$2M cut from BEGWS electric upgrade
By ROB PRICE THE COURIER-ADVOCATE

BATH - Engineers for Bath Electric Gas and Water Systems have trimmed $2 million from a proposed upgrade of the public utility's electric infrastructure.

Michael Barrett, a representative of PLM Electric Power Engineering, told village board members last week the engineering firm recommends a $7.1 million plan that would convert the utility's entire electrical grid to a 12.47 kilo-volt system, eliminate three substations and build a new single substation along Fairview Avenue with two transformers to back up each other in the event of an emergency.

The upgrade, Barrett said, would take about two and a half years and would enhance the utility's capacity to serve a slowly growing demand for electricity in the village.

Barrett warned trustees the utility's current electrical infrastructure, which employs four substations, is vulnerable to selective failures in the event any one of the substations collapsed during peak electricity use. Customers in an area of the village serviced by a particular substation could face extended blackouts because the rest of the system could not compensate for a failure of the individual substation and transformer.

Board members took no action on Barrett's report.

In late 2007, the board rejected a request from BEGWS to issue $9 million in bonds to finance a general upgrade of the utility's electric infrastructure, citing an uncertain plan to repay the bonds through higher electric rates.

According to Barrett, the lower figure is a more realistic assessment of the cost of that project. He called the $9 million estimate "a very preliminary number" that changed after PLM conducted further analysis of BEGWS needs. "That's a really solid number," he said of the $7.1 million figure.

Barrett also advised board members PLM had analyzed two alternative plans that involved partial upgrades to the electrical infrastructure. One plan was estimated to cost $7.8 million, the other, $6.9 million. The latter plan, he warned would probably necessitate an additional $1.4 million upgrade to the Faucett Street substation in the future.

Following Barrett's presentation, Mayor David Wallace announced the village board would begin meeting twice a month, instead of once. The additional meetings would be necessary, Wallace said, in order for board members to address operations at BEGWS.

The board at the opening of the meeting voted to disband the Public Utility Commission, which has overseen operations of the utility for more than 70 years. See accompanying story on page one.

Next Bath village board meeting: June 2, 6 p.m. in Liberty Street Municipal Building