A.03.20_18-0018_KO_2018_08_09_Construction_Justification_and_Approval.SSD-FINAL_(002).pdf

Control #18-0018

JUSTIFICATION AND APPROVAL

FOR OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION

1. CONTRACTING AGENCY: Kansas City District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), Contracting Division, 601 E. 12th St., Kansas City, MO 64106

2. DESCRIPTION OF ACTION: Approval is being requested for a new Invitation for Bid (IFB), Firm Fixed Price, contract. The request is to select Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories (SEL) as the sole brand for SEL hardware. The Harry S. Truman Power Plant and Stockton Lake Controls Relay and Governors project includes upgrades to Supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA), annunciation, sequential event recorder (SER), digital governors, generator relays, and station service relays at Harry S. Truman. Also included are upgrades to SCADA, annunciation, and sequential event recorder at Stockton.The Contractor will be submitting designs for Government review of the following systems: SCADA, annunciation, SER, digital governors, and station service relays. FY18 O&M funds will be utilized. The anticipated dollar value of the work is $1.6M. The cost of the brand name supplies is $104,530.00 see the description in section 3. The supplies below are the major Schweitzer equipment needed to complete the systems. All other parts such as control switches and terminal blocks needed for a complete system will be purchased through open competition. In this solicitation, any of the 5 options that are exercised will be exercised at time of award. Only option 1, which is found on CLIN 0003, requires use of specific brand name equipment. As such we are not discussing the other option CLINs.

3. DESCRIPTION OF SUPPLIES/SERVICES OR NATURE OF CONSTRUCTION:

The table below, lists the type and quantities of the SEL equipment that is needed for the project.

USACE Hydropowered Power Plants uses the industry standard SEL equipment exclusively and it is whst the USACE staff are specifically trained on and in the event of an emergency. The SEL parts in the table below, are known to work within the system, reducing the risk power failure.

This effects the base contract and one, CLIN 0003 for the option to purchase Generator Relays.

The projected cost of these items is $104,530.00. This Single Source Determination is for Brand Name items (specified below) for a construction project. The estimated project duration is 180 days.

Product Description Qty Cost Each Total

751001A1A0X0X850200 SEL-751 Station Service Relay 6 $4,000.00 $24,000.00

0300G31H4256142XX SEL-300G Generator Relay (3U Model) 14 $5,571.00 $77,994.00

2652A1XX SEL-2652 Trip Coil Monitor 4 $199.00 $796.00

2600D00X SEL-2600D RTD Module 2 $750.00 $1,500.00

2800M1 SEL-2800M Fiber Optic Transciever 2 $120.00 $240.00

TOTAL $104,530.00

4. AUTHORITY CITED: FAR 13.106-1 (b). Only the portion of the purchase identified herein requires the purchase of brand name items.

5. REASON FOR AUTHORITY CITED:

Background:The Truman Power Plant personnel have to go through extensive training in order to maintain and keep the power plant running effiecntly. There is specific training required for the relays used and how they interact with the system. This training is very expensive. This cost is in hours for the training per person and labor hours used for the training per person.

Operating a powerhouse under emergency conditions is largely instinctive due to a powerhouse operator’s continuous training and repetition. The success of returning a plant to normal operating conditions after an emergency is largely based on the simplicity of the system. With the Generator protection system, and Station Service protection system all consisting of SEL equipment, installing non-SEL equipment would add complexity. Added complexity correlates directly with increased risk and decreased reliability.

The protective relays in the powerhouse are exclusively SEL Equipment making maintenance practices more efficient, due to redundancy and familiarity. Since the SEL Equipment has been installed and used, the reliability of the system as a whole has increased, due to more effective maintenance practices

The proposed SEL devices have similar maintenance requirements as existing SEL protective relays and would require less time to institute and maintain. If non-SEL equipment is provided, all plant electricians will require additional training and will have to update testing procedures and documentation for the new devices.

Justification:

Facts:

Cost of training for current system was $103,368.00 to train the current personnel at Truman Power Plant. There are 880 hours of training at an approximate cost of $122 dollars an hour to include travel expenses.

Cost of SEL relays is $104,530.00 there is a more detailed chart in section three which breaks out the cost per item.

Cost of other equipment: “ according to the Project Manager, Bradley Brack, the cost of other brands is comparable to the SEL, so there is no cost savings based on brand.” A comparable brand would be relays by GE. SEL 300G relay costs $6300 and for GE (300G compatible) is $9300 dollars. SEL -751 relays $2000, GE equivalent $1800. Information provided by Kortney Siracusa from HDC.

SEL Equipment has a 10 year warranty, a comparable company Schneider, only has 2 years.

Software license: Harry S. Truman Power Plant personnel recently renewed their SEL software licences at a cost of $15,000.00. If we use another manufacturers equipment, other than SEL, USACE will incur additional costs, through the purchase of additional software licences.

