked for two weeks. [snorts]

02:36>> Yeah,

02:37>> they have been changed. Okay. So, uh

02:41were there Okay. So,

02:46they were So, I guess I have nothing

02:48further to comment. Let me look at the

02:50minutes. I'm sorry I didn't check them

02:51before today because uh the reason why

02:56it's good to uh paraphrase or even

03:00summarize or even make a brief

03:02condensation of public forum is because

03:05the public who cannot attend the

03:07meetings want to hear what public wants

03:10to say at the meetings they can go to

03:11the minutes. I know they can go to uh uh

03:15YouTube and see that but it's a lot

03:17easier to go to minutes. I read minutes.

03:20I always read minutes of meetings that I

03:22attend to. I've been negligent on this.

03:26So, I leave it at that. Thank you.

03:28>> Thank you.

03:29>> Thank you.

03:31>> Okay. And I'll call up

03:34this one.

03:36>> Will you repeat your name to make sure?

03:39Now I know the spelling.

03:45>> Hi, my name is Lind House.

03:47>> Lander House.

03:49and thank you for allowing me to speak.

03:52Uh I just want to make some comments on

03:54the valerity report. I know it's a year

03:57old but it's still very important.

04:02Uh and in particular about the paralysis

04:06proposal as a way of reducing the

04:10greenhouse gas emissions from McNeel.

04:14I spent a little bit of time yesterday

04:17and today on browsing through the web

04:20using my favorite AI

04:24uh to get some sense of what the pros

04:27and cons are of pyrolysis

04:30and I'm not going to claim that the

04:34information I gathered is complete or

04:38even correct. I have had cases where I

04:41asked Gemini, that's the Google AI, a

04:46question I got a blatantly wrong answer.

04:50Nevertheless, they give an indication of

04:52where things are

04:55and

04:57the reason I'm bringing that up is the

05:00kind of information I got is not to be

05:03found anywhere in the valerity report.

05:07So let me make just three specific

05:10comments.

05:12First, the stated efficiency is 60%.

05:16The efficiency of sin gas as a fuel for

05:20generating electricity.

05:24That's I have seen that number on the

05:26web in various articles, but it's

05:28definitely the high end of the range.

05:32The ranges I typically see are 30 to

05:3460%.

05:36And I do not know how valerity got

05:39[snorts]

05:41to pick the high end of the range. So

05:45that's one problem. The other problem is

05:48that uh paralysis

05:52produces

05:54a variety of volatile gases either

05:58during the process or when the sin gas

06:01is being burnt.

06:03The only gas that the valerity report

06:07mentions is nitrogen oxide and there

06:09surely is more than that.

06:13Um

06:15the final comment is I think the most

06:19important one. The whole reason for

06:22considering pyrolysis is to lower the

06:26greenhouse gas emissions.

06:29And the obvious

06:31measure for greenhouse gas emissions at

06:34McNeel is kilograms of carbon dioxide

06:37per kilowatt hour.

06:40And that number is fairly accurately

06:43known for McNeel as it is used today.

06:46And Valerity actually quotes that

06:48number. It's 1.36

06:51kilogram of CO2 per kilowatt hour.

06:56In order for sin gas to be

07:00better

07:02than just straight burning wood,

07:05it needs to

07:08or whoever

07:09eventually built the paralysis

07:12plan needs to provide us with that

07:16number. Is it higher than 1.36? A little

07:19bit higher. A lot higher. That is not

07:23something that I could clean from this

07:25report.

07:28Now, this report just points at the

07:31number of options. It doesn't give a

07:34complete breakdown,

07:36complete life cycle analysis of the

07:39various processes it proposes.

07:43But I do expect actually and I certainly

07:47hope

07:48that whoever

07:52proposes to build the pyrolysis system

07:57will pay attention to that and will

07:59provide us with that information.

08:03How efficient is burning sin gas in

08:06their particular setup?

08:09what other volatiles are being emitted

08:12into the air, not just nitrogen oxide.

08:16And most importantly,

08:18what is the amount of CO2 per kilowatt

08:22hour that's being emitted? So, I'm

08:25waiting for these proposals and I'm

08:27waiting to read them and hopefully I

08:30will be able to find that information in

08:32there. Thank you.

08:35>> Thank you.

08:37Anyone

08:42online?

08:45No.

08:47Okay. We will now turn to the KPMG audit

08:50presentation for the fiscal year ending

08:52June 30th, 2026. I will turn it over to

08:56Amanda Herbut and then to Jeffrey Cau

08:59and Cotch Coff and Jake Day from KP

09:02KPMG. which

09:06>> they're on.

09:07>> Okay.

09:31>> Okay.

