Washington City power board hears operations, generation and UAMPS update; AMI billing integration may delay roll-out

The Washington City Power Board received a detailed operations and generation update during its regular meeting, covering staffing changes, progress on the Grapevine Substation and transmission-line projects, the city’s AMI (advanced metering infrastructure) rollout and regional UAMPS resource planning.

Rick, a city power department staff member, told the board the department "went from being understaffed to fully staffed in about a 2 week period," reporting a new inventory/BlueStake hire and a lineman addition. He also said Scott Hughes will begin as assistant director on March 17. The staffing additions, Rick said, represent roughly a 20% improvement in labor capacity.

Why it matters: the staff and capital projects shape local electric reliability and costs. Rick described several large, ongoing projects — the AMI deployment, Grapevine transmission lines and the Grapevine Substation — that will carry into the next fiscal year and affect operations and billing.

Major project updates

- Grapevine Substation and transmission: The steel package for the Grapevine Substation was awarded to Stoddard Steel with an eight-week lead time; foundations, ground grid and control-building bids are out and a pre-bid is scheduled before bids are due (Rick said he believed the bid date was March 27). The…