(8/17) Representatives from Preston Waller & Associates presented recommendations to the Town Council on August 15 for repairs and replacement at the electric substation on Moser Road. No vote was taken to implement any project on the substation.

According to Jay Waller, one of the representatives, the Moser Road substation is the primary substation in town. The substation was installed in 1996, with materials that were only expected to last for about 25 years. During their assessment, the company found potential material and mechanical failures as well as obsolete equipment.

Waller presented recommendations to replace or repair certain equipment and parts based largely on cost and lead time. He recommended replacing low ticket items with shorter lead times, an average six months, such as circuit breakers and disconnect switches. "To try to repair those with their age, you’d be repairing so much," Waller said.

For the most expensive parts, or parts that have a long lead time, he suggested repairs, such as the two transformers in the Moser Road Substation. Commissioner Bill Buehrer was concerned about refurbishing the transformers, given their being at the end of their expected lifetime. Waller explained that they would only leave the parts of the transformer that are still in good enough shape despite the age. "For the town of Thurmont, we operate the equipment diligently and we’re, I don’t want to say gentle, but we’re not operating at its maximum 24 hours a day, and that’s on purpose," Waller said.

Waller’s total quote for the project came to $2,425,000. This includes labor, engineering, all parts and materials, contingencies, etc. Broken down, the substation breaker and controls scope came to $1,247,000 and the transformer remediation scope came to $1,178,000. According to Waller, the cost comes from every piece of the substation being either replaced or repaired. They will also add a computer system to operate the equipment.

There is not yet a set timeline but Waller presented a conceptual milestone schedule to the Council to give a framework should they start the project today. He used a start in the third quarter of 2023, when they would initiate contracts and an estimated completion date in the third quarter of 2025. They estimate to refurbish the transformers around the fourth quarter of 2024 and to install new breakers and switches around the second quarter of 2025.

Each transformer will take about 6-8 weeks to repair, according to Waller’s rough estimate. The crew will be able to work on one transformer at a time and Waller suggested doing the repairs outside of peak hours to reduce disruption further. If something should happen to the transformers during the repairs, Waller expects the Main Street Substation to be able to take over.