09:32Just logging in so I can share my screen

09:35here.

09:44All right. So, I have um Jake Day and

09:47Brookley Cotch with us tonight to

09:48present the audit preliminary audit

09:50results um for the fiscal year 26 audit.

09:54We've been working with KPMG since um

09:57the beginning of August to work through

09:59this audit. Um, I think we're

10:01substantially completed with a lot of

10:03the uh, audit work. We have a couple of

10:05outstanding items before we can finalize

10:07the audit, which we'll go over in this

10:09presentation today. And before I pass it

10:12over, I just wanted to give a big shout

10:14out to my finance and accounting team

10:16whose work during the audit, but also

10:18day in and day out make the audit go

10:20smoothly. Um, I really appreciate all

10:22their work. And with that, I will pass

10:25it over

10:27to Jake and Jeff.

10:30Thank you, Amanda. Uh, and good

10:32afternoon, everybody. Uh, thank you for

10:33this opportunity to present the the

10:35status of the the audit uh for the June

10:3730, 2026

10:40uh Burlington Electric Department

10:41financial statements. We'll begin with

10:44kind of a brief perspective on audit

10:46quality and technology, then move in

10:47kind of some of the more specific and

10:49required communications for this year.

10:51Our goal today is to give the board a

10:52clear view of where the audit stands,

10:54the principal reporting matters, and the

10:56items remaining before issuance. If we

10:59go to slide two here, uh before

11:01discussing the specific results, we just

11:03want to kind of highlight two areas that

11:04underpin our audit approach and that is

11:06our audit quality and technology.

11:09Sustained audit quality remains our

11:10highest priority. It is supported by our

11:13quality management process and a focus

11:15on continuous improvement. Technology is

11:17also changing how audits are performed.

11:19We have integrated new capac

11:21capabilities including artificial

11:23intelligence to support the quality,

11:25consistency and value of the audit. This

11:27slide does have two links to videos that

11:30are publicly available that provide

11:31additional context regarding our overall

11:33audit quality journey as well as how we

11:36see technology changing the audit. The

11:38next slide here will give us some more

11:40precise uh view of what the technology

11:42journey is and where we are heading. Uh

11:44it illustrates evolution of technology

11:47within the audit. The initial phase is

11:49is kind of the historical phase where

11:50the initial auditor uh was a human

11:52auditor using technology primarily as

11:54assistant. Where we are today is moving

11:57towards a human-led agent operated audit

12:00where technology can perform some more

12:02underlying processes with the auditor

12:05directs, evaluates and remains

12:06accountable for the work. Beginning in

12:092027, uh the state of direction is an AI

12:12powered human assured audit. The key

12:14point here is that technology is

12:16intended to enhance the audit and the

12:18overall quality but the professional

12:20judgment oversight and ultimate

12:21responsibility does remain with our

12:23people as your audit team for the

12:25department. The objective is more a more

12:27focused and datadriven audit process

12:29while maintaining quality and assurance

12:31expected by the

12:34next slide is just kind of talks about

12:35you know how technology by itself isn't

12:37the only differentiator. The value comes

12:39from providing the platform with an

12:41experienced team better. Our audit

12:43approach brings together four elements.

12:45An agile industry experience team,

12:48modernized project management, tailored

12:50datriven approach, and an environment of

12:53trust and transparency. For the

12:55department's perspective, that means

12:56clean milestones and audit strategy

12:59focused on relevant risk and open

13:01communication throughout the process.

13:03With this context, uh let's turn to the

13:05results of the 2026 audit. Our

13:09responsibility uh is to form and express

13:11an opinion on the financial statements

13:13including the fiduciary funds based on

13:15audit performed in accordance with

13:16generally accepted audit principles. The

13:19audit is designed to obtain reasonable

13:20assurance that the financial statements

13:22are free from material misstatement. As

13:24part of our audit, we consider internal

13:26controls in designing our audit

13:27procedures, but we do not express an

13:29opinion on the effectiveness of those

13:31controls. The important piece of this

13:33slide that you're seeing here is that to

13:34date we have not identified any

13:36uncorrected misstatements as we kind of

13:38wrap up our procedures. There are a

13:40limited number of uh completion items

13:42remaining. These include uh typical

13:44closeouts things such as our legal

13:46letter updates, management's

13:48representation letter, obtaining the

13:50finalized uh city's uh oped report and

13:53resolutions of some questions that we

13:54have outstanding. Uh but overall we're

13:56we're heading in the right direction to

13:57finalize on time in the next few weeks.