Current drawings show SEL relays already in place, and upgraded to current system. To update the drawings with a new manufacturer would cost another $15,000.00.

The Hydro Design Center (HDC) – The Corps of Engineers Hydropower Center of Expertise) recommends only one manufacturer to minimize costs.

HDC is only trained on SEL and able to do in-house programming. The cost for training HDC personnel on a new brand equipment is $112.50 an hour. It would take approximately $40,000.00 or the HDC to be trained on a product by a new manufacturer.

Assumptions:

South Western Power Administration is the customer for the power generated by Truman Dam and they are on the secure network for this system and would have to be reprogrammed based on the costs associated with the customers cyber security. This may be an issue where the customer would have to approve the change.

We would want Hydro Design Center support so we would incure the cost for training on the new software at approximately $40,000.00.

Sequential Event Recorder (SER) and Annunciation integration with SEL Equipment is much easier and more familiar, mitigating any risk to USACE. The exact cost savings is unknown at this time, however USACE assumed the cost of $112.50 USACE assumed HDC’s charge rate multiplied by 2 for 2 Engineers working together, adding 60 hours of the labor for each of them, working to analyze new integration they are more familiar with. Then adding 30 hours for labor to assist HDC, with equals approximately $17,000.00.

Impact:

The Harry S. Truman power plant would be the only plant supported by the Hydro Design Center that would be on a different software system for relays. Changing manucaturer would cause an issue supporting the system and create more risk integrating two systems and software. In the event of an emergency, it would delay the recovery, having to troubleshoot two systems and ensuring the software is not in conflict. The added expense of additional training for the plant personnel, the customer and HDC is problematic for the system and is not cost effective nor a good use of the tax payer’s money. SEL products are the power plant industry’s standard and are used throughout USACE, Department of Energy (DOE), and Bureau of Reclamation (BOR) due to their reliability. Personnel in the Power Plant industry are trained on SEL equipment and are familiar with the workings of the equipment.

As stated previously, when compared to other manufacturered parts, (Sequential Event Recorder (SER) and Annunciation integration with SEL Equipment, etc.) there is a nominal difference in cost. There is no difference one over the other in many areas, to include quality. Here lies the impact and trepidation. Costs directly related to training personnel would increase the procurement costs by an additional $220,368.00. The additional $220,368.00 with be in addition to the new awarded contract amount. For example; If the new contract is awarded with different parts or equipment for $1,600,000.00, the total award amount would increase at a minimum (because that doesent cover travel, etc) of $1,820,368.00.

Impacts would create additional tangle costs such as software licensing but also the untagible, in the way we provide support to our customer SouthWest Power Association (SWPA), who has come to expect our supportive implementation that USACE is known for. We do not have the exact amount that would need to be taken into consideration, however ther would be an additional cost would flow down to SWPA affecting USACE’s reputation.

6. EFFORTS TO OBTAIN COMPETITION: It is recommended that Brand Name parts be used based on support to the system from HDC center, the customer South Western Power Administration (SWPA), and USACE wide usage, along with the software renewal for equipment upgrade no other competition is warranted in the solicitation.

7. ACTIONS TO INCREASE COMPETITION: In the event of a change to Industry standards the Corps of Engineers may compete for changes to the systems. This will be upon the recommendation of the HDC and our customer SWPA.

8. MARKET RESEARCH: Market Research was not conducted but information was sought from HDC which provides support to the Harry S. Truman Dam Power Plant.

9. INTERESTED SOURCES: N/A

10. Other Facts: Our customer SWPA, and the HDC both are invested in the software that is used to run the governors and relays. A change in brand on our part has major impacts to the customer we support and the HDC, and where we pull technical support from on issues that affect the operations of our hydro power stations.

11. TECHNICAL CERTIFICATION: Include the following statement:

I certify that the supporting data under my cognizance which are included in the justification are accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

NAME: _Bradley Brack DATE: _________________________

TITLE: _Project Manager__ SIGNATURE: ___________________

12. REQUIREMENTS CERTIFICATION: Include the following statement:

I certify that the supporting data under my cognizance which are included in the justification are accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

NAME: _Bradley Brack______ DATE: _________________________

TITLE: _Project Manager SIGNATURE: ___________________

13. FAIR AND REASONABLE COST DETERMINATION:

I hereby determine that the anticipated price to the Government for this contract action will be fair and reasonable based on comparison with the Independent Government Estimate.

NAME: _Kris Ann Huber_______ DATE: _________________________

TITLE: Contracting Officer SIGNATURE: _________________

14. CONTRACTING OFFICER CERTIFICATION:

"I certify that this J&A is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief."

NAME: Kris Ann Huber DATE: _________________________

TITLE: Contracting Officer SIGNATURE: ___________________