Maverick County Water Control and Improvement District No. 1 Hydroelectric Power Plant Transformer Service Needs Discussed
By: Ricardo E. Calderon, Eagle Pass Business Journal, Inc., Copyright 2022
The Maverick County Water Control and Improvement District No. 1 (MCWCID) held its regular monthly meeting on Tuesday, August 9, 2022, at the District Conference Room at the Maverick County Industrial Park in Eagle Pass, Texas.
MCWCID Board of Director Javier Mancha, who has been requesting certain District business matters be placed on the Board Agenda for several months without success, submitted a written request to Board President Randy Edwards and General Manager Brenda McCalip requesting that certain items be placed on the August 9, 2022 Board meeting.
Among the agenda items requested by Mancha be placed on the August 9, 2022 Board meeting was “the discussion and possible action regarding the Travis D. Kelly Hydroelectric Water Plant Transformer,” which was coincidentally granted and placed as Agenda Item No. 10. However, also placed on the August 9, 2022 Board meeting was Agenda Item No. 9 regarding “the discussion and possible action to contract Mario Valdez to overlook the repairs of the transformer at the Power Plant.” Agenda Item No. 9 does not show which Board member or who requested the item be placed on the agenda.
Upon the calling of Agenda Item No. 9, MCWCID General Manager Brenda McCalip presented to the Board of Directors a request to hire the services of Mario Valdez “to overlook the repairs of the transformer at the Power Plant.” McCalip told the Board that “several meetings back we had Mr. Valdez come and speak to us about the transformer and all the services and then the Board requested that we hold a Committee meeting to talk to him more about what he would be able to do for the Water District and what his fees were going to be.” McCalip added that “so we asked him to come back so that we could see if his rates would still be the same being that the water canal may shut down and now probably is the time to start focusing on that transformer to see if we can get it repaired because I hate for something to happen and put our employees at risk of them getting injured, so he is here to speak.”
Mario Valdez made a presentation in Spanish since he is not fluent in English or is more comfortable speaking in Spanish. McCalip told Valdez that he could speak in Spanish. Valdez stated that “the previous occasion when we discussed the transformer, one of the discussions presented by the companies was to change the transformers immediately. But you have several problems with that. One is that your plant is 90 years old and it has old technology. If we cannot find a transformer like that, we are going to have to get it made at a factory because it is very difficult to find it in the market because very few plants like this one manage the voltage of this transformer. So, that it too expensive. And speaking with the Director, that transformer can be repaired and be allowed to function for another 20-30 years. That was my recommendation be done. To bring a company that specializes exclusively on transformers and they come on site to repair it and empty it and review it all inside of it and they give us a guarantee that it will function.”
When questioned if he did that kind of work, Valdez replied that “no, that requires equipment that is very special and expensive and I don’t have that. I would have to dedicate myself exclusively to do that to be all over the work. I don’t do that. I would supervise the work. I know exactly what needs to be done, bring a company and I provided some addresses to get a quote on how much it would cost to transport and repair it. I recommended the best company that I know and I recommend it, Transformer Services of Oregon and they are all over the United States and I think they have an office in Dallas.”
McCalip then presented to the Board of Directors the quote from Transformer Services for $55,296, but Board member Henry Moses stated that quote does not include many services such as travel, handling costs, disconnection of the transformer from the electricity grid, and other expenses.
McCalip added she has been trying to contact Transformer Services to see if someone from the company can come down to explain to the District what they do and can do for the District concerning the transformer at the power plant, but hadn’t heard from them. McCalip noted the District needed to have the transformer inspected and repaired to avoid any liability.
MCWCID, however, had another company inspect the transformer at the power plant, Thermavue Solutions. McCalip noted this company recommended shutting down the power plant and replacing the transformer. McCalip offered to provide this publication a copy of Thermavue’s letter with their recommendations.
Valdez stated the “other companies” immediately recommended to replace or change it (transformer). Valdez added they had the District shut down the power plant for allegedly nine days and recommended the transformer be replaced because it could potentially explode. Valdez added the other companies noted the oil inside the transformer needing replacement may potentially cause cancer. Valdez received copies of the other companies letters recommending what needed to be done to the transformer. Valdez opined that the transformer can be repaired. Despite the recommendation of the “other companies” that the District shut down the hydroelectric power plant to replace the transformer, the District only shut down the power plant for allegedly nine days and is now operating the power plant generating electricity and revenues for the District.
McCalip reported in the General Manager’s monthly report that during the month of July 2022, the District made a total of $453,787.16 of revenues from the electricity generated by the hydroelectric power plant. She also reported that during 2021, the District received $6.5 million in revenues from electricity generated and for the first six months of 2022 the District has received $1.4 million from electricity revenues.
Upon questioning, Valdez acknowledged the worst case scenario is that the transformer could potentially explode and the oil could potentially discharge into the canal which itself discharges into the Rio Grande River. In the worst case scenario of the transformer potentially exploding, the water supply of the cities of Eagle Pass and Piedras Negras, Coahuila, Mexico could potentially be affected as well as the safety of District employees.
McCalip told the Board of Directors that Thermavue recommendation of replacing the transformer is very expensive while Mr. Valdez recommendation is to repair the transformer at a lesser cost.
After a lengthy discussion, the Board of Directors took no action on Agenda Item No. 9 concerning the hiring of Mario Valdez to overlook the repairs of the transformer at the Power Plant and agreed to call a Special Board meeting to discuss and take possible action on this potentially volatile issue concerning the transformer, possibly this coming Tuesday, August 16, 2022 or whenever posted. Consequently, Board member Javier Mancha’s Agenda Item No. 10 concerning the transformer at the power plant was agreed to be passed due to the lengthy discussion of the same issue in Agenda Item No. 9.
On Thursday, August 11, 2022, McCalip provided this publication pursuant to a Texas Public Information Act request a copy of a letter from a company named Shermco Industries of Houston, Texas to Thermavue, dated May 9, 2022, concerning its testing of the District’s hydroelectric power plant station. Thermavue and Shermco were allegedly hired by the District to conduct testing of the transformer.
Shermco found that a “hot spot…on X1 bushing” on the 138,000 kilowatt voltage transformer. Shermco found that “all testing conducted passed NETA MTS standards except for X1 bushing. Due to the results SI (Shermco Industries) is deeming the bushing to be Failed and the unit not suitable for operation until the bushing is replaced. X3 Bushing’s C2 results show to be a little elevated on capacitance which could indicated (sic) potential failure in the future….Shermco recommends begin routine maintenance on all gear, and electrical apparatuses. This will ensure the safety and reliability of all electrical equipment at your facilities.” This publication will now seek all documents from the District concerning the transformer as it only received one letter and reasonably believes there might be more documents on the matter.
McCalip seeks the District to contract Mario Valdez to overlook the repairs of the transformer at the power plant as a second opinion to that of Shermco and Thermavue.
