HomeMy WebLinkAbout#17 Switchgear Enclosure AGENDA ITEM #17
Public Utility District m
MEETING DATE: August 7, 2024
TO: Board of Directors
FROM: Keith Renshaw, Electric Engineering Manager
Jared Carpenter, Electric Utility Director
SUBJECT: Consideration of Approval for Procurement of a Switchgear and
Control Enclosure for the Martis Valley Substation Modernization
Project in an Amount Not to Exceed of $2,267,893.
APPROVED BY:
Brian C. Wright, General Manager
RECOMMENDATION:
Authorize the General Manager to execute a Material Purchase Contract with Crown
Technical Systems for the purchase of a Switchgear and Control Enclosure in the
amount of $2,061,721, plus a 10% contingency, for a not to exceed purchase amount of
$2,267,893.
BACKGROUND:
District Code section 3.08.010 — Procedure for Purchase of Commodities or Equipment
Over $15,000
Estimated purchase amount: $2,267,893
The District's Martis Valley Substation (MV Sub) was built, commissioned, and placed
into service in 1981. MV Sub serves areas including the Town of Truckee's
administrative building, the Truckee Tahoe Airport, Truckee Sanitary District, Sierra
Meadows, the West and East River Street corridors, Truckee Crossroads shopping
center, and the Coldstream development. MV Sub is the District's only substation
served by NV Energy's 120kV transmission system, and serves as a critical backup for
redundant distribution system operation. Over the life of MV Sub, various capital
improvements have been made, including seismic anchoring, protective relay
upgrades, and civil infrastructure maintenance. Similar to past substation modernization
and rebuild projects like the Donner Lake Substation rebuild completed in 2010, the
Tahoe Donner substation rebuild completed in 2014, and the Truckee Substation
rebuild completed in 2022, the core components of MV Sub are nearing the end of
service life, and require modernization to ensure reliable operation into the future. MV
Sub is the District's only remaining substation that has not undergone a modernization
and rebuild project.
Page 1 of 4
Page 61 of 87
Since 2021, Electric Engineering has been developing plans for the revitalization and
modernization of the MV Sub. Over the past few years, Electric Engineering has
worked with its primary engineering consultant, Qualus LLC (Qualus), to develop a
complete scope of work for the proposed substation improvements. The scope of the
project includes:
1. Relocating the substation's outdoor 12.5kV distribution bus into an indoor
Switchgear Control Enclosure (SCE);
2. Replacement of the 1980s vintage SF6 high-voltage circuit switcher with a
Vacuum Circuit Breaker (Breaker);
3. Repair or replacement of structural components, including spalling concrete
foundations;
4. Relocation of the DC backup battery system to an indoor enclosure;
5. Adding a secondary electric station service for redundancy;
6. Replacement of non-operational, non-loadbreak bus tie switches with a
switchgear transfer bus;
7. Replacement of porcelain insulators with polymer insulators;
8. Upgrades to the existing SCADA system hardware; and
9. Improvements to civil infrastructure addressing aging infrastructure, substation
security, installation of infrastructure to accommodate the proposed future
Battery Energy Storage System, and making provisions for future distribution
feeders.
The proposed scope of the MV Sub modernization project ensures improved reliability,
operability, visibility of the station systems, and maintainability of the substation for the
next 40 years.
ANALYSIS AND BODY:
In discussions with the District's engineering consultant over the scoping and design
process, staff were informed of long-lead times for the procurement of both the SCE
and the Breaker. Staff identified that it was necessary to focus on procurement of the
long-lead time substation equipment in parallel with design work to keep the overall
project on track and on time. The current estimated procurement lead times for both the
SCE and Breaker are 12 to 24 months. Working with Qualus, staff prioritized
developing detailed technical specifications for both the SCE and Breaker to ensure
both items could be put out to bid mid-2024.
