Board Meeting MInutes Monday June 28, 2010 Teleconference The meeting was called to order by Cara Lee Mahany Braithwait at 8: 35 CT. Rep. Jim Soletski-­‐D State Assembly; P.J. Distefano, Vice-­‐Chair, Deloitte & Touche; Charlie Higley CUB; Brian Rude, Diaryland; Dave Jenkins, WOEI;Peter Taglia, Clean Wisconsin; Barb Nick, WPS Corp (Merlin Raab); John Schulze, ATC; Terry Nicolai, Alliant; David Benforado, MEUW; Jordan Hemaidan, Michael Best; Dave Donovan, Xcel; R.J. Pirlot, WMC; Prof. Rodney Stevenson, Cara Lee Braithwait, WPUI. Also in attendance were Nathan Pinney and Lael Grigg, both representing E-­‐Hub. Excused: Cheryl Parrino, Parrino Consulting; John Imes, WEI; Senator Jeff Plale-­‐D State Senate; Lynn Hobbie, MG&E; Leslie Durski, We Energies; Nate Zolik, Executive Assistant to Eric Calisto PSCW; Paul Meier and Prof. Michael Corradini. Not excused: Rep. Phil Montgomery-­‐R State Assembly December Minutes Brian Rude moved to approve the minutes. The Motion was seconded by Dave Benforado. There was no discussion. The motion was approved by unanimous vote. Nominations Committee The Executive Board accepted the Nominations Committee’s report. Dave Benforado moved for approval and Terry Nicolai seconded the motion. There was no discussion. The following motion was approved by unanimous vote. • Reappointments of Existing Board Members for three-­‐year terms ending in 2013: Senator Jeff Plale, Wisconsin State Senate; Terry Nicolai, Alliant; Lynn Hobbie, MG&E; Leslie Durski, We-­‐
energies; Jordan Hemaidan, Michael Best & Freidrich; Dave Donovan, Xcel; and, David J. Benforado, Municipal Electric Utilities of Wisconsin; • Appointments of a New Board Member for a three-­‐year term ending in 2013: Earl Gustafson, Wisconsin Paper Council; and • Election of Officers for two-­‐year terms ending in 2012: P.J. Distefano, Deloitte & Touche, Chair; Brian Rude, Dairyland Power, Vice-­‐Chair. Dave Benforado noted that we have appreciated the work of RJ Pirlot for his years of service on the board and we really appreciated the suggested names for his replacement. Budget Report Cara Lee Mahany Braithwait gave an overview of the budget. We finished the year with approximately a $9000 shortfall. However we had anticipated a fall in membership by 10%. Thus we expect that this shortfall will be filled with additional revenues from new clients—EEI and the Large Public Power Council. Thus we see no need to dip into our reserve account. Going forward, Cara Lee Mahany Braithwait will take a 10% reduction in hours, there will be no raises, we may not take on the financial responsibility of hiring a PA which requires that we cover a year of tuition and offer a salary and benefits. Instead we may hire hourly students for specific projects. We also have negotiated for 10 hours of time from Scott Williams. He will be shared with the Energy Institute who plans to cover his additional 30 hours. Membership Cara Lee Mahany Braithwait led a discussion of the membership and fees. There will not be an increase in fees this coming year. We lost a number of members last year, but they will all be re-­‐asked this coming year including such companies as KEMA, WECC etc. In addition, we will include an invoice to pay as it appears that a couple of non-­‐members simply did not know that they had not yet paid and that our membership packet was a form of an invoice. We will also pursue Foley and Lardner, Next Era, FP&L (though they have not yet responded to any of our three offers), Vestas, Wind Capital Group (Jordan to help), Wave Land. Also suggested by Merlin Raab was Johnson Controls and Franklin Energy. Orion Energy will also be contacted; Dave Benforado will provide some contact information. Programming Cara Lee Mahany Braithwait led a discussion on program activities for the past six months. They included: • March: Communicating Climate Science (Gavin Schmidt) • April: Just What Are They Thinking (Hunt Allcott and Annika Todd) • May: Transmission Program (11 panelists from around the country) • May: MEEA and ECW: Wisconsin Thought Leadership • June: Scott Patrick Williams presents in Washington DC on research conducted at WPUI last summer • Corey Singletary has taken a position at the Public Service Commission with Bob Norcross Cara Lee Mahany Braithwait led a discussion on upcoming programs: •
Retail’s Evolution of Providing and Buying Energy: Feedback on Feedback. A program to explore what others are doing in Wisconsin as it relates to smart metering, electric cars and more. September 28 in Green Bay •
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EEI and rates program update, July 25 -­‐ 28 EEI transmission program, August 2-­‐6 Large Public Power Council Rates Committee September—TBD GKA-­‐Sustainability & Behavioral Marketing in the Renewable Economy October 5-­‐7 Energy Utility Basics, October 25-­‐29 New Technologies for Renewable: • Act 406 newly-­‐designated forms of renewable energy (light pipe, geothermal, plasma gasification, waste-­‐to-­‐energy, etc) Brian Rude, Dave Jenkins and Peter Taglia would like to participate in the planning of this event. And meetings that are on hold: • Just the Facts: Expected changes in Wisconsin to waterways, lakes, paper industry, and tourism etc. from changes in our climate. Co-­‐sponsored with the Wisconsin Initiative on Climate Change Impacts • Department of Natural Resources and the US Fish and Wildlife Service: The Intersection of Resource Conservation and the Renewable Energy Industry—
Proposed new date is September 14 or 15 Cara Lee Mahany Braithwait led a discussion on a possible research project that Scott Patrick Williams might be interested in: The role for public policy at the state level. We have two volunteer advisors who will decide whether to go forward, amend, or not pursue this project. Dave Benforado and Rodney Stevenson will advise on this project. Once an outline is agreed upon, it will be passed by the board for comment. Next Meeting Propose next board meeting for December 16, 2010 8:30 – 10:30. Anyone wishing to attend in person is welcome to do so. The meeting was adjourned at 9:41 am.