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City staff recommend $1.6 million Caterpillar control-system upgrade for Pella's diesel plant
Summary
City staff and the electric director recommended replacing the plant's bespoke control system with a Caterpillar system (approx. $1.6 million) to improve maintainability, reduce contractor reliance and preserve about $1.5 million in reserve-capacity payments; council will consider the contract at a future meeting and installation is expected after summer.
City staff and Electric Director Nate Spurgeon told the council that the control system for the city's 28-megawatt diesel-generating plant is aging and presents operational risks and a maintenance burden.
Staff outlined two options: re-engineer the existing third-party bespoke system (estimated about $650,000) or install a universal Caterpillar control system (estimated about $1.6 million). Staff recommended the Caterpillar system, saying it is a more widely supported platform that will reduce future dependence on external contractors and ease operations as long-term employees retire. "There's a Microsoft Windows operating system that operates our $1.5 million annual capacity payments on a Windows PC," Nate said, arguing for the more maintainable, industry-standard platform.
Staff noted the plant has recently been used to support regional transmission orders and that the city receives reserve-capacity payments from Missouri River Energy Services (about $1.5 million annually), which are contingent on the units being operational. City staff said they expect to include the contract authorization on a forthcoming city council agenda with contractor work likely after the summer.
Council members asked timing and lifecycle questions; staff clarified the recommendation does not include engine overhauls and that engines have an overhaul interval different from the control-system decision. No final contract award was taken at this meeting; the item will return for formal action.