13:59[snorts] Um, accordingly, the the audit

14:02uh the audit remains subject to

14:03satisfactory completion of these items

14:05and we'll address the final status in

14:06our auditor's report once that's

14:08completed. With that, I'm going to turn

14:10it over to Jake to take us through the

14:11remainder of the presentation. [snorts]

14:15>> Thanks, Chef. Uh, so, oh, perfect. Um,

14:19so this this side here is just a uh a

14:23table of contents of the required

14:24communications that I'll I'll walk you

14:26through. These are just those items that

14:28um we are obligated to share with you at

14:30this point in our audit um share with

14:32you as the board. So we can just go to

14:34the next slide.

14:37So in terms of matters to communicate uh

14:40we did not identify any difficult or

14:42contentious matters um which required us

14:45to consult outside of our engagement

14:47team. And likewise we did not identify

14:50any actual or suspected fraud uh

14:52involving management employees with

14:54significant roles in the system or

14:56anywhere where fraud results and

14:58material misstatement the financial

14:59statements

15:01in terms of written communications. The

15:03engagement letter of course has been

15:05already been provided to management

15:08um and the representation letter will be

15:11uh finalized uh when we're ready to

15:13issue our final report

15:16for independence. We do uh hereby affirm

15:19that as of today's date, October 14th,

15:222026, we are independent accountants

15:24with respect to the department under all

15:26relevant professional and regulatory

15:29standards.

15:30We do have a separate slide later on

15:32related to required inquiries. So we can

15:34touch on that at that point.

15:38So for our auditor's report in terms of

15:40matters affecting the form and content

15:42of the report consistent with past years

15:45uh our report will include an emphasis

15:47of matter paragraph which really just

15:50calls attention to note one which

15:52discusses the fact that the department's

15:55basic financial statements present only

15:58a portion of the city of Burlington's

16:01activities which are attributable to the

16:03department and cause out the fact that

16:05uh The department's financial statements

16:09do not include the activities of the

16:10city as a whole. With respect to that

16:13emphasis of matter matter paragraph, we

16:15we do not modify our opinion.

16:22Significant accounting policies and

16:23practices. Uh these are of course also

16:26discussed in note one to the financial

16:27statements.

16:29We did not note any changes to existing

16:31significant accounting policies in FY26.

16:35While there were no significant changes

16:37to accounting policies, we did we will

16:39note that the department did adopt two

16:42new accounting standards during the

16:44year. Those being Gazsby 103 financial

16:47reporting model improvements and Gazsby

16:50104 disclosure of certain capital

16:52assets.

16:54With respect to the significant

16:55accounting policies, we did not identify

16:58any indicators of management bias. And

17:00we do note that uh the presentation on

17:02the financial statements and related

17:04disclosures are are in conformity with

17:07US GAP

17:12significant accounting estimates. We do

17:14identify two as it pertains to our

17:16audit. Those being the fair market value

17:19of investments as well as the net

17:21pension liability. In both cases, we did

17:23not identify in our assessment of those

17:25estimates any indicators of management

17:27bias. Uh from a qualitative perspective,

17:31we do note that the department continues

17:33to use reputable custodians for the

17:35valuation of investments and the city of

17:38Burlington does engage a qualified

17:41actuary to assist in uh calculating the

17:44net pension liability which is then uh

17:48which is then allocated in a

17:51proportionate share to the department

17:54and uh we do also engage our own KPMG

17:57actuarial specialist. list to help us in

18:00our assessment of that net pension

18:02liability

18:07significant financial statement

18:08disclosures. Uh I won't ne I won't read

18:11through all these but as I did state

18:13before um our judgment uh we do note

18:17that the disclosures are stated in

18:19conformity with US GAP

18:25for required supplementary information.

18:27So this is just management's discussion

18:29and analysis which is presented ahead of

18:32the financial statements in the final

18:34report. Uh while this information is not

18:36audited by us, we are uh required by

18:40professional standards to perform

18:41certain limited procedures here

18:44including inquiring of management about

18:46the methods used to prepare the MDNA.

18:49And we do compare the information

18:51presented therein with management's

18:54responses um the basic audited financial

18:57statements and any other knowledge that

18:59we obtained during the audit

19:01through those procedures. We did not we

19:04have not at this point identified any uh

19:06areas where the MDNA appeared to

19:08contradict management's responses or the

19:10information in the basic audited

19:12financial statements.

19:17Go to the next slide. So, these are

19:19those those required inquiries that I

19:21mentioned previously. I know this was

19:23distributed to the board ahead of time.

19:26So, if you had a chance to review it um

19:29before right now and you have any

19:31responses here that we should note,

19:33please feel free to share or also um if

19:35you'd like to review them at this time

19:37and let us know um of any responses if

19:40you have any. You can go ahead and do

19:43so. You can also of course always reach

19:45out to us separately if you if you don't

19:47want to share um any concerns or any

19:50responses at this time.

