WATER UPDATE

Water Quality

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

• The Valley Pumping Plant (VPP) blend ratio for the month of April was 49.74% MWD and 50.26% BOU.

Financial and Operations Update

• The deferred revenues in the Water Cost Adjustment Charge (WCAC) account had a balance of $2,655,385.41 as of April 30, 2007.

• Fiscal Year-To-Date 2006-07 Water Fund Financial results as of April 30, 2007:

 
Fiscal Year 2006-07 Water Fund Financial Reserve balances as of April 30, 2007 are summarized in the following table:

BOU Water Production

BOU production was at 70.99% of plant capacity for April. This is an average flow rate (24/7) of 6,071 gallons per minute (gpm).  Plant production was reduced because of cooler weather and lower system demand. One Vapor Phase Granulated Activated Carbon (VPGAC) filter train was down the first five days of the month due to a broken carbon retention screen reducing the plant to half capacity for that period.  Two Liquid Phase Granulated Activated Carbon filters were out of service while the carbon was being changed. Six of the eight water wells were available for service with five wells providing the required flow.  The pumps from the two wells out of service are being repaired and should be reinstalled by the early part of May.     

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

A signed design contract between ECO, the BOU O&M contractor, and MEGTEC, the design and construction contractor for the VPGAC carbon retention screen replacement project was in place December 15, 2006.  The final design package will include an updated construction cost estimate for the project and should be available for EPA review by the end of May, 2007.  EPA�s approval is then the controlling feature in proceeding with the project.  We are working to get an expedited review and approval from the EPA.  Construction is projected to take 18 weeks and will likely be completed by the end of summer. 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) during construction. These additional water purchases from MWD will significantly impact WCAC expenses and may result in the use of a significant portion of the WCAC balance.

San Fernando Basin Groundwater Credits

Burbank, Glendale and Los Angeles are discussing the issue of an over statement of Import Return Groundwater Credits in the San Fernando Basin.  The discussion is centered on the calculation of the credits within the context of the 1979 Judgment that adjudicated the basin and is under the administration of the Upper Los Angeles River Area Watermaster.  Burbank and Glendale are in disagreement with the Watermaster as to the proper application of the terms of the Judgment to resolve the imbalance of ground water credits.  The parties have continued to meet since January, and discussion continues with the Watermaster and the City of Los Angeles. 

Chromium Contamination in the Groundwater

Drinking water in Burbank does not exceed 5 parts per billion (ppb) chromium by direction of the City Council.  This is achieved by blending the BOU produced water with MWD water to obtain the 5 ppb concentration.  Current Federal and State Maximum Contaminant Limits (MCL) are 100 ppb and 50 ppb, respectively.  Work has been underway for the last four years to develop a new limit for chromium. Work is being done by the National Toxicology Program (NTP) within the EPA.  Results are expected within the year.  The promulgation of a Public Health Goal (PHG) [none currently in place] or a new MCL will come from the California Department of Health Services.   Water Industry speculation places the anticipated PHG between 3-30 ppb.  A PHG lower than 5 ppb, if adopted by the City Council, would limit Burbank�s current operations and increase reliance on imported MWD water, or require additional treatment for removal of Chromium.  Either alternative would significantly increase Burbank�s water costs. 

Capital Projects

• Construction was completed on 680 lf of 12-inch water main in Empire Ave. between Naomi St. and Buena Vista St. 

• Construction began and 770 lf of 8-inch water main in Edison Blvd. between Burbank Blvd. and Hollywood Way was put into service.  Tie-over of customer services continues.  Completion is expected before mid-May.  

• New 12-inch water main was connected to the water system in Airport Parking Lot D.  The water line was constructed as part of the further development of Airport property.

• The water main in the Hollywood Way bridge across the 134 Freeway was isolated from the water system to facilitate the widening of the bridge as part of the freeway widening project.

• Segments of the MWD San Fernando Tunnel were inspected on June 8, 2006 and August 22, 2006.  BWP�s Assistant General Manager of Water Systems participated in the inspection.  The tunnel appears fit for service.  MWD is reviewing alternatives and holding discussions with contractors in an effort to reduce the cost to clean the Tunnel.  An estimated cost and schedule for the tunnel cleanup is under review by Burbank and MWD. Once the tunnel clean up is set, a schedule for construction of the Pacoima Spreading connection will be developed.

