DEPARTMENT
Power Enterprise
AGENDA NO.
12 MEETING DATE
November 8, 2022
APPROVAL:
COMMISSION
SECRETARY
Donna Hood
AGENDA ITEM
Public Utilities Commission
City and County of San Francisco
Construction Award: Regular Calendar
Contract Manager: Ramon Abueg
Award Contract No. PW-009R, As -Needed Electrical Distribution Installation & Construction Support
Summary of
Proposed
Commission Action:
Award Contract No. PW-009R, As -Needed Electri cal Distribution Installation & Construction Support, in the amount of $11,500,000, and with a duration of 730 consecutive calendar days (approximately two yea rs), following successful negotiations as authorized by the Commi ssi on by
Resolution No. 22-0060 ( March 22 , 2022) , to VIP Powerline Cor p., in accordance with San Francisco Administrative Code Section 6.23(c) (1). The contract will augment existing Power Enterprise Field Services staff to provide services to the Cit y’s customers, respond to emergency out ages, and provide system reliability.
Background: The San Francisco Public Utilities Commission ( SFPUC) Power Enterprise Utility Field Services (UFS) Staff responds t o emergencies , troubleshoots complex electrical outages, and connects new customers. UFS is short-staffed, over-stressed, and spread too thin to meet these routine reliability obligations.
The Power Enterprise continues active recruitment efforts to fill vacant, critical positions in the UFS division – particularly skilled high voltage electricians but has been unable to fill the vacancies in a t imely manner to meet customer needs.
In addition to the regular current duties of the UF S that require support , SFPUC will be bringing online the Bay Cor ridor Transmission and Distribution Project (BC TD) in the very near future. Energizing BCT D means that the Power Enterprise w ill expand its ownership and operat ing responsibilities. When SFPUC meets its commitment to connect customers to this new system, these customers will no longer be dependent on the PG&E distribution system. The Power En terprise w ill have full autonomy and responsibility for design and construction activities necessary to connect customers and to maintain service in a timely , reliable manner. Additionally, the BCTD will have a new state-of-the- art electrical substation ; SFPUC will need contractor suppor t to operate and maintain the substation until Power Contract: PW-009R, As-Needed Electrical Distribution Installation & Construction Support Commission Meeting Date: November 8, 2022
Enterprise is able to fill the vacancies.
The recruitment of high voltage electricians (line workers) available labor has been particularly challenging most likely due to the unavailability of a loc al apprenticeship program and a competitive labor market. IBEW Local 6 represents electrical workers employed by the City and does not operate an apprenticeship program for high voltage electricians. As a result , the SFPUC is reliant on the job market to hire both apprentices and journey -level electrical line worke rs. And the job market is competitive. T he most recent labor negotiations included improvements to the compensati on pack age for qualified electrical worker s which SFPUC expects will improve its ability to hire high voltage electricians, retain existing electrical field services workers, and attract or secure candidates to fill such vacancies on the Power Enterprise team.
Description of Scope
of Work:
The c ontract work lo cation(s) will include Hetch Hetchy Power customers throughout the service territory as shown in Attachment 2.
The contract work will vary. SFPUC will issue Contract Service Order s specifying the cus tomer site and the detailed s cope of work to provide customer electrical connections. From time -to-time, the contractor will provide staff to join UFS crews as they respo nd to emergency outages and help with outage recoveries. The work will include:
• Electrical Distribution Work
o Install primary and secondary services
o Install Intervening Facilities (transformers, switches, fault interrupters)
o Perform testing, commissioning and energization of customer power
o Respond to outage events to isolate faulted system, restore services, and perform replacement work.
• Substation Work
o Inspect and test electric substations and intervening facilities o Respond to outage events including downloading relaying and metering information and replace failed equipment
o Perform relay testing and adjust settings to improve
coordination of protective devices to eliminate unnecessary outage events
o Prepare switching orders to safely isolate equipment to replace affected equipment.
• Metering Installations, Troubleshooting, and Calibration o Metering Installations, Troubleshooting, and Calibration o Install and troubleshoot revenue meters
o Install and troubleshoot Data Collector Units (DCUs)
o Perform meter upgrades including meter socket replacement o Program meters to integrate with the AMI system
Contract: PW-009R, As-Needed Electrical Distribution Installation & Construction Support Commission Meeting Date: November 8, 2022
Budget & Costs: Funding: Project No. 10033821, As-Needed Electrical Distribution Installation and Construction Support
Engineer’s Estimate: $6,000,000/year and $12,000,000 for two years Award: $11,500,000
Schedule: Estimated Notice-to-Proceed Date: January 2023 Estimated Completion Date: January 2025
Contract Duration: 730 consecutive calendar days (approximately two years)
Compliance with
Chapter 14B: Local
Business Enterprise
and Non-
Discrimination in
Contracting
Ordinance:
Set: The Contract Monitoring Division (CMD) established a 5% Local Business Enterprise (LBE) subcontracting requirement for this contract.
