Council action to award a contract to Toth & Associates, in the amount of $122,407.00, for Substation M Breaker replacement engineering services for the Power & Light Department.

IPL staff recommends issuing a purchase order for the Substation M Breaker Replacement Engineering Services.

Substation M is located near 23rd and McCoy Street in Independence, Missouri. It is a transmission substation and serves as an interconnect point with every Hawthorne 161 kV line and ties back into IPL 161 kV line to Sub A. This station also contains a 100 MVA 161/69kV transformer that serves a 69 kV ring bus that serves as a hub for IPL 69kV lines to Sub H, Sub J and to Shrank Road junction where there is a split to Subs I and R.

The 69kV breakers in the ring bus are very old and are the last mechanical breakers on the IPL system. A project was initiated three years ago to replace these breakers and to date 2 of the 5 have been replaced with newer technology SF6 breakers. To date all of the materials have been procured and available to enable the replacement of the remaining 3 breakers. Repairs and upkeep on the remaining three breakers is on the increase and adds to the justification to effect the replacement as soon as possible to avoid unnecessary outages to the IPL 69 kV system. All that remains is to finalize the very complex protection schemes and detail engineering and construction drawings. IPL crews will provide the labor to effect the replacements thereby eliminating the need for more expensive contract labor. With the recent loss of engineering staff, it is necessary to use a consultant to perform this work in the timeframe needed. Construction work is planned for the fall of 2023 in accordance with Southwest Power Pool line outage schedules.

IPL Engineering and Transmission & Distribution have collaborated on the selection of a consultant and recommend using Toth and Associates for the engineering services required. Toth is an approved A & E firm with the City of Independence and is very familiar with our protection schemes and have successfully provided engineering services for the rebuilds of Substations K and E over the past three years.

Toth & Associates proposal of $122,407.00 is a reasonable fee for the scope of work defined by IPL Engineering and T & D. Approval of this item authorizes Power & Light to approve change orders up to 10% of the approved amount.

The fiscal impact to the City totals $122,407. Funding for Substation M Breaker Replacement Engineering Services is included in the fiscal year 2021-22 adopted budget, page 199, project account number (7020.5406.201106-C, 69 KV Substation Facilities), IPL Fund 20.