Mayor: Electric Plant upgrades back on track
After seven years, the first round of upgrades to the Greenport Municipal Electric Plant are expected to be completed by the end of March, Mayor David Nyce said during Tuesday’s Village Board work session.
Mr. Nyce said he was scheduled to meet Wednesday with Bob Braun of Genesys Engineering P.C, the company that was hired to design and oversee the construction, to review the finishing touches of phase I of the $5.8 million project.
The Phase 1 overhaul, which included upgrades to the village power grid, the plant’s switchgear controls and five diesel generators, among other things, was originally expected to be finished in 2012. But several outstanding items have delayed its completion, deputy mayor George Hubbard has said. Initial design problems having to do with analog versus digital systems, and a suddenly unresponsive electrical contractor, have also contributed to the work’s slow pace.
The progression of the project became costly last year when a system failure caused the village to miss a required energy measurement test of the plant in the spring; prompting Greenport to incur a $108,000 penalty fee from the state regulating authority New York Independent System Operator. That penalty was later passed on to village electric customers without notice from the board.
Mr. Nyce said the village has until April 15 to conduct that missed test, or face another penalty.
“I’d like to do [the test] as soon as possible,” he said Tuesday.
Genesys is currently designing plans for Phase II of the project, which calls for the removal and replacement of switchgear panels and the installation of two new feeder relays that transport current, Mr. Hubbard said.
The village is on track to put work for Phase II out to bid in the spring, Mr. Nyce said.
