City of Palo Alto
(ID # 6131)
City Council Staff Report
Report Type: Consent Calendar
Meeting Date: 10/19/2015
Summary Title: Purchase of Medium Voltage Underground Cable from The
Okonite Company over 5 years
Title: Approval of the Purchase of Underground Cable From The Okonite
Company in the Amount of $350,000 per Year for Five Years, for a Total Not
to Exceed Amount of $1,750,000
From: City Manager
Lead Department: Utilities
Recommendation
Staff recommends that Council approve and authorize the City’s Purchasing Department to
prepare a term agreement for the purchase of medium voltage, underground electrical cables
as needed for a term of five years with The Okonite Company in the amount of $350,000 per
year for a maximum value of $1,750,000.
Background
The electric distribution system in Palo Alto comprises overhead and underground wires
throughout the city to provide power to residents and customers. For the underground system,
Utilities staff has created an underground cable technical specification that covers the physical
and electrical requirements for operation on the City’s medium voltage (4,000 and 12,000
Volts), 60 Hertz, 3-phase, 3 or 4 wire systems. Manufacturers who supply cable to the City
must ensure that cables comply with City of Palo Alto cable specifications and industry
standards.
Discussion
Medium voltage cables are used in residential and commercial underground circuits for the
distribution of power. For this contract, there are three types of cable, 1) 750 kcmil (thousands
of circular mils), 15 kilovolts (kV) rated, 2) 600 kcmil, 25 kV rated, and 3) 1/0 gauge, 15 kV rated.
Additionally staff has the option to purchase three parallel cables of the standard cable wound
on the same reel.
To meet the requirement for underground, medium voltage cables, a competitive solicitation
was issued to award a term agreement that will be used on an as needed basis (versus a predetermined fixed amount) with the maximum dollar amount that can be ordered of $350,000
City of Palo Alto
Page 1
per year over a five year period for a total of $1,750,000. The $350,000 per year is based on
historical cable usage and an anticipated increase in need for miscellaneous cable replacement
projects covered under Capital Improvement Project WBS EL-16001, Underground System
Rebuild. A term agreement is similar to a purchase order, and results in greater reliability, and
efficiency in the ordering and management of this commodity. Medium voltage cable is a long
lead time item and having a term agreement in place allows Utilities to manage and schedule
material ordering, require the supplier to keep a reserve inventory for rush or emergency
requests, and makes tracking the material more manageable for warranty purposes.
Per the requirements of the Municipal Code, Chapter 2.30 (Contracts and Purchasing
Procedures), and the City’s Purchasing Manual, Chapter 6 (Purchase of Goods), a Request for
Quotation (RFQ) for the standard medium voltage cables was sent to five suppliers and
advertised on the City’s website. The RFQ requested a unit price per foot for each cable type
based on estimated annual quantities, for purposes of making an award determination. Four
suppliers responded, but only The Okonite Company (“Okonite”) and Southwire Company
provided submittals to the RFQ. The other two suppliers stated they could not meet the City’s
technical specifications and did not submit price quotes.
Okonite fully met the City’s specifications without any exceptions and was the lowest bidder on
3 out of 4 standard cables which are regularly stocked in the warehouse (see Attachment A).
For the past 10 years, Okonite has been the lowest responsible bidder and been awarded the
term agreement to supply medium voltage underground cable as needed to the City. Cable
shipments have never been missed and there have been no quality issues associated with
Okonite cable. In addition, Okonite has provided excellent customer service to engineering and
operations staff with training and support at no cost to the City. Therefore, staff is
recommending that the Okonite Company be deemed the lowest responsible bidder and
awarded a five year term agreement for the supply of medium voltage underground cable.
Timeline
With Council approval, staff will prepare the 5 year term agreement under the City’s terms and
conditions for goods with the Okonite Company, for the purchase of medium voltage
underground cable in the amounts listed below, with each term beginning and ending with
City’s fiscal year.
Term
1
2
3
4
5
City of Palo Alto
Duration
Present – June 30, 2016
July 1st, 2016 – June 30th, 2017
July 1st, 2017 – June 30th, 2018
July 1st, 2018 – June 30th, 2019
July 1st, 2019 – June 30th, 2020
TOTAL
Amount
$375,000
$375,000
$375,000
$375,000
$375,000
$1,750,000
Page 2
Though the duration of the first term is less than that of following years, staff anticipates
spending the same amount of money due to replacement of cable used from emergency stock
for projects.
Resource Impact
For Fiscal Year 2016, funding for this term agreement is available in the respective maintenance
or capital project budget in the Electric Fund. Future funding is subject to the annual
appropriation of funds.
Policy Implications
Authorization of this term agreement does not represent any change to the existing policy.
Environmental Review
This project is categorically exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) under
CEQA Guidelines Sec.15301 (repair or maintenance of existing facilities).
Attachments:
 Attachment A: 2015 Medium Voltage Cable Bid Analysis (PDF)
City of Palo Alto
Page 3
2015 MEDIUM VOLTAGE UNDERGROUND CABLE BID ANALYSIS
SCHEDULE A
ITEM
01
02
03
ESTIMATED ANNUAL USAGE
200,000
50,000
25,000
UNIT
FT
FT
FT
04
200,000
FT
05
50,000
FT
06
50,000
FT
DESCRIPTION
Cable, 15kV, 1 conductor, 1/0 AWG
Compressed Aluminum Strand Filled
conductor, 220 mil EPR insulation,
with 1/3 neutral copper concentric
conductor, per City of Palo Alto
Medium Voltage EPR Cable
Specification, UE-04-06.
