Bwp

Connie Baker Despite pleas from Burbank Water and Power officials, the City Council on Tuesday denied a request for $1 million in additional funding to teach employees how to implement a new customer information and billing system. Instead, the council told BWP General Manager Ron Davis to renegotiate a $3.5-million contract with Indus Utility Systems Inc., the firm hired to upgrade the utility's aging billing system. The firm is working with BWP employees to implement a new system, but Davis told the council that staffers "lack expertise" in information technology and project management and require additional support services not included in the city's existing contract.

Karen S. Kim BURBANK -- When Burbank residents check their mailboxes in August, they'll find more than just birthday cards, bills, catalogs and advertisements. They'll find free light bulbs, courtesy of Burbank Water and Power. The City Council approved BWP's compact fluorescent light giveaway program last week that could cut Burbank's energy consumption by more than 3 million kilowatt hours -- or enough to power 500 households. "Short of actually going door-to-door and screwing the bulb in for them, this is the easiest we can make it for them," said Jeanette Meyer, marketing manager for BWP. "People really need to take initiative."

Laura Sturza BURBANK -- While federal standards for chromium 6 are set at 100 parts per billion, and California's are at 50 parts per billion, Burbank Water and Power and the City Council will continue to work toward their goal of 5 parts per billion, officials said. Since last December, Burbank's samples have ranged from 3 to 13 parts per billion, said Fred Lantz, BWP assistant general manager for water. To meet the goal of 5 parts per billion, BWP took one well out of production that was registering levels of 25 parts per billion or more, still below both federal and state standards.

Karen S. Kim BURBANK -- Burbank Water and Power was set to ask for an increased budget appropriation of $89.3 million at Tuesday's City Council meeting in order to meet its expenses and generate revenue from its trading activities. Faced with a volatile power market, BWP is asking for an extra $36.6 million for power supply costs than it had budgeted for the 2000-01 fiscal year, and $52.7 million to be used in its trading activities. "It's understandable because of the energy crisis," City Manager Bud Ovrom said.

Karen S. Kim HILLSIDE DISTRICT -- As of last week, the trash that Burbank residents nonchalantly toss in their garbage bins might be the very thing that's powering their televisions, garage doors, lights and kitchen appliances. Burbank Water and Power began operating 10 microturbines -- energy generators roughly the size of refrigerators -- at Burbank's landfill in the Hillside District on July 16. California Gov. Gray Davis announced Monday that Burbank is California's first full-time landfill power plant using microturbine technology.

Karen S. Kim BURBANK -- Faced with unseasonably cool temperatures, falling costs for power and successful conservation efforts by Burbank residents, Burbank Water and Power is flipping one if its big switches to the "off" position. Just three weeks after coming on line, the 50-megawatt Magnolia No. 4 power plant has been shut down. BWP spent about $1 million to make Magnolia No. 4 operational again after spot prices of power were predicted to soar this summer.

Karen S. Kim BURBANK -- Just two months after Burbank residents saw a 10% rate hike in their electric bills, Burbank Water and Power is raising rates again. BWP customers will see a 10% to 11% rate increase in their energy bills after Oct. 1, said BWP General Manager Ron Davis. "I have a fiduciary duty to raise rates, and I hate it," Davis said. "People always think it's discretionary and it shouldn't happen, but it's not that simple. We don't control market prices of natural gas."

MEETING AT 6:30 P.M. TUESDAY, CITY COUNCIL CHAMBER -- 275 E. OLIVE AVE. Major items: Bonds of $117 million for redevelopment projects at Golden State and South San Fernando projects. Airport Authority commissioner report. Adjustment to development impact fee. Safe haven infant protection program. Annual financial report of redevelopment agency. Appointment to the Metropolitan Water District. BWP energy efficiency programs.

Karen S. Kim HILLSIDE DISTRICT -- The old shoes, coffee grounds, orange peels and tattered clothes Burbank residents toss in the trash could be used to power their televisions, refrigerators, air conditioners and swimming pool heaters this summer. Eight microturbine units -- energy generators -- will be installed at Burbank's landfill by June to convert methane gas, the natural byproduct released when trash decomposes, into a renewable form of energy, the City Council decided Tuesday.

Karen S. Kim TRANSPORTATION CENTER -- Burbank's first hurdle in constructing a 240-megawatt power plant on Magnolia Boulevard will be approval from the California Energy Commission, Magnolia Power Project officials said this week. For the next six months, officials from the California Energy Commission, Burbank Water and Power, the Regional Water Quality Control Board and the South Coast Air Quality Management District will review the power plant's application and investigate its environmental impacts.