WATER UPDATE

Water Quality

• Water quality during January met or exceeded State and Federal drinking water standards.

• The Valley Pumping Plant (VPP) blend ratio for the month of January was 57% MWD to 43% BOU.

Financial and Operations Update

• The Water Cost Adjustment Charge (WCAC) account had a preliminary balance of $1,440,013 as of January 31, 2005. 

• Fiscal Year 2004-05 Year-To-Date Water Fund Financial Results as of January 31, 2005:

( ) = Unfavorable

* Includes Power Plant Sales, Commercial and Industrial Reclaimed Sales

      ** Year-to-date actual: July 2004 -January 2005

(A)       Revenues are reduced by the amount of the WCAC over-collection by $491k.

(B)       Income from closing of old projects. YTD impact is $206k.

Fiscal Year 2004-05 Water Fund Financial Reserve balances as of January 31, 2005 are summarized in the following table:

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

• The project to replace the carbon retention screens in the Vapor Phase Granulated Carbon (VPGAC) Filters is delayed due to EPA withholding approval of the design.  Calgon Corporation is working on an alternative screen design requested by the EPA. Construction and fabrication of the new screens will follow the EPA�s approval.  Approval is not likely until June, given EPA�s request for alternative screen designs. Construction is projected to take three months once it is approved.  Construction could begin in July or early August.  The Treatment Plant will experience reduced operating capacity during project construction. Consequently, there will be an increased need for purchased water from the Metropolitan Water District (MWD) at that time.

Current operation of the BOU is also hampered by the delay of this project. The existing screens are past their useful life and any screen failure causes a 50% treatment capacity loss until a repair can be made.  The repair process can take up to two weeks.  The BOU production capacity, year to date, is approximately 62%. The current budget assumed 75% production capacity for FY 04-05.  This is also creating an increased need for purchased water from MWD.

Capital Projects

• Construction of a new 12-inch reclaimed water main in San Fernando Blvd. from Santa Anita Ave. to Valencia Ave. began in December. Once this water main is completed, the existing 8-inch main will be converted for reclaimed water use. This work is being done in advance of the South San Fernando Streetscape project. Project progress has been slow due to rain. Completion is scheduled by the end of February.

• The McClure water storage tank is being recoated on the interior with an engineered coating system which has a useful life of 20 years.  The work is scheduled for completion in February.

Legislative Update

• Refer to the attached legislative reports.

ELECTRIC UPDATE

Electric Reliability

• On January 25 a major system outage event occurred at 9:08 a.m. that resulted in the loss of four (4) 4 kV feeders at Flower, four (4) 4 kV feeders at Mc Cambridge, three (3) 4 kV feeders at Town, and one (1) 12 kV Feeder SJ-2 at the San Jose Distributing Station. A total of thirteen (13) feeders with approximately 4,642 customers were out of service for approximately 1 hour (Feeder M-4 was out for 2 hrs.19 min. due to additional operational problems). At the time the outage occurred, the Burbank-Olive Tie #1 was out of service for a 69 kV circuit breaker replacement at the Olive Switching Station. Lake One was on-line serving the Burbank network. The initiating event was caused by a raven landing on a 34.5 kV circuit breaker at the Lincoln Station which caused a fault with the loss of the Lincoln A-1, 69-34.5 kV transformer bank. The resulting high fault current caused the loss of the Burbank-Olive Tie #2 and the Flower leg of the Flower-Victory-Lincoln line due to sympathy trips. This islanded Burbank and the five substations served from Burbank from the rest of the power system, with only Lake One to provide power. This resulted in an immediate drop in frequency and initiated the immediate operation of under frequency relays which tripped the thirteen feeders above. The resulting load reduction allowed the Lake One generator to remain on-line and prevented the entire loss of load at Burbank and the five other stations. The Lake One unit was synchronized to the rest of the power system and the Burbank-Olive #2 tie was closed as soon as it was determined it was safe to do so. The feeders were then re-energized.

As of January 31, 2005, the system-wide average is 0.21 outages per year, compared with an

industry average of 1.2 outages per year. As of January 31, 2005 the average service availability is 99.9949%, exceeding the City goal of 99.99%. The average outage length is 75.7 minutes, compared with an industry average of 80 minutes.