Legislative Update

Refer to the attached legislative reports.

ELECTRIC UPDATE

Safety

We had one lost time incident in the line section involving a Line Mechanic Apprentice, who has recently been returned to light duty.

Electric Reliability

There was one, 4 kV feeder outage and one, 12 kV feeder outage in April. These outages interrupted service to 1,046 customers for a total of 97 minutes. 

• On April 12, 2007, at 4:24 p.m., high winds may have blown debris into the overhead feeder lines which disrupted service to 12 kV Feeder San Jose SJ-2.  A total of 187 customers (24 commercial and 163 residential) lost power for 24 minutes.

• On April 22, 2007, at 12:46 p.m., an unknown cause disrupted service to 4 kV Feeder Victory V-1.  A total of 859 customers (60 commercial and 799 residential) lost power for 73 minutes.

Despite the power outages in April, BWP�s overall reliability continues to be strong. As of April 30, 2007, the system-wide average is 0.2863 outages per year, compared to an industry average of 1.2 outages per year. The average service availability is 99.9954%, exceeding the City goal of 99.99%. The average outage length is 70.78 minutes, compared with the industry average of 80 minutes.

The following table shows the system-wide reliability statistics for Fiscal Year 2006-07 through April 30, 2007, as compared to the same time period for Fiscal Year 2005-06:

Financial and Operations Update

• Fiscal Year-To-Date 2006-07 Electric Fund Financial results as of April 30, 2007:

Fiscal Year 2006-07 Power Fund Financial Reserve balances as of April 30, 2007 are summarized in the following table:

Local Generation Operations Update

Unit Status

• Olive 1 and Olive 2 are in wet lay-up.

• Lake One is unavailable.  Major maintenance is being performed to address service bulletins and compressor damage.  It is estimated the unit will be ready to return to service around July 15, 2007.

• The Landfill Microturbine Facility is operating normally and produced approximately 162,888 kilowatts of energy in April. 

• Magnolia is on-line and available for normal service.

April 2007 Unit Data

Magnolia Operations Update

Workforce Safety Statistics:

• No loss time accidents for April, zero year-to-date.

• Zero reportable accidents for April, one year-to-date.

Performance Information:

• Availability:  100.0% for April, 81.3% fiscal year-to date, 90.2% year-to-date.

• Unit Capacity Factor (240 MW): 81.9% for April, 67.1% fiscal year-to-date, 74.4% year-to-date

• Fired Hours on the Combustion Turbine:  720.0  Hours

Plant Operations:

• There were no plant trips or forced or planned outages during April 2007.

Other Issues:

• The shaft failed in the motor for one of the two fuel gas compressors, therefore, the motor was shipped to Texas for warranty repairs.

Renewable Energy Update

Utah Wind Development.  Work continued during the month of April on the power sales agreements between SCPPA and its members who are going to receive energy from the facility.  No significant impediments have been encountered and it is expected that this agreement between SCPPA, and the off-takers Burbank, Glendale, and LADWP, will be completed by June 2007.  Burbank has a 10 MW interest in this resource.

Pacific Northwest Wind Development.  During the month of April negotiating continued with the developer of a wind facility located in the Pacific Northwest.  The contract is being negotiated on the basis that SCPPA will be purchasing the facility once it is finished being built in late 2008.  However, there are also provisions that should SCPPA decide not to buy the facility

on behalf of participants LADWP, Burbank, and Glendale, then we would receive power for a term of 18 years from the developer.  Burbank has a 20 MW interest in this resource.

Imperial County Geothermal Development.  SCPPA continues with preliminary planning work on a geothermal facility in Imperial County.  The in-service date is currently anticipated to be in late 2011.  9 MW in an initial phase would supply 6% of BWP energy requirements.  Energy would be delivered to BWP via the proposed Greenpath Transmission Project for which an update can be found below. 

Greenpath Transmission Project.   Planning work continues on this project by LADWP/LA, the project manager, with a currently anticipated in-service date of 2010.  Current plans are for 1200 MW transfer capability.  However, ultimately this may be increased to 1600 MW.