19:57This is our last slide before we open it

19:58up for questions. Um so let us know if

20:03there's anything here and then we can

20:04move on to the questions.

20:11>> It's pretty basic.

20:12>> There's nothing here. Okay.

20:14>> Yep.

20:14>> I think we can open it up. There are any

20:17questions?

20:27>> No questions.

20:30>> No questions.

20:31>> No. Okay,

20:42>> perfect. Well, thank you all for your

20:43time.

20:46>> Executive session now.

20:47>> Yeah. Do you all want to do an executive

20:49session?

20:50>> Oh,

20:51>> now entertain.

20:53>> Sorry. Go ahead.

20:54>> I will now entertain a motion that the

20:56commission enter into executive session

20:58to discuss the evaluation of a public

21:01employee under the provisions of title

21:04one section 313A3

21:08of the Vermont statutes. Oh, wait.

21:18>> Is there a motion?

21:21>> No, you did it right.

21:25>> Yeah, I I'll make that motion.

21:28>> Okay,

21:29>> second it.

21:30>> Jeff and Jake, if you want to hop on

21:32that second link that I sent, I'll get

21:34this set up in the room for them.

21:37>> We had a second. Is there any

21:39discussion?

21:41All those in favor say I.

21:43>> I.

21:45>> Motion passes in favor. All in favor. We

21:48will now enter executive session at 5:24

21:52p.m. Back in open session. Is there any

21:55further discussion before we take up a

21:57motion on the audit?

22:01>> No.

22:02>> Okay. So, is there a motion to accept

22:05the audit? Oh, wait. That's not audited

22:08financial statement.

22:13I think it would be the audit report,

22:16>> right?

22:16>> Because the financials won't be till

22:18November.

22:21>> Is there

22:25Okay, here it is. Is there a motion to

22:26accept KPMG's report of audit results

22:29for the fiscal year ending June 30th,

22:312026 as presented and to authorize

22:34issuance of the final audited financial

22:36statements upon completion of the

22:38outstanding matters identified tonight

22:40with any change that is material to the

22:42results reported back to the commission

22:44before issuance.

22:45>> I'll make a motion.

22:48>> Great.

22:50>> Is there

22:54second? Is there a second? Any

22:56discussion on the motion?

22:58Okay. Hearing no further discussion,

23:00we'll now vote. All those in favor say

23:02I.

23:02>> I.

23:04>> It's unanimous. The eyes have it. The

23:06motion passes.

23:10Um motion passes. What? Four to zero.

23:18Okay. Um, now moving into the

23:23month's impact minute.

23:25>> I think for today Emily was just going

23:27to introduce uh Sammy briefly. We don't

23:30really have a formal presentation

23:31planned.

23:32>> Okay.

23:33>> Yes. [clears throat] Welcome Sammy who

23:36joined us.

23:47>> Thanks. So, I wanted to introduce um

23:49Sammy Busina who joined us in July

23:51>> 20th

23:53>> as our financial analyst um and he's

23:56been uh preparing the financial review

23:58the past couple months um and doing some

24:03survey work uh that happens this time of

24:05year and um putting together an update

24:09of our five-year forecast is the latest

24:12thing that we've been doing.

24:13>> Yes. and the regular forecast

24:15>> and the regular forecast as well each

24:16month. So, um

24:19>> yeah. Do you want to say anything?

24:22>> No.

24:23>> But myself, I'm uh I moved around. I'm

24:26basically accountant by for like my my

24:30degree is from accounting. I uh I

24:33studied in Quebec mainly in French. So,

24:37and I'm certified as accountant in

24:39Quebec. And it's been now eight years

24:43since I moved to Vermont. I worked for a

24:45Vermont company very known Dr. Power

24:49used to be in Versian

24:51and uh I tried to stay in Vermont. The

24:55first thing that I tried is captive

24:57insurance. I I spent one year in captive

25:00insurance but I was not interested and I

25:02had the offer from the city and here I

25:04am working as financial analyst for for

25:09uh BD.

25:11>> Great. Welcome.

25:12>> Welcome.

25:12>> Thank you.

25:14>> That's it. Thanks.

25:15>> Thanks very much.

25:16>> Thank you.

25:20>> Okay. Now we will have the

25:22commissioner's corner. A time for any

25:23commissioner to raise a comment or

25:25question.

