Nov. 20, 2009

 

The LES Administrative Board held its regular monthly meeting Nov. 20, 2009, at the Lincoln Electric Building.

 

2010 Wage & Salary Program approved by Board

 

A phased increase of 2.50 percent in total funds available for 2010 wages and salaries was approved Friday (11/20) by the Administrative Board. The vote was 8-1 with Don Nelson voting nay.

 

One percent of the 2.50 percent increase will be used effective Jan. 1 for administrative support, professional, technical and executive occupational groups. Individual employee salary adjustments will be determined by vice presidents based on performance and each employee’s salary in relation to the midpoint of salary range.

Consideration will be given to use the remaining funds later in the year contingent on net revenue and other factors impacting the availability of funds at that time.

To expand the pool of money available for employee raises next year, executive staff will forgo salary increases in 2010.

 

Renewable Energy Credit pilot program explained

 

In December, 130 key account customers will have the opportunity to buy Renewable Energy Credits (REC) from LES to use in their public relations efforts, according to Tom Davlin, manager, Projects Engineering in Power Supply.

 

Davlin explained the program Friday (11/20) at the November meeting of the Administrative Board.

 

REC are earned for every Megawatt-hour (MWh) of electricity generated by a renewable energy resource, he said. LES receives REC from the two LES-owned wind turbine generators northeast of Lincoln, as well as energy from the privately-owned Elkhorn Ridge Wind Farm near Bloomfield. They are expected to produce about 20,000 MWh (REC) annually. The average large commercial/industrial customer uses at least 100 MWh per year.

REC will be sold monthly in lots of 10 up to 10,000, he said. They are traded on the open market, and their value fluctuates with demand. Today, each is worth about $1.30 each.

Transmission line construction information on LES Web site

 

As work continues on transmission line projects, customers are now able to track progress on LES’ Web site, said Rob Schmidt, supervisor, Transmission and Distribution Design in Energy Delivery.

Schmidt demonstrated the site Friday (11/20) at the meeting of the Administrative Board.

By clicking on “Transmission Lines” at the top of the les.com home page, customers can link to a site for each project. The site, developed by Customer & Corporate Communications, includes the following features:

• Background information about the project with a map of the area affected by the construction

• Timeline

• Contact information

• Details of the construction with definitions of terms and photos of some equipment

• Weekly photos of work on the line

Schmidt said updates will be provided weekly so customers will know when crews will be working near their property.

 

Nominating Committee for Board officers appointed

 

A Nominating Committee was appointed by Administrative Board Chair Dawn Rockey to develop a slate of officers for 2010. Members of the Nominating Committee are Kathy Campbell, Richard Evnen and Marilyn McNabb.

Current officers of the Board who have served one year are Chair Dawn Rockey (who is completing the second year of her second term on the Board), Vice Chair Pat Beans (who is completing the second year of his first term) and Secretary Tony Marquez, Jr. (who is completing his first term).

A slate will be offered at the December regular monthly meeting, and officers of the Board will be elected at the January 2010 meeting.

 

The following statistics for October were presented to the Board:

October 2009	October 2008	Change
Number of Customers
129,353	127,978	+1,375 (+1.1%)
Retail Electricity Use (MWh)
231,121	236,428	-5,307 (-2.2%)
12-Month Average Outage Time/Customer (minutes)
16.8	46.2	-29.4

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