2002 AGN AUG 06 I12 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Item #12 CITY OF COLTON AGENDA REPORT FOR COUNCIL MEETING OF August 6, 2002 TO: Honorable Mayor and City Council FROM: Thomas K. Clarke, Electric Utility Director SUBJECT: Award of Sole Source Contract to Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories, Inc., C/O Matzinger-Keegan, Inc., for the purchase of Schweitzer Protection Relays for the Electric Utility, in the amount of $50,110.22. DATE: July 16, 2002 BACKGROUND: The Electric Utility has three electric substations within the City of Colton. The Hub Substation is the oldest of the three and was built over thirty years ago. The Hub Substation has ten different circuits that provide electricity to customers in the north side of town. Protection relays operate when a fault occurs on our electric lines and the relay trips a 12,470 volt circuit breaker in the substation. Currently the relays are of the electro mechanical type and have moving parts. Because of the age of this relay, calibration and parts are becoming difficult to obtain. DISCUSSION/ANALYSIS: In 1995 the Drews Substation was built to City's specifications. Circuit protection relays at this substation are from Schweitzer Engineering Labs (SEL). The City of Colton has many years of successful experience using SEL equipment. The Utility would like to set the standard of the SEL relay when replacements are needed. The Colton Municipal Code Title 3 Chapter 3.08.060 states, in part, as follows: "... bidding may be dispensed with ... when the commodity is a sole source item which can be obtained from only one vendor. Sole source items shall include purchases of items where there are restrictions in specification due to the need for standardization." The City of Colton has experienced several problems with existing relays. However, when they are replaced with the SEL relay, the problems have been solved. Protective relays are specialized pieces of equipment that provide critical protection functions for high voltage equipment and personnel. SEL relays alone meet required technical specifications and other advantages that are not offered by other competitors, including: 1.) These relays have the capability of back up protection that can be used as buss protection relays.