By Don A. Wright
The Modesto Irrigation District held its board of directors meeting at its Modesto headquarters on Tuesday, September 8, 2026 and online with Zoom. There are at least three MIDs I can think of off the top of my head; from south to north – Madera ID, Merced ID and Modesto ID. My sense is there have been some mix ups hither and yon when using the abbreviation. To avoid confusion they could be referred to as Mad, Merc and Motown IDs. My sense also tells me that isn’t going to catch on. The main thing to know is they all depend on different water sources.
Madera ID gets its water mainly from the federal Central Valley Project facilities on the San Joaquin River. Merced ID’s supplies come from the eponymous Merced River and Modesto ID’s supplies are from the Tuolumne River. Another thing to remember about Modesto ID is it also provides hydroelectricity to customers. And we’ll hear about how well it does so.
The Meeting
The scheduled start time of 9:00am was nailed with Chairman Robert Frobose calling the meeting to order. There was roll call and we saluted the flag of the greatest nation on earth and approved the consent calendar. The consent calendar included the minutes, paying the bills, approving an agreement with D.R. Horton Bay, Inc. and designating Jack Rodgers as the district’s Qualified Independent Representative, QIR was passed. Rodgers will be in charge of hedging power futures for the district.
Angela Cartisano, Board Secretary read the policy for public comment and the consent calendar. There were no members of the public in person or online willing to comment.
Data Centers
Rodgers was the first presenter and he spoke on large loads, meaning anything about 25-400 megawatts. He said data centers are looking for affordable rates and want to enter into long-term agreements for power. Rodgers said there are a series of steps that would have to take place before any agreement is signed. These are; initial inquiry, large-load study, system impact study, facilities studies and then the approval process is considered. The large-load customer, whether or not a data center would pay for all of this.
Rodgers said there are risks such as large-load industry concentration, long-term commitments and protecting existing customers from stranded assets/infrastructure. The board will have authority to set rates and require a funding commitment. Water usage, noise, zoning, employment and community benefits are important considerations and not entirely under the control of MID.
Director Janice Keating was critical of referring to data centers as large-loads. She also asked about back up power during high usage days. The cost of power varies and if I understood correctly she was concerned about a data center causing a spike that could result in more expensive power costs being distributed across all the district’s rate payers. There is a peaker plant in Woodland that runs on gas, is more expensive and the most likely source for extra power. She also proposed a new rate tier for data centers and no nondisclosure agreements be signed between a data center and MID. She also wanted to require new groundwater quality studies. She ended her presentation saying she was disappointed this agenda item was titled large-load instead of data center power.
General Manager Jimi Netniss explained large-load includes any project requiring the bigger energy usage and not just data centers. Director John Boer IV asked about the financial safeguards if a data center were to leave. Rodgers said a very large deposit can be held in trust for the district’s benefit should the project not complete. Boer wasn’t comfortable with data centers and wanted to be sure the district and its existing customers are protected. Rodgers said the amount will be in cash and could be in the multimillion-dollar range. Director Chris Ott felt the financial threat could be contained and reasonable.
Frobose asked Netniss what water safety can be guaranteed. Netniss said while part of the water supply would be provided by the City of Modesto MID would have input with the permitting process. Netniss said there are circumstances when an NDA would be needed. A developer will have to release proprietary information to the district in order to have its application even considered.
Power Supply Report
Martin Caballero gave the regular power supply report.
Water Report
Next Jesse Franco reported the water supply is in good shape for the time being. He said the forecast has no rain in the near future and temperatures are rising for a short time. All in all this has been a moderate summer. Precipitation year to date is almost 90-percent. Don Pedro Reservoir has been able to maintain 93-percent of average storage for this time of year despite the early snow melt.
Franco said MID still has 20,000 a/f in storage at Don Pedro. If I understand correctly Don Pedro can hold 2.1 million a/f. MID’s season started on March 10th and more than 115,000 a/f have been delivered. They’ve pumped 7,583 a/f so far this year. He also said 134 spring run salmon have been found.
Keating asked if the inflow was steady this year and Franco said it was good. In part due to Hetch Hetchy Reservoir operations.
Action Item Budget
Next the board asked Samuel Arellano to do his thing with the 2027 Operations & Maintenance and Capital Expenditures Budget. Arriano said there have been workshops and reviews throughout the year. The budget presented today is posted online and staff is asking for approval. Arellano said this is an ongoing attempt to provide the best service to the public at the best cost.
Power supply is half the budget at $307.9 million with O&M and capital making up most of the rest. Arellano said he was glad to say there doesn’t need to be a rate increase to meet the proposed 2027 budget. The cost increases will be offset by the cost reductions. The proposed amount for 2027 is $599.8 million, down five-percent from last year. If I understand the district’s revenue from bonds will be more than $21 million.
Director Larry Byrd praised the staff for its hard work and the excellent job they did in preparing the budget. Keating and Boer also thanked staff for their work and were thankful for reducing debt and preventing a rate increase. Ott pointed out increases in capital improvements are happening. Frobose reminded everyone MID is rated as the most reliable electric provider in California. Those director comments were a good indication they were going to approve the budget and sure enough they did.
GM Report
Netniss reported MID had a recent luncheon for the next generation of ag leadership and present some scholarships. The California Municipal Utilities Association’s Executive Director toured MID’s electric and water services. The CMUA is a group helping out utilities in Sacramento’s Byzantine lobbying and legislative process.
Adjourn
At 10:15am the meeting adjourned and not into closed session. I don’t know how MID did that. Anyway, that’s that from Modesto. Go be good to yourselves and each other.
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Modesto Irrigation District, 1231 11th Street, Modesto, CA 95354 www.mid.org 209/526-7373
Board: Larry Byrd-Division 1, Janice Keating-Division 2, President Robert Frobose-Division 3, Vice President John Boer IV-Division 4 & Chris Ott-Division 5.
Staff: Jimi Netniss-General Manager, Angela Cartisano-Board Secretary
History: From the MID website – The story of MID begins with water… or rather the lack of it. It was that one issue that led Modesto Assemblyman C.C. Wright to introduce a new law named the Wright Act of 1887 which allowed for the formation of irrigation districts and gave them the power to conduct elections, issue bonds and acquire property. MID is proud to have been the second irrigation district formed under the new law in 1887 and still in operation today.
MID’s canals were completed in 1903 and the first official irrigation season opened in 1904. The availability of such water changed the nature of farming in the area within a few years. Large tracts of wheat were replaced with orchards and vineyards. Today Stanislaus County ranks among the top 10 agricultural counties in the nation. Stanislaus County’s top 10 commodities are: milk, almonds, chickens, chicken eggs, turkeys, grapes, walnuts, cattle and calves, tomatoes, and peaches. MID provides irrigation water to approximately 60,000 acres, typically between mid-March and mid-October each year.