25:27All

25:28right. So I question that came up. I

25:30went to a conference last week for PMI

25:33mainly because they were just talking

25:34about AI and I want to learn a little

25:36bit more about AI and I stepped out of

25:39the working world just as it was

25:40starting to come in and they pulled me

25:43back in to my old company and I was

25:46intrigued to read an AI policy when I

25:48had to sign back on into it or sign back

25:51on with it. So it really is it how I

25:56vision the AI is the time savings that's

26:00there. It's not all the whisbang stuff

26:02that's out there, but there's also the

26:04guard rails part of it to make people's

26:07job easier, but also to put guard rails

26:09on it. So, I just wanted to lay that out

26:11there in terms of I know it's not

26:12something that's going to be this year,

26:15maybe even the next five years, but in

26:16terms of just setting a policy and

26:18getting moving and and I actually did

26:21talk to Jessica Frank, she happened to

26:23be at the PMI session

26:26>> and she prompted me as well to bring it

26:28up as we were talking about it.

26:30>> And so, it it's something that I could

26:32see as an efficiency gain

26:34>> for beed, but again, the policies and

26:37and how to control it. Jessica indicated

26:40that she thought the city had a policy,

26:42but I just went looking. I couldn't find

26:44the city policy on that. So, I'll let

26:46you speak to that.

26:46>> Yeah, there is a relatively new city

26:48policy on AI um that [clears throat]

26:52more or less we're adopting as well uh

26:54at BED, maybe with a minor tweak, you

26:57know, here or there. Um, we obviously, I

27:00don't know if you you saw when you came

27:02in, there's a little kiosk now right

27:04near the window uh for customer care

27:06that has Sparky, our AI chatbot. Uh, so

27:09customers can access uh that while

27:11they're waiting in line if they like.

27:13Um, so we obviously have the the chatbot

27:15which is,

27:16>> you know, I think our IT director

27:18describes it as more of a widget than an

27:19AI chatbot, but it it provides some AI

27:22capabilities relative to our website. Um

27:25I certainly people have used it uh for

27:28um you know uh proofreading or for

27:32designing certain types of documents

27:33things like that I think are all

27:35internally yeah are all good uses um I

27:38think we are discouraging in the city as

27:40well having you know sort of unchecked

27:43uh written products from AI certainly

27:45that kind of thing we would not be

27:46looking for. So you're right uh there's

27:48a balancing kind of there. Um we and the

27:51city tend to use uh Microsoft products.

27:54So we have you know teams and co-pilot

27:56as part of that. Um some people also use

27:59other uh tools like you know chat GBT or

28:02Gemini. We're probably going to be kind

28:04of setting a little more strict uh kind

28:07of balance around who's using which

28:08tools. Does anyone need a license, a

28:10professional license for a particular

28:12reason? If not, you know, trying to push

28:14people towards co-pilot if they're able

28:16to use it or we have free licenses in

28:19some cases or uh using um uh other tools

28:23if it's a necessity for different

28:25purposes and having some sort of form

28:26for that, some sort of, you know,

28:28method. But generally speaking, we do

28:30have that policy from the city. We are

28:33uh it's it's I think it's only a month

28:34or two old, so I'm not surprised if it's

28:36not

28:38strategy item for next year.

28:39>> Yeah. September 26.

28:41>> Yeah. less than a month old.

28:43>> Okay.

28:43>> Yeah.

28:43>> So, it was brand new. Okay.

28:45>> Yeah. Timely.

28:49>> Thank you.

28:49>> Yeah.

28:53>> Anyone else?

28:55>> Okay.

28:58So, I will now turn it over to Darren

29:00Springer [clears throat] for the GM

29:01update.

29:03>> Great. Um, just wanted to share that

29:05we're getting fairly close on both the

29:08battery and the solar canopy. probably a

29:10little closer on the solar canopy at the

29:12moment to getting those into the

29:14permitting process. Um so uh we

29:17anticipate I think with the canopy that

29:18that'll move towards permitting in the

29:20very near future and we have a team

29:22working uh weekly with uh Karge on the

29:25battery uh working through all the

29:27different aspects of the sighting and uh

29:29the process there that will have a

29:31submission when it's ready uh when we

29:33have the uh kind of finalized uh PPA uh

29:36that would go to the commission the

29:38public utility commission for a 90-day

29:40kind of waiting period uh and then it'll

29:42go through the process from there. Um

29:45the canopy permitting will be managed by

29:46Sunommon. Um so just keeping you

29:50apprised that our hope is still to see

29:51both of those projects uh built and

29:54operational next year, different times

29:55during the year potentially. Um we've

29:59had including today a number of

30:00interesting uh energy conferences. There

30:02was the energy action network summit. Um

30:06today was renewable energy Vermont uh

30:08conference and we also had the Vermont

30:09public power supply authority summit in

30:12Montpelier same day as as EN we had two

30:15commissioners with us at that event as

30:16well. Um and uh at the Energy Action

30:20Network Summit uh they produce a uh

30:23written report every year, the annual

30:25progress report. Uh we're going to have

30:26a lunch and learn uh we do internally

30:28every year to kind of see what the

30:30updated data looks like. It's available

30:31on their website uh at EBT.

