As part of its water and wastewater maintenance program, the Water Utilities Division contracts out preventive maintenance and on-call repair services for its water and wastewater facilities' generators and water well pump drives. Contracted services include annual maintenance and annual load bank tests as identified by the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) 110 Standard for Emergency and Standby Power Systems. City staff can perform inspections and basic repairs, but generators and auxiliary drive repairs often require specialized equipment and skills beyond the expertise of our personnel. 

The City currently owns and maintains the following auxiliary equipment:

• 13 water production facility diesel generators (ranging from 30 to 1000 KW)
• 6 wastewater lift station diesel generators (ranging from 20 to 200 KW)
• 4 portable diesel generators (ranging from 26 to 175 KW)
• 11 water well diesel right-angle drives (ranging from 150 to 950 HP)

The City’s Invitation to Bid (ITB) included an inventory list containing specification data for each auxiliary unit (manufacture, model number, unit size, etc.).  Bidders were not required to bid on all units in the specification documents in order to be considered for award.  Bidders were invited to bid on the brand or type of equipment their company was qualified to repair, and were asked to provide manufacturer's repair certifications or authorizations.

The City advertised the ITB (ITB# 2022-09) in mid-December and opened bids on Tuesday, February 8, 2022. Proposals included standard prices for semi-annual and annual maintenance, transfer switch annual maintenance, load bank tests, and hourly on-call repair rates for each generator and well pump drive in our inventory.  Maintenance services are summarized as follows:

• Semi-Annual Maintenance for Generators and Well Pump Drives
• Semi-annual maintenance includes an overall unit inspection.
• Annual Maintenance for Generators and Well Pump Drives
• Annual maintenance includes an overall unit inspection, replacement of oil and antifreeze, and replacement of all filters.    
• Annual Maintenance for Transfer Switches
• Annual maintenance includes an operational test and a thermography scan to identify hot spots. (Transfer switches are critical components that transfer plant operation from utility power to generator power during an outage). 
• Load Bank Test 2 hour and 4 hour
• Load bank tests are performed to meet National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) 110 Standards. Each generator is tested for 2 or 4 hours under incremental loads to verify it can carry its design load during a power outage.

• On-Call Repairs

  • On-call repairs typically involve troubleshooting and/or corrective repairs. On-call repairs are paid based on time and materials used to complete the service.

Six vendors submitted bids; however, only three were complete and considered for award. The three qualified vendors were Arcco Services, Clifford Power, and PowerSecure.  Arcco Services and PowerSecure both bid on generator and drive maintenance, while Clifford Power only bid on generator maintenance.  Of the three, Arcco Services offered the best bid pricing for both routine maintenance and on-call services. The bids are summarized below:

City staff visited the Arcco Services warehouse, met with the company president and management staff, and called its references. Based on Arcco’s experience, our discussions with their staff, and the positive response from references, we are confident Arcco Services will meet the Divisions high-quality expectations.

The Water Utilities Division recommends awarding the contract for generator and well pump drive preventive maintenance and on-call repair to Arcco Services. The contract with Arcco Services is for $150,000.00. This amount is sufficient to cover scheduled maintenance and load tests performed in the coming years on all units. It also provides additional capacity for troubleshooting and repairs as the need arises. The renewable contract is structured as a five-year agreement, which includes the original term plus four additional opportunities to renew each fiscal year. The contract is a unit price contract that enables the Division to use services only on an as-needed basis.

Funding for this contract is available through the Public Works - Water Division and Wastewater Division - Operations & Maintenance budgets.  The budget for these services is $150,000.00.  The contract is awarded as a blanket purchase order, so money is only spent when services are required.

The Public Works Department recommends that the City Council authorize the execution of a contract between the City of Sugar Land and Arcco Services for generator and well pump drive maintenance in the amount of $150,000.00, with the option to renew for four additional years.