MINUTES SOUTHSIDE ELECTRIC COOPERATIVE MEETING OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS JANUARY 24, 2019 @ 12:30 P.M. HEADQUARTERS BOARD ROOM PRESENT: STAFF: GUESTS: Frank W. Bacon (Chair) Earl C. Currin, Jr. (Vice Chair) Paul S. Bennett (Secretary) Charles J. Friedl (Treasurer) Brenda H. Johnson Kristie Martin-Wallace Clive C. Pettis, Sr. William T. White Frank F. Rennie (General Counsel) Christine Marston (Minute Taker) Jeffrey S. Edwards, President/CEO Danny J. Hammond, CFO Bradley V. Furr, VP of Operations George A. Felts, VP of Engineering Jean H. Morris, VP of Human Resources Ronald O. White, VP of Member & Public Relations Jason Loehr, VP of Finance & Corporate Services Dr. Frank Bacon presided. Ron White gave the invocation. PREVIOUS MINUTES Item 3 Cybersecurity needs to be changed from September and November to October and November. On motion made and seconded with changes made as recommended: The Minutes of the December 20, 2018 Board Meeting are approved with recommended changes. ODEC REPORT The ODEC report was given by Earl Currin. PRESIDENT/CEO S REPORT MOTION CARRIED 1. The IRS 990 Questionnaire was distributed and reviewed, along with Board Policy 206 Conflict of Interest, which are required annually. Each director is required to sign the acknowledgement form associated with Policy 206. ACTION: Questionnaires and acknowledgement form are to be turned in by the March 2019 Board meeting. 1
2. The Board was provided information regarding cybersecurity events during the month of December 2018. 3. The Institute of Electrical & Electronics Engineers (IEEE) outage data and safety report for December 2018 were reviewed in detail: IEEE Outage Data a. System Average Interruption Duration Index (SAIDI), System Average Interruption Frequency Index (SAIFI) and Customer Average Interruption Duration Index (CAIDI) were above historical values for December. b. There were no supply outages from Dominion Energy (DE) and Appalachian Power Company (APCO) in December. c. There was one supply outage from Southside Electric Cooperative (SEC) at Sycamore substation December 26 th. The sudden pressure protection on the transformer operated causing the outage. This equipment was bypassed until further testing can be completed. d. Major Event days were recorded on December 9 & 10, 2018 as a result of the significant snowstorm that hit the Cooperative s service territory. Safety Report a. There were no lost-time injuries in December. b. As of December 31 st, employees have worked 245 days without a lost time injury. 4. Emergency Response Plan (ERP) annual review/exercise was reviewed: a. Created in response to Rural Utilities Service (RUS) requirements following September 11, 2001 b. The ERP was created December 9, 2005 and must be reviewed and/or exercised annually c. A review and update of the Vulnerability & Risk Assessment (VRA) and ERP has been completed. d. The ERP was reviewed and updated: Reflecting new reporting roles Several sections were moved to standalone documents All documents will be stored on the employee intranet site for improved accessibility e. Plan was exercised on October 11 th due to a Tropical Storm Michael: 28,437 members without power 974 outage events 163 broken poles Total cost of restoration was $2.1 million (estimated) f. A post storm briefing was held on November 9 th : No prestaging was completed due to weather forecast indicating minimal impacts. 2
5. Operations Update: Additional crews required additional crew scouts. Operations will develop a listing of available crew scouts. Crew Scout package will be revised and updated to provide improved guidance. Training will also be developed in 2019 for all scouts. Development of a paperless field documentation process. Multiple other items with action items/dates established. a. New overhead (OH) construction work orders activity was down 14.8% for the month. b. New underground (UG) construction work orders activity were moderate. c. Service order activity was in line with historical numbers for the month. d. Outage activity (minutes) with major event days removed: Central 78 Eastern 34 Northern 24 Western 58 e. September outage causes were affected primarily by isolated thunderstorms producing damaging winds and lightning: Trees 55% Weather 19% Fault/Failure 10% Unknown 5% Animals 4% Decay/Age 4% Maintenance/Planned 2% Public 2% Power Supply <1% Other <1% f. Monthly switching savings: SAIDI with no switching 218.7 minutes (73%) SAIDI saved by automation (SCADA) switching 67.6 minutes (22%) SAIDI saved by manual switching 15.4 minutes (5%) g. Construction Work Plan projects update: Stoddart Substation is complete Evergreen Substation is complete Lake Chesdin Circuit 2 is 80% complete 6. Due to the liability of alcohol use at Hooper Park, alcohol will no longer be served at any event going forward. 3