30:34Uh it's one of the best reports I think

30:36in terms of laying out in very nice

30:38graphical form some of the different

30:40affordability uh emissions and energy

30:43related data that exists for the state

30:45as a whole. BED has referenced here and

30:47there within the report but it's really

30:49a statewide report. Um and at renewable

30:53energy Vermont today we talked or at

30:55least uh was part of a panel talking

30:56about the renewable energy standard in

30:58particular the tier three programs that

31:00uh BED offers around strategic

31:03electrification. We talked through that

31:05at the Vepsa Summit. Uh quite an

31:07interesting kind of um you know range of

31:10of utilities. I mean BED being the

31:12biggest there. Typically we're one of

31:14the smaller ones at a statewide event,

31:16but in this case we're the largest

31:17municipal. So we have certain

31:20capabilities or or numbers of staff and

31:22infrastructure that other smaller

31:23municipals may not have. And so hearing

31:25what some of their challenges are uh

31:27relative to the things that we're

31:29working on was really interesting.

31:30Appreciate commissioners for joining us.

31:33Um, so I just wanted to kind of mention

31:35that there's quite a bit of activity

31:37going on and policy discussions, other

31:39interesting discussions at these

31:40summits. Um, in terms of other updates,

31:45uh, we did close on September 30th the

31:48wood pyrolysis RFP,

31:51excuse me, we had three responses. We

31:54are seeking uh, clarification on a few

31:56items from all the respondents. So I

31:59think uh by the end of this week

32:00hopefully we'll get some of that

32:02material back and I anticipate it's it's

32:05conceivable if there's something to

32:07advance here that we would be bringing

32:08an item to you at the November meeting

32:10uh related to that um regulatory

32:14updates. Uh we did have a docket that

32:18you may recall related to district

32:20energy spending from 2021 through 2023

32:23that had been an investigation by the

32:25commission. It was one of the items

32:27mentioned in the letter that they sent

32:29last summer uh as being a uh one of a

32:32number of different items that

32:33necessitated that letter. Um it was that

32:36docket was closed recently. They issued

32:38an order that there was uh that we had

32:40reasonable uh support for the position

32:42that we had advanced around having

32:44regulatory foundation for the spending

32:46we did on district energy. So we're

32:48pleased with that obviously and so that

32:50docket's now closed. Um and there was no

32:52adverse action that came from that uh

32:54relative to beed. Um we are still

32:58waiting for commission action on the ARC

33:01uh business process audit. So I don't

33:03have anything new to report there. Um

33:06and we remain um uh active in a number

33:09of other dockets, but um obviously we'll

33:12keep you updated if we get any uh

33:14commission activity relative to the ARC

33:16docket in particular. And then um

33:19incentives. Uh there's been this time of

33:21the year we're typically doing things

33:23like getting our tier three uh plan for

33:25the following year. Uh getting ready to

33:27file that in November. This is also a

33:29year where we have our three-year demand

33:31resource plan, our three-year efficiency

33:33budget being uh acted upon at the

33:35commission as well. We had legislation,

33:38as you may recall, passed this year that

33:40enabled us to continue to put some of

33:42our TPF funds within the efficiency

33:44utility towards uh measures that support

33:47emissions reduction and weatherization

33:48and other initiatives. Um, so we may

33:51need some mild clarifying language uh

33:54related to the implementation there, but

33:56we've completed all the work um and all

33:58the outstanding information requests on

34:00the demand resource plan. So, I think

34:02we're just waiting for commission action

34:04there in terms of that and then we'll be

34:06submitting our tier three plan uh by

34:08November 1st. I think there's going to

34:10be a range of different impacts on

34:11incentives this year. Um, typically all

34:14things equal, we like to be able to

34:15either hold steady or increase our

34:17incentives each year for our customers

34:19because of some of the studies that have

34:21happened at the state level relative to

34:23heat pumps where there's been questions

34:24from the regulators about whether heat

34:26pumps, not just in Burlington but

34:28statewide are in are having the desired

34:30impact on fossil fuel reduction, whether

34:32customers are using them the way they're

34:34intended. Are they using them more for

34:35air conditioning than for heating? How

34:37much fossil fuel are they reducing?

