HomeMy WebLinkAbout08-20-2019 Item 12 - Water and Wastewater Emergency Power Supply Acquisition
Department Name: Utilities
Cost Center: 6001 and 6002
For Agenda of: August 20, 2019
Placement: Consent Item
Estimated Time: N/A
FROM: Aaron Floyd, Utilities Director
Prepared By: Mychal Boerman, Deputy Director - Water
Dave Hix, Deputy Director - Wastewater
Miguel Barcenas, Utilities Engineer – PE
Jennifer Metz, Utilities Projects Manager
SUBJECT: WATER & WASTEWATER EMERGENCY POWER SUPPLY
ACQUISITION
RECOMMENDATION
1. Approve a total project budget not-to-exceed $2,000,000 including design, equipment
acquisition, construction costs, and contingencies, from the Water Fund, Unreserved Working
Capital to fund the Water Fund portion of the Water and Wastewater Emergency Power Supply
needs; and
2. Approve total project budget not-to-exceed $200,000 including design, equipment acquisition,
construction costs, and contingencies, from the Sewer Fund, Unreserved Working Capital to
fund the Sewer Fund portion of the Water and Wastewater Emergency Power Supply needs;
and
3. Authorize “off cycle” fleet additions for new portable generator rental, lease, and/or purchases;
and
4. Authorize the City Manager to execute contracts and purchase orders necessary for design,
equipment acquisition, construction, and inspection associated with Water and Wastewater
Emergency Power Supply needs as emergency purchases in compliance with the City’s
Municipal Code sections 3.24.060B, 3.24.060E1 and 3.24.060F.
DISCUSSION
Background – Impact of Potential Pacific Gas & Electric Precautionary Power Outages
In an effort to protect communities from wildfire, Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) has notified its
municipal and private customers of its plans to implement precautionary measures during fire
season. If extreme fire danger conditions threaten a portion of the PG&E electrical system, high-
risk transmission lines may be turned off, resulting in widespread power outages to San Luis
Obispo County. PG&E refers to this as a Public Safety Power Shutoff (PSPS). According to
PG&E, a PSPS may be necessitated by strong winds, low humidity levels, and critically dry
1 Staff will explore cooperative purchasing, if available, to meet the purchasing objectives of having emergency
power for both Water and Sewer facilities.
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vegetation. These outages will not be localized; and regional solutions will be limited (one city may
not be able to borrow needed equipment and/or resources from another neighboring city) because
resources are likely going to be scarce on a local, regional and possibly a statewide scale.
In addition to residential and commercial customers, the City provides water and wastewater service
to critical facilities such as the City’s Emergency Operations Center (EOC), area hospitals, as well
as the SLO County Emergency Operations Center, the Cal Poly campus, and the SLO County
airport. In the past, the City has been able to continue to provide uninterrupted water and wastewater
service during short-duration power outages and when limited areas of the City were affected by
outages by utilizing the existing limited storage in the water and wastewater system along with
limited emergency power generation. With the potential for a PSPS, the City is working to prepare
for power outages lasting up to seven days or more.
As the driver for the PSPS is climatic conditions which could result in the higher likelihood of
catastrophic fire in the County, it is imperative that the City’s water system remain operable in the
event that such a fire starts.
Current Water and Wastewater Emergency Power
Some of the City’s water and wastewater facilities have permanent emergency generators in place,
including the Water Resource Recovery Facility and three of the City’s eight sewer lift stations. The
City’s Water Treatment Plant has a backup generator that runs limited processes within the plant.
The City has three portable generators that are mobilized as needed to various locations in the
system. While the existing emergency resources have been adequate for short-term and/or localized
power outages of the past, with the PSPS notification from PG&E and the changing climate, staff
believes that the water and wastewater systems need additional emergency power resources to meet
this increased duration. Some of the water facilities are not “generator ready” and will require
electrical work to enable use of emergency power.
Interim and Longer-Term Solution Proposed
The City is proposing to acquire additional temporary and/or permanent emergency generators,
complete required engineering design and inspection services, and construction at the Water
Treatment Plant, Whale Rock Reservoir, and other water pump and sewer lift stations to utilize the
same. These efforts are intended to make the City’s water and wastewater services the most resilient
they can be.
Staff is considering rental equipment and/or leasing as a short-term, interim solution to have the
emergency generators up and running as soon as possible. Therefore, staff believes it is
appropriate to complete this work in compliance with the City’s Municipal Code sections
3.24.060B and 3.24.060F. The Municipal Code guidance for completing emergency purchases is
included below in Exhibit 1. Additionally, staff will prioritize “piggy-backing” on competitive
purchasing on similar projects as many local agencies throughout California are pursuing similar
emergency power strategies.
