BPA undertakes major changes to double transmission asset investments

arrow Back to Newsroom

BPA undertakes major changes to double transmission asset investments

December 12, 2024

Photo by Lisa Henry, Your World/Our Lens photo contest.

Transmission Services is focusing on transforming and expanding capital portfolio delivery methods in response to massive increases in generation and load growth. <_o3a_p>

Renewable energy development in the Northwest region is booming. To deliver this additional power while also serving the rapid electrification of transportation and appliances, there is a growing need to upgrade and expand the region's high-voltage transmission system.

To meet this need, BPA identified that its traditional model for deploying transmission capital would not be sufficient to meet customer needs. BPA determined it would need to double its transmission capital execution by 2028.

To accomplish this, BPA is looking to improve and expand upon its existing portfolio delivery methods.
Currently, Transmission uses two project delivery models to execute projects within its capital portfolio: the Primary and Secondary Capacity models.

The Primary Capacity Model is Transmission's traditional method of capital project delivery, which uses a mix of internal and contracted resources for both design and construction phases of a project. The Secondary Capacity Model is an innovative method that contracts all phases of a project entirely, reducing strain on internal resources. Transmission frequently used the PCM for completing sustained maintenance work and smaller expansion projects, while using the SCM for larger, customer-driven expansion projects.

"The Primary Capacity Model is our historical way of doing work," said Michael Hull, supervisor of Transmission Project Management, a subset of Transmission Engineering. When following the PCM, BPA project managers collaborate with in-house designers to determine if construction designs should be completed internally or be outsourced. From there, construction work is completed using either internal resources or external contracts.

This year, Transmission Engineering and Technical Services began efforts to increase the agency's portfolio execution capacity by transforming the PCM and expanding the SCM. "The ultimate goal is to double our capacity using our internal and contracted resources," he said.

Already, these efforts can be seen in BPA's capital execution through 2024 - where Transmission deployed $655 million toward capital projects. Accelerated hiring and efficiencies with the PCM contributed to BPA's strong capital execution throughout 2024. Additionally, the SCM program say an expansion of 140% in 2024.

Miller said the need for expansion within the SCM program became evident shortly after its implementation five years ago. The original scope of the program proposed to spend $3 billion on transmission expansion projects over 10 years. Due to a massive increase in both generation and load growth, he said BPA has already reached that $3 billion figure.

Heading the PCM transformation and SCM expansion initiatives is Ivy Tyson, Transmission's former chief of staff, who will be filling a new director position within Transmission Engineering. "We're constantly looking for ways we can improve with a specific goal of increasing our capacity to get work done," Tyson said.

At the forefront of its PCM transformation effort, Transmission Engineering is looking to streamline its workload through a bottom-up and top-down approach. Through the bottom-up approach, Miller said his organization is working to gather ideas and solutions from its employees. "This approach aims to get more people engaged and excited about this effort. People engage when they know they are making a difference," he said.

The top-down approach will include wider structural changes to the PCM program. These include changes such as decreasing project handoffs between groups within Transmission. "Typically, a project passes through many different sub-functions within design," Miller said. "Every time you hand something off, it takes time and adds complexity, so we are working to minimize these changeovers."

The SCM program uses two types of contracts: a progressive design builder and an owner's consultant. The progressive design builder takes on the design and construction work, while the owner's consultant fills in for BPA and oversees the progressive design builder's work.

According to Miller, adding progressive design builder contractors will allow the existing SCM program to double its capacity. "We just can't keep up if we don't do something aggressive and unique," he said. "It's a massive amount of contracting," Miller said.

Through these two efforts, Miller said Transmission will be able to meet BPA customer needs and accomplish the agency's strategic goals through innovation, streamlining and expansion. He notes that Transmission Engineering is excited to meet the challenges ahead.

Tags

social_facebook Share social_twitter Tweet email Email print Print