Submitted: The contractor committed to a 6.05% LBE participation with its submittal.
Environmental
Review:
Award of as-needed contracts or other funding mecha nisms do not fall within the definition of a project under California Environm ental Quality Act (CEQA) Guidelines Section 15378(b)(4) related to government funding mechanisms that do not involve any commitment to any specific project that may result in a physical change in the environment. No work will commen ce under this contract until the proposed work is reviewed and determined whether environmental review under CEQA has already been conduc ted or is required and, if required, the appropriate CEQA review is conducted.
Procurement
History:
Advertised: December 23, 2021
Bids Received: On January 27, 2022, bids were due . SFPUC received no bids.
Outreach: Staff conducted outreach to electrical contractors to inquire about the reasons the firms did not submit bids. As a result, Staff made significant edits to the procurement and contract documents designed to attract bidders.
Re-advertised: February 24, 2022
Bids Received: On the March 10, 2022, due date, t he SFPUC received no bids.
On March 22, 2022, by Resolution No. 22-0060, in conformance with Administrative Code section 6.23(c)(1), this Commission authorized the General Manager to negotiate a contract with a qualified contractor for Contract No.
PW-009R, As -Ne eded Electrical Distribution Installation and Construction Support and, upon completion of successful negotiations, the General Manager would return to the Commission to recommend award of Contract No. PW-009R.
Contract: PW-009R, As-Needed Electrical Distribution Installation & Construction Support Commission Meeting Date: November 8, 2022
Negotiations with the
Qualified
Contractor:
Staff began negotiations with several qualified firms in Marc h 20 22. One firm remained in negotiations; that firm, however, required several exceptions to standard SFPUC contract provisions.
In July 2022, VIP Powerline Cor p. (VIP) indicated an interest in negotiations. VIP subsequently submitted a proposal that accepted all the City’s standard contract terms and condition. VIP’s price proposal is below the engineer’s estimate an d consistent with costs based on the prevailing wages for the needed worker classifications.
Recommendation: The General Manager recommends Commission adoption of the attached Resolution.
Attachment: CMD Memorandum
Contract: PW-009R, As-Needed Electrical Distribution Installation & Construction Support Commission Meeting Date: November 8, 2022
PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION
City and County of San Francisco
RESOLUTION NO.
WHEREAS, The San Fran cisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC) Power Enterprise Utility Field Service s Staff responds to emergencies, troubleshoots complex electrical outages, and connects new customers . Additionally, the Power Enterprise is about to complete an electrical distribution system in the City and County of San Francisco and needs to be able t o connect c ustomers, restore service , operate substations, and provide system reliability . A shortage of skilled and available workers necessitates seeking sup port on an as -needed basis from an outside contractor; and
WHEREAS, On December 23, 2021, the SFPUC advertised Contract No. PW -009, As- Needed Electrical Distribution I nstallation & Construction Support , but did not receive any bids on the January 27, 2022 due date; and
WHEREAS, On February 24, 2022, after ma king revisions to procurement and contra ct documents designed to attr act bidders, the SFPUC re -advertised Contract No. PW -009R, As - Needed Electrical Distribution Installation & Construction Support, but did not receive any bids on the March 10, 2022 due date; and
WHEREAS, In conformance wi th San Francisco Administrative Code, Chapter
6.23(c)(1), Staff performed additional outreach , analyzed information from the outr each, and concluded that neither additional outreach or changes to procurement or contract documents would likely result in the receipt of a bid or bids if SFPUC were to re-advertise the contract; and WHEREAS, On March 22, 2022, by Resolution No. 22-0060, this Commission authorized the General Manager to negotiate a contract with a qualified contractor; and WHEREAS, Staff negotiated with and obtained a proposal from VIP Powerline Corp. (VIP) with no changes to the SFPUC’s standard contract provisions and a propos ed price below the engineer’s estimate; and
