In February 2020, just as the COVID pandemic was getting underway, I began my term on the City of Gainesville's Utility Advisory Board (UAB). This body "serves as an advisor to the Gainesville City Commission on policy and governance decisions regarding utility services. Formed in 2016, the seven-member board meets at least once a month. " Needless to say, given the conditions at the time, my orientation process for this new Board position was atypical. Gainesville Regional Utilities (GRU) employees served heroically during this incredibly challenging time and kept our community running through great uncertainty. However, for their safety and the safety of others, normal orientation procedures were curtailed.
During the summer of 2022, as GRU operations returned to a more normal state, I asked if I could undergo my orientation a second time. Below is a description of the orientation process that I experienced.
My day began at GRU's Eastside Operations Center, where I met with Debbie Daugherty (Water/Wastewater Engineering Director), Brett Goodman (Treatment Operations Director, Murphree Water Treatment Plant (WTP), Kanapaha Water Reclamation Facility (WRF), Main Street WRF, and Lift Stations), & Peter Simms (Water Distribution & Wastewater Collection Director). Next I was given a tour of the Murphree WTP and the Main Street WRF. The entire session lasted about three hours. Below are a few pictures and here is the powerpoint presentation that was shared with me.
This training is provided by the City Attorney's office to City Commissioners, Board members, and others who are subject to Florida's Sunshine laws. It was initially provided to me in person in early 2020, but it is also offered periodically as a refresher, particularly when we have numerous new Board members as we did in Summer '22. Below is a recording of the training that was offered during our July '22 UAB meeting, which took place at the GRU Administration Building. Though the length of this training varies by setting and audience, this specific iteration was about 30 minutes.
Link to recording from 7/26/22 UAB meeting that contained this training
This was my second time meeting with the Budget, Finance, & Accounting team and we also hear from them extensively during budget season. So this meeting was just a 1.5 hour one-one-one question & answer with GRU Chief Financial Officer Claudia Rasnick at the GRU Administration Building. She also provided me with copies of relevant documents, including S&P's, Moody’s, & Fitch's recent ratings reports; BakerTilly financial statements; independent auditors’ report of GRU Sept. ‘21; & GRU's Fiscal Year 2021 Budget.
Here I met with several members of the Customer Support Services team at the Administration Building, led by Kinn'zon Hutchinson. This meeting lasted approximately 2.5 hours and included getting to know the leadership team, an overview presentation, and shadowing one of GRU's customer service trainers on some live customer phone calls. In 2020, during my initial UAB orientation, I also met with the Office of Community Relations/Inclusion and am including their presentation here as well.
This meeting lasted approximately four hours and included presentations on GRU's gas delivery system by Phillip Lancaster and its electric transmission and distribution system by Ray Jordan. I met with Kacey Krause from Work & Resource Management. Chad Parker with Energy Management & Regulation gave me an update on the conversion from traditional meter-reading to AMI. I met with Tony Carroll, the Acting Energy Delivery Officer, and lastly, Darko Kovac at the Systems Control Center. All of these meetings took place at the Eastside Operations Center.
This was a full day meeting & tour. My primary guides were Melissa Jones (Director of Production) and Dino DeLeo (Energy Supply Officer). Our meeting started at the downtown GRU Admin Building and I was presented with a folder that provided an overview of the Energy Supply Team and each of GRU's generating facilities. We then toured the Deerhaven & Deerhaven Renewable, John R. Kelly, and the South Energy Center.
This meeting lasted approximately two hours and took place at the Eastside Operations Center. I met with several members of GRU staff, including TC Kelley, Rick Chu, Jamison De La Pena, Wayne Wishart, & Kik Koppitch. I was provided with an overview of IT operations, which supports staff at GRU as well as the City of Gainesville. I was also provided with an overview of GRU.com's business model, major customers, and proposed growth strategies moving forward. The presentation was a few years out of date, but they provided verbal updates.
Beyond the in-house orientation, GRU also makes ongoing educational resources available to their UAB members, including:
The American Public Power Association's (APPA) annual national conference
This event takes place each summer. GRU usually budgets for two UAB members to attend the conference. There are a wide-range of sessions, seminars, & networking events available to attendees at this conference, and attendees generally do a debrief with fellow Board members and relevant GRU staff after attending. Most years, there are also workshops specifically focused on utility board governance matters, and these are often provided by the national nonprofit Hometown Connections. I have attended a few of HC's workshops and they were the inspiration for this project.
APPA educational materials
In addition to their national conference, APPA offers resources such as their Governing for Excellence handbook as well as on-demand trainings on a wide variety of topics.