7. During the Virginia, Maryland & Delaware Association of Electric Cooperative Quarterly Board meeting and Legislative Day, visits have been scheduled with Senators Chase, Dance, Ruff & Sturtevant and Delegates Cox, Fariss, Tyler, Ware & Wright on January 29, 2019. Bills being presented: a. HB1683/SB1346 - Cooperative Reform Legislation which will allow local cooperative boards to adjust base rates up or down within 5% in a 3-year window. Legislation is currently on hold. b. HB2573 provides Broadband or other telecommunications services the right to attach to cooperative poles with no attachment fees for five years. Utility pays 50% of the make ready expenses. c. HB2570/SB1769 - Rubin s Bill (solar) continues outreach to outside groups. d. Broadband the Governor s chief Broadband office is holding weekly meetings to support the $46 million budget amendment. SEC has agreed to join the coalition and will have representation at the weekly meetings. 8. Jeff Edwards and George Felts met with a member concerning right of way questions. Issues were resolved, and the member asked to be added to the spray list. 9. During Tropical Storm Michael, 14 of the 18 counties the Cooperative serves were declared under FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) and may receive 75% of its cost to restore power. 10. A strategic planning session is scheduled on May 15 & 16, 2019. Phone interviews/surveys will be conducted by Brad Kitchens of Scott Madden Management Consultants prior to the meeting. Some of the discussions to be held during the session will be: NEW BUSINESS a. Impact of electric vehicles and solar on the Cooperative s system b. Broadband c. Reliability d. Power supply e. Distribution rates f. Economic development g. Board succession 1. Safety Improvement Plan: a. Component of NRECA RESAP (Rural Electric Safety Achievement Program) requirement with inspections every three years. b. Internal evaluation: Identifies key areas for improvement How to improve the areas identified Improve employee awareness 4
c. Initiatives: Three Year Plan: Increase number of voluntarily submitted near miss reports Improve safety suggestion process Improve incident/near miss investigation process and require deadline for final report Perform safety culture/climate assessment of the Cooperative Assess and improve efficacy of employee training and develop measurements to evaluate retention 2019 Action Items: Safety Committee to analyze a variety of near miss scenarios and estimate near miss report goals (June 12, 2019) Place Safety Improvement suggestion boxes in all districts and Headquarters and develop a process to respond to suggestions (March 26, 2019) Develop an incident investigation Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) (April 30, 2019) Develop and deploy a Safety Culture survey to establish a baseline for future surveys (4 th quarter 2019) Establish an employee testing procedure to provide data to improve safety presentations and training (November 29, 2019) On motion made and seconded: The Safety Improvement Plan is approved as presented. UNFINISHED BUSINESS reviewed. MOTION CARRIED The final portion of the 2017 Key Ratio Trend Analysis (KRTA) Data was LEGAL REPORT 1. Hearing date scheduled on February 5, 2019 for O Connell matter on SEC s Motion for Summary Judgment. 2. An insurance company took the position that the Virginia Supreme Court stated in a replacement situation that utilities can only get the depreciation value of any equipment damaged by a negligent party. SEC s membership agreement allows indemnification of the Cooperative for any damages caused by any member. 3. All of the Southside Opportunity Fund (SOF) lots are under contract, and settlement dates should be in the next 30 days. Another lot with lake frontage in Pittsylvania county has been donated to the SOF. EXECUTIVE SESSION The Board went in to executive session at 2:57 p.m. and returned to regular session at 3:06 p.m. with no action taken. 5