The following table shows the system-wide reliability statistics for Fiscal Year 2004-05 through January 31, 2005 as compared to Fiscal Year 2003-04:

Financial and Operations Update

• Fiscal Year 2004-05 year-to-date Power Financial Results as of January 31, 2005:

( ) = Unfavorable

* Year-to-date actual: July 2004 -January 2005.

(A)       In December, BWP received the El Paso settlement for $828k.

(B)       BWP received a $525k reimbursement from SCPPA for labor and projects related to MPP. These funds are applied against MPP expenses and offset the retail power supply expenses.   

• Fiscal Year 2004-05 preliminary Power Fund Financial Reserve balances as of January 31, 2005 is summarized in the following table:

Local Generation Operations Update

Unit Status

• Olive 1 is in available for normal service.  

• Olive 2 is in hot standby and available for normal service.0 

• Olive 4 is available for emergency service.

• Lake One is available for normal service.

• The Micro-Turbine Project installation is almost complete. The units should be operational by February 28.

• Hydro energy production for January was 65,700 kWh compared to the goal of 58,000 kWh. The year-to-date actual hydro production is 412,700 kWh compared to the goal of 498,000 kWh.

January 2005 Unit Data

Magnolia Power Project (MPP)

The items in this report are provided as a general overview of the status of the Project. These items are discussed in considerable detail among the Project Participants at the Project Coordination Meeting each Friday and at Coordinating Committee meetings.

Safety

Through January, Kvaerner has worked 768,642 man-hours with no lost time cases and four recordable cases.

Budget

Refer to the attachment for detailed information on actual expenditures for the period ending January 31, 2005.

Schedule

The project remains on schedule for a commercial operation date of May 25, 2005.  Refer to the attachment for detailed information on Project milestones.

Finance

The Magnolia Power Project Finance Committee continues to review refunding proposals and has taken no action regarding the refunding of Project A bonds.

California Energy Commission (CEC) Compliance

Monthly reports are being submitted to the CEC as required.  No violations of conditions have occurred.

Engineering, Procurement and Construction Activities since last Project Director�s Report of January 17

Transmission

• Southern California Edison (SCE) Tax Issues on Facilities Agreement.  Discussions will resume with SCE management to determine how SCE routinely handles tax issues on facilities improvements with municipal entities. The SCPPA attorney will be contacting Greg Simay to set up a meeting with Lawren Minor as soon as his work schedule permits.

• Transmission Legal and Regulatory Study. The final report was distributed on December 10.

• Scheduled Services Agreement (SSA). The SSA is in the final stages of discussion before review by the respective city attorneys of each of the participants.

• Coordinating Committee Actions at its meeting on January 20

• Authorized execution of Gas Marketer Agreement with Occidental Energy Marketing

Project Manager�s  Actions Since Last Project Director�s Report of January 17

With consultation and agreement from Project Participants, the following actions have been taken:

• Approved Personal Services Contract with Delta Air Quality Services for source compliance demonstration testing.

• Renewed Personal Services Agreement with Entrix for environmental consulting services.

• Approved no cost change order to General Electric for extended warranty on the lube oil tank for the combustion turbine generator.

• Approved agreement with Pattern Recognition Technologies, Inc. for on-line weather feed.

• Authorized $145,900 to Kvaerner for residue sampling, mock-ups and surface preparation of Reclaim Water Tank.

• Authorized $16,584 to Kvaerner for procurement services for operating spares.

• Approved Personal Services Contract with Martin Drumm for reliability analysis on ZLD system.

Key Milestones and Anticipated Significant Activities For Next 30 Days

Power Supply Capital Projects

• SCADA/EMS

Work continues in making the advanced software applications operational on the Telvent SCADA/EMS.

Work began on several SCADA displays that will be needed for Magnolia operations, including determining system energy accounting and losses.   

The Switching Procedure application of OPERA became operational and is in use by the dispatchers.

BWP engineering staff continues to work with Siemens New Energy to implement the New Energy Scheduling software that will be used for MPP. New Energy is building the entire system in Atlanta for development and testing before shipping the software and hardware to be installed in the new Magnolia Services/MPP Control Building. Staff has selected a server location.

Telecom

Engineering developed a fiber optic service proposal for Ascent Media to connect Ascent at 2901 W. Alameda Avenue to LADWP Receiving Station �E� in North Hollywood.