34:39There's some changes in the regulatory

34:41value for heat pumps that will

34:43necessitate that some of our heat pump

34:44incentives will likely go down as we

34:46enter January. Um, we may have new ones

34:49that are differently kind of configured

34:51that may still be very strong. So,

34:53there's going to be a range of impacts

34:55within the heat pump space. The EV space

34:58is is also quite complex. Uh, within the

35:00tier 3 program, there were changes that

35:02were offered by [clears throat] the

35:04Department of Public Service. uh for

35:06example with leased vehicles saying that

35:08they are going to have a shorter

35:10lifespan for credit purposes than

35:12they've had previously. So for leased

35:15vehicles within the tier 3 program their

35:17value goes down and then the

35:18corresponding amount of incentive you

35:20can offer goes down. There's some other

35:22changes within that but because of act

35:2497 what we're going to be doing is

35:27through our TPF funding we're going to

35:29be keeping our new electric vehicle

35:30incentive exactly where it is. uh which

35:33is the strongest one that exists in the

35:35state of Vermont right now. Uh so $5,000

35:38uh market rate incentive for customers,

35:405,700 for incomequalified customers and

35:43uh an additional up to 300 for high

35:46mileage drivers. So if you're income

35:48qualified and high mileage driver, you

35:49might be able to get up to 6,000 towards

35:51a new EV. Um, and then also we'll

35:54continue to have programs related to

35:55plug-in hybrids, uh, pre-owned vehicles.

35:58Whether you're also purchasing a level

36:00two controllable charger at the same

36:02time is another consideration now within

36:04the regulatory process for how much

36:06value we can derive. So, a customer

36:08who's getting a plug-in hybrid or a used

36:10EV and also getting a level two charger

36:13will probably get a much bigger

36:15incentive now than a customer who's just

36:17getting the vehicle and not getting the

36:18charger.

36:20overly complex probably for for um for

36:23this purpose, but these are the types of

36:25things that we're navigating within the

36:27regulatory space. You know, like I said,

36:29we would like to keep all our incentives

36:30at least level, if not increased, given

36:32the federal environment is very bad.

36:34State EV rebates have gone away. Um

36:37within the structure we have, we're

36:38working to keep them as strong as

36:39possible. We're going to be able to do

36:40that in many cases. In a few cases, we

36:43may not be able to. Um we'll come out

36:45with our incentive updates in January,

36:47typically early January. we let

36:49customers know, here's the updated

36:51incentives for the year. Um, so we'll

36:53we'll certainly keep the commission

36:54posted, but I want to give you a little

36:56bit of a preview of some of the things

36:57we're navigating there as we head into

36:59uh hopefully finalizing some of those

37:01plans in the near future. And that's

37:05everything I think I had for the update.

37:07Glad to answer questions.

37:30Just a small clarifying question on the

37:32incentives that you just updated us on.

37:34Are those all state shifting regulations

37:37that affect you? It's all at the state

37:39level.

37:40>> Yeah, there's there's processes at the

37:41state level. There's a group called the

37:43technical advisory uh group, the TAG.

37:46And um that group helps to set some of

37:49the kind of technical qualifications for

37:52incentives and how much credit you get

37:54under various programs. And because

37:56there are constraints on how much you

37:57can spend per credit at certain levels

37:59within a program, uh the impacts of

38:02those decisions can equal stronger

38:04incentives or lower incentives within,

38:06you know, you still have a band of

38:07discretion and within that we're trying

38:10to maximize our ability to provide

38:11customers the strongest incentives we

38:13can, but the regulatory value for the

38:15incentives is a state level discussion.

38:17>> Okay.

38:18>> Yeah.

38:21>> All right. I'll ask the AR question in

38:23terms of when that might start to roll

38:24out or is it completely unknown at this

38:26point?

38:26>> I would say it's completely unknown at

38:28this point. Um we were asked I believe

38:31and we worked with the department and

38:32and ARC to submit dates for a potential

38:36evidentiary hearing if one was needed.

38:38Uh the department submitted those dates

38:41on behalf of itself and then having

38:43consulted with beed and with ARC. I

38:46believe those dates have all passed at

38:47this point. So and there was nothing

38:49scheduled. So, um, we really just don't

38:52have any indication as to what the

38:53timing might be or what the outcome

38:55might be. Uh, we're certainly taking the

38:57time we have to continue to look at all

38:59the recommendations and and advance

39:01things on our end. Uh, so it's not that

39:04we're not doing work on it. It's just we

39:05don't have a clarifying uh uh schedule

39:08from the commission at this point.

39:13>> Any other questions, comments?

39:16>> Not for me.

39:17>> Okay. [clears throat]

39:19I will now turn it over to Emily Steins

39:21Wheelup for the August FY27 financial

39:25review.