WHEREAS, The Engineer’s Estimate is $12,000,000 over two years for this construction contract work to augment the existing Power Enterprise U tility Field Services staff to provide services to the SFPUC’s customers and respond to emergency power outages; and WHEREAS, The contract duration is 730 consecutive calendar days; and WHEREAS, CMD established a 5% Local Business E nterprise (LBE) subcontracting participation for this contract, and the contractor committed to a 6.05% LBE participation in its negotiated proposal; and
WHEREAS, Staff and Cont ract Monitoring Division (CMD) reviewed VIP’s negotiated proposal f or V IP’s responsibility, conformance with Local Business Enterprise (LBE) requirements, and reasonableness of VIP’s proposed price , and determined that VIP is a qualified, responsible contractor and recommended to the General Manager that award of the contract to VIP at the negotiated price is in the SFPUC’s best interests; and
WHEREAS, the General Manager recommends to the Commission to aw ard the contract to VIP; and
WHEREAS, Funds are available from Project No. 10033821, As-Needed Electrical Distribution Installation and Construction Support; and WHEREAS, Award of as-needed contracts or other funding mecha nisms do not fall within the definition of a project under California Environm ental Quality Act (CEQA) Guidelines Section 15378(b)(4) related to government fundi ng mechanisms that do not involve any commitment to any specific project tha t may result in a physical change in the environment; and
WHEREAS, No work will commence under this contract until the proposed work is reviewed and determined whether environmenta l review under CEQA has already been conducted or is r equired and, if require d, the appropriate CEQA review is conducted; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, That this Com mission hereby awards , as permitted under San Francisco Administrative Code section 6.23(c )(1), Contract No. PW-009R, As -Needed Electrical Distribution Installation & Construction Support, in the amount of $11,500,000, for a duration of 730 consecutive calendar days, to the qualified contractor that success fully negotiated contract terms with the SFPUC, VIP Powerline Corp.
I hereby certify that the foregoing resolution was adopted by the Public Utilities Commission at its meeting of November 8, 2022.
Secretary, Public Utilities Commission
London N. Breed, Mayor
Carmen Chu, City Administrator
Romulus Asenloo, Director
1155 Market Street, 4th Floor, San Francisco, CA 94103 Telephone (415) 581-2310 Fax (415) 581-2351
CONTRACT MONITORING DIVISION
OFFICE OF THE CITY ADMINISTRATOR
MEMORANDUM
Date: October 14, 2022
To: Ramon Abueg, SFPUC
Gary Hom, SFPUC
From: Kate Svyatets, CMD
Subject: PW-009R -- As-Needed Electrical Distribution Installation and Construction Support – REVISED1 CMD Review
The Contract Monitoring Division (“CMD”) has reviewed the proposal submitted for the above referenced negotiated project, applied the appropriate bid discounts, and determined responsiveness to the Chapter 14B pre-award requirements. A Local Business Enterprise (LBE) subcontracting requirement of 5% was established for this project:
The LBE subcontracting requirement is less than 20% due to LBE availability data and highly specialized project requirements for high voltage overhead and underground construction, repair and installation work at SFPUC Power facilities, which include installing high voltage primary cables, secondary service conductors, transformers, switches, and interrupters; responding to and troubleshooting power outage events; installing meters and photovoltaic systems.
Below is a summary of CMD’s review:
Firm LBE
Status
Negotiated
Amount
Bid
Discount
Adjusted Negotiated
Amount (with Bid
Discount Applied)
VIP Powerline
Corp Non-LBE $11,500,000.00 Not
Applicable $11,500,000.00
VIP Powerline Corp is a qualified contractor. VIP Powerline Corp met the 5% LBE subcontracting requirement by listing the following LBE firm on Section 00 43 36 (Proposed Subcontractor Form):
LBE
Subcontractor
Scope of
Work
LBE
Status
Listed
Amount
Amount
Credited
Participatio
n (based on
credited
amount)
A A E S Inc DBA
AES Engineering
Services
AutoCA
D
Technicia
n
SF LBE-
MBE
(Micro)
$696,000.00 $696,000.00 6.05%
1 Per the revised negotiated amount.
9 TOTAL LBE Subcontracting
Participation $696,000.00 $696,000.00 6.05%
VIP Powerline Corp did not list any non-LBE subcontractors on Section 00 43 36.
Based on the foregoing, CMD has determined that VIP Powerline Corp has complied with the pre-award Chapter 14B requirements. Should you have any questions, or if I can be of further assistance, please do not hesitate to contact me at (415) 551-4335.