The URL can be used to link to this page

Home My WebLink About1-28-2026 HUCMMINUTES Regular Meeting — Hutchinson Utilities Commission Wednesday, January 28, 2026 Call to order — 3:00 p.m. President Matt Cheney called the meeting to order. Members present: President Matt Cheney; Secretary Don Martinez; Commissioner Kathy Silvernale; Commissioner Tom Lambert; GM Jeremy Carter; Attorney Marc Sebora 1. Conflict of Interest 2. Commission Reorganization a. A motion made by Commissioner Lambert, second by Commissioner Silvernale to elect Don Martinez to the position of President. Motion carried unanimously. b. A motion made by Commissioner Silvernale, second by Commissioner Martinez to elect Tom Lambert to the position of Vice President. Motion carried unanimously. c. A motion made by Commissioner Lambert, second by Commissioner Martinez to elect Matt Cheney to the position of Secretary. Motion carried unanimously. d. A motion made by Commissioner Martinez, second by Commissioner Silvernale to re -appoint Marc Sebora as legal counsel. Motion carried unanimously. e. A motion made by Commissioner Martinez, second by Commissioner Silvernale re -appoint Angie Radke as recording secretary. Motion carried unanimously. f. A motion made by Commissioner Martinez, second by Commissioner Lambert to designate Citizens Bank & Trust, Wells Fargo Bank, Wells Fargo Advisors, Home State Bank, Morgan Stanley and Cetera Investment Services as depositories for utility funds. Motion carried unanimously. 3. Approve Consent Agenda a. Approve Minutes b. Ratify Payment of Bills Motion by Commissioner Silvernale, second by Commissioner Lambert to Approve the Consent Agenda. Motion carried unanimously. 4. Approve Financial Statements GM Carter presented the Financial Statements. Auditors are here this week. December financials are always difficult to compare to previous years due to other year-end entries. The 2025 entry for pension Liability has not been completed yet as the report is not available for a few weeks. There is a new government pronouncement — governments must now report an estimate of what next year's sick payout is going to be. Combined Division sales for resales surpassed year to date 2024. Electric Division consumption year to date was on budget. GM Carter reviewed the Power Cost Adjustment that was made in 2024 vs 2025. Natural Gas Division consumption year to date was also close to budget. GM Carter reviewed the Fuel Credit Adjustment for year 2024 vs 2025. Cash Balance, charts and investments were also reviewed. Motion by Commissioner Lambert, second by Commissioner Silvernale to Approve the Financial Statements. Motion carried unanimously. 5. Open Forum 6. Communication a. City Administrator — Matthew Jaunich — i. City Council approved Solar projects for City of Hutchinson ii. Elected officials are receiving a lot of feedback on the Data Center with miscommunication, concerns about blackouts, energy rates and water usage. b. Divisions i. Dan Lang, Engineering Services Manager — Nothing ii. Dave Hunstad, Electric Transmission/Distribution Manager — 1. Update on Solar projects that were approved 2. ElectriCities of North Carolina called for Mutual Aid event. 2 employees volunteered to take the Digger Truck to help. However, the ice storm that was predicted turned out to be snow so the employees came back. iii. Mike Gabrielson, Production Manager 1. LM6000 update iv. Jared Martig, Financial Manager- Absent v. Byron Bettenhausen - Absent c. Human Resources —Angie Radke - i. Working on OSHA Logs and Pay Equity d. Legal — Marc Sebora — i. Nothing to report e. General Manager —Jeremy Carter i. Business update ii. Working on Contracts iii. Winter Storm Fern update. The severe cold weather created a significant gas impact. GM Carter provided history on how the industry works for natural gas. 7. Policies a. Review Policies i. Section 1 of Exempt Handbook ii. Section 1 of Non -Exempt Handbook No changes recommended at this time. 2 b. Approve Changes i. Introduction ii. Definitions Ms. Radke spoke of the policy changes. Both policies listed above were updated to remove the word, Director. Additional changes to the Definitions policy included updating Administrative/HR title and to remove Computer Systems Analyst since that position is no longer at HUC, policies are still applicable. Motion by Commissioner Martinez, second by Commissioner Lambert to Approve Policy Changes. Motion carried unanimously. 8. Unfinished Business 9. New Business a. Review Annual Solar Production Mr. Hunstad presented the Annual Solar Production for 2025. Staff is able to calculate the cost savings by comparing the actual MISO hourly Locational Marginal Pricing (LMP) with the hourly production of the array. For 2025, the array generated 901,517 KWH with a cost savings of $38,588.20. The array was anticipated to operate at a 14% capacity factor, however for 2025 the array is operating better than expected with a capacity factor of 16.4%. b. Approve Cogeneration and Small Power Production Tariff President Matt Cheney will be abstaining from item 8b since President Matt Cheney has solar on his building. Mr. Hunstad presented Approval of Cogeneration and Small Power Production Tariff. Municipal Utilities annually shall file for review and approval of a cogeneration and small power production tariff with the governing body. Mr. Hunstad reviewed Schedules 1: For facilities of 40KW or less and Schedule 4: for facilities 40KW — 100KW. Motion by Commissioner Marintez, second by Commissioner Silvernale to Approve Cogeneration and Small Power Production Tariff. Motion carried unanimously. c. Review 2025 Distributed Energy Resources Generation Report Mr. Hunstad reviewed the 2025 Distributed Energy Resources Generation Report. The law requires municipal utilities that have adopted co -generation policies to 3 review annually all net energy billed qualifying facilities. HUC has 21 active Solar DER Co -generation facilities which consist of 13 Commercial, 7 Residential and 1 Utility owned. d. Approve Pay Equity Report Ms. Radke presented the consideration of Approval of the Pay Equity Report. HUC is required to submit a pay equity report every three years, and HUC will be reporting for 2025. Staff is happy to report that HUC is in compliance with the state requirements. The attached report must be approved by Hutchinson Utilities Commission and submitted to Minnesota Management and Budget (MMB) Department. The T-test Results value of Degrees of Freedom of 44 with a Value of T of -4.299 included in Section II of the Compliance Report is below the Value of T on the T-Test Table of 1.684 that is required to be in compliance. It is requested that the Commission accept and approve the enclosed report before it can be sent to the State by the end of January. A motion by Commissioner Silvernale, second by Commissioner Lambert to Approve the Pay Equity Report. Motion carried unanimously. e. Approve Change Order #2 — Hutchinson Substation Control Enclosure Modifications Mr. Lang presented Approval of Change Order #2 — Hutchinson Substation Control Enclosure Modifications. Change order issued to Electrical Power Products (EP2) for design modifications to the control enclosure for Hutchinson Substation project. A motion by Commissioner Martinez, second by Commissioner Silvernale to Approve. Motion carried unanimously. f. Approve Advertisement for Bids — Plant #1 Substation 115kV Transformer Mr. Lang presented Approval of Advertisement for Bids — Plant #1 Substation 115kV Transformer. Mr. Lang presented the Base Bid along with the Required Alternate Bid along with the background of the number of transformers and breakers that have been discussed for the Plant #1 Substation rebuild due to the Willmar 115kV line. A motion by Commissioner Silvernale, second by Commissioner Lambert to Approve Advertisement for Bids — Plant #1 Substation 115kV Transformer. 4 Motion carried unanimously. 10. Adjourn There being no further business, a motion by Commissioner Martinez, second by Commissioner Lambert to adjourn the meeting at 3:48p.m. Motion carried unanimously. ,iCheney, s �atty, ATTEST: on Martinez, Pres'' nt 5