39:27>> Thank you.

39:29>> Good evening.

39:32>> Okay, so the income statement for

39:35August, we had a net loss of 272,000

39:40as compared to a budgeted net income of

39:43uh just under 1.9 million. Um this most

39:48of this variance is due the timing of

39:50our receipt of wreck revenues which as

39:52you'll recall from last meeting we

39:55received in July. We had budgeted to

39:58receive them in August. So July's

40:00results were way better than budget.

40:03August's results are way worse than

40:05budget. Um

40:08in ex operating expense was relatively

40:12on budget. You can see net power supply

40:14at a very small variance. Um other onm

40:17also a very small variance. Um and then

40:20below the line in nonoperating income

40:23and deductions um a variance of $154,000

40:29positive most of that due to timing of

40:35gain or loss on the disposition of

40:37plant. So uh which is a non-cash item.

40:41So the the real story here is the timing

40:44of of Rex. Um the rest of uh you know

40:48sales were pretty much spoton and the

40:50the major expenses were also um very

40:55close to budget. So year to date um we

41:00are tracking pretty much uh there's only

41:02a $25,000

41:04um positive variance um as opposed to

41:07budget for the the two months we've had

41:09so far.

41:15And then coming down to capital for the

41:17August year to date, we've spent uh 12%

41:21of the fullear budget. So we've spent

41:24two and a half million

41:27um

41:28most of that in production and

41:31distribution

41:34and

41:36cash is um above budget by I want to say

41:40just

41:42uh under two million $1.9 million better

41:45than budget

41:47um as of August 31st

41:51and um debt service coverage ratios

41:554.59. The adjusted is 1.29 for the most

41:59recent 12 months and we have $10 million

42:03uh cash sorry we have 158 days cash on

42:06hand including the line of credit.

42:08[snorts] Um cash will take a dip in at

42:13the end of this month in October. So

42:16September results should be fine and

42:19then the October results we'll see that

42:22when we make this geo bond payment

42:25um it'll take a little dip. Uh but then

42:29the city is planning to issue its annual

42:32geo bond in December. We had budgeted

42:35for September. So there'll be a little

42:36timing difference there versus budget.

42:39Um, but we'll receive our additional $3

42:42million in December when they issue that

42:45bond. So, that's all I had. Any

42:48questions?

42:59>> Straightforward.

43:02[clears throat]

43:02>> Straightforward.

43:02>> Yeah.

43:03>> Easy. Easy.

43:05[snorts]

43:07>> I um If steel production's under budget

43:10again, is that are we expecting that to

43:12hit hit budget [clears throat]

43:15coming up?

43:17>> It will be uh yeah, because it was below

43:21budget in July and August, it will be

43:24more than budget in September and

43:27October. So, we're kind of shift we've

43:30shifted production from when we had

43:32planned for it to be. Yeah.

43:39That's what I know so far. Can't can't

43:41predict the rest of the year, but yeah,

43:44that's what I what that's what you can

43:45expect for the next couple of months.

43:48And then the outage um was originally

43:51the the annual fall maintenance outage

43:53was originally scheduled uh I think for

43:56this week to start. We've pushed that

43:58back to the 1st of November. So, McNail

44:01will be offline for maintenance the

44:03first part of November. And then we'll

44:05be watching wood supply and energy

44:08prices to to determine when to come back

44:10on hopefully for you know a good winter

44:13run.

44:14>> Okay.

44:16>> Why did it get pushed back? um

44:20combination of things but timing with of

44:24you know vendor vendor contractor

44:25availability coordination with the Wooki

44:28one maintenance outage and then we had

44:31the opportunity

44:33um there's grates that remove ash that

44:37were scheduled to be replaced in the

44:39spring um but we ordered them and they

44:42arrived or are about to arrive so they

44:46we had the opportunity to replace them

44:47before for the winter run instead of in

44:49the spring. Um, and our hope is that

44:53that will improve reliability for the

44:55winter run by having that replacement

44:57done first. So,

44:59>> great.

45:07>> Okay,

45:09it's time to close with the

45:11commissioner's check-in. Any final

45:13comments or questions before we adjourn?

45:18Just that this is the fastest meeting on

45:20record. [laughter]

45:22Is there a motion to adjurnn?

45:26>> Motion to adjurnn.

45:27>> Is there a second?

45:28>> All second.

45:30>> Any discussion?

45:32Hearing no further discussion. We'll now

45:34vote. All those in favor say I.

45:36>> I.

45:37>> I. It's unanimous. The eyes have it. The

45:39motion passes.

45:42We arejourn at 608. Thank you all for

45:44your time.