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Board previews annual utilities report to County Council, asks for electric-reports detail
Summary
Board members reviewed a draft of the utilities’ annual report to County Council and requested additional detail on near-term issues including electrification, asset replacement, staffing and water projects before the presentation in mid‑July.
The Los Alamos Board of Public Utilities reviewed a draft annual utilities report intended for County Council on June 4 and directed staff to emphasize near-term decision points, particularly around electrification planning and asset-replacement needs.
Chair Gibson said the draft should spend less time on past accomplishments and more on current issues and upcoming council decisions. Several board members urged staff to include clearer timelines and specific figures where possible. "If we could get anything we could get by next meeting it would probably be helpful," one board member said, pressing for earlier access to draft chapters on the electrification study so board members could do a data-driven review.
Board discussion touched on personnel and asset issues: staff noted upcoming retirements and proposed temporary FTE overfill to maintain continuity. Members proposed clarifying replacement-asset funding estimates alongside depreciation schedules. The draft lists major ongoing projects (water-main replacements; Foxtail Flats and Elk Ridge developments; and other service-area projects) and three studies the county is conducting: the electrification study, an EV infrastructure study, and a county natural-gas-usage study.
Board members suggested including a short slide on electrification study outcomes (preliminary findings) in the annual report and to explain how the natural-gas-usage study will track current household gas uses (hot water, cooking, space heating) so councilors understand the planning implications for any future gas‑reduction goals.
On water issues, staff proposed adding specific references to projected laboratory cooling demand, the Chromium plume monitoring and a new White Rock well and clarified that a granted San Juan surface-water right does not guarantee an annual water volume without further approvals.
The board set a schedule to complete the County Council presentation July 15 and to do a final review at the board’s next meeting in three weeks. Members asked staff to incorporate targeted changes and to circulate updated draft chapters ahead of July meetings.
