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Plumas County scales back Aptera energy contract; staff to seek debt restructuring
Summary
Supervisors said they negotiated a final change order with Aptera Energy Services (formerly NG) that removed $6.67 million in work from a $10.7 million contract; county facilities staff propose doing remaining work over six years and finance staff will negotiate with Webster Bank to restructure outstanding financing.
Plumas County supervisors received an update March 3 on a multi‑year energy‑efficiency agreement originally contracted as NG and later executed with Aptera Energy Services. The board voted in 2024 to authorize a roughly $10.7 million contract. Since then, county facilities staff identified items where local estimates were substantially lower than Aptera’s contracted prices.
Facilities Director Nick Collin told the board the county negotiated a final change order that removes two large components — scheduled HVAC replacements (about $4.6 million) and a generator installation package (about $2.9 million) — cutting roughly $6,669,000 from the original scope. Collin said his office can replace the needed equipment in a prioritized, year‑by‑year program that will spread capital costs over roughly six years and allow use of local contractors and staged budgeting.
“I found local and regional contractors whose costs were about one‑third to one‑half of the contracted amounts,” Collin said, describing the rationale for removing those components and doing phased replacements in‑house.
County staff also told the board the financing remains to be finalized. The original financing involved two agreements to cover the project; one tranche (about $8 million) is currently held by Webster Bank. Treasurer‑Tax Collector Julie White said the county expects to wire the final payment tied to the Aptera contract and then work with Webster Bank and the county’s debt advisers to restructure or reprioritize the outstanding borrowing.
“We anticipate savings from not paying third‑party markups and from potentially restructuring the debt,” White said, adding that the county will pursue options with K&N Public Finance and Webster Bank and return with recommendations.
Supervisors said the change order reduces the vendor scope but does not end the county’s capital work: the board directed staff to analyze financing options, explore lower‑cost public financing programs and return to the board with options. The chair emphasized a desire to favor local contractors where feasible.
The board did not take a final financing vote at the update; county staff said they will meet with advisers immediately and present refinancing or restructure options to the debt advisory committee before returning to the full board.
