MJMEUC CEO promises new meeting by Dec. 20; MoPEP chair notes ‘willingness’ to resolve issues
Wednesday, 15 December 2010 08:16 Dave Marner, editor Gasconade County Republican
COLUMBIA — Duncan Kincheloe used nine lines of type in his Dec. 9 general manager’s report to the MoPEP membership to congratulate staff members for getting married and hired, to make a “progress” report on another’s pregnancy, and update them on the pending retirement of a southwestern Missouri city’s utility manager.
He spent seven lines stating Owensville officials met Nov. 29 in Columbia with members of subcommittees dealing with rates and contract. None of those seven lines provided MoPEP members with information about what Owensville officials actually requested, and did not receive (a vote on three specified proposals relating to the city’s exit strategy from the pool).
So on Thursday before the full MoPEP membership, when Owensville City Administrator John Tracy delivered a prepared motion asking that their MoPEP assignment issues be resolved, it is no wonder the membership looked on in stunned silence for several moments.
“I’ve got one little thing,” said Tracy noting the city appreciated the efforts of the subcommittees and Kincheloe meeting with the city on Nov. 29.
“One of the big issue that seems to be popping up —stranded cost,” Tracy began. “I think everybody’s wrastled that until it probably can’t be wrastled much more. Hopefully additional meetings will help to solve those issues. With that, at the direction of my Board of Aldermen, I’d like to place a motion on the board, on the floor.”
Tracy read the following motion: “At the direction of the Board of Aldermen of Owensville, I would make the following motion. Motion to approve the city of Owensville assignment to the next city joining MoPEP upon completion of all documents required for an assignment and approval; and that any stranded cost issues be deemed covered from St. James joining MoPEP with a MW load capacity of 15 versus the city of Owensville MW load of 6.4.”
The motion was seconded by Jim Grebing of Hermann.
What followed was several seconds of complete silence followed by an audible muttering of questions from around the conference room of the Days Inn Motel in Columbia.
Presented as a request from the Owensville Board of Aldermen, Tracy requested that the next MoPEP member assignment go to Owensville and that the city of to St. James be approved to take over the stranded cost issues the MJMEUC leadership is attempting to place on Owensville. Those stranded cost issues have been discussed but have never been resolved.
Tracy said this week that MJMEUC officials first said Owensville was responsible for up to $19 million in long-term obligations for power contracts obtained on the city’s behalf. That figure was later revised down to $120,000 per year, through 2021, and then later back up to $468,000 per year through the life of the contract. “No one knows what it is,” said Tracy, “or if it even exists.”
Owensville contends it does not since St. James came on board with a utility use more than twice what Owensville is using.
Owensville officials have never signed any long-term power purchasing agreement with Ameren Energy and contend they do not owe stranded costs for future power purchases which continue until 2021.
Chad Davis, from Trenton, Mo., and chairman of the MoPEP Committee and the MJMEUC Committee on MoPEP Contract Matters, noted his “initial reaction” was to “take the motion up for consideration without a doubt.”
Davis restated the motion and asked for a copy of the motion for the record. He noted Owensville had proposed — for the MoPEP members to approve — a motion “to authorize an assignment from Owensville to the next member that joins MoPEP, and, as a substitution for the stranded cost issue, or concern, to earmark St. James as a substitute for that stranded cost issue to make the stranded cost issue go away.”
“Basically,” said Tracy.
Davis then handed off the microphone Kincheloe, seated three seats to his right.
Tracy’s motion obviously came as a surprise to Kincheloe as he stumbled through a rambling explanation of what must happen next and how additional meetings would be needed to help Owensville resolve its stated intention to exit the pool.
“Just procedurally, I think, I want to note that, the commission is, that I think, procedurally (the commission) would need to act on this assignment issue,” said Kincheloe. “That the board of the commission itself. I think. But obviously, the commission members, not, not all of them, have an interest, a financial interest, in the outcome of this issue.
“And so,” he continued, “I think, the commission board, although it needs to be only the one that acts, will be looking to the MoPEP members who have the actual financial interest at stake here to provide some direction here so I think the deliberations would first logically come among the MoPEP members that need to consider this and then once the MoPEP pool has provided, perhaps a recommendation to the board at large, when the issue gets to that stage, would be the appropriate sequencing which, would, the (MJMEUC) Board of Directors would have to consider this.”
Kincheloe stated that should a city with a larger power load than Owensville want to join the pool, it would mean “there would be a favorable impact, presumably, on the pool and the current situation of resources of membership, if another member comes in that’s larger than Owensville and does not have capacity, generating capacity, of its own.”
Kincheloe’s report twice mentions, on two separate pages, that Owensville had a meeting with the subcommittees but did not go into any detail about Mayor Dixon Somerville’s letter seeking a vote on assignment issues. Somerville’s letter noted, “the city of Owensville would like to have key elements of the plan we discussed with you and your staff over the past several months formally presented to the Contract Committee and then the full MoPEP Committee for a vote.”
Owensville did not receive a vote from the subcommittees on Nov. 29 and the full MoPEP membership on Dec. 9 appears to have been intentionally left in the dark regarding what transpired Nov. 29 when Owensville officials met with the small group. Here is how Kincheloe attempted to explain the group’s apparent lack of understanding of, or preparation for handling, such a proposal.
“This, you know I think the, uh, I think the, the silence here probably is indication of the fact that this is, uh, I think the members are, uh, uh, looking for, are a bit flat-footed here, not expecting this motion to be made here,” said Kincheloe stumbling awkwardly through his response. “And I think the Rates and Services Committee and the Contract Matters Committees did expect to meet again as we suggested at, you know, on, a, whatever timely basis is necessary in order to move your process ahead.”
Pool members certainly appeared “flat-footed,” as Kincheloe suggested. He himself appeared caught off guard by Tracy’s action.
It’s not difficult to understand why the pool members may have been caught off guard. They were told about the progress of a staff member’s pregnancy in Kincheloe’s report. They were not, however, informed of Owensville’s Nov. 29 proposals to facilitate exiting the pool and their formal request for a vote.
Kincheloe said his “suggestion to the chair” would be to refer the city’s motion to those committees and to meet with city officials again by Dec. 20 for further discussion after he and Tracy had the chance to “put our heads together.”
“That would be my suggestion process,” Kincheloe concluded.
Kincheloe’s recommendation included setting up another meeting with those committees for early next month.
Tracy then offered to withdraw his motion “at this time.”
Tracy said he expects to meet again with Kincheloe, Davis, and Dennis Klusmeyer, chair of the MoPEP Service and Rates Committee, of Shelbina, Mo. Tracy said he’s requested the meeting be held in Owensville. As of Tuesday afternoon, Tracy said he had not received confirmation of a time, date, or location of the meeting.
Tracy said Kincheloe told him he was “ checking his calendar.” (Read more)
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