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April 23, 2010

Officials question L&P's autonomy

BY ART BUKOWSKI Record-Eagle

TRAVERSE CITY — A contentious biomass debate provides the perfect opportunity for the city to take a good, hard look at Traverse City Light & Power's autonomy, some city commissioners believe.

Traverse City Light & Power's board this week voted to "pursue the development" of a wood-burning biomass plant in Traverse City. The utility must complete engineering and design and buy land for the plant, among many other tasks.

City commissioners appoint Light & Power's board but have limited control over the utility's operations. They have the ability to approve or reject Light & Power's entire budget, though they can't make line-item changes and must approve bond requests.

Some commissioners and area citizens believe Light & Power was dead-set on biomass long before a series of forums utility officials said were designed to gather public input. They now want to know if it's possible to have more oversight of the utility.

"I am disturbed by the fact that we created this monster of Light & Power that we own but have no control over," Commissioner Mary Ann Moore said.

Moore said she is not anti-biomass — she believes it could be the best local generation option — but isn't happy with Light & Power's handling of the issue. The utility's public input process was a "joke," she said.

Commissioner Barbara Budros, who previously called the public input process a "charade," was adamant at Monday's city commission meeting that the city re-examine its relationship with Light & Power.

"We are ultimately responsible for what Light & Power does ... and yet we don't seem to have any authority over what Light & Power does," she told a Record-Eagle reporter. "I'm not comfortable with that."

Light & Power Board Chairwoman Linda Johnson isn't surprised to hear control talk.

"This is not a new topic," she said. "Every time something controversial comes up, the topic is brought up about control."

Light & Power's current structure — an executive staff with a seven-member board — was formed when citizens voted to split it off from the city in 1979. Johnson contends the move was intended to give board members a buffer from political pressure by separating "the political arena from the arena of doing the right thing."

Board members, appointed by the city commission, wouldn't have to let the fear of recalls or election defeats interfere with their decisions, she contends.

Any changes to the structure of Light & Power would require a voter-approved city charter amendment, City Attorney Karrie Zeits said.

Jim Carruthers, a city commissioner who also serves as a commission representative on the Light & Power board, also wants to examine the utility's relationship with the city.

"I've always thought (city commissioners) should have a bit more control," he said. "It's a city-owned utility that seems to run itself autonomously."

Carruthers, Budros and others don't necessarily want full control of Light & Power, but at least want the ability to make line-item changes to the utility's budget and capital improvement plans.

Mayor Chris Bzdok said he's open to discussing Light & Power's relationship with the city, but believes commissioners should be mindful of the utility's "track record of success."

"I think anyone who wants to go into the discussion with the idea that Light & Power should be someone's punching bag needs to remember that the utility provides a very high level of public service in a very cost-effective manner," he said.

Commissioners should be sure to examine why the current structure was adopted in the first place, Bzdok said.

Some commissioners don't see an immediate need to exert more control. Commissioners Jody Bergman and Ralph Soffredine think it could lead to trouble.

"I personally think that it's too specialized, there's just so much going on ... I wouldn't want to 100 percent as a city commission take over the running of Light & Power," Bergman said.

"I think the way it works now is just fine," Soffredine said. "The city commission has enough on its plate, it doesn't need Light & Power on its plate, too."

Commissioner Mike Gillman said he'd be open to discussing the issue, but said there are more pressing issues the city should deal with first.

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