On May 20, 2024, the District posted the bid for the SCE. The original bid opening date
of June 12, 2024, was rescheduled multiple times due to requests from multiple bidders
on several occasions. In addition, the District received many questions about the bid,
and Clarifying Responses were issued three times. Four total addendums were also
issued. Bids were opened on July 11, 2024. The District received eight bids for the SCE
and three of those bids were deemed non-responsive at the bid opening due to
incompleteness. Post bid opening, staff and Qualus evaluated the remaining five bids
to ensure the bids met the technical specifications which were posted with the bid. Of
Page 2 of 4
Page 62 of 87
the remaining five bids, only two were considered technically responsive. The SCE bid
details can be found below:
Vendor Unit Cost Responsive Notes:
Bid
Crown Technical $2,061,721 Yes Responsive Bid, no
Systems technical issues.
Avail (Central Electric$2,180,300 Yes Responsive Bid, no
Mfg.) technical issues.
Myers Power $2,242,365 No Bid Not Responsive; Did
Products not meet all Technical
Specifications..
Pioneer Custom $1,693,000 No Bid Not Responsive; Did
Electrical Products not meet all Technical
(Pacific Utilities) Specifications..
Eaton (Codale $2,452,560 No Bid Not Responsive; Did
Electric Supply) not meet all Technical
Specifications..
PowerCon Corp. $2,141,517 No Bid Not Responsive; Did
not acknowledge receipt of
all addendums.
Siemens (Geo E $2,040,243 No Bid Not Responsive; No
Honn Co., Inc.) signature on bid.
JST (Pacific Power $2,021,665 No Bid Not Responsive,
Reps) Unacceptable signature on
bid.
Staff is satisfied with the bid results for the SCE, as the lowest responsive bidder. The
SCE is well known in the electric utility industry, and their response was technically
complete. Therefore, staff recommends the Board authorize the General Manager to
execute a Material Purchase Contract with Crown Technical Systems for the purchase
of one Substation Control Enclosure in the amount of $2,061,721, plus a 10%
contingency, for a not to exceed purchase amount of$2,267,893.
This item supports the following objectives and goals identified by the District.
GOALS AND OBJECTIVES:
District Code 1 .05.020 Objectives:
1. Responsibly serve the public.
6. Manage the District in an effective, efficient and fiscally responsible manner.
District Code 1 .05.030 Goals:
1. Manage for Financial Stability and Resiliency
4. Take the best of private sector thinking to modernize the utility and add value to our
communities.
Page 3 of 4
Page 63 of 87
FISCAL IMPACT:
The District's Capital Budget for FY24-25 allocates $2,000,000 from Capital Reserves
for the Martis Valley Modernization project in FY24 (shown in the FY24-25 Capital
Budget as "Martis Valley Substation Rebuild"), $2,500,000 in FY25, and $1,250,000 in
FY26. The procurement of the SCE in addition to the Breaker, for Board Consideration
as a separate agenda item, together do not exceed the FY24 budget of$2,000,000 for
the Martis Valley Modernization project. The payment schedule for the SCE dictates
that the maximum amount that could be paid to the vendor in FY24 is 70% of the
overall cost, with the remaining 30% due for delivery. Therefore, the total estimated
spend on the SCE and Breaker in FY24 is $1,754,102.
Thus far in FY24, the project has incurred approximately $77,000 of engineering and
consulting costs. The total engineering and consulting costs are not estimated to
exceed $200,000 in FY24. When combined with the equipment procurement costs
associated with this agenda item, the estimated costs for the Martis Valley Rebuild
project in FY24 are $1,954,102, which does not exceed the budget of $2,000,000 in
2024.
This agenda item does not include any construction costs associated with the Martis
Valley Rebuild project. Those costs will be brought back to the Board at a future
meeting, after a complete design and construction package has been completed and a
public bid for construction services.
The District budgeted this project to be funded with Capital Reserve funds, which are
sufficient with a current balance of $10.8M.
However, due to delays in the projects slated to be funded with 2022 electric debt
proceeds, the District is recommending the Martis Valley Modernization project be
funded with 2022 electric debt proceeds, which has a current fund balance of $6.9M.
ATTACHMENTS:
None
Page 4 of 4
Page 64 of 87