CPA P/N 35361
Cable, 25kV, 1 conductor, 600 kcmil
Compact Aluminum NON-Strand Filled
conductor, 260 mil EPR insulation,
with 1/9 (11%) neutral copper
concentric conductor per PG&E Cable
part# M290045.
CPA P/N 35374
Cable, 15kV, 1 conductor, 750 kcmil
Compressed Aluminum Strand Filled
conductor, 220 mil EPR insulation,
with 1/3 neutral concentric copper
conductor per City of Palo Alto
Medium Voltage EPR Cable
Specification, UE-04-06.
CPA P/N 35372
Cable, 25kV, 1 conductor, 1/0 AWG
Compressed Aluminum Strand Filled
conductor, 260 mil EPR insulation,
with 2/3 (64%) neutral copper
concentric conductor, per PG&E Cable
Specification, M290027.
Cable, 25kV, 1 conductor, 600 kcmil
Compact Aluminum NON-Strand Filled
conductor, 260 mil EPR insulation,
with 1/3 neutral copper concentric
conductor per City of Palo Alto
Medium Voltage EPR Cable
Specification, UE-04-06
Cable, 25kV, 1 conductor, 600 kcmil
Compact Aluminum NON-Strand Filled
conductor, 260 mil EPR insulation,
with 1/6 neutral copper concentric
conductor per City of Palo Alto
Medium Voltage EPR Cable
Specification, UE-04-06
SOUTHWIRE BID - UNIT
PRICE
SOUTHWIRE TOTAL PRICE
OKONITE BID UNIT PRICE
OKONITE TOTAL PRICE
$1.65
$330,000.00
$1.63
$326,800.00
$4.16
$208,000.00
$3.99
$199,500.00
$5.38
$134,500.00
$5.18
$129,475.00
$2.02
$404,000.00
$1.98
$395,800.00
$5.64
$282,000.00
$5.96
$298,050.00
$4.71
$235,650.00
$5.29
$264,650.00
1
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2015 MEDIUM VOLTAGE UNDERGROUND CABLE BID ANALYSIS
SCHEDULE B
ITEM
07
08
09
10
11
12
ESTIMATED ANNUAL USAGE
50,000
50,000
15,000
50,000
50,000
50,000
UNIT
CIRCUIT
FT
CIRCUIT
FT
CIRCUIT
FT
CIRCUIT
FT
CIRCUIT
FT
CIRCUIT
FT
DESCRIPTION
Cable, 15kV, 1 conductor, 1/0 AWG
Compressed Aluminum Strand Filled
conductor, 220 mil EPR insulation,
with 1/3 neutral copper concentric
conductor, per City of Palo Alto
Medium Voltage EPR Cable
Specification, UE-04-06.
CPA P/N 35372
(THREE PARALLEL CONDUCTORS)
Cable, 25kV, 1 conductor, 600 kcmil
Compact Aluminum NON-Strand Filled
conductor, 260 mil EPR insulation,
with 1/9 (11%) neutral copper
concentric conductor per PG&E Cable
part# M290045.
(THREE PARALLEL CONDUCTORS)
Cable, 15kV, 1 conductor, 750 kcmil
Compressed Aluminum Strand Filled
conductor, 220 mil EPR insulation,
with 1/3 neutral concentric copper
conductor per City of Palo Alto
Medium Voltage EPR Cable
Specification, UE-04-06.
(THREE PARALLEL CONDUCTORS)
Cable, 25kV, 1 conductor, 1/0 AWG
Compressed Aluminum Strand Filled
conductor, 260 mil EPR insulation,
with 2/3 (64%) neutral copper
concentric conductor, per PG&E Cable
Specification, M290027.
(THREE PARALLEL CONDUCTORS)
Cable, 25kV, 1 conductor, 600 kcmil
Compact Aluminum NON-Strand Filled
conductor, 260 mil EPR insulation,
with 1/3 neutral copper concentric
conductor per City of Palo Alto
Medium Voltage EPR Cable
Specification, UE-04-06
(THREE PARALLEL CONDUCTORS)
Cable, 25kV, 1 conductor, 600 kcmil
Compact Aluminum NON-Strand Filled
conductor, 260 mil EPR insulation,
with 1/6 neutral copper concentric
conductor per City of Palo Alto
Medium Voltage EPR Cable
Specification, UE-04-06
(THREE PARALLEL CONDUCTORS)
SOUTHWIRE BID - UNIT
PRICE
SOUTHWIRE TOTAL PRICE
OKONITE BID UNIT PRICE
OKONITE TOTAL PRICE
$4.65
$232,500.00
$5.13
$256,500.00
$11.86
$593,000.00
$10.84
$542,050.00
$14.07
$211,050.00
$15.72
$235,740.00
$5.57
$278,500.00
$5.96
$297,800.00
$14.28
$714,000.00
$17.21
$860,500.00
$12.75
$637,500.00
$15.26
$762,800.00
2
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