Procurement time for long-term, permanent emergency generators is a concern as other agencies
are purchasing this type of equipment due to PSPS; time is of the essence. To expedite the
purchases, staff has been working to identify available vendors and equipment that will meet the
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City’s needs. Staff will continue to explore longer term solar-based solutions as well.
Per the City’s Financial Management Manual, Section 405, fleet additions for equipment,
including portable emergency generators, are budgeted for as part of the Financial Plan. With the
potential of the PSPS, staff is recommending Council authorize “off cycle” fleet additions for new
portable emergency generator purchases.
The City shares operational costs of Whale Rock Reservoir with Cal Poly and the California
Men’s Colony as the Whale Rock Commission. The City will seek reimbursement from the
Whale Rock Commission to the Water Fund for interim and longer-term generator costs to
Whale Rock infrastructure.
Policy Context
The City’s Municipal Code provides guidance for completing
emergency purchases.
The City’s Utilities Department is responsible for providing
uninterrupted water and wastewater service to the community,
SLO County EOC, the Cal Poly campus, and the SLO County
airport.
Public Engagement
The City’s webpage “Prepare SLO” includes helpful
information on how the community can prepare for a PSPS
event and also houses the full-sized version of Exhibit 2. PG&E
has provided PSPS public forums, as well as direct mail, and
information on its PSPS website.
Exhibit 1. Municipal Section 3.24.060.
3.24.060 Bidding procedures – Use of not required when.
Purchase of those items listed in Section 3.24.010 shall be by bid procedures set forth in this chapter. Such procedures may be
dispensed with, at the discretion and judgment of the purchasing authority as to the best interests of the city, as follows:
A. When the amount to be expended is less than the bid requirement amount which shall be specified by resolution of
the council;
B. When an emergency purchase is made to address a situation that creates an immediate and serious need for
equipment, supplies, or services that cannot be met through normal purchasing procedures and where the lack of
such equipment, supplies or services would seriously threaten the functioning of city government, the
preservation of property, or the health or safety of any person;
C. When the item(s) to be purchased can be obtained from only one vendor or supplier;
D. When supplies or equipment have been uniformly adopted in the city or otherwise standardized;
E. When the purchase will be made cooperatively with one, or more, other units of government, or from a local dealer
within the city limits that can provide the same brand, model and configuration of item(s) identified in cooperative
purchase agreement(s) at or below the cooperative purchasing net cost within the same terms and conditions;
F. When reasonably necessary for the preservation or protection of public peace, health, safety or welfare of
persons or property; or
G. When, given the indeterminate nature of the city’s need, a request for proposal will result in a more favorable and
efficient comparison of supplies, equipment and/or services. (Ord. 1618 § 1 (Exh. A (part)), 2015: Ord. 1608 § 1,
2014; Ord. 954 § 2 (part), 1983: prior code § 2950.6)
Exhibit 2
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CONCURRENCE
Utilities Department staff has met with staff from Finance, Fire, and Public Works Departmen ts
on the proposed Water and Wastewater Emergency Power Supply purchases and those
Departments concur with the recommendations in this report.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
This project is exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) per categorical
exemption 15301(b), Existing Facilities. The Community Development Department issued a
Notice of Exemption on August 8, 2019.
FISCAL IMPACT
The budget identified for this emergency project is conservative. Staff intends to find the best
short-term solution for the current fire season, while continuing to seek the best possible long-
term solutions. The efforts from this project will be incorporated into the larger resiliency
strategies aimed at events beyond PSPS, such as seismic, or other stochastic events.
Budgeted: No Budget Year: 2019-20
Funding Identified: Yes
Fiscal Analysis:
Funding Sources Current FY Cost
Annualized
On-going Cost
Total Project
Cost
General Fund
State
Federal
Fees
Other: Water Fund $2,000,000 $2,000,000
Other: Sewer Fund $200,000 $200,000
Total $2,200,000 $2,200,000
Funding for this project will come from Water Fund, Unreserved Working Capital, that has a
current balance of $19,371,292 and from Sewer Fund, Unreserved Working Capital, that has a
current balance of $27,142,737. Due to the available balance in Unreserved Working Capital,
staff is not proposing to defer water or wastewater capital projects identified in the 2019-21
Financial Plan to accommodate this project.
ALTERNATIVES
Do not approve the project. Not approving these purchases may result in possible disruption in
water and wastewater service in a prolonged power failure, this alternative is not recommended.
Service disruptions may include no water or wastewater service in some or all parts of the City.
Loss of water and wastewater service and low water pressure may have significant health and
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safety consequences for affected customers and may cause substantial damage to the City’s
water infrastructure, including lack of ability to provide fire service. Sanitary sewer overflows
have health and safety consequences and may result in fines from State and Federal agencies.
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