Cooperation from the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and United States Forest Service (USFS) offices has greatly increased from last month, both agencies have committed to giving the project priority status. However, the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA) approval and review processes are expected to take longer than anticipated as process review times (both public and agency review) have increased.   With the new federal regulations in place the BLM approval schedule has slipped to November 2009, from February 2009.  This will impact the project completion date however, it is currently unknown what the specific impact will be.

Several special interest groups have issued press releases with strong language regarding the project.  LADWP is preparing a response letter to each group.  Furthermore, LADWP is planning to host a few private meetings with any environmental groups concerned about possible impacts from construction of the line, as well they intend to host a few public community meetings.  

SCADA/EMS

BWP engineering staff continues to work with Siemens New Energy to implement the New Energy Scheduling software that is being used for Magnolia.

Telecom

Engineering developed a fiber optic service proposal for SohoNet to connect 3723 W. Olive Ave. to the Magnolia Co-Locate Room at 110 W. Magnolia.

Engineering developed and released a fiber optic service proposal for Warner Brothers to connect Warner Ranch to The Switch at 3400 Motor Ave. in Los Angeles.

Engineering released four fiber optic service jobs related to the Olive Ave. and Lake St. underground project.

BWP Field personnel completed fiber optic jobs for Disney to connect the following locations:

1. Team Disney Building at 500 S. Buena Vista St. to 1201 Flower St. in Glendale.

2. Disney at 820 S. Flower to 1201 Flower St. in Glendale.

3. Disney at 820 S. Flower to 1101 Flower St. in Glendale.

BWP Facility Improvements

Implement Automatic Reclosing of Distribution Circuits

Often, an object causes a short circuit on an overhead power line for only an instant (technical term: transient fault), and does not damage the line. For example, a branch may fall between two conductors, touching them only briefly; or a kite tail may instantly vaporize as soon as it touches two conductors. The utility industry has responded to these situations by using reclosers, which closes a line back in very soon after it has been short circuited.  If the cause of the short circuit is no longer present, the line stays in service; if the cause is still present, the line relays out soon enough to avoid damage to the line.

Re-closing is especially important for BWP's six, mostly-overhead 12,470-volt (12 kV) circuits, which serve two to three times as many customers than the older, 4,160-volt feeders.   BWP will add the re-closing feature to two, 12 kV distribution circuits (Keystone-6, Keystone-13) before July, and to four circuits  (Hollywood Way-4, 5, 6, and 7)  before January 2008. BWP will be modifying its procedures to assure that reclosing does not endanger electrical workers who may be working on these lines.

4,160-Volt Distribution System- Impacts of heat wave and follow up action plan

After the July 2006, heat wave the Energy Control Center (ECC) initially reported 32 distribution circuits showing overloads. BWP carefully reviewed the loading of those circuits and identified 12 distribution circuits that needed reconductoring with larger lines that can safely carry heavier currents:

• Flower-3. Reconductor 5 spans of three-phase, 4,160-volt (4 kV) underground cable. (An underground span goes from one maintenance vault to the next.) Completed.

• Naomi-17. Reconductor 15 spans of three-phase, 4 kV overhead conductor. (An overhead span goes from one pole to the next.). Engineering completed,  job will be issued to line crews in May.

• Naomi-21. Reconductor 5 overhead spans. Engineering completed, job will be issued to line crews in May.

• Pacific-15: Reconductor 3 underground spans (from one maintenance vault to the next) of underground cable. Completed.

• Pacific-17: Reconductor 3 underground spans. Completed.

• Town-4: Reconductor 46 overhead spans. Line crews to begin work May 21.

• Town-19:  Reconductor 13 underground spans. Completed.

• Town-21. Reconductor 36 overhead spans. Line crews have begun work.

• Victory-1: Reconductor 69 overhead spans. Will be completed in mid-May.

• Victory-3: Reconductor 28 overhead spans. Completed. The line crew discovered that they needed to replace damaged underground cable from the riser pole to a nearby maintenance vault for Victory-3 and Victory-2. Completed.

• Victory-7: Reconductor 66 overhead spans. Will be completed in mid-May.

• Victory-13: Reconductor 31 overhead spans. Completed.  Reconductor 5 spans of underground cable. Completed.

