Wastewater manager urges council to approve perpetual maintenance agreement with Southern California Edison

Jan Hauser, wastewater division manager, told the public courts and transportation committee she recommends the city council authorize the mayor to execute an added facilities agreement with Southern California Edison to renew electrical maintenance service for the wastewater headworks facility into perpetuity. "It includes a onetime payment of $62,246 and a monthly charge of $747.41," Hauser said.

Hauser said the wastewater division originally entered a 20-year added facilities agreement with SCE in 2006 when the headworks facility was built; that agreement expired in March 2026, requiring a new arrangement. She described four options: replacement coverage into perpetuity (option A); an option SCE no longer offers (option B as printed in older agreements); a no-replacement plan with lower monthly fees but city responsibility for failures (option C); and termination, which would require SCE to remove equipment and was not viable, Hauser said.

Hauser recommended option A, which she said would increase the city's existing monthly rate by about $105 but would ensure lifetime replacement coverage for installed equipment such as transformers, switches and underground cables that SCE originally installed. She reiterated that the one-time payment would be $62,246 and the ongoing monthly maintenance charge would be $747.41, and said all payments would come from the wastewater budget. The presentation concluded with Hauser offering to take questions; the transcript records no committee vote during the presentation.