Engineering developed a fiber optic service proposal for CCI Digital to connect 2600 W. Olive Avenue to 2625 W. Olive Avenue.

Engineering personnel released, and BWP field personnel completed a fiber optic job for Disney to disconnect three Disney fiber links D4-Disney Tam Disney to Disney Olive, D11-Disney Frank Wells Building to Disney Olive, & D19-DFAS to Disney Buena Vista Plaza.

Engineering personnel released, and BWP field personnel completed a fiber optic job for Disney to re-route two fiber links from Disney Team Disney Building to Disney Towers Building and Disney Frank Wells Building to Disney Channel Building.

Engineering personnel released a fiber optic job for NBC/Universal to connect NBC Studios, 3000 W. Alameda Avenue to Universal Studios, 3801 Barham Boulevard in Universal City.

Engineering released a fiber optic job for the Screen Actors Guild Health Plan to connect West Olive Plaza, 3601 W. Olive Avenue to Qwest Cyber Center, 3015 Winona Avenue.

MPP Service and Control Building � Third Floor Tenant Improvements

BWP Administration Building, Phase III Interior Remodel

Tenant improvements were completed on the third floor of the MPP Service and Control Building. An on-site furniture delivery date of March 11, 2005 was quoted by the manufacturer. Seventeen (17) Power Systems and BWP Finance personnel will take occupancy during the third week of March 2005.

Work continues by Perkowitz+Ruth Architects and their structural, electrical, mechanical and plumbing disciplines to complete the construction documents for the Administration Building remodel.

Electrical Distribution

Construction work for extending the ducts and manholes along Oak St. from California St. to Buena Vista, and along Buena Vista to Edison Rd. is complete. Underground cable has been delivered and installation is completed. The first line of 34,500 volt is completed and energized. The second, Keystone-Capon line was also energized. 

Since July, 77 power poles have been replaced, with 2 poles replaced in January. BWP Electrical Engineering continues to design a pole line rebuild in the area between Clybourn and Pass Ave. north of Verdugo Ave. Since July, a total of 120 pole replacements were engineered and 140 issued to the field.

Since July, 11 pad mounted customer stations were engineered, 8 were issued to the field, 6 pad mounted transformers have been energized, and 3 have been upgraded to a larger capacity. A new service consisting of a 34.5 kV pad-mounted switch and a 34.5 kV to 277/480 V for Hydro Aire is under construction and should be energized in February. A deteriorated pad-mounted switch has been replaced in the Bel Aire Dr. area.

The preliminary design of the Warner Ranch industrial circuit from Capon Switching Station at Warner Ranch is in progress. BWP has placed an order with Southwest Power to purchase a padmount switch and other related equipment on behalf of Warner Bros. All equipment and materials have been received. BWP has also purchased a 34,500 to 4,160 volt padmount transformer from ABB Inc. for this project which is expected to be delivered in February/March 2005. Warner Bros. paid the full amount as a deposit for the purchase of these items. This project is expected to be completed by June 30, 2005.

The extensive preparation work necessary to remove power poles along the Flood Channel for the placement of trees is nearly complete. During the first week of February, the Magnolia Power Plant construction power has been transferred from the pole line to the new switchgear. A distribution crew will start the removal on February 5.

Construction for the second phase of the streetlight system undergrounding on Magnolia Blvd. between Pass Ave. and Buena Vista St. was completed in October ahead of schedule. Power sources for the Magnolia Park street decorations are ready for merchants. Engineering is working on the design of the last phase of undergrounding the streetlight system on Magnolia Blvd.

Engineering is working with the Redevelopment Agency on South San Fernando Blvd. street improvement projects and with the Public Works Dept. and Traffic Signal Division on other street/traffic improvement projects: Olive/Alameda Intersection Widening, Empire Avenue Streetscape Project and San Fernando Intelligent Transportation System Project.

Since July, 20 additional streetlights (including 7 pole-mounted lights) have been engineered in response to requests from residents, with 17 lights installed. A work order to convert the streetlight series circuit on Alameda Avenue to low voltage has been issued to the field.

Replacement of the remaining oil switches with pole mounted airbreak switches has been issued to the field with the exception of one, Pacific-16 distributing switch, which will be removed during the unloading of the feeder.

