Staff reports progress on undergrounding, transformers and customer systems

Jamie (staff) reported on the city’s ongoing undergrounding and service-conversion program. He said residential service conversions and citywide completed miles are advanced (citywide completed miles stand at 108) and noted the underground budget and current spend. Jamie detailed inventory reductions, transformer painting progress and a plan to replace five substation transformers; he also described procurement actions, including onboarding a new call-center vendor and pursuing a transformer specification and construction-standards work with an engineering partner.

Board members asked for clarifications on the month-to-month budget numbers; Jamie explained apparent deltas reflected contract timing and added resources brought onto the program as work ramped up. He said additional asset-inspection and joint-use notification procedures will be implemented, and noted long lead times for some materials (12+ months for wire), underscoring the need for improved material planning.