A shorter lead time for a transformer needed for a new substation project was cited as a key reason for why the City Council of Harbor Springs, Mich., recently signed off on a transformer bid. The City Council took the action at a June 3 meeting.
The city received two bids for a transformer for the new substation project. The bids came in higher than a 2023 cost estimate of $1.1 million. The transformer bids were submitted by Virginia Transformer and Niagara Transformer.
The lead time for Virginia Transformer is 70-75 weeks, while the lead time for Niagara Transformer 194-246 weeks, a background document prepared for the meeting noted, which also said that the Virginia Transformer transformer cost is $1,323,270, compared with $1,279,391 under Niagara Transformer’s bid.
“The significant advantage of Virginia over Niagara is its lead time. With Virginia, the city would be able to complete the project within two years, as anticipated. With Niagara, the project could take 5+ years,” the meeting background document noted. “Further, while Virginia came in about $44,000 (about 3.5%) more than Niagara, Virginia’s load losses in $ is significantly lower than Niagara’s, bringing the 10-year cost of the transformers almost even (with Virginia only costing 0.5% more.”
The city aims to construct the substation in 2025 or 2026 at the latest. While Virginia is slightly more expensive than Niagara, the lead time puts Virginia within the city’s expected timeline, whereas Niagara could mean that the substation is not constructed until 2029.
“In addition to this delaying the project, it is possible (though not guaranteed) that cost of construction will have increased by then, too. Thus, choosing the slightly more expensive transformer is allowed per our purchase policy,” the document said.
