Council action to award a Change Order #1 to Purchase Order 2200031 to Burns & McDonnell Engineering in the amount of $15,000 to cover additional Southwest Power Pool engineering data requests for the Power & Light Department. New revised amount of PO 2200031 will be $55,000.

IPL staff recommends issuing a Change Order #1 for the additional costs for SPP engineering data requests.

The City of Independence and specifically the IPL Department is a member of the Southwest Power Pool and as such a member is required to provide responses to various engineering data requests made by the pool. Southwest Power Pool annually prepares data requests necessary to perform various studies and to update various databases used in those various studies. Specialized and highly complication software is used to prepare the studies and the related databases. Those software systems are highly expensive and intricate to the point it takes special skillsets and training to be able to perform such studies and fulfill the data requests. Burns & McDonnell has the software and the skillsets to complete the required engineering data requests.

IPL has historically been using the services of Burns & McDonnell to assist with the preparation and submission of such responses. As the energy markets evolve, the requests for engineering data from members has increased and will likely increase in the future. Through diligent and meticulous evaluations annual contracts and Purchase Orders are secured with Burns & McDonnell. Fiscal year 2022 has been much more active than expected by Southwest Power Pool and as such the effort to complete the responses required by the end of fiscal 2022 will require an additional estimated expense of $15,000.

Purchase Order 22000031 was issued in the amount of $40,000 and expenses through the end of February are about $38,000. The Proposal by Burns & McDonnell dated April 26, 2022 indicate that to finish the data requests through the end of the fiscal year 2022 will require an additional estimated expense of $15,000 bringing the new estimated total of $55,000. The Proposal has been reviewed by IPL staff and report it is accurate and representative of the remaining efforts required to fulfil the requirements for the balance of fiscal 2022.

The fiscal impact to the City is an additional $15,000 bringing the Purchase Order to a new total of $55,000. Funding for the additional SPP engineering data requests is included in the 2022 fiscal year O & M budget for department 6160, under account 5226 (Professional Services).