• Victory 14: Reconductor 83 spans. Completed except for one branch circuit (16 spans) at Evergreen St., north of Burbank Blvd. Reconductor 5 spans (from one maintenance vault to the next) of underground cable. Completed.

• Winona-11: Reconductor 4 spans of underground cable. Completed.

BWP is still striving to complete all of its reconductoring by June 30, 2007.

The reconductoring work was not a part of the Fiscal Year 2006/07 CIP Budget as the need for it did not become apparent until after the July 2006 heat wave. When completed, this work will have cost $1.7 million ($1.1 million for labor/overhead and $600,000 for conductor, cable and other materials). The fiscal impact on the Fiscal Year 2006/07 CIP Budget will be minor due to delays in three budgeted capital projects: Olive-Valley No. 2, Replacement Burbank Station, and Olive Avenue Underground Utility District 1.

Substation power transformers serve a neighborhood, or a very large customer like a major studio. Even during a heat wave, all substation transformers are loaded well under their rated capacity because every substation has two or three substation transformers. What if one of the substation transformers should fail? Based on last year�s heat wave, BWP can state that the remaining transformer(s) would have been able to handle the other transformer�s load as well as its own. Nevertheless, BWP believes it is prudent to assess the remaining useful life of its substation transformers so that it can replace them well in advance of a crisis situation.

Doble Engineering Company is assessing 30 critical transformers, and are currently making visual inspections and analyzing available records. Testing has begun and will continue through May and June, with the final report in July.  (Other critical transformers will be reviewed next fiscal year.)

BWP Administration Building - Phase III Interior Remodel

Icon West, Inc. is doing construction work in the basement-level of the Administration Building, and will finish in late May. Construction work has also begun on the first floor, east wing.  The project completion date for the entire building remodel is January 2008.

BWP Service Center and Warehouse Project

BWP is negotiating a contract with McCormick Construction Company guided by the bridging documents by Kennard Design Group.  If BWP and McCormick agree on a first lump sum price and terms and conditions, it would be scheduled for City Council approval by June 30, 2007.

Construction is scheduled to begin in January 2008, with an anticipated completion of July 2008. The next phase will demolish the existing Warehouse and the Line Section field offices, covered storage and parking. This area will be converted to employee vehicle parking.  The next phase will also demolish the existing Water Maintenance Building along with the Guard House, and install landscaping and additional employee parking. A new Security Office of approximately 600 square feet will be constructed on Lake St. at the intersection of Palm Ave. that will control ingress/egress to the entire BWP campus. A vehicle wash rack will also be added. Completion of the aforementioned phases is anticipated for January 2009. The final phase of the project constructs a replacement Burbank Substation with a state-of-the-art GIS substation which will be built at the southwest corner of the campus on a footprint one-third the size of the existing Burbank Substation. All equipment will be removed from the existing substation, the site will be scraped and the area converted into a courtyard.  

Security Wall Construction

McClean & Schultz, Principal Architect, completed a structural review including engineering signatures/stamp on the drawings prepared by Bibb. Once the final construction documents are completed, a bid package will be assembled and submitted to Purchasing for the competitive bid process to hire a contractor. Work is anticipated to begin January 2008, and be completed in March 2008.

Auxiliary Warehouse

Construction and tenant improvements have been completed. The Burbank Tournament of Roses Association (BTORA) moved in to the building May 21, 2007.

Communication Shop Relocation

Work has begun to provide a new home for the Communication Shop. McLean & Schultz completed and submitted the final construction documents and technical specification package. Tenant improvement work on the Communication Shop will begin June 2007, and is planned for completion in December 2007. Communication Shop staff can then be relocated, allowing for the construction of the Replacement Service Center/Warehouse in January 2008. 

Electrical Distribution

Construct a New Olive-Valley #2 Line  

Olive Station Portion: Completed.

Olive Underground Portion: Duct and maintenance vault construction underway.

North-South Victory Portion: Not yet begun. Will not require replacement of poles, just reconductoring.

Five Points Underground Portion: Ducts and maintenance vaults installed at time of Five Points project.

