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NEW ULM -- The New Ulm Public Utilities Commission reviewed a reopening procedure for public utilities.
The potential lifting of the COVID-19 stay at home order is scheduled for May 4. Utilities Director Kris Manderfeld presented the commission with the utilities plan for reopening.
Staff plans to return to work on May 4 with modifications to workplace procedures. The majority of these policies will be in place until July, depending on the status of COVID-19.
Currently, field crews are separated into smaller work groups to minimize employee contact and are working alternating weeks. After May 4, all field crews will report to work but will continue smaller work groups until July. Field crews will stagger breaks and take them in separate locations limiting time in garages and other common areas.
Masks will be used when contact on a work site does not allow for a 6-foot separation, or when riding two to a vehicle.
When entering a residence, proper PPE will be required and include gloves, safety glasses and masks.
Office staff will follow social distancing guidelines and will be encouraged to use video or teleconferencing for meetings. They will limit time in common areas. Sanitation efforts will increase. Staggering of breaks will be encouraged to enable social distancing. Front office employees will maintain increased distancing from the public.
If employees have symptoms of a respiratory disease, including fever, coughing, muscle aches, sore throat and headache, they are required to stay home for at least seven days. They should stay home for three days with no fever or improvement of respiratory symptoms, whichever is longer. A variety of masks, gowns and shields are available for all employees and have been issued to them.
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In March, the PUC modified the disconnection policy and suspended all disconnections and late payment penalties for residential and commercial customers until April 30. Based on continued hardship for customers, public utilities staff asked, and was allowed to, extend this policy until June 30. Manderfeld said this would allow more customers to get back on their feet and become current with their bills. She confirmed this extension has not impacted the PUC’s financial bottom line at this time.
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The PUC received a report about New Ulm’s electric system reliability standards and performance for 2019.
Performance is measured three ways: system average interruption frequency index (SAIFI); system average interruption duration index (SAIDI); and customer average interruption duration index (CAIDI).
Overall, New Ulm Public Utilities compared well to other investor owned utilities (IOUs), but saw a higher rate of interruption compared to previous years.
The SAIFI is the average number of interruptions that a customer would experience per year. It is determined by dividing the total annual number of customer interruptions by the total number of customers served.
In 2019, New Ulm had a SAIFI score of 0.7 interruptions per customer, which is higher than the last five years but better compared to IOUs in the area.
The SAIDI is the average outage duration for each customer served. It is determined by dividing the annual sum of all customer interruption durations by the total number of customers served.
The SAIDI score for 2019 is 68 minutes, which is higher than in the last five years, but is low compared to other area electrical providers. Otter Tail Power had a SAIDI rate of 75.33 minutes and Xcel Energy averaged 96.07 minutes
CAIDI gives the average outage duration that a customer would experience. CAIDI can also be viewed as the average restoration time. It is determined by dividing the annual sum of all customer-minutes of interruption durations by the annual number of customer interruptions.
In 2019, New Ulm had a CAIDI rating of 96.84 minutes. This was an overall improvement from the 2018 CAIDI score, but still higher than average.
Utilities Engineer Dan Pirsig said New Ulm’s SAIFI, SAIDI and CAIDI scores can fluctuate greatly each year due to the community’s size. New Ulm is smaller than other markets and a single outage has a greater impact on the overall score.
In 2019, New Ulm Public Utilities experienced four major outages on February 2, February 3, April 26 and May 2. The April 26 and May 2 outages lasted only a few minutes. The outages on February 2 and February 3 lasted significantly longer. On February 2, power went out for 173 minutes for 1,064 customers. February 3 the power outage lasted 437 minutes for 395 customers. Pirsig said the February outages occurred during the polar vortex resulting in switch failures.
Pirsig said the electrical system was in good health at the moment as long as PUC was proactive with maintenance and continued to plan ahead.
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Madeleine “Maddie” Pearson was awarded The Tom Bovitz Memorial Scholarship for 2020. Each year this scholarship is available to high school seniors. This year, Pearson from Minnesota Valley Lutheran High School will receive a $500 scholarship award from New Ulm Public Utilities for her essay "Municipal Utilities: Good for All of Us." Her essay was also submitted to the Minnesota Municipal Utilities Association (MMUA) for a chance to receive an additional grant ranging from $500 to $2,000.