The Powell City Council awarded another contract as part of efforts to renovate the city’s electrical substation.

The $746,988 contract went to Border States, out of Gillette, for the materials and equipment portion of the project. It is the third contract of four for the $2.9 million renovation of the Vining Substation. 

The last contract, for the labor, is expected to cost approximately $900,000. The deadline for bids on that portion is March 18, and a contract will likely be awarded at the council’s April 5 regular meeting.

For the materials and equipment, the city received five bids. DIS-TRAN Packaged Substations, out of Pineville, Louisiana, bid $772,730, but the company’s bid was missing some items and quoted the wrong type of switches. 

Peak Substation Services, out of Birmingham, Alabama, bid over budget at $1,185,807, and misquoted a length of medium voltage cable for the project. 

Short Powerline Service, out of Glenrock, bid $777,610. However, city officials said the bid didn’t include all items, had a number of missed quantities and didn’t include all required documents for the Wyoming contractor discount, which helps give preference to companies based in the state.

Westco Distribution, Inc., out of Denver, Colorado, bid $813,007, and the bid was late, didn’t contain all items, and was missing information. 

In the summer of 2019, a fire at the Vining Substation shut down power to much of Powell, and it took several hours before any power was restored. The city made further repairs to stabilize the 30-year-old substation, but the incident drew attention to the need to renovate the aging substation.

In October, the city awarded SPX Transformer Solutions, Inc. a $1 million contract for two megavolt ampere transformers, and in February, the city awarded a $178,684 contract to Trachte Building Systems for a new control house.

The State Loan and Investment Board provided Powell with a $1.5 million loan for the project last June. The city plans to begin construction on the substation renovation as early as this spring.

The facility is located east of Ingalls Street, between Sixth and Seventh streets.