1 STAFF REPORT
DAT
E: April 25, 2023
T
O: Justin Hess, City Manager
F
ROM: Dawn Roth Lindell, General Manager, Burbank Water and Power VIA: Riad Sleiman, Assistant General Manager, Electric Services BY: Bobola Akerson, Senior Electrical Engineer
S
UBJECT: Update on Burbank Water and Power’s Electric Distribution Master Plan
RECOMMENDATION
Note and file.
BACKGROUND
Burbank Water and Power (BWP) provides electrical services within the City of Burbank.
The service is provided through a distribution network which includes electric substations, transmission lines, distribution lines, and transformers. A large portion of the electric infrastructure was constructed with the expansion and growth in Burbank from the 1940s through the 1960s and was based on a standard to serve typical loads of that era with 4kV service. During this expansion, and even until the late 1970s, several 4kV substations and 4kV distribution lines were built to serve the BWP system.
O
ver the decades, the residential and small commercial load has grown, primarily driven by greater use of air conditioning, larger homes, electronic devices , and modern appliances. The growth in residential customer demands caused overloading conditions on the aging 4kV feeders, producing large energy losses, reducing voltage, and placing the feeders at risk for failure.
B
y the early 1980s, BWP began transitioning from a 4kV system to a more reliable, higher capacity, and more efficient 12kV service by installing its first 12kV substation. Since then, several 12kV substations and feeders have been installed to serve new residential and commercial loads in the Media and Downtown Burbank districts. In addition, over the past 30+ years, BWP converted several of its 4kV feeders to 12kV through its 4kV to 12kV conversion program. Although much progress has been made, BWP still has 4kV distribution substations, four of which are currently ov er 60 years old (Victory, Winona, Clybourn, and McCambridge).
WATER AND
POWER
2 For BWP to continue providing reliable service at a relatively low cost to the community, a comprehensive review, assessment, and long- term distribution infrastructure plan is needed periodically. In 2015, a 20-year master plan was developed, and BWP updated the master plan to identify the means of improving operational efficiency and sustaining the high reliability of its system at the lowest long-term cost. Today’s result benefited customers with a record high service availability, 99.999% for 2022.
DISCUSSION
The master plan update began with an assessment of the existing distribution system.
The study then analyzed the impact of major system changes in the 20-year period. Four factors were considered as major system changes in this master plan : 4kV to 12kV conversions, load growth due to new housing and commercial developments, load growth due to the transition to electric vehicles (EV) and solar photovoltaic (PV) generation adoption. The master plan recommends necessary mitigations to address future loading, voltage, and power factor issues, including the impacts of future system plans for voltage conversions. As a result, a capital improvement program (CIP) was developed to complete the recommended mitigation measures.
The results of the master plan were analyzed against BWP’s planning criteria for loading, power factor, and voltage, which identified the following planning criteria violations in the system:
• Substation transformer loading violations
• Distribution feeder loading violations
• Distribution feeder power factor violations
• Distribution feeder voltage violations
These planning criteria violations are a result of load growth on the system. The 4kV system is not equipped to handle major changes forecasted in the system , and the following recommendations mitigate the violations identified in the study:
• Continuation of the 4kV to 12kV conversion plan to alleviate voltage and conductor loading violations by upgrading the conductors and transformers in the distribution system.
• Installation of line capacitor banks as needed
• Phase balancing to alleviate system imbalance and line-loading violations • Construction of a new 12kV substation on the eastern side of Interstate 5 freeway, close to the downtown area of Burbank, to expand the 12kV capacity
The master plan was developed to leverage capital investments by resolving multiple challenges with each investment. For example, by replacing the older 4kV standard distribution service with the new 12kV standard, BWP can resolve loading issues on electrical lines, replace older poles, improve voltage service, and increase capacity. The 20-year master plan targets the oldest 4kV substations for this conversion and will 3 eliminate operation and maintenance costs for these substations with their decommissioning. Through the 12kV system, BWP will continue to provide more efficient service by reducing electrical system losses and increasing load -carrying capabilities, thus providing service proven to be more reliable.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
This activity has no potential for resulting in either a direct physical change i n the environment or a reasonably foreseeable indirect physical change in the environment, and as such, is not a “project” subject to the requirements of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) 14 Cal. Code Regs § 15378.
The CIP developed in the master plan consists of multiple projects . Prior to the commencement of each “project,” staff will determine if it has the potential to result in a direct or indirect physical change to the environment and if it is subject to the requirements of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).
FISCAL IMPACT
The 20-year fiscal impact is approximately $184,000,000, averaging $9,000,000 per year, which aligns with the past 5-year historical average capital improvement budget. These projects will continue to be budgeted under BWP’s distribution expansion, distribution replacement, and aid-in-construction budgets through the next 20 years. The bulk of the cost is associated with installing a new substation and upgrading the distribution infrastructure. In addition, like in the previous thirty years, BWP would add a new 12kV substation capacity to the system while eliminating aging 4kV infrastructure. With the proposed capital improvement projects, BWP will reduce future maintenance costs and save substantially in electrical losses. Overall spending to achieve this plan will be consistent with spending incurred during the last five to fifteen years.
CONCLUSION
The master plan aligns with BWP’s overall policy of balancing sustainability, reliability, and affordability. As a result of the planning and forecasting efforts in the master plan study, BWP has identified and will implement mitigation measures to maintain the high electric reliability in Burbank while improving safety.
ATTACHMENTS
Attachment 1 – Burbank Water and Power Electric Distribution Master Plan – Executive Summary