Loading...
Exhibit 1 - Agenda Information Sheet - Amendment 3City of Denton _____________________________________________________________________________________ AGENDA INFORMATION SHEET DEPARTMENT: Procurement & Compliance ACM: David Gaines DATE: October 6, 2020 SUBJECT Consider adoption of an ordinance of the City of Denton, a Texas home-rule municipal corporation, authorizing the approval of a third amendment to a Professional Services Agreement between the City of Denton and POWER Engineers, Inc., amending the contract approved by City Council on October 9, 2018, in the not-to-exceed amount of $776,600; amended by Amendment 1 approved by Purchasing; amended by Amendment 2 approved by City Council; said third amendment to continue to provide services for CIP projects where relay and control commissioning and NERC testing is required; providing for the expenditure of funds therefor; and providing an effective date (File 6861 – providing for an additional third amendment expenditure amount not-to-exceed $871,000, with the total contract amount not-to-exceed $2,252,400). The Public Utilities Board recommends approval (6 - 0). INFORMATION/BACKGROUND Denton Municipal Electric (DME) utilizes the services of POWER Engineers, Inc. for regulatory functions related to substation relay and control system commissioning, NERC required testing of relay and control systems, support for Texas Reliability Entity (TRE) audits of commissioning and testing activities (i.e. verification of records, interpretation of records and test results, explanations of testing, etc.), review and analysis of relay operations of system events, and technical consultations with system protection events or system protection questions and NERC standards compliance. DME’s current contract with POWER Engineers, Inc. (PEI), is not sufficiently funded for all required services through FY2021. DME proposes a third amendment to the existing PEI contract for professional and technical services needed to complete the tasks. This includes a contingency item to provide funding for responding to emergency or urgent needs related to relay and control system issues. The original contract amount was $776,600. Amendment #1 was for a no cost ($0) change to the contract to add testing equipment billing rates that were included in the cost but inadvertently omitted from the original contract documentation. A second amendment amount of $604,800 was approved to complete projects for FY 2019 and FY 2020. The recommended third amendment adds $871,000 to the contract for a total of $2,252,400. PEI has successfully provided these services to DME and TMPA for several years. PEI is TMPA’s engineering firm of choice for system protection testing and commissioning. If a consultant other than PEI were to assume the activities listed in the contract, the new consultant would require significant time to become familiar with the DME transmission system and its relay and control schemes. Extensive staff time and resources would be expended to provide support and training on the DME NERC compliance City Hall 215 E. McKinney Street Denton, Texas www.cityofdenton.com procedures to assure the new consultant has a precise grasp of DME’s regulatory and compliance procedures and needs, to understand DME’s protection philosophies and testing requirements, and the consultant is properly trained in DME safety procedures. Unfamiliarity of DME’s protection schemes could lead to mis-operations and outages. Due to potential liability combined with a lack of historic knowledge of the DME system, the new consultant would be compelled to replicate testing which had previously been completed by PEI – which would lead to additional financial cost and time resources from DME and its staff. For example, Item 1 in requires the consultant to commission the new Brinker Substation. This action includes setting and testing the transmission line protection relays in Brinker Substation, so they coordinate with the transmission line protection relays in the existing adjacent substations of Woodrow, McKinney, Industrial, and Cooper Creek. Replication of testing will be needed before the new consultant can certify the function of the entire protection system. PEI can rely on their previous testing to certify the performance of the protection system with adjacent substations since the transmission line protection relays were tested, by them, when those projects were completed. With PEI remaining as the consultant only minor testing at the existing adjacent substations would be required. In order to assure DME is obtaining the best value in the market, there are plans to advertise an RFQ in the summer of 2021 for FY2022 CIP projects and beyond for the work described above. PRIOR ACTION/REVIEW (COUNCIL, BOARDS, COMMISSIONS) On October 9, 2018, City Council approved a contract with POWER Engineers, Inc., in the not-to-exceed amount of $776,600 (Ordinance 18-1483). On March 14, 2019, Purchasing approved Amendment 1 with POWER Engineers, Inc, to add line items to the existing contract. On December 17, 2019, City Council approved Amendment 2 with POWER Engineers, Inc., in the not-to- exceed amount of $604,800 (Ordinance 19-2903). On September 28, 2020, the Public Utilities Board (PUB) recommended this item to the City Council for consideration. RECOMMENDATION Award Amendment No. 3 with POWER Engineers, Inc., to continue to provide services for CIP projects where relay and control commissioning and NERC testing is required, in the not-to-exceed amount of $871,000, for a total amended contract amount of $2,252,400. PRINCIPAL PLACE OF BUSINESS POWER Engineers, Inc. Hailey, ID ESTIMATED SCHEDULE OF PROJECT This project is ongoing. FISCAL INFORMATION A majority of the services will be funded from the operations budget, and a smaller portion of the total contract amendment is for testing and commissioning of Capital Improvement Program (CIP) projects and will be charged to the respective CIP project accounts. The remaining amendment amount is for operations, maintenance, and required periodic NERC testing and will be charged to the appropriate expense accounts. A majority of the work proposed will be in the transmission category which, for transmission CIP projects, will be recovered through the Public Utility Commission Transmission Cost of Service program (TCOS). The proposed amendment will not increase CIP cost. Amounts for all capital projects were included in the approved CIP. EXHIBITS Exhibit 1: Agenda Information Sheet Exhibit 2: Original Ordinance and Contract Exhibit 3: Amendment 1 Exhibit 4: Ordinance and Amendment 2 Exhibit 5: Ordinance and Amendment 3 Respectfully submitted: Lori Hewell, 940-349-7100 Purchasing Manager For information concerning this acquisition, contact: Jerry Fielder, 940-349-7173. Legal point of contact: Mack Reinwand at 940-349-8333.