TRUCKEE, Calif. – The Truckee Donner Public Utility District’s Board of Directors held a regularly scheduled board meeting on Wednesday, Nov. 2.

The board started the meeting with expressions of gratitude and appreciation for district staff’s dedicated work during the season’s first winter storm, and for their tireless work in providing essential electric and water services to our community. The board acknowledged the harsh conditions that TDPUD crews must endure, and wished them well as they “bundle up” this winter to keep the lights on and the water flowing.

Due to last week’s significant early winter storm, and with more precipitation in the forecast, wildfire season is largely considered to be over for this region. Wright provided an update on how this shift impacts TDPUD operations.

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As a result, TDPUD has restored the reclosure function for protection devices in its electric system, meaning the automatic capabilities that improve outage durations are back in effect. During wildfire season, TDPUD employs the industry-standard practice of “one-shot” in order to protect the community. This safety measure requires manual inspection of overhead power lines following any fault, but results in longer outages as a result. TDPUD will continue to take steps to limit the risk of electric equipment starting a wildfire, but this risk is significantly reduced during winter. TDPUD board and staff remind everyone to be prepared for winter power outages, which are driven primarily by storms.

Also during the meeting, General Manager Brian Wright provided an update on the TDPUD Community-Wide Broadband Initial Scoping Study. TDPUD’s consultant, Uptown Services, is surveying the community in order to understand the current level of satisfaction and desire for improved broadband services. It completed 400 phone surveys and received 2,200 responses from the all-customer email survey, which closed Nov. 6.

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As part of the study, the TDPUD will soon release a request for proposals to gauge the interest of internet service providers to partner with TDPUD, as one potential model to achieve community-wide broadband. The presentation of the final report, along with Uptown Service’s recommendations on the most beneficial broadband business models for the community to consider, is now scheduled for TDPUD’s Jan. 4 board meeting. 

Kellie Cutler, executive director of the Contractors Association of Truckee Tahoe, thanked the board for energy and water conservation rebates that helped enable the completion of the new Downtown Truckee Park. The TDPUD rebates supported the installation of state-of-the-art irrigation and lighting systems for this great community asset.

Finally, the board took action to participate in the Association of California Water Agencies’ Joint Powers Insurance Authority’s Commitment to Excellence Program. ACWA-JPIA is an important provider of competitive insurance services to the TDPUD. This program, at no additional cost, provides access to safety training, risk and human resources best practices, needs assessments and professional development opportunities.

Information about TDPUD board meetings and access to agendas, minutes, live streaming and archived video can be found at http://www.tdpud.org/departments/board-of-directors/board-meetings.