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BLW reports outage trends, IT upgrades and allocates $578,225 GPW distribution to three projects
Summary
At a Marietta City Council work session, BLW staff reported rising tree-related power outages, proposed IT upgrades, summarized year-end financials and moved a $578,225.82 distribution from GPW toward IT, weekend lineman coverage and a water sewer relocation; council advanced a budget amendment to Wednesday for final approval.
The Board of Lights and Water (BLW) updated the Marietta City Council on outages, information-technology projects and finances and asked the council to advance a $578,225.82 distribution into the city budget for approval.
BLW presenter Miss Richardson summarized a November–December outage review, saying tree failures have become a larger share of interruptions even as outages caused by limbs have fallen. "The total number of outage minutes per home average was 2 hours and 8 minutes," she told the council, and said crews were responding quickly to restore service.
Why it matters: the presentation framed where BLW staff plan to focus vegetation management and capital maintenance to reduce future customer outage minutes and to target costs in the utility budget.
IT and operations: Ronnie, an IT staff presenter for BLW, listed 2024 accomplishments and 2025 priorities. Completed work included wireless upgrades, perimeter firewall replacement, a drone‑management platform and customer‑care tools intended to shorten call handling time. Ronnie said the city currently spends about "1.81% of our operating income on IT," below industry benchmarks, and that about 2.93% of the city’s FTEs are in IT compared with an industry average near 8.3%. Looking ahead he said IT plans include a budget‑forecasting tool for finance, a document management system, SCADA/fiber work, replacement of Itron metering software, and a new video‑management platform for internal security footage.
BLW financials and water update: BLW staff reported December electric results ahead of MEAG budget projections and said gas prices have been volatile; the report showed periods of high hourly pricing during a mid‑January weather event and flagged scheduled unit outages for spring maintenance. Kim Holland briefed the body on a January boil‑water advisory that was repaired quickly: the primary problem was repaired and testing cleared the advisory within about two days.
GPW distribution and budget amendment: BLW staff reported a final distribution from a Georgia Public Web/MEAG sale totaling $578,225.82. Staff proposed allocating $250,000 for an IT customer‑care project, $232,000 for contract weekend lineman coverage to reduce crew burnout, and $96,225.82 for a water sewer line relocation on Hazel Street. The council voted to move a fiscal‑year 2025 budget amendment (amount $578,225.82) forward to the city council meeting on Wednesday for formal approval. The motion to forward the amendment carried; the formal council adoption will be recorded at Wednesday’s meeting.
Context and next steps: BLW staff said the GPW distribution will be split into the three projects listed above and that the weekend lineman coverage will be entered as a budget line beginning July 1. Council members asked for details about expected recurring costs; staff said the weekend coverage will be added to next year’s budget and the GPW funds will be a one‑time appropriation in the current year. The council directed staff to place the formal budget amendment on the upcoming Wednesday agenda.
Ending: The BLW report combined operational metrics and near‑term spending requests; staff will return to the council on Wednesday with the formal budget amendment for adoption.