East-West Victory Portion:  Construction of the overhead portion of this line along Victory Blvd., from the Costco area to Victory Blvd. and Fairview St., will include the replacement of 30 poles, upgrading 3,000 circuit feet of overhead conductor, adding new polymer insulators and changing the insulators from porcelain to polymer.

Valley Station Portion: The consultant, ORSA, completed the design for pads and underground power conduits for the extension of the ring bus at the Valley Switching Station. Bock Company completed the duct work inside the substation and in the direction of Ralph Foy Park.  They also completed all duct work required on Victory Blvd. up to Fairview, except for the small underground conduits to the new riser pole.  The final design for ground grid and equipment pads was completed and issued for construction. 

Replacement Burbank Station Project.

A contract was awarded to ABB Inc. in the amount of $17,247,260.  All major pieces of equipment with a long lead time have been ordered.  Construction of the duct system on the BWP campus started on April 23, 2007 and will be completed by June 30, 2007.  Duct work outside the BWP campus will start during the summer of 2007, and will be completed by December 31, 2007, including all station getaways at Lake St. between Olive Ave. and Orange Grove Ave. The foundation and equipment pad construction will start in late June or early July 2007, and will continue until November 2007. Major equipment delivery is estimated between November 2007, and January 2008. The Station will be partially energized by June 2008.  Most of the 34,500-volt network will be transferred to the new station by June 30, 2009. All 4,160-volt load directly served from Burbank Station will be transferred and de-energized, all station equipment physically removed, and the station demolished by June 30, 2010.

Compliance with NBC Master Plan - Planned Development 96-1

BWP staff provided comments to the Community Development Department regarding the compliance with Planned Development 96-1, expanding the parking under LADWP�s 230 kV high voltage lines near NBC, and the method of service for M. David Paul Development on the Catalina property.  Providing electric service for this development involved an extension of the 34,500-volt line (ducts and cable) from Willow St. along Fredrick St. to Alameda Ave., and along Alameda Ave. from Fredrick St. to Naomi St. This work was completed in March 2007. 

The work also involves adding a new 34,500-volt line position at Naomi Station as well as a small amount of work at Capon Switching Station. This work is in progress.

On the Catalina site, two padmount switches and four padmount transformers will be required to transform power to utilization voltage for the parking structure and both office buildings.  Under the current BWP Rules and Regulations, M. David Paul will pay 100 percent of the cost of the work directly related to its service as aid-in-construction charges, and will also reimburse BWP its prorated share of system improvements completed since July 2001. On January 26, 2007, Krismar Construction Company, on behalf of M. David Paul, paid $1.2 million as a reimbursement for the system improvement for Phase-1, and paid $300,000 as a first installment of the direct cost of service.  Krismar Construction is scheduled to pay another installment of $300,000 in April 2007, and will pay the remaining $455,000 by June 30, 2007. The official name of this project is �The Pointe.�

Reliability of the Golden State Distributing Station

In most of BWP�s substations, BWP can restore power by making use of a direct connection to the station transfer bus, or by transferring load to other stations. These options are not available at the Golden State Substation which had experienced switchgear problems in 2005.  Working with its engineering consultant, Power Engineers Inc., BWP has found a way to make a direct connection between Golden State�s transfer bus and the power transformers, while also adding a substation capacitor bank. The City Council approved this work at its March 13, 2007 meeting. BWP has negotiated the price, terms and conditions of the agreement with ABB Inc. The agreement has gone out for signatures and providing the bonds and insurance. During negotiations ABB suggested we further improve the design of the direct connection between the transfer bus and low side of power transformers by adding disconnect switches. That will greatly improve the restoration time.

12,470-Volt Distribution System

The engineering and construction work to rebuild the 4 kV feeder areas A-8, A-96, and A-97 is in progress. This will ultimately convert the area to 12 kV service from the new Hollywood Way Station (HW-4 and HW-6).  As a part of this effort, all but one customer station as been rebuilt to 12 kV.  Alameda Feeders A-8, A-96 and A-97 will be physically removed from the Alameda Distributing Station after the conversion is complete. This goes along with BWP�s plan to transfer load to a new state-of-the-art substation like the Hollywood Way Station, and will eliminate the 50 year old plus substations like Alameda. This work is also required as a part of the Caltrans SR-134 project. Two work orders were issued in September 2006, to reconductor 37 spans of feeder conductors in preparation of the 12 kV conversions.  Reconductoring of the overhead portion of the A-8 and A-96 feeders are complete.   We are planning to convert Feeder A-8 and a portion of the Feeder A-96 load to Hollywood Way-4 in June 2007.

Progress continues on rebuilding deteriorated pole lines and single pole replacements.

The Keystone and Golden State Distributing Stations were included in the under-frequency load shedding scheme to provide better capability to automatically shed load and balance load with generation. This addition will help to stabilize and restore the system much faster in the event of the loss of a big generation source such as the tie with LADWP or MPP.

Customer Transformer Stations

Since July, Engineering has responded to 120 written requests for review and comments from the Community Development Department and other City Departments.

New business, and a strong residential real estate market, has created a demand for new customer stations.

 Undergrounding

The City Council approved the establishment of the first Underground Utility District within the City of Burbank for Olive Ave. between Victory and the I-5 overpass.  Construction started in early April and is progressing very well. Except for final paving, J Fletcher Creamer has completed most of the underground conduit work at Lake St. between Olive Ave. and Orange Grove Ave., and along Orange Grove Ave. except for a small crossing. They also completed underground conduit work in the alley north of Olive Ave. and east of Victory Blvd. behind the 7-11 store. They installed manholes at Victory Blvd., both north and south of the Olive Ave. intersection, and are currently working on the conduit installation in three separate locations in order to complete the work on schedule. In the mean time, the Okonite Company has delivered all of the 69,000-volt cable to the BWP Campus. The undergrounding for Phase-1 will be complete by October 31, 2007.

BWP Engineering completed two projects related to Caltrans. One project involves the Alameda, Hollywood Way and Pass Ave. bridge widening on the SR-134, and a new on-ramp at Hollywood Way. The second project involves the I-5 freeway, Empire Exchange, and San Fernando Realignment. Caltrans awarded the contract for the SR-134 Project and requested a Utility Agreement be approved.  The City Council approved the agreement on March 13, 2007, and extended the contract with Bock Company for the duct work. Bock Company started work at Riverside Dr., between Olive Ave. and Hollywood Way, and modified the communication pull box in front of the Alameda Distributing Station to allow space for adding an east bound right hand lane between Hollywood Way and the proposed on-ramp. Bock Company will continue to support BWP as needed to meet the schedule of the Caltrans Project.

Streetlighting System

Fiscal year-to-date, 69 streetlight standards and 19 lights on power poles have been installed.  Out of these, 52 streetlight standards were installed as a part of the South San Fernando Blvd. Street Improvement Project, and three streetlight standards were installed as a part of the Carmax Project. One series circuit was converted to low voltage in February, 2007.  In April, Engineering issued a work order to replace five rusted out streetlight standards.  Engineering is working on a BWP Streetlighting Master Plan and new street/traffic improvement projects with Public Works and the Traffic Signal Division (several Burbank Blvd. intersections, Main/Victory, Third/Verdugo, Hollywood Way/Winona, and Hollywood Way/Thornton). Construction continues on Olive Ave. and Empire Ave.  Undergrounding of the streetlight system on Olive Ave. is complete.

Customer Service

Earth Day

The City of Burbank celebrated the 37^th annual Earth Day by holding a community event at the Stough Canyon Nature Center on Saturday, April 21, from 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm.  Multiple City departments worked together to coordinate this event:  Burbank Water and Power, Public Work�s Recycle Center, Park and Recreation, and CDD.  The primary focus was to heighten the community�s awareness of the importance of taking care of our home, �the earth�.  There were many exhibitors hosting displays such as regional reptiles, hand-grinding glass for a telescope, electrical safety, and water related crafts for kids.  Special guest speaker Lili Singer gave a presentation on California Native plants.  There were several composting workshops held by Kreigh Hampel.

Approximately 300 people attended the Earth Day event.  A variety of advertising avenues were used by BWP staff to encourage participation: a billing insert, flyers to the schools, website, posters, and Ch. 6.

RED:BL:FCF:WOM:GLS:JLF:ph

H:OPERATIONS REPORTS\JUNE OPERATIONS REPORT                                                            

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