In this issue

LADWP explores O&M options for utility-owned wind facilities

LADWP representatives visited EnXco's Palm Springs plant to learn more about wind turbine operations and maintenance. Western helped set up a tour of the facility.

Maintenance is a responsibility of ownership, and a very good reason why utilities seeking wind power often opt to purchase it from facilities owned and operated by private developers. The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power may become the first utility in the country to accept that responsibility for its new Pine Tree Wind Farm project.

The municipal utility is building the 120-MW Pine Tree Wind Farm to contribute to the city’s goal of obtaining 20 percent of its power from renewable energy resources by 2010. Eighty General Electric turbines will occupy a remote site partly owned by LADWP, and partly leased from a nearby rancher. LADWP is in the process of improving roads to the area and plans to begin construction by the end of the year.

History of utility-owned generation

"LADWP's goal is to be self-sustaining," said Electrical Services Manager Steve Fuller. The utility already owns and operates several small hydroelectric plants, a large pump storage hydroelectric facility and several steam plants, he noted.  "It makes sense to take the same approach to wind energy."

That experience has created a deep pool of engineering and construction talent within the heavily union-operated utility. It was at the request of its union, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 18, that LADWP decided to keep the operation and maintenance of the wind farm in-house. The standard GE warranty uses GE technicians to operate and maintain the LADWP equipment for two years, and covers labor and parts for warranty repairs.  Because LADWP is performing its own operations and maintenance, GE will only be covering parts for the two-year warranty period.

Figuring out how "wind smiths" and other O&M positions fit into existing union job classifications is proving to be a challenge, however. To find out how other utilities did it, Fuller contacted the U.S. Department of Energy's Wind and Hydropower Technologies Program. What he learned was that other utilities weren't doing their own O&M. "Several owned wind farms, but contracted out the operation," he said.

“Public power providers are just beginning to construct their own wind facilities. Outside of companies that do it for a living, and outside the maintenance manuals provided by the turbine manufacturers, there aren’t any 'how-to' guides on setting up an in-house O&M program,” said Randy Manion, Western's Renewable Energy program manager.

Partnership supports utility renewables efforts

An active member of many renewable energy industry groups, Manion also coordinates the Public Power Partnership for DOE’s wind power program. The partnership, which includes Western, American Public Power Association and National Rural Electric Cooperative Association among other organizations, works to facilitate utilities acquiring wind energy.

DOE wind program managers asked Manion to help LADWP learn about what was involved in launching a wind turbine O&M program. Recognizing a unique opportunity to start to fill in some knowledge gaps, the DOE program also provided a grant to the partnership to fund a case study on the ambitious project. “The specific circumstances will undoubtedly vary for each utility, but we believe LADWP’s experiences will provide some overarching lessons,” Manion observed.

Manion introduced LADWP to the Utility Wind Integration Group. Through the partnership, he also arranged for LADWP representatives to tour the EnXco wind maintenance facility in Palm Springs, Calif. EnXco has 20 years’ experience developing, building, operating and managing wind projects throughout North America. The Palm Springs plant provides a full range of turbine component repair.

EnXco answers LADWP questions

In addition to Fuller, several LADWP managers and IBEW business representatives joined Manion and energy professionals from Sandia National Laboratory and CH2M Hill at EnXco Sept. 28. Larry Barr, EnXco vice president of Operations and Maintenance, hosted a presentation designed to answer a list of questions LADWP supplied in advance. The questions reflected the utility’s concerns about safety, quality control, equipment needs, staffing and training. The company faces the same challenges as other wind developers in finding qualified employees, acknowledged Operations Manager Rick Wehrhan.

Robert Putnam of CH2M Hill, who visited the EnXco plant last year with Manion, said he learned a lot from this tour and presentation. “Instead of focusing on retrofitting, as the previous tour did, this presentation covered issues associated with a new wind farm,” he explained. 

Following the presentation, the group visited the plant floor and a nearby wind site. “EnXco provided a very detailed, comprehensive picture of wind operations and maintenance, and I think LADWP got everything they anticipated from it,” said Putnam.

LADWP representatives found the tour very informative, Fuller agreed. "It was helpful just to see the equipment and hear about rescue training and climbing precautions," he observed, adding that the utility's safety program compared well with EnXco's.

Maintenance options for utility-owned wind

The EnXco tour suggested several approaches a utility might take to setting up a wind O&M program. Utility employees might train with a wind maintenance provider to learn the skills needed for the jobs. A contract that allowed utility employees and a provider to team up on maintenance duties, and then transferred responsibilities to the utility over time could be another possibility. “There are lots of partnering opportunities here,” observed Putnam. “EnXco is a good resource because the company has been involved in such partnerships before.”

LADWP, however, is committed to the do-it-yourself plan, said Fuller. "The wind turbine technician combines four job classifications that the union already has," he said. "It's just a matter of coming up with a plan that uses the classes as efficiently as possible."

Fuller is part of a committee of LADWP managers working with the union on that plan.  The next step, he said, is for the committee to visit the Pine Tree site, get inside the turbines and get a "hands-on" feel for the type of equipment the O&M staff will be working on.  The committee plans to have the staff on board and trained before construction begins. "We have to move the staffing process forward because LADWP is planning to build more wind farms," he said. 

Many parties will be following LADWP’s progress with interest, but some utilities are not waiting for the completion of the case study.  “We have one very large electric cooperative constructing a 200-MW wind farm and they must decide if they will do their own maintenance,” Manion said.

Western customers interested in learning more about the LADWP wind turbine O&M program should contact Manion for more information.