Big ticket item
BEGWS engineers building computer model to test upgrade possibilities
By ROB PRICE THE COURIER-ADVOCATE

BY ROB PRICE Pictured above, a BEGWS transformer near the steeple of the First Presbyterian Church is one of 2,000 transformers that would be replaced under a proposed upgrade of the utility's electric infrastructure.

BATH - Bath Electric, Gas and Waters Systems continues to work with its electrical engineering firm in an effort to launch a village-wide upgrade of its electrical infrastructure.

The upgrade, valued recently at $9 million, is necessary to meet rising demand for electricity, according to Matthew Benesh, director of utilities for BEGWS.

But Bath village board members earlier this year balked at the price tag, declining to authorize bonds that would pay for the project. Board member Mike Skelly argued an electricity rate hike necessary to repay the bonds would be onerous to customers of BEGWS.

The issue moved to the back burner, as BEGWS returned to the drawing board with its engineering firm, PLM Electric Power Engineering, to explore possible new options. Last week, Benesh said PLM engineers

are assembling a computerized model of the village electrical

infrastructure to begin that investigation.

The computer model would enable BEGWS officials and its engineers to ascertain whether viable options exist as alternatives to the original $9 million project, Benesh said.

"We're hoping to have that in another three weeks," he told The Courier.

Benesh noted the computer model may not provide an actual alternative; it would serve, however, to indicate whether alternatives are possible.

Benesh earlier this year warned village board members rising electricity consumption could eventually outstrip the utility's capacity for distributing electricity throughout the village. He warned specifically of brown-outs when demand exceeds capacity.

Initial estimates placed the cost of the electrical upgrade at $5 million. Benesh has blamed the higher costs on soaring equipment costs, especially for transformers that convert high voltage electrical loads into manageable quantities for households. The project calls for the installation of about 2,000 new transformers, he said.

Members of the village board, which oversees the Municipal Utility Commission that in turn oversees BEGWS, have agreed an upgrade is necessary but balked at the size of the proposed project. Skelly has asked Benesh whether the village needs "a Cadillac" system.

"The purpose of the bond nobody disagrees with," said Mayor David Wallace. "We have to have an upgrade of the system, so we can increase the amount of electricity available."