The Southern California Public Power Authority (SCPPA) awarded a contract to ABB Inc. to design/build the Gas Insulated Switchgear (GIS) expansion at the Olive Switching Station. This will connect the Magnolia Power Plant to the Olive Switching Station. ABB has completed all the work and BWP completed the energization of this project during the week of November 16, 2004, except the connection to MPP. The underground connections to MPP via step-up transformers was completed in December 2004 for testing purposes.     

Bock Co. completed the installation of a new underground duct system in the BWP Yard to underground two, 69,000 volt overhead lines as part of BWP�s overall plan to improve and modernize the BWP generating site. Both riser poles north of the Magnolia Bridge are completed along with cables to the first manholes at the northeast corner of the BWP Yard. Cable and all other related materials are ordered. This work is expected to be completed before MPP goes on-line. The 69 kV cable for the Olive-Lincoln lines was delivered by the end of August and the cable for Olive-Lincoln #1 and #2 has been pulled. BWP crews have completed the splicing and termination of lines. Both lines were energized in November 2004.

The 69,000 volt underground cable and devices for making the connections from MPP to the Olive Switching Station were ordered. The Generator Step Up (GSU) and other related power transformers were manufactured, tested, and shipped from Turkey in early June 2004. These transformers arrived on site and were set on the pads. The 69 kV cable was shipped on August 28, 2004 and arrived on site before September 3. Eighteen runs from the MPP GSU to the GIS were pulled. All terminations have been completed and cables are ready to be energized. All related work was completed and the GSU was energized for testing purposes in December 2004. BWP has also completed all work related to the connection of the MPP reserve transformer to the Burbank Substation. The connection was tested in December 2004 and was energized as a permanent connection in January 2005.    

BWP staff is working on the Olive Switching Station retrofit by upgrading circuit breakers, busses and other equipment. This upgrade is needed for MPP. Approximately 40% of the work is complete. The Olive-Lincoln #2 breaker was replaced and is currently being tested. The B-3 bank breaker position initialized on September 9 is complete. The field crew completed the A-3 bank position and Olive-1 breaker position. As of February 2004, the field crew completed both A-4 and A-5 banks. The A-4 bank is in service and the A-5 bank is ready for testing.  

BWP Electrical Engineering has completed the design for the new underground ducts installation along Verdugo Ave. from Kenwood to California St. The underground duct work at Verdugo Ave., from Frederick to Buena Vista and along Buena Vista was started on October 6 and is expected to be complete by January 15, 2005. BWP crews were expected to start pulling the cable in early January, but were delayed due to heavy customer related work, the Hydro-Aire Sr. Artist Colony and Cusumano project.  

BWP overhead distribution crews completed reconductoring and reinsulating the 69,000 volt line       (pole line joint with SCE) along Buena Vista from Verdugo Ave. to Chandler Blvd. The same crew has completed remaining reinsulation work in the direction of the Olive Switching Station. This will eliminate having to wash insulators as the replacements will be Polymer insulators. The Toluca-Capon #1 overhead distribution crew is working on forming this new line. The underground  work is all complete and the overhead work is in progress and needs coordination with SCE due to a shared pole line along Hollywood Way and relay work at RSE.

Engineering completed the preliminary work to relocate the Burbank Substation from its existing location to a new location at Lake St. and Olive Ave. in BWP�s yard. Navigant Consulting is doing an analysis of whether the new proposed reconfiguration of a 34,500 volt system in this area will work before the design is completed. BWP has completed preliminary engineering work and asked ABB to provide an estimate for this 3 year project.

A total of 222 remote meters were installed in December; 95 were requested by the Customer Service Division and 58 were meter change-outs performed by the Line Crews or Test Shop. A total of 69 remote meters were installed by the Test Shop to achieve a new goal of saturating an area.

The remote read meters that BWP has been installing are Itron Centrons with built in radio transmitters. The meters transmit at an average of one second intervals in the 900 MHz range. Each broadcast contains the meter�s unique ID number, kWh read, tamper codes and communication check code. The meter reader can read the meter from the sidewalk thus avoiding dogs, gates, and other hazards. The remote read meters also increase the meter reader�s efficiency and accuracy.

Legislative Update:

Refer to the attached legislative reports.

RED:RAC:FCF:WOM:GLS:JLF

H:FEBRUARY W&E OPERATIONS REPORT

Attachments

go to the top