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Power staff reports AMI meter rollout, turbine repairs and market risks as FY27 budget heads to council
Summary
Washington City power staff told the board it crossed 3,504 advanced meters in its AMI rollout, is repairing a Nebo steam turbine while ordering a long‑lead replacement, and is monitoring EDAM market changes that could raise day‑ahead procurement volumes; the FY27 budget, including transmission and AMI projects, goes to city council June 10.
Washington City power staff reported progress on the city’s advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) and a series of generation and transmission developments at the June meeting of the Washington City Power Board.
Rick, the department’s operations lead, said the city has “just crossed over 3,500 meters” in its AMI deployment and is working west from Coral Canyon toward Sienna Hills. The AMI system now allows staff to read meters remotely and perform remote disconnects, which Rick said reduces truck rolls and speeds service changes for customers, particularly in apartment complexes at the south end of Washington Parkway.
The AMI rollout is a component of the fiscal year 2027 budget Rick said was submitted to the city council; he told the board the council is scheduled to consider the budget at its June 10 meeting. Major capital items in the proposal include completing transmission line work to the Grapevine substation and continuing the AMI project.
On generation, Rick reported the city’s May peak was 40.7 megawatts, about 2 MW lower than the prior May, and said one of three on‑site generator engines remains out of service while crews address relay and SCADA issues. He described ongoing repair work on the Nebo steam turbine — welding and machining turbine stages — and said the utility has placed an order for a full replacement turbine with an expected delivery timeline of more than two years, noting long lead times for such equipment.
“We did place an order for a completely new replacement,” Rick said, describing the long procurement timeline as a hedge against future extended outages.
Staff also flagged wholesale market and regional procurement changes. Rick summarized the start of the extended day‑ahead market (EDAM) and warned it could require purchasing 5%–15% more energy day‑ahead than the city’s load forecasts, creating hours when the city is long or short relative to its actual load. That mismatch, he said, is a material change in procurement practice and one the department is monitoring before deciding on possible rate adjustments.
In transmission work, Rick said crews recently completed grounding and shield‑wire work along the Parkway and expect to complete three remaining spans into the Grapevine substation in the coming weeks. He also noted bids for breakers and transformers on a River Skyline/Green Valley upgrade are due next week and that Rocky Mountain Power plans to add transformer capacity at the St. George substation.
On smaller items, staff reported two solar applications in May (one battery addition), that the legacy Itron meter reading hardware is approaching end‑of‑support, and that staff are evaluating adding batteries to existing solar projects in Mesa and Steele.
A customer request about changing billing dates across municipal utilities prompted board members to direct staff to research the issue and, if appropriate, place a fuller discussion on a future agenda. No substantive policy actions were taken at the meeting; the board approved the agenda and minutes and adjourned to the next regular meeting on July 7.
The department plans to return to the board with more technical detail on the AMI deployment schedule, the transformer bid results and additional analysis of EDAM’s impact on procurement and rates.
