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Page awards $1.197 million contract to Hunt Electric for PAL substation upgrade
Summary
Council approved awarding bid 260 to Hunt Electric for $1,197,809 to build a new North Bay at the PAL substation, replacing an older transformer and increasing local distribution capacity; staff said the upgrade is routine city infrastructure, not intended to power a data center.
Brian Hill, a utility department representative, briefed the council on the PAL substation North Bay upgrade and explained the project replaces an older transformer bay with a modern bay that includes oil retention and larger capacity. Hill said the older bay provided roughly 7.5 megawatts and the new bay will be approximately two-and-a-half times larger to support growing local load; he noted the city’s overall capacity has increased from about 30 megawatts to 77 megawatts over 25 years.
Hill told the council the city received three bids (one incomplete) and recommended the responsive low bid from Hunt Electric after engineering review with an out-of-state firm experienced in regional substation work. During discussion Councilor Hedinger asked whether the upgrade was tied to the proposed data center; staff replied the work is routine city infrastructure and not intended to meet the enormous power needs of a large data center.
Councilor Frell moved to award bid 260 to Hunt Electric in the amount of $1,197,809; the motion was seconded and passed by voice vote. The council briefly joked about a ribbon-cutting and the splash pad opening but recorded no other conditions on the award.
Staff noted prior similar work in 2017 cost roughly $400,000 and said cost increases reflect broader construction-cost inflation; the approved contract funds the construction of steel, oil-retention infrastructure and associated apparatus for the new bay.
