Abbeville relying heavily on one transformer after other damaged

Abbeville is currently operating its electrical output on one 1968 transformer, a fact that has created a sense of urgency among city officials.
The city has operated for more than 30 years with two 1968 transformers at the Walter “Pete” Noel Sub Station. The City purchased the two used transformers in ‘81.
On Feb. 4, damage to a breaker on one of the transformers there caused damage to the transformer itself, leaving only one in commission. Separate tests conducted returned the same result that the equipment is beyond repair.
While that one remaining transformer is fully capable of handling the city’s electrical capacity, and there is no imminent threat of it malfunctioning, officials do not want to move into the peak summer season, and eventually hurricane season, without a backup option. The Abbeville City Council voted 5-0 Tuesday night at its regular council meeting to move on that option.
That option, which comes at the recommendation of the Abbeville’s Electrical Consultant Harvey Dubois, is to obtain a used transformer that can serve in the interim as a backup to the ‘68 model and then purchase a brand-new model, which can take around nine months to be built and then installed. A new transformer will likely come with a price tag between $750,000 and $1 million. The used one, a 1974 model, will be in the range of $450,000. Proper tests will be conducted on the ‘74 transformer prior to a potential purchase by the City. The time frame to bring in the used one would be around a month.
“The Council really wanted to be able to purchase a new one initially,” Abbeville Mayor Mark Piazza said Wednesday morning, “and keep the one that is in service now as a backup. That would have saved us a half-a-million dollars. We don’t feel like we can wait that long because of the age of the one that is in service. We don’t feel like we can wait through the summer and through hurricane season and depend strictly on one 1968 transformer to get us through those months.
“If you wanted to gamble, you could save money (on the used transformer), but the Council and myself don’t feel like we are willing to gamble and put our customers and businesses at risk of an extended power outage.”
Dubois informed the Council that damage to the operating transformer at “Pete” Noel could result in an outage that could last between two days and a week.
“Two days would be the best-case scenario,” Dubois told the council at the meeting.
Piazza’s comments Wednesday morning echoed those made by some on the Council during Tuesday’s meeting.
“If we go with just a new one,” Councilman-at-Large Francis Plaisance said, “we are running a risk of waiting and the one we have not holding up.
“That is the risk.”
One that is simply not worth taking as far as Councilman Brady Broussard Jr., District C, is concerned.
“We don’t have the luxury of operating into our summer period without redundancy,” Broussard said. “The Noel Sub Station was built with redundancy and I don’t believe we would be giving our citizens the best service by running the risk of a heavier load in the summer with a 1968 transformer.”
Council Francis Touchet Jr., District B, agreed.
“This is how we run,” Touchet said of the electrical source. “It is in our best interest to purchase a new one. I think it is a no-brainer because this is not something that we can wait on. We have to look out for what is the best interest of the city.
“This utility system is our Golden Egg.”
As for how the potential purchases of new and used transformers would be funded, the Council addressed that issue during Tuesday’s meeting. The Council voted 5-0 to authorize the bonding counsel to seek authority from the State Bond Commission to incur debt for the improvements.
Jason Akers of Foley & Judell, L.L.P. in New Orleans. attended Tuesday’s meeting and advised the Council that the issue will go before the State Bond Commission during its next meeting on March 27.
“That gives us a month to really know and have a better picture of exactly how much money this is going to take,” Piazza said Wednesday. “Once we get approval from the Bond Commission, we then sell the bonds.”
The City has set an amount of up to $3 million for the bonds. Those funds will also likely go toward projects for the City’s two water towers.
“That is on the high side,” Piazza said of the $3 million. “I don’t think it will go that high. I am thinking that it will probably end up being somewhere between $2 and $2.5 million.”
That would go on top of the City’s current principal debt of $3.4 million, which Piazza said for a city of Abbeville’s size is “relatively low.” Adding more than $2 million to that debt will not put the City in dire straits.
“It would be about average for a city of our size,” Piazza said of the debt exceeding $5 million. “It certainly would not be excessive. We are like any other business or form of government; nobody wants to borrow money unless that absolutely have to.
“That is the case here.”
That is because Piazza said the alternative could have its own negative effects.
“We have funds in our reserves to where we could probably do the Sub Station project,” Piazza said. “We don’t want to deplete our entire reserve account and not have any funds to make it through hurricane season.
“We don’t want to leave ourselves short for emergencies that could occur down the road.”
The ultimate goal of purchasing a brand-new transformer will serve the City well long down the road.
“Once we get a new one in we are going to feel a lot more comfortable,” Piazza said. “With the new one we will be set for the next 30 years.”