Your PUD News Release

Construction crunch making it harder for PUD to get bids

Chelan County PUD
News Release
10/9/2006

Busy contractors are submitting higher than expected bids, or in some cases not bidding at all, on some PUD construction projects, managers reported to PUD commissioners Monday.

Commissioners declared that no responsive bids were received and authorized negotiations to start on one contract to replace culverts at Daroga State Park and on a   larger contract to modernize the Lake Chelan powerhouse with new turbines, generators, governors and controls.

All four bids received for the work at Daroga State Park exceeded the engineer’s estimate by more than 15 percent. On the Lake Chelan project, four companies attended a pre-bid meeting in June, but none submitted bids in September.

It is a nationwide problem, said Chris Church, Engineering Services director. Many utilities installed water, gas or electric systems at about the same time and all the aging equipment is coming due for replacement. In this region, many of the dams were built in a 10-year span, and are all needing overhauls. Work is planned at Wanapum, Wells and Chief Joseph dams.

In the case of the smaller Lake Chelan project, all of the interested companies were too busy to provide a bid, Church said.
PUD staff will negotiate with firms to get the work done at a competitive price. If they can’t reach agreement on terms and price, they will consider rebidding the projects.

In response to a request from commissioners and customer-owner Bill Stokes of Wenatchee, managers will report to the board on the results of negotiations.

General Manager Rich Riazzi has also asked staff to review the PUD’s bidding process.

Board to discuss renewable energy initiative on Oct. 16

PUD commissioners will discuss on Oct. 16 whether to take a position on Initiative 937, which would mandate the use of more renewable energy.

They had delayed the discussion from Sept. 11 when Commissioner Bob Boyd asked fellow commissioners to oppose the measure that is on the Nov. 7 ballot. Other commissioners said they needed more time to gather information on the impact of the initiative. All agreed that it should include hydropower as a renewable energy source.

Jim White, founder of the PUD’s SNAP program for local wind and solar projects, also told the board he had sent a personal letter opposing the initiative to the Seattle P-I newspaper.

Commissioners asked White to attend next week’s meeting.

In other business, PUD commissioners:

• Approved an easement with G.G. Richardson Inc. to use a road on PUD land to reach the firm’s property off Walla Walla Avenue in Wenatchee. The company will pay $14, 400 plus a $250 administrative fee for the easement to replace an annual permit. PUD Commissioner Ann Congdon voted against selling the easement, saying she was concerned it limited options for future use of PUD property. 

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PUD commissioners have set special meetings for noon-1:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 11, and Thursday, Oct. 12. They will attend the Monitor Water System Task Force meeting on Wednesday at Warm Springs Inn, 1611 Love Lane, Wenatchee, and the Cashmere Customer Partnership Group meeting on Thursday at the Walnut Café, 106 Cottage Ave., Cashmere.  
The next regular meeting of the PUD commission is at 1 p.m. on Monday Oct. 16.
Most PUD commission meetings are recorded, and a link to the audio is available on the PUD’s home page at www.chelanpud.org.

Kimberlee Craig
Public Information Officer
661-4320, direct line
679-6858, cell